AVOCADO
A tribute to Carpdime’s Avocado
Chapter Three: Promise
(continued from Chapter 2 and The New Mummah )
“This morning we’re pleased to invite Melissa Momnes, the CEO and Founder of FoalCan Inc. Melissa is the Silicon Valley visionary behind the creation of FoalCan’s patented BioPrinter, which is currently heralded as a breakthrough in the field of bioengineered life-forms. “
The bright screen of the television illuminated the dim dormitory residence, as the light of the morning sun was slowly peeking into the room. The young man had just finished having breakfast and was now getting ready for classes. As he was about to give a presentation for his Business class, he had to dress a bit formally today.
While he was wasting time with his necktie, little Avocado was busy staring at the screen. At this stage, he knew only two words: “Daddeh” and “miwkies”. The bright glow of the television, and the two human figures were fascinating, but were speaking in an alien language that was far too advanced for a fluffy mind, let alone a foal that was barely a month old.
“What motivated the creation of this BioPrinter?”
“Well, as you know, 3D printing biological constructs isn’t a foreign concept. Not too long ago, Hasbio was at the forefront of making custom-made bioengineered constructs, which they later marketed as ‘biotoys’.”
Avocado viewed the blonde woman with fascination. He didn’t understand a single word she was saying, but she was wide-eyed, and had the nicest smile, with a good set of pearly white teeth. Even though he didn’t understand the interview, he was keenly interested in anything she was about to say.
“Miss Momnes, you face criticism from biotoy rights groups like ABAP and AWFP regarding the distribution of your product, claiming that what you are doing is literal animal abuse. What do you have to say to that?”
“Well, that depends on whether you see biotoys as animals. I don-”
“Alright little buddy, I got to go class and get some learning done.”
With remote in hand, the young man switched the television from displaying the local channel to the AV input.
“Chirp! Daddeh! Chirp!”
Avocado was surprised by the sudden appearance of the blue screen. Feeling a little dismayed, he kept chirping at our young man, wanting to see more of that nice lady speak. As he kept chirping, our young man went up to the television, with a shining disc in hand. Loading the compact disc into the player, he fiddled around with the remote, and then pressed “Play”.
“Learn Alphabet with My Little Fluffies!”
The happy cheering face of Applesauce could be seen on the screen, as she narrated the first letter.
~
“You should get your fluffy to watch some videos.”
It was a lunch break, two days ago. Our friend had tried to talk to the fluffy enthusiast he had met quite often previously, but ever since she started avoiding him, he had relied mostly on youtube videos for taking care of fluffies and tried to teach Avocado basic words manually.
“What are you talking about?”
“You bought a Foalcan, didn’t you? My little brother has one too. He’s been taking care of the little bugger quite well.”
The response came from a classmate that our young man had befriended. They both shared the same business major and took the same classes. Coincidentally, they also lived at the same dorm. It seemed to be more than one person had seen the young man carry the hugtoy and pillow.
Our young man felt a little ashamed about letting another guy know about this one secret. A part of him felt that his manhood was being put the test. As he remained silent, he kept playing with the plate of spaghetti he had before him, twirling the pasta with his fork.
“Hey man, there’s nothing wrong with liking fluffies. I mean, you did watch the My Little Fluffy cartoon back in the day, didn’t you?”
“Y-y-yeah,” our young man weakly stammers.
“It was a good cartoon, wasn’t it? I still remember all the memes and jokes. I sometimes lol at the fact that, when they released the first generation of fluffies, I so badly wanted my parents to get me one.”
“And did you?”
“Of course not,” laughs his friend, “despite what those suits and salesmen say, fluffies aren’t toys. They’re literally pets. I think my parents did the right thing at the time in not letting me have one – when the news came out about the abandoned fluffies from the first wave, and the trouble they were causing, the demand for them really dropped as there was an emphasis on adopting fluffies as opposed to buying them.”
