What Really Goes On When You Are Away

      With a contented smile, she pushed open the door of her Neohome, only to drop the bag filled with bottled sand she had been carrying. Mud streaked the floors of the kitchen, and Lupe paw prints decorated the walls, too.

      "JAKE!" she screeched, glancing around furiously. Mingled with Jake's tracks were also Kacheek foot prints and Xweetok paw prints, indicating that there had been more than one culprit.

      "KIMBLE! SHOOTINGTAIL!" Lila yelled, unable to hide her rage. At that instant a Baby Lupe raced into the room, his fur covered in mud, and his paws bathed in the foul stuff.

      "Jake, what in Neopia happened here?" Lila demanded, giving her younger brother a fierce stare. Jake laughed excitedly, too pleased with his handiwork to really mind his older sister's current rage. "Mom's gone for the weekend!" Jake laughed, lashing his bushy tail happily.

      "What?" Lila gasped, looking rather dumbstruck. "What do you mean? Where's Alex?" she asked, frowning with slight concern.

     Jake smirked and held up a note with his front paw. Somehow, the note had not been damaged by the mud...

      "Read the note!" Jake insisted, holding up the paper. Lila gingerly accepted the letter and read to herself, then aloud, her eyes widening at its contents.

     "Dear Lila, Jake, Kimble, and Shootingtail,

     I'm sorry, but something has come up at the Guild. I was forced to leave for the weekend and attend a meeting involving some new members and Slorg problems. Don't ask why. As leader of SilverClan, it's my responsibility, yada yada yah, you know the rest. :) I'll miss you, my loves, and think about you while I'm ridding Silvy of its Slorg infestation. Anyway, I should be back by Sunday. Lila, you're in charge. I've left 20,000 Neopoints so you can order out, and if there are any problems, you know how to reach the Defenders Of Neopia. Please keep everything under control, and don't let things get chaotic while I'm away. Please.

     Love,

     Alex."

      Lila looked up, wide-eyed, to stare in Jake's gleeful face. "Isn't this awesome? Mom's gone!" Jake cheered, letting out a little yip of excitement as he bounced around Lila, who still clung to the note out of shock. Lila shook her head to clear it before asking, "Where's Shootingtail and Kimble?"

      "Shootingtail and Kimble are right here," a voice answered. A Faerie Kacheek, accompanied by a Shadow Xweetok, entered the kitchen. The female Kacheek had stripes and lines painted on her face with mud, and the Xweetok bore similar markings. How creative.

      "Kimble, Shootingtail, what are you wearing?" Lila asked her sisters, referring to their "face paint".

      "We're being natives!" Shootingtail replied cheerfully, smiling brightly. "See? We couldn't find any crushed berry juice to use for the markings, so we took Jake's idea and used mud instead! And Pteri feathers for the headdress!"

      Lila rolled her eyes before asking, "How could three small Neopets cause such a mess?"

      "We didn't," Kimble and Shootingtail replied hastily, wiping the mud from their cheeks. "Jake did it!" they both yelped, pointing accusingly at their brother.

      "Hey, what happened to all for one and one for all? What about the deal we made?" Jake stammered, looking rather taken aback.

      "It's every Neopet for themselves now," Kimble answered cheekily.

     Lila sighed as she glanced around slowly. This mess would take forever to clean up. "How am I supposed to take charge when my own siblings can't behave?" she wondered, sighing heavily. Kimble fluttered her bright orange wings and hovered next to Lila, with a look of guilt in her eyes.

      "We're sorry, Lila. We didn't mean to make such a huge problem."

      "Yeah, really sorry!"

      "We'll clean it up now, if you like."

      Lila couldn't help but smile at her siblings' eagerness to help clean up the mess. With a grin, she scooped up a handful of mud and splashed a dab on her own nose. "Let's get to work, then..."

      About two hours later, after the kitchen had been cleaned, and Jake, Kimble, Shootingtail and Lila had bathed, they'd all gotten ready for bed. Sitting around the fireplace in the living room, Lila was silently reading a book, while Jake entertained himself with writing something rather peculiar on a piece of paper. Kimble was sitting on the sofa with Shootingtail beside her, and they were both busy drawing in a sketch book.

