Stuck in the SDB

      Kira was a plushie Anubis. She had once been living in the Lost Desert, until the vacation that changed her life.

      Alioume (Kira called her Ali for short) and her sisters and owner had been in the Lost Desert for a vacation, and Ali needed a petpet. She fell in love with Kira when she saw her, and pretty soon Kira was staying with Ali in the hotel. She had so much fun when Ali loved her. But then, one day, it happened. He happened. Ali had been at home playing with Kira when Roxy had walked in with an Angelpuss. Ali grabbed it, and Roxy took Kira away and dumped her here. Some called it the SDB, whatever that stood for. Anyway, she lived a life of solitude from everyone. Almost everyone.

      She and her fellows had made a sort of club called the Petpet Life Enforcement. It was all about how petpets should never be taken away from their owners, and other things that they thought were important.

      Kira sighed. She felt her eyelids heavy, but she couldn’t sleep. She got off of her plushie bed and went to find Anora.

      As she walked through the mounds of items and junk, trying to find her best friend, Link. Link was a Bloop who had been in the SDB longer than Kira. Link listened to anything that Kira had to say. He was always such a good friend.

      “Link?” she whispered. She hoped he was there.

      “Ya?” somebody whispered back. Out of the shadows came Link.

      “Link, I’m nervous.”

      “About the guild choosing? Me too.” Link and Kira were talking about the petpet ‘guilds’. There was Search-and-Rescue, Collecting, Healing, and Decorating. Each guild stood for something different and had different responsibilities. Nobody really wanted Search-and-Rescue, which was when you searched for anything useful or any petpets. Kira didn’t care what she got, as long as she was with Link. That was all she wanted.

      “You two! What are you doing here?” By the light of the glowing objects in the empty sand jars, Kira and Link saw that Melissa (a snobby, stuck up Barbat), their least favorite petpet ever, was sitting in front of them.

      “What are you doing here?” Link asked, rising one eyebrow.

      “Same as you two. I’m practicing collecting things. I want to be in the Collecting guild,” Melissa retorted.

      “You and the rest of the world,” Kira replied. She and Link turned to go, but Melissa stopped them.

      “All right, I’ll tell you. The real reason I’m out here is, I’m practicing playing Igloo Garage Sale with Samantha. Happy now?” Kira and Link stood there with shock. Nobody was allowed to play games, and they were never allowed up at night (even though Kira and Link did it, they still shouldn’t). And Melissa and Samantha never broke rules. This was insane.

      “Well, we should all go back soon. They pick us for guilds tonight, you know,” Kira told Link and Melissa. She started to walk away, and Link followed her.

      “Can you believe her?” Link muttered under his breath as Melissa flew in front of them.

      “Well, we aren’t exactly innocent either, are we?” Kira muttered back.

      “Ya, well, still...” Kira and Link finally got back to their plushie beds, and Kira dreamed peaceful dreams.

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      “Everybody, wake up! Wake up! They're choosing; we don’t want to be late!” Kira woke up to hear petpets yelling and running about getting ready. Kira wanted to sleep, but knew it was out of the question. She dragged herself over to the washing station, and washed her face with the soap. Then, she had to have Link drag her off to the breakfast hall, where they ate. Finally, Kira was awake and ready to be chosen.

      “Come on, Link! Hurry up! We can’t miss this!”

      “Coming, coming!” Link called back. Kira was almost ready to fly, she was so excited! After what seemed an hour to Kira (but was really only fifteen minutes) everybody was gathered in the Counselor’s Hall. This was it.

      After the head counselor gave their speech, it was finally time. They were chosen.

      First, they all had to go into a room. They had no clue what guild they were in. Then, they were given a small test (verbal) and then they would be notified what guild they were in.

      Just before they went to sleep, they were to look in their beds, and they would find the letter telling them what club they were in. Kira crossed her paws that she would get Collecting. Collecting, Collecting, Collecting- Kira’s thoughts were interrupted by a scream.

      “I got Collecting!” Kira turned, but it wasn’t Melissa who had spoken. Link was holding a letter, staring at it.

      Kira opened her letter. She passed all the official stuff, and finally spotted it.

     Congratulations! You have been chosen for Search-and-Rescue!

      Kira’s heart stopped. Search-and-Rescue? Surely, this was a mistake!

      “Oh no! Not Search-and-Rescue!”

      This was worse than a mistake. Not only was Kira on Search-and-Rescue, but in addition, she was with Melissa!

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      “I can’t believe I got Search-and-Rescue! This is an outrage! I demand a new guild!”

      “Oh, shut up, Melissa. We’re all here, and yelling won’t do anybody good,” Kira snapped. She wished that at least one familiar face other than Melissa was there. There was an orange Ona named Shoe, Melissa, a red Slorgclops named Harry, and (even worse than Melissa) was Squiggle, the Angelpuss that had stolen Ali. He was now Christmas, and no matter what he said, Kira still hated him. It wasn’t fair that she should give him sympathy jut because he was no longer Ali’s favorite, was it?

      Just then, Rocky (their guild master) came over. He was a Vullard, and he always seemed to be grumpy.

      “Okay, you younglings, today is the first day of your training. We will fly or walk (for those of you who can’t fly) and we will try and find anything useful, all right? So let’s hurry up and eat, then we can start!” He flew off to grab himself some food. The rest of them all started to get their own food. Kira wondered where to sit. She had always sat with Link, but guilds were supposed to eat with other members today, so they could meet the each other.