“Well, I heard the interviews from the founder of Foalcan, and she says foalcan fluffies are real biotoys since they’re made by the BioPrinter.”
“What kind of toy do you know needs to eat, shit and sleep? Not to mention when they die, you can’t bring them back to life? It is not like a car, computer or phone that you can repair. Like, I know my little bro is a lot more responsible than me and loves animals, but me? Nah man, and my parents knew that when my pet cat ran away from me.”
“That’s still awfully responsible of you to realize that you can’t take care of one.”
“I think one should be responsible for anything they own. That’s what my folks taught me.
Anyway, how long have you had your fluffy?”
“About a month now, maybe more.”
“Then the guy will be learning how to talk soon. Have you been speaking to him regularly?”
“Yeah, I do. Been trying to teach my Avocado words and stuff.”
“And you got classes bro. I don’t think you’ll have a lot of time to spend with your little fluffy.”
“Then what are you suggesting?”
“Well, ideally, fluffies are supposed to be watching FluffTV, which is how they get most of their education at home, but of course, we don’t have FluffTV in the dorms. But that doesn’t mean you can’t buy a bunch of videos from the nearby Fluffmart.”
“I’ve been there. Piece of shit store didn’t even have a proper pet bed.”
“I know the place you’re referring to. If you checked, they should be selling at least a Blu-Ray with every MLF lesson for fluffies.”
“And that’s it? Just play the video, and the fluffy will learn?”
“That’s a start, but you still got to talk to it regularly, at least when you get back from class. If you rely on the video entirely, they won’t really learn.”
“That all still sounds like a hassle, having to get a specific video from a specific store. Can’t I just get my fluffy to watch Sesame Street and Barney and just call it a day?”
“Ah ah,” interjected the friend, raising his right finger as he continued, “many people think that. But see, those shows are in English. Not in fluffspeak.”
“I thought fluffies speak English, but with a lisp.”
“It’s more complicated than that. It is like asking if a parrot actually comprehends the English words you teach it. Or why a cat uses a ‘meow’ to communicate with humans, when cats don’t use the same ‘meow’ to communicate with other cats.”
“So fluffspeak is basically English, but for fluffies?”
“Basically, yeah. Point is, they’re not going to learn well if you use Sesame Street or Reading Rainbow if it is in ‘our’ English. If you’re going to use those shows, you might as well find the Fluffspeak version – which does exist, by the way.”
“How long will it take before I can talk to my little buddy?”
“Now that’s where it gets interesting. Fluffy foals are able to talk within a month when you start teaching them, along with the video aids. However, like human toddlers, foals will forget things very quickly. Their mind is very young and their brains are still developing, and they do so at a rate faster than human babies. So, while they are able to talk, they may forget it after a while. Its why some people don’t start teaching their fluffies to talk until they reach about six months of age, while some don’t even teach them until they’ve reached maturity in their first year.”
“If that’s the case, then maybe I shouldn’t teach my fluffy.”
“Well, a foal that learns how to speak at an earlier age, whether it is from its human owner or its fluffy parents, will converse better than a foal or fluffy that learns how to speak much later. It may seem tedious but, if you keep at it now, it’ll benefit him.”
~
“Daddeh! Daddeh! Fwuffy wan miwkies!”
Avocado had managed to learn his first sentence, and the young man could not help but be proud. The young man did not go through the videos that he saw on the blu-ray, but he assumed they did their job. Nonetheless he took the time to teach some basic concepts to Avocado. Stuff like ‘miwkies’, ‘nummies’ and
“Ow!”
“Avo! Are you okay?!!”
That Saturday evening, Avocado ran too fast and tripped.
“Poor Avo, you had an owwie. You better rest.”
