Never Mock A Meepit

     Passing a shop, Celia, the Gelert, spotted a bright pink, furry purse. Grabbing Pumpkin, she hustled over to the shop keeper, a portly plushie Bruce.

     “How much for that purse?” Celia purred.

     The Bruce raised an oddly slender eyebrow. “That ain’t no purse, Miss. ‘Tis a Meepit.”

     The purse began to set itself upright. Large, unblinking eyes stared maliciously at the pair.

     “Well, if that was a purse, it would be the ugliest one EVER,” Pumpkin sneered.

     Celia, laughed, poked the Meepit in the head, and strolled away, her words carried on the wind. “Meepits are so stupid.”

      ***

     “You got me a Meepit.”

     It wasn’t a question, nor was it a flat tone of voice that suggested there was soon to be a sudden breakdown. It was a fixed, horribly horrified statement that made the fur crawl and the teeth chatter. And right now, Celia was having one of those moments when you have no idea what to do, when you want to grab a bat and go beat yourself with it.

     It was one of those moments when you’re given a Meepit for no reason at all.

     Celia’s owner looked at her delightedly, the little pink petpet of doom sitting placidly on the table next to her.

     “Isn’t it great? I got it off some n00b for only two thousand neopoints!” she cried.

     Celia thought dryly, Oh, I don’t think it was a n00b; it was obviously a very smart Neopian, but instead only replied, “It isn’t blinking.”

     The two of them looked down at the table, briefly meeting the Meepit's unblinking, menacing gaze, then turning to stare at one another worriedly.

     “You know, maybe I shouldn’t have---” her owner began, but was soon interrupted by a sudden screech of, “MOMMY! GET THE JUPPIE JUICE!” and the sound of feet flying into the kitchen.

     Celia sighed inwardly as her brother, a tiny baby Gnorbu named Tineey, ran haphazardly into their owner’s arms, huge eyes fixed on the petpet of doom that sat peacefully on their kitchen table.

     “M-m-m-” he stuttered fearfully.

     “Don’t worry,” Celia said. “He’s mine.”

     Suddenly, Tineey let out a long, screeching wail.

     While their owner hushed him, Celia took a peek at the Meepit. To her terror, it was baring its tiny, sharp teeth viscously at her brother, and mimicking chomping motions!

     Her owner had turned her back to hush the Gnorbu.

     “Stop that,” Celia hissed, flicking it lightly on its pink little head.

     The Meepit cocked its tiny head at her, one brow raised in calm fury. Before Celia could react, the Meepit opened its jaw wide and bit down hard on her paw.

     She couldn’t cry out, she couldn’t move; the world jumbled and her heart stopped. Everything swirled into a mass of nothingness, everything, that is, except the Meepit. The chubby pink body stood before her surrounded by swirling colors. Its cold black eyes stared straight into her own; a sudden stab of pain filtered through her, and all went black... or pink, she couldn’t quite remember....

     Celia opened her deep emerald eyes slowly, painfully. She waited patiently for the images reflected in her eyes to stop swimming and focus. Her mother and Tineey were standing over her. Tineey’s face was wrinkled with terror, his huge pink eyes wide with affection.

     “I’m... okay,” Celia muttered incoherently. She dimly felt the couch around her, realizing she was in the living room, a blanket gently laid on her. The Pirate Gelert gently rubbed her eye-patch. She gave out a yelp; she had rubbed it with her bitten paw.

     Suddenly, a feeling of rage towards her owner overcame her. “You’re so stupid!” she cried. “Buying me a Meepit! The idiotic little pink puffball bit me! See!”

     She thrust her injured paw into her owner’s concerned face.

     “Celia dear... the Meepit... Tineey said you provoked it... and I paid a good two thousands neopoints for it so...”

     “Meep.”

     Slowly, the pirate Gelert sat up and swiveled her head to stare in her Meepit’s glaring eyes.

