All the chao from every garden gathered around Omochao in the neutral garden. Sonic and the others had left to go party hardy someplace in their world, leaving all the chao to themselves.
"What's going on, daddy?" asked Chaoco, his red-black short spines quivering with excitement. Smileb looked down at this son.
"Well, today is December 31st. That means that tomorrow is the first day of 2008. So, we decided to celebrate the New Year." Chalulu smiled and rubbed her son's head.
"Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to stay awake until midnight, so you might miss out on some of the fun." Chaoco frowned but said nothing.
Dejime tapped his foot impatiently. "When the heck are we gonna get this show on the road?!" he asked. Spike laughed.
"Always the impatient one," she said.
Omochao looked frazzled. "So, which one is the list of new things?" he asked the principal. The chao held up one of the many sheets of paper lying in Omochao's lap. Principal Chao checked his watch.
"Time to get going," he reminded the robotic chao. Omochao smiled worriedly and held up the microphone lying next to him.
"Fellow chao of all gardens," he announced. "It is now time to get the 2008 activities going!" He held a list up to his face that told the list order of events.
"First things first. We will start the celebration with races!" All of the chao cheered with delight. Races were some of their favorite past times.
All the best racing chao lined up in a line on the racing course. Lined up were Smileb, Mummy, Dejime, Groom, and Chaoco. Chalulu called out to her son.
"Be careful!" Smileb gave his mate a look of assurance. Suddenly, the gun shot banged, and the racers were off!
Mummy was the first to go out of the race, after tripping more than three times and watching the competition leave him in the dust. Next was Chaoco, whose wings weren't grown in enough yet to fly. Then went Groom, who fell off the cliff and couldn't catch up with the others. It was Dejime against Smileb.
Smileb ended up winning the medal because Dejime tried to cheat by dunking his head under the water during the swimming section. Everyone cheered, and then looked at Omochao expectantly. He smiled nervously.
"Uh…if you could give me a second, I'll be ready in a couple minutes." A wave of chatter spread throughout the crowd of chao. The principal asked everyone if there were any new additions this year at the school. A few tiny hands went up of new students. Finally, Omochao cleared his throat into the mic.
"Yes, OK! Our next event is…the eating contest! Let's see who has the biggest stomach of all!" Chalulu stepped into the line of chao that had gathered. In front of each contestant was a buffet of all sorts of fruit-square, triangle, round, nut, coconut and raspberry. At the sound of the whistle each chao began stuffing themselves. Chalulu was the first to go out, but afterwards commented that she was very satisfied and not sick at all. Spike ended up winning by eating three whole plates of fruit before excusing herself to drink some Mylanta. After returning, Omochao spoke into the microphone again.
"Congratulations Spike on that win! I'd like to take the time to announce that it is 10:30. All tykes can retreat to their beds." Chaoco yawned and protested against leaving the celebration, but Chalulu had to carry him to bed because he had fallen asleep.
"Now, on with the show!" the robotic chao said. "It is time to announce the ten new things that's going to be taking place in the gardens this year! With us to tell these things is our very own Principal Chao. Please give him a warm welcome!"
After some clapping a cheering, Principal cleared his throat and picked up the list.
"The tenth thing that will be changing in the gardens are the amount of decoration. We've decided to spruce things up in here withmore flowers, trees, and things like that." A few chao applauded this change, but it wasn't too exciting.
"Number nine is…clothes! We've ordered three sizes of shirts-one for child chao, one for adult chao, and one for your fruit." There was some snickering going on in the garden.
"Fruit?" muttered Omochao. Smileb stood up high in the crowd.
"Well, I, for one, have always liked my fruit fashionable." Chalulu bonked him on the head while the others laughed at the sarcasm. Annoyed at the rude interruption, Principal cleared his throat again and glared down at the audience. That hushed them.
"Number eight is a new race track." Zippy cocked his head in confusion.
"What skill do you have to know to have an advantage?" he asked.
"This track will feature a very long gap in which you must fly across without dropping." Zippy beamed and glanced back at his large, bushy wings. That would be a synch for him.
"As for number seven…there will be a chao store! Not just for your owners, but for yourselves as well." Churi raised his hand.
"How will we get rings?" he asked. P.C. nodded.
"That's explained in number six." Omochao got his attention.
"Can I read this one? It's my favorite." The principal handed the robot the list and the mic.