      "You do realize we have the whole house to ourselves, right?" Jake's mischievous voice caught Lila's attention and she glanced up rather curiously at him.

      Kimble raised a brow and stared, while Shootingtail answered, '"Yeah, so?"

      "We should so throw a party!" Jake concluded with a grin. His exclamation brought dead silence to meet his words.

     Cricket chirp, cricket chirp...

      "Are you insane?" Lila finally asked after the long silence and annoying cricket chirps. "Alex would have a fit if she found out!"

     "You said if. Only if Alex finds out would she have a fit," Jake said rather cheekily, and added as if an after thought, "And I do believe I'm only partially insane."

      Kimble rolled her eyes and murmured, "You know, Jake does have a point. It would be kind of fun to have a party. I mean, we have two whole days to throw one, and what's the worst that could happen?"

      "The worst that could happen?' Lila sighed, exasperated. "For a start, Alex would be mad! She'd probably clip your wings off for that remark alone, Kimble!"

     Kimble shuddered and wrapped her wings protectively around her small body. "Alex isn't mean," she whimpered, shrugging to herself with a reassuring look.

      Shootingtail sat up rather straight and said, "I agree with Lila. E-even though it w-would be fun, I was only just adopted. I wouldn't want to risk anything."

      "Relax, Shooty," Jake chirped, using his nickname for Shootingtail as he spoke. "Alex won't find out."

     After a pause of silence, Lila silently contemplated how difficult it would be to manage a party, let-alone, without their mom finding out. After a sigh, she finally decided on the all-wonderful answer of What's the worst that could happen? and declared, "Fine. We can throw a party."

      Jake's eyes widened like moons as he let out a howl. "YEEEHAW! PARTY! PARTY!" he yelled, jumping up and down excitedly as he spoke.

     "Calm down!" Shootingtail growled, but was drowned out by the combined voices of Jake and Kimble as she cheered, "WOOHOO! WE'LL INVITE EVERYBODY!"

      "Freeze!" Lila's voice rose above the clamor, and everybody went deafly silent. "We're only inviting a few guests. This means mostly relatives. And we're not throwing a huge, chaotic, wild party. Understood? And if anything is broken, then everybody goes home, and no party. Got it?"

      "Got it!" everyone replied at once, and instantly went back to chattering excitedly. Even Shootingtail seemed excited now about the prospect of a huge party coming up.

      Lila groaned as she lay down, outstretched on a sofa with her paw on her face.

      This was going to be a long weekend.

     The next day, around the late afternoon, Kimble, Lila, Shootingtail, and Jake had all agreed on the following terms for the party:

     1.) Relatives only. This consisted of themselves, their four cousins, Kayla, Fire_Song, Rayne, Icey, their step brothers, Elyse and Sparky, and their second cousins, Creekstripe, Talaketra, GemRoar and Underdagger.

     2.) No huge messes or stains from food, drinks, or potted plants being knocked over and leaving dirt all over the house. Again.

     3.) They would have several types of Neocola, pretzels, popcorn, chips, and some fruit slices as snacks.

     4.) NO loud forms of music that could crack glass. If it was kept at a low volume, then it would be acceptable.

     5.) The party would last from 7:30 P.M. NST to 9:30 P.M. NST.

     6.) All four of their petpets would be kept in Lila's room until after the party was over, so the noise wouldn't rattle them up.

     7.) And FINALLY, the most important rule of them all (no, not having fun, that's next): Alex could not find out.

     8.) Have fun!

      Jake smiled proudly at his hard work as he glanced about the main room of their household. Streamers were strung about all the doorways, and a shiny disco ball hung from the ceiling. (5,000 of the Neopoints Alex had left them was used to purchase it. Another 2,000 was invested into food, leaving 13,000 for emergency purposes.)

      With a glance around, he observed Lila straightening up the room, while Shootingtail and Kimble carried out bowls of food to set on the table.

      "This looks great!" Shootingtail purred, smiling, as she laid a pitcher of cherry Neocola on the corner table.

