Vappy and Me

Today is the day of the market. Mum sends me every year and every year the market gets bigger, more people from all over trading things that I have never even seen before. This year, Mum got a garden and grew some purple weeds, Vartines, that help with different stuff. I don't know how she can tell the difference between any of the weeds, they all look the same to me but it is like she has a third eye that gives her information about these plants.

"Remember," Mum croaked. "Keep the Vartines in their separate jars, you don't see them like I do, Son."

"Don't worry," I assured Mum. "I have a feeling that our booth will do well this year." And with a parting hug, I set off to the woods and to the town.

Inside the woods, the path was not straight and the cart with Mum's roots was rumbling like an earthquake. This has always been my favorite part of the market because of how enchanting the trees are. The trunks are all different sizes and shades of brown, the leaves are an emerald color that glistens when it hits the sun in the right way. It really is--

"Enchanting?" a voice asked. "Well, that's one way to put it."

I turned around to see a woman who looked like she was in her twenties, not much older than me.

"I'm sorry, did I startle you? I tend to do that to people. The name is Jamaerah."

"Hi, Jamaerah. I'm fine, you did not startle me."

"Well, anyways, I got lost and I'm heading to the market," she looked at my cart. "And I see you are as well. Can you take me there?"

"Of course. It is this way, let's go."

"Let's!"

Our walk to the town was long and in silence. After a while, we reached the end of the woods and we were able to see the market. It was packed booth by booth with people and there was a vague smell of apple pie in the air.

"Thank you for the guidance...what is your name?"

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. We went on this long walk together and you forget to give her your name? C'mon!

"Tabris. My name is Tabris, and no problem." As I was started to walk away she grabbed my arm and said, "Wait. Here is a gift for helping me."

"Oh, I don't need anything. It's fine."

She refused to listen to me and handed me what looked like a seed.

"What is this?" I asked. The seed was bright blue and the size and shape of a marble with a bit of fuzz.

"It's a...You will see. In a few days, it will grow but remember to take care of it."

"Of what?"

"As I said, you will see." She started to turn away and then she added. "Peas. Remember to get peas."

Peas? I thought and I walked to my reserved booth. For the rest of the day, I observed the seed and noticed the red stripe on the other side. I've never seen a plant that had a seed that looked like this before. I wonder what would happen if I planted it, but I have this feeling that I shouldn't actually plant it. I guess we will have to wait and see.

-Two weeks later-

It's been two weeks since the market where we sold all of the Vartines and I didn't really know what to do with the seed that the lady gave me. I ended up putting it in a medium sized box with holes in it and covered it with a piece of fabric. I kept it closed and when I opened it again, I did not believe my eyes. The seed that was once a marble had grown ten times its original size and became a much darker shade of blue. The fuzz that I felt on it before turned into blue fur and the red stride I had seen before transformed into a V-shaped line. I brought the creature closer to my face and suddenly a set of navy blue eyes, a mouth and a pair of legs and arms popped out. Startled, I dropped it on the ground and it started screaming. If you thought that getting paper cuts and putting hand sanitizer on it hurt, then you've never heard one of these things cry. I blocked my ears the best I could and tried calming  the thing down.

"Honey! Are you okay? What's happening?" I heard Mum yell from downstairs. I then remembered what the girl said when she left. Peas!

I ran downstairs faster than I have ever ran before and went into the freezer. Mum always said that it was best to have peas on you all the time, I guess she was right. I zoomed upstairs and panted to the little furball, "I got peas..." The moment peas came out of my mouth, the little creature smiled and held up it's tiny hands. Darnit! You would be so much cuter if you were not screaming on the top of your lungs not 5 seconds ago...

I got down on my knees and opened the large bag of peas. Before I could even hand them to the tiny creature, it grabbed the bag of peas and ran to the box that it calls home.

“What is your name?” I asked it, hoping for some kind of answer to this craziness.

“Vap-Vap!” And Vap starting dancing hopping from one tiny foot to another. 

“Okay, Vap-Vap. What are you?”

“Vap-Vap!” Vap continued to to dance and I realized that that was probably all he could say. I picked Vap up and I got a small bed from our old dog and got a blanket. I then pushed my bed over so that Vap could sleep on the other side of my bed and Mum can’t see him. Still, after many peaches, I can’t believe that that lady gave this to me. That this, Vap-Vap, is real! 

The next day, I decided to devote my time to helping Vappy and go outside with him. When I woke up, I found Vap with his eyes closed and him curled up, snoring. After seeing this, I confirmed that he is the cutest thing that I have ever seen and that I am now his guardian.

“Vap-Vap?” 

“Good morning! Let’s get you some peas and go outside.” I raced downstairs and got him some peas and myself some soup. I carefully went back to my room and Vap was patiently sitting, trying to cross his legs but they were too short. “I got you peas, Vap.” I handed the peas to him and he plucked the peas one by one while I was slurping leftover soup from yesterday. 

After a while, we both got full so we went outside and layed down on the dry, green grass. “What do you see in the clouds?” I asked him, knowing the answer.

He smiled, looked at me, and said, “Vaaap-Vapity-Vap!” with a grin. 

“I see…Let’s go play hide and go seek.” I recommended. He knew what I meant because he waddled off yelling, “Vap!”

“One...Two...TEN!” I yelled and ran off to find him. I looked all around my house but when I couldn’t find him, I figured he must have gone inside. Running inside, I looked around the kitchen, my bedroom and the bathroom but I could not find him anywhere. This is when I started to get worried. All of these questions started rushing to my head: What if he got lost? What if the mailman took him? What if he ran away? What if--

I turned around to see Mum cradling Vap and all the worry leaves me. Then I look at Mum and her face is trying to be stern but whenever Vap is in your hands, no one could really be mad.

“After I’m done holding this cutie pie, you are going to have to explain this and the mountain of peas next to your bed.”

Vap then turns over in Mums hands and winks at me like it is our private joke.