A Day in the Life of a Wadjet

      This is a day in the life of a wadjet.

      Keke listened to the steady breathing of his owner, Kimiko the Desert Aisha. Then he glanced over at the window. It was still dark out, but there was a pale, soft light on the horizon. Soon it would be dawn.

      His eyes rested on the strange contraption Kimiko kept on her desk. It was a machine of sorts. It had red eyes that would change every minute or so. Right now it looked like "6:47."

      Keke had heard Kimiko refer to it as a clock.. The clock would sometimes make a horrid screeching sound, when Kimiko had to go somewhere. Keke hoped the clock wouldn't screech that morning.

      Keke shivered. Why was it so cold in the morning? He would need to get warmer. As long as it stayed cold, he wouldn't be able to move too far. A con that came with being cold blooded.

      Despite that, he was glad he was cold blooded. He just couldn't imagine being warm blooded. It must be horrid! You couldn't control your body temperature at all! Not to mention that all that warm blood probably caused you to go crazy. That'd explain why Kimiko was the way she was.

      Keke glanced at his skin, and hummed proudly. His skin was by far the best reptilian skin he'd ever seen.

      He was white, but in the pale light he looked silver. Each scale was no bigger than a grain of rice, making him smoother than most reptiles. And in the right light, his skin sparkled in a way that was similar to the way morning sunlight would sparkle on freshly fallen snow.

      Despite that, Keke wasn't vain. He would do anything to help someone, and nothing made him happier than doing something that caused Kimiko to smile. Well, that and blueberry pancakes. Keke loved blueberry pancakes.

      Suddenly, there was a loud screech that interrupted Keke's thoughts. Keke glared at the "clock." "7:30" its eyes blazed back.

      The screeching stopped when Kimiko raised a paw and tapped the button on top of the clock. She sat up and yawned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Then she saw him and smiled.

      "Good morning, Keke," she said, patting him on the head. Keke rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed with her.

      She got out of bed and walked to her dresser. She took out her dress and slipped it on. Then she put on her head dress, her bracelets, and finally her Aisha collar.

      "I'm Lina's active pet today, so I'm accompanying her to her dailies. I'll get your breakfast ready downstairs, and you can eat it when you get hungry. Be good while I'm gone."

      Keke yawned, to say that he understood. Then, after Kimiko left the room, he wriggled over to where she had slept, soaking up the warmth from the covers.

      After the covers were cold again, Keke jumped off the bed (a very difficult thing to do if you have no legs) and moved to his favorite spot on the carpeted floor: just a little to the left of the middle of the room. Keke liked this spot because, not only was it a tad softer than the other parts of the floor, but also because around this time in the morning, the sun would shine right there, allowing Keke to get his temperature up to a relaxing warm before going off to the day's adventures.

      As if on cue, a sunbeam peered through the window, covering Keke and his favorite spot in a sunny blanket.

      Keke wriggled with delight. If you've ever lain down on a carpeted floor, with the sunlight covering you, then you sort of know what Keke is feeling. That sweet, peaceful bliss. What you don't know is how that feels like when you're cold blooded. It's the same feeling, except ten times better.

      Keke turned over onto his back, letting his belly get warm. His petpetpet, Molly the Moffit, hopped over to him and wriggled her antennae to say good morning.

      Keke patted her on her head with the tip of his tail, and Molly hoped off to do whatever petpetpets do during the day.

      After the sunbeam had disappeared, Keke stretched again. His temperature was just right. He wriggled off to get breakfast.

      Kimiko's room is on the second floor of a two-story neohome, so naturally it has stairs. When Keke first came to live with Kimiko, the stairs had been a challenge, and someone would have to carry him up and down. Now, however, the stairs were easy for Keke. To go down, he wriggled up the railing and slide down on his belly. Going up was a bit harder, and a lot less fun; he had to grab a bit of carpet in his mouth and drag the rest of him up.

      Now, Keke slid down, coming to a graceful stop at the end of the railing. He climbed down, and wriggled off to the Kitchen.

      Keke went to his food dish, to see what Kimiko had left him that morning. He sniffed: gracklebug steak with Tchea fruit. Yum.

      After eating his breakfast, and taking a drink of water, Keke decided that it was time to go outside.

      He wriggled to the back door, and slid out the petpet door, specifically designed for legless petpets.

      It was a beautiful sunny day outside, a day that was perfect for being a Wadjet. Keke slid off the back porch onto the grass.

      Sunbathing was just the thing to get one's blood running for the day, and what better place to do it than in the garden.

      Keke was just about to fall asleep, when he heard a faint "Meow." Curious, Keke wriggled to the edge of the fence, and peered through a knothole. A Meowclops kitten, dirty and tired, was sitting on the edge of the side walk.

      A Meowclops? Those were rare. However, this particular kitten looked anything but rare. It was dirty, and rather smelly, and looked abandoned.

      The petpet spotted him and ran over to investigate. Apparently its condition didn't affect its curiosity. It sat down right on its bottom and looked at Keke questioningly.

      "What are you?" the Meowclops asked.

      "I'm a Wadjet. My name is Keke. What's your name?"

      "No name," the Meowclops said. "My name is No name."

      "Where is your owner?" Keke asked, afraid that he already knew the answer.

      "I don't have one. The bad man was going to auction me, but I didn't like him or the action place, so I ran away." No name looked down at the ground. "Am I a bad petpet for running away?"

      "I don't think so. Not if the person was mean to you." Keke stared at the Meowclops. He couldn't just leave her there. What should he do?

