The Disappearance of Choppy: Part One

"Indi, do you know where the feather duster is?" a teenage girl named Charmedhorses called to her baby Uni.

      There was a pause and a crash before the Uni yelled back from a closet on the other side of the Neohome. "NO!"

      "WHAT?" Charmed hollered, buried beneath a pile of growing dust.

      It was summer, but that wasn't going to keep Charmedhorses and Indipsi from doing a little spring cleaning. Needless to say, they weren't exactly up to date on their housekeeping and it was coming back to haunt them. Charmed could've sworn she was being followed by a pack of angry dust bunnies.

      "NO!" Indi yelled again.

      Charmed released the breath she was holding and groaned as a curtain of dust particles rose in front of her. For the time being she was working in the living room, but knowing Charmed that was bound to change in a few minutes. Already she had been in the kitchen, bathroom, eating room, and her own room. Though they were all a bit cleaner, Charmed had left pots and pans and clothes all over the floors so that the place looked as if it had been struck by a hurricane.

      "What do you think, Indi? About time for a break?"

      "WHAT?" Indipsi called. Having such a congested Neohome really affected one's hearing.

      Charmed heaved herself up and walked to Indipsi's room. "Let's take a break," she said.

      "THAT SOUNDS GOOD!" Indipsi shouted stepping out of her closet only to run into her owner. "Where'd you come from?"

      Charmed laughed. "By the time we're done cleaning we'll both be deaf."

      Indi nodded. The baby Uni's usually pink coat was grey with soot and her mane had been pulled up in various ponytails. "I could go for a glass of lemonade."

      As the pair made their way to the kitchen and prepared themselves a snack, they shared stories with one another about what they had found.

      "You know those sneakers I thought I lost?" Charmed asked. "It turns out they were just misplaced! I found them!"

      Indipsi laughed. "That was like a year ago."

      "They still fit," Charmed said. "So anyway, what have you found so far?"

      "A lot of old toys," Indipsi replied. "Why did you spoil me so much? Now I've got more than I know what to do with."

      "You were just too irresistible," Charmed told her. "But tell you what, why don't you put all the items you don't want in boxes and we can take them to the Money Tree when we're all done."

      "I guess that's alright." Indipsi didn't necessarily want all the stuff she had, but she wasn't sure she wanted to part with it, either.

      "Okay, I'll bring you some boxes in a few minutes," Charmed said.

      After Indipsi and Charmed finished their snacks each returned to cleaning on opposite sides of the Neohome. In her room Indipsi stared at the cardboard cartons her owner had brought.

      "So you're going to hold all my old toys, huh?" She asked it conversationally. "I hope you're the heavy duty brand."

      Indipsi set to work sorting and rummaging through her closet, while making three piles on the floor outside. One was for items she still wanted, another for items she no longer needed, and a third for items she was still undecided on. It would be no surprise to anyone who knew Indi that the latter pile was the largest. She took after her owner in that.

      The baby Uni had a few things that meant a whole lot to her, a few that she had totally forgotten about, and a lot that she had mixed feelings about. Take, for instance, her toy farm. Indipsi had spent practically a whole day playing with the tow figures when she first got it, but since then its figurines had only gathered dust. What should she do with it? True, she didn't really use the old farm all that much anymore, but what about the memories that went along with it? As a result of her indecision it went in the third pile.

      "Indi, how are you doing?" Charmed asked, peering in through the open door to her room.

      "Alright," Indipsi replied.

      "Oh, and," Charmed said, remembering. "Don't forget to put Choppy back in my room."

      "Yeah, sure," Indipsi said, her mind jogged back to the previous week when she had borrowed her owner's prized island Uni plushie. Named Choppy the plushie had been a gift given to Charmed by close friends of hers. It had taken some prying to convince Charmed to allow Choppy to star in a plushie skit opposite Indi's own Mazzew plushie, Chimes.

      "Where are you, Choppy?" Indipsi called once her owner had left the doorway. Indi waited, as if listening for an answer and then dove back into her closet.

      The baby Uni tossed several other plushies out of her way, but returned from her closet without having retrieved the cherished Choppy. She glanced quickly over her unmade bed and frowned. Where could he be? Deciding she would investigate later she went on sorting items.

      Indipsi finally came to the conclusion that night to get rid of all her undecided items as well as her unwanted ones. With a twinge of sadness Indi packed them all up and set them in the family room for Charmed to take to the Money Tree.

      After all their cleaning that day Charmedhorses and Indipsi barely had anything to eat before collapsing in their beds and falling into deep sleeps. Charmed slept with her arms wrapped around air where Choppy would normally rest, while in the next room Indipsi wuffled softly in her sleep.

