Ding-Dong-Ditch

      "Good morning, Rika," the mother greeted. Rika just grinned back. Her mother placed the plate of Yeasty Bread on the table. Rika picked it up quickly and gulped it down.

      "I'm going to school early today," Rika announced as she flung her backpack on her back and started walking to school. Her mother smiled. She didn't know the real reason why Rika liked coming to school early these days, and stuck with the idea that her daughter spent the extra time at school in the morning studying.

      The school wasn't too busy, though all the teachers were straightening some things in their classes. This was all too perfect. Rika walked into the campus and spotted a small group of Neopets. Then she looked for her two friends Angel and Lila.

      "Hey, Rika!" called Lila the disco Aisha. She was pretty smart and looked like the student least likely to bend or break any school rules. Angel the Faerie Bori sat next to her. They both had their bags on their class line. That's where the students in Mrs. Bloom's class had to line up until the bell rang. Rika walked quickly to her friends.

      Angel the Bori was quick and mischievous. Unlike Lila, she looked like she was going to cause any kind of trouble any moment. She was always daring, though Lila and Rika often thought she was daring and bold with a small hint of folly in it. Angel smiled at Rika. "Are you ready to play some Ding-Dong-Ditch?"

      "Of course," Rika replied. She laughed a bit. "If I didn't want to play that fun game, why am I here in school so early?"

      Lila nodded. Angel took the lead. Rika was next, then Lila. They walked into the building where 1st and 2nd graders were. They walked up the steps into the 2nd floor. The building had three floors. The first floor had no classes. It was the school cafeteria. The trio didn't mind that the building had only two floors of classrooms. It was the number of classrooms on each floor that counted.

      When they all stepped near the closest door, Angel looked back at Rika and Lila. This was the sign that meant that the Bori was about to Ding-Dong-Ditch. Rika and Lila got ready to run and laugh to the 3rd floor of the building. Angel knocked on the door, hard and loud. The three Neopets ran off as fast as their legs could carry them. Rika and Lila ran to the 3rd floor, while Angel was behind a corner to hear if the door opened. After a few moments Angel arrived at the 3rd floor with the laughing Lupe and Aisha.

      "Did they open the door?" Lila asked eagerly. They laughed even harder when Angel nodded yes.

      "We do it a lot of times, yet they always fall for it," Angel said. Her friends didn't doubt the Bori. It was true. To play Ding-Dong-Ditch, you had to knock on any classroom door. They had to make it loud; in case there were students inside that were making such a ruckus that nobody could hear Angel, Rika, or Lila knock. The trio had knocked and fooled the students and teachers a lot of times. Maybe it was because the pets inside could never tell if the knocker wasn't playing pranks or if they were actually knocking on the door for a certain purpose unless they opened the door.

      And such opening of a door when Angel, Rika, or Lila knocked made the trio laugh that they had fooled them again. Lila peered out. "Nobody's here," she said. Angel fluttered out with her wings.

      "Now, let's knock on the halls," Rika suggested. The halls were where their classroom was. The halls had classes or 4th and 5th graders. That made it dangerous and a little bit less dangerous than the building of 2nd and 3rd graders. That was because they knocked more on the building's classrooms. That made the fooled students and teachers suspect of something.

      They knew that they had to knock on a place where they rarely knocked. This time Rika led the way. They ran down the stairs and noticed that there was at least twenty more minutes left until the bell rang, and the mischievous pets had to stop playing Ding-Dong-Ditch and line up for Mrs. Bloom to come and bring the lined students into the classroom.

      "Okay, I'm knocking this time," Rika said as they continued walking. Teachers, though they never suspected the three of knocking in the halls and playing pranks, had often told running pets like Rika, Angel, and Lila to walk in the halls. "I'm going to knock on Mr. Croan's door," she said. Angel and Lila followed, being as quiet as they could.

      Rika was ready to knock and to run away at the same time. She signaled for her friends to run quickly away. The Fire Lupe knocked like any kind of important visitor, and then swiftly ran behind a corner. Her sharp ears caught the sound of the door of Mr. Croan's classroom open. Rika silently but quickly ran away where her friends asked her, "Did they open the door?" And of course Rika nodded happily.

      "It gets better every second," Angel laughed out. Suddenly Lila signaled for the Lupe and Bori to be quiet. The Aisha's four ears quickly heard the sound of an Acara walking in the halls.

      "I hear someone," Lila reported. Angel and Rika strained to hear the other student in the halls. Angel peered out from their hiding place. It was Donna, a Cloud Acara. She was in their class. The only thing Angel realized about Donna was that she was a teacher's pet, and if she found out about the trio's game, she was sure to tell on Mrs. Bloom.

      "It's Donna," Angel said. Donna had been walking in their direction. Rika and Angel quickly walked out. It was too suspicious for Lila to follow them. They had thought of acting innocent and when the teacher's pet had gone away, the two pets would tell Lila that it was okay to come out.

      "What are you doing in the halls right now?" Donna asked, eyeing Angel.

      "We just came because it was too cold outside," Rika said. She didn't look troubled. That was one key to look innocent.

      "Why are you here?" Angel asked.

      "I'm helping Mrs. Bloom with her papers," Donna coolly replied. That seemed enough for the teacher's pet. The Acara walked past to the classroom as if with high authority. Rika and Angel waited plainly for Donna to disappear into the classroom. When the door shut close, Lila came out.

      "That wasn't even close," Lila pointed out. She smiled. "I mean, we're just 5th graders, and all those teachers never caught us doing Ding-Dong-Ditch." Rika and Angel didn't have the slightest doubt of their friend's remark. And this was elementary school. If the teachers caught them, they would wait to strike on middle school. And they would never forget about the excitement of the risky game.

The End