What Went Wrong: The Tale of a Scaredy Kacheek

     It all started in a lab. A Mad Scientist in a lab coat that was twice his size paced back and forth.... trying to think of something, anything. "I've got it!" he shouted in delight. Lightning flashed just outside the window as the leaves on the trees outside blew back and forth violently on a stormy night.

     He took a second to gather his thoughts and then he scribbled them down on a loose piece of paper on his desk. His desk was full of many papers, blueprints, and new ideas.

     He cackled loudly and then stopped abruptly. ..."He has to be big, he has to be tough!" the Mad Scientist said aloud to himself as he continued to scribble down his ideas. Anyone who would happen to come across these ideas of his would call him mad, insane even! His ideas just made no sense to others, but to him they did. He had faith in his ideas, despite what others thought.

     He then stopped writing and froze. Something came to him. Like lighting a match in a pitch dark attic, his plan started to become clearer. He grabbed his papers and ran to a big machine, with many buttons, levers, and funnels of sorts. Its wires connected to a long table with a big sheet draped over it.

     He placed his papers on the nearest lab table and reread them over and over, checking his work. He cackled to himself and mumbled something about this being his greatest idea yet. He ran to a counter covered in beakers filled with different sorts of liquids, given to him by the evil Edna herself. Some were glowing; some smelled vile. Some looked like they were deadly.

     His eyes wandered across the counter until he found the one he was looking for. He picked it up firmly and carefully and walked towards the machine. He poured the potion he chose into a small funnel connected to the machine. A small bulb on the machine began to flash a bright green color. He then scratched his head and looked back at his papers. The lightning outside continued to flash and crackle in the sky, and the thunder began to get louder. He ran to his counter of potions and studied them closely. He picked them up one by one, as a devilish smile spread across his face.

     He then ran to the table nearest to the machine and put down the potions he chose. Once more the thunder boomed and lightning spider-webbed across the sky. One by one he picked up potions and poured them into various funnels connected to the machine. Some potions he mixed together before he they were poured into the the machine.

     Often he would pull levers and press buttons, causing the machine to make a variety of different noises. Small bulbs lit up on the machine as he did this, and he would always look back on his work to make sure he was staying on track.

     He then stopped and checked his work for the last time. His plan was complete. "This is it! Finally, this is it!" The thunder's boom got louder and louder, and the lightning outside flashed brightly.

     He then ran to the side of the machine and pulled a huge lever, making the machine make loud beeping noises. He then pulled another lever, which made a variety off small bulbs connected to the machine light up.

     All the energy from the machine went through the wires that were connected to the table with the sheet draped over it. Now the machine was making loud buzzing noises. The sheet raised higher and higher. A little while later, the Scorchio scientist shuffled up to the machine and pressed a variety of buttons, causing the machine to shut down.

     He rubbed his hands together and smiled mischievously. "It's alive..." he whispered to himself. He swiftly ran to the table with the large sheet draped over it. "It's aliveee!" He cackled. The thunder outside continued to boom loudly. He then pulled the sheet off of the table. On that table lay a small Halloween Kacheek. The creature opened his eyes for the first time. The scientist stared at the Kacheek, shocked. That little Kacheek stared right back at him, confused and frightened. The scientist slowly walked back to the chair near his desk. He then sat down and he slowly let out a deep sigh.

     That little Kacheek nervously got up and walked towards the end of the Scientist's desk, looking at the Scientist sadly. "What went wrong?" he mumbled to himself. The Halloween Kacheek continued to watch him sadly. The Scientist looked at him and then at his papers. He went back to work.

     The Kacheek slowly sat down on the floor next to the Scientist, who continued to work and ignored him. He tugged on the Scorchio's coat weakly. After a few minutes the Scorchio looked over to him. The Kacheek smiled at the Scientist, hoping to cheer him up. The scientist laughed to himself at the irony of it all. He picked up the Kacheek and sat him back down on the lab table connected to the machine. He stared angrily at the Kacheek. He was weak, frail, cowardly, clumsy, and too kind to ever help him with his evil plans. "Well, will ya' look at that! This went a lot worse then I thought it would." He laughed loudly, slightly frightening the Halloween Kacheek. The Kacheek looked into the Scientist's eyes, still frightened and confused. "What on earth can you do for me?" the Scientist asked the Kacheek, poking his chest. The Kacheek fell over onto the table and then struggled to pick himself back up. He then shrugged his shoulders at the Mad Scientist.

     "...Are you going to answer me or not?!" demanded the Scientist.

     The Kacheek looked up at him sadly and shook his head.

