HOT SAUCE

 

Rating: U
Genre: Comedy
Setting: a shop, then my home
Main Characters: Me, and my Muses

Note from the Authoress: Based on a true story! No, really, I mean it! I got hot sauce in my eye just the other day, and it really really hurts! ^_^

 

 

Part 1

 

Eiko was shopping. Her muses Darc, and Skye accompanied her. It wasn’t unusual for more than one of her muses to be with her when she went out. Skye never left her side. He was always somewhere nearby. One could often get the impression that he is a weak, pathetic little muse, who needed Eiko to look after him. That was however, untrue. At least during the summer months. Skye was a small creature, like a cross between Gizmo the gremlin, and a small kitten. His ears were pointed, his teeth resembling a vampire whose teeth are still growing: that is to say, two of his front teeth were pointed, but not to the extreme that they past his bottom lip. His eyes were a gorgeous almond shape, and amber in colour. At least most of the time. There were times when his eyes changed colour, although nobody was sure what caused the change. He had small, yet deadly claws on his front paws, and a long tail, ending in a point. His fur, thick and soft, was a beautiful shade of deep purple and light blue, yet it seemed to provide him with little warmth during long winter months, so he spent the time curled up either inside Eiko’s coat, or alternatively in a blanket. He could be downright vicious if he wanted, and often passed malicious comment on those around him, including Eiko. He had been her muse longer than the others, and did not get misled easily. Although he could appear to be whiny, and even appear to hate Eiko at times, he was loyal until the end. Therefore it was no surprise to see him, if it was physically possible for others to see him, perched precariously on Eiko’s shoulder as she wandered around the small general store.

 

Darc, brother to her other muse Kharg, was accompanying Eiko today because she was fed up with the endless feud that had erupted between the two earlier that day. Therefore she had decided to split them up. Darc had decided to go with her to the store while Kharg stayed back at home, with the less than fun job of tidying up. Eiko wasn’t really expecting the house to be tidy by the time she returned, however, because she was well aware that, as honorable as Kharg’s intentions may be, he was easily misled by her forth muse, Benji. Benji was a next to impossible case. He was the troublemaker among her muses. He was a small tiger, with the ability to speak. He also possessed psychic powers, an ability that allowed him to wreak more havoc than anyone could think him able. He was the muse who had a darker side to him, and delighted in causing trouble. Especially to Skye. He was forever trying to goad Skye into fights, challenging him in vague ways sometimes, on other times challenging him in the most obvious ways. Skye hadn’t submitted to the challenges so far. Still, although Benji couldn’t get Skye in trouble, he often managed to get Kharg into trouble, and as a side result, Darc sometimes fell headlong into trouble with Kharg, because of his competitive streak, and determination to defeat Kharg in battle.

 

Anyway, on this day, Darc was particularly talkative, glad to be away from his brother. It had been clear to Eiko that they had been getting on each others nerves, and the best thing for them was some time apart.

 

So, she had arranged this shopping trip. Not her favorite task in the world, if she admitted it, but with Darc and Skye eager to help it was at least easier on her, as they did all the work, and left her to carry the shopping basket. So, there she was, leant against a wall, looking bored, while her muses ran around bringing her different items that they wanted, to see if they could get them. Already the basket consisted of tons of chocolate, some vanilla slices, countless cream cakes, a chocolate cake, crisps, gingerbread men, and for some reason a small and pitiful looking cabbage. There were other items, that were more necessary, but, like their authoress, the muses had a sweet tooth, and an unknown force lured them straight to the sweet counter, and the cake section. But the basket was getting ludicrously heavy now, and there were still a few vital things that Eiko needed to buy. She called her muses to her.

 

“Hey guys, listen, if you wanna eat tonight we need to buy something for tea!” Darc and Skye exchanged glances.

 

“Can’t we just have cake?” Darc asked.

 

“No. I don’t think so. I think you need to eat something that isn’t full of sugar. Otherwise I can’t make any sense of half of the things you come out with.”

