A Walk in the Woods - Part 1

     I got up and threw on a pair of jeans and my favourite shirt. I brushed my hair, tied it back and braided it. I grabbed my Virtuepets music device and my favourite headphones. They were over-the-ear style, with the ear pieces resembling skulls with faux emeralds for eyes. One quick check in the mirror and this Shoyru was ready to go!

     I quietly made my way downstairs and crept into the kitchen for a quick bite of breakfast. My family was still asleep, and it wouldn't be long before my little brother woke up and woke the whole house up with him. As I ate my bagel, I began searching through my music device.

     "Hmmmm," I thought to myself, "Which band do I want to listen to on my morning walk?"

     There were so many options. Jazzmosis, M*ync and Twisted Roses, to name a few. I had seen a few of them at the Tyrannian Concert Hall last year with my best friend. I made my selection. Twisted Roses was a great way to begin my morning walk. The lead singer was one of my idols. No one could scream the way she could. I quietly made my way out the door and began my walk.

     A wonderfully cool breeze blew through the woods as I walked deeper into it. The time was now five minutes after six, and everything was starting to come alive at the dawning of the day. I first passed by Eliv Thade's ruined old castle. It seemed the ghost wasn't home this morning as there were no lights on in any of the rooms that were visible to the path I was walking on. Normally when I walked by, I could hear the maniacal ghost laughing from his study. The crazy guy still submitted puzzles and anagrams to the Neopian Times every now and then.

     I made my way past the quiet castle and down the road further. The Haunted Woods was blooming with summer plants. It might come across as a dark and dreary place, but it's quite lovely if you knew where to look. There were flowers and beautiful plants and sunshine to take some of the spookiness out of it, at least. I wandered on until I came across a whispering. It wasn't the rustle of leaves in the breeze, nor was it even the wind.

     It was the Esophagor. He always spoke evenly and quite nicely when trying to convince people to run errands for him in exchange for answers to questions they might have. I could hear him over my music, which I kept at a respectable volume. As I continued on, I passed the Brain Tree. Passing the Brain Tree wasn't anything special. Unlike the Esophagor, he didn't pester people into trying to help him. People who actually needed help went to him for answers more often than the Esophagor. Unfortunately, many times those same people would find themselves running errands for the latter to get the required answers for the former. It was a confusing mix-up half the time. I liked to think the Brain Tree and the Esophagor worked together to confuse people some days.

     As I continued on my way, I passed the Deserted Fairground. I could see Sydney hard at work setting up for the day. The other fairground workers were busy scurrying around their respective stations and trying to avoid stray Meepits here and there. As I was leaving the area and making my way back down into the town, I heard the laugh of a Chia Clown, followed by a splat sound that could have only come from a thrown pie.

     "I need to turn my music up." I thought to myself and continued on.

     It was now six thirty in the morning. The sun was up in the Haunted Woods, creating a misty haze in the area that added to its spooky appeal. I marched along, walking past the Petpet store and on my way to the Wanderer Camp. In the distance, I could see Edna's Tower. A spooky, strange and interesting old tower it was indeed. It was inhabited by an old Zafara woman named Edna. Rumour had it, that she didn't choose sides when it came to good or bad, but wasn't above making mischief herself. Sometimes I heard cackling when I was walking by.

     Coming up on the Wanderer Camp, I stopped to take a quick break.

     "Delilah!" One of the camps occupants said in delight. "We were hoping to see you this morning. Care for some tea and a biscuit?"

     I gratefully accepted her offer and was brought to a table where she and I chatted over tea and a very fresh out of the oven tray of biscuits with melted butter. These visits normally only took about ten minutes out of my walk, and I was happy for them. My friend at the camp was a gossip, and I loved hearing her tales.

     "As you know, the festival of Neggs took place at the old Meepit Oaks Sanitorium." She began.

     She had told me everything about Meepit Oaks long before Kari had hosted her event there. She had been about five years old when Gilly and Sophie and Sophie's eldest brother Bruno had restored the town some years ago. After Neovia's restoration, my friend from the Wanderer Camp had taken to exploring every inch of the town and the old asylum. The Elderly Zomutt that had once belonged to the deceased janitor had been adopted, or so I had heard. The former patients, now roving zombies, had also been relocated. It had all made for a very interesting tale.

     My little brother and I had secretly explored the asylum a few times as well as the graveyards. We had to be quick about it because my little brother was very bad at being quiet. Everywhere he went, he liked to make a calamity of noises by walking into things or tripping over his own two feet. What spooked us the most about the story was Mr. Krawley. He had orchestrated the entire thing and left it for ten long years before Gilly had come along and helped solve it. I had my doubts that he could have foreseen the townspeople calling on the spirit of slumber to aid them and vanishing as a result of the spirit's help. I liked to give him that much credit at least. It must have seemed like an eternity to him waiting for someone curious enough to solve the problem.

     As for Gilly, herself. After the town had been restored, she had mentioned she had seen Krawely in the crowd, but only at a distance. He had seemed pleased about the town being back before disappearing. Gilly had also noted that he had seemed relieved when she had chosen to believe him and gone into Meepit Oaks to retrieve a flower he had left in the care of a young nurse named Lucy, who had been left as a skeleton among the ruins of the asylum. There were still rumours that Krawley still walked amongst the Neovians. Gilly had claimed there had been a Pink Elephante storyteller among the camps occupants. This same Elephante had been the one to tell her about Neovia's existence and its fate. The camp leader, however, told her an entirely different story about the Elephante's existence.

     There were times I thought I had seen Mr. Krawley. It was hard to miss a tall Blue Krawk with a sinister style and top hat. Mr. Krawley had become the new myth among many school children. I grew up hearing stories about him. So many kids had claimed to have seen him. He had become Neovia's boogeyman.

     "Well, the whole business with the vengeful spirit was a fun twist," my friend added in an absent-minded tone. "I do wonder what encouraged her to host the event at Meepit Oaks, though. "

     It had been a promise to Mr. Tippins that had encouraged her to host the event in Neovia. After the eating contest calamity several years ago, Tippins had wanted to draw up some positive light for events in the spooky town. It was certainly a surprise to find out that the vengeful spirit that had been vandalising the town had been an incredibly rare Petpet! It was also quite possibly the cutest Petpet in existence. My little brother, dad and myself had all begged mom to let us have one. When she finally said yes, we raced off to the Petpet store and adopted one. We named her Minerva.

     Wrapping up our conversation and finishing what I had been offered for my second breakfast, I thanked my friend and went on my way.

     "Have a wonderful walk, Delilah!" My friend said as I departed the camp.

     To be continued…