Overdoing Borovan Day

     She was covered with a warm blanket and had a nice cup of tea at her side within easy reach. Her Petpet, a Puppyblew named Puddles, was sleeping soundly next to her.

     There couldn't have been a better way to spend such a chilly evening.

     Suddenly, a Neomail flew in through the mail slot on her door and landed in her lap. Lulu found it odd to get a Neomail this late in the day. She picked it up and looked at it.

     It was from her friend Tiffany the Faerie Usul.

     The subject written on the envelope said "Borovan Day". Lulu grimaced at the reminder of the holiday that was coming even sooner than The Day of Giving.

     The thing was... Lulu disliked borovan. She just couldn't bring herself to enjoy the asparagus tasting hot chocolate-like drink. Her friend Tiffany, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of it! The Usul was crazy about borovan, and always celebrated Borovan Day to the fullest.

     The Kacheek sighed, knowing what the message would say. But she opened it anyway and read it.

     "Dear, Lulu," Tiffany had written in her best handwriting, "tomorrow is Borovan Day! I have been planning foods to cook all month and I'm all set for the big day! I was hoping you would come to my house so we can celebrate together. I made all kinds of yummy borovan based foods! Please write back before you go to sleep so I can be ready for you tomorrow."

     Just as she had thought; Tiffany wanted her to come over for the day.

     Lulu knew how much Tiffany loved borovan, so she always drank some when the Usul made it for both of them. She had never told Tiffany how much she hated it.

     For the past few years Lulu had made up excuses for why she couldn't stop by on Borovan Day, but this year she was fresh out of ideas.

     So she got a pen and paper to write her reply:

     "Dear, Tiffany," she wrote while trying not to disturb Puddles, "of course I would love to visit you tomorrow! I'm sure you have been cooking up a storm, and I can't wait to eat some of your homemade food."

     This wasn't the truth, of course, but what else could the poor Kacheek say? Suddenly, she had an idea. A possible way out of this dreaded visit.

      "However, I'm afraid I can only come if Puddles can come, too. I would hate leave him alone all day."

     There, that should do it! Tiffany had a Pink Kadoatie named Princess that didn't get along with Puppyblews. There was no way Tiffany would agree to letting Lulu bring Puddles.

     Pleased with herself, Lulu put her letter in a magic envelope that flew itself to Tiffany, then went to bed. She slept well, sure that she would free from anything to do with Borovan the following day.

     When she woke up the next morning, there was a Neomail waiting for her.

     Lulu opened it while she ate breakfast, daydreaming about what she would do later in the day. Her daydreams came to an end when she read the Neomail message.

     Tiffany had written that Puddles would be just as welcome as his owner, and Princess was sure to behave herself. Lulu groaned.

     "Now what?" she asked Puddles. "There's no polite way to decline now."

     The Puppyblew barked and wagged his tail. He had never been one for conversation.

     "Oh, you're no help!" Lulu scowled in frustration as she finished eating and cleaned up after herself. Then she cleaned herself up and got ready to go.

     "We might as well get this day over with, Puddles."

     Before leaving her home, Lulu grabbed some Rainbow Breath Mints to rid herself of the taste of borovan whenever possible and put them in her purse.

     It was a quick walk to Tiffany's house, but the cold made it feel longer than usual. Lulu and Puddles were shivering by the time they reached Tiffany's house.

     Lulu knocked as best as she could and soon her friend opened the door.

     "Lulu! You made it," she said happily. "Quickly, come in and warm up." She led her guests to the living room where she had blankets set up on the couch.

     The only light in the room was from a fire in the fireplace, making the room look extra cozy.

     On the coffee table two cups of borovan and a platter of borovan cookies were waiting. On the floor there were two bowls of warm borovan for the Petpets.

     "Is it really okay for them to eat that?" Lulu asked worriedly as her friend fed Princess and Puddles a cookie each.

     "Oh, sure," Tiffany assured her. "It won't hurt them to have a little borovan. Please, sit down and make yourself at home."

     The Kacheek sat down and Tiffany sat next to her and they both got comfortable under blankets.

     "Isn't it just a lovely day today?" the Usul sighed as she sipped her borovan.

     "But it's so cold outside," Lulu disagreed, also taking a sip of borovan. Vanilla flavored. She had to try and not make a face; the borovan was just as bad as she remembered it to be and the vanilla flavoring didn't make it taste any better.

     "Exactly! A good Borovan Day should be cold. The colder it is, the more you enjoy warm, yummy borovan."