      "Indeed it does!" Lila agreed with a warm smile. Kimble nodded simply and continued setting up. About half an hour later, around 7:35 P.M. NST, the first four guests arrived.

      "Hey, Cous'!" Rayne, the Blue Xweetok, greeted Kimble as she opened the door. Standing behind Rayne, Fire_song, the Fire Kougra, let out a meow of agreement and added, "Thanks for inviting us!"

      "It wasn't a problem, really," Kimble admitted, hugging them both. She then took a step back to let them both inside, and proceeded to hug Kayla and Icey, her other cousins, whom were a rather evil Baby Aisha and a spunky Electric Wocky.

      Next came their stepbrothers, Sparky, the electric Kougra, and Elyse, the Rainbow Aisha. Soon after followed their second cousins, Talaketra, the Blue Eyrie, Creekstripe, a Blue Kougra, Underdagger, another blue Neopet, an Ogrin, and finally, GemRoar, the Yellow Kougra.

     Once all the Neopets had settled in, Lila padded to the center of the room and announced, "Hey, everyone! I'm glad you could all make, and I hope you all enjoy yourselves!"

      A cheer rose from the group of fourteen as Kayla yelled rather randomly, "World domination!" only to be whacked on the back of the head by her sister, Fire_Song.

      "Not now," the Kougra growled. Jake let out an excited howl and instantly rushed towards the Cloud Print Speaker and played it. At once, loud, hypnotic music rose out of it, filling the room with noise. A bit too loud, but hey, who was keeping track of the noise level?

      "Let's get this party started!" Icey yelled. "Dance competition!" Elyse called out, stepping into the center of the room. Instantly Talaketra spread out his wings and rushed forward, eyes narrowed intently, as he smirked, "I accept!"

      "Go, Elyse!" Sparky yelled, only to be drowned out by Kimble and Underdagger's chanting: "Talaketra! Talaketra!"

      Lila breathed a heavy sigh as she slumped against the wall. Maybe things won't be so bad after all, she decided, looking around rather drowsily. Jake was off being a DJ, singing way offkey to the song, while most of her family gathered around Elyse and Talaketra to watch them dance off. At the snack table, GemRoar, Kayla, and Shootingtail were stuffing their faces with chips, leaving crumbs everywhere. Without having to worry, Lila allowed herself to drift off and relax for a bit.

      Already an hour had passed, and everything was, believe it or not, under control. Mostly everyone was dancing and having a good time, and the place was still in one piece. The only incident had been the case of where Jake had gotten a glass bowl stuck on his head, and it took the combined efforts of everyone to pull it off his big head. This resulted in the glass smashing, which Lila had quickly cleaned up and disposed of. Alex wouldn't notice! Hopefully!

      As Lila made her way into the kitchen, preparing to refill the chip bowl, did she catch sight of a Whoot sitting on the window sill with a letter in its beak. Surprised, Lila cautiously approached the small petpet and petted it, before taking the letter from it. She read it aloud, gasping at the dreaded words written on the line below:

     "Dear Lila, Jake, Kimble, and Shootingtail,

     I just finished my work early! It turns out the Slorgs were only homeless and looking for a place to stay for the night, and the new members were helping take care of them! This is great news! So, I'll be coming home a day early. Tonight, in fact. I sent this Whoot to deliver my message to whoever receives it. I'll be home in perhaps thirty, forty minutes.

     With great love and affection,

     Alex."

     The letter floated from Lila's trembling paws to the floor below. Hooting, the Whoot stretched open its beak before flying off, leaving a shocked Lila. If it had taken that Whoot perhaps twenty minutes to get here, after Alex had written that, that would mean Alex would be home in only fifteen minutes! Lila realized. Not wasting a second, she darted out into the other room, roughly grabbing Jake by the scruff, Kimble by her wings, and Shootingtail by her tail, and dragged them into the kitchen, away from the party.

      "Hey, what are you doing?!" Jake demanded as he was released onto the floor.

      "Yeah, what's your problem?" Kimble grumbled as she rubbed her head.

      "Alex is coming home! Tonight!" Lila yelled, her voice high and panicky. Jake, Kimble, and Shootingtail all gasped at the terrible news.

