A Day in the Life of a Moffit

      Molly the Moffit crawled underneath the dresser just as the sun started to rise. Stripes of sunlight came through the blinds and lit up the floor of Kimiko240’s room. The Desert Aisha was still fast asleep, with Keke, her White Wadjet, curled up next to her.

      Molly wiggled her front legs at her Neopet and petpet companions. They didn’t notice, of course, still slumbering away, but Molly felt they would be aware of her affection even in their dreams. And she would check on them, later in the day when they were awake. Molly herself was nocturnal, as all Moffits are, and even though Kimiko and Keke’s day had not yet started, hers was just ending.

      She turned and crawled further underneath the dresser, into the shadows. It was dusty back there, out of reach of brooms and vacuums alike, but that was just the way Molly liked it. She turned in a little circle and settled down into her favorite spot in the dust.

      She twitched when she heard a blaring noise, the sound of Kimiko’s alarm clock. Kimiko sighed and stretched, shutting it off, and Molly fell back asleep. But seven minutes later the alarm went off again, and Molly startled awake. Again she heard Kimiko turn it off, but the Aisha didn’t get out of bed.

      Molly knew this pattern. On days when Kimi was not the active Neopet, or when she wasn’t expected to run the shop, she often slept late, with the clock’s alarm interrupting her sleep every seven minutes or so.

      Molly had had a busy night, running and jumping around the house to examine what had changed during the daytime. She did not feel like being woken by the alarm continuously while trying to sleep.

      She scuttled out from under the dresser and over to the door. It was closed, but there was just enough of a gap for a petpetpet to get through. Molly paused for a moment, but the hallway was empty. She ran to the room directly across from Kimiko’s, slipping underneath that door.

      Sweets the Checkered Aisha was already awake and brushing her fur. She didn’t notice Molly run to the closet.

      The closet was dark and warm, and smelled faintly of the baked goods that Sweets was so fond of making. Molly used her long legs to jump up and land on one of the winter coats that was stored there. She crawled up the slippery fabric and nestled in the fur-lined hood. The faux fur was soft and comfortable, and soon Molly felt herself drifting to sleep again.

      Suddenly she was jerked to the side; she had to scramble on the fur to keep from falling to the ground. Sweets rifled through her closet before finding the dress she was looking for and slipping it over her head. Then she searched the bottom of the closet for the shoes she wanted to wear with the outfit.

      Molly hopped onto Sweet’s bent-down head, and quickly onto the floor. She was so light that the Aisha didn’t even feel her. Before Sweets found the shoes she was looking for, Molly was already back into the hallway.

      She tried Kata’s bedroom next. It was already empty, and Molly made a beeline for the darkness underneath the bed.

      There was some forgotten clothing and an old Moehog plushie that had been lost underneath the bed. Molly found a nice comfy sock to lay on, and tiredly shuffled her wings before falling asleep.

      In her dreams, Molly was pushing a glass marble towards the staircase. It rolled in a very satisfying way, but when it got to the top of the staircase, it fell, making a GLACK sound. It rolled to the next one with another loud GLACK. GLACK, GLACK, GLACK, GLACK, Bzzz, Bzzz, Bzzz, Bzzz.

      Molly opened her eyes slowly, but the glacking and buzzing continued. There was also a melodic tap that she couldn’t quite place. She raised herself to see over the Moehog plushie, and behind it saw three of the other petpetpets who lived in the house: a Glack named Beat, a Moach named Tiki, and a Springabee named Breezy. Beat was making the glacking sound, while Breezy was buzzing. Tiki was using his legs to tap a variety of differently sized seashells, each one producing a slightly different note as he did so. The trio of petpetpets made a quite a lot of percussive music, and there was no way Molly would be able to fall asleep listening to it.

      It didn’t look like their band practice would end anytime soon. Molly quickly crawled away, craving sleep and worried they would try and recruit her to pluck at a rubber band or tap on a bottle cap. Once she was safely out of sight, she hopped out of the room.

      There were lots of good hiding places in the downstairs part of the house – using her strong Moffit legs, Molly hopped down the stairs, one step at a time. A different bedroom door was ajar, and she went in.

      This was Ed’s room. Ed was already gone, his bed unmade, and the two petpet beds along the wall looked so plush and inviting that Molly couldn’t help herself. She hopped right in and was asleep almost before she could think.

