Chapters You know, when you go to a Chinese food place and get a fortune cookie, you think that your fortune will never come true, right? Well never doubt those fortunes. I once got a fortune that said, "You will soon find an unexpected treasure". Well, I'll tell you right now: it came true. That fortune has lead me to a very unexpected and valuable treasure. I'm not talking about gold or silver or diamonds. No, I'm talking about an orange treasure. Orange and purple that is.
I'm Elijah Cooley and this is my story.
I had just gotten back from playing a massive video game tournament at the local arcade. Trust me, I LOVE video games. Everyday when I get back home from my job at the Animal Protection Agency, I go into the kitchen, grab some cheese puffs, and then go back into the living room and play my Xbox 360 until my hands get sore. Anyway, I won that tournament and was seriously proud of myself. The game was Ms. Pac-Man, one of my favorite games. I like Pac-Man, too, but Ms. Pac-Man has better graphics. I got rewarded with $200 and a trophy. Not that I needed it, though. I am very wealthy, but not filthy rich. I struck it rich in Las Vegas with $200,000 dollars.
I was walking home from the tournament. The only way back to my house was through a dark alley. I hate dark alleys, especially at midnight. I pulled out a knife from my black leather jacket's pocket. OK, I know I may seem like a scaredy cat, but dark alleys creep me out. I start to walk through the alley with the knife pointed out. However, something made a sound, making me jump heavily, dropping the knife next to the dumpster.
"Dang it!", I said. I hate it when I drop my knife, especially by the dumpster. That dumpster smells like it has never been cleaned out. I bend over to pick it up when I heard the sound again.
"What is that noise?" I wait for it to happen again, but nothing happens. I pick up the knife and start to walk again. Right when I'm about to reach the end, something moves across my legs.
"What was that?!" I pull out my phone, turn the camcorder on for the light, and point it in the direction. Seeing nothing, I turn the light off and put the phone back in my pocket.
"Mister?"
I hear someone call me. I look around, looking for the source.
"Mister, I'm down here"
I look down and see a strange animal. It looks like a pony, with wings? They look so small. Her coat is orange and her mane is purple. But it couldn't be the one who called me.
"Hello?", the pony says.
"Y-you talk?", I say. This seems seriously weird.
"Yes. I'm Scootaloo."
"Scootaloo?"
"Yes. I'm a pegasus. Who are you?" That's what a pony with wings is, a pegasus.
"I-I'm Elijah Cooley and I'm a human. How old are you? What are you doing in a dark alley? Where is your home?" I had a lot of questions about this pegasus in front of me.
"I'm four, and I don't have a home. I don't have food, water, or parents." She starts to cry. I start to feel sorry for her.
"Is that why you look so... boney?"
"Yes. I haven't eaten anything but garbage. Can I live with you, please?" She shoots me with massive puppy-dog eyes. Puppy eyes never work on me, but I get confused. I have never taken care of a child. I'm single, and have no kids or pets. Just money and that gets kinda lonely. Plus, I work at the APA(Animal Protection Agancy), so I can't just let her die out here. So I do the right thing.
"Sure. You can live with me." Her ears perk up.
"Really?! You mean, you'll feed me and take care of me?"
"Yes little Scootaloo" She hugs my leg.
"THANK YOU!" She lets go.
"Sure." I bend over, pick her up, and put her inside my jacket to keep her warm. "Can you breathe?"
"Yes"
I start to walk back to my house. But one question remains in my mind: How will I pull this off?"
I finally get back to my house. It only took five minutes, but it felt like an hour. After entering and closing the door, I place Scootaloo on the couch. She starts to shiver violently.
"You okay?", I ask her.
"I'm c-c-c-cold. Can I have a blanket?"
"Sure" I go upstairs and get the softest blanket I could find. I go back downstairs and wrap it around Scootaloo. She sighs in relief at the warmth of the blanket. However, her stomach rumbles loudly and she groans in pain.
"I'm hungry. Can I have something to eat?"
"Umm... what do you want?"
"Hay"
"OK." I go into the backyard and go to my shed. I pull out some spare hay that was left over from the horses we were feeding at my job. I grab a few handfuls and go back into the house and give the hay to Scootaloo.
"Thanks". She starts to ravenously scarf the hay. After getting her a glass of water, I sit next to her and watch her eat. Once she finishes, she gives a loud burp.
"Excuse me"
"It's OK. So, do you like video games?"
"Yeah!" I turn on my Xbox and go to my "Games Library". I select Ms. Pac-Man.
"This is called Ms. Pac-Man. All you have to do is eat all the dots. OK, see that yellow thing?" She nodded. "That's you. You go through the maze and eat all the dots. Avoid, or stay away from the ghosts. If they touch you, you will lose a life. Now if you eat one of the big dots, the ghosts will turn blue and then you can eat them. You get more points for eating the ghosts."
"OK"
"Here". I hand the controller to Scootaloo, who grabs it with her teeth and places it down on the floor. Once the game started, she started to play. I sit back on the couch and watch her play. She does pretty good. She actually makes it to the final level with four lives. However, I see she starts to squirm with her hind legs crossed. She pauses the game.