"Number six features…the chao rewards program! Each time you win a karate match or a race, that you get rings. Saving those rings in the bank will get you prizes…but more about the bank is in number four." Omochao tried to hand back the mic, but P.C. shook his head.
"You're doing a fine job. Finish it." Nodding, Omochao looked over the list.
"Number five is…the nursery! Parents, is your child too young to attend school? Well, Chao Kindergarten is putting in a nursery for all your precious gifts from above." There was some applause from parents who were tired of looking after their young ones.
Omochao cleared his nervous throat. "N-number four is…the aforementioned bank! Fellow chao, how would you like to buy all your favorite fruit without asking your owner to? Well, now you can! The bank offers a savings account in which you may withdraw rings anytime you like! No monthly fees!" The chao were cheering loudly now.
"That'll be useful," said Darkness in his deep voice. Chalulu smiled pleasantly as visions of round fruits filled her mind.
"Number three is the Chao Island! Many of you have dreamt of vacations to the nearby island, and now you can! Ferries will be available on a regular basis." There was a lot of whooping from the crowd gathered around Omochao. He sighed nervously. He hated talking in front of a group of people.
"N-number two is…ah…could you, um, give me a second?" The chao immediately began to chatter amongst them. P.C. glared at Omochao.
"What's the matter?" he demanded. Omochao handed him the mic.
"I-I'm too nervous. You'll have to finish." The principal shook his head and pushed the microphone back at the robot.
"No. You'll finish it." Omochao nodded and smiled nervously, but looked worried. Sighing, he spoke into the mic.
"OK. Number two is…the bathroom! Finally, you can bathe in peace instead of everyone watching you in the swimming pool. They are will be available in every garden." Dejime threw his head up.
"Finally, the world won't watch me bathe!" There was a silence as everyone stared at Dejime. He lowered his head. "Sorry," he said quietly.
Omochao cleared his throat. "And the number one thing that will occur in 2008 is…"
"Wait! Hold everything!" All the chao gasped as Mary, who watched over the children, rushed into the garden. She was panting. P.C. leapt up and grabbed her shoulders.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Mary looked up at everyone and proclaimed
"An egg is hatching!"
Dejime and Spike jumped up and sprang to the nursery, closely followed by long-time friends Smileb and Chalulu. Inside, all the baby chao had woken up and watched with interest as the white spotted egg wiggled and bounced. Suddenly, with a crack, the egg burst open, revealing a small gray white head.
Spike picked up her son and cradled him. Dejime turned to Smileb and Chalulu.
"We'll stay here a while," he smiled. "Tell us what the number one change is." Nodding, the two mates made their way out into the neutral garden again, where everyone waited impatiently. Omochao coughed into the mic and stared up at his fellow chao.
"The number one change of 2008 is…the game room! There will be video games! Pizza! Candy! TVs! Radios! Plus, plenty m-…" Omochao couldn't finish the sentence over the screaming coming from the crowd. Chao flew all over the small garden cheering like their life depended on it. Omochao smiled at P.C., who nodded approvingly. He said something, but in wasn't audible over the screams.
Finally, after about an hour of cheering, the chao collapsed in exhaustion. Omochao smiled and sighed. Good thing that was over. His circuits couldn't take much more yelling. Suddenly, Smileb jumped in surprise.
"Yo dudes! Its 11:58-we'd better get in position!" All the chao crouched in rows throughout the garden. Omochao watched his watch hands tick by.
"Ten!..Nine!..." The robot started. The other chao joined in.
"Eight…Seven…Six…Five…Four…Three…Two…" As the last second ticked by, a huge explosion of fireworks sounded throughout the garden. The chao watched in awe as the explosions burst into a stream of colorful light.
"Happy New Year!" Omochao cried into the mic. Then he passed out from nervousness. P.C. rolled his eyes and began to drag him back to his office.
After about ten minutes, Omochao woke up and dashed back to the garden followed by P.C.
Picking up the microphone, Omochao tapped its surface. "Excuse me, everyone? There will be a small celebration in the Kindergarten Main Building. There will be dancing, music, and of course, a whole meal cooked by our very own Mary. Have fun!"
After the ball, everyone retired sleepily to their bunks. Omochao watched the night sky before he went to bed. Suddenly, there was a BANG. A huge firework shot up that read "Thank you, Omochao!" Smiling to himself, the robot fell asleep.
THE END