My Vacation: Part One

     It all began that fateful day. The sad thing is the fact that it was my entire fault! To think... if only I had been a little less selfish, I could've gotten out of weeks of misery! But, well - that is usually how the story goes. The story starts when Jeanie entered my room on that fateful day.

     "Alright, Aile, you have two choices," my owner informed me, in a tone that I knew meant business. She always used that tone every morning when she sent me to school. It is a dangerous tone. A sign.

     "I'm listening," I replied, nervous.

     "Okay. First choice - adopt a little sibling," she began. "Or-"

     "Second choice! Second choice!" I cried desperately. "I pick second choice!" I immediately berated myself for speaking so quickly. What if the second choice is a BIG sibling!?! I yelled within my head. I knew that Jeanie felt very clever. She was smiling that smile at me - that 'I-got-you' smile that I hate! I knew then it was not a big sibling. It was something much much worse.

     "Pack your bags, hun, we're going on vacation!" Jeanie cheered, prancing around the room like a high-on-sugar Ogrin. She sang and danced, picking up Haelee and throwing her into the air. The poor Ditsy was about to tear from always being strangled by her.

     Then a thought struck me. A horrible thought. "This is a short vacation, is it?" I whispered, my heart caught in my thought. Jeanie's eyes shined malevolently.

     "No, Aile, it isn't." I knew it. My worst fears had come true. My owner was plain evil. She was going to take me all around the world of Neopia. My poor fur…

     ~~~

     The very next day found us flying Eyrie Express to Kreludor. I was frantic. Not only were we thousands of feet up in the air AND above water, but my fur was getting incredibly mussed up! I can't say that I'm not afraid of heights, so every time the Eyrie jerked or turned, Haelee and I would join in a chorus of screaming. My evil owner would just laugh and squeal in delight.

     Why couldn't I have stayed in the Neolodge? I asked myself continually, moaning. And then we arrived, our first stop out of many. Kreludor - Neopia's Moon. I have to say, it was a relief to get off that Eyrie. Haelee and I tumbled around for awhile before gaining our footing. Then we tried walking. "AGgGhHhh!!!!" I screeched as I was blown into the air by... non-gravity!

     Jeanie grabbed my paw. "Kreludor only has 35% gravity compared to Neopia, sweetie. You'll get used to it." My stomach was twisting as I crawled down her arm.

     "I don't want to get used to it!" I said stubbornly. "I wanna go back to Neopia Central where I have a nice bed waiting for me."

     "Don't be such a baby." I glared at her for that comment, but she ignored me and we started walking to our temporary lodgings while on Kreludor. I was relieved to find we at least had beds. Sighing, I began unpacking.

     "Did you bring ALL your plushies?" Jeanie cried, staring over my shoulder. I turned around and glared at her.

     "I need moral support! The owner who I loved and trusted dragged me to the moon," I cried back at her. She stared at me for a moment and then laughed, returning to her own unpacking. It was then I noticed Haelee was missing. I dashed into the hall anxiously.

     "Haelee!?!?" I yelled, looking up and down. I heard a desperate cry and saw the little petpet running towards me. Her eyes were full of horror, and I saw why when I saw the five orange Grundos chasing her. Standing outside the door to our room, we screamed and screamed until the orange Grundos reached us. Then we screamed louder.

     "Ailemea, hush up! You'll insult them," Jeanie said, grabbing Haelee and me.

     "They insult me with their presence," I argued.

     "Ailemea!"

     "Ah, give it a rest. They're too dim-witted to know what I'm saying."

     "Who taught you such rudeness?"

     "You don't believe me? Just watch." I turned to the five Grundos, all watching us curiously. "Native people of Kreludor, what is two plus two?" They all looked at each other wonderingly and then frowned at me.

     "What is Kreludor?" they asked in unison. I turned to Jeanie.

     "I rest my case."

     Over the next couple days we toured all around Kreludor. We learned every stinking detail of Kreludan Mining Corp. from one of the few semi-intelligent Grundos. I had just about given up hope on the vacation when we found the bookstore on the very last day of our visit. Every shelf was empty. Orange Grundos were loading books onto the shelves once more.

     "There ARE intelligent people here!" I cried in exultation. I ran from Grundo to Grundo, pecking them on the cheeks. "This moon isn't doomed!" I said, running to Jeanie in my excitement. It was then I heard some whispering behind us. I turned to see five Grundos staring at me curiously. Whoa! Deja vu! These guys look really familiar! I thought.

     "Hey, isn't that the girl with the Ditsy?" one of the Grundos hissed. Uh oh.

     "And screams," said another, rubbing his antennae-like ears.

     "Yeah, that one that speaks gibberish?" said a third with a little laugh. Their words were slow and clear.

     "Technically," said the fourth deeply, "she was speaking Neopian. Those crazy Neopians don't know enough to speak normally." There was a mutual agreement and the five Grundos laughed. I could feel Jeanie trembling and struggling not to laugh as well.

     "Don't you dare," I hissed at her, grabbing her hand and dragging her away as fast as possible. "I can't wait to get out of here!"

     Jeanie smiled and picked me up, continuing to walk. "To Virtupets Space Station!" she grinned. I groaned.

