Only An Accident

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      "Misty, get out now!" Aly, my owner shouted through my locked bedroom door. She might as well have not said anything; the radio was so loud it drowned out her voice. "You're going to be late you know how Edna feels about tardiness!" She began to pound heavily on the door. "MISTY!!"

      "Alright, alright; I'm out, happy? I said, opening the door. "Shesh, you'd think someone was hurt with the way you're acting."

      "Someone is going to get hurt, namely, you. It's your first day back, at least try to make a good impression," Aly retorted. She subconsciously began to straighten my clothes. "I won't be here when you get home. There's pizza money on the table if you get hungry. Aaron and Bella will be here when you get back."

      "Where are you going?" I asked, already guessing the reason.

      "Shadow," we said simultaneously.

      Aly laughed. "Mister Evil overlord decided to rob Kauvara's shop. I need to go see the extent of the damage and get an estimate on how much it's going to cost to replace everything. All in all, I'm guessing a few hundred thousand neopoints; he did shatter several fire jugs on his way out."

      I rolled my eyes; my baby (literally) Lupe brother was in trouble every other day, this was nothing new. Grabbing my hat, I made my way to the portals in downtown Neopia. Getting in the (relatively) short line for the Haunted Woods portal, I checked my watch. Minutes ticked by. The line gradually shortened, I nervously kept checking my watch; Edna wouldn't like it if I was late.

      As I entered the portal, the world blurred around me for an instant, and then the Haunted Woods slide into focus. I quickly got away and flew (no time for walking) to my destination. Edna's tower was exactly how I remembered it; old, rundown and looked as if one good sneeze would topple it over. Hastily knocking on the door, I glanced at my watch. "Good, I still have five minutes." An aging green Zafara answered the door.

      "'Bout time, you got here," she said after a few several seconds had passed.

      I smiled at her fondly. "I still have five minutes," I retorted good-naturedly. "It's not like I'm late or anything."

      Edna wickedly smiled back."True, but every second counts." She moved aside, gesturing for me to enter; "I've got a job for you, nothing too hard to handle." The inside of the tower was the same as well; crowded, messy and cluttered.

      "Lemme guess, I'm going to have to read Potions for Beginners for the millionth time in a row," I replied, exasperated.

      "No, I've think you've read that long enough. You're going to brew a potion."

      I gawked at Edna for several seconds before finding my voice. "A potion? But you never-"

      "An easy one, mind; some of these are still too advanced for you," my mentor said hastily. Picking up Potions for Beginners, she flicked through the pages. "This one doesn't look too hard," she muttered handing me the book.

      "...Hair Tonic?"

      Edna must have caught my look of confusion as she rolled her eyes. "It's for pampered rich pets. You're supposed to rub it into your hair to make it soft, shiny and easy to brush." She regarded me warily before continuing. "Think you can brew this without my help? Think of this as a test; I've got to go down to the market and pick up a few things. Silly questers, they never get here on time with the ingredients." I nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

      Finally, I'm going to brew a real potion! I thought. I could barely contain my excitement. Edna eyed me anxiously as she left. I looked around the rather cramped shelves looking for the necessary ingredients. "Strained Twirly Fruit, Squidroot extract, healing potion IV..." I recited from memory. Placing the ingredients near my cauldron, I notice Dark, Edna's meowclops, batting playfully at a small vial filled with some weird green goop on a low shelf next to it, the label written sloppily in red ink making it impossible to read..

      That's odd, this wasn't here last time; she must have just gotten it. Pushing away several miscellaneous items from my workspace, I lit the fire underneath the tiny cauldron. As I poured the healing potion inside, I glanced at the potion's instructions out of habit. "Add the strained Twirly fruit and let rest for 2 minutes. Then mix in the extract and voidberry juice."

      So absorbed in my work, I failed to notice Dark. The kitten batted the vial so hard, it toppled right of the shelf and landed with a soft plop in the cauldron. Dark stared at the murky depths of the cauldron before deciding he should be bothering the Neopian Times weewoo. I mixed in the last ingredient, and poured a sample of the potion into a vial. Absentmindedly cleaning my work area (Edna hated when I left a mess), I couldn't help but wonder about the Tonic.

      Surely it's been done right; I followed the instructions down to the letter! ... What's Edna going to do with it? Give it to a quester? A lock of my shoulder length hair fell in front of my eyes as an idea struck me. I could use some myself; my hair was always tangled, frizzy and impossible to control. The Tonic would get rid of that.

      Hastily uncorking the bottle, I poured its contents on my head and rubbed. The potion tingled slightly. The front door opened, I turned to see Edna enter, cradling several shopping bags in her arms. She turned in to me; her eyes widened in shock and dropped the bags.

      "What- what have you done to your hair!?!" she croaked. "It... it..." She trailed off, the shock evident on her face.

      I stared at her, confused. "What do you mean? What about my hair?" I reached up, it felt very soft.

      Edna clutched the edge of a table for support. "What did you do? You look horrible." Suddenly she threw he head back, laughing. "You look like someone whose hair job went wrong!" She crackled, handing me a mirror.

      I grabbed it, and stared in horror at my once auburn locks, now a light green. Pink wisps zigzagged through the light green tresses, making my head look like an eyesore. I stood there, mouth hanging open like an idiot, wondering how I was going to explain this catastrophe. Aaron and Bella would believe anything after Aly's friend Kal had accidentally drunk one of my previous solo attempts at potionmaking and grown an extra head. Shadow would get a kick out of this; he'd probably choke on his laughter once he saw me. I had no idea how Aly would react though...

      I looked up; Edna was starting to get a hold of her, but a giggle still escaped her lips. "So... I love your new hairstyle. Who did it? I really must get an appointment." Apparently this was too much for her; she burst out laughing once more.

      "Edna! Stop laughing!" I glared at my teacher until she calmed down. "How do I get rid of this? My mom's going to freak!"

      "All right, all right. Calm down, we'll fix this."

      *one hour later*

      I stared at the door to the house, wishing the ground would swallow me whole. My head ached from having repeatedly jammed my hat onto it. The laughs that had followed me from Edna's tower were still ringing in my ears; all I really wanted to do right now was to hide under my bed. Muffled shouts and what sounded suspiciously like a blaster being fired could be heard; I wouldn't be able to sneak into my room without them seeing this. Hadn't I suffered enough today? Apparently not.

      The door swung open and my Baby Lupe of a brother came out, jerking to a halt before he slammed into me and managing to knock off my hat in the bargain. Behind him I could see my Christmas Kacheek sister and red Xweetok brother, as well as my blonde owner, pinning down one of Shadow's glitchy androids. At least, I thought it was glitchy since it kept blasting at nothing in particular. They were all frozen in shock at the sight of my still pink-and-green hair.

      I was as if it had been preordained; Shadow clung to the doorframe, his whole frame shaking with suppressed laughter. Bella and Aaron sighed in exasperation as if to say 'Really, you messed up again?' I felt my cheeks heating as I reluctantly turned to my owner. Aly didn't look upset, with only the slight arching of an eyebrow to suggest it might be unusual for your 8-year-old daughter to come home with a green head of hair

      "Contaminated potion?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

      My blush worsened as I nodded, an embarrassed giggle slipping out as I answered, "Oh, Mom, it was only an accident."

The End