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x3Sunnyx3’s electric Kacheek eyes darted to the direction
of the window, where a bright moon shimmered in his hazel eyes. Stars reflected
as well on the smudged glass, the window has a white rim around it, which had
a navy blue curtain hanging by it. His drowsy head nodded, about to doze off.
"SUNNY! It’s family time!" Les (l3estest) boomed
from the living room. Sunny pulled his eyelids open with great difficulty. He
stood up unstably from his Dr. Sloth bed. Sunny’s eyes scanned across his disheveled
room, which was filled with plushies, toy cars, yarn balls, stolen Usukis, CDs,
broken CDs, and everything else you would expect a hyper little boy to have.
Since his room was no different from the local dump, his family had grown to
avoid heading this direction.
Sunny tried to walk on his legs, yet ended up
wobbling back and forth. He despised family time mainly because all they ever
do was talk about what happened that week, read a story from the shelf, or scan
through the photo album.
But as soon as Sunny saw the welcoming fire burning
in the lustrous fireplace, his mind changed immediately. The living room looked
cozier than it had for months. Three Neopets squeezed together on the green
sofa with a Space Faerie blanket over them. A Chinese girl sat in between all
the others with a huge dark green leather-bound book in between her laps.
"Come on and join us, Sunny!" x3Sunshinex3 the
baby Kau urged. She sat at the edge of the couch with her Christmas Uni Plushie
in her hooves. The only parts you can see of Sunshine are her head and her arms.
The only part you can see of Cutiebabypup was his pair of rainbow Gelert ears,
the rest were buried under the warm covers. __Melodyz__ settled herself to the
other side of Les with a box of cosmetics on her lap. The Faerie Ixi occupied
herself to a row of different colored lipstick. She had a Black Mirror held
out in front of her.
"Are we looking through the photo albums, AGAIN?!?"
Sunny asked, squishing himself by Sunshine, who looked less than happy with
his company.
"Yes, we are. This is only our eleventh time!"
Les said as she flipped open to the first page.
Sunny groaned. Here we go again... Les is
going to tear up for the eleventh time... he thought.
"Aw, look! It’s Sunny as a baby! Look! He’s
sucking a little wittle bottle! With... dancing Snorkles! Awwww," Melodyz cooed
as Sunny gave her the worst look he could make up. "He’s so wittle bittle and
afwaid of monsters! Who’d ever thought he would become one himself?"
"HEY! There’s a baby picture of you, too, Melodyz!
LOOK!" Pup eagerly pointed out with his paw. "And you’re wearing undies on your
head!"
Melodyz grew red. "They’re called ‘underwear’,
stupid!" Was the best comeback she could think of at the moment. Sunny was quite
amused at the comeback, for he stifled a small giggle. Fortunately, Melodyz
sat on the other side and didn’t hear Sunny, or there would be war at 353800
Neopia Avenue, Neopia Central.
"Melodyz, you can’t hide the truth, when you
were young you wore undies on your head, and that’s a fact," Sunny said. Melodyz
jaws dropped open. Sunny smiled villainously.
Les sighed. "When you guys were young, you got
along so well! Now the two of you are like enemies..." She flipped through a
few more pages of the thick book.
"Why are there no baby pictures of me?" Pup
asked, as his little rainbow head popped out from beneath the covers. "We looked
through the whole book and I didn’t see one picture of me as a baby! Was I ever
a baby? NO!!! I WASN’T BORN LIKE THIS, RIGHT?!?!"
"No, Pup. Everyone was a baby once in their
lifetime. I adopted you from the pound when you were almost full grown, that’s
why I don’t have any pictures of you as a baby... but I do have a photo of you
the day I got you..." Les added the last part after she saw the frown on Pup’s
face. "Wait, there seem to be a page stuck between here..."
Sunny’s weary face lit up. Finally! A page
we’ve never seen before! He leaned over Sunshine and Pup to get full glimpse
of the pages. On one side was filled with pictures of Pup. The other side was
of pictures of Sunny meeting Pup, but in between was another page. A mysterious
page.
"Oh, I think we can wait until tomorrow to open
it!" Les teased, her four Neopets jumped up from the couch.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! You have to open it today!
I WANNA KNOW WHAT’S INSIDE!" Sunny was first to scream.
"YEAH! IT COULD BE BABY PICTURES OF ME!" Pup
cried.
"Pup, like I said, it can’t be pictures of you
because I got didn’t get you as a baby," Les glanced at Pup, whose face had
turned from cheerful Gelert to King Skarl. She petted Pup gently on the head.
"Come on, Les! Even I want to see what’s inside!"
Melodyz pointed at herself with her hoof. "Please?"
"Please, please, please! Please with a cherry
on top? OH! And some whip cream and... STRAWBERRIES!" Pup exclaimed, using his
voice louder then he had for years.
"Yeah, please?" Sunshine’s shy voice squeaked.
