Home Again

Wimpy Wonderland

"Alice," Mom asked, as I arrived home from school. "I just noticed this... but what's that on your arm?"

"Oh!" I exclaimed, noticing my band-aid, where Captain Crawfish had sliced my arm (I was wearing a t-shirt that day). "Uh... I cut my arm on the locker door." I lied, biting my lip. I knew sooner or later I was going to have to tell my mom about Poptropica. I'd actually been preparing to tell her, but fear got the better of me (or I forgot) and I never got around to it.

"You've been... acting strange lately, Alice," my mother said, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Mom never really yelled at me, unless she was in a panic. She was good like that, but that didn't stop her from getting suspicious. "Is something wrong?"

Oh, no, I'm being hunted down by various villains who want to kill me to gain what they call immortality in a computer game. Everything's swell. "No, just... a little tired, I guess." I answered quickly. Then I exited before Mom could ask more questions.

"My brother Manny is missing!" a boy- and fellow human- Greg exasperated as we landed on Wimpy Wonderland. The island looks like it has been drawn on lined paper (which it probably has), and every character is black and white. Scratch that, everything's black and white, like in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, which is what the island's based on.

"Where do you think he might be?" I asked, despite knowing where Manny was.

"I don't know," Greg answered. He wears black and white winter clothing, a flowing scarf, and has three hairs on the back of his circle-shaped head. He's lanky: a different shape from Poptropicans. Boy, it's freaky. He's the closest thing on Poptropica to a human (well, he IS a human, like me, though I didn't look very human), which means humans do indeed exist on Poptropica. I wondered why Fierce Fox didn't know what humans were when I told her. Memory being wiped? I didn't know.

Greg continued, "Maybe we should go back to the house and look for clues." I gave him a nod, and we set off to Greg's house.

Greg's house is a two-storey, typical family home. I've read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, when I was around ten or eleven, and the island's a good representation of the book's chaos. Reading the books had given me a faint idea of what the house appeared like, and the Poptropica island gave me the exact reference.

"Maybe there are some clues in the house!" Greg said, thinking about his missing brother, while Fierce Fox and I climbed the stairs. I entered someone's room and grabbed an address book. Then, we entered Manny's room, which is pretty much the room you'd expect from a young child. The window's open at the back above some drawers, which is how Manny escaped.

"Greg is one bad caretaker." I sighed; Fierce Fox grinned. I climbed through the window and landed on the snowy roof, which is covered in footprints. Naturally, Fierce Fox and I followed them. They led us over a snowy hill, past a few more houses and a snowman. Snow trickles down from the sky, not affecting me at all (of course).

We stopped nearby a slightly chubby boy, who like everyone else in this island, is wearing a winter attire. His name's Rowley, and he's the best friend of Greg. We spoke to him for a bit, when Manny riding Rowley's rumble bike drove past and knocked us out.

Fierce Fox and I pursued the rumble bike trails, which led to a pile of snow with a bike sticking out. I picked it up and spotted Manny ahead. I gave Fierce Fox the fun job of chasing after Manny. Remember how I've been saying Fierce Fox is athletic and all? Well, she's nothing compared to Greg's little brother. And he's human.

I saw Manny leap off a tree and land in some poor kid's snowman, turning it into a mushed pile of snow. The kid's mother let me have the carrot nose, just as Fierce Fox hopped down from the tree. Then we headed over to the school, which is kind of similar to mine. Well, not really, since mine's more of a grey, cement building. This one's made of bricks, and shows more age and deterioration. Immediately we spotted Manny, the crazy gymnast he is, leaping up the building and sneaking into the school.