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Mercolagos the shadow Gelert woke up at 7 am NST to an odd
scrabbling sound. He opened one eye and saw Fileet, his pet Beekadoodle at the
bottom of her little cage. She peered at him with one bright black eye, returning
his stare, then put her beak against the clear plastic and pushed, her little
claws making the scrabbling sound as she ran in place, steadied by her long beak.
"Fileet," he groaned rolling over so his back
was turned to his exercising bird, "can't you let me sleep in just once?"
"Wreeep?" came the questioning answer.
When Merc ignored the critter, she fell silent
again… for a few seconds.
Suddenly, there was a steady fluttering sound
and empty seed husks and sunflower shells swirled up in a storm to fall in a
five-foot circle around Fileet's cage.
Merc sputtered and spat out several seeds that
fell in his mouth and sat up with a yelp, "Fileet stop that!"
"Beep beep!" came the reply, and Fileet did
her helicopter imitation by gripping a perch and flapping her wings as hard
as she could, as though she should lift the entire thing just by flapping hard
enough.
"Okay okay, I'll change your cage. Sheesh. That
could have waited, you know…" Merc got out of bed and picked up small hand held
broom he kept nearby for just that seed scattering problem. He let her out to
ride on his shoulder as he first swept up the seeds around her cage, then took
out the bottom and changed the old paper towels at the bottom.
Fileet kept up a soft commentary of chirps,
squeaking growls and soft burbles the whole time. Occasionally she nibbled on
his ear just to make a point.
Not for the first time, Merc wished he could
understand just what she was saying to him. She was quite expressive with her
little birdie talk and body language, but she couldn't speak normally.
Cage cleaning done, he took out Fileet's food
and water dishes and took them quietly downstairs to the kitchen. Using mild
soap he washed them completely and refilled them with fresh seed and water.
Fileet promptly decided to take a bath in the
running sink water and showered Merc and everything around her as she fluttered
and splashed in the pool formed by his paws. Merc dried off and cut up a zenana
in his Neocrunch cereal (minus a small slice of banana and a flake or two of
cereal that MUST be shared with Fileet, of course).
While Fileet munched her food, preened, and
shook off from her bath, Merc wrote a note to his mom, saying that he and Fileet
were going out for more "crowd training" and to buy a few toys, as the old ones
were a bit chewed up.
Merc withdrew some money from his allowance's
hiding place and the two went outside. Fileet was a shy Beekadoodle, and he
was slowly getting her used to being in crowds and staying calm. The first stop
was the petpet food store for a new sack of seeds.
Fileet clung to his shoulder but behaved herself,
giving an occasional chirp to other customers. Most smiled or commented on the
petpet here. A few approving customers tried offering Fileet a few sunflower
seeds, but she wasn't too comfortable with that and retreated to Merc's other
shoulder.
Then to the toy store, where Fileet became more
active; flying over to the wall and teasing at various toys for sound and fun
quality.
A wide-eyed Kacheek watched the little bird
flit around and whistle little songs. Finally, Fileet gently tossed several
toys down to Merc with approving whistles.
"Is that your Beekadoodle?" the Kacheek asked.
Merc smiled, "Yes she is. Her name is Fileet."
"Can I… pet her?"
Merc hesitated then nodded, holding Fileet out
and demonstrating how to gently stroke down her back.
Slowly the Kacheek imitated him. Fileet jumped
a little when the Kacheek touched her tail but otherwise accepted it. Pleased,
the Kacheek skipped away, humming happily to herself.
Merc rubbed under Fileet's beak gently, something
only he could do, and paid for the toys. "Well Fileet, what do you say we go
out to lunch, hmm?"
Right away she started to sing an advertising
jingle for Grarrl's Burgers, her favorite fast food place.
Merc laughed, "You and your food choices!"
The two headed into the food place, where they
were well known, and everyone loved seeing the Beekadoodle. Some of the workers
whistled back to Fileet when she chirped.
While he waited for his order, Fileet hopped
down onto the counter and paraded around, whistling and chirping to anyone who
noticed her.
A green Grarrl smiled at Merc when he arrived
with his order, "Plenty of seeds, just like the little one prefers. And nice
and fresh, too."
Merc took his tray to a table and unwrapped
his hamburger, revealing a bun larger than Fileet, and totally covered with
sesame seeds.
Fileet, who knew this ritual, instantly stretched
her neck, stood on her tip toes and pursued the hamburger as he unwrapped it
and set it on the table for her.
Chuckling, Merc started on his fries and soda
while Fileet methodically plucked the bun clean seed by seed. Finally, content
at last, Fileet allowed Mercolagos to pick up his hamburger and eat the rest
of it himself. Merc sighed contentedly and finished off his meal as Fileet slowly
toddled up to his shoulder, fluffed her feathers and snuggled against his neck
like a miniature fuzzle.
Merc let his food settle for a few minutes before
cleaning up and heading back outside. He really didn't have anything else to
do in Neopia so he headed for home.
His siblings were up and about, carrying their
own petpets about and playing with them. The rest of the afternoon was spent
mumbling and growling as Merc struggled to get the new toys into place. This
was complicated by the small size of the cage and the fact that Fileet chose
that time to become hyper. She raced up and down Merc's arms, her little claws
poking him through his fur. She added to the chaos by fluttering from one arm
to the next and chirping and commenting in loud "Chirrrreeeep! Squawwwwk! Weeeeerrrr!"
noises.
"Somebody killin' your bird?" his sister Alkuna
asked mildly, poking her head into his room, her green Greeble on her shoulder.
"I will in a few minutes if she doesn't stop
going bonkers," Merc grumbled, his paws wrestling with a tiny catch at the top
of a set of shiny jingling keys.
Alkuna chuckled, "Come here little one. Let
your daddy get your cage set up." Alkuna scooped up Fileet and walked with her
into another room, giving Merc the peace he needed to complete his task.
Finally, after a half hour more of setting up,
Fileet's cage was finally finished. Relieved, Merc put Fileet away and as he
left to go to dinner, he could hear his little Beekadoodle setting her keys
jangling and uttering little warrior growls that sounded like a set of squeaky
hinges.
He chuckled to himself and sat down to have
a peaceful dinner with his family. Though all the upkeep to own a petpet, Merc
was still proud to own his adorable little Beekadoodle.
The End
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