Geico Encounters of the Third Kind

by Coan_teen

The wind howled and the trees rattled, but he did not move. Dared not move. The thing in the shadows was watching him, and Geico the Techo decided he would rather not become lunch anytime soon. He moved only his eyes, searching for a place to run to or an area he could fight in. There was nothing.

Geico had been on the run for days, escaping from uncertain fate at the hands of the evil Esophagor. He had displeased the Esophagor and was to be punished, most likely by digestion. Geico had no desire whatsoever to become lunch, as I said before, so he ran.

Now he was lost in the woods, with only his Orange Fuzzle toy and a veggie dog to last him through the long, lonely journey back to Neopia. There, if he made it, his owner was waiting to take him in and love him. How he longed to be safe with her once more. Geico’s attention never wavered from the rustling in the shadows, but in his brain the thought bounced around: What if he never got back to her?

Would she ever find out what had happened to him? A tear formed in Geico’s eye and he stifled a sob. The creature in the shadows, whatever it was, was moving closer. He heard a snuffling sound, and fear gripped his heart like an icy fist. Was this the end? Geico had never dreamed he would go like this. He’d always planned on slipping away in his sleep, a very old Techo indeed, warm and safe and loved in his owner’s house.

Finally, he decided he could not die a coward. Hefting the Peach Snowball he’d been lovingly equipped with, he moved towards the shadows. As he did, the rustling abruptly stopped.

Geico set his jaw, curled his tail firmly around himself, and charged. He couldn’t see what he was charging into, but something hard and fuzzy met his legs and he tripped, sprawling across the ground in a heap of flailing green Techo limbs. His head struck something and his vision swirled, and when his senses returned to normal he found himself atop something that was squirming and whining piteously, its fur making a soft sound against his scales.

Wriggling off of whatever the dark object was, Geico brushed himself off and shook his head to clear it. He bent down and wrapped his arms around it, picking it up and carrying it out into the light. “Oof, you’re heavy,” he commented, just as he stepped out of the shadows.

“And…little,” he finished as he looked at what lay in his arms. The little blue Aisha made a purring sound and curled up in his arms, closing its eyes. Within moments it was asleep. Geico laughed at himself for being afraid, and looked around at the forest. The trees seemed to be thinner here. He started walking, Aisha in hand.

Soon they were out of the trees and Geico gleefully realized that he would be home with his master before he knew it.

The End