Megan Is Lost

She’s gone.

     She wasn’t there when I got home from Neoschool. Megan is a good Kadoatie. Why did she go away?

     First I checked her bed, the one in my room. The one where I spilled Petpetnip, and where sometimes, when I’m trying to sleep, she starts meowing and purring and rubbing on it and rolling on her back. I try to be cross with her, but then she leaps onto my bed and lies on the other pillow, and stretches on her tummy, and I have to smile and I hold my face to her pink body to stop Mum and Daddy from hearing me laugh. Megan is funny like that.

     But Megan wasn’t there.

     So then I went into the garden, where she likes to sit in that sunny patch of ground on the Rowzes bed, where she’s lain so many times there’s a little Megan-shaped indent where all the flowers smooshed down.

     But Megan wasn’t there.

     So I went and looked in the refrigerator. Once, in the summer, I left the door hanging wide open to cool me off and Megan jumped in and sat down between the Kau Kau Farms milk and the raspberry jam and I almost closed the door without noticing her in there. I don’t know how Megan would have gotten in there without the door open. But Megan is smart, so I get she would’ve figured out how.

     But Mean wasn’t there, either.

     So I went into the parlor and told Mum that I couldn’t find Megan. Mum said not to worry, that she was probably off exploring Roo Island with all her Kadoatie friends. I sure hope so. But I’m worried.

     I miss Megan.

     ---x---

     Mari the Island Cybunny always hated living on Roo Island. Everyone who hadn’t yet met her immediately assumed she was a Blumaroo. Whenever she told her old friends from Mystery Island where she was now living, they always snickered and made remarks like, “So, why didn’t you drink your Blumaroo Morphing Potion yet?”

     When Mari’s parents announced that they were moving from Mystery Island, where she’d grown up, to Roo Island, Mari was upset. The only thing she knew about Roo Island was that Blumaroos lived there, and it had almost won the Altador Cup last year. (She was, of course, a Mystery Island fan all the way.) In fact, the only consolation for Mari was the promise of a Petpet after the move.

     And so Mari and her parents made the voyage via boat to Neopia Central, a place completely unfamiliar to Mari. In fact, she had never before left her Mystery Island homeland. On the boat ride, Mari met an Aisha named Aiey who had a Kadoatie, and instantly fell, ears over paws, in love with the species. So naturally, when the ship docked, and she looked at the map of Neopia Central, she knew exactly the place to go: the Kadoatery.

     After much hassle, involving several angry conversations behind closed doors, Mari’s parents settled a deal with an owner who wanted a new Petpet. Mari was in a state of ecstasy over her new Pink Kadoatie, and named her Megan, after an old childhood friend.

     Megan was Mari’s first friend in Roo Island, and Mari spent many hours tossing around bouncy balls filled with Petpetnip (Megan was an absolute sucker for the stuff, and once she caught a whiff of it in the air, there was no stopping her as she rushed in a frenzy to the source) or simply cuddling.

     But one day, when Mari came home from Neoschool, Megan had disappeared. Mari was heartbroken.

     ---x---

6th day of Gathering, Y8

     Today, when I came home, I saw Megan’s bed, and I cried.

     Mum and Daddy put up posters for Megan at their work today, and around the neighborhood. I hope someone finds Megan, and returns her to me. But she’s so nice; what if someone keeps her?

     Megan still hasn’t come home yet. I miss Megan.

     ---x---

     Mari was beginning to hallucinate. Without Megan, she had no one to confide in, no one to tell her deepest fears and desires. Megan was Mari’s most rapt listener, and you could swear that the little Kadoatie actually understood Mari’s words.

     So Mari started talking to herself. During Neoschool, she would mutter and twirl a pencil in her paws mindlessly. Always an ‘A’ student, she seldom raised her paw during class discussions and often looked dazed and disoriented when asked a question.

