Odd-Job Shelly: Part Two by battlesunn |  |
Untitled Document
Shelly padded softly down Neopia Avenue, new resolution
burning in her heart. Obviously, it was quite a drag to have to go out in Neopia
and make seven thousand fast Neopoints, but Shelly could cope. The Gelert had
a plan, a great plan. She knew exactly how to get money, fast. She had read
an article in The Neopian Times a while ago about gallery owners, and how hard
they had it, what with people threatening to report them to the authorities
for having such high prices. Shelly was certain that any gallery owner would
be ecstatic to have a young, intelligent Gelert manning their shop.
Shelly turned a corner and saw a huge bulletin
board, packed to the bursting with announcements and ads. After scanning the
board for a few minutes, the Gelert found what she was looking for. A large
grin stretched across her shadowed maw as she read the advert out loud.
"Responsible, patient pet wanted. High stats
preferred. Must be able to push shiny metal buttons. If interested, come to
3345 west eighth avenue, shop number 765455."
Shelly chuckled, her eyes sparkling. "This sounds
like the perfect job for me! I'm intelligent, patient, pretty strong and I just
happen to have a Master's Degree from the Royal Neopian College in button pushing!"
The smile disappeared from her face, only to be replaced with a look of utmost
confusion. "I wonder why the word 'patient' was capitalized, bold, and surrounded
by little stars and arrows pointing in its direction... hmm, how puzzling. Well,
anyway, I'd better get going if I want to snag the job..."
Shelly tore the ad from the board and, after
repeating the address number in her head a few thousand times, galloped over
towards the store, excitement building in her chest. She grinned when she caught
sight of the huge store, which stood easily five meters above the others on
the block. Shelly trotted cheerfully into the shop; the advertisement still
clenched in her jaws. She rang a little bell on the large cashier’s desk, and
waited.
A few seconds later, a flustered looking Grarrl
came rushing out of the back room. He caught sight of Shelly, leaning casually
against the desk, and smiled toothily, stomping over to her and shaking her
paw firmly.
"Ah! Hello there!" He caught sigh of the ad
clamped tightly in Shelly’s jaws. "You’ll forgive me if I jump to the conclusion
that you’re interested in the job?" the Grarrl continued.
Shelly, momentarily startled by the giddy storeowner,
merely nodded dumbly before she found her voice. "Er, yes. That assumption would
be correct. Is the position still free?" she asked, nervously eyeing the many,
many merchandise filled shelved that lined the walls of the shop. The Grarrl
chuckled.
"Of course it’s still free. Nobody wanted the
position, of course. I was afraid that I would never get to go on a lunch break!"
He noticed Shelly’s puzzled expression, so he cleared his throat and adopted
a business-like manner.
"Anyway, all you have to do is sit behind the
desk and make sure that no one steals anything."
"Is that all?" Shelly asked, cocking her head.
"If nobody else wanted the job, then I would’ve figured that it was something
horrible!"
The Grarrl fidgeted nervously, "Well… sometimes
it can be difficult to own a gallery. You see, the customers tend to be a bit,
erm, abrasive. Anyway, I’m sure that a Gelert of your high statistics should
have no problem. I’ll be at the park, eating a hotdog, if there’s any serious
problems. But otherwise, don’t bother me. Anyway, I’ll be back in eighty minutes
or so, and then you can have your pay." He then added, in a dark afterthought,
"If you survive, of course…"
Without further explanation, the Grarrl nodded
once more at Shelly, and lumbered out the door, pulling on his coat and hat
as he went. Shelly sighed, and seated herself in the revolving plush chair that
sat behind the desk. There were no customers yet, so the Gelert decided to check
out her surroundings.
It certainly was an impressive gallery. The Grarrl
owned just about every Petpet, every plushie, every paint brush, every Usuki,
and every Battledome item… Shelly caught sight of a flickering snow flame sitting
in the corner. Maybe she could get her salary paid in items…
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging
sound as the door of the shop flew open and hundreds of pets came filtering
in, breaking off to go look at the many items in the gallery. Shelly glared
at each one in turn as they passed, just so that they were sure that she meant
business.
Everything was quiet for awhile, and Shelly was
just looking out over the pets, making sure that they kept their paws off the
merchandise. Suddenly, something jabbed the Gelert in her side. Shelly gave
a yelp of pain and immediately snapped her head down to see what had poked her.
It was a Kougra, blue in color, and he was holding a panicky Moltenore in his
outstretched paws. Shelly cracked her knuckles and gritted her fangs. It looked
as though her job had just started…
To be continued...
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