"What's wrong?"
"I have to go potty, really bad!" She starts tip-hoofing in place, which I guess is her version of the "potty dance". Her bladder must have been really small, since she only had a glass of water.
"Oh, well the bathroom is over there. Do you need any help?"
"No thanks. I can go by myself" She runs to the bathroom, opens the door and closes it. I hear her sigh in relief. I sit back again.
"Maybe taking care of Scootaloo won't be so hard.", I whisper to myself, "She's potty trained, so that helps me a lot." After about 5 minutes, I hear the toilet flush and Scootaloo comes out. "Did you go?" She nods. "Did you wash you hooves?" She nods. "OK. You can finish if you want."
"OK" She unpauses the game and starts her last level. Down to one more life and still a lot of dots left, Scootaloo pauses the game.
"Can you please finish this for me?", she says, using puppy-dog eyes again.
"Sure, Scoots" I pick up the controller and finish the level for her.
"Yay!", she said, hugging me. "Thanks, Mr. Cooley!!"
"No problem, Scoots", I said, returning the hug, "and, just call me Elijah".
"OK, Elijah"
"So, wanna watch some cartoons?"
"Yeah!" I turn the TV to cable mode and turn on one of my favorite cartoons: Spongebob Squarepants. I sit on the couch and Scootaloo sits in my lap as we watch the cartoon. She laughs almost every five minutes. I smile.
"So this is what it feels like to have a child?", I think to myself, "Well, if it is, I love it"
After about three episodes, she yawns loudly and snuggles into my chest.
"I love you, Daddy", she says before falling asleep. I feel stunned. She said she loved me, and she called me "Daddy". I smile and lay down next to her on the couch. Before I fall asleep, I pet her mane and say one more thing.
"I love you too, Scootsy.
The next morning when I wake up, I look at the calender on the wall.
"Yes", I say, "My Christmas vacation starts today!" My stomach growls. "Good thing too. I'm freaking starving." I start to get up carefully, not trying to wake Scootaloo up. Once I got up, I opened the curtains so the beautiful sunlight could shine through. I walk into the kitchen and open the refrigerator.
"Let's see." I gaze around for a minute. "I guess I'll just have some eggs, toast, and hashbrowns" I would've gotten some bacon, but out of respect for Scootaloo, I resisted. I start to cook the eggs and the hashbrowns. After they finish, I put the toast in the toaster and wait for a few minutes. While the toast cooks, I go into the living room to wake Scootaloo up.
"Scoots?" I lightly shake her, causing her to yawn and wake.
"Elijah?", she says, her voice sounding very weak, "Is it morning yet?"
I chuckle. "Yes. I'm making us some breakfast. If you wanna eat now, wake up, OK?"
"OK. I have to go potty first."
"Take your time, Scoots. I'm not rushing you" She gets off the couch, stretches, and goes into the bathroom to do her business. I hear the toast pop out and go into the kitchen to take it out. I didn't know what she liked on everything, so I just got some salt, pepper, jam and butter out of the pantry and put it on the table. I fix the plates for me and Scootaloo and get some orange juice from the refrigerator. After pouring two glasses for me and Scootaloo, I put the glasses on the table and sit down in my chair.The toilet flushes and Scootaloo comes into the kitchen and sits in the chair next to me.
"Dig in, Scoots"
"Thanks" She starts to eat, very slow. I start to eat also, trying not to look at Scootaloo. Like me, she seems to not like being stared at while eating. I can tell she is still feeling awkward about this whole guardian thing. After I finish my breakfast, I put the plate in the sink and sit back down next to Scootaloo. I start to rub her back lightly to make her feel a little better. This seems to work and she soon finishes her breakfast.
"Thanks, Da- Elijah"
"No problem, Scoots" I put her plate in the sink and she walks into the living room and lays back down on the couch.
"Do you wanna play Ms. Pac-Man?" She nods and I put the game on and give her the controller. She starts to play happily. "You play for as long as you want. I'll be in the computer room."
"OK"
After about an hour, Scootaloo stops playing.
"That was fun" She walks into the computer room. "Elijah?"
"I'm over here, Scoots." I was reading one of my favorite books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck. "What's up?"
"Can I sit with you?"
"Sure" She smiles and sits in my lap.
"Whatcha reading?"
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck. Good book. Want me to read to you?"
"Sure"
I read the book to Scootaloo. A few parts make her laugh, like the part when Greg Heffley's great-grandfather's dentures fell out when he tried to blow out the candles on the cake he had. While I read the book, I feel really great. Really, if this is what it feels like to have, raise and love a child, then it is one of the best feelings of my life. No amount of cash and gold could tear me away from Scootaloo. She is like an angel. She's the only kid I've ever had. But how does she feel about me? She called me "Daddy" last light, but she was half asleep. I shake it out of my head and focus on the book. After I finish the book, I put it back and pet Scootaloo. It was time for the moment of truth.
"Scoots, I wanna talk."
"Sure"
"Scootaloo, do you find me weird?"
"No, Elijah. You're cool!"