“Babbeh hav owwiess….nu wan owwies…. Huu huu…”
Over time, Avocado was able to understand concepts like ‘bwight time’ for morning, ‘sweepie time’ for night, ‘wittwe’ and ‘pwenty’ for different quantities, and so on. The more he taught Avocado, the more the young man remembered a time when he was playing with his own baby brother. He remembered how, when he was three, he was barely able to say certain words. However, by the time he was five, his little brother was able to converse quickly, as well as continuously scold and make fun of him. For an animal to reach this kind of conversational ability within such a short span of time was quite remarkable.
Avocado, being a foal, had yet to learn how to be properly toilet trained, and thus, ended up doing his business all over the carboard playpen during the day. However, whenever he managed to do his business in the proper litter place, whether it was in the playpen or his pet bed, he was awarded with his favourite thing.
“Huggies!”
As he could not properly hug his master, to him, getting his favourite toy felt like the closest thing. He called his hugtoy “Huggies” because he had no other fluffies to play or hug with, and the toy was the only thing he could truly hug.
“Avo.”
“Yes, daddeh?”
“Avo, if you are a good fluffy, and you do your poopies in the litterbox, you will get Mr. Huggies. That is a promise.”
“Pwomise?”
“A promise. That means, you will do something.”
Avocado thinks for a moment.
“Wike, Awo pwomise to wub daddeh?”
“Yes, Avo. That’s a promise. And if you promise to do your poopies in the litterbox, I’ll give you Mr. Huggies.”
“Pwomise?”
“Promise.”
“Yay!”
~
“This isn’t acceptable.”
The young man looked at his test he took. He saw the criticisms written in red ink all over his paper.
“You didn’t elaborate on your points well enough.”
Hearing the stern tone from his tutor, the only thing the young man could do was look down at the floor.
~
The young man was feeling dour when he entered his residence. Slumped on the chair, he was wondering what to do.
“Daddeh!”
Avocado peeped out of his playpen. Being a foal, it was a struggle for him to reach the top. However, with the sound of the opening door, he knew his owner was around, and would, naturally, carry him to the table. Partly to give him a quick bath, but also to talk to him and teach him some words.
That didn’t happen today.
“Daddeh?”
Avocado’s tone became a bit more questioning, almost worried.
“Daddeh? Iz daddeh otay?”
“I’m okay, Avo.”
The young man got out of his seat and walked up to Avocado. Avocado naturally greeted him with a smile but, when he saw the young man’s face, he could not help but see the red eyes, and the remnants of tears.
Avocado, not knowing what to do, remained silent, as the young man gave Avocado his usual wash. However, as he placed Avocado on the table, he just couldn’t bring himself to talk to our little green foal.
“Daddeh? Why daddeh hab saddies?”
Our young man remained silent. He looked at the ground, and remembered the stern talk he got from his tutor.
“Daddy is okay, Avo. It’s just, Daddy didn’t have a good day today.”
“Avo nu wike saddies. Daddeh wan huggies?”
“Sure.”
As he bends down, he lets Avocado hug him. Avocado could feel a tear rolling down from his owner’s cheek.
“Dun be saddies daddeh. Huggies wiww make heawt huwties gu away.”
~
“Yeah that test was a real son of a bitch. I barely passed it.”
It was lunch break on a Thursday. The following day was going to be the last day of classes, before the students at the college would have a term break that would last two weeks.
“Yeah, but I failed! And now I need to pass the final exam if I am going to get credit!”
As the young man stared up at the ceiling, he carelessly said, “It is all Avocado’s fault. I’ve been spending too much time with him.”
“Don’t you dare say that,” said his friend, in a rather serious tone.
“What do you mean?”
“Avocado’s your fluffy, right? It is not your pet’s fault if you spent too much time on him. He wouldn’t know better. And besides, you got to learn how to manage your time better. I mean, shit, did you even know that you could send your foal to a daycare?”
The young man’s eyes perked up, as he heard that. “They have daycares?”
“Yes, fluffy daycares. It is like a school, but for fluffies, especially foals. There’s actually quite a business for teaching fluffies, since most owners have busy lives, and the videos can only do so much.”
“Shit man, why didn’t you tell me about that?”
