Boochi Blues

      "Where's my other sneaker?"

      "I forgot where I put my lunch!"

      "You guys! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!"

      A thirteen-year-old girl ran down the stairs and stood in the middle of the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, she addressed her four neopets.  

      "IntheclosetunderthebedinthefridgeyesyouwillbelatesoHURRYUP!" she yelled. Three of her pets, Pinto, Bowman, and Kestrel, ran to find what they needed, while Hanno, her oldest, bounced up and down impatiently. Five minutes later, all four were out on the driveway, preparing to make a run for it. Their owner, Sarah-Charlotte (her pets called her Mom), yelled after them, "Behave, be nice to your teachers and maybe they'll let you off easy. After all, it's only the first day of school. Have fun!"

      "Bye!" the four pets yelled over their shoulders, and ran down the street.

      Sarah-Charlotte sat down in one of the Checked Kitchen Chairs, and breathed an immense sigh of relief. She loved her pets, but sometimes they were, let's just say, slightly rambunctious.

      Her youngest, Bowman, was a blue Shoyru. His room looked like a wreckage site, it was no wonder he was always losing things.

      Pinto, a green Kacheek, was just a few months older than Bowman. She went through collecting crazes where she had to have certain things. Her current craze was Faerie-related items. Sarah-Charlotte was not complaining, especially after Pinto's Negg craze. They didn't have enough neopoints to trade, buy, or bid for Neggs, so Pinto went to the Snowager almost every hour for weeks in hope that she would be able to grab a Negg or two. Thank goodness that was over.

      Her second oldest pet, Kestrel, was a yellow Usul whose current phase was to either forget to make her lunch or forget where she put it. This last part confused Sarah-Charlotte, as Kestrel's lunch, when she made it, was always in the refrigerator.

      Then there was Hanno. He, a red Kyrii, was the oldest. He was always very calm and collected, always knew where everything was, and was very responsible. He was always the one waiting impatiently for his siblings to hurry up when he himself had been ready for at least an hour. However, it wasn't like Hanno never took part in any crazy schemes with his siblings. Heck, he planned most of them.

      The last scheme Sarah-Charlotte remembered vividly. All of her pets, Bowman, Pinto, Kestrel, and Hanno, had gotten Neomonia. While Sarah Charlotte was frantically waiting for someone to accept/reject her trade for the medicinal soap, they had decided to give each other makeovers with the help of fake fur and lots of paint. Pinto was made over as Kestrel; Bowman was painted like Hanno, and vice-versa. It was actually quite convincing, as Hanno was a very good artist. When someone finally accepted Sarah-Charlotte's trade, she came home to find her four pets different sizes than how she left them and with suspicious looks on their faces. Shrugging, she threw them all into their Coconut Bathtub, and, ignoring their frenzied shrieks, proceeded to scrub them very hard. Boy was she surprised when, while drying them off, she noticed a whole lot of paint and fur in the tub. Pinto, Bowman, Kestrel, and Hanno all hastily volunteered to clean the bathtub when they saw her face.

      Then there was that time when they decided to make dinner for Sarah-Charlotte. What a disaster. She came home to four very guilty pets, pieces of charred and blackened oven floating in the four feet of water that was covering the floor, and food on the ceiling. Needless to say, they went hungry that night.

      Don't get me wrong, she loved her pets very much and wouldn't give them up for anything in the world, but she was always relieved when school started.

      ~ ~ ~

      "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!" Bowman burst through the front door, yelling. Sarah-Charlotte gasped. What was the matter? Was he hurt? It was only the first day of school and he had been bullied already?

      "What happened?" she cried.

      "Mom," said Bowman, "I need a Baby Paint Brush." Sarah-Charlotte rolled her eyes. So it wasn't serious after all.

      "Bo, you know we can't afford Paint Brushes, and don't scare me like that. I thought something bad happened." She looked at Pinto, Kestrel, and Hanno, who had just come in the door and were putting away their backpacks.

      "Don't look at us!" Hanno protested. "We don't know why he wants one."

