-1Viva Pinata: The Other World
(By: Tobias Pretzhog)
Chapter 1: The Sleepover
I couldn't believe I had just finished my story… All those months being called a slacker by my peers and teachers. Heh, what did those people know? Well… I guess you could say it was written totally for self-pleasure. But other people ended up liking it, Like my friend Jacques Smelba for instance, or what everyone usually calls him: Jack.
He's sort of the dependent type, seeing as he'd follow me whenever he could in and out of school. I didn't mind of course, but even for our age, it was kind of childish. I mean we're both 17, shouldn't he be following the girls instead? Speaking of girls, I'd been trying to get my own, her name was Jenifer, a pretzhog just like myself… Well except for the red and blue mache pattern and the crimson hair she had to match it. I really liked her, thus my character Pandora being based mostly after her.
Unfortunately… Jenifer was already taken by the time high school came along. And not just that! She was taken by one of the school's most infamous troublemakers! Chris Mallowolf was his name, who soon became the inspiration for Malak. Chris hated my guts the most obviously, because he knew that Jenifer and I had a past together that could reach all the way back to kindergarten.
However I think Chris played a huge part in destroying our friendship. You see, Jenifer doesn't talk to me at all anymore. Not a hi or hello, but if I was lucky, her eyes would meet with mine. And in that moment I'd always find myself in the past, back to the good 'ol days. Though I had to avert my eyes every time she was with Chris. One wrong glance and a fist would be coming my way when the teachers weren't looking. I've made that mistake a few times before.
Jenifer used to intervene between the beatings Chris gave me, trying to hold him back from throwing another fist. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Eventually the pretzhog stopped caring whether the beatings happened or not. At least she had the decency not to look at my painful shame each time Chris felt the need to 'teach me a lesson.' I believe Chris had beaten her into silence when they were alone.
I mean I'd see the bruises and scratch marks on the pretzhog's body sometimes. Soon I had concluded that it was Chris who was creating her wounds. I was wondering if Jenifer would ever leave him. Then I began to believe that the mallowolf probably threatened to 'teach her a lesson' if she ended up breaking off from their relationship. Which led me to wonder what brought them together in the first place? Was it Jenifer's idea? Or Chris' want for a girl? I didn't dwell on it much when I thought about it.
Anyways, it's a Friday night, I should be relaxing, and in victory too! I've just finished writing something that had taken me since the time the school year started. It was a well deserved break from life… Even if it was for a moment as my mother called me down into the kitchen. I ran into the room believing that dinner was done. But my assumption was defeated as I noticed the stove wasn't even turned on.
"You almost ready to go to Jack's house?" My pretztail mother asked. It had totally slipped my mind. I was too caught up in my latest achievement to even remember that I had set up a sleepover with Jack. Not to mention I was constantly reminded by him about it at school today.
"Um… Not yet, I need to pack my things first!" I rushed back to my room.
"Don't take too long, the car's warming up!" She shouted, reminding me that it was snowing outside. Knowing that, I had ripped out an empty school bag from my closet and packed a sweatshirt and pants just incase. And if it ended up being colder than my expectations, I crammed in a blanket just to be safe. After donning a season fitting coat, I grabbed the manuscript of my story and tucked it into one of the bag's pockets. All packed up and ready to go.
"Okay mom, I'm packed!" I returned to the kitchen, fully prepared for the sleepover.
"Good, Gene was already complaining about wasting gas," Gene, my step dad, always got irate about wasting anything. Unless he was the one that was wasting it.
I followed my mom out into the garage as we found the vehicle already started and humming away. I shivered a bit I as closed the door behind me and rushed for the car's interior warmth. Once we were both inside and buckled up, mom pulled the vehicle out of the driveway and began the drive towards Jack's house.
As always, I turned the radio on. Driving in silence drove me crazy, no pun intended. However, the radio was the only sound in the car during the drive. I had sat in silence watching the snowflakes either pelt or glide off the windshield of the car. My mind began to wonder back to my story as I felt guilty for taking the lives of my characters. Jack wasn't going to like it, but I had to end it somewhere.
Falkor was the only one of the main cast that survived to see a happy life. It didn't seem fair much, but Falkor was the one who Jack favored most amongst the rest. At least he'll be happy that Falkor survived. He'd probably ask me to write more on it, maybe elaborate more on Falkor's life, make it more adventurous and less perfect. But I was done with writing, at least for now.
Just as we entered the rural area, I swear I could see a mallowolf walking on the side of the road. His image mimicked exactly how I pictured Malak. But I decided to blow it off since we were moving pretty fast and the mallowolf went by like a blur. Glancing into the side mirror, I saw the stranger disappear into the distance. Let's hope he's not freezing his tail off, I thought to myself, giving him my best wishes.
When nearing the last bend I clutched my belongings tightly, making sure they were still there. I thanked my mom as she pulled into the driveway and she told me to have a nice time. As I departed from the vehicle, I closed the door behind me and watched the car back out, eventually taking off down the road from where it came. Drawing a deep breath of winter air, I marched over to the front door of Jack's house. Before I could even knock on the door, it had opened as if it was already expecting me.