"Ah, I see. Everyone here wants to know? Okay...
let’s see... okay. I have an idea," Les started. Her four Neopets’ eyes grew
big. Sunny scrambled out of the blanket and sat in front of Les, just so he
would hear Les better. "Whoever, from this household, could somehow unstick
the two pages together first without ripping, crunching, or somehow hurting
the page, gets 1000 Neopoints AND the first one to find out what’s beyond the
page. For my information, this album is over three hundred years old. Thus there
might be something extraordinary in it. You may pair up with no more than one
partner, but you will each get only 500 Neopoints. This contest starts tomorrow
morning, AFTER I wake up. Sound fair? Good. You may pick your partner right
now."
Sunny felt a sudden tug on his ears. He whirled
around only to find that Pup was the one tugging.
"Wanna be partners with me?" Pup whispered in
Sunny’s ears. Do I really want Pup to be my partner? After all, he’s the
most forgetful one of the family! Sunny thought. "Please??"
"Uhhhh, yeah. Sure," Sunny answered, knowing
that he was going to regret his decision soon enough. Sunny glanced over at
Melodyz and Sunshine, who had grabbed each other’s hooves at the mention of
partners. Sunny inhaled a large yawn.
"Ah, looks like someone’s tired. It’s time to
go to bed, everyone!" Les kissed each of her Neopets on the forehead as they
wandered off through the hallway. "Good night, sweet dreams..."
* * *
Sunny awoke the next morning with a brief bit of memory of what happened last
night stored in his brain. He managed to pull himself out of the warm covers.
The sun shone brightly in his eyes as he struggled to find what time it was.
He pulled the navy curtains shut. Sunny liked the sun, but today’s sun was just
a wee bit too bright for his small eyes.
"LES IS AWAKE!!! SUNNY! WAKE UP! LES IS AWAKE!"
Pup’s voice announced as he bounced toward Sunny’s bedroom. "Sunny! Les is awake!"
"Pup! Shhhhh..." Sunny whispered. HE was usually
the loud one of the house, thus he was pretty surprised that he was telling
someone to be quiet. "You don’t need to broadcast it to the Neopia! Plus, Melodyz
and Sunshine are probably already there!"
"Noooooo! Melodyz is still asleep!"
"Not anymore!"
"Ah... yeah..." Pup’s eyes wandered to the direction
of the door. "We might actually get there before them! Let’s go!"
The two Neopets bounded toward the living room,
where a mystery was about to be uncovered.
Sunny was first to grab the book. He was extremely
grateful that Melodyz and Sunshine wasn’t there. Pup and Sunny sunk into the
soft, snug sofa with the thick album on their laps. The cushy pillows made it
even more comfortable than it already was. Pup flipped through the photos until
they struck the stuck pages.
"I have an idea… how about if we use a sheet
of paper? Like to cut it!" Pup suggest, his paws grasping his English test paper.
"Paper cutting glue!"
"Um, Pup, paper is not strong enough..." Sunny
sighed. Moments later, is eyes lit up. "But cardboard might be!"
Sunny jumped off of the couch and dashed for
his room. He was determined that cardboard would do the trick, he would solve
the mystery, discover something historical. He ran into his room, which was
filled with cardboard shreds ripped up by his petpet, Joe the Christmas Baby
Blu. He dug around in his room, heaving toys away as he shoveled. As he approached
the window, he found his long lost journal, which contained his deliberation
on the first few days he lived with Les. Les gave it to him the first day he
arrived at the house. She said that it was antique and he should take care of
it. He was very eager to read the old journal so he lifted the old book up enthusiastically.
The electric Kacheek did not notice the cardboard beneath it. Sunny flipped
open the diary.
Five minutes later...
Sunny flipped through the pages happily, or until he encountered an exact replica
of yesterday’s interesting episode. He nearly fainted at the sight of the stuck
pages. What in the Neopia is happening? All these antiques suddenly have
mysteries to them? He wondered.
"HURRY UP! MELODYZ IS UP!" Pup screamed from
the living room. Sunny’s mind traveled back to reality. He dropped the light
blue journal on his pillow. His legs was about to leave the room when his eyes
wandered to the direction of the blank cardboard. He immediately picked it up.
Sunny rushed out of his untidy bedroom.
"PUP! I FOUND ONE!" he cried as Pup’s presence
appeared in his view. He held the cardboard high in the air, blabbering on and
on about how he had found it as well as his journal.
"Okay, let us try it!" Sunny insinuated, pointing
at the album with his paws.
Pup snatched the cardboard from him, then instantly
began sawing. His paws firmly grasp the cardboard. Pup had determination in
his eyes. He tried so hard that sweat drops tripled down his nose. "It’s not
going to work..."
Sunny stared down at the album in disappointment.
Pup’s expression was pretty much the same. He was not only frustrated; he was
also dejected that his idea didn’t work. His head stared at the album as his
legs stamped around on the ground.
There was silence for a few minutes as neither
spoke. Sunny was thinking hard about what to do to split the two pages without
ripping it. Pup was doing the same thing.
