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"Isn't it strange?" Jamie, a shadow Lupe said thoughtfully
to herself as she and her sister, Jessie, a Faerie Kougra were walking home after
Neoschool on a Friday afternoon.
"What's so strange?" Jessie shrugged.
"Everything has a reason. For example, the sky is blu - "
"No, not that." Jamie rolled her eyes.
"Oh then, what is it then?" Jessie questioned.
They stopped at a vacant bench and sat down for a rest.
"I met a Gelert today," Jamie started.
"That's strange?" Jessie shook her head,
dumbfounded.
"No!" Jamie sighed. "I meant I saw a Gelert,
a electric-painted Gelert to be exact who had everything she wanted, and she
wishes she has an ordinary life."
"Oh."
Jamie was starting to get annoyed. "Don't
you get it?" she repeated. "She has everything she wants and she wants a normal
life."
"You've got to see it her way Jamie,"
Jessie said calmly. "Maybe she just has too much of her fancy life."
Jamie couldn't see how anyone could ever
get bored of a life filled with luxury. She pictured herself doing nothing all
day long but being waited on and going shopping and taking long holidays. It
didn't seem boring. Not boring at all.
"If you say so," Jamie said secretly thinking
Jessie was crazy.
"And I'm not crazy," Jessie said simply.
Jamie groaned. Why did Jessie always know
what she was thinking of? "Fine you're not," she said half-heartedly. They reached
home and headed straight to the kitchen like everyday after school for an afternoon
snack.
Their owner, a fair-haired teenage girl
called Sandy had sat out plates of grilled cheese sandwiches and apple juice
on the table.
"Mmm..." Jessie threw down her backpack
and grabbed a sandwich. "My favorite."
Jamie took a sandwich too, and sat down.
As she bit into it, she couldn't stop thinking of the Gelert who wanted a normal
life.
"Jamie?" Sandy said. "Neopia to Jamie!"
Jamie blinked blankly. "Oh sorry," she
said. "I was just thinking of a really rich Gelert whom I met just now who wants
a normal life, nothing extraordinary, really."
Sandy looked confused; she looked over
at Jessie for help.
"She thinks this Gelert she met is crazy
cause she's really rich but she wants a normal life," Jessie supplied helpfully.
"I see," Sandy nodded. "Well maybe she
just wants a different type of life for once."
"That's what I told Jamie," Jessie piped
up.
"But mum, she's rich!" Jamie whined. "How
can she not want her life?"
Sandy and Jessie sighed. It wasn't going
to be of much use to explain this to Jamie...
***
After a few days, no one talked about the Gelert anymore. The morning a week
after the talk about the rich Gelert, Jamie woke up at the crack of dawn. She
couldn't get back to sleep and Jessie and Sandy were still snoring in their
beds so she decided to grab breakfast then take a walk.
She rummaged through the sink overhead
cabinets and settled down with a bowl of crunchy Kacheek cereal. She stirred
her spoon around and the pink Kacheek head look-alikes swirled around in her
bowl.
She finished up her breakfast, grabbed
her lavender windbreaker and headed outside.
It was freezing. And the road was deserted
and immense. The sun was dimly shining down but it was still cold otherwise.
Just then, Jamie felt someone tap her
on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, do you have some loose change
to spare?" Jamie turned and saw a rather poor looking purple Kacheek wearing
a tattered gray hooded robe.
"Um, sure." Jamie rummaged through her
windbreaker pocket and came up with 20 NP. "This enough?" She handed it over
to the Kacheek who looked delighted.
"Too much!" The Kacheek smiled gratefully,
then gave a low, graceful bow. "I'm Dory."
"Jamie," Jamie said shaking paws with
the friendly Kacheek.
Dory smiled. She looked cold and hungry.
"Do you live here?" she asked softly.
"Well, yes I do," Jamie said looking sorry
for the little Kacheek. "Want to come in for awhile?"
Dory looked surprised. "Really?" she asked.
"Sure," Jamie smiled. "I'll make you breakfast."
Dory looked delighted and without any
hesitation, Jamie led her back to her house and they set down in the kitchen.
"Wow!" Dory glanced down at the plate
of warm Faerie pancakes Jamie had given to her. "Are these really for me?"
"Yup," Jamie grinned. "I cooked them myself."
"Thanks!" Dory dug in hungrily. Within
minutes, the pancakes were nothing but a few crumbs left. "They were delicious!"
Dory declared.
"Thanks." Jamie pushed a cup towards Dory.
"Coffee?"
"Gladly." Dory sipped the warm coffee
as she listened to Jamie talk.
"So, that's my family," Jamie said after
she had explained about Sandy and Jessie.
"They sound nice," Dory commented. She
glanced up the flight of stairs. "Are they still sleeping?" she asked.
Jamie laughed. "Yeah they are," she said.
"They'll probably sleep in, too." They laughed and the kitchen felt warmer and
cozier than usual.
Jamie listened attentively as Dory talked
about her own life. Turned out she was abandoned by her owner once and after
she was adopted again, she was neglected so she ran away from home and had been
roaming the streets ever since.
"You poor thing," Jamie said sympathetically.
"I wish I could help you somehow." Then an idea clicked in her head. "Hey! I
can! Why don't you stay here temporarily?"
Dory looked astonished. "Stay here?"
"If you don't mind sharing a room with
Jessie and me," Jamie said.
"Won't I be bothering you?" Dory said
uncertainly.
