My story is probably the most typical. Who wants a boring blue Zafara with
a dumb name when you have money for something else? My owner tried to retain
a shred of decency though, but I'm afraid I took that from him. In this case,
my owner was not the cruel evil owner who abandoned his pet, rather, I was the
cruel and evil one.
I don't really remember how I came to be with my first
family. I just know I did. My owner, Tim_Fire_Wizard, brought me home one day,
with the name Tif495. He was new, and didn't really think that name was necessarily
bad. But eventually he grew to dislike it as he got new pets, with better names.
I hated my name also, and for some reason, detested the other pets because they
had prettier names than me. I became a loner, kept to myself, and was not very
nice to my siblings. I was the troubled one in the family.
The other pets were painted. I was not. Tim_Fire_Wizard
claimed it was because he didn't like any of the colours he could paint me to,
which was probably true, he was very picky, but I took it a little deeper. In
my bitter mind, I believed he just didn't want to waste the money on me, and
thought that he was just making excuses for not painting a pet he didn't love.
We were always treated equally. He bought us
all the same number of books, toys, etc. Our rooms were about the same, and
we all had petpets. But for some reason I tallied up in my head how much he
spent on the others, and how much on me. And in my eyes, he spent more on them
than me. Now that I look back, I was being greedy and selfish, and reading things
that weren't there. Sure, my sister may of had a more expensive petpet, but
I totally ignored the fact he gave me one more book than her. As hard as he
tried to be fair, I found ways to make him seem like he was treating the other
pets better. And I think he realised that was what I believed, and it hurt him.
My siblings noticed too. They were resentful
of my jealous behaviour, and tried to avoid me. Anytime they did try to be pleasant,
I acted very spiteful towards them. So they learned to just not talk to me.
I think Tim_Fire_Wizard was very tired of my behaviour, and the arrival of the
Krawks only helped to widen the gulf between us.
"You want one, don't you?" I accused one day
as he sat reading The Neopian Times, with an article about the new pets.
"Who doesn't?" he replied. "But I already have
four pets."
"You could still get one," I muttered. "Just
abandon a pet you don't like."
"I'd never do that," he said calmly, ignoring
my implications that he'd abandon me first.
"Whatever."
I stalked off, shooting my brother a dirty look.
'He'd never abandon you,' I thought savagely to myself.
The days passed and all these new Krawk colours
came out. Eventually we found out about the fire Krawk.
"Oh wow," Tim_Fire_Wizard murmured when he saw
the picture.
"If you like fire, why don't you paint me that
colour?" I demanded.
"I don't like the fire Zafara, I've told you
that before, Tif," he explained. "It shouldn't be gray, but black…"
"Yeah, I understand. Fire paint brushes are
too expensive."
"For crying out loud Tif, give it a rest!" my
sister cried out in exasperation.
"Yeah Tif…. You do pick on Tim a lot," my brother
added.
"Oh? Sure, stick up for him. After all, we all
know he loves you two best."
And I stormed up to my room.
Tim_Fire_Wizard eventually came up after me,
taking a seat on the edge of my bed. I merely sat on the window sill, staring
out, seething with jealous hatred.
"Tif, I don't understand what's wrong," he started.
"You love them best," I muttered.
"No, I don't. I love you all, and you know I
try to treat you all fairly."
"I don't believe that," I lashed out. "You always
buy them the more expensive toys and books, and they're painted and I'm not."
"If being painted means so much to you, then
tell me what colour you like and I'll buy the brush!" he finally said, worn
down by my constant nagging.
"No, cause whatever I choose you wouldn't like,"
I sneered.
"Tif, please, you're tearing the family apart.
Can you please stop being so jealous all the time?"
"Go away."
"Tif," he pleaded, but I turned my back to him
and ignored any attempt he made to reason with me.
The next morning I sought him out, holding the
ownership file he had for me.
"Why don't you get yourself a Krawk?" I asked,
handing him the file.
He stared at it for a long time, than sighed
and laid it on the counter.
"No Tif. I swore I'd never abandon any of my
pets."
"What if I didn't want to be here?" I demanded.
At that point, I wasn't really thinking rationally.
I'd allowed my envy and hatred and bitterness get a hold of me, and all I wanted
to do was hurt Tim as much as possible. And I thought that by making him abandon
me, I'd show them all how he didn't like me. I was out to prove a point, but
I never thought he'd actually do it.
"Fine then," he snapped, and picked up the form,
and walked out the door.
I followed, anger fueling me. I could of said
no at any point, and he'd of relented and taken me home. I could have been painted,
I could have been happy with a loving family. But for some reason I chose to
throw it all away. All because I thought he loved them more.
I stood there in stony silence while he filled
out the abandonment form. I could tell he hated what he was doing, but I didn't
say anything. Not until he handed Dr_Death the form and it was final did I
speak.
"I hope you're happy now," I said acidly, following
the Techo towards the back. "Go get yourself that Krawk you want so badly. Now
that you're done with this worthless pet you can be happy."
He seemed to be about to speak, but then quickly
turned and headed for the door.
"I never loved you," I yelled at his repeating
back.
And I thought I heard him reply. But it was so
soft, I can never be sure. But I think he said this:
"And I always loved you, Tif495."
My first week at the pound I merely sat and raged
at the unfairness of life. I was cruel to the other pets, laughing at them when
they were upset, and attacking them if Dr_Death paired them up in my cage. Eventually
he knew better than to put anyone in with me. But the weeks passed, and my bitterness
eventually faded. Finally, the full realisation of my actions sunk in. And for
the first time ever, I cried all night. Tim_Fire_Wizard was gone from me, and
I had treated him so badly, when he only tried to show he did indeed love me.
I'd hurt him, all right, but now, I regretted it more than anything. But what
was done was done. And for me, I had nothing left. I'd thrown everything away
out of spite. It would take a miracle to change my situation, so wrapped up
with self-loathing I was. And a miracle did come, in the most unlikely person.
The End | 
