Past Prosperity

Hi there. You probably didn’t come to see me. Not many people do. Usually people just wonder what that little blue dot is in the distance. But since you’re here, want to talk to me? Wow, you’re nice! Go ahead and have a seat on this cloud.

    I’m sorry. I almost forgot to introduce myself. As I said, I don’t get many visitors anymore. It sometimes slips my mind. I’m TDMBGPOP. But you can just call me Pop. My name used to stand for The Dearest Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity. It now stands for The Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity.

    I suppose you’ve heard that rumor. You know, the one that says I can’t hear what people say? Or maybe, the one that says I can’t talk to you? I guess I proved them both wrong. After all, I am a magical plushie of prosperity. There’s a lot you may not know about us magical plushies.

    Why am I here, you ask? Well, it’s a long story. A story that goes back a couple of years.

    You’re still here? Most people leave after I say “long story.” You must not be busy or something. So, are you ready, then? Okay, here it goes.

    I started my life in the Toy Shop in the Neopian Bazaar. After the defeat of Sloth, and the Grundos' freedom, they started making the magical Grundo plushies. Even though I wasn’t played with (and in doing so, changing them into a wonderful blue Grundo), I was sold, bringing in a profit and helping him prosper. Through my travels through shops, trades, and auctions, I met many kind people. Each time I was traded or bought, I always brought the seller and buyer prosperity. If I could live each day like that again, I would.

    I suppose that does make me different from most plushies. A plushie’s dream is to be loved and cared for by a nice pet. I just wanted to make the owners happy. Sometimes, my making the owner happy made his pet happy, too. Selling for a profit makes people happy. So, I determined that my goal in life was to be sold and traded. Profit brought prosperity. I am a plushie of prosperity. So, my goal had been reached.

    I was so happy. Going from place to place to place. I was a world traveler really. I went from the spooky trees of the Haunted Woods all the way to the depths of the old Maraqua. It was amazing. But then, something terrible happened.

    I was in Christa’s shop on Mystery Island. She was a wonderful girl with a beautiful spotted Lupe, named Shastan. Christa came in to price me for a whopping 90,000 neopoints. She sat at her desk and began to meticulously write out my tag, when something crashed. One of the customers had knocked over her Glass Negg. After a heated argument about it, the customer finally paid for the broken Negg. By the time, it was time for lunch and her Lupe was whining out of hunger. She quickly picked up her mess of price tags and placed them on the items and then ran out the door. I looked down at my tag and gasped in surprise. Christa had only gotten to the second zero. I was priced for 900 neopoints, one percent of my intended price. While on her lunch break, I was bought by a new owner, Rita, who thought I was pretty. She had four spoiled pets—a Pteri, two Myncis, and a Uni—following behind her. From that moment on, everything spiraled downward.

    Her four pets hated me. They were constantly groomed and petted by their owner, so she never had time to sell me. She never even saw her potential prosperity in the profit I would bring because she thought I was a regular blue Grundo plushie. I was never given a chance. Within three days, I was thrown into her safety deposit box at the National Neopian. It was dark, cold, and lonely. My only companions were a broken blue Chia plushie and half a bottle of hair gel. My dream of helping others prosper was beginning to die.

    Rita finally took me out three months later. The stinging sunshine was a welcoming sight after being locked in darkness. But, little did I know, that darkness was only the beginning.

    Rita quickly stuffed me in an uncomfortably small backpack and took a two-day trip with her blue Mynci, Gretchen. When she finally took me out, I saw clouds, clouds, and more clouds. Beautiful golden buildings and floating faeries were the surroundings. But, Rita obviously wasn’t on vacation. These buildings and beautiful creatures with wings were blurred as Rita rushed past a sign that said, “Welcome to Faerie City.” I would have greatly rejoiced in finally making it to this beautiful city if it would have been a trip to someone’s shop. But it wasn’t. Rita stopped at a building called, “Faerie Bookshop.” A beautiful faerie in a purple dress and glasses stood behind a desk. She flashed a smile.

     “How can I help you?” she said in a sweet voice. Rita ran quickly to the desk.

     “Where’s the Faerie Quests building?” she asked. The faerie gave her directions. Rita rushed out without a thank you. She hurried Gretchen towards a small yellow building and ran straight through the doors. I almost gasped in surprise. Another faerie dressed in purple was there. But this time, it was a very dark purple. The smile was not beautiful, but menacing. And when she spoke, it was an evil and demanding voice that came from the dark red lips.

     “Well?” she said. “Have you brought it, mortal?” she hissed. Rita nodded.

     “Yeah, yeah,” she said. “Here it is. One blue Grundo plushie. I’ve had it for a while. My pets hated him when I first bought him on Mystery Island. He was kind of—”

     “I don’t care,” the dark faerie said, cutting her off. “Just bring it here and I’ll reward that blue Mynci of yours.” Gretchen smiled greedily as Rita pushed her and me towards the faerie. The faerie snatched me and threw me on a table. Then she waved her hand. Gretchen disappeared in a dark purple light. She reappeared as…Gretchen. Rita stared.

     “So?” she asked. “What did you do?” The faerie put her hands on her hips impatiently.

     “I gave her one more hit point,” she said. She was obviously exasperated. “Now why don’t you just get out, okay?” Rita turned and quickly left. I sat, strewn on the table. I felt very alone. And, even though I didn’t like Rita or her pets, right then, I wished I were going back with her. The evil faerie grabbed me and flew towards a single cloud looming in the distance. Unlike the fluffy, white clouds we were flying over, this one was dark, swirling, and purple. So much purple. And it didn’t make me feel any better. When we finally arrived, a tall faerie dressed in purple and green awaited us.

     “Maelstra!” the faerie called. “Maelstra, where is my test subject?” Maelstra held me out. I shrunk back.

     “Here, Jhudora,” she said. Jhudora snatched me.

     “Now go, Maelstra,” she said. “Go find another mortal wimp to do a quest. My test subjects are running out. My spells must be improved!” The faerie called Maelstra flew away. Jhudora took me into a dark, dark room. This darkness was different from the darkness of the safety deposit box. It was hot, stuffy, and suffocating. She placed me on another table. I had been thrown on so many tables that day, I hardly even noticed. But suddenly, I saw a purplish glow ignite. It grew and grew and grew until it almost engulfed me. Then, it slowly began to fade away.

     “What?” Jhudora screamed. “What’s happening?! Why isn’t my spell working?” She tried again and again to perform a spell on me, but all she got passed was a dark purple light. Nothing ever happened.

     “That fool!!!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “She brought me a magical plushie! I cannot perform spells on good magic!” I felt her long fingernails grasp me. She ran outside and threw me into the distance. I flew through the air, twisting and turning every which way. It seems that some faeries have strength beyond the strongest pet. Fortunately, I landed on this soft cloud we’re talking on right now. But I haven’t moved for over two years. My life is spent in misery and gloom over my broken dreams of bringing prosperity. I’m no longer sold and bought. I no longer bring a profit. I’m of no use to anyone. I have been erased from history. I am discarded.

The End

Author's Note: The names of the owners and pets in the story are made up. Dedicated to writers_havoc.