"No you won't," Jamie assured her. "I'm
sure mum will let you stay when she hears your plight."
As if right on cue, Sandy and Jessie shuffled
sleepily into the kitchen, still in their pajamas.
"Do we have a visitor?" Sandy's eyes widened
when she caught sight of Dory.
"Who?" Jessie yawned sleepily, her eyes
shifted to Dory and she blinked. "Am I dreaming or is there a Kacheek there
beside you Jamie?"
"Dory's real," Jamie said. She stood up.
"Dory this is my owner, Sandy and my sister, Jessie, guys, this is Dory."
"Well, hello Dory," Sandy said making
herself a cup of coffee. "What are you doing here so early in the morning?"
"Mum," Jamie started in a pleading voice,
"Dory was abandoned by her owner in the pound and when she was adopted again
her owner neglected her so she ran away and has been roaming in the streets
ever since. I met her just now when I was taking a walk, can you please stay?
Please?"
Sandy and Jessie looked surprised. The
cup Sandy was filling even overfilled and coffee over spilled. "Oops!" Sandy
said smiling sheepishly wiping up the mess.
"So mum can she stay?" Jamie asked again
when Sandy was done.
Dory, who had been squirming in her chair,
looked uncomfortable. "Jamie, you don't have to do this. I'll be fine."
"I won't let you roam around hungry and
cold, Dory!" Jamie protested. "And I think you're really nice and friendly."
Sandy smiled at Dory. "Yeah, stay with
us Dory."
"You mean it?" Dory's eyes shone with
excitement. Jessie nodded in agreement.
"I don't see why not?" Jessie grinned.
"It'll be fun to have a new sibling, too."
"Thank you so much!" Dory said her eyes
brimming with tears.
"There, there." Sandy gave her a comforting
hug. "Welcome to the family."
***
For the next few weeks, Dory, Jamie, Jessie and Sandy had a great time together
like a real family. They played games at the Games Room, went on picnics and
Sandy bought lots of toys and clothes for Dory too, and even a new bed so she
didn't have to sleep on the floor in Jamie's and Jessie's room.
"You guys have treated me so well." Dory
sighed one day while they were having a picnic in a park in Neopian Central.
"How am I ever going to repay you?"
"You've given us the time of our lives
too," Sandy reminded her. "We love you Dory."
"Yeah we do," Jamie and Jessie agreed.
Dory stayed silent for a while. "I have
to tell you something." She blurted out.
The three of them exchanged glances.
"What is it?" Sandy asked.
Dory took a deep breath. "My real name
is Cyan and I was a electric Gelert before I was zapped by the lab ray and became
a purple Kacheek, Jamie you've met me before, right? And anyway, I was rich
but I had no happiness! My owner really did neglect me and so I ran away and
used my owner's lab ray to get zapped before running to Neopian Central."
Jamie, Jessie and Sandy looked shocked.
"You're... the electric Gelert?" Jamie
said in a small voice.
"Yes," Dory nodded. "I'm sorry for lying
but I thought you'd just bring me back and so..." She stopped talking. Tears
were beginning to roll down her freckled cheeks.
"Where do you live then?" Jessie asked.
"Faerieland, but I hated it there, I wanted
a normal life. Even though I was waited on and had everything I wanted, I wasn't
happy. I didn't have anyone to talk to, no one to play with and I was cooped
up in the huge mansion everyday. I had to get out or I'd have gone mad," Dory
explained in a choked voice.
"What you did was wrong, Dory," Sandy
said softly. "Your owner must have been so worried about you."
"She won't be," Dory said spitefully.
"She doesn't care about me. And she keeps entering me in Beauty Contests. I
hate it! Whenever I lose or get a second prize or something, she'll go crazy
saying I'm ugly and useless."
Jessie looked horrified. "That's terrible!"
"I'm sorry that I lied. I'd have keep
on lying to be with your lovely family but this isn't my style. I hate to lie!
So I just had to tell you, even if I have to go back," Dory finished.
"Well... this is a shock," Sandy said
slowly, "but I don't think we are going to send you back to Faerieland."
"You're not?" Dory, Jamie and Jessie asked.
"No," Sandy said. "If you want, we'll
send you to the pound..."
"No! Mum! You can't do this to Dory!"
Jamie cried.
"I agree!" Jessie said. "Can't we keep
her, mum? PLEASE!"
Sandy smiled. "I was going to say if she
wants we can send her to the pound or if she doesn't want that... well, she
can stay with us. I don't mind a new pet myself."
"You mean it?" Dory looked absolutely
trilled. She threw her arms around Sandy to give her a hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"On two conditions," Sandy said.
Dory joined Jamie and Jessie who were
dancing around Sandy. "Anything," she sang, "as long as I don't have to go back."
"Okay," Sandy counted off her fingers,
"number one, we'll call you Dory from now on."
"Okay," Dory nodded. "I like that better
than Cyan, anyway."
"And two," Sandy continued, "you'll remain
a purple Kacheek."
"Okay! I promise!" Dory agreed.
Sandy smiled happily, picked Dory up and
twirled her around before scooping Jamie and Jessie up too and hugging them.
Dory laughed in delight, the smile lighting
up her face was a good sign that as the new addition to the family, she was
going to bring lots more joy and happiness in the days to come.
The End
Author's note: Thanks to all the people who Neomailed me saying you loved
my first story: The Perfect Gift! Hope you'll like this story! And Dory, my
new character as well! Tell me what you think! Thanks!
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