A New Found Friend by ziesolles | |
On one of the benches in the local park, sat a young yellow
Lupe, gazing longingly around him at the blowing trees and flowering shrubs. He
felt tired and alone as he moved his gaze down to what was left of his lunch,
which was just a small Neoflakes cake.
He had just finished a day at Neoschool, and
the park was on his way back from school. He always came here to watch the birds,
and see the trees, and to have a small snack. A lot of other pets also came
here after school, to play ball and climb trees and talk with their friends.
This young Lupe's name was Julio, and he was
new to the area, he and his owner had moved into the area because of the more
affordable living, but the Lupe did not enjoy it one bit. The school bullies
regularly teased him because he was weak, he couldn't fight like most Lupes
could. His Owner, Allan, had tried his best by training his young pet in the
small backyard of their NeoHome, but to no avail.
Julio had wanted to be trained at the Academy,
or at the Training School on Mystery Island, but Allan could hardly afford to
keep his pet alive, yet alone train him.
As he moved his paw down to pick up the Neoflakes
cake, he thought about how different life could be, had he been born stronger.
But his thoughts were quickly interrupted as he saw a large paw swipe away his
Lupe the Warrior Lunchbox. He looked up and saw a gang of large Lupes, the school
bullies, staring down at him.
"Ha! Look at him, the little squirt," shouted
one of the bullies, "he can't even hold onto his lunchbox!"
"Heh, yeah, what's this lunchbox kid?" sneered
another, picking the lunchbox up and tossing out the Neoflakes cake, "A Lupe
the Warrior one? What, dreaming of being a warrior, eh?" The whole gang burst
out laughing, and Julio, full with misery, bent down to sob into his yellow
paws.
The bullies continued laughing at him, until
a young handsome Lupe, named Clinton, walked up. "Leave him alone Randall!"
he shouted clearly at the largest bully.
"Oh look! It's Clinty sticking up for him!"
replied Randall, "what's wrong then Clinty, tired of your fame?"
"I said leave him alone," said Clinton, "Now
go and pick on someone, you own size, for once." The bullies left the handsome
young Lupe and Julio together. Clinton, the pet of Jackie, his owner, was very
popular inside school, and also outside. He had many, many friends, mainly because
of his talent inside the Battledome. He was a born fighter, and had won many
trophies throughout the years. But Clinton wasn't a bully of any kind; he was
warm, and always willing to help others.
Clinton sat down next to the Lupe, not saying
anything for a minute. He was just about to when suddenly Julio, still sobbing
slightly, murmured, "Thanks, err, Clinton"
"Don't mention it," replied Clinton quickly,
"They've just got to be stopped sometimes, all the time actually."
"It's, it's just because I'm, because I'm weak…
and I can't fight," sobbed Julio miserably, "And Allan, my, my owner, he c-can't
afford to train me up."
"Don't sit on it, hey, why don't you come for
dinner at my place?" Clinton asked, bending over to pick up Julio's lunchbox.
He had taken an instant liking to the young Lupe, even though he wasn't as strong
as he was.
"R-really?" Julio replied eagerly, "I'd love
that! But, but I'd have to ask…"
"Okay then, let's go to your place first then,
and ask," Clinton said finally. So the two of them set off towards Julio's NeoHome.
They got there to be greeted by Allan, who was working in the front yard. "Julio!
How are you, come on inside! How was school? And…" He had spotted the young
Lupe standing next to Julio. "And, who would you be young sir?"
"I'm Clinton," replied Julio's new friend, "I
er, met Julio in the park after school, we err, I actually-"
"We can talk later," cut in Allan, "You can
come inside and have a drink and a biscuit."
"Thanks!" said Clinton happily. So they all
went inside, and Allan served them all a glass of Dandelion and Burdock Drink,
and provided a small tin of biscuits for them to share.
Allan had the idea that Clinton had helped Julio
out of a spot of trouble with the bullies, judging by the muscles that the Lupe
had. He looks like a fighter to me… Allan thought.