“Ah, but thing is – the daycare at the town near our university is still under renovation. Most of the people around here keep adult fluffies or send their foals to the neighbouring town which has a daycare. I thought you were managing your time well, which is why I didn’t make the suggestion at first. But, if I were you, I’d send Avo to that daycare.”
“I never been to that neighbouring town!”
“Well, you got to send Avo somewhere, at least for a while. I mean, your studies do come first.”
The young man pondered. Grabbing his smartphone, he did a few searches regarding his own hometown. Upon getting results he needed, he realized that he had one other option.
“I think, I should pay my folks a visit during the break week.”
~
Little Avocado was a little bit confused. He had heard his owner come in, but, this time, he didn’t come to take him out of his pen. This time, he went straight for his phone. As his owner kept talking on the weird device, Avo could hear a female voice, one that was like the one he had heard just a week or so ago.
Upon finishing the call, the young man went to collect Avocado. Unlike the previous day, when he was crying, he now had a big smile.
“Avocado! Would you like to meet my mummah?”
~
Avocado had behaved himself well on the flight. Since the airport regulations considered fluffies to be animals for the sake of travel, he was placed in the rear. He was a little bit hesitant about being placed in a pet carrier but, he felt a calm with Mr. Huggies by his side. Following regulation, fluffies were placed with other fluffies, as it was well-known that exposure to other pets could pose potential emotional trauma.
During the flight, Avocado observed the other fluffies. Some were adults, and some were foals like him. Almost of them were asleep. Looking through the carrier, he could see one foal, who was in a carrier opposite his, and looked very scared. Our little green foal, being the brave fluffy he was, tried to say hello.
“Hewwo!”
‘H-hi…”
“Fwuffy am Awocado! Wut am fwen name?”
The blue foal kept quiet at first. He then stuttered.
“D-daddeh sez not to tawk to stwangews.”
And for the rest of the flight, the blue foal kept quiet. Avocado, though bored, went back to playing with Mr Huggies. And after a while, he fell asleep.
~
“So this is Avocado?”
“That’s him, mom.”
“Well, I never looked after a fluffy before. But we did look after a cat and a dog before, and the neighbours do have fluffies. I guess we could look after him for the time being.”
Avocado was on the floor. He was watching an episode of My Little Fluffy, one that the young man had selected on the Blu-Ray. The episode in question had to deal with the character of Party Pal having to say goodbye to her best friend, Lightning Fast, who was going to a school for Pegasus fluffies like her. Because the trip was going to be for a few months, Party would not be seeing Fast for a good long while.
“Fwuffy wiww miss fwen,” cried Party.
“Fast wiww miss fwen too. But Fast wiww weawn wotsa things at skool! An’, Fast wiww meet Party suun! Dats a pwomise!”
“Pwomise?”
“Pwomise.”
And the two fluffies hugged, marking the end of the episode. In an interesting case of foresight, the writers of My Little Fluffy had prepared an episode that taught fluffies how to deal with friends or relatives going on a trip.
As the episode ends, the young man sat down on the floor, beside Avocado.
“Hey there little guy.”
“Daddeh, iz daddeh gunna hab tu go?”
Huh, the little bugger could pick things up really quickly.
“Yes Avocado. Daddy has to go.”
“Bu’… bu’ why?”
“Daddy’s been a bad daddy. Daddy needs to get better and go to school. You too must go to school and learn to be a good fluffy.”
“Otay.”
Avocado, being the good fluffy that he was, held back his tears, as he said, “Fwuffy wiww miss you.”
The young man laid his body, chest facing to the floor, and brought his face up. As he saw the small, guinea pig size of his foal, he said “Huggies?”
“Huggies!”
And Avocado wrapped his hooves around his owner’s face as much as he could. In the middle of the hug, Avocado asked the most important question of the moment.
“Wiww Awocado see daddeh again?”
“Yes Avocado. You will.”
“Pwomise?”
“I Promise.”