The Worth of a Red Quiggle

      You enter the pound, striding past the pink Uni at the adoption counter. The light dims as you enter the gloomy, cement walled hallway, lined with the cages of countless homeless Neopets. You glance at the sorry figures in the cages, a Xweetok, an Ixi, a Bruce, but you don’t stop, for you are a pound surfer, looking for an expensively painted pet at the price of less than one thousand neopoints.

      Suddenly, you stop. Something has caught your eye. But it isn’t a painted pet. Just a simple red Quiggle, lying sadly on her side, staring at you through the cage bars.

      You shake your head, reminding yourself why you are here. Why did you stop? You are interested in more Battledome oriented pets with sharp claws and teeth, like your speckled Lupe, Tresh, at home. Besides, there is nothing special about this Quiggle. She isn’t even painted. Just a plain red Quiggle. Nothing more. You walk away. Then you turn again.

      You look back at the Quiggle, who lifts its sad eyes to meet yours.

      Please? those eyes seem to say. You shake your head and pull yourself away. But you can’t. You find yourself turning again.

      Again, you ask yourself, why it is so hard to leave this Quiggle behind and continue searching. You don’t even like Quiggles much!

      Yes, you do, a voice inside you says. You like this Quiggle.

      That must be it. You like the Neopet. You find her irresistible. It is just hard to admit that to yourself. You love her in your heart. Still, your brain tells you that adopting this pet would be illogical. You can barely afford to provide Tresh with a decent home, let alone another pet. You really shouldn’t even be in the pound anyway. But you are.

      Again, you remind yourself that a new pet would mean new clothes, a new bed, double the food, more toys, jealousy and anger from Tresh, more grooming items, another Petpet, not to mention Petpet items...

      Your feet bring you closer, unintentionally as you contemplate. The Quiggle is still looking at you. Her deep, beautiful eyes bore into yours.

      Please?

      Your heart breaks. Maybe this Quiggle will cost a lot, maybe she will put you in debt, maybe Tresh will be jealous, maybe he’ll be upset that you come home with some random, bedraggled pound pet. But she’ll be worth it.

      You ask the Quiggle her name. She answers you in a sweet voice that her name is Lilly. Then you turn to the nearest pound worker and tell them you’d like to adopt a pet. The Quiggle’s eyes light up.

     ...

      Tresh is upset, like you knew he would be. As you hand the Quiggle a plushie and she goes to bounce happily on her new bed, he turns to you and growls, asking you why you adopted Lilly. You tell him that she needed a home. He simply growls again and stalks over to his bed after shooting Lilly a dirty look. Lilly doesn’t seem to notice.

     ...

      The next day you send Tresh and Lilly out on a shopping errand. It will be a good way for them to get to know and like each other, you decide. Bad idea.

      Lilly comes home crying a half hour after you sent the two of them out. She says that Tresh called her names. When Tresh comes home fifteen minutes later, he won’t even talk to you. As you press him for details and threaten to send him to bed without supper, he cracks. He yells at you that maybe you should go and dump him in the pound so he won’t get between you and Lilly. Then he stalks off to his bedroom and slams the door. Lilly walks over and tries to comfort you. You just shake your head. Tresh was right, this was a bad idea, and you never should have adopted Lilly. If you hadn’t, this wouldn’t have happened.

     ...

      You wake up at the dinner table, realizing you must have dozed off thinking about the problem between Lilly and Tresh. The sky outside is dark.

      You see a shadow cross the kitchen floor. The shadow belongs to Tresh. You get up in time to see Tresh disappearing into Lilly’s room. The light turns on. Then you hear voices coming from Tresh’s bedroom. A soft sweet Quiggle voice, and a husky Lupe one. They sound kind, gentle even. You put your ear to the door, unable to hear most of the conversation, but still you pick out one word: sorry. You smile to yourself, and head off to bed.

      The next morning Tresh tells you that Lilly’s okay, and he is sorry about what he says earlier. You hug him, just as Lilly is coming out of her room, and you invite her over. You put an arm around both of them and squeeze tightly. Maybe this was an okay idea after all.

     ...

      The next day you are out shopping with Lilly and Tresh. You buy them both a treat at the general store and then take a stroll around Neopia Central. You pass the Quiggle Ballet Studio. Lilly takes a quick glance through a window. You keep walking with Tresh. Then you realize that Lilly is not following you. You turn to find Lilly starring transfixed at the dancers in the studio. You ask Lilly if she is following, and she nods, slowly. You keep walking, but still Lilly does not follow. Stopping, you turn back to Lilly and call her sharply. This time, she obeys. Then you ask her if she would like to take dance lessons. She jumps into your arms.

     ...

      You stand in line, holding Lilly’s hand waiting to speak to the Ixi behind the enrollment desk. When you reach her, she smiles and hands you a sign up sheet.

      You take the sheet to a table with several other owners. You feel out of place in this frilly, pretty place, being so used to the danger filled Battledome. You push the thought out of your mind. Then you fill it out with your address and Lilly’s information. Then you see the prices, and your eyes widen. Seven thousand neopoints a class! With classes twice a week! And that’s just at the beginner’s level. You read on. Look at all the gear you’ll need to get her! Ballet shoes, a tutu, tights, a leotard, ribbons for her shoes and hair...

      Is this really worth it?

      You look over to see Lilly talking excitedly to an older dancer. Lilly lifts her leg behind her and circles her arms over her head. The dancer puts a gentle hand on her foot and points it. Then she put her hands on Lilly’s elbows and straightens them out. The dancer smiles down at Lilly and Lilly smiles back happily. Lilly watches the dancer longingly as she walks away. Yes, you decide, this is definitely worth it.

     ...

      It has been about six months since you started taking Lilly to ballet. And it’s still all she talks about. She seems to be getting better. She gets more and more of the moves the teacher shows her and the teacher praises her quite a bit.

      After class one day the teacher comes to you and tells you Lilly is a natural. You thank her, and start to turn away, but the teacher catches you again. She says Lilly is ready to move up a level and she will need to start taking three classes a week instead of just two. You nod, but inside you are in shock. Already? Three classes? That will cost so much! But as Lilly waltzes out of the dressing room singing the tune to Quiggle Lake, you smile and remind yourself that you aren’t doing this for yourself. And yes, it’s still worth it.

     ...

      Three years later...

       You clutch the tickets in one hand and Tresh’s paw in your other hand as you walk towards the theatre. Outside is the poster of Lilly in a beautiful, sparkling, white tutu and tiara on her head. Above it are the words, Quiggle Lake. You marvel that Lilly was given the lead part in the Ballet Studio’s production after just three years of dancing. But there you have it.

      As you walk in the doors of the theatre, an Acara hands you a program and takes your ticket. You head into the auditorium and take your seats. Then the lights dim and the curtain rises.

      The stage has a beautiful mural of a lake for a backdrop, and as the music begins, dancers waltz onto the stage. Then, as the music swells, Lilly leaps onto the stage in her tutu and tiara. You hear Tresh gasp beside you.

      As the ballet begins, you watch Lilly, that little red Quiggle that you found in the pound three years ago, now coruscating on stage, and you smile. Lilly spots you, winks, and you know that everything you did for her was worth it.

The End