"Hi Tobi!" Jack, the blue and yellow smelba garbed in snow gear, greeted me with a smile as I gazed down at him. He was almost over half of my height.
"Hey… So what do you have planned for today?" I could spot him eyeing up my manuscript, but he didn't say a word about it.
"My mother suggested we go camping in the woods out in back? You up for it?" I surveyed the room, already discovering the packed bags he had near the door.
"…Sure," Ugh… I wasn't prepared for camping, but I didn't want to break his spirits either.
"Awesome! Anyways, I'm going to go get the wagon for my luggage, did you want to come in and wait? It's pretty chilly out," Jack had already tugged me in by my arm, not wanting me to suffer any longer.
"Alright," I closed the door behind me and made my way for the couch as Jack went for the garage. I sat patently, looking over my manuscript, wondering how I was going to break it to Jack. Well I didn't want to spoil the ending, but I didn't want him to get mad if he found out for himself.
The smelba had returned through the front door, proceeding to take the bags outside. Not wanting to be labeled as deadweight, I decided to help him out. When we were finished with the simple task, I threw my own bag onto the wagon as we both agreed to pull it across the snow.
"I already got the tent set up ahead of time, so we don't need to worry about getting it ready," I knew I would have been dragged into going camping weather I wanted to or not.
"Nice planning…" I hid my frustration with a compliment, "but what if it gets too cold, then what?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Don't worry, I brought a portable heater along for just that situation!" Jack smiled at me briefly before focusing his energy on dragging the wagon.
"Damn… You're prepared for everything aren't you," I almost said dryly.
"Well I just don't want to disappoint, that's all," Jack tugged harder on the wagon.
A minute or two pasted before I found myself asking, "how far into the woods did you pitch up the tent?" I was panting, still pulling my own weight.
"We should be almost there, it's red, so it won't be too hard to spot out," The smelba was struggling to breathe as well.
"…You need a break?" I couldn't help but notice his frustration.
"No-no… We're almost there, I can see it," he declined as I could actually spot out a bit of the tent myself. It rejuvenated me for the moment as I began putting more effort into getting ourselves there.
Within a few seconds, I fell face first into the snow, just inches away from the tent.
"Tired already Tobi?" Jack huffed as he took a seat next to me, patting me on the back.
"Nnhh…" I could only groan through the thick of the snow.
"It's alright, we've got plenty of time," The smelba laughed, giving me a few more pats.
"Ugh…" I lifted my head out of the snow as my nose dripped with snot, "le-le-let's guh-get unpa-pa-packed then," I snorted back as much snot as I could before rubbing the rest on my jacket, shivering all the while.
"Of course," Jack stood up, offering me a paw. I took it and eventually worked my way up to my feet.
"Th-th-thanks," I said, adding a 'burr' to the end of it.
"Yeah, you go on inside… I'll take care of what I can for now," he nudged me towards the tent. Following his advice obediently, I unzipped the tent and plunged inside. I fell into the fetal position to keep myself warm as the cold air still haunted me. Jack proceeded to throw the bags in one by one. One of them nearly hitting me on its way in. I waited until my backpack flew in before moving.
I tore open my backpack and reaped its contents, mostly going for the blanket inside. Wasting no time, I wrapped it around my freezing body as Jack came in with the last bag, zipping the tent close.
"You alright?" He asked, setting down the luggage.
"…S-s-so cold…" I shook violently.
"Well you shouldn't have fell in the snow like that then," Jack lectured me as he unpacked his portable heater. "Luckily for you I brought this!" he chuckled as he hooked it up to a large battery, powering up the machine.
"…Mmmm…" I felt the hot air blow on me, soon warming the area up.
"The power source'll only last a day before it needs recharging, but I don't think you wanna stay here all weekend do you?" The smelba tilted his head, still smiling.
"N-n-not really," I was still recovering from the chills.
"Thought so," he stuck his tongue out at me for a brief moment.
"Ss-ss-so now wha-wha-what," I asked.
"Well I was thinking of starting a campfire later tonight, I brought some marshmallows with if you were hungry," Jack said, reminding me I haven't had dinner yet.
"…Yu-yu-you have anything ma-ma-more filling?" I crossed my fingers as my stomach rumbled obnoxiously.
"Well I packed some fruits, vegetables, and a few soda cans in a cooler. If you're hungry, just ask," The smelba pulled the cooler out of one of the bags.
"Nh-nh-not to be ru-ru-rude, but can I ha-have something to eat? I didn't have anything bu-bu-beforehand," I tried not to whine.
"Sure!" He slid the cooler over to me without hesitation.
"Thanks," I warmed up a bit, though feeling cold again as I dug a paw into the cooler. Reaching around, my paw eventually plucked out a pear. I wasn't picky as I was hungry so I kept it. Taking a bite out of the fruit, I pushed the cooler back to the smelba.
"Anyways, I'm gonna go get some sticks and logs for the fire, you're welcome to come along if you like," Jack offered.
"No-no, I'm fine right here…" I took another bite of the pear, watching jack disembark on his quest to find twigs.