     The Scientist stopped to think. "...You can't talk, can you?"

     The Kacheek nodded his head.

     The Scientist cackled to himself. He then stopped and looked at the Kacheek. "You're useless to me, kid."

     He picked the Kacheek up and brought him towards the door. He then opened the door, causing it to make a loud creaking noise. He dropped the Kacheek out the door, closing it quickly behind him.

     The Halloween Kacheek looked frightfully up towards the sky. It was raining very hard that night. Lightning continued to light up the night sky and was closely followed by a clap of thunder, seeming to thrum within the earth itself. He was terrified of the thunder and lightning. He had no idea what was going on. He wanted to call out for help, but he couldn't. He felt helpless and scared. He ran to a comfortable spot under a tree and sat down. Tears filled his eyes as the storm continued. He sobbed into his arms hopelessly.

     Behind the tree in which he sat he heard a noise. He curiously peeked around the tree. There he saw a small petpet, growling at the sky, as if he was fighting off the storm. The petpet then saw him and stopped. He ran towards him and sniffed him out. The petpet seemed pleased with him and curled up next to him. A hopeful smile grew across both their faces. The fearful storm no longer had an effect on either of them.

     The two were inseparable. They were both lost souls that finally found a companion to live out their mysterious lives with. They didn't know where they were headed, or what would become of them; all they knew was that they would get through it together. This Halloween Kacheek and his Alkenore were known all over the Haunted Woods.

     Time went on and the two continued to live their lives. They did a lot of traveling, hoping to find somewhere to stay for the night, or maybe even a place to call home if they were lucky enough. The Halloween Kacheek was often scared by the sights he saw in the Haunted Woods, but his Alkenore was there to protect him, and help him feel better.

     Now, this Halloween Kacheek's petpet, which he was later told was a Tyrannian Alkenore by a kind Neopian family who let him spend the night, had a weird way of getting his attention. The Alkenore made many noises, but he made one specific noise to call out to his companion. He got his attention by growling, "Eeeek uhm!" The Halloween Kacheek was used to being referred to as such, so it became something that he was identified by.

     One of the families he stayed with for a while referred to him by this name also. From that point on, everyone he knew referred to him as that. One day the Kacheek and his Alkenore stayed with a family who taught him how to spell. He was then able to write down words on paper, which was great for him because now he was able to communicate with people. He also learned how to spell his name. They were confused as to how to spell it. One of the members of that family, a Darigan Shoyru, suggested he spell it E-i-k-i-m. She claimed to favor the way it sounded. He nodded his head, smiled, and then wrote his name on the scrap piece of paper in front of him. Now he finally had a name. Eikim.

     Of course, spending every day searching for your next temporary home isn't a very favorable way to live. But Eikim and his Tyrannian Alkenore enjoyed traveling. They enjoyed seeing all the different places' scenery and meeting so many different people in the Haunted Woods. With their way of living, it wasn't very long before they knew the Haunted Woods like the back of their paws.

     Although they lived a rather adventurous and exciting life, they did have their struggles. Eikim was a huge scaredy Kacheek, and many things about the Haunted Woods were a bit... well, scary. Also, Eikim had to take on various difficult jobs that were available in the Haunted Woods to earn a living for himself and his petpet.

     One of the jobs that Eikim enjoyed the most was his assistant job at 'Spooky Petpets'. He was allowed to bring his Tyrannian Alkenore to work with him, which was great because his petpet could play with all the other petpets and help him out with his work. Eikim also loved his job at 'The Crumpetmonger' because he and his Alkenore got to be the first to try the newest pastries that the shopkeeper just made- fresh from the oven.

     One of the jobs that Eikim liked the least was his job as a tour guide at 'The Haunted House'. Most of the time he was terrified. As you can tell, that job didn't last very long.

     One of the most important jobs Eikim had was his job at 'Spooky Furniture', unpacking and assembling the newest furniture. It wasn't the most exciting of jobs, but it ended up giving to him what he wanted most.

     No, not a sofa, silly goose. He found something much better than that. So, one day when working in the shop, he was told to help with selling furniture up front, because he wasn't doing so well putting together furniture. He was pretty clumsy, so he ended up breaking more furniture than he assembled.

     So, there he was, helping the customers decide on furniture for their neohomes. This task made him pretty nervous. He'd never been much of a people person. Eventually, a slightly dysfunctional looking family entered the shop. This family consisted of an elegant Pink Kacheek, a young Skunk Aisha and a Jelly Aisha arguing with each other.

