To Skateboard Or Not To Skateboard

     "Hey Kat!" squealed Glitter. The faerie Acara soared up to her owner and gave her a squishing hug. "What did you win this time from the game?"

     The girl smiled. "Took a while, but I won a red skateboard. I don't have much time to fool around on a board on wheels, but I bet one of you might want one of these."

     Sweet waved his striped paw eagerly. "Wow! Me, me, I want one! I haven't tried skateboarding yet!"

     "Yeah, that's because you've tried nearly everything else," muttered Fluffy the white Aisha. "Skating, riding a scooter, biking, climbing trees…"

     Her older brother grinned smugly as his owner handed him her prize. "You're just jealous, because I really own you all in sports! And I bet I'll ace this one too!" The striped Kacheek dashed off to the backyard, leaving Kat and Fluffy in the dust, staring at him tear through the kitchen and dash out the back door happily.

     Apparently Glitter was already there, playing with Whirlwind, her Baby Fireball. Angel the green Jetsam chased Morpheus around on the grass, finally tripping on a small twig and laughing as his Anubis licked him all over the face.

     "Wait till you see me on my new skateboard!" yelled Sweet. His two younger siblings watched eagerly as he put one foot on the board, looking more tall and proud than he already was. But something happened as he attempted to move - the skateboard slipped under his paws and whooshed towards a bush, leaving the Kacheek falling onto his behind.

     "Ouch," remarked Angel. The faerie Acara agreed with a nod.

     Still undaunted, their brother ran to his new toy and got onto it again, only to do the same mistake again, sending the skateboard towards Glitter, who caught it on her lap while sitting underneath the tree. "Whoa, are you all right?"

     Sweet gritted his teeth and rubbed his sore bottom. "I'm fine…just peachy," he grumbled. "Well, at least I'm on my way…I'd like to see either of you try it!"

     Glitter raised an eyebrow. "Ooh, sounds like fun," she replied casually, standing up and laying a foot on the board as her brothers watched her avidly. But, much to her and her siblings' surprise, she was able to achieve perfect balance, and whizzed ahead on the skateboard, the wind in her fur and the thrill of the toy. "This IS fun!" She turned sharply, stepped on the nose of the board and jumped - and the skateboard jumped along with her.

     Angel clapped hard as the faerie Acara came to a screeching stop before hitting one of Kat's gnomes, but Sweet was extremely dumbstruck.

     "How - how the heck - how'd you do all that?" he stuttered as Glitter picked up the toy and walked over to him. "I couldn't - that was - "

     The green Jetsam inadvertently interrupted his sentence with, "That was so cool! You really rocked on that thing! Nobody else I know can do that! I have to tell Fluffy! FLUFFY! GLITTER WANTS TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING!!!"

     "Yeah?" A white Aisha peeked out of the backyard door, where she popped the last bit of a chocolate chip cookie into her mouth. "What's to see?" Her eyes surveyed Angel, who pointed at the faerie Acara who was mounting the skateboard, and riding it so expertly around the yard. She even made the board do another flip like awhile ago, which made Sweet clench his fists and think, "Why is she better than me? Sports are my strength...that means skateboarding falls under that too!" He stared off somewhere else while his sister continued showing off.

     ***

     The striped Kacheek thought that the excitement over Glitter's newfound talent would die down by supper, but he was wrong. His green Jetsam brother had cut up his sausage omelette into a shape of a skateboard, and kept on making impersonations of his sister's stunts with his paw in the food.

     Much to his disgust, Kat seemed very impressed.

     "I must admit, I'm very impressed," she was saying to the beaming faerie Acara. "And to think, I don't remember giving you any lessons on the sport." Their owner barely noticed that one family member wasn't even smiling at all as she patted Glitter on the head.

     "So? Others can skateboard too, you know…like that Shoyru down the - " Sweet began.

     Angel shook his head. "Heck, nobody, and I mean nobody in this whole Neohome can skateboard!" he replied, shaking his fork in the air. "I can't do it, Fluffy told me she can't do it, Kat also says she can't do it, not even Sweet can - "

     "Don't rub it in, okay?" he exploded before his younger brother. "So what if I can't? I don't care if she can do some stupid tricks on a board with wheels! Just leave me alone!" He stood up abruptly from the table, leaving the rest of his dinner untouched, and stomped off to his bedroom, simmering with hatred and fury.

