Hello my fellow readers, comrades and followers...this story I absolutely hated writing. It's about a steampunk living in the year 2525 and a family pet had gone missing. How the heck can a pet go missing that far in the future!? It was a writing prompt given to the whole class as an assignment and this was the first time I hated writing something...

Now that you heard my complaints, it did catch my teacher's attention and it was one of the four that my teacher read out loud in class...I guess it was better than I thought...

Enjoy!

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                                                                     The Unknown Wild

Bot Ro launched himself, high into the air, flipped his hoverboard into a corkscrew and landed smoothly onto the descending hill. Whoops and cheers came from his friends, who stood by, watching. He slid down the next rails smoothly and completed the hover park in record timing. The wind tousling his spiky blue hair, the thrill from the high jumps, the attention of his fellow hover-boarders and the freedom he felt from the speed were the elements of hoverboarding that Bot loved.

"That was totally epic Bot!" one of his friends exclaimed, clasping a hand on Bot's shoulder.

"Let me remind you that 'epic' hasn't been used since the 21st century, and this is 2525," another friend pointed out, "but nice job out there Ro."

"Thanks guys," Bot grinned.

"Want to get some pizza with us Bot?" another friend asked.

Bot opened his mouth to answer when his watch rang; it was a text from his Mom, telling him that dinner is made and that his homework needs to be done. He let out an annoyed groan and reluctantly declined the offer. He took off at top speed underneath the road, where afternoon traffic began forming. Bot was muttering angrily to himself when a pixelated sign caught his interest. Slowing to a stop, he noticed several other holograms being projected next to the one; the one that stopped him, was a missing sign that read:

"Missing DracoLizard...call this number when found. Reward, 2000 dollars."

How would a common pet go missing? Everybody knows that they could simply track it down by it's chip, Bot thought, narrowing his eyebrows, unless it's chip malfunctioned...

The reward was bountiful though, and Bot had just spent all of his money on his new rocket Nikes and let's just say he is broke. Without any more thoughts, he grabbed the discus of the projector and flew home to finish his homework and chores for the week, not to mention feed his starving belly.

Next day, Bot scrambled around his room, getting dressed and searching frantically for his other rocket sneaker. Once he discovered his shoe underneath the dresser, he shoveled breakfast down his throat and climbed up onto the deck above. His home was a decent sized boat and it provided enough room below deck. She was anchored thousands of feet in the sky by hover propellers and Bot had enjoyed every skydive off of her.

Bot clicked his heels together and his black sneakers formed rockets beneath his feet. He dove off the boat and into Dallas, where roads weaved in and out and upside down, and the sky was its normal pale green. People below walked busily around the city to arcades, 4d movie theaters, shopping centers and auto shops. An ordinary Saturday for the city, but not for the boy. He had the hologram programmed into his watch screen so he could locate the DracoLizard's last location.

No time was wasted as Bot made it to the ally, where the lost family pet was last seen. His eyes scanned for any sign of footprints amongst the litter and trash cans and his computerized mind detected footprints of the very hybrid he was looking for, though the signal was very faint. Thank goodness he passed the test for his enhancements at 14 or he would not have had a chance of finding any trace of the pet. He followed the footprints on his rockets for miles before he came to the edge of the city.

Before him, stood a massive forest, full of soft grass and dark green leaves. A gentle breeze shook the trees and the air smelt fresh and pure. He stared in awe into the shady space underneath the branches; there were rumors that great forests, full of wildlife, grass and trees existed outside the city, but he never really listened. Now here it stood, an undiscovered land just full of adventures and waiting to be explored.

A DracoLizard whine carried along with the wind, sending a chill down Bot's spine. His excitement quickly turned into fear and his legs stiffened. There was no information on what kind of animals lived in there, if only he was more attentive in ancient history class, then he might be more confident of marching into a mysterious forest alone. Another pitiful moan from the lost family pet echoed through the trees, snapping Bot out of his daze. He flipped out his fire knife, sucked in a deep breath of clean air and marched into the thick and unknown woods.

The march slowed to a tiptoe and he followed the footprints and the moans of the DracoLizard deeper and deeper into the forest. Everything was quiet till something fast and tiny darted out in front of him. Bot screamed like a girl and broke into a sprint. He ran till he felt like his lungs were bleeding and once he had stretched out his side stitches, the pet came into view.

DracoLizards were originally just plain Bearded Dragon lizards till scientists were able to mix their DNA with the Draco lizard and they gave the new creature extra growth hormones to have it grow the size of a medium dog. They domesticated the created species and DracoLizards became common family pets throughout the world.

Its beady black eyes focused on Bot as he approached it. He extended his hand toward the lizard; it sniffed his wrist and sneezed at the unfamiliar scent. After firmly attaching a rope (he was glad he remembered to grab it when running out the door) around the hybrid's long neck, he retraced his steps and hurried out of the forest. Bot paused to take one last breath of the landscape's unpolluted air and entered the city to return the lost pet to its family. He kept in mind to return to the forest with his friends to explore the unknown wild that lay outside the hustle and bustle of the city.