Chapter 3 Pets
Morton slowly closed the door. Once he was sure that he was safely in, his eyes roamed over his room. He went to the bin near the window and pulled the lid back. The bin was his snack bin, and it was the main place Morton turned to when he was under stress. This time around, he pulled out a little bag of barbecue potato chips. He then plopped himself down on his bed.
"Rawk! Hungry birdie! Rawk!"
Morton looked at the bird cage near the window. Inside it was a beautiful yellow parrot that Morton had named Topaz. Morton went over to Topaz's cage and saw that her food bowl was empty. He chuckled.
"Oh I'm sorry sweetheart. It looks like I forgot to feed you." He held up the bag of chips. "Do you want a potato chip?"
"Chip! Chip! Rawk!" Topaz said as she flapped her wings in excitement. Morton opened the door and placed three potato chips into Topaz's food bowl, to which the bird eagerly began munching on her treats. Morton felt something brush up against his leg. He looked down and smiled.
"Hello, Toasty."
The brown and cream-colored cat meowed softly up at his owner. Morton then heard someone rustling in his snack bin. He snapped his fingers at the chain chomp that had his head buried in the bin.
"Wiggles, no!"
Wiggles only buried his head deeper into the bin, so Morton pulled the puppy out. He looked at him sternly but gently.
"You can't go in there, buddy. There's chocolate in there."
Wiggles looked at Morton with his sparkling ivory eyes. Then he licked Morton across the face, causing Morton to laugh. He then carried Wiggles onto the bed. As Morton stroked his head, he sighed.
"Sadness alert! Sadness alert!" Topaz squealed.
"Shut up Topaz, I am not sad," Morton said as Toasty jumped onto the bed as well. He climbed onto the bed and grabbed the rainbow pony plushie that he slept with. This plushie was a plushie of Rainbow Mare, who was the main protagonist of her own cartoon show. Rainbow Mare and the Pony Posse Pals was Morton's favorite show. However, due to fear of being judged by his siblings, he never talked about it with them. He didn't even know if they knew it existed. Suddenly, Morton heard a knock on his door.
"Morton?" came Iggy's voice. "Is it okay if we come in?"
Morton sighed and hid his Rainbow Mare plushie under his bed. With his stoic face in place, he went and opened the door for his siblings.
"Come in quickly. I don't want Toasty getting out."
The Koopalings quickly made their way into the room. When Ludwig saw that Wiggles was resting on the bed, he stopped dead.
"Wiggles is out?" he asked with fear in his voice. Ludwig had always been freaked out by chain chomps. Morton sighed.
"Don't worry." He displayed a bone toward the chain chomp puppy. "Wiggles, go get the bone!"
Morton threw the bone into his closet. Wiggles eagerly chased after it, and once he was gone Morton closed the closet door. He made his way back toward his bed, and Wendy looked at him in concern.
"Morton, we're really sorry," she said.
"Don't be," Morton said. "I just got stressed out, that's all. It happens to everyone; it's nothing to get worked up over."
The other Koopalings still looked at Morton in concern. Then, Topaz squawked, getting a chuckle out of Larry.
"It sounds like your animal is happy," he said.
"Animal!" said Topaz. "I am a bird, thank you!"
Larry laughed and went over to the cage. He opened the door and put his finger in, trying to pet the parrot.
"I'm sorry Topaz. I didn't mean to offend you."
Topaz squawked and tried to bite his finger. Larry pulled away instantly.
"Hey!" he said angrily.
"Meanie head," Topaz said. This actually got a chuckle out of Morton. He whistled and held out his finger, prompting Topaz to fly over and land there. He stroked her head gently.
"Now Topaz, you be a good girl or you aren't gonna get any crackers."
"I don't want crackers!" Topaz said. "I want loving!"
Morton was stunned. He stared at his pet with wide eyes.
"What was that?" he asked. Topaz ruffled her feathers.
"Sweet sweet loving! Rawk!"
The others burst into laughter. Morton felt embarrassment take hold, but quickly pushed it to the side. He got up and started to carry Topaz back to the cage.
"Okay, I think it's time for you to go to bed."
Topaz squawked and started to sing.
"So long! Farewell! Avidazen! Good Night!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up," Morton said as he put Topaz back in her cage. After putting the cover over the cage, Morton went over and sat back on his bed. He picked up the teal sweater he had been crocheting off of the nightstand and started to work on it.
"Morton," said Iggy. "We didn't mean to overwhelm you."
"You didn't," Morton objected.
"Except that's clearly not true! You aren't the kind of person who yells for fun, after all!"
Morton sighed and put down his sweater. He stared into Iggy's eyes.
"Look," he said. "Guys, you don't have to worry about me. I am perfectly fine, and I have no idea where you guys got the idea that I am not. You are just wasting your time by being here."
"But Morton…" Iggy said. Morton just shook his head.
"Iggy, please. At this point, all you are doing is just adding an unneeded layer of stress into your life."
Morton resumed with his crocheting. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Iggy's mouth was hanging open. Then he slowly closed it and sighed.
"Come on guys," he said with a sad inflection. "Let's go."
With that, Morton's siblings exited the room. Once they were completely gone, Toasty jumped onto the bed. He purred as Morton pet him, causing Morton to smile. Toasty's purring was very therapeutic.