"How about we just rip it?" Sunny implied. "Oh
well if we rip the pages... at least we’ll know what’s inside..."
Pup nodded in agreement. "YEAH! Let’s do that!"
"Well, I think I should do it..." Sunny said
as his paws started splitting the pages. Pup watched closely, Sunny could feel
his breath behind him. Then Pup nearly deafened him when he gave an immensely
loud gasp.
"I KNOW WHAT THAT IS!" Pup roared on top of
his lungs. "I KNOW WHAT IT IS!"
Just that second, as if meant to be, Melodyz
and Sunshine appeared in the living room. Their face was surprised, yet they
looked delighted.
"What is it?!?!" Melodyz questioned, eyes growing
wider. "Tell us!"
"It’s--it’s--my--- long lost---" Pup started.
The other three stared at him.
"Long lost???" Sunshine said in between the
pause Pup gave them.
"Secret code to all the toys in the toy shop??"
Sunny wondered out loud.
"Key to Usuki world?" Melodyz said, brainstorming
what Usukiland would look like.
"It’s my... my..." Pup paused some more, causing
the others to groan once more. "GLUE GALLERY!"
There was silence...
"GLUE GALLERY?!?! WHY IN THE NAME OF SNOWFLAKE
WOULD YOU HAVE A GLUE GALLERY?!?! WHY WOULD IT BE IN THE PHOTO ALBUM?! WHY ARE
YOU SO DUMB?!?!?!" Melodyz broke the silence with a loud scream.
"I did it on the first day I got here..." Pup
answered quite sheepishly, his eyes darted from the ground to the wall, avoiding
the eye contacts that his siblings were giving him. "I don’t remember!"
Sunny stood there, expecting something amazing
to be in that ancient photo album. He nearly fainted at the mention of a glue
gallery. Why in the Neopia would someone have a glue gallery?!?! It’s not logical.
But, as most people know, Pup is not a very logical Gelert.
Sunshine sighed. She seemed to be holding her
breath the whole time. That was not the ending she expected the contest to conclude.
"Wait, I remember that I did another glue gallery...
where is that?" Pup asked. "Oh, I remembered... it was in Sunny’s journal...
oh."
Sunny had given him the worst possible look that
a Kacheek can possibly give a Gelert. His head filled with flames of fury, his
hands clutched tight. He was about to pounce on his younger brother when Les
appeared.
"Hey everyone! Did ya solve the mystery yet?
I’m glad to see you all working together at last..."Les looked around at each
of her Neopets. Almost all of them looked like they were about to faint. All
but Pup, of course. "Are you okay?"
"It’s my glue gallery..." Pup said, his body
squirming around.
"Glue gallery? All this time it was your glue
gallery?!" Her lips curved into a large grin. "Pup, great job fooling everyone!"
"Thanks, Les."
Les looked around the room. The other Neopets
did not seem amused at all.
"Well, for working together, I will reward you
all with 500 Neopoints. Happy now?" Les scratched her head, hoping that the
Neopoints would cheer up everyone.
It did.
Sunny bounced up immediately. "HURRAY!"
The others each yelled out their shouts of joy.
* * *
"Hurry, Les! It’s cold outside!" Melodyz cried
as the four Neopets and the owner stood in front of the front door, Les struggling
with the keys.
"Yeah, I wanna show Sunny my surprise for him!"
Pup said as he nudged Les on the ribs for the sixtieth time that night. "You’ll
like it, Sunny!"
The cold night air surrounded them. The full
moon above Neopia Central smiled at everyone that happened to be below him.
It brought a little light to the dark, chilly night. Clanging sounds came from
Les’ keys as she tried to find the right one.
"YAY! Warm air at last!" Sunny screamed as he
stepped into the warm living room. He carried a bag full of plushies that he
brought that day. The day wasn’t completely perfect, though, for he was still
mad at Pup.
"Sunny, can I see you for a short second?" Pup
asked him as his paws dragged him to the hallway. "I felt bad about what happened
to your journal... I didn’t want the best brother in the world to feel bad.
So, when I went to the toy shop today, I found a perfect journal for you!" Pup
pulled out a beautiful light blue diary. It was filled with clouds and a big,
yellow sun at the top. Pup held it up high for Sunny to see, his white teeth
glimmered.
Sunny gasped in amazement. He examined the journal
as Pup handed it to him. "Pup, You know I could’ve just ripped the page out..."
Sunny began. "BUT! I love this gift that you gave me... and I love you! You
are possibly the best brother in the world. Thank you."
Then the next thing they did was unbelievable.
They hugged.
The End
Author’s note: I want to throw in thanks for 6_moonlight_6 for reviewing my
story. I also want to give the editors some thank yous, especially Feli (Snowflake)
for always working so hard reviewing story after story. I also want to throw
in some appreciation for the artists. YAY artists! Comments, suggestions, whatever
are welcomed in my inbox ^_^
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