Anna the Uni, ghost painted from Halloween, took a gift
from her mothers hands. It was wrapped in shiny rainbow paper. “Thanks Mom,” she
said happily as she tore the paper slowly.
“Happy birthday, Anna. I hope you like your
gift,” her mom replied.
“Wow… a box full of Neopoints. But what are
they for?”
“For anything you’d like to buy, honey. There
are 200,000 Neopoints in all. A lot of work was put into that box.”
“Thanks again, Mom. I’m sure I’ll find something
to do with them all,” she said unsure of herself.
“Oh, Anna, don’t forget this one,” her mother
squealed with excitement. With this, a spotted paint brush was placed in front
of her. “I thought you’d like to get back to normal before school. Better hurry!”
Anna smiled and ran up the stairs to her bedroom.
“Spotted, huh?” Anna threw herself on her bed
and smiled once more. “At least I’m not going to be mutant again. No more playing
with the Lab Ray for me,” she giggled.
Anna sat up and got her school supplies together.
“I’ll leave early so I can go to the Rainbow Pool,” she thought. “I have a great
feeling that today is going to be great.”
And everything was great until…
Anna returned from Neoschool with an armful
of gifts. She walked up to her door with a smile on her face until she read
a note left on her front door. “Bring the NP’s and meet me at the Petpet Puddle,”
she read to herself quickly. Her smile quickly faded into a frown and she dropped
her gifts and looked at the paper. The note had been written in red… it didn’t
look like pencil or crayon not even marker, but red…like blood.
Frightened, Anna turned around and began to
run towards the Adoption Center. She knew Elana could help her. When she got
there, she slammed open the doors and ran as fast as she could up the stairs
to where Elana usually slept. But instead of finding Elana, she found
a stripped bed.
Anna’s eyes widened and she began to cry. She
ran back down the stairs and asked random abandoned pets where Elana was. After
what seemed like forever, someone replied in more than a shrug. “She was adopted
when she came home from Neoschool,” answered a yellow Chia will large glasses
and wild hair.
“Adopted?” Anna whispered. The Chia nodded and
waddled off.
****
Anna arrived home, stepped over her gifts, and went inside and up to her bedroom.
Her mom was probably getting groceries and earning Neopoints so she wouldn’t
be home for a while. Anna pulled open a drawer where she had safely placed her
gift of Neopoints. “Why did I have to get this? The Paint brush was great but
both was too much,” Anna sighed.
Suddenly, Anna jumped up and ran outside where
she had left her gifts. She tore through all of the wrapping paper and found
what she was looking for. “Ah-ha!” she exclaimed. ”Thank you E—,” she stopped.
She realized that her best friend was gone. She looked at the gift Elana had
gotten her, a detective kit. Well, at least you told me what it was,
she thought sadly.
Anna’s face had a sudden smile on it and she
jumped into the air. “You’re absolutely brilliant, Elana! Brilliant! You knew
you were getting adopted so you bought me a kit to find you. But I have another
mystery to solve first.”
She opened the kit and pulled out the contents
one by one. “Binoculars, magnifying glass, fingerprinting set, a notepad, newspaper,
a hat, and an overcoat,” she mumbled. She pulled on the overcoat and put on
her hat, both tan in color, then filled the large pockets on both sides with
the other detective items. “I’m all set,” she said weakly.
Anna took in a deep breath and began searching
for clues. She ripped the note of the door and inspected it. “Very odd,” she
mumbled. She pulled the fingerprinting set from her pocket and dusted the paper.
“Human fingerprints, I see,” she said cheerfully. Anna pulled out her notepad
and began to write down what she had discovered. But what is this red substance,
she thought. Hmm…I can’t figure it out. I’ll wait until later.
Anna turned around and pushed her head to the
ground so close that her nose was touching and viewed through the magnifying
glass. “Footprints! Yes! And they’re human shoes so that supports my theory.”
She followed them down the sidewalk but they ended as soon as she got to the
main road. Anna sighed and turned around. She studied the prints some more and
looked at the note. “Maybe if I go to the Petpet Puddle I’ll be able to see
the person who is doing this.” She ran into her house, up the stairs, into her
bedroom where she grabbed her box of Neopoints, ran back down the stairs, and
out the door. “Phew!”
Anna happily totted down the street as she made
her way to Neopia Central. When she got to the outside of it, she pulled out
her binoculars and pushed them up to her eyes. She focused them into the Rainbow
Pool and looked around. She saw some human figures and some pets but they were
too far away to tell who the suspects were.