After Clinton had finished eating, he decided
it time to mention, if Julio could come to his place for dinner that night.
He knew that his owner would say yes, as many times before Clinton had invited
his friends over from school.
"Err, Julio," began Clinton, "Did you, did you
want to ask about, about tonight?"
"Tonight? What, oh yes," said Julio, remembering,
"Well Allan, umm, Clinton asked whether I'd like to go over to his place for
dinner tonight, and umm, yeah, would that be alright?"
"Oh, yes, sure you'd be allowed to go, but,"
Allan turned to Clinton, "Are you sure that, that would be alright with your
Owner?"
"Oh yes, certainly," Clinton said earnestly,
"Jackie, my owner, he's always saying that I can bring my friends along for
dinner, anytime."
"I see, well, I suppose that would be alright.
You'd better be off then I reckon. I'll walk you two over there if you like,"
said Allan, "go and get your coat then Julio."
So together they left, and walked back to the
park and then along the road to Clinton's NeoHome. When they arrived they saw
Clinton's owner, Jackie coming out the door.
"Oh hi Clinton!" he called out, walking towards
him, Julio, and Allan, "how are you?"
"Hi Jack," replied Clinton, "well, this is Julio,
I've invited him for dinner tonight. And this is Allan, he's Julio's owner."
"Oh that's great," shaking Julio's paw and Allan's
hand, "well you two better go on in and get those paws washed. Come on, it's
rather chilly out here."
Clinton led Julio inside, then to the bathroom,
to wash their paws before dinner. On they way they passed a large trophy cabinet
with all of Clinton's Battledome awards. "Wow," whispered Julio, "you never
told me you were a battler."
"Oh, well, I, I just forgot…" said Clinton uneasily,
as he did not want to show his high skill to his new-found friend, "well, the
bathrooms here."
*****
That night they had a scrumptious meal, with foods that Julio had never seen,
or even heard of. It was a great meal, and he was so full that he could barely
stand up afterwards.
When he did manage to though, Clinton took his
new friend, Julio, to his room so that they could play a bit before Jackie took
Julio home. "Here," Clinton said, tipping over out a large number of toys from
inside a crate, "We can play with these if you like."
"Yeah, okay," Julio, replied, picking up a green
Chia plushie and throwing it into the air, and then catching it, "Clinton, you
are truly the best friend I've ever had."
"Gee, thanks," and then after thinking for a
moment, Clinton said back, "You're the best friend I've ever had, too."
A little while later Jackie came into the room
and said, "Okay guys, I reckon you'd better pack up now, it's time to take Julio
home, here, I'll help you."
Then, after everything was packed away, Julio
said, "Well, thanks for everything tonight, I'll, I'll see you tomorrow at school
then, Clinton."
"Okay, yup, see you then," Clinton replied,
smiling, as he showed Julio out the door and into the hallway.
*****
That night Julio went to bed with his tummy bursting, he was so happy, having
finally found a friend. From then on, Clinton became Julio's best friend, and
Julio, was Clinton's best friend.
The next day at school, Clinton sat with Julio
at the same table, and helped him through the whole day without a single bully
coming over to bother him. And then at lunch, when all of Clinton's other friends
started swarming about him he said, "Everyone, this is Julio, he'll be playing
with us today."
Julio looked shy, but was comforted when a young
Kougra came up and said, "Don't be shy, come on, I'll race you to the play equipment!"
And smiling happily to himself, Julio took off in pursuit, and for the first
time that year, Julio enjoyed his lunchtime, to the ultimate maximum.
After school, Clinton walked with Julio to the
park where they had met the previous day, and they both said their goodbyes.
Then, with his tummy swelling with happiness, Julio skipped all the way home
to found Allan outside their NeoHome waiting for him.
"Well, how was school today?" he asked. And
for the first time in all of his life, the young Lupe, by the name of Julio,
grinned broadly and said in reply, "Great!"
The End
|