A Little Less Than Perfect

by uni_princess79

Filson was born into a very rich and prestigious Neopian family. He was to become Neopia's most handsome Shoyru in all of history. On the day of Filson's birth reporters and celebrities from everywhere filled the golden NeoHome in an attempt to get a glimpse of the acclaimed "perfect" Shoyru.

As the delicate Shoyru egg began to move, reporters stared openmouthed with pen and paper in hand. Suddenly, the egg split open, revealing a baby, red Shoyru. As Filson opened his beady little eyes, he saw dozens of frowning faces. He felt quite awkward just sitting there among pieces of eggshell. A reporter angrily shouted, "I came half across Neopia just to see this, this FREAK!" A lady cried out, "Why it's absolutely atrocious.... It really is!"

In a sense, Filson was a bit freakish looking. For one, his wings were sadly small and misshapen and he had large, protruding buckteeth. His eyes were huge in proportion to the rest of his body and to make matters worse, one nostril was larger than the other.

One by one, starry-eyed onlookers drove off leaving Filson alone with his rightful owner, Lady Tingleberry. Filson looked at Lady Tingleberry and gave her a warm smile but she just gave him a disappointed scowl and walked away, leaving Filson alone and helpless.

Lady Tingleberry elegantly went down the stairs to her telephone and dialed the number to the Neopian Pound. "Hello, this is Samantha Tingleberry, I have a monstrosity of a creature here and I wish to have it taken care of promptly!" The man on the other line murmured something and then Lady Tingleberry hung up.

The next day a black van showed up at the Tingleberry's driveway. A man in overalls came up to the room where Filson was sleeping, and in one swift brush of a net, he scooped up Filson. The next thing Filson knew, he was in the back of a van bumping along a gravel road. Then, the van stopped and Filson was scooped up again, except this time, he was taken into an old musty building.

All around him were sad looking NeoPets. Filson felt very sorry for them. The man in overalls put Filson into a dirty room and shut the heavy iron door. Then he hung a sign with FREAK written in bold, red lettering. Filson looked around, the cell was a lot less comforting than the satin pillows he woke up on. On one side of the room was a wooden cot suspended by metal chains. On the other side was a sink and a toilet. "Well, I guess things could be worse," thought Filson.

Filson was very lonely as he spent his days in the pound. Since he was labeled a freak, he was totally secluded from all of the other pets. The only creature he ever saw was the Soup Faerie when she brought him something to eat every day.

Filson never knew what was wrong with him until one a day a vain little Uni walked past with a green mirror she had found outside. He strained his neck to see, and then he saw it, those misshapen wings, his hideous teeth, the large eyes, and that stupid nostril. Then the Uni turned around and seeing Filson she screamed and ran as far away as possible. I am a freak with a capital F! Look at me, no wonder I was sent here, thought Filson. Then Filson sat on his wooden cot and sobbed for hours.

A few months later, a man in a tuxedo came in. All of the pets turned and looked, all except Filson, he knew no one would ever want him. The man smelled of expensive cologne and caviar. Some of the pets whispered about how rich he was. As the man made his way down the corridor he carefully inspected each pet, then shaking his head, he would move on. When he came to Filson's cell, he asked to see him. The caretaker said, "Trust me, sir, you may as well skip this one. He's ugly as heck!" As much much as the caretaker pleaded, the more the man insisted he see Filson.

Reluctantly, the caretaker opened Filson's cell. The man slowly crept in and looked at the little Shoyru. Sensing that someone was with him Filson turned around and their eyes met. The man looked at Filson, he saw his misshapen wings, buckteeth, large eyes, and funny nostril, yet said nothing. Just then, the man let out a hearty chuckle. Filson thought he was laughing at the way he looked. The man said joyfully, "He's perfect! I'll take this adorable little Shoyru!"

Filson's already large eyes grew even larger! He couldn't believe it! This guy actually called him adorable and he wanted to take him home with him! Filson let out a cry of joy and ran over to the man. The caretaker couldn't believe it either. He pleaded, "Mr. Hoffman, please, do not take him he's so, so.."

"So what, young lad," said Mr. Hoffman.

"So freaky!" he replied.

"Well now, I wouldn't say that," said Mr. Hoffman as he pulled up his pant leg. Upon revealing his leg, Filson and the caretaker realised that Mr. Hoffman had a peg leg.

"Now, lad, I want this NeoPet because, like me, he's a little less than perfect too!" said Mr. Hoffman with a smile.

The End