      "Why don't I make you all a snack? Then you can explain, Bo," Sarah-Charlotte said. They all plopped down on various chairs at the table. "So, how was school?"

      "Great! My teacher said she doesn't believe in giving homework!" Kestrel announced jubilantly.

      "Cool. I scored five points in soccer at recess," said Hanno.

      "Awesome! I made a new friend, an Aisha named Ira, she's a stamp collector! I wanna collect stamps too!" That was Pinto, on the verge of starting a new craze.

      They all looked at Bowman. He sighed. "It was okay, but at lunch this big kid, a Skeith, told me about Boochi! I'm afraid of Boochi now!"

      Hanno rolled his eyes. "Boochi doesn't exist. He's a legend."

      "No, he's not!" cried Bowman.

      "Yes, he is," stated Hanno.

      "Is not! How do you know he's not real?"

      "How do you know he is?"

      "That Skeith told me!"

      "So what if he's lying? Have you ever heard of someone who ever saw Boochi?"

      Bowman thought for a moment. "Ummmmmm . . .no."

      "Exactly!" Hanno said triumphantly.

      "Meanie-head! What if Boochi's victims just don't tell anyone? There are loads of Baby pets out there."

      "Alright, that's enough," said Sarah-Charlotte hurriedly. "Let's get to the point. If you're so afraid of Boochi turning you into a Baby, why do you want to be painted Baby?"

      "'Cuz if I'm already Baby, Boochi will leave me alone!"

      Sarah-Charlotte, Hanno, Kestrel, and Pinto stared.

      "That doesn't make any sense," Pinto informed him. "I thought you didn't want to be Baby."

      "I don't care what color I'm painted," Bowman said. "It's Boochi I'm afraid of. I want to be Baby so he won't come after me."

      "Oh."

      "Ahhhh."

      "I get it!"

      "Sorry, Bo," said Sarah-Charlotte, "but I don't have enough neopoints for a Paint Brush. You know that. Anyway, why are you afraid of him? He's just a Baby Bruce. What can he do to you?"

      "I don't know," said Bowman, "It's just one of those things. Like how Hanno is afraid of Spyders."

      "WHAT?!" Hanno exploded. "I am NOT!"

      "Uh, yeah, you are," Kestrel told him. "Remember when we went camping with our school last year and you didn't want to come? Gee, I wonder why. Everyone knows Spyders live in forests."

      "Anyway," Bowman interrupted, "I don't know why I'm scared of Boochi. I just am. Maybe it's bad vibbs or something."

      Hanno groaned. "Vibes," he said. "Not vibbs."

      "Whatever."

      "Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Bowman," said Sarah-Charlotte, ending the discussion.

      "But, Mom, what can I do?"

      "Just remember that Boochi is a Baby Bruce. You are a big, almost grown up Shoyru-"

      "Hah," snorted Hanno.

      "-and Boochi can't hurt you. And, like Hanno said, you don't even know if he's real. He's probably just a story." Sarah-Charlotte shrugged.

      Somewhat comforted, Bowman went outside to play in the snow. Pinto, Kestrel, and Hanno followed. The three older neopets did their best to help Bowman forget about Boochi. After a snowball fight, snowman, and snow fort, Bowman was his own self again, free from worries.

      "Dinner!" Sarah-Charlotte yelled from the porch. The four pets started walking toward the house, when they heard a rustling in the bushes. Bowman gasped.

      "Is-is it-do you think it's-"

      "Bo, grow up. BOOCHI IS NOT REAL!" Hanno yelled. The bush's rustling increased alarmingly. Suddenly, something jumped out of it! It was very small. It was very small, and pink. It was very small, and pink, and was carrying a ray gun . . .

      "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! BOOCHI!!!!!!!!!" Bowman, Pinto, and Kestrel ran into the house.

      "Awww, come on, you guys!" Hanno called. "It's probably just a Baby Bruce from down the street. It's probably just a toy ray gun. You guys?" Then, "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

      Even from inside the house, Bowman, Pinto, and Kestrel could hear the evil cackling, and the sound of a crying Baby Kyrii.

The End