The Story of Boochi

      Slowly and unwillingly, Boochi sat up and looked around at his baby blue colored room. There were toys and plushies scattered about. Would this be the last day he could play with them? He knew he was the most childish out of all his friends at school, but he loved being carefree and young.

      "Why do you look so down, Boochi? It's your birthday," his owner inconveniently reminded him.

      "I wish it wasn't," the Bruce said sadly, as he made his way out of bed and headed downstairs. His owner followed quickly behind him.

      "And why not?"

      "I don't want to grow up," Boochi sighed.

      "Well, I'm sorry but everyone has to grow up sometime," his owner said firmly before giving his pet a loving pat on the head. "Now head off to school. We'll have cake and presents when you get home."

      "Oh, goody," the Bruce mumbled sarcastically as he snatched up his Quiggle Backpack, and waddled out the door.

      The thoughts of responsibility flooded Boochi's mind as he walked down the street towards the Neopian Middle School. He might have to get a job soon, and he'd be too old to play with toys. Everyone knew that a job wouldn't come so quickly for a new teenager just advancing into the world. Oh no. It would be a few more years before it was required for him to get one, but it didn't matter. It would be coming up sooner then he would have wanted. If only there was a way for him to remain a kid forever. Just then his thoughts were interrupted by his group of friends.

      "Hey Boochi!" called Razkehl the brown Uni. "It's your birth-"

      "I know it's my birthday!" Boochi snapped, cutting Razkehl off.

      "Sheesh. Y' don't sound too happy about it, buddy. What's wrong?"

      "Yeah, what's wrong, Booch?" asked Sallie the blue Zafara.

      Boochi looked down at his flippers. They would laugh at him if he told them that he wouldn't be able to play with his toys and plushies anymore, and that's why he was upset. Or that he wasn't ready to handle responsibility or a job or being treated differently by his owner and teachers. "I just don't want to grow up," he decided to say, and brushed past them on his way to the entrance.

      "Are you kidding me? Growing up is one of the best parts about life! Imagine everything you're going to learn, and all the great things you're about to achieve," Razkehl said cheerfully.

      Boochi only glowered at him, and started up the flight of cement stairs to the front door of the school. Razkehl and Sallie followed their friend and explained to him all the wonders of growing up. By the time school was over, Boochi was sick of it. He was sick of people screaming 'Happy Birthday' to him, sick of his friends telling him how awesome it was to become a teenager, and sick of being reminded of all the terrible things coming his way. The Bruce didn't want to go home either, because there he would get his cake and to him that was the official mark of becoming another year older. When the last bell finally rang, he slipped past his friends and wandered into the woods to take a walk.

      "Maybe I can just stay here for the rest of my life. I don't have to grow up if I don't want to if I'm on my own," he said to himself. But the forest was dark, and cold, and downright spooky. There wasn't a nice, warm bed for him to curl up in, or a loving owner to come home to, just dirt and rocks and wild Spyders scuttling around.

      He continued to walk down the winding path, head pointed towards the ground the whole time. Suddenly, a light caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. The red Bruce watched it, mesmerized by the swirling white and light blue colors within it. What was it? A Faerie? It couldn't be. Could it?

      "M-Miss Faerie," Boochi stammered, still not sure of what the light was. It came closer, until it was only inches from his dark blue eyes, and the swirling color halted. A Faerie appeared from the blinding mass of sparkles that kept the Bruce's interest for so long. A warm smile made it's way across her face.

      "How may I help you, young Neopet?" she asked softly.

      "I have a favor to ask of you," he asked bashfully.

      The Faerie giggled, "A favor? Alright, what is it?"

      "I was wondering, could I somehow remain a child forever? Today is my birthday, and I'm to become a teenager as soon as I eat my cake, but I don't want to be one. I love playing with my toys, I love being treated like a baby by adults, and I don't think I would love responsibility. So, do you think you could do this one thing for me, Miss?"

      She scratched her head and thought for a moment. "Are you sure that's what you want?" she finally asked.

      "Yes, yes!" exclaimed Boochi, clapping his wings together in glee.

      "Okay then." With that, a puff of blue smoke exploded in the pet's face, and a ray gun type thing appeared at his feet. He picked it up and examined it, then grew quite cross.

      "That Faerie ripped me off!" he yelled. "A toy? She gave me a toy gun? I wanted to stay a kid forever, and she gives me a toy? Argh!"

      He threw the ray on the ground in his rage, hoping for it to break, but instead it shot at him. Boochi jumped back, frightened, and hoping to avoid it but it hit him, and the Bruce toppled over. A funny feeling over came him. He felt as if he were…shrinking! The trees grew taller, and the sky seemed even farther away then usual. "What's happening to me?" he thought. His Quiggle Back pack felt extremely heavy, so he crawled out from under it and looked around. He was so confused.

      Boochi looked at the ray gun. "Evil thing," he grumbled. What did it do to him? With a heavy sigh, the Bruce, who was now small in size, put the ray in his backpack, zipped it up, wrapped a wing around the handle, and dragged it back home. Everything was bigger; street lights, trees, houses, bushes, other pets. A few people even stopped him on and asked if he was lost, or what a baby like him was doing out on the streets. When he explained to them that he was not a baby, but a teenager, they laughed and carried on their way. Finally he came to his house, and walked in furious.

      All his owner did was look at him with wide eyes.

      "So where's my cake?" Boochi asked. He couldn't do anything now. A Faerie couldn't even make his only birthday wish come true. It was time to face the music and eat the cake.

      "Boochi. What…happened to you?"

      "What? Oh. Oh great! That stupid ray gun the Faerie gave me shrank me and-"

      "Turned you into a baby," his owner finished.

      "A what? A baby!" Boochi ran to the nearest mirror, and looked at his mini reflection. Excitement. Joy. Happiness. Everything his birthday had been without began to overwhelm him. "I'm a baby! A baby! I don't need to grow up. I'm not a teenager! I'll never be a teenager! Oh, the Faerie did help me. That ray gun…it's magic!" The baby gaped and celebrated over his new salmon pink feathers, his big, blue eyes, his adorable red bow, then ran and hugged his owner's legs. "You were wrong. Not everyone has to grow up."

      "I guess not," his owner said, still rather confused about the whole ordeal, but happy that his pet was so overjoyed.

      After several presents, and two big pieces of cake, Boochi snuggled into bed with his ray gun that he looked over once more. "I shouldn't be the only one that has been blessed with the magic of this ray. Maybe I should go around zapping pets into babies, the ones I feel are like me. The ones that don't want to grow up." With these kind thoughts in mind, Boochi turned off his light and drifted off into a quiet slumber.

The End