Cheese Rolling

      "Mum," Yokalli complained, "can't we stop for a bit? I've got a cramp from eating that tangella that you bought from that cart."

     Her owner Charlotte paid no attention to her whatsoever as she snapped pictures with her camera. "No, we've got to see that Shapeshifter competition! Now pose, please, in front of that shop!" Grumbling, Yokalli stood in front of the shop her face pulled in a fake grin of pleasure, holding up a purse with the Meridell symbol on it that her owner bought. As soon as the click from the camera sounded, Yokalli's smile turned upside-down.

      Charlotte hurried over to a crowd of people in front of a checkered tablecloth with a brown Ixi talking with the enthusiastic tourists. Yokalli sighed, and headed over to the castle. Maybe she could find a potion that would make her owner want to go back to Mystery Island. The heavy doors were surprisingly easy to open, and she walked slowly over to a wooden table where a red Zafara in a starry-patterned hat and cloak sat, examining a small green bottle that was fizzing. She looked up. "What do you want?" she asked irritably.

     Instead, Yokalli asked, "Is your name Kayla?"

     Kayla glared at her. "It happens to be so," she replied, rather coldly.

     "Um," Yokalli said nervously. "Do you have a potion that will convince someone to do something?" Kayla looked up at her with a wise look on her face.

     "You want to get out of here, don't you?"

     "Well... err... yeah," Yokalli said, shuffling her feet. Yokalli winced, preparing to be turned into a slorg or something, when she heard laughter.

      Kayla smiled at her, and said, "You're not the only one that's felt that way. You're the only one that was brave enough to ever ask me for a potion, though." She paused. "Tell you what," Kayla said to Yokalli in an undertone. "If you don't want to be bored, here's what to do. When you reach the end of the path to the castle, take a left on the path and keep on going till you reach an old gnarled tree with the hole underneath it. Then take a right on the path and keep on climbing till you reach the top of a hill. And when I mean not bored, don't think it's the not bored you're used to!" Yokalli paid little attention to the last words Kayla said, but she was happy enough to find out something wasn't boring here.

      Yokalli quickly exited, and stood at the end of the path to the castle. She quickly followed Kayla's instructions, only stopping to glance at the hole owners and pets were trying to stuff petpets down into. While walking up the hill, Yokalli noticed a brown cheese rolling rapidly down the hill. What on Neopia is happening here? she thought in wonder. Yokalli silently hoped a cheese wouldn't flatten her.

     As she reached the top pushing a few bushes of Autumn Blush away, there was a blue Techo in red clothes and a red hat with a yellow feather standing inside of a wooden stand waved at her."Which cheese do you wish to purchase?" he asked in a friendly way.

      For a moment Yokalli was confused. Then she realized what he was talking about. There were rows and rows of cheese behind him, in all sorts. There was one that was red with green spots that apparently, was flaming; there was one that looked like it was made of chocolate, or more accurately, fudge. There was one that was a pale brown with grill marks on it, a cheese that was blue and bubbling at the wedge that had been taken out of it, a pure white cheese, a cheese that had leaves all over it, a furry brown and green cheese, a cheese that consisted of honey, and so many more.

      Yokalli gasped inwardly. This is a... interesting place, thought Yokalli. "Err..." she said nervously. "I don't know how this," she thought frantically for the right word, "sport works." Yokalli held her breath, hoping she had not offended the Techo.

     Thankfully he smiled, and said cheerfully, "Well, you pick out a cheese, buy it, and if you can roll the cheese down the hill under one minute, you'll get to keep the cheese!"

     It sounded kind of fun, and Yokalli responded, "I'd like to try it."

     "Well, you gotta choose a cheese first, before--" The Techo was cut off by a stream of Neopian tourists, who crowded around his stand beginning to shout and yell things out, like, "Spicy Juppie cheese! Purple Spotted Cheese! Peppermint Cheese!" By the time all of them had left to roll their cheeses down the hill, nothing was left but the honey cheese and fudge cheese. "--the rush," the Techo said glumly to her.

      A disappointed Yokalli sighed, and looked unhappily at the two types of cheeses left. They looked like the hardest to roll down the hill, at least to Yokalli. She couldn't imagine pushing either of those cheeses down the hill under one minute. A sudden fire of determination was lit in Yokalli, and she approached the cheeses. She observed them two closely, and declared, pointing at the fudge cheese, "I'll take that one!"

      "You mean the Quadruple Fudge Cheese?" he asked.

      "Yes," Yokalli replied.

      "That'll be one-thousand-eight-hundred Neopoints, please," he said kindly. She rummaged around in her bag and handed a fat handful of golden coins. The blue Techo handed her the sticky cheese, and she bent down right behind the starting line and placed her cheese in front of her. "On your mark, get set, GO!" shouted the blue Techo.

      Immediately Yokalli started to push the tasty cheese forward, but it moved painfully slow, and in frustration, she butted it as hard as she could. It moved at a more decent pace moving about two feet more down the hill. Then it started to roll slowly by itself. An idea struck Yokalli and she quickly started to roll the cheese downward with her hands and started to run behind it at the same pace it was going. It built up more and more speed, until it was almost just a blur. Suddenly, there was a shoop. There was darkness, and Yokalli realized she had fallen into a pothole. Angrily she pulled herself out with the cheese and started rolling again. She swept passed the finish line and fell down, clutching her cheese and slightly tilting backwards so she would stop.

      When she finally stopped, the Techo was staring down at her with a timer in his hand. "One minute and fifteen seconds," he said. Yokalli looked down at the grass in disappointment. "But," he said above her, "I've seen no one be that determined to push it down the hill. Trust me; I know what kind of determination people have when they roll. Most people only do it for the avatar or for collecting a trophy for money. You did it for the challenge, and I admire that. You can have the cheese." Yokalli looked up at him in amazement. "Just say it was just a souvenir for the fist time you did Cheese Rolling." He winked.

      Later on that night, when Charlotte and Yokalli (carrying the cheese) were on the ship back, Yokalli gave a small cough of attention. "What is it?" asked Charlotte.

      "Charlotte?" Yokalli said nervously.

      "Yes?" Charlotte said quizzically.

      "When can we go back to Meridell?"

The End