The Least Thing Expected

     “Come on, Mom! We have to be on Mystery Island in an hour! How much longer is this going to take?” an Island Gelert at my side asked annoyingly.

     I took a deep breath before answering, “I don’t know, Tytono, just like I didn’t know five minutes ago. Could you please be patient and wait just like everyone else?”

     Tytono nodded, and then started to look down at the ground as the line slowly inched forward. Finally, after ten more minutes, we were looking at a small JubJub wearing a wizard’s robe and hat behind a counter.

     “Hello there, could you please tell me where I can find an Eo Codestone?” I asked with a smile. The JubJub nodded once and then pulled out a sheet with names on it and handed it to me. I nodded politely and started to walk back out of the Shop Wizard, but Tytono did not follow me. I turned around and saw Tytono talking to the JubJub and using his paws animatedly. The JubJub smiled and handed a piece of paper to Tytono that looked exactly identical to the one in my hands. Tytono nodded his head, folded the piece of paper, put it into his messenger bag, and then ran to catch up with me.

     “What was that all about?” I asked as we walked into the warm sunlight of Neopia Central.

     “Nothing, just wondering where I could find a book,” he said with a shrug. We didn’t say much after that; until we got to the shop we were looking for. I walked in slowly, with Tytono trailing behind me. A Yellow Gelert looked up and smiled at both of us warmly.

     “Welcome to my shop! Can I help you with anything?” the Gelert asked as I spotted the Codestones on the counter in front of him.

     “Yes, I would like to buy one Eo Codestone, please,” I said as I dug some neopoints out of my purse.

     “That will be 9,500 neopoints, Miss,” the Yellow Gelert said as he pulled out a metal box for me to put my money in. I glared at Tytono, who sheepishly grinned at me as he began to wander around the store looking at items. I handed over the huge amount of neopoints and picked up the slightly quivering codestone to drop in my purse. I turned to see Tytono handling a small keyring with the face of a Blue Wocky on it as it dangled from his paw.

     “Tytono, are you ready to go?” I asked as he stared intently at the keyring. He looked up at me and frowned.

     “Yeah, I just need to buy this,” he said as he strode over to the Yellow Gelert, who had been watching us the entire time. “How much is this?” Tytono asked, getting some neopoints hastily out of his bag.

     “Ah, 35 neopoints,” the Yellow Gelert said as he brought out the metal box once more. Tytono slipped the yellow coins into the metal box, letting the metal clunk sound throughout the room. He then gently put the Blue Wocky Keyring in his bag and looked up at me with a smile.

     “I’m ready to go now,” he smiled and said. I just nodded a confused expression back to him until I looked at my watch.

     “Tytono, we have twenty minutes to get to your lesson! Come on!” I exclaimed as we both ran out of the shop.

     The Yellow Gelert looked dazed but yelled, “Come back soon!” after us, still a little confused on what had just taken place.

     Tytono and I ran all the way to the Neopian Harbor and got on the ferry just as it was about to leave. I was panting with exhaustion, but Tytono looked like he had enjoyed the run.

     “Alright, so if it only takes the Ferry ten minutes to get to Mystery Island, that gives us about five minutes to make it to the Training School and to my lesson. Are you going to be okay, Mom?” He stopped talking to watch me.

     “I’m... fine...” I said with deep breaths in between my words. He nodded once and pulled out the keyring and looked out at the ocean as I slumped onto the floor deck. Man, I need to exercise more. Tytono couldn’t take his eyes off the keyring, which puzzled me. He always looked at the exact same spot too, which only confused me even more. We didn’t talk the rest of the way.

     Soon a strip of green land appeared to the West and then after we were docking at the Mystery Island Harbor. As soon as the ferry was ready to be unloaded, Tytono and I jumped off and ran as fast as we could to a huge white building in the center of Mystery Island. Tytono, naturally, got there before me; his messenger bag slumped awkwardly over his shoulder. We both rushed in to see a Red Techo with Yellow Headband getting out a “Quiet” sign on the counter where you paid for lessons, but I slapped the Eo Codestone down on the counter before he turned around.

     “I... would like... to pay.... for a lesson... please,” I panted out. The Red Techo examined the codestone and then nodded.

     “The class will begin in the next room. Thank you,” the Red Techo said as he set the Quiet sign down on the counter. I nodded and looked at Tytono. I had my breathing under control and I smiled at him.

     “Have a good time, and remember everything you’re taught,” I instructed. Tytono nodded and smiled back at me. He then walked into the next room and out of sight.

     I then began my own slow walk out of the Training School into the hot island sun and sighed. I had two hours before I had to come pick up Tytono; what was I going to do? I looked down at the ground and something caught my eye. I picked it up and rubbed the dust off it to see a Blue Wocky smiling back at me. It was the keyring that Tytono had bought earlier. He must have dropped it when we were running to the Training School. I turned it over again and again and again. Why did Tytono buy this piece of junk? There was nothing special to it and it looked just like a normal, boring keyring should, but I couldn’t get my head around it. Why did Tytono buy it? I put it in my pocket before heading down to the Trading Post. It was loud and crazy, which is really not a place I like to be, but I had promised Auroriss that I would see if I could get her a Blue Feepit T-shirt and I was going to try. I looked all over the place until I found a nice looking Red Scorchio standing by a stall filled with clothes.