     Everyone else fell silent and threw concerned yet clueless looks at each other.

     "Shall I talk to him?" asked Kat. Glitter and Fluffy nodded their heads vigorously and turned towards the green Jetsam.

     "Can I have the rest of his mushy potatoes?" asked Angel, reaching for the striped Kacheek's leftovers.

     ***

     The black-haired girl cautiously knocked on Sweet's door, not taking notice of the sign hung on the knob with some old string saying, "LEAVE ME ALONE" in bold black doodles.

     "Read the sign," shouted someone from inside.

     "It's me, Kat," she called. "Come on, I want to talk to you."

     The voice came back, louder and angrier. "No! Leave me ALONE!"

     Shrugging, his owner barged in anyway. Apparently in Sweet's haste, he forgot to lock, so he saw a girl come in and sit beside him on his bed.

     "Don't you want to tell me anything?" she asked in a soothing voice. But the striped Kacheek was not soothed one bit. He turned over and buried his face in his pillow, completely ignoring his owner.

     Two faces peeked in. "Is he all right?" asked a white Aisha.

     "He's jealous, I bet," remarked the faerie Acara, glaring at her older brother.

     "I AM NOT JEALOUS!" bellowed Sweet, looking up from where he was lying on his bed.

     Kat, Fluffy and Glitter exchanged a glance that said, "He's jealous, all right." Their owner gestured over to the two sisters to come in. A green Jetsam toddled in as well, following behind the Aisha and the Acara. All three of them sat on the girl's other side, as their eldest brother was sprawled somewhere on her left.

     "You sure sound jealous," said the girl. "Look, all of us are here, you don't have to hide anything. Would you rather tell us openly or just live with the horrible feeling weighing you down? Come on, don't be shy."

     There was no reply from the party being addressed.

     Glitter stuck out her tongue at Sweet. "Speak up, or else I'll blab to everyone that you can't skateboard!"

     "Glitter!" Kat rounded on her, disappointed. "Threats only make it worse."

     "Well, it wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been so jealous of me."

     "I SAID I'M NOT - " At last the striped Kacheek faced them all, eyes burning with immeasurable rage. "Fine, fine, you got me! I'm jealous, okay? I'm used to being good at nearly every sport I get into…used to being better than all of you! And as if being bad at skateboarding was already bad, it's even worse when of all my siblings, Glitter shows up and starts showing off! There! Happy? Happy? If this gets out to everyone, I face humiliation at an insane level."

     The faerie Acara got even madder. "So you're saying it's against the rules for me to be better than you in one of the games you think you should be better than me in? That's stupid!"

     "Well, I'm the strongest and the eldest, so it's like an informal rule, sis."

     "Whoa, whoa! Let's not have another Battle For Meridell in our own Neohome! This place might collapse underneath all that bantering," Kat flapped her arms in an effort to keep her two pets from jumping on each other. "Look, Sweet, you just have to accept the fact that Glitter IS better than you in something. And Glitter, you have to understand your brother - "

     The Kacheek and the Acara crossed their arms across their chests and looked away from each other. "Your words of wisdom won't sway me this time, Kat," replied Glitter defiantly.

     "Oh really?" The girl stroked her chin in thought. "Well, maybe my quotes won't strike your chords, but perhaps a plan is in order? Actions speak louder than words, after all."

     ***

     "Okay, so just watch me. Step on the board like so…"

     "No wonder I kept on beefing it! Glitter, you're a genius!"

     While the two were on the grass with the new skateboard, Kat, Angel and Fluffy were sitting nearby at a garden table, having some cookies and watching the faerie Acara give her older brother some lessons. Sweet gingerly put his foot down on the toy in a preparatory pose and looked at his sister.

     "Cool! You're doing great! You'll be an expert in no time…better than me!" She gave the striped Kacheek a hug.

     "Not better than my teacher, that's for sure," said Sweet, patting Glitter on the back.

The End