The Little Cabbage

      “Petit_Chou!” I call, hopping out of bed. “It’s a beautiful day outside!”

      I can hear my sweet little JubJub groan from her room. “Five more minutes,” she mumbles.

      While I wait for her to wake up a little more, I bustle around in the kitchen to make her favorite breakfast treat: Bacon and Eggs Ice Cream. “Can you smell that?” I shout to her. And suddenly, she’s in the kitchen, blinking sleep from her eyes. Her green fur is messy and unbrushed, sticking out every which way, but she gives me a tired smile.

      “You have got to be the best owner ever,” she says croakily as she sits down at the table and begins to dig into her breakfast.

      I laugh. “I knew you would wake up for Bacon and Eggs Ice Cream,” I joke.

      She swallows a big bite and gives me a look. “I have every intention of crawling back into bed after I’m done eating,” she tells me seriously.

      I frown. “Chou, it’s a beautiful day! Please come to the beach with me.”

      She rubs her eyes. “I’m so tired,” she whines.

      I put my hands on my hips. “This is what friends do for each other,” I explain. “I made you breakfast; now, you can humor me by accompanying me to the beach. We don’t have to stay long.”

      She closes her eyes and gives a big sigh. “Okay,” she says reluctantly. “Just give me a few minutes to get ready.”

      I give her a huge grin. Sure, I feel a little bad about putting her on a guilt trip—but we’re going to have so much fun in the sand and sun that she’ll forget all about going back to sleep!

      I walk back into my room to throw on a bathing suit and grab two towels for us to lay on, as well as some powerful sunscreen. I don’t want either of us to get burnt!

      “Petit_Chou!” I call. “Are you ready to go?” I make my way back to the kitchen, and she’s already there waiting. “We are going to have a blast today,” I tell her eagerly, but she simply stares at me through her dark sunglasses. “Fine,” I say playfully. “Be mad at me. You’ll be singing a different tune once we’re out there soaking up the sun’s rays!”

      I start to walk out the front door until I realize that my JubJub isn’t following me. I look back at her and sigh. “Am I going to have to carry you there?” I ask. She doesn’t reply, just stares at me through her shades. “Okay, okay,” I say, hoisting her under my arm. “Whatever it takes to get you out of the house!”

    ***

       The sand feels great between my toes, as do the sun’s rays on my shoulders. “I’m going to put you down and spread out our towels,” I tell Petit_Chou. “Why don’t you make a sand castle?”

      But when I look over at her after the towels are gently laid one beside the other, she’s still staring at me. I frown. “Are you sulking?” I ask her. No answer. “Okay, go ahead and sulk. I’m going to go for a swim. It’s going to be wonderful!”

      As I walk towards the ocean, I glance back at her, but she isn’t following me. In fact, she hasn’t moved at all. Geez, I think. She must be furious. But I’m sure she’ll come swimming once she sees how much fun I’m having.

      I make it to the water and dive into a crashing wave. When I come up for air, I look over at my JubJub, who still hasn’t moved. “C’mon, Chou!” I call. “The water’s so warm! It feels great!” Another wave crashes and I go under, but I begin to realize that the beach just isn’t fun without hearing the laughter of my sweet little JubJub.

      I walk back over to where she sits and pull her close. “Please don’t be mad, Petit_Chou,” I say apologetically. “All I wanted was to—“

      “What are you doing?” a voice asks from behind me. I turn to see an Island Krawk staring at me, a puzzled look in his eyes.

      “Do I know you?” I ask, a little rudely. “I’m trying to have a heart to heart with my JubJub over here and you’re interrupting us.”

      The Krawk bursts into a fit of giggles and I narrow my eyes. “What’s so funny?”

      “That’s not a JubJub,” the Krawk tells me.

      I snort. “Not a JubJub? Please. I think I know my own Neopet.” I look at Petit_Chou to back me up, to tell this crazy Krawk that she is, in fact, a JubJub. But she just stares.

      The Krawk raises his eyebrows. “You’re not joking? I thought you knew it was a cabbage wearing sunglasses.”

      That’s when it hits me. I look at what I thought was Petit_Chou in horror as I realize that, instead of fur all over her body, there are leaves. Cabbage leaves. I rip off her sunglasses and, sure enough, no eyes. Just more leaves of cabbage.

      “OH NO!” I scream. The Krawk backs away slowly, but I grab at his claw. “Please,” I tell him. “You have to help me find her!” The Krawk looks around, as if trying to think of an excuse, but eventually nods and says yes.

      We walk together along the beach, searching high and low, as I tell him all about my JubJub. “She always has a smile on her face,” I tell him, “except when she has to wake up early. She has a voice like a flute, high and musical, and her laugh is contagious.”

      The Krawk stops walking and looks at me in the eyes. “You really love her, don’t you?” he asks.

      “Of course I do!” I tell him, on the verge of tears. “I’m trying so hard to think of what could have happened to her. The only time we were separated today was just a few minutes ago when I was swimming. I don’t even know where to look!”

      The Krawk thinks hard for a minute. “Well,” he begins, “when did she stop talking?”

      I try to rewind my memory of the morning. “I guess it was after breakfast,” I say. “Why?”

      “Maybe after breakfast, you mistook her for a cabbage? Everybody knows that cabbages don’t talk. The switch probably happened around the time she started to get silent.”

      And suddenly, it all makes sense. I grab the Krawk with both arms and give him a giant hug, then turn and run towards my Neohome.

      “Petit_Chou!” I shout as I fling the door open. “Where are you?” I search the kitchen, looking under the table and even in the refrigerator. I check the bathroom and the living room, too, but no JubJub. “Petit_Chou!” I call again as I fly into her bedroom.

      And there she is, snuggled up in her bed underneath the covers. She squints at me and groans. “Five more minutes,” she says.

      I burst into nervous laughter and embrace her. “You scared me, Chou!”

      She only chuckles. “How long did it take before you realized you had been talking to a cabbage all morning?”

      I just stare at her, so grateful that she’s okay. “Don’t ever do that again,” I tell her.

      “Alright, alright,” she says. “I just thought it would be funny.” She sits up and smiles at me. “I think I’m ready to get up now. Want to go to the beach?”

The End