     ---x---

     At that moment, fifty yards away, a small Pink Kadoatie rummaged through a bin of rummaged through a bin of rubbish. She sniffed around for Butterfish (her favorite!) but came up with only an empty bag of Neo Crackers. She glanced at the bag sadly, then turned away, leapt off the Dumpster, and disappeared into the gathering mist.

     ---x---

10th day of Gathering, Y8

     Mum bought a Butterfish for Megan today. She forgot that Megan isn’t here now but I told her to save it, ‘cause I bet she’ll be home soon. Mum and Daddy looked at each other in a bad way. I wonder why they’re so worried?

     I know why, though. It’s because Megan is lost.

     ---x---

     The mist on Roo Island is legendary. It’s as impossible to escape from as snow on Terror Mountain, or sand in the Lost Desert. Because Roo Island is surrounded by ocean, and the temperature is usually mild, mist is never completely gone, even on a sunny day.

     You’re also never far from rain on Roo Island. Despite the stereotype that Roo Island is a cheery, sunny place, it’s often more damp than bright.

     ---x---

13th day of Gathering, Y8

     Today in Neoschool, we studied poems. They told us to make a poem about our Petpet or dream Petpet. I felt sad thinking about Megan, but I wrote it so when she comes back, I can recite it to her.

     Well, here it is! It doesn’t rhyme, but I like it anyway:

     Megan

     My Kadoatie loves Petpetnip.

     Every time she does something funny, I smile.

     Good Girl! I say when she does something right.

     After all, she’s the best in the world.

     Never will we part.

     Except we did part. Because Megan is lost.

     And today, Mum and Daddy asked what other kind of Petpets I like. I said I only like Megan.

     ---x---

     The wind was picking up, and the Kadoatie stuck outside didn’t like it one bit. She huddled against the gusts, shuddering as the cold air penetrated her pink, furry body. To escape the cold, she climbed the nearest tree, seeking refuge in the tree’s branches. But as she climbed, her pink-and-gemstone collar, already loose, slipped off. It fell down, down, down, and didn’t even hit the ground before being picked up and blown away on the wind.

     Thunder rumbled menacingly in the distance.

     The Kadoatie cried.

     ---x---

     Mari awoke in her bed with a start. She was sure she just heard Megan’s voice, calling out to her. Or was it a dream? Mari had been in this same situation numerous times over the past two weeks. But tonight, she just had a feeling, and stepped out the door.

     Mari felt immediately stupid that she didn’t bring an umbrella—but then again, the wind would have just turned it inside out and carried it away. But now, it was too late to go back into the house, for the heavy gusts had snapped it shut. Rain was pouring down in sheets, blown nearly sideways by the wind, so no matter which way Mari faced, she was greeted with a face full of drops.

     Blindly, Mari ran through the driving rain, skinning her leg when she slipped on a neighbors’ fallen tree branch. While sprawled on the sidewalk, Mari saw a glitter of a faux gemstone. Megan’s collar! And sure enough, it was. Mari did not take this as a good sign.

     “Megan! Where are you?” she called out, her voice drowned out by the storm as surely as the assorted plants around her, already limp from water saturation.

     But miraculously, she heard a tiny, helpless ‘Mew!’ that she immediately recognized as Megan’s.

     “Megan! Hang in there! I’m coming!”

     Mari heard the Mew, louder this time, and she soon traced it to a tree directly above her. Although Mari wasn’t known for her climbing abilities, she managed to pull her soaking-wet self into the uppermost branches. She reached out her paw until she felt Megan’s familiar body, and pulled Megan into a hug.

     After holding Megan ever so tightly for the next few minutes (Or was it hours? days?), Mari gingerly climbed down, Megan holding onto Mari’s neck for dear life. The rain had greatly subsided, and it was easier for Mari to find her way back home. She knocked on the door, and when her parents finally opened it, their anger turned to delight at the sight of a purring Megan—and a smiling Mari.

     ---x---

16th day of Gathering, Y8

     Megan isn’t lost anymore. Megan is found.

     I love Megan.

The End

My second submission! Thanks to all who responded before, and I enjoy questions or comments, as always. =D