      She wasn’t sure how long she slept this time, but she was sure it was a very short time before she felt something large and hot squishing her. Panicking, Molly scrambled out before she was crushed completely. She shook her legs and her wings, but she wasn’t seriously hurt – everything was in working order. Turning, Molly looked to see which petpet it was that had almost squished her.

      But it wasn’t a petpet at all – it was Patty, a Ditrey so large she was the same size as the Yooyus that Ed loved. She was already snoring away, a breathy whining snore that whistled out of her open mouth.

      Molly waggled her front legs at the obnoxiously large petpetpet, scolding her for almost killing her, but it was no use – Patty was fast asleep, and would likely remain that way until it was time for dinner.

      Molly couldn’t help feeling jealous – Patty could sleep through anything, whether it was music or an alarm clock or even someone picking her up and moving her. What Molly wouldn’t give to be able to sleep like that.

      She could always try sleeping in the petpet bed next to Patty’s, but Molly didn’t think she’d be able to fall asleep while Patty snored. She hopped back to the staircase, wondering if she should try going upstairs again.

      It was lunch time for all the pets and petpets by now. Molly’s own tiny tummy gurgled; perhaps she could use a midday snack, which to a nocturnal petpetpet, was like a midnight snack. She hopped into the kitchen to see what she could find.

      A variety of petpet food bowls (and, in Patty’s case, one petpetpet food bowl) lined the wall. Molly hoped up onto the stepstool where food was set out for the tiny petpetpets of the household.

      Some buzz honey had been put on a plate; a Fleaf and a Zytch were already there, licking it up. Molly joined them, but it wasn’t long before she was feeling sleepy again. She waggled her legs goodbye at her fellow petpetpets and hopped down.

      She had only gone three feet, however, when she was suddenly scooped up from the floor. Molly flared her wings to keep her balance as she found herself looking up at Ray, the Maraquan Aisha and aspiring petpetpetiologist.

      “Molly, you’re just the petpetpet I need,” she said, cupping her hands to keep Molly from hopping away. “You can help me with an experiment.”

      Molly tapped her legs against Ray’s fingers in protest. Why did Ray always need her for experiments when she was trying to sleep?

      “Here we are,” she said, setting the Moffit down.

      For a second, Molly wasn’t sure where she was. There was cardboard on three sides of her, leaving only one way open. Ray gently prodded her forward a few steps, and Molly obliged. She found herself facing more cardboard, with two different options for ways to go, and she realized it was a maze.

      “Find the exit, Molly!” Ray sang. Molly stared up at her, and Ray added, “Please? I want to see which petpetpets can make it out the fastest. Although I’ll need more cardboard for when it’s Patty’s turn.”

      Molly stared at Ray for a few more seconds before she jumped up and out of the center of the maze, landing delicately on the carpet. She hopped away quickly before Ray could catch her again.

      “Wait!” Ray called out. “That doesn’t count! You have to get out of the maze without cheating!”

      It was time to try upstairs again. She was halfway up the stairs when she saw Kimiko walking down them.

      “Molly?” Kimiko sounded surprised. “You’re still awake?”

      Kimiko placed her hand on the ground next to Molly, and Molly stepped up onto it. Kimiko promptly turned around and headed back to her room.

      “I have something I think you might like,” Kimiko said. With Molly still in one hand, she used the other to pull a large conch shell out of her bag. “I found it at Mystery Island yesterday. I think it would make a great little petpetpet home for you.”

      She set both the shell and the Moffit on her nightstand, then opened a drawer and pulled out some soft, plush fabric. She stuffed it inside the shell, creating a bed perfectly petpetpet-sized.

      “What do you think?” Kimiko asked.

      Molly stepped inside the shell. The further inside the conch she went, the darker it got. It smelled faintly of the ocean, but in a pleasant, tropical way. She crawled back to the shell’s entrance and waggled her legs at Kimiko.

      Kimiko briefly touched her fingertip to Molly’s legs. “You’re welcome, Molly!” Then she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her, blocking out musical petpetpet bands and oversized Ditreys and aspiring petpetpetiologists.

      Molly nestled into her new seashell bed and closed her eyes.

      Finally, she could sleep.

The End.