      "Are you hungry?" Keke asked. No name nodded. The two petpets turned to go into the house.

      "Wait here. I'll get you some food," Keke told the kitten. Then he looked up at the fruit bowl. Up on the counter. Way up on the counter.

      "I'll go get King to get you some food," Keke corrected, and they went to find King. The white Bika was sitting on the couch, next to his owner, Sweets (who was Kimiko's sister).

      "King!" Keke called. King turned around, saw them, and hopped off the couch.

      "Who's this?" he asked, referring to No name.

      "Her name is No name. She's hungry. Could you get some food from the fruit bowl?"

      King nodded and walked purposefully to the kitchen. He moved a chair to the edge of the counter, hopped onto it, and then up next to the counter.

      "Tchea fruit or Ummagine?" he asked.

      "Tchea!" No name said. King rolled a Tchea fruit out of the fruit bowl, and it landed on the floor. No name attacked it, biting into the juicy fruit. With amazing speed she ate it, then stopped to lick the juice off her paws and fur.

      "You need a bath," Keke remarked.

      "Max could probably help her with that," King said. "He loves to clean."

      "What should I do with her then? She needs a home." Keke and King looked over at the tiny petpet. They would need to find her a home where someone would love her, and not care about how valuable or rare or expensive she was.

      "How about the adoption center? Any one who's adopting a pet must be good," King offered.

      Keke nodded. "That might work. Come on, No name. Let's get you cleaned up before we find you a home."

      No name stopped licking her paws and bounced over to Keke, purring. As if on cue, Max the Fire Swabby swept into the kitchen.

      "Max! Could you clean No name up?"

      Max swiveled around to look at the kitten. "Sure," he replied. He went and picked the Meowclops up, carrying her into the bathroom. He filled the sink with warm water and soap, then dipped the kitten in, careful not to get any soap in her eyes.

      "Hey!" No name screamed, struggling to get out of the water. Max held her in, gently but firmly, scrubbing her fur and her ears, getting dandruff out, and conditioning her tail.

      "Done!" he declared, and towel dried No name.

      Keke was surprised. She was beautiful. Now she looked like a rare and expensive petpet. She even had a splotch of white on her chest.

      "Thanks, Max," Keke said, leaving with No name. "Come on, No name, it's time to find you a good home."

      They left the house through the petpet door, and began the walk to the adoption center. Many people stopped and stared at the beautiful Meowclops kitten, and some even tried to grab her, but Keke was careful not to let anyone touch her. All of them had greed in their eyes.

      "Gotcha!" somebody yelled. Keke gasped as the ground left him. He was being so careful not to let anyone steal No name, he wasn't watching for himself. Somebody was kidnapping him!

      "Help! Help!" he screamed. He turned and tried to bite his captor, but the kidnapper just put Keke in a bag.

      Keke bumped along sadly. He couldn't get out. Doomed to sell in some shop? Or worse, a test subject for the petpet lab ray?

      Would he ever see Kimiko again? A pang of sadness swept over him. How he missed her. How stupid he had been! Why hadn't he gotten Sweets or Cream or Kata to help him? They were Neopets, and could have gotten to the adoption center much quicker and safer.

      He hoped No name was okay. The poor little kitten. He hoped she would be smart and go back to the house. King could take care of her.

      Keke groaned as the bag was tossed on a table. How he wished he could at least see!

      "Mama," some gruff voice said, "We're gonna eat good tonight! Look up the recipe fer Wadjet stew!"

      Keke's jaw dropped. They were going to eat him?

      Suddenly, something sharp stabbed him. Keke imagined a dinner knife and almost fainted. He turned, and was surprised to see a claw.

      "Sorry," someone whispered. "Be quiet."

      The claw made a hole in the bag, until it was large enough for Keke to slip out of. It was No name! She had rescued him!

      They turned just in time to see a poorly dressed Kau glaring at them.

      "Oh no, you don't! You gonna be dinner!" the Kau roared and started to run after them.

      Keke and No name ran for the door, and slipped out just in time. Hiding behind a bush, they waited until the Kau was out of sight.

      "Man, that was close," Keke sighed. "I thought Kaus were supposed to be vegetarians."

      Keke looked around, trying to figure out where they were, and gasped! The Kau had taken them straight to the adoption center!

      "No name, we're here!" he shouted. The pair ran off towards the friendly building.

      A pair walked out of the building just as they got there. A Kougra, with his new owner. They were happy. A good home, Keke realized.

      "No name, thanks for saving me," Keke said. Then he hugged the petpet and pushed her towards the pair, and hid behind a rock and watched.

      "Kate, look!" the Kougra shouted. "A petpet! Can I have it, please?"

      Kate knelt down to pick up No name. "What a pretty little thing. And friendly too," she said as No name licked her finger. "Of course you can keep her. What shall you call her, Kogle?"

      Kogle thought for a second, then said "Kiki! I'll call her Kiki!"

      Keke gasped, then smiled as the new family walked home for the first time.

      Speaking of which, Keke thought, I need to get home to my family! He raced home, slithering faster than he had ever slithered before.

      "Man, I'm tired," he thought once he got there. He pulled himself up the stairs and went into Kimiko's room, climbed onto her bed and fell asleep among the blankets.

      "Keke, there you are!" Kimiko said, waking Keke up. "Silly little thing, didn't you get out of bed at all today?"

      Keke rolled his eyes, and hugged his owner, happy to be loved.

The End