 

“Ok then!” Darc and Skye ran off in opposite directions, searching for food. Eiko resumed her position of leaning against the wall until they returned. The first one back was Skye, carrying a box of hot dogs, the ones that just need to go in the microwave for two minutes. He accurately threw the box, so it landed in the basket, then took a flying leap, somersaulted, and landed on Eiko’s shoulder. He cuddled up in her long hair, while they waited for Darc to return. After five minutes or so he came running up panting, and carrying a bottle. He pushed it into Eiko’s hand.

 

“Can we get this for our food? Please? Pretty please?” Eiko glanced down at the bottle in her hand, smiling as she read the label.

 

“Hot Sauce”. She could already tell what Darc was thinking. He planned to put it on Kharg’s hotdog, because he had seen that effect in so many cartoons. She thought she would humor him. As much as the brothers fighting drove her crazy, it was always amusing to see what they were going to do next. So she added the Hot Sauce to the contents of the basket, and headed for the checkout.

 

 

Later that same day, after the hotdogs had been eaten, and Darc had played his trick., the Hot Sauce still stood on the table. Eiko was lounging around on the sofa, Kharg downing water beside her. Darc sat on another chair, reading X-Men comics and sniggering under his breath at Kharg. Benji and Skye lounged around on the floor. Skye was taking an interest in the Hot Sauce bottle. Now, unnoticed by all but Benji, he jumped lightly onto the table. He tried to pick the bottle up. It was nearly as big as him. He tried to hold it, but he staggered backwards, his foot slipping on a small slip of paper. The bottle flew out of his paws, falling to the floor, dislodging the top and squirting some Hot Sauce….

 

“AHHHHH! IT BURNS!!! IT BURNS!!!”… straight into Benji’s eye. Benji ran around the room screaming, before collapsing under the radiator. The other muses and Eiko crowded around him. Skye looked slightly embarrassed.

 

“I didn’t mean to! Honest! I just slipped, that’s all!” Eiko absentmindedly petted Skye.

 

“Don’t worry hun, we’ll find some way to help him”

 

“why don’t we pour ice cold water in his eye?” Kharg asked, somewhat maliciously. He had got into trouble because Benji had distracted him earlier. Eiko didn’t like telling him off, but she had to, just to keep up appearances. Now, it seemed Kharg was out for some sort of revenge.

 

“good plan” giggled Skye, running to the tap. Kharg quickly jumped ahead of him, as Skye was slightly to small to carry a bucket of icy water across the room. Eiko groaned inwardly as Kharg threw the whole bucket over Benji, and soaked the surrounding carpet while he was at it. Benji paused from his screaming for a couple of minutes, in shock at the bucket of water.

 

“Oh, great! Its gonna smell like wet cat in here for ages now!” Darc muttered. Benji growled menacingly at him, before shaking himself vigorously, covering Skye and Kharg in a shower of water droplets. Eiko shook her head. The shock of getting soaked with ice cold water seemed to have cured Benji of his burning eye. Figuring that the best course of action was to let the muses squabble among themselves until this had al been sorted out, Eiko returned to the sofa. She watched as her muses started arguing again. Benji was randomly slashing around him with his claws, his eye streaming from the Hot Sauce, trying to hit one of the others. They, however, had enough sense to stay out of the way of his claws. Eiko picked up her book, and started to read.

 

Presently, the arguing died down. Eiko looked up. It seemed that the others had lost interest in Benji’s plight. They had returned to the seats. Benji, however, was curled up under the radiator still, sniffling quietly. Eiko, a slight smile on her face, knowing that he wasn’t actually hurt, just trying to get attention, and pretending that he was suffering, walked over to him, and picked him up. He purred slightly, cuddling down in her arms as  she returned to the sofa. She sat down, Benji on her lap, and started to pet him. The room slowly descended into some sort of order, anyone coming in would not suspect anything out of the ordinary had just happened. So the room drifted cozily into the night, at peace once again, and free from the dangers of Hot Sauce. At least, for now.

 

THE END