Chapter Eight: Never ask a Ninja what kind of pet you should get….

When the ninjas arrived, they started at seeing me there already. Cole shook his head as he turned to face his sensei. "Do I want to know why she is here?"

Sensei shook his head, before leaning against his staff. "You need to work on overcoming your fear of facing your father nephew."

Lloyd groaned, as he collapsed onto the couch. "Yeah…I know."

I glanced up from my phone, turning to face Zane. "So…why is there a giant sign that lets everyone know that this is your HQ?"

Zane blinked slowly, before turning to face Sensei. "What is she talking about Sensei?"

"I kept getting lost so I put a sign up to let me know where to go…no one looks up anymore!" Sensei explained, slash protested.

"So that's why you wouldn't tell me why!" I nodded as if that made perfect sense. I glanced back down at my phone to the most awesome text that my mother had ever sent me…. "What kind of pet should I get?"

"Dog!" "Cat!" I blinked as I stared at Kai and Nya.

Kai spun around to glare at his sister. "No way… dogs are better than cats."

Nya planted her hands on her hips, turning to glare at her brother in turn. "Nope. Cats are a thousand times better than dogs."

I frowned, shooting a quick text to Dawn-Ella asking her about my dilemma. "Guys…I can't get either of those. For three reasons. Reason number one, mom has a dog that is a bit of a pain at the moment and once I get sent back to my dimension I'll be living with her…no dog or cat. Reason number two. It has to stay in my room. Reason number three. Kaylei (A/N: Pronounced as K-Lie) is allergic to cats and she only lives a block away from Mom."

"Who's Kaylei?" Jay whispered timidly.

I rolled my eyes at how timid he is in this universe, before answering his question. "My niece. Any ideas? I was thinking about getting a bunny…"

"I am afraid that bunnies things bite." Zane cut in.

I sighed as I rolled my eyes skyward. "I know. Bunny warned me awhile back when she was showing us how her latest litter."

"Uh?"

I groaned at their confusion, before slowly explaining what I just said. "I have a friend named Bunny who raises rabbits and she showed me a new litter a while back. When she did that, she warned me that they bite."

"Oh…ok." They frowned at that, clearly trying to think things over.

"You should get a horse!" Cole suddenly punched the air.

I turned to stare at him. "What part of will be kept in my room did you not understand?"

Cole slumped to the floor, his shoulders hunched over. "It was just an idea…"

"What about a tarantula?" Jay whispered from behind Cole.

I shuddered as I shook my head at him. "Absolutely not. I don't like spiders, and neither does mom."

"A snake then?" Lloyd seemed excited about this prospect.

I shook my head again, though I was able to keep myself from shuddering. "No…Mom had a bad experience with a snake when she was younger and is deathly afraid of them…and one time I spotted a snake in our grass when walking home from school…and I flew onto the porch."

"So…no snake?" Lloyd slumped forward, a disappointed sigh escaping him.

"No snake. Sorry." I scratched the back of my head, trying to come up with something to get.

Nya spoke carefully, tilting her head to the side. "What about a hamster?"

I smiled as I remembered what happened when I had sent a brief text to Natalynne asking Kaylei for her thoughts on what pet I should get. "Kaylei has one…and she seems to think I should get one. Honestly though…I probably should clean up my place before I go looking for a pet…especially since I have no idea where I'll keep in my room."

"Ah…." They all stuck out their bottom lip in a clear pout.

"If I promise to grab you before I go to the pet store so you can pick it out, will you promise not to pout?" I asked warily as I began to inch towards the door.

"Yes!" They began to jump up and down in excitement, squealing as if I told them that Christmas and their birthdays all came early this year.

I backed out of there…deciding that I had released six little pet-crazy monsters. Oops.

…

I knew I should clean up a bit and try to figure out where the pet would go…but first I need an idea on what to get. So I decided to do some digging. Bunny answered my text about the biting bunnies (apparently it depends on their personality…) and Dawn-Ella grilled her three oldest kids on what they thought I should get. Ironically enough… none of them said the same thing, and they all were what I was torn between. Cute little bunny, a bird, or a turtle like my third grade class pet. Dawn-Ella also mentioned that I should get a guinea pig.

I paired off with each choice with a quick research. Upon reading how high maintenance bunnies were, I began to lower my desire for those…especially with what Bunny told me. How can I be sure to get the right one that won't bite? Next up I looked up birds. Hmm…didn't look to bad. I just have to keep one top of things to make sure that they don't get bored and start pulling their feathers out. Shouldn't be too bad…now about guinea pigs. Nothing there that wasn't…too different with what Natalynne was doing with Kaylei's hamster. I paused as I tried to recall what we had for Lightning the Turtle back in third grade. A tank… and food with water… um…I drew a blank as I realized that that was too long ago.

Five minutes later I was going over what it was that was required just for the tank for a turtle. Yeah…not gonna happen. Besides that….I want a pet that I can play with and cuddle occasionally. Bunny or bird…sorry just not a fan of guinea pigs or hamsters…not 'exotic' enough for me I guess. They seem too normal for pets. Yes I know birds and bunnies are normal…but you hear about little kids with guinea pigs and hamsters all the time so it doesn't sound, I don't know…interesting, different? I don't know honestly. Glancing around my room, I decided I probably should use the five minutes or less needed to clean my room to get it done now instead of waiting till near the end of next month like I normally do. From now on, I need to stay on top of cleaning my room a lot more than what I normally do with my OCD. Once a month wasn't gonna cut it if I was am to get myself a pet.

Once a week should do it…right?

A/N: Done! And before you ask…yes I will be getting myself my very own pet…not a family pet like our dumb supposed to be smart dog and two beta fishes (We got the two fish to replace the one fish that died…the one that died knew how to beg…one of our new ones loves to beg for food…anyone else see a pattern here!?) But one just for me… I'm gonna look more closely at maybe a bunny, maybe a bird. I don't know yet.

I also do have OCD, so I'll probably get my pet a lot sooner than my sibs… not too sure I want a high maintenance pet for my first pet though. We'll see later on. I like animals and grew up with several cats and dogs (obviously before Kaylei came along…)

People I mentioned in this chapter (and the last one) are all real people but I am not using their real names. Bunny is in my ward and her father is a member of the bishopric. We had a ward activity out at her house once and she showed Angel and I her newest litter of baby bunnies. They also have horses so Angel is jealous cause those are her favorite animals.

The cat/dog fight between the siblings is a reference to two of my other stories. At the start of What Really Happened in Ninjago, Kai and Nya have a pet dog that used to belong to their father. In my story Back in my Days, when Kai gets placed in the hospitable after trying to save a stray kitten, Nya took it in and adopted it. Naming it Blaze since it was believed that Kai was going to die on her. For some reason…everyone calls the world's smartest cat that happens to be a ninja Roadkill instead. Including my reviewers. My sisters now just laugh at me cause I have given up calling it by its correct name.

Review!

SkyTalon