As tiny as I was when Color found me, I was just as curious. So, when he took me home, I immediately began to bounce around and sniff everything I could in his house.
“Good!”, I said to myself after a while, no other Micinik foot had passed through here, so I calmed down. You know, we don’t like to stay in houses where other Miciniks have lived before us.
Nothing else, but on Pluto, there’s a rule. No family can have more than one Micinik in the house. And, if that’s the case, we’d better smell all the corners of the house to make sure no other Micinik had been there recently.
Otherwise, if he had left somewhere and came back, we would find ourselves back on the street. And there’s nothing sadder than taking an animal into the house and then having to let it go, abandoned on the street. Right?
At one point, when I was tired of sniffing, a little boy with headphones on his head entered the house. He was always singing and dancing. When he saw me, he happily ran towards me and picked me up.
I didn’t growl or bristle at him, because he was a nice little boy. Why would I want to scare him? I let him pet me as long as he wanted and then, when he got bored of me, I barked at him a few times, hoping he would continue to play with me.
There’s nothing more enjoyable for us, Miciniks, than having someone play with us. Throwing us a ball, chasing us or looking for us around the house. And the child didn’t disappoint me. We played for a long time until at one point, he stopped, picked me up, and ruffled me over my ears.
“I am Music,” he suddenly said. “And you are going to be Timok.”
I had no idea I needed a name. But when he said my name was Timok, I felt like a powerful Micinik. It seemed like a name for a powerful Micinik, anyway.
I liked it. A lot. So, I barked short, twice, until the boy was sure I understood what he said. Since then, I also like Music a lot, the boy who named me. But, of all of them, Color is still my favorite.
You know, animals have a secret, whether they are from Pluto, Mars, or Earth. They choose a favorite master and love them a little more than the other members of their family. This is not a bad thing.
That’s how we are, animals. I chose Color, and I am happy every time I see him. And he’s happy. I’m sure. Only sometimes he pretends to be upset to trick me.
Look, for example, yesterday, when he came home, I quickly jumped to greet him. And when I jump, I jump. I mean, I bounce like a big ball, and I try to stop in front of him. But sometimes I don’t succeed, so we bump into each other and he falls backward. Then he always tricks me by seeming upset.
But I know he’s not. I am his Micinik, and he wouldn’t be upset with me no matter what I did. He lays down a bit, as if he’s dizzy, but then he gets up and laughs. We’ve done this together many times, and I don’t let myself be tricked anymore.
Music is not the only child in the Escu family. In fact, I like to play with him. With his sister, however, it’s a different story. I like to sit on her when we both sit on the couch and look in her books. Actually, she looks in the books, and I look at her. And when her eyes move from one side to the other, as she reads a line from the book, I move my head following her eyes.
We are funny, the two of us. If you saw us, you would think we’re a little crazy. She reads, and I move my head left to right, without ever stopping. But I like Selfi, that’s her name. She’s smart and always has interesting things to teach me.
In fact, I think she’s the only one in the Escu family who caught on that I understand everything they say. She looks at me in a strange way, and I’m sure she caught on. But she’s nice and doesn’t tell anyone about it. So she won a loyal friend in me anytime she might need one.
With Music and Selfi, I occasionally play hop-tup. Don’t you know hop-tup? Hmm, well, that means you’ve never had so much fun that you couldn’t stop laughing. Hop-tup is super simple to play: we all sit in a circle, start the stopwatch, then one of us says “Hooooop”. Immediately, the others get up and run around the house. You have to catch them and, when you lay your hand on one of them, say quickly Tup. And that’s how you knock them out of the game. If you catch them all before time runs out.
I play all day long. That’s my Micinik life, and I love it to bits. Oh, and I also love the food made by Lumi.
I forgot, I haven’t told you about Lumi yet. She’s our mother. She pets all of us, speaks nicely to us, helps us when we get hurt, and keeps us, how do I say, in her arms, even though she doesn’t hold us in her arms. Lumi seems to always take care of you, even if she’s on the other side of the room.