     ***

     The Meepit followed her everywhere. It never blinked as it waited outside her bathroom door. It never scratched a strand of perfectly pink fur as it waited for her to come home from school. Everyday it would watch her with those terrifying eyes.

     It was one such day that the Meepit refused to take its eyes off her.

     She went to school feeling the fur on the back of her neck prickle, and she suddenly felt like a million eyes were watching her. She widened her normally narrowed emerald eyes as she walked into her middle school. For some reason everyone was staring fiercely at her---or was she staring at them? Her eyes suddenly watered, and she blinked for the first time this morning.

     “Celia Celia Celi-”

     Blue eyes bore evilly into her own. Celia bared her teeth defensively. A few seconds later, the face of her best friend, Pumpkin, a bubbly cloud Wocky, swam into view. She looked oddly annoyed.

     “Girl, I did NOT just see you SNARL at ME!” the Wocky hissed, trying to hide her shaken composure.

     “I... you were so... big!” Celia murmured incoherently. Her best friend’s eyes—she could swear they had been huge and nasty, but she could swear again that that was impossible.

     Celia watched as the Wocky bristled, pounding her fist again the pirate Gelert’s locker. “Big?! HOW DARE YOU?! And you know how hard I’ve been trying to---” her voice cut off as giggles filled the hallway.

     Without another word Pumpkin stalked away. Celia felt her heart drop as a lonely wail came to her sharp ears. Taking her books out of her locker, she walked to class, confused beyond anything she had ever felt before.

     As she walked into history class, she noticed there was a lot more laughing than usual. Even her teacher, a tiny Cybunny named Mr. Hopah, was snorting with confined laughter.

     Wait a minute, Celia thought as she slowly sat down at her desk. Why is Mr. Hopah taller than me...?!

     Something was very wrong. Her desk, her teacher, her classmates, they were all towering over here, as if she was some tiny petpet! Just a few minutes ago she was the tallest girl in her class! Now....

     “What?” Celia growled fiercely, lifting a furious eyebrow. “What are you laughing at? I... er.... had an allergic reaction to my breakfast... so what?”

     But her ‘growl’ was not a growl. It was a pathetic squeak. This made the entire class burst out hysterically.

     “It's McSqueaker!”

     “HA HA HA!”

     “IT'S TINY CELIA!”

     “HA!”

     “It's itsy- bitsy- really- small- pirate- Gelert- named -Celia!”

     “Just shut UP, Nyra...”

     “All right class, settle down, settle down,” Mr. Hopah said smugly as the attention shifted to Nyra. “Now, today we’ll be learning about the heroic---”

     Celia closed her eyes, her mind whirling. Something was wrong... something was very wrong!

     She had completely stopped blinking, and her voice was still squeaky. She was steadily getting shorter by the second; easy to see by the stifled giggles echoing around the classroom.

     “Hey.” A finger poked her in the back. She turned around, fixing her unblinking gaze on a sneering Lenny. “Nice wig.”

     Hesitantly massaging her head, she plucked a perfect strand of pink fur and gazed at it miserably.

     “I’m turning into a Meepit,” she squeaked as realization sank in.

     Raising her tiny paw, she yelled as loudly as she could, “May I be excused for a moment, Mr. Hopah?”

     But instead, all that came out was a tiny “Meep.”

     Leaping from her desk, she ran towards the door. But the knob was so high! She jumped, but still couldn’t reach it!

     Pink fur exploded up and down her body. She felt an immense pain in her mouth; long buck-teeth exploded out of her gums. Her long ears shrank and shriveled... her eyes became wide and even more unblinking.

     Celia let out a shriek of terror.

     She had turned into a Meepit.

     I, as the author, bid you a very serious warning. Never mock a Meepit. Never, ever, ever, mock a Meepit. It will be the last thing you do as a Neopian, and the first thing you’ll do as something else...

The End

Hey all! This is meh first short story, hope you enjoy it! Maybe a sequel waits in the paws of the Meepit...