Cool's Adventure

     ***

     From Cool’s memory~

     Cool_sul had just come home from school. He was starving and his owner, Sula_sul, wasn’t home. He had rooted through the fridge and come out with a strange purple jelly with red spots. ‘Cool!’ Cool had thought, ‘black currant with strawberry.’ He had gobbled up both halves by the time Sula had returned. He had started going ugga, and that’s when Sula had rushed him to the hospital. The doctor had just finished giving a Skeith a neggitus jab and had a rather large needle in his paws. One look at the glint on the edge of the needle was all that was needed to set Cool running. He had nearly run into the pound before Sula had caught up to him. This had left him with a permanent fear of the Gelert.

     ***

     Cool’s green Usul ears picked up the sound of his sibling’s feet as they tried to find him. He held his breath as his sister, a red Usul name Lova_sul, came dangerously close to his hiding place. She glanced around for a bit and went back to the rest of Cool’s family. After a while, they disappeared around the side of the house. Cool left the bushes and ran up the stairs to their Neopia Central tree-house. He went to a corner and lay down, just watching the clouds. Before he knew it, he was drifting off...

     ***

     “Who are you?” asked a small voice.

     “Huh?” asked Cool, rubbing his eyes.

     The speaker was a small, green Gelert. His ears and tail were so long, they brushed the ground. His glasses were way too big for him, and he wore a toy stethoscope around his short neck.

     One look around showed Cool he was not in his tree house anymore. He was just on a tree. The Gelert was looking up at him from the ground. Cool scampered to the ground and ran off, leaving the confused looking Gelert. Cool ran into the street and went around the house he had just come from, and hid in the bushes. He spotted the Gelert. He was just standing around, doing nothing.

     “Gregorostern Charlstren! Come in at once! It’s going to rain!” said a female voice from inside the house.

     ‘Gregorostern Charlstren?’ thought Cool, ‘what kind of a name is that?’

     BOOM! The sound of thunder shook Cool out of his thoughts. The rain began pouring. Cool sheltered under a tree. A few drops of rain still hit him, but it was better than getting hit by bucketfuls. The green Gelert had only just managed to reach the door. His mother was waiting there with a disapproving look. She had a towel ready. The poor Gelert was (nearly!) smothered by his mother’s vigorous rubbing.

     “You know you catch neomonia easily! You get sick even if you climb out of a pool and aren’t dried immediately!” said his mom.

     “Sorry, Mother.”

     “You have to go to the hospital now. You’ll get sick and miss your piano recital if you don’t.”

     ‘THE KID IS SORRY HE’LL MISS HIS PIANO RECITAL?!!’ thought Cool. ‘He just isn’t normal.’

     The mother and Gregorostern had disappeared inside the house, probably to get ready to go to the hospital. Cool could hear Gregorostern sneezing all the way outside. The sun had come out, and it had stopped raining. Cool, having had lost interest in Gregorostern and his mother, decided to go to his own home.

     Cool stepped onto the street. He read the sign that mentioned the street’s name, and found he was just a couple of streets from home. He had to pass through the main shops and he was in for shock. NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THE SHOPS HE KNEW WAS THERE! No food shop, no book shop, no Neolodge, no pharmacy, no Rainbow Pool, no bank, no auction house, no general store, no petpet shop, no post office, not even the statue of the poetic Chia was there. The only familiar thing was the Money Tree.

     In place of the beautifully crafted shops, there were plain wooden stalls, which sold things. The shops were in the same order as Cool knew them. There was a pool, but there was no rainbow touching it. Terrified, Cool ran away, not sure where he was exactly going.

     Of course, he was soon tired out. He stopped, panting for breath, near the only concrete building he had seen up till now. Cool gave a start when he found out what building it was. It was the hospital. Cool turned to run but twisted his ankle (what ankle?). He grimaced and dragged himself to the hospital doors. For the first time that day, Cool realized he didn’t have ugga-ugga.

     Inside the hospital, Cool took a number and waited for his turn. He looked around while he was waiting. He realized Gregorostern had just come in.

