|
Elana, a baby Uni, jumped up in her bed startled by a nightmare
she couldn’t seem to remember. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the foot of her
bed. “Oh… hi Anna,” she said sleepily.
Anna stood up and smiled. “Hi Elana. Did I wake
you up?” Elana shook her head and got out of her bed.
“I’m really hungry,” she moaned. “I’m going
to the cafeteria to wait for breakfast.” The baby Uni went to a vanity she shared
with another pet and pulled out a pale blue sweater. She struggled to get it
over her head and fell when she finally did.
“Oomph!” Elana stood and looked into the vanity.
“I hate being this stupid baby!” she shouted turning heads in the adoption center.
Elana blushed and sat down. “It is a curse I tell you. A curse!”
“You’re adorable, Elana,” Anna reassured.
“That’s just it. I don’t want to be adorable.
It is almost Halloween. I want to be scary. And if I can’t be scary then I want
to be… I want to be… anything but baby!” Elana rose from the vanity chair
and walked to the door. “I need to eat. My stomach feels like diced peppers,”
she laughed.
“Okay, I’ll sit there with you. You know what,
Elana? I don’t want to be pretty for Halloween. I want to be scary, too. Like
you said, it is Halloween.” Elana smiled at her spotted friend who was also
an Uni and they walked down to the cafeteria together.
When the two reached the cafeteria it was already
filled with other abandoned pets. “So much for getting here and waiting for
the food,” Anna giggled. Elana and Anna wandered around be did find two seats
side by side they could sit at.
As Elana helped herself to the food she overheard
another pet talking.
“…And all you have to do is find an evil negg
somewhere in the Haunted Woods. Then you return it to someone and get a prize.”
“What are the prizes?”
“I heard that you could receive a Darigan, Mutant,
Shadow, Ghost, or even a Halloween Paint Brush.”
“And it starts at noon?”
“Yeah, sure does. Wish I could go. The Halloween
Hunt would be so much fun to participate in.”
Elana fiercely shoveled food into her mouth
as the others stared. “Uh, Elana,” asked Anna, “are you feeling okay?” Elana
nodded and continued to eat. She finished moments later and gestured with her
head for Anna to follow.
“I have the greatest news!” she exclaimed. “I
have a chance to be painted again!” Elana jumped up and down excitedly.
Anna looked at her feet. “I was just going to
ask my mom for a ghost paint brush… for both of us,” she whispered.
Elana looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
“I don’t want to use one your mom gets. I would feel like a burden on your family.
I want to earn it myself. Besides, it would make getting it ten times better!”
Surprisingly, Elana smiled and squealed, “We’ll
have everyone fooled! No one would be able to tell who we are. This will be
so much fun! But I’ll need you to cover for me when I go. Just tell an adult
I’m going to your NeoHome. Will you?”
Anna frowned but agreed to help. She walked
down to an adult and told her what they had planned and they both went outside.
“Okay, Anna. Wish me luck! I will see you when
I return from the Haunted Woods.”
“Good luck,” Anna said weakly.
Elana arrived in the Haunted Woods with about
a half an hour to spare. As she signed up for the Halloween Hunt she got the
strangest feeling that she was being watched. As she turned to walk away she
came face-to-face with a baby Bruce holding eye candy. “Purty!” the baby Bruce
screamed. Elana stomped away mumbling something about not wanting to be “purty.”
Elana walked around happily taking in as much
of the festivities excitement as she could get. She smelled pumpkin pies and
peanut butter spiders being made as the leaves danced happily around her.
Finally, the race contestants were called to
the start line. As she took her place she looked down the row of pets. She saw
three Skeiths, 1 Draik, 2 Meercas, 4 Aishas, 7 Tonus, and 1 ixi.
Elana pulled her head up high, forcing all of
the pride she had inside out of her.
An old blue Techo with a walking stick stood
to the right of the start line. He looked weak but his voice was strong as ever.
“The object is to hunt around the Haunted Woods and find an Evil Negg. There
will be a sticker on each one found with a number. They are 1, 2, 3, 4, and
5. Each sticker represents a prize. The negg with sticker number 5 has the prize
of a Shadow Paint Brush, 4 has the prize of a Ghost Paint Brush, 3 has the prize
of a Darigan Paint Brush, 2 has the prize of a Mutant Paint Brush, and 1 has
the grand prize of a Halloween Paint Brush. Whoever gets the neggs gets a prize.
On the count of three the Halloween Hunt will begin. Good luck.”
Tension built up inside of Elana as the Techo
called the number three. She took a deep breath as he called two. She looked
at the other contestant once more and the number one was called. She let out
the breath she had taken and kicked off the ground. Her wings fluttered with
ferocity and she was off!
Elana flew about 10 feet away from the ground
searching for one of the neggs. Her eyes grew wide and she dived down to retrieve
her findings, but a Skeith grabbed it a split second before her. “Number 4!”
the Skeith shouted happily.
“Great,” mumbled Elana sarcastically. She picked
herself up off of the ground again and flew over the Haunted Woods some more.
She didn’t see anything for quite some time but did hear the happy cries of
pets that found two of the neggs. “I have number 3,” one shouted and “I found
number one,” screamed another.
Elana’s hopes lowered with each negg found.
Suddenly, she saw a black, shiny item hidden in a bush. She lowered herself
to the ground and trotted as fast as her little hooves could take her to the
item. She grabbed it and squealed. It was an Evil Negg with the number 5 on
it. “I have number 5! I have number 5! I did it! I found a negg!” Elana trampled
all over the bush in her happiness and even ruined the home of a runaway petpet.
Elana happily trotted to retrieve her prize.
A Shadow Paint Brush with an orange ribbon tied around it. “Wow,” she sighed.
On Halloween night Elana and Anna were to meet
at the Rainbow Pool. Anna’s mom had gotten her the Ghost Paint Brush she had
asked for, and Elana held her Shadow Paint Brush happily. They both went to
Rainbow Pool and brought their brushes.
“Wow, Elana. That paint brush is terrific!”
“Not as scary as yours and not the one I hoped
I would get, but hey, I got one. At least I won’t be baby for Halloween!”
Anna pulled out her Ghost Paint Brush and they
painted themselves at the same time. Quickly, they both ran to the mirror.
“We look great! And you, Elana, are definitely
not adorable.” Anna smiled and sat down on her bed.
“And you’re not pretty,” Elana laughed. Anna
made a face at Elana and they both giggled. “Well Anna, lets get out of here
and go trick-or-treating!” Elana and Anna picked up their bags and walked out
of the door with smiles on their faces.
The End
Author’s Note: From this story I hope you learned that you should work
hard for everything you get. Sometimes you may get the chance to take
something you want but it can backfire. My advice is to make goals and never
give up!
| 