"Well, how do you feel about me?" She looked down.
"Well, you are very kind. You fed me, let me sleep here, and let me play your video game. Ya know, I think of you as..." She took a deep breath. "a daddy" I start to tear up a little.
"You do?"
"Yes." She hugs me. "I love you, Daddy" She snuggles into my chest.
"I love you too, sweetie" She smiles and licks my cheek. "So, wanna go to the park? It's my vacation."
"Sure" I go into the living room, grab my black leather jacket and put it on.
"You wanna walk, or do you want me to carry you?"
"Carry me, please?"
"Sure" I pick her up and put her inside my jacket. I leave my house and start to walk to the park. I smile and begin to pet Scootaloo.
"This is going to be fun"
A Day at the Park/Ice Cream
While walking to the park, Scoots and I were very chatty with each other. I take her out of my jacket and hold her like you would a toddler, her head over my shoulder.
"So, Scootaloo", I say.
"Yes, Daddy?"
"I see you have wings, but can you fly?"
"No. I won't be able to fly until I'm eight".
"Oh, that explains it".
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Scootaloo and I finally get to the park. It isn't crowded, which is very rare. Usually, it's so crowded, you couldn't walk twenty steps without bumping in to something or someone. I set Scootaloo down on the ground.
"So, what do you want to do?", I ask her. She thinks about it for a while. Then she smiles.
"I wanna swing!!", she said, her voice sounding very excited.
"OK" She and I walk over to the swing-set. She sits into one, but doesn't do anything. "Aren't you going to swing?" She blushes.
"I don't really know how to swing myself. Can you please push me?" I smile and nod. She grabs the chains and I give her a good push. She goes into the air and screams with excitement. She comes back and I push her again. Scootaloo kept screaming and laughing with excitement. Once again, I feel it. The parent love.
"I'm gonna jump!", Scootaloo says. Before I can oppose to her decision, she jumps right out of the swing and lands on her front legs, like a headstand.
"Are you OK?", I say. Scootaloo stands up and shakes her head.
"I'm fine", she says. I smile.
"OK". Scootaloo looks to her right and sees a tire swing.
"Can I go on the tire swing?"
"Sure". We walk over to the tire swing. However, when Scootaloo tries to get on, she fall off. She tries again, but does the same thing. She looks at me again.
"Can you help me get on?". I nod and set her in the swing the way a human would. She grabs the chains.
"So, how fast do you want to go?", I ask her.
"Fast!", she says. I push her outward, and then twist my direction to make her spin. She screams with excitement. "This is so awesome!"
After playing on the tire swing, I let her off. Scootaloo runs over to the slide and starts playing. While she plays, I sit down on a park bench and watched her slide. Seeing her play and enjoy herself makes me warm inside. The love came back and I rested my back against the bench, smiling as I watch Scootaloo play by herself.
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After playing on swings, slides, and teeter-totters, it got late. The Sun was setting. Scootaloo and I started walking from the park. Once again, I was carrying her like a toddler.
"Did you have fun?", I ask her.
"Yeah!", Scootaloo said, "That was awesome!"
"OK. Before we go home, I've got a little surprise for you".
"What is it?"
"Can't tell you. It's a surprise".
"OK".
I keep walking while carrying Scootaloo. I can hear her hum a small tune to herself. She's really enjoying herself. I rub her back lightly while she hums to herself.
After a few minutes of walking, I finally reach the place I was going for. My favorite ice cream parlor.
"We're here, Scoots", I say to her. She looks forward.
"Ice cream?", she asks.
"Yes. That's why we're here. I figured you would be hungry right now".
"I am... a little".
"OK, so what flavor do you want?".
"Chocolate, please".
"Hmph, good choice", I say. I set her down on the bench. "OK. You stay there while I get the ice cream. OK?"
"OK, Daddy".
After about five minutes, I get Scootaloo's and my ice cream. Chocolate for her and mint-chocolate-chip for me. I sit down next to and Scootaloo sits in my lap. I hand Scootaloo her ice cream cone, which she instantly begins eating. I eat my own ice cream while resting my back against the bench.
After a while, we finish our ice cream. I notice a huge puddle of ice cream on Scootaloo's face.
"Do you need a napkin?", I ask her. She looks up at me and nods. I take a napkin and wipe Scootaloo's face clean. After throwing away the napkin, I carry Scootaloo home.
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Once we get home, Scootaloo yawns loudly. I smile as I coo at her.
"Is my little Scootsy getting sleepy?", I coo.
"I'm not... *yawn*... sleepy", she says, trying to stay awake. I walk up to my room and sit down on my bed. I put Scootaloo in my arms, like a baby. I cradle her lightly. "*Yawn* Elijah?"
"Yes, Scootsy?"
"Can I... sleep with... *yawn* you?"
"Yes, Sweetie". I still cradle Scootaloo until she yawns again and buries her face into my shirt, falling asleep. Her soft breathing indicating this. I smile and kiss her muzzle. I tuck her in and cuddle her.
"Goodnight, Scootsy", I say, petting her mane, "I love you". I fall asleep with a smile on my face.