A Visit to Aunt Lola's: Part One

      You see, Mia and her two pets were on vacation. Well, if you could call it that. Really, they were just visiting relatives, Aunt Lola and Cousin Phil. How they were related to Lola and Phil, not even Mia knew. But every summer, at some point in time, she would drag Fiona (the Kyrii) and Helen (the Cybunny) off to Happy Valley for a visit.

      "Hello Lola," Mia said, greeting the Kiko. "You look lovely today." The Kiko blushed, shaking her stubby hand with the blond haired girl.

      "Glad to see you, Mia. And where are my favorite pets, Fiona and Helen?" The old Kiko looked around behind Mia until she finally spotted the two siblings. Upon finding them, she pulled them into a huge hug. "There you are, my girls, there you are!"

      Before Aunt Lola could say something like 'my how tall you've gotten', Fiona spoke up. "Howdy, Aunt Lola. What have you been up to?" she asked politely. Aunt Lola chuckled.

      "Aw, little Fiona, always the polite one. Always, and cute too!" she added, pulling at Fiona's cheek. The Kyrii rolled her eyes. "And don't forget, sweet little Helen, the shy Cybunny! Oh and yes, who could forget that temper of hers!"

      Helen, who had hoped to avoid Aunt Lola's annoying greetings, sighed. "Hi Aunt Lola," she said quietly. "Great to see you again." Helen wrinkled her nose as she was choked into a big hug from Aunt Lola. She grumbled quietly, angry that she was being forced to spend a whole week with someone like Aunt Lola.

      The Kiko straitened up and smiled at Helen. "Now, let me show you inside. Silly me, I'm sorry to keep you waiting. It's rather cold outside and those bags must be getting awfully heavy!" she said, noting the snowflakes that were beginning to fall and the suitcases all three visitors were carrying. "Phil's inside."

      Slowly, the four entered Aunt Lola's rugged Neohome. It smelled distinctly like Doglefox fur and Tigersquash. It was small, and rather messy, though Mia beamed as she walked in.

      "Put down your bags, girls, I'm sure you're getting tired of carrying them. I'll bring them upstairs later." They all did as Aunt Lola advised, since the bags were fairly heavy.

      "Where's Phil?" Mia asked.

      "Oh, yes, Phil is in the kitchen. We bought some snacks, just for the occasion. Neocola, chocolates, and even some pasties, since they're Fiona's favorite," Aunt Lola said, smiling at the Kyrii. "Let me grab him for you."

      Aunt Lola disappeared for a moment into the kitchen. Minutes later, she emerged, accompanied by a tall, red Lupe. Then, she disappeared again, and this time, returned with snacks. As she eyed Cousin Phil, Helen grabbed a can of Neocola.

      The Lupe's fur was very messy, with the wild look that it hadn't been properly brushed for weeks. He had a fairly large belly, and seemed to be a little chubby, just like Aunt Lola. He nervously scratched his head and smiled at the company.

      "Well, hi, Phil," Mia said, breaking the silence. "You look as, well, healthy, as ever." She winked at Cousin Phil, and he panted in response.

      "You remember Helen. She's your age, you know," she continued, pointing out her Cybunny. Shyly, Helen waved to Phil. Although they were the same age, Helen had never been fond of Cousin Phil. He had always proved to be quite annoying, whatever they were doing. She preferred to stay as far away from him as possible.

      "I remember her, the quiet one," Cousin Phil said. "I hope you've gotten more talkative, since I still love a good chat!" Mia giggled, and nudged Helen.

      Resentfully, Helen nodded. "That sounds nice," she mumbled.

      "And Fiona, too. She's a little chattier, as you might recall." Upon being mentioned, the Kyrii excitedly sprang into the air.

      "I guess I am a little more talkative. But I don't talk too much, no, not at all. I just seem to talk a lot compared to my sister, who is so quiet all the time. But really, I don't talk too much, I talk just the right amount," Fiona said excitedly, a little out of breath. She considered Cousin Phil someone to talk to, but not quite a companion.