     “Number forty- two! The doctor will see you know! I repeat! Number forty-two!” said the nurse. Cool glanced at his ticket. Number forty-three.

     Cool’s turn came soon. He limped in, expecting to see the smiling face of the Gelert doctor. Instead there was a scowling Grarrl there.

     “Hi!” said Cool brightly.

     “Sit. In. Chair. Tell. What. Is. Wrong.”

     Cool didn’t dare disobey. He stuttered out he had twisted his ankle. The doctor roughly tied a bandage around the offended foot and gave Cool a crutch.

     “Pay at the desk... NOW! BEAT IT!”

     Cool ran out at full speed, his ankle not bothering him a bit. He fished out a few neopoints and paid at the reception desk.

     Cool suddenly wanted to snoop. He looked around casually to see if anyone was looking at him. No one was. Cool walked up to a small corridor and peeked in. He saw the perfect network of spy hideouts. Cool pulled of the vent cover and climbed in. He put the cover back on so that no one would get suspicious. He trusted his sense of direction and went toward the right, where he thought the doctor’s room was. He was right. The doctor had just received Gregorostern. The little Gelert seemed as much afraid of the Grarrl as Cool had been.

     The Gelert walked up to the chair and sat down. The Grarrl grabbed a thermometer and stuck it into the Gelert’s mouth.

     Apparently, the temperature was high. The mother was not in the room, so no one saw the Grarrl growl at Gregorostern. No one except, of course, the red Usul in the ventilator system.

     Cool had taken a liking to Gregorostern, so he decided that enough was enough. He was thinking of revenge when he felt something move in his pocket. It was his petpet, Quincy the quetzal.

     Cool grinned evilly. Quincy understood what she had to do. She slithered into the room and wrapped herself around the doctor’s leg. The doctor panicked. He did a jumpy dance around the room and knocked over a few things. Gregorostern watched with wide eyes. The doctor finally succeeded in throwing away Quincy. She flew through the air and landed on Gregorostern’s head. He screamed louder than Cool thought he could.

     The door burst open. The nurse and Gregorostern’s mother stood there. Everybody started talking, all at once. In all the confusion, nobody noticed the quetzal moving towards the vent, towards its owner.

     The doctor was soon taken away by the Chia police for ‘terrorizing children’.

     Cool had the feeling that the doctor wasn’t coming back anytime soon. He suddenly felt blissfully happy. He felt his eyelids getting heavy, and soon he fell asleep.

***

     “I FOUND HIM, MOM!” Cool was abruptly awoken by Lova’s shout.

     He was back in the tree house. He wondered how. Well, he didn’t have time to think about that now, because his entire family was advancing towards him, holding ropes (except Baby_sul, his evil, baby sister. She was holding a rainbow gun). His mom was holding a curtain rod.

     “Guys,” said Cool warily, “can we talk this over?”

     Everyone took a step closer. Cool backed off.

     “Guys, you don’t want to do that, do you? WHAT! WAIT! NO! DON’T MESS UP MY HAIR! WHAT’S THAT CLOTH FOR? HUH? MMPH!”

***

     “Was the rod really necessary, Mom?” asked Cool.

     “Yup.”

     The entire family was sitting on the waiting chairs in the hospital. Despite Cool’s argument that he could talk and didn’t have ugga-ugga, he had still been dragged there. His turn came soon. Cool walked into the doctor’s room scowling. He sat on the chair grumpily, while the doctor got ready to give him a check-up. When the doctor was in front of Cool, Quincy poked her head out.

     The doctor took one look at her, screeched, and ran out of the room. As Cool sat bewildered, he suddenly noticed the first line on the Gelert’s college diploma.

This is to certify that Gregorostern Charlstren has passed his level two courses in health and is certified to practice medicine.

By order of the Neopian Health Council (NHC) chairman,

Hophler Hootswamp

      Cool had a feeling that the visits to the hospital wouldn’t be so boring from now on, as long as he had Quincy.

The End