     Although Eikim had never met these neopets before, he felt like he knew them. It was strange. He knew nothing about them, but at the same time he felt as if he'd known them all his life.

     He got kind of nervous; he didn't want to mess up this first impression. He looked over to his Tyrannian Alkenore, who was peacefully sleeping on a few pillows next to the the front counter. This brought a smile to Eikim's face.

     He slowly walked over to the family from before. When he got over to them, he gave them one of his biggest smiles. They all smiled at him, too. The Pink Kacheek seemed the happiest to see him.

     Then, the old wooden door flew open to the shop, and a crazy cackle sounded. Eikim panicked and hid closely by the Pink Kacheek, who he found out was named Ayesla. He got scared.

     Then someone entered the shop... a familiar face that Eikim recognized instantly. The Mad Scientist. The Scientist announced he was looking for some pillows for his living room. The shopkeeper rolled his eyes.

     "These ones look good," the Mad Scientist declared as he pulled the pillows that the Tyrannian Alkenore was resting upon. The Alkenore hissed at the Scientist and scurried up to Eikim. Eikim laughed at his Alkenore. Even his petpet knew a bad guy when he saw one!

     The Mad Scientist looked around anxiously to see where that laugh had come from. "Who just laughed?!" he yelled angrily.

     ...Oh no. This couldn't end well. Eikim hid his face in shame. The Scientist walked slowly around the store, looking around. Then he saw him. A small Halloween Kacheek, frightened.

     The Mad Scientist stared at him pathetically. "Look what we have here," he laughed to himself. "Look at this kid. He's afraid of his own shadow!" ...Then he stopped. He looked surprised. He walked circles around the Kacheek, examining him closely.

     "Oh my," he mumbled to himself. Then he laughed once more. "You... oh, I remember you... of all my failed experiments you were the worst!" he said mockingly. "Look at you! What a sorry sight."

     "HEY!" yelled the Jelly Aisha, looking angered at the Scientist's remarks. "Who do you think you are? You have no reason to talk to him like that! What did he ever do to you?" The Pink Kacheek put her arm around Eikim in an attempt to comfort him.

     The Mad Scientist was surprised that someone would come to his defense. "You can't be serious... I mean, look at him. I'm surprised he has survived this long!" yelled the Scientist.

     "Listen here, you crazy haired goon!" yelled the young Skunk Aisha angrily. "He doesn't deserve this talk from you, and if you knew what was good for you you'd leave him alone!"

     The Scientist patted his hair, feeling insulted. "You know what? Fine. I'll take these pillows, and I'll be on my way," he said meanly, as he paid for his things. "...Alright, I'm out of here," he said, as he walked out the door.

     Eikim realized what had just happened and he couldn't be happier. He smiled at the Pink Kacheek, and nodded at the two Aishas who came to his defense. The Jelly Aisha helped Eikim and the Pink Kacheek up.

     The small Skunk Aisha looked at Eikim sadly. She could see he was still a bit frightened about what had just happened. She looked up into his eyes and smiled at him. "Well, my name is Smelleh, and these are just a few of my family members- Ayesla, and Expurna." She pointed towards her sisters. "D-do... do you have a home, or a family?"

     Eikim shook his head in denial. "We've been told about your travels by some of the people around the Haunted Woods," said the Pink Kacheek kindly. "I think what you've been doing is pretty amazing. I mean, we all do. Don't believe what that Scientist said. You're great."

     Eikim nodded his head and blushed. He felt so accepted, and touched by these neopets who would give so much kindness to a complete stranger.

     "I know this might come off as a bit strange... but you're welcome to join our family if you'd like. We'd be happy to have you, really! It's not much, but..." the Jelly Aisha explained to Eikim. Eikim hugged her before she could even finish her sentence.

     "Well, we'll take that as a yes!" The Skunk Aisha laughed. Eikim's Tyrannian Alkenore jumped in Eikim's bag, and peeked out of it playfully. Eikim laughed and motioned towards his petpet.

     "And of course, your petpet is more than welcome to come too!" she laughed. Eikim slung his backpack over his shoulder and nodded his head.

     The four of them left the shop eagerly, anxious to show Eikim around his new home. Eikim waved goodbye to all his friends that he met in the Haunted Woods. Then, they were ready to go. "...Last one there is a rotten egg!" yelled the Skunk Aisha, as she sprinted aimlessly past the spooky looking trees of the Haunted Woods.

     "Oh boy," said the Jelly Aisha sarcastically. "Not this again." They all quickly followed behind the young skunk Aisha. "Finally," thought Eikim, "finally I'll have a home- and a wonderful family of my own."

The End