      “Um, hi. Can I sit with you?” Kira looked up. Shoe was looking down at her.

      “Sure. Sit down.”

      Shoe sat down. She began to eat her food. “I’ve never seen you before,” she said.

      “Same to you. I’ve only ever known Melissa. And him.”

      “Him? Who’s him?” Shoe asked.

      “Squiggle.”

      “Don’t you like him?”

      “No. He stole Alioume from me! I miss her, and now he expects sympathy.”

      “Oh. Well, guess what? I know you.”

      Kira looked at her. “Ya?” she asked.

      “Yes. You um, well... stole Alioume from me.”

      This was so shocking. Kira had stolen Ali from Shoe, and she still wanted to sit with her? “What!?”

      “Yup. You see, Alioume had had me for years. She loved me, and I loved her. But then, they went off to the Lost Desert, and I was thrown in here once they came back with you.”

      Kira was so alarmed by this. She didn’t want to get into a fight, so she stood up, ready to leave.

      “Oh, don’t worry! I still like you. I just think you should give Squiggle a second chance, that’s all.”

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      “Alright, troops. Let’s get ready to fly! And for some of you, walk!” squawked Rocky. “Go!” Everybody set off somewhere. Kira ran one way, Harry went the other. Everybody else lifted into the air.

      It was eerie to run down these dark passageways. It was almost like a maze. Suddenly, Kira came face-to-face with a glowing sand jar. She grabbed it (it could be used for light) and continued on. She found some rotting candy, some good candy that she put in the sand jar, and a plushie. She turned around and rolled the jar back.

      “Good work, Kira! Go back, now.” Kira dropped the jar off at the collecting center, where they organized everything into piles of food, plushies, light objects, and junk. Kira was so excited, so when she came up to a squished NeoCola can, she almost tripped over a Puppyblew, lying there.

      “Eeep!” Kira cried. The Puppyblew looked alarmed. She tried to back away, but a plushie stopped her. She shivered in the darkness.

      “Who are you?” Kira asked her.

      “M-miley! Wh-who are you?” she stuttered.

      “Kira. Why are you here? Are you lost?”

      “N-no! I’m tr-trying to find m-my owner!”

      “Who’s your owner? Ali? Gem? Bingo? Joy?”

      “N-no! My owner i-is Kameeah. She l-lives on a side account of R-roxy’s!”

      “Oh! Well, you must be starving. Come on, I’ll help get you some food.” Kira helped Miley up, and then they left for some food. While munching on orange juice and cake, Kira told Miley all about Ali, and how much she missed her. Miley missed Kameeah, too. She also wanted to get out, fast. Miley told Kira that Kameeah was leaving back for home in two days! And she had no idea where that was.

      “Well, don’t worry, Miley. We’ll get out of here. Come on, let’s get started.”

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      “Miley, are you sure this is the way out?” Kira asked her friend.

      “Positive,” she replied. They stared up at a huge, metal door.

      “Well, how do we get out?” Kira asked her.

      “I-I don’t know,” Miley replied.

      “Okay, let’s try pushing the door.” Kira and Miley pushed the door. It opened a tiny way, enough for Miley to slip through, but Kira wouldn’t be able to.

      “Let’s-try-harder!” Miley panted. Where was water when they needed it? Kira and Miley jumped at it again, and again, and again. At last, it was open. However, Kira had hurt her paw, and it was really sore.

      “A-are you okay, K-kira?”

      “No.”

      “W-well, I’ll w-wait for yo-ou.”

      “No! You can go! Just leave me here- I’ll be fine!”

      “Yo-you’re not fine! Yo-you’ll die!”

      “No! Miley, just go!”

      “No! It’s m-my fault that y-you’re here!”

      “Don’t talk rubbish! I wanted to help you!”

      “Why?” This was the hardest question to answer. Kira wasn’t sure why.

      “Because... I know what it’s like to lose an owner. I want you to get back to yours.” Kira felt tears in her eyes. Right now, all of her memories flashed through her. Ali buying her, playing with Ali, being snatched away by Roxy. But then, very clearly in her head, Link and Shoe’s faces appeared. She wanted them all to be safe, and couldn’t Ali help that?

      “Let’s go,” she said, standing up. It hurt, but she could manage it.

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      Kira and Miley crept slowly out of the SDB. There was junk lying in piles everywhere. Sand jars, plushies, toys, key rings, but there was no time to look at them now. Ali and Kameeah were the most important things.

      “Ok, which way should we go?” Kira asked Miley.

      “Um, l-left?”

      “Okay.” Kira and Miley darted left into the laundry room. Nothing.

      “Okay, wrong way. Let’s go... right?” Kira asked.

      “What o-other way i-is there?”

      Kira laughed, then dashed right this time. And there, on the big sofa, crying her eyes out was a Korbat. This must be Kameeah, Kira thought. She looked around for Ali. She spotted a silver Acara outside.

      “You work things out with Kam; I’m going to Ali!” And without waiting for a reply, Kira rushed outside. Luckily, the screen door was open. Kira barked, and Ali glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes widened.

      “Kira!” she cried, quickening forward. She scooped her up into her arms. Kira could hardly believe it. She was home at last.

After note:

     Kameeah and Miley are happily living together. She was overjoyed to have her best friend back. As for the other petpets? Kira convinced Ali to let them all stay in her room, where they live happily, away from the SDB, and they will stay there forever.

The End