Sami: The Chicken Smoothie Ethologist

[Keladry]

Chapter 7: No Time to Argue

Adeline stood, and for a moment the big balloons lifted her entire bottom into the air. Then her feet were on the ground again, and she was headed out the door. Sami had fit easily through the small cat hole, but Adeline had to wriggle a bit to get through. She poked her nose back inside. "Come with me then, young Sami. I will tell you how our people were lost."

Sami was suddenly very nervous. How could she go with the strange dog? Adeline seemed nice enough, but ... Sami looked to Mama for advice, biting her lip. Mama was washing the fur under her arm, but she glanced up long enough to give Sami a smiling nod. Alright, thought Sami, I can do this.

Just as Sami started to follow, Ozzy leapt down from a high-up mushroom directly in front of Sami's feet. She almost tripped! "Hey!"

"Hey, you!" Ozzy shouted back, "What do you think you're doing? Where're you going without me, huh? I show you this whole place, and this is the thanks I get? Nothing? You were planning on taking me with you, weren't you?"

Sami blushed, but it was Adeline who responded, "Actually, Ozzy, unfortunately we were not. I'd like Sami to come by herself, if you please."

Even Sami could tell that all the pleases and fancy language were just pretend. Adeline was really saying "No." And that would not do, that would not do at all. Sami took one step back and crossed her arms. "If Ozzy doesn't go," she said, "I don't go."

Adeline sighed. "Humans. The only ones more stubborn than the humans are the pigs. All right, Ozzy, come on. But only because we haven't got the time to argue."

"Waaaa Hooo!" Ozzy shouted, and slithered quick out the door. Sami dropped to her hands and knees to follow. Something about what Adeline said was bothering her.

"What do you mean, we don't have the time?" Sami asked. "You didn't even know I was coming. How can we be running out of time?"

"We'll walk and talk," Adeline said. She picked up a brisk walk over the beautiful hills. It was a beautiful day out, honestly, and just barely beginning to get dark. The hill was covered in flowers, and Sami could have sworn there was a hamster hiding in them. Except, each time she turned to look, all she saw were lumps of grass. Even besides the hamsters, Sami felt like she was being watched. All she saw were trees and bushes. Very creepy.

Adeline led them back to the large buildings, and then behind the one called Chicken Smoothie. "We did know you were coming actually," she was saying. "And you're late. We've been expecting someone for a while. We expected someone a bit older, mind you, but we're all cheering for you."

"You knew I was coming? How?" Sami paused in her walking. There! Finally, she caught sight of one of the hamsters. It had green fur and flowers all down its back. It looked at her with big round eyes, then huddled up quick. Once it was still, it would have been impossible to tell it was there.

"Don't worry about how," Adeline said. "You'll meet Moira eventually. Anyway, the reason we're on a deadline is that us pets are getting sick. It used to be we were just lonely. We might complain about lonely, but this is something more. More and more of the pets are falling ill. It must have something to do with why all our people left."

"That only brings up more questions," Sami admitted, and glanced to Ozzy. The kitten rascal didn't seem to be listening at all. He'd snuck up on the hamster lump and was sniffing its tail. He probably knew the whole story anyway.

"You're free to ask any questions you like," said Adeline. She looked back at Sami, and when she did, her tongue lolled out. Sami tried to hide a smile at the silly face. These pets getting sick was serious stuff. She wasn't supposed to be laughing. Even if Old Adeline's tongue was completely ridiculous, hanging out like that.

"What does being sick have to do with the people leaving? And why do you have to keep it all so secret? Why can't you just go out into the real world and find new people, who won't ever forget you?" Sami asked, her smile safely tucked away.

"When our people were here, we never got sick. Not once. Nobody had even heard of a Chicken Smoothie pet getting sick. We don't know why, either. As for why it's secret, well, you've only seen a couple of us. Ozzy and Mama are almost normal looking, by the people's standards. I saw how you looked at me when I came in. I'm only a little bit odd, but some of the others... just wait, you'll see when we go in."

Adeline stopped at a large door in the back of the bright green building. A wooden sign with black letters said, "Welcome!" The door was strange because it didn't seem to have a handle at all. When Adeline opened it with a nudge of her shoulder, it was obvious that it didn't need a handle. It swung wide, revealing a huge hall with tables and chairs.

Sami stared openly. Ozzy ran up to watch her face.

Almost every chair was taken up by somebody. It was the strangest group of pets she'd ever seen.

[Ranger of the North]

Poor pets! :-/