     ~~~

     A few hours later I was seated comfortably on the space shuttle that was flying us to the Space Station. Haelee sat in my lap, squeaking at passerby and yelping at their petpets. "You are one crazy piece of cardboard," I said, shaking my head and smiling. Jeanie was nose-deep into a brochure about the Space Station.

     "Whoa, listen to this, Aile," Jeanie said excitedly. "'At the RoboPet shop you can buy your very own robotic petpet! A vast majority of them are even made of metal.' What do you think, Aile? They sound a bit more lively than cardboard." I gasped and pulled Haelee closer to me. We concentrated our worst glares at her. However, her nose did not come out of the brochure.

     After a few minutes of silence the Chomby Conductor approached us. "Tickets please," he said. I elbowed Jeanie in the side.

     "Hey, give him the tickets!"

     "What tickets?"

     "The tickets that allow us to be on this shuttle!"

     "There aren't any. The brochure says that this shuttle is free." I snatched the brochure out of her hands and read the front page.

     "Did you happen to miss the big letters saying 'COMING SOON?!" I hissed at her.

     She took the brochure back. Oops. "Do you happen to take cash, sir?" she asked the conductor. The Chomby sighed and pulled a little machine that read 'Ticket-O-Matic.' "One thousand neopoints please."

     "One THOUSAND! That's a rip off!"

     "You should have bought them before you boarded, Miss," the Chomby replied. Grudgingly, Jeanie handed over the neopoints.

     "Next time read between the lines." I sighed. "Or actually read the lines, that would be good too." She glared at me.

     Not long afterward we arrived and dragged our luggage into the station. Grundos stood chatting all around us. I groaned.

     As we entered, a loudspeaker boomed, "Remember all pets must be checked in upon arrival!"

     "Come on then, Ailemea," Jeanie said, dragging me over to the check-in desk. A Ruki Receptionist greeted us.

     "Hello, how can I help you, ladies?" she asked pleasantly.

     "We have a reservation. Under Haelee," Jeanie said, trying to peek at the reservation list. I stared at her.

     "You put it under the name of my petpet?" I asked. Jeanie shook her head.

     "Haelee put it under her own name when she made the reservation," she said.

     "What are you talking about; petpets can't talk!" I argued.

     "What do you think they say about you?" she asked. It was then the receptionist handed us our room key and we started for the room. Posters and signs lined the walls. "Look! Do you want to feed Florg?"

     "What is it with you and getting rid of Haelee?" I said, clutching the trembling Ditsy as we entered our lodgings.

     "Don't be crazy."

     "Well, that's twice you mentioned getting rid of her!"

     "I didn't mean to feed her to Florg," Jeanie said, rubbing her head.

     "Well, that's what it sounded like!"

     "Well, that's not what I meant!"

     "Was so!"

     "Was not!"

     "Was so!"

     "Was not!"

     "Was-"

     "Enough! We're going to eat dinner now. Just put Haelee to sleep and then we'll go."

     "There you go again!"

     "What?"

     "'Put Haelee to sleep' - you totally hate her!"

     "Don't be absurd."

     "I'm not being absurd - it's the truth!"

     "ALRIGHT! I want to kill the stupid piece of cardboard! Can we go eat dinner now?" I stared at her. She sighed. "What now?"

     "You're so cruel," I said, getting a bit choked up.

     "Come on already - let's go to dinner." I sighed and followed her out the door, giving a little wave to Haelee as I did. She blinked back at me.

     The café was in the center of the whole station and was packed with all sorts of species and races. They were mainly Grundos, but I was so hungry I sat down right in the center of them all. Jeanie disappeared for a moment only to reappear with some horrible smelling food. "Bon appetite!" she said sitting down. She placed a plate of disgusting paste before me.

     "I can't eat this," I said, covering my mouth.

     "Why not?"

     "I'll get indigestion," I informed her.

     "How do you know?"

     "Well, I'm SURE it says it in the description."

     "Will you stop being so difficult and just eat your dinner? It is all they had left."

     "I wonder why," I said, taking a scoop and putting it slowly into my mouth. I nearly fainted. It was delicious! Never had anything tasted so good. But I couldn't let that show, not after making such a show. Sadly, I spat it out dramatically. "Disgusting! Yuck, that is horrible!" I wiped my mouth and stared sadly at it.

     Jeanie shook her head. "Nice try, Aile, but I can see straight through you." I stared at her for a moment then dove into my meal.

     The highlights of the next few days were meals. Oh could that Grundo cook! There were some downfalls, like catching Jeanie in the 'Adopt-A-Grundo' room, but I prevailed and explained that we had made a deal by the fact I was on this vacation. She pretty much whined and kicked but we made it through. I'm surprised she never pointed out the petpet shop which Haelee visited everyday.

     On our last day there, I sadly ate my Beef Rouladen while Jeanie dragged our bags to the Eyrie Express Center. Haelee sat beside me, taking little tasters of the Rouladen. Oh how I would miss this food. Not the Grundos, but definitely the food. When Jeanie returned I went to the bar and said good bye to all of the foods I would never taste. Jeanie finally had to drag me to the center where once again I boarded a very horrifying Eyrie.

     "Cheer up, Ailemea," Jeanie called over the winds as we descended into Neopia. "Next stop, Terror Mountain!"

To be continued...

Author's Note: This was fun to write, although it took a while! Hope you enjoy!