      The Lupe stared at Fiona. "You talk a lot," he said finally. Awkwardly, he added, "but so do I. So I guess it works out. One loud Phil, plus one shy Helen, plus one chatty Fiona, equals fun!" Helen rolled her eyes, but her sister bounced up and down happily.

      "I guess I can show you guys your rooms," he suggested, as he began to lead them up the stairs.

     --

      Comfortably, Helen sat on her bed. "It's not as comfy as my bed at home," she observed. "And I miss my room and all my things."

      Mia, whose bed was in the other corner of the room, next to Fiona's, just giggled. "But it's a little adventure. Don't you love visiting Aunt Lola and Cousin Phil?"

      "No, not really," Helen replied dismally. She grunted, for she really did loathe visits to Aunt Lola's. Fiona, who seemed to be enjoying the visit as much as Mia was, shook her head at her sister.

      "I think you're acting spoiled," she told the Cybunny. "I personally think visiting Aunt Lola and Cousin Phil is the most exciting thing we do all summer."

      Helen ignored her owner and sister's comments, though she couldn't help thinking, "Do you call lazing around a smelly Neohome with an annoying Lupe exciting?" She tried to shake the thought off as she continued unpacking her things. When she finished, she looked up. "How is this exciting. Aunt Lola is annoying and Cousin Phil is ten times worse! I hate visiting them. I hate them, too," she spat, angrily.

      Mia, who was surprised at her pet's sudden change of tone, snapped at her. "What's with this showy attitude?" she promptly asked. "Your relatives are perfectly friendly and rather fun to be around. I don't want you acting this way at dinner and making us look like fools. Aunt Lola invites us back every year, and don't think she doesn't notice your sour personality."

      Not in the mood for an argument, the spotted Cybunny just glared at her owner and walked back downstairs for dinner. Fiona just shrugged at Mia.

     --

      "You haven't touched your food," Fiona whispered to her sibling. The Kyrii was right. Helen hadn't taken a bite of her Mashed Eye Potato or her Finger Crisps, and it didn't look as if she had sipped any of her Chilled Eyeball Custard.

      As she fiddled in her seat, the Cybunny turned back to Fiona. "Well, if Aunt Lola didn't like to serve gross and spooky food, maybe I would." Hearing this, Fiona uncomfortably looked down at her plate, which was nearly empty. Scratching her forehead with her paw, she returned to the last of her dinner.

      "So, what would you all like to do tomorrow? We could go out and buy slushies, or play a game of Rink Runner, whatever you three would like," Aunt Lola said through a greasy mouthful of Finger Crisps. Helen's face brightened a little. Maybe this visit wouldn't be so boring if they didn't have to spend the whole time at Aunt Lola's Neohome.

      "Anything," the Cybunny said abruptly. "Anything at all, so long as we don't have stay cooped up here." Chubby Aunt Lola glanced at Helen a little uneasily.

      Seeing the Kiko's discomfort, Mia quickly covered up for her pet. "She just means she's excited to explore Happy Valley, right, Helen? She loves your Neohome as much as I do, since it's so cozy."

      Helen snorted as she took her first bite of dinner. "Sure," she said, as she took a gulp of her disgusting custard. As Mia turned away, she mumbled under her breath. "I'll do whatever it takes to spend very little time at sweet Aunt Lola's."

      "Don't say that," Fiona snapped, defending Aunt Lola and Cousin Phil. "They are plenty of fun to be around." Again, Helen snorted. She slurped down the last of her custard and turned away from her sister.

      "No, they aren't. Aunt Lola is annoying and old. Cousin Phil is talkative and stupid. Neither of them are fun." Everyone stared as the 'quiet little Cybunny' angrily grunted. "Urg!"

      With that, Helen stood up from the table and left. She raced up to her room without so much as a goodbye to anyone. Upon reaching her room, she flopped on her bed and sighed.

      "This is going to be a really, really tough week," Helen grumbled into her pillow and she rested her head and let out a yawn.

To be continued...