      "Oh, great!" Jake grumbled, looking around wildly. "How are we supposed to get our siblings out of the house before Mom gets home?" There was a pause of silence as he spoke, and everyone's eyes rested on Lila.

      "Any ideas?" Shootingtail asked.

      LIla didn't reply right away; currently, she was trying to think of an idea that could save their sorry rumps from getting in deep trouble. Oh, if only I could lure them all out of the house, Lila thought. Suddenly, her eyes widened. She had an idea. "Listen closely," Lila began, leaning forward to tell them her brilliant idea...

      "Let's take a break," Sparky sighed as he flopped rather lazily onto the floor. "All this dancing has tired me out!"

      "You can say that again," Kayla moaned as she flopped down next to him. "Some night, huh?"

      "Mm-hmm. Our cousins really know how to throw a party."

      "Speaking of them, did you see where Jake, Shootingtail, Kimble and Lila slunk off to?"

      "Nope," Sparky answered softly.

     Just then, as if on cue, a bag of Neopoints with the words "Something Has Happened" and the numbers "1,000,000" written on it, was flung into the center of the room.

      "Oh wow! Would you look at that!" Jake shouted, pointing over-dramatically at the bag. Everybody froze. "It's a Random Event! Look; a million Neopoints!"

     Everyone gasped, and Kayla instantly ran for it, screaming, "MINE!"

     Just then, the bag did the impossible, and flew up into the air! It flew! O__o Straight out of everyone's reach, somehow seemingly levitating tauntingly out of reach.

      "Oh my word!" Fire_Song gasped as the bag headed for the door.

      "Quick! After it!" Talaketra yelled, charging out the door after the flying bag of Neopoints. Basically everyone else had the same idea, as they all charged out the door after it, leaving the house in pursuit. A few moments later, when Lila, Kimble, and Shootingtail had crept back into the room(to avoid the stampede) a Christmas Horus, with an empty Neopoint bag rested firmly on its back, flew into the room through the open door.

      "Nice work, Holly!" Kimble whispered as she closed the door and removed the bag off of Holly's head. Holly cooed in reply and took off again, flying into the hallway, towards Kimble's bedroom.

      "That was a close call," Jake sighed as he looked around. "That was a clever idea, Lila." Then he took the opportunity to look around the room, and froze. There were cups spewed about, crumbs from all the food, and a few bowls on the table tipped over. The party decorations were on the floor, crumbled up from being stepped on, but other than that, the house was still in one piece.

      Lila glanced hastily at the clock hanging on the nearby wall and pointed out, "Alex will be home any minute! Quick, clean up!"

     "Aye-aye!" Shootingtail, Kimble and Jake all yelped, and instantly proceeded to mop, dust, pick up, and remove all signs of the decorations.

      Five minutes later, the house was back to normal, and when all four siblings breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against the wall in defeat, Alex opened the front door.

      "I'm home!" she called out joyfully, walking towards her beloved pets.

      "Hi," Shootingtail greeted Alex weakly, closing her eyes.

      "What's wrong?' Alex asked, sounding rather concerned. "You all look as if you had run a marathon and were about the collapse out of exhaustion!"

      "We just had a long day," Kimble lied sleepily, yawning. So far, Alex appeared clueless and didn't guess what had really happened.

     Alex nodded in understanding and looked around. "Wow! This place is spotless," she stated, beaming at them proudly. "Good job! You know, to be honest, I expected to see this place in ruins, but I guess I was wrong. Everything looks to be in check. You know what? Since you all did an excellent job keeping this place neat, and didn't disobey me (and because Jake won't stop pestering me about this) I'll reward you four by letting you throw a party!"

      "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jake yelled, bashing his head against the wall. Shootingtail fainted, while Kimble and Lila looked as if they'd just been kicked.

      "What did we do to deserve this cruel punishment?" Jake wailed, continuing to hit his head against the wall. Just then, he, Kimble and Lila, felt the need to faint from exhaustion and shock, too.

      Alex could only stare blankly for several long seconds before asking herself, "Was it something I said?"

The End