“Anna?” Anna looked up and found Elana staring
at her with an eyebrow raised. “May I ask what you’re doing?”
Anna didn’t think. She just grabbed Elana and
gave her a humongous hug. “You were adopted! That is so great. But what are
you doing here?”
Elana smiled and explained, “I was just going
to the food shop for a burger when I saw you. I thought it would take you much
longer to find me.”
“Oh, I wasn’t looking for you. I was going to,
but only after I solved this mystery.”
Elana laughed and looked at her. “You’re actually
using that detective kit? It was a gag gift. I thought you’d ask the Adoption
Center’s caretaker where I was.” She shook her head and giggled.
Anna frowned and looked at her feet. “It’s actually
helping solve my mystery, Anna. I’m glad you gave it to me.”
“It has?” Elana shrugged. “Well I’m glad. What
exactly are you looking for anyway? You know, you look pretty ridiculous wearing
that.”
Anna blushed and told Elana about the gift from
her mother, the note, the fingerprints, and everything else. “You see, I just
want to solve this so I can see who this weirdo is that is after my Neopoints.
My mom worked hard to get them so I want to keep them.”
Elana nodded. “I understand. Aren’t you going
to ask me about the adoption?”
“Oh… I completely forgot. So, who is the lucky
mother and how do you like her?”
Elana giggled. “First of all it isn’t a lucky
mother. I have a new father and his name is Daddy. He is very
nice to me and bought me knew things for a bedroom in our Neohome. I have a
brother named Cameron, too. He is a baby.”
Anna smiled. “Baby, huh? Sounds like someone
I used to know!”
Elana, now a shadow Uni, examined herself. “Well,
he looks much better as a baby. Cameron is a baby Kougra. Very adorable.”
“Ah. I see. Well, I have to solve this mystery
before my mom gets home. I’ve already spent about one and a half hours on this
case. Mom may be home and worried. Want to come with me as I enter the Rainbow
Pool?” Elana nodded and they ventured in. There were pets splashing in the pool
and having fun. A bright orange ixi danced through the water as a striped Shoyru
laid back, relaxing.
As the pair approached the Petpet Puddle, Anna
pulled out the newspaper. Elana burst out laughing and fell to the ground. “Shh!
I have to have a discuise, you know.” Elana stood up and stared at her friend
as they walked on.
They sat down on a bench and Anna peered over
her newspaper, looking through crowds of freshly painted petpets. She didn’t
see anything suspicious so she sat still and waited. She kept her eyes wide
open and searched until something caught her eye. There was a woman in blue
pants and a light purple shirt. Something seemed oddly familiar…
“Mom?” Elana, who had dozed off, jumped up and
rubbed her sleepy eyes. “Mom, is that you?” The woman turned around and smiled
weakly.
“Hi Anna, Elana. I have been waiting here all
afternoon for you, young lady. Where have you been?” Anna saw a bit of anger
in her mother’s eyes and stuttered as she tried to speak.
“Someone is after my Neopoints, Mom. I was trying
to find out who but I couldn’t do it. And the person that is after them is here
right now.”
A smile broke out on her mom’s face and the
anger in her eyes went away. “Honey, it was me who wanted you to bring your
Neopoints here. I thought you’d like to own a petpet and get it painted special.
You didn’t seem to know what you wanted this morning.”
Anna’s eyes widened, as they seemed to do frequently
these days, and she raised an eyebrow. “Well, what was that red stuff on the
paper? It looked like blood to me.”
“Oh yes, Anna, it was my blood,” he mom said
sarcastically. “My goodness, it was just red lipstick. You know, we don’t have
a pen or pencil in the house? You take all of them to school with you ever morning.”
Anna and Elana both giggled. “Sorry about that,”
whispered Anna. “I feel like such an idiot now.”
“Don’t,” Elana stepped in, “wearing that costume
should make you feel like an idiot enough!” Elana burst out laughing again and
fell off the bench holding her side. Anna rose from the bench, smiled, and walked
from the bench.
“What kind of petpet should I get?” she asked
her mom as the walked off.
“I guess that will be another mystery, now won’t
it Anna?”
“Guess so.” Her mom laughed and gently said,
“Happy birthday,” one more time.
The End
Author’s note: Please, for your sake, don’t ever wear a
long, tan overcoat and hat. Oh, and before I forget, don’t jump to conclusions
either!
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