     “Hello there. May I browse through your selection?” I asked with the proper trading tone. The Red Scorchio smiled and nodded.

     “Tell me if you see something you like,” he said before staring back into the crowds. I picked up an I Love Fyora T-shirt but I didn’t like the spot of grease on the sleeve, so I put it back. I then looked at a Maraquan Print T-shirt, and it was nice, but I didn’t think Auroriss would be very interested in wearing it, which would be a waste of neopoints in my opinion. I finally found a Blue Feepit T-shirt which wasn’t in bad shape, so I went up to the Red Scorchio and asked how much the T-shirt was.

     “It’s supposed to be 5,000 neopoints but I’ll cut the price down to 4,700 neopoints for you,” the Scorchio said with a smile. I nodded my head and handed over the correct amount of neopoints, but I then began to search through my back for an item to give him as well. My hand soon came across the Blue Wocky Keyring Tytono had bought in the Yellow Gelert’s store. I flipped it over a couple of times, examining everything about the Keyring. Would it be okay if I gave this to the Scorchio and bought another one for Tytono? Would he even notice? Something was twisting in my gut not to give up the Keyring, so I continued to dig through my bag until I found a bottle of Blue Nail Varnish.

     “Here you go!” I said, handing the Scorchio the Blue Nail Varnish, which he looked at for a second and then put under the stand with probably the other items he had traded today. I started to walk away, the Blue Feepit T-shirt in my hands when I heard the Red Scorchio call, “Miss!”

     I turned around as he hurried over to me with the Blue Wocky Keyring in his hands. I was surprised for a second because I couldn’t remember dropping it. I gratefully accepted it back and with a nod and a smile, he ran back to his post and was standing by the clothes once more. I looked down at the Keyring again, still wondering how I kept losing it and finding it. I then securely put the Keyring back in my purse and walked to the beach, hopefully to have a relaxing hour lying on the sand.

     Well, the beach was crowded, as usual, so I went to my family’s secret spot where no one could find me and my family. I opened a huge umbrella and spread a blanket out for me to lie down on and some sunscreen to protect my skin. After that, I lay down and got comfortable and I must had dozed off because when I came to, it was ten minutes until Tytono’s lesson got out. I hurriedly packed everything up and ran down to the Training School. I just got to the steps when a bunch of Neopets ran through the door and out into the square. I waited until I saw Tytono, who ran right to me.

     “Do you have my Keyring?” he asked in a hurry, looking down on the ground as he started to search.

     “Uh, yeah, I do,” I said as I pulled it out of my purse. Tytono grabbed it from me and started to inspect the Keyring until he found what he was looking for and relaxed. I was still confused why he had even bought the thing, but decided not to ask him until we got home. The entire Ferry ride and walk home, Tytono kept the Keyring close to his chest, always looking at the same spot and holding it tightly. When we finally got to our house on Roo Island, I stopped at the door, key in my hand, and turned around. I plastered myself against the door, which stopped Ty in his tracks.

     “Okay, Tytono, you have some explaining to do. What is with you and that keyring and what makes it so special? I want my questions answered before we go into the house.” Tytono looked down at the keyring and nodded his head slowly.

     “Okay, I’ll tell you. Better yet, let me show you,” Tytono said as he held the Blue Wocky Keyring out for me to see. His paw pointed at a particular spot on the keyring but I still couldn’t see anything. Then I saw something very tiny move on the keyring. I got closer and closer until I could finally make out what it was. It was a Mootix. I could hear myself suck in my breath as I finally saw what made the keyring so special. It had a petpetpet on it! No wonder Tytono had been so protective of the keyring. And I was going to give it away for a T-shirt! Man, had I been lucky today!

     “Wow, Tytono, is that... Is that a Mootix?” I asked, my breath still sucked in.

     “Yeah, I saw it on the keyring when we were in that shop and I knew I had to buy it. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t want you to make a scene in front of everybody. Are you going to be okay?” Tytono asked for the second time that day.

     I nodded my head slowly as I put my key in the door and opened it. We walked in to hear Auroriss running down the hall and could see Maddiedaylay in the kitchen. Maddie, a Sponge Peophin smiled at us and asked, “Did anything exciting happen to you two today?” Tytono and I looked at each other before we grinned widely at Maddie and Auroriss.

     “You have no idea,” I said as I walked into the kitchen. Tytono followed, clutching the Blue Wocky Keyring and smiling widely.

The End

Author’s Note: No, it is not possible to find a petpetpet on a key ring, I just made it up. Don’t worry, though; you can still find lots of them crawling around inside your petpet’s mouths! Comments welcomed, thanks for reading! :)