      Things often come to a Neopet in their sleep and Indipsi found this quite true for her. As she slept Indipsi replayed the skit starring Choppy and Chimes and watched eagerly to see where she had misplaced Choppy. When the whereabouts were revealed to her Indipsi went on to dream of other, more trivial things.

      The next morning Charmedhorses woke up before her baby Uni and decided to look through Indi's boxes of old toys. Charmed smiled fondly at the items and the memories that went along with them. She recalled that first day when she had brought home a young, timid Uni, and how much things had changed since then.

      As Charmed dug around amongst the items she caught sight of a familiar fabric. Her curiosity piqued, Charmed searched further for the mysterious item. When she found it her jaw just about dropped, for there amidst all these old, unwanted toys was the teenager's most cherished plushie.

      "Choppy?" Charmed gasped. "What are you doing in here?"

      The island Uni plushie looked back at her with large eyes that pleased is innocence.

      "I know I told Indi to put you in my room," Charmedhorses said. "She must have put you in here my mistake. Good thing I found you before I took these things to the Money Tree," Charmed paused. "I wonder if she even knows you're gone. Maybe there's a lesson to be taught in all of this. What do you think, Choppy? Shall we teach Indi a lesson?"

**********

By the time Indipsi woke up Charmed had been up for well over an hour and had left her Uni a note explaining that she had taken the old toys down to the Money tree. Indi read the note over and shrugged, figuring she'd have enough time to find Choppy in her absence.

      After Indi had eaten a bagel for breakfast she returned to her closet. "I spend way too much time in here," she said decisively, looking around herself at the dimly lit hole in the wall. Shelves lined the space, providing easy storage for Indipsi's many belongings.

      "My dream told me Choppy was somewhere in here…" Indipsi recalled. "Well, that really narrows it down." Even after having cleaned out her old items Indipsi's closet was packed pretty tight.

      "There's probably a right way to go about this," Indipsi pondered. "But this'll have to do." And with that the Uni proceeded to tear apart her closet, ripping her toys off the walls and throwing them on the ground in search of the island Uni plushie.

      After Indi had emptied out the entire contents of her closet she sat amongst the strewn objects and put her head in her hooves. "I'm in big trouble," she groaned.

      With time to spare before Charmedhorses came home Indipsi came to a startling realization. Charmed had gone to the Money Tree to give away the old toys…If Choppy wasn't in her closet anymore…anymore…wait, what if Indipsi had left Choppy in her closet and the plushie had accidentally gotten mixed up in the wrong pile? Indipsi gasped. That meant Choppy had been in one of the boxes Charmed took to the Money Tree, which meant right about now Choppy was being…donated!

      "Oh no!" Indipsi exclaimed, aware of the importance of time and the fact that she had very little of it. A valuable item like an island Uni plushie was bound to go fast.

      Without bothering to pick up the mess she had made, Indipsi galloped out of the Neohome and down to the Money Tree.

**********

When Charmed returned home she found Indipsi gone with no note left to explain why or where she had gone. Nevertheless, Charmedhorses could guess quite easily based on the abandoned mess in Indi's room.

      Of course, Charmed knew that Choppy was safe and sound, but she felt it was important for her Uni to learn that if something was really special to another person or Neopet she should take extra good care of it. With that in mind she busied herself cleaning while she waited for Indi.

**********

By galloping the entire way into town Indipsi was able to make it to the Money Tree in record time. However, now was no time to slack off and Indipsi wasted no time before seeking assistance.

      "Excuse me," she began, having found a help booth under low lying branches on the massive tree. A blue Zafara behind it looked up, eyebrows raised. "I'm looking for an item," she continued. "A very important one. I didn't mean to donate it, but I did and…"

      The Zafara held up a paw. "Slow down. What item are you looking for? Everything we have is displayed under the tree here."

      "And island Uni plushie," Indipsi said, articulating each word carefully.

      "Okay." The Zafara stood up. "Let's see what we've got."

      Indipsi followed close behind as her helper paced slowly around the gigantic trunk of the Money Tree. Assorted toys, foods, and bags of Neopoints lined the perimeter, but no island Uni plushie came into view.

      When the pair rounded back to where they had begun their search had proven unsuccessful.

      "I'm sorry," the Zafara said. "No island Uni plushie here."

      Indi stood stock still, a state of panic gradually dawning on her face. With a quick thank you to the Zafara she rocketed off again, to Plan B.

To be continued…