     "Oh. That makes sense."

     The two friends spent the morning talking with each other. After a while Lulu tried a borovan cookie to be polite and found it to be as awful as the vanilla borovan drink.

     Through out the day the two snacked on borovan and asparagus tarts, borovan brownies, borovan cupcakes, borovan crepes, and pieces of borovan cream pie.

     Lulu was careful to eat some of each treat so Tiffany wouldn't feel offended. Although, she thought, eating more than one helping of each item may have been overdoing it.

     Because they had been snacking on treats all day, the two Neopets didn't eat lunch. But Tiffany promised to make up a big borovan supper for them.

     While the Usul went to start cooking, Lulu cuddled Puddles and sighed. She never ever wanted to eat or drink anything with the word "borovan" in it again!

     She reached into her purse and got out the Rainbow Breath Mints, popped one into her mouth, and put the rest back.

     That's better, she thought as the minty flavor cleaned out the taste of borovan.

     Suddenly her stomach growled loudly, causing the Kacheek to notice how full she felt from eating so much of Tiffany's cooking. Hopefully Tiffany wouldn't go too crazy with supper; Lulu wasn't sure how more she could eat.

     "Don't worry," Lulu said quietly as she rubbed her stomach, "before long we'll go home and never have to eat borovan again."

     "Did you say something?"

     Lulu looked up, startled, as her friend entered the room. She blushed.

     "Oh, uh... I was just talking to Puddles. He really likes your borovan cookies, I think."

     The Usul smiled and patted the Puppyblew on the head.

     "I'm glad. Well, supper is ready. I hope you'll enjoy everything I made!"

     Lulu set aside the blanket she had been under and stood up to follow Tiffany into the kitchen.

     The Kacheek had to hold back a gasp as she viewed the table. It seemed Tiffany went a little overboard with the cooking. She had made asparagus lasagna with a borovan sauce and borovan marinated chicken for the main course. There was also soup, and asparagus salad, more crepes, and huge mugs of plain borovan.

     Lulu chuckled nervously. "Wow, Tiffany. You sure did do a lot of cooking for just the two of us..."

     Tiffany smiled again. "Well, you seemed to enjoy the other things I made, so I thought I'd make a lot so you can bring some home."

     "It looks great..." Lulu's stomach grumbled again, making Tiffany laugh.

     "Sounds like you're ready to eat. Let's dig in then!"

     The two sat down helped themselves. Lulu once again took some of everything in front of her, lest Tiffany think her friend didn't like her cooking.

     As she ate, Lulu felt her belly getting fuller and fuller, but she put on a brave smile and said, "This is wonderful food, Tiffany. You did a great job."

     The Usul beamed, looking pleased.

     Half way through the meal, Tiffany noticed her friend's eating had slowed down considerably. She frowned worriedly.

     "Is everything okay?" she asked.

     "Oh, yes! I was just... taking the time to fully enjoy this soup," was the Kacheek's excuse. Tiffany relaxed and continued eating.

     Finally they finished eating. Tiffany cleared the table and Lulu quietly sighed with relief. The meal was over. Soon she could go home, get some rest, and not eat for a week at least. Or so she thought.

     Her friend came back to the table holding a plate of borovan pavlova.

     "Ready for dessert?" she asked cheerfully.

     Lulu held back a groan of discomfort; she felt so full from all of the food... how could she possibly eat another bite?

     Tiffany served up two big bowls of pavlova and added some borovan ice cream to both dishes.

     "I don't know, Tiffany," Lulu started, "I'm pretty full after that great dinner you made."

     "Oh, come on. Borovan Day only comes once a year! Besides, I've never seen you say no to ice cream."

     That's because I've never been offered borovan flavored ice cream, Lulu thought grimly.

     But she didn't want to hurt Tiffany's feelings, so she ate her dessert despite the growls of protest coming from her stomach.

     "How is it?" the Usul asked hopefully. "I made everything you've eaten today right here at home; even the ice cream."

     "It's delicious," the Kacheek said weakly. Oh, how she wished she could take a nap to sleep off all this food!

     "Thanks! I'm glad you liked it all. I worked really hard to make this day perfect."

     "I can tell. You must have been planning all year or something!"

     Tiffany giggled. "Not really. My trusty 365.25 Borovan Recipes book helped out a lot."

     Lulu pushed her empty dish aside and managed to stand up.

     "Well, I should head home now. Thanks so much for the wonderful day and the food."

     "Oh, it's no problem. You should come over for the day more often; I had a great time having you visit."

