(The fourth short story I wrote when I was younger. Unedited.)
Rio and Raffi
“Time for a walk, everyone!” I waited for my pets to come down. Usually all four of my pets would come running down the stairs. But this time I didn’t see any one come down. I climbed up the stairs and went to my room. Yips and growls made it pretty clear that there was a fight going on. I opened the door. It wasn’t very hard to imagine there fight. There was fur every where; in the air, on the ground, and on me. My German shepherd Fido and the fox twins Trick and Trap were chasing each other around my room, knocking stuffed animals and books every where. My winged lioness (Yes, I said lioness) Elsa was trying to stop them but she wasn’t doing a very good job. “What is going on in here?!” I yelled. Fido stopped in mid-jump and fell to the ground. The fox twins had each others tails in there mouths. I guess no one had heard me come in. “What happened?” No one answered. They just looked at me hoping someone else would answer. “Well?” Finally Elsa stepped forward and said, “Well um, the fox twins wanted me and Fido to go ask you if we could go to LOI but I told them you had said no. But Fido wanted to and we sort of started to, um, argue.” She looked at me as if to say that she was just a piece maker and had gotten in the middle. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. Having four pets was tiring sometimes. But it was worth it. I opened my eyes and said “Well, it is true that I didn’t want to go to LOI, but if the Old Owl doesn’t ask to adopt another pet, then, I guess, we can go.” As one, all four leaped up in the air and then sped down downstairs. I guess they were excited or something. J “I’m coming! I just have to tell my mom that I’m going for a walk.” I went to my parents room and found my mom painting a, thing. I think it’s called abstract. “I’m going for a walk in the forest, okay mom?” My mom stopped painting and a looked at me. She smiled sweetly and said “Still playing with your imaginary friends, honey? You’re almost a teenager and shouldn’t be alone all the time. You need to spend time with other kids your age.” My mom had given me this lecture so many times, that I almost had it memorized. “Mommmmm, I know! Can I go now?” She sighed, nodded, and went back top her “artwork”. I walked downstairs and opened the door. Me and my mom just didn’t see eye to eye, especially when it came to making friends. Oh, well. I closed the door and looked around. Fido and the twins were way ahead but Elsa, the more mature, had waited for me. I thought about what my mom would say if she knew about the pets. But and impatient growl from Fido told me to think later. We walked to the edge of the forest and found the bridge. I stepped onto it, and slipped! “Ouch! What’s wrong with the bridge?” No one said anything, because they were already in LOI. I stood up and crossed. After the mist cleared, I saw a winter wonderland! Everything was covered in at least three feet of snow. It was so beautiful. Four pairs of paw tracks showed me where my pets had gone. I followed them, thinking they’d go to the Old Owl’s house, but to my surprise, they led to a place I had never been in before. I heard a cheer, and as I rounded a corner, I saw thousands of imaginary pets and there owners. They were watching something, but since I’m short for my age, I couldn’t see what it was. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Trap showed up and said “Come on! This way! You’re going to miss the races if you’re way in the back.” She led me to a row of chairs that were in the front. I could finally see what every one was excited about. It was dog sled racing! There were six teams of four waiting at the starting line. I saw Elsa and asked her what this was. She said “Don’t you know? It’s the annual dog sled races. The huskies, dogs and wolves train all year for these races. The weather is perfect right now. I personally want team four to win.” I looked up but couldn’t see team four. “What’s so special about team four?” She giggled. “What’s special about them? Well, they’re…” Suddenly, Fido appeared and broke in saying “They’re the most totally, awesome, super, cool, wonderful, stupendous, um, uh, cool team ever!!!!” He gave me a big grin. “But why are they awesome, super, um, well you know all those things?” Trap said “Because they’re the only team to have two people only!” I gasped. Only two team members? Wow. In this big race? Trick noticed my confusion. “They’re twins, like us. They’re names are Rio and Raffi. Can you see them? Rio’s the big male. He’s silver with a black forepaw and Raffi’s the smaller female. She’s all white except for a silver line running from the tip of her nose, to the tip of her tail.” I looked up and finally saw them. They were very powerful looking husky twins. Suddenly, the crowd quieted. The Old Owl stepped up to a little platform and spoke into a microphone. “Greetings everyone! This is our fifty-sixth annual race. As you know, the contestants aren’t owned by anyone. If you put your name on this paper, you might be chosen to own the winner! Now, let the races beginnnn!!!!!!!!!!” And with that, the sleds took off. It was a very close race. My pets were cheering for team number four at the top of there lungs. The race was almost done. Who would win? Team number four ran with all there might. They pulled ahead of teams six, five and one. Only teams two and three left. They ran and ran. They pulled ahead of team three! They might just win! But team two consisted of four large male wolves. And they looked like very violent pets. They were now running neck and neck. Who would win? Team Two seemed to pull ahead. There was the finish line! Who would make it? Suddenly, one of the wolves lashed out at Raffi. She cried out in pain and they had to stop. Team two ran ahead and crossed the finish line. But no one cheered for them. The LOI vets ran to Team four. The Old Owl talked to the judge, and then went top his microphone. “Ahem. Excuse me ladies and gentlemen. The judges have decided that biting is foul play and team four has rightfully won.” He hardly finished saying this when the crowd gave a thunderous cheer. It took him a while to calm the crowd down. “The judges have also chosen the owner of the winners. The new owner is…….. Karlin Jensen!!!!!!” I went pale. I hadn’t put my name in! I looked at the fox twins. “Trick? Trap? Did you guys put my name in?” They shook there little red heads. I turned to Fido. “Fido, did you?” He shook his head. That left only… Elsa! “Elsa? Did you put my name in?” She nodded. She looked at me and said “I thought you were ready for more pets. Was I wrong?” That made my decision finale.
* * * * *
“Rio! Raffi! Let’s go.” The husky twins bounded over to me. Elsa and Fido had already crossed and the fox twins were staying in LOI for their Christmas vacation. That left me with my two new pets. We walked to the bridge. The Old Owl was with us and he was chattering on about how the frost was chilling or something like that. We stopped at the bridge and he said good bye and left. I said “Well, this is it. You guys absolutely sure you want to come with me?” Raffi looked at me with her big golden-brown eyes. They said it all. After the papers were signed and stuff, I had a long talk with the huskies. That was when I found out that Raffi was mute, and they weren’t being adopted for that reason. Rio hadn’t wanted to leave his sister. Rio said “My sister and I have been long awaiting this moment. Let’s not prolong it.” I took that as a yes. So, together we crossed the bridge. As we crossed, I promised myself that this was enough pets. No more for me. Six was enough. Haha. Totally famous last words.
The End, or is it? You never know.
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