"Man those are the breaks," PadFoot, a split Acara, said to his best friend,
FirePaw, a blue Acara
"B'lieve me Pad, I know," said FirePaw.
"But didn't Jem PROMISE to paint you?" asked PadFoot stretching out the word
promise as far as it would go.
"Yeah," said FirePaw dejectedly, he hung his head after saying this. He desperately
wanted to be painted fire and live up to his name, but his owner, JemJemGirl,
called Jem didn't have a fire paint brush. She sold the fire paint brush she
had earlier to make a whole 65,000 Neopoints. But now there was nothing to paint
FirePaw with.
"Well it's not very nice of Jem to break her promise," said PadFoot. He grinned
evilly and said in a low voice, "How 'bout revenge?" He cackled but couldn't
do it too well so he stopped.
FirePaw half considered it but then said, "Now but Jem might disown me!"
"So?" asked PadFoot. "Maybe then you'll get a nice owner that doesn’t break
their promises and will paint you fire!"
FirePaw shook his head. “But I like Jem. I’ll just go home and ask her why
she sold it and didn’t paint me fire with it. Simple as that.”
“Simple as that?”
“Yup. Simple as that.”
“Okay, it might work,” said PadFoot unconvincingly with a doubtful look on
his face. He shrugged and waited for FirePaw’s reply.
“You don’t think it will work, do you?” asked FirePaw glumly.
“It might. After all Jem is very surprising now. Breaking promises now—who
knows what she’ll do next,” said PadFoot. Somehow that wasn’t very comforting.
“Oh well,” said FirePaw. “I think I’ll head home now.” He started off towards
his house that Jem had built for him out of milk chocolate. Very yummy.
He got home and sat down at the kitchen table. He pulled out a chunk of chocolate
from the wall and started eating it slowly.
Jem came into the kitchen and FirePaw abruptly stopped eating. Hen was about
the room but FirePaw stopped her. “Jem,” he said almost commandingly. She sat
back down in her seat and waited quietly for FirePaw to continue.
“I got your message that you’re not painting me fire since you SOLD the paint
brush for 65,000 Neopoints,” said FirePaw. He offered no question but waited
for an answer.
“Yes,” Jem admitted guiltily. She said nothing more and just stared at her
hands waiting for FirePaw to comment.
“Why?” asked FirePaw in a hurt voice. “Don’t you want me to be a fire Acara
instead of a boring ol’ blue one?” He glared at Jem.
“I needed the money!” exclaimed Jem. She threw up her hands and they fell back
down on the table with a loud bang.
“No you didn’t!” said FirePaw. “I know for a fact you had over two hundred
THOUSAND Neopoints You didn’t need more!”
Jem was about to say something but FirePaw cut her off. “You didn’t need it
you just wanted the Neopoints for some lousy dream to be rich or whatever it
is that owners want so badly,” said FirePaw accusingly. He glared at her again.
“FirePaw,” Jem warned threateningly. “Your new owner won’t like you very much
if you accuse and argue with them.” She gasped and clapped her hand against
her mouth. “Oops.”
FirePaw’s jaw dropped. He blinked hard. “My… New owner?” He stared unconsciously
at Jem just waiting for her to say that she didn’t mean it.
“Yes,” she drew in a sharp breath and continued, “I sold your paint brush because
the stocks crashed and all I had left was a fire paint brush and a fire jug.
I put the fire jug in my shop with a sign n the window PLEADING for help but
no one bought it. I lowered the price down to 300 Neopoints, hoping that it
would be enough to get be started so I could make more to take care of you.”
Jem looked at FirePaw for his reaction. “Go on,” he said slowly. He always
had a wonderful poker face—always able to not show is emotions.
“But it wasn’t enough. I had to use the money to feed you,” Jem said despairingly.
“So I did it. I put the fire paint brush in my shop for 65,000 Neopoints and
it sold. I was able to feed you but then my stock had yet another crash. I had
forgotten to sell the stock to rid of the burden. I had to use 64,500 Neopoints
to pay off the debts. And I was left with only five hundred Neopoints Hardly
enough to take care of you. Then, I made the biggest decision of my life.”
“To put me up for adoption,” FirePaw said simply.
“Yes,” Jem nodded. “To put you in the pound.” She shook her head sorrowfully.
“I’m sorry FirePaw you haven’t been painted fire yet. And I’m truly sorry I
have to put you up for adoption.”
FirePaw just blinks. Hundreds of emotions were pouring through him. Hurt, betrayal,
hope and above all understanding.
“You understand why, don’t you FirePaw?” said Jem desperately. She really wanted
FirePaw to not hate her. FirePaw nodded slowly. Jem breathed a sigh of relief.
“We…” she said. “We’re going to the pound…um, now.”
FirePaw’s eyes widened. “Now? But I need to say good-bye to PadFoot and Pekingese!”
“Okay,” said Jem evenly. “But be back in a half hour.”
FirePaw split his time evenly between PadFoot and Pekingese, fifteen minutes
each. PadFoot offered to go after Jem, but Pekingese just had a few tears roll
down his cheeks. He was a plump checkered Acara that usually shed a few tears
at a time.
FirePaw walked back to his house of chocolate that he had eaten from so often
that was now going to be abandoned. Just like him.
He patted the strong milk chocolate walls and pulled out his last chunk of
chocolate from them. “Good-bye old friend,” he said between bites.
FirePaw walked inside saying bye to his favorite possessions then he ended
up in the kitchen where Jem was waiting with her last eighty Neopoints
As slow as a funeral march, Jem and FirePaw walked to the pound. They went
inside and FirePaw started to observe the room. On the red Uni’s side it was
bright and cheery with happy owners with their new pets. On the green Techo’s
side, where Jem and FirePaw were, it was dark and cold with sobbing pets and
mean owners with cruel grins on their faces.
“Abandoning the blue Acara?” asked the Techo nastily.
“I am,” said Jem.
“Please don’t!” begged FirePaw.
“I am.”
“But I don’t wanna leave you!”
“I am.”
“But please!”
“I am.”
“Nooooooooooo…”
To be continued... | 