     Lulu went to the living room to get her purse and Puddles. Just as she was about to head to the door, she suddenly clutched her belly in pain as a dull ache formed.

     "Oooooh..."

     Hearing the moan, Tiffany hurried to her friend's side and looked concerned.

     "What is it, Lulu? Are you feeling okay?"

     "It's nothing." Lulu forced out a rather nervous sounding laugh. "I'm just really full. I can't wait to get home and sleep."

     "Why don't you stay here tonight?" Tiffany offered.

     "I couldn't do that. You've done so much for me today already. And I think the walk home might be good for me."

     The Kacheek started to say good night when she hugged her middle and moaned again.

     "Lulu... I think there's something wrong! You should go see the doctor right away!"

     Lulu felt too tired and sick to argue, so she allowed her friend to help her get to Doctor Gelert's office.

     Luckily he wasn't very busy and saw them shortly after they got there.

     "Well," he said in a friendly way," what seems to be the problem today?"

     "Ooooh... I have a really bad tummy ache," Lulu moaned.

     "Too much borovan?" the doctor joked. He turned to Tiffany. "Why don't you wait in the waiting room? This shouldn't take too long."

     Even though she was worried about her friend and wanted to stay, Tiffany did as she was asked and waited. As she waited, she started to feel guilty. She shouldn't have teased Lulu into eating dessert when she insisted she was full...

     In a few minutes Doctor Gelert walked into the waiting room, Lulu following him while still hugging her belly.

     "Just as I thought," the Gelert said, "a simple case of overeating. I would recommend some

     Flat-u-less Tablets and a good night's rest. Then Lulu will be just fine."

     Tiffany sighed in relief. "Thank you so much, Doctor Gelert."

     "You're welcome." To the Kacheek he said, "Take it easy for a day or two, Lulu."

     Lulu nodded. "I will. Thanks."

     Tiffany helped Lulu back to her house then left again to visit the pharmacy.

     "Just get yourself settled on the couch and I'll back soon," the Usul said as she went out the door.

     With a groan, Lulu lowered herself onto the couch and pulled a blanket over her body.

     Puddles barked and looked at her with worried eyes. Smiling, Lulu picked him up and set him down next to herself.

     "It's okay, Puddles. I have a bit of a bellyache, but I'm going to be fine."

     Princess, Tiffany's Kadoatie, jumped onto the couch, too, and snuggled next to ill Kacheek.

     Feeling comforted by the warmth of the two Petpets, Lulu began to doze off only to be awaken by Tiffany returning.

     "Sorry I took so long," she apologized. "It's was really busy for some reason."

     "You weren't that long," Lulu said, confused.

     "I was gone for over an hour..." Tiffany also looked confused now.

     "Oh. I guess I fell asleep then."

     With the slight confusion out of the way, Tiffany opened the medicine bottle and gave two tablets to Lulu.

     "Here you go; this should help you to feel better."

      "Thanks."

     While Lulu took her medicine, Tiffany watched her, still looking worried.

     "Lulu, I'm... sorry. It's my fault you're sick. I shouldn't have made you eat dessert..."

     "Oh, Tiffany..." Lulu sighed. "It's not your fault; it's mine. I shouldn't have eaten so much, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings..."

     "You wouldn't hurt my feelings by not eating everything I put out. I only put out so much because I wanted to give you some variety. Next year I'll be careful to put out less food."

     Tiffany laughed a bit her own joke

     "About that... maybe we shouldn't do this next year."

     "Huh? What do you mean?"

     Lulu looked down at her lap in shame and saw more of her stuffed belly than her lap.

     "Well, the truth is... I don't actually like borovan..."

     Tiffany looked surprised. "You don't like it? Why did you eat it then? Why didn't you ever say anything, Lulu?"

     Lulu looked embarrassed. "I was afraid you wouldn't like me if I told you the truth... I know how much you love Borovan Day."

     The Usul felt tears comes to her eyes as she hugged her friend.

     "Why wouldn't I like you? No ever said friends have to like and dislike the same things."

     Lulu looked up. "You mean... you aren't offended?"

     "Of course not! We'll always be friends no matter what. But I wish you would me next time I cook something you don't like to eat."

     The Kacheek managed a smile. "Deal." She yawned then closed her eyes.

     Tiffany smiled at her sleeping friend and quietly got settled in a near by chair in case Lulu needed her in the middle of the night. She would stay by her side always.

     Even though she didn't like borovan. That was okay with Tiffany.

The End