The Pearl Girls

Volleyball's Pet

Volleyball awoke to her alarm clock beeping 8 am. Yawning, she turned it off and smiled as she stood, stretching. It was the day she got to adopt her first pet. She got through her morning routine, the usual type. Brushing her teeth, tying her shoes, the standard procedure. "Volleyball, I got our breakfast ready!", Pearl called from downstairs.

Pearl was downstairs having her breakfast with the other Pearls. "Hello everyone, when I return, I'll have the newest addition to the family!", Volleyball exclaimed as she sat down. She took a sip of her orange juice. "I'm sure you will, Volleyball. What will you pick?", Yellow asked. Volleyball thought. "I don't know yet. Maybe a cat. Maybe we can name it Pinkie Pie."

"I hope we can have a dog.", Blue quietly added. "They're just so soft. And cuddly too."

"If you can't find a pet, we can always biologically engineer you a domesticated species of the animal kingdom." Everyone looked at him, confused. He sighed. "We can always make you a robot pet using science. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one here who understands what I'm saying." Everyone laughed, including Steven.

After she finished her cereal, Volleyball grabbed her purse. "See you all in a little bit!"

Volleyball exited her house and got into the family van. She started the engine and drove to the pet store. Unfortunately, they didn't have any pets that Volleyball or the others would like. They were out of cats and dogs.

She sadly left the store and went to the van. When Volleyball opened the door, she heard rummaging in an alleyway. There was a green tail sticking out from a fence.

"Huh?" The tail disappeared. Volleyball walked through the fence's gate and saw the same tail poking out of a trash bin. Suddenly; it backed out of the trash bin, looking a bit sad that he did not find anything.

A small, orange, pumpkin dog.

"Oh my..."

She approached, with her pink-dyed hair glimmering in the early morning sun. The pumpkin started to run off. "No, it's okay. Please don't run away. I want to help you."

It stopped, turning back to Volleyball.

Volleyball approached it. "Aw, you're so adorable!" The creature turned his head in confusion, emitting a curious bark. "You're a dog? Wow, you're one of a kind!"

She saw a small bowl in the alleyway. "Would you like some water?", she asked calmly. He looked thirsty, so she didn't hesitate to give him the water. Volleyball set the bowl down. "I'll be right back." She walked to a nearby corner store and bought two bottles of water. One for herself, and one for her new friend.

When she came back, she poured the contents of one of the bottles into the bowl. The pumpkin walked over and began to drink the water. While she was drinking her bottle, her eyes caught a glimpse of inside the tent. Volleyball looked in. There was nothing. No bed. No food. No light. Nothing.

"Hm..." Is this where he lives?, she thought.

She looked at it. It had no collar. Maybe... "...Do you have an owner?" It sadly shook its head no. Well, body, it didn't really have a head. Volleyball thought for a moment. As the pumpkin slowly began to turn away from Volleyball, the girl reached her hands out, signaling she wanted to hold it.

"...Well..."

"...how would you like me to be your owner? I'll give you a great home, I'll feed you, and I'll make sure you're safe... you'll have the best family you could ever have... they're really nice too."

"I've also been looking for a pet, but came across you instead. But you're much better than any pet." She giggled.

"Of course, it's entirely your choice. Don't feel as if I'm forcing you to come."

The pumpkin reached out his little nub of a paw, holding Volleyball's hand. They both were silent for about five seconds. Volleyball looked at the pumpkin. He was looking at her too. Then he slowly crept into her arms, smiling. Volleyball held the strange but adorable creature.

The creature nervously barked in joy. "Well, how about we get you some things? We'll get some wet food, a collar, maybe a dog tag..." Volleyball carries him to the van and put him in the passenger seat, turning on the air conditioner to get him warm. She drove to the store and bought it a booster seat for safety, along with supplies.

She bought it school supplies. She wanted him to get an education, since it seemed like any other boy, just a pumpkin dog.

They stopped at the backpacks. "Okay, I can't seem to decide..." She held two backpacks, one was an apple, and the other was a flower. The vegetable in her cart pointed to the apple. Volleyball placed it in the cart. "You're right, it suits your personality much more than the flower."

She bought a green dog collar and she walked to the dog tag machine. It asked what the name of the pet was. She thought. "Hmm... what to name you... how about..."

"...Pumpkin?"

He barked in a joyful tone, nodding. The machine dispensed the tag, and Volleyball attached it to his collar. "Welcome to the family, my little Pumpkin! Let me bring you to the others!"

She led him to her van. Placing his booster seat in the front passenger seat, she secured him, making sure he was comfortable.

On their way, they passed by the elementary school. "Look Pumpkin, that's where you're going to learn soon!", she stated. Pumpkin barked excitedly. Volleyball smiled. "What a sweet creature..."

Seven minutes later, they arrived at their house. It was a standard house. There were four bedrooms upstairs. The two 16 year olds Blue and Yellow shared a room, and 17 year old Volleyball had her own room. She worked a part time job at Burger King, which she was paid very well for, due to being good friends with the manager. 15 year old Pearl shared a room with 8 year old Steven. Pumpkin soon would get his own room.

Volleyball pulled up to the house and unbuckled Pumpkin's seatbelt. "Here we are, Pumpkin. Your new home. Oh, let me get the door for you." She walked to the door and walked in.

The family was on the couch when Volleyball walked in. "Everyone, meet our newest family member, Pumpkin!"

Pumpkin was a little nervous, hiding behind Volleyball. "Don't be nervous Pumpkin, they're my family. They're your family now too. That's Steven. That girl in the blue shirt is Blue. See that girl in the yellow tank top? She's Yellow, that's Pearl, and I'm Volleyball."

Pumpkin walked out nervously into the house, looking at everybody. A small nervous bark came from his mouth.

Everyone looked. They had different reactions.

Steven was rather amazed by the creature. "This is new. It seems to be a genetic crossing between a domesticated dog and a pumpkin, this hasn't been seen before. I'm sure we will all enjoy it."

Yellow was flat out confused on what the creature was, but she liked it. "Is it a pumpkin or a dog...", she asked Volleyball. "Well, it's sort of a bit of both. He's as cute as a baby though.", Volleyball explained, to which Yellow nodded. "I mean... he's definitely unique."

Blue didn't really care about how different it was. "Any animal can be a pet. This is still great."

And Pearl was amazed. "Amazing! It's like some sort of gift was bestowed upon us! Oh, look at his little paws, they're so adorable!", she squealed in awe.

They all group hugged Pumpkin.

"Welcome to the family, Pumpkin.", Volleyball whispered.