A Day in the Life of an Acara (in her own words)

     The day had begun well enough. Aleea rested her head on her crossed paws, flipping her long blue horns over her eyes as she heard Jacartha sigh. She had a feeling her owner was going around in circles. She thought back to that morning resignedly...

--

     Aleea bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen for breakfast. She felt absolutely superb this morning – ready for anything. “Know anyone who's up for a fight?” she exclaimed. Jacartha laughed and said they could go to the Battledome later today if she really wanted – there were just a few chores to take care of first. Aleea looked out the window and saw that the clear blue sky and poofy white clouds matched her mood perfectly. She had a feeling today was going to be a great day.

--

     “I don’t understand – how did I end up back here?” she heard Jacartha mutter. Lifting her right horn slightly to peek at the board, she saw that her earlier guess was right – Jacartha was going round in circles. Aleea rolled her eyes quietly at her owner and returned to her daydreams.

--

     “We’ve got to get some groceries, first,” Jacartha had said as she grabbed the cereal down from its perch high in the cupboard. “Do you want ‘Green Oat’ or ‘Enchanting Strawberry’ for breakfast?”

     Aleea shrugged, still looking happily out the window. Who could care about cereal when the birds were singing and the sun was shining like today?

     “’Green Oat’ it is, then,” Jacartha said cheerily. “Then I promised Maginsa we’d go over to her place for a little bit...”

     Aleea groaned – she knew where that was going. NeoQuest. Her good hopes for the day seemed to vanish and, blinking, she thought that she saw sudden clouds roll in over the sky. Must be a trick of the light...

--

     “Hey – I leveled up!” Jacartha said excitedly.

     “Congratulations!” Maginsa replied. That was where they were now – Maginsa’s house, in the living room, playing the dreaded NeoQuest. She had tried hinting several times about how bored she was, but all it had gotten her was a distracted scratch between the ears as her owner tried to defeat a boss go back in time or whatever it was. Aleea yawned – loudly – with no response from either pet owner.

--

     So they went shopping. Aleea’s good mood had returned with interest as they left the house, and she looked around with curiosity at all of the people and pets outside in their neighborhood as they walked to the store. They had briefly returned, loaded down with Hero Gyros, Geraptiku Burgers and Pyramibread. After putting the food away they had set off immediately again, this time in the opposite direction, to Maginsa’s house. Although she was not looking forward to going to Maginsa’s, the day really was beautiful. Perhaps she could convince them to play their silly game outside...

--

     “Finally, a level. I thought I’d never get it!” Jacartha grumbled. Aleea had not managed to convince them to play outside – apparently, the delicate game required no wind. Suddenly, Aleea had an idea – although it wouldn’t stop the game, at least it would be funny for a little bit... as her owner and Maginsa consulted about where to spend the newly-acquired skill point, she tensed her horns and set them standing straight over her head. Simultaneously, she sat bolt upright.

     “AH! BEHIND YOU!” she exclaimed. Both humans started and looked around wildly for what had seemed to startle the Acara so much. Aleea fell over laughing. “Just kidding!” she gasped out between laughs. Jacartha gave her and Maginsa a rueful look.

     “We have been here a while... I’m sorry, Aleea. I’ll put this skill point into Shockwave and we can go, promise.” Aleea sat up, smiling again, and waited for the two humans to pack up the game. She could hardly stop herself from bounding ahead when they went to leave, and she breathed in deeply and happily as they stepped back into the vivid sunlight.

     “Since I got to choose to go and play NeoQuest, I think it’s only fair you get to pick what we do next,” her owner said, smiling down at her. Aleea knew exactly what she wanted to do:

     “A Tiki Tour sounds good right about now!” she said happily.

     “Sounds good to me!” Jacartha replied, and so they set off to Mystery Island, where the weather was even better than it had been at home. Jacartha paid the 50 Neopoint fee for the tour and Aleea happily soaked in the sunlight as she explored Mystery Island. When she returned to where her owner was waiting for her, sipping on a cold Peanut Butter Slushie, she felt happier than ever.

     “What next?” Jacartha asked her cheerfully.

     “Destruct-O-Match sounds like fun right about now,” she replied, still basking in the Mystery Island sunlight.

     “Destruct-O-Match?!” her owner exclaimed. “That’s all the way over in Tyrannia!” But she looked at Aleea’s eager face and sighed. “All right, but I’m picking the next thing we do...”

     The trip to Tyrannia took a while, and as they travelled, Aleea pondered Tyrannia. She was beginning to regret asking to play Destruct-O-Match – because she had heard from a friend that one of her favorite bands, Wock Til You Drop, was playing there this week. She hadn’t thought she’d have the opportunity to go, but...

     She looked at Jacartha and figured it couldn’t hurt trying.

     “Seen any good concerts lately?” she asked Jacartha casually.

     “You know I haven’t,” Jacartha said, looking at her oddly. “Why... ooooh. You want to go see Wock Til You Drop, don’t you?”

     Aleea nodded.

     “Well...” her owner considered. “I’ll take you if we don’t have to go play Destruct-O-Match, deal?”

     Too excited to speak, Aleea nodded. Her friends were going to be so jealous! She looked up at the sky and smiled widely: this was turning out to be a great day!

     When they finally arrived in Tyrannia, Aleea was so excited she almost ran to the Plateau where the Ticket Booth was housed to buy their tickets. Luckily, there were still 1027 tickets left (as the ticket-seller helpfully informed them) and they made it into the Concert Hall with plenty of time to spare. As the crowds poured in Aleea looked around, wide-eyed – she had never been to a concert this big before. Finally, Wock Til You Drop came on the stage and she focused on them, losing herself in the music.

     The concert was great, and as they were leaving the Concert Hall at twilight Aleea heard a voice calling over her shoulder – “Hey Aleea, don't forget your free Wock Til You Drop Mug.” She took it eagerly and looked up at Jacartha, who was checking her watch.

     “It’s getting pretty late, Aleea – we’d better head back home soon, I’m getting tired.” And as if to prove it, Jacartha stifled a yawn behind her hand.

     Aleea looked up at the darkening sky and sighed in happiness, cradling the mug between her hands. She grinned up at her owner, thinking that for once she had thought of an activity that would make them both happy.

     She yawned and started back toward home. “Is it nap time, yet?”

The End