Sickness

     My mother, a nurse at the local hospital, confirms that it is Doldrums causing Fyre to curl up under her blanket, shut up in her room with the lights off and the curtains pulled tightly closed, allowing no sun. I am worried about her.

     "Breez, honey, could you go out and see how expensive her cure is? Mushroom Ointment?" Mother asks.

     I nod, exiting the house and heading for the center of town.

     Some people think that using the Shop Wizard is easy, but let me tell you it is NOT. He could be anywhere in Neopia, for one, and you can't just shout his name into the sky and hope for him to appear. He does have a potion or something that allows him to appear at the sound of his name, but there are so many other people who use him every second of every day. So, usually, you have to wait. When I had to ask for the Shop Wizard I liked to go somewhere remote. That way I didn't look stupid standing at home, or in the Neogarden, repeating "Shop Wizard" over and over again. I liked to go to a meadow just on the outskirts of the city.

     It doesn't take the JubJub that long to appear. It must be a slow day.

     "Mushroom Ointment, please," I say nicely.

     What looks like a neomail, except transparent, shows up in front of him. When I was younger I'd go around and look at it, amazed the Shop Wizard was able to do something so... magical.

     "It seems that the cheapest is at Cures and Treatments for seventy-three thousand neopoints. Would you like to be transported there now, or would you like the co-ordinates?" he asks nicely.

     I smile despite the pool of despair that is currently rearing its ugly head. "I'll take the co-ordinates."

     "Alright. Cures and Treatments is located at 19-45." And with that he disappears.

     I frown. Maraqua? Really? It doesn't matter, though. We don't have nearly enough for something like that.

     ~~~

     "Seventy-three thousand?!" Mother screams in agitation.

     I nod sadly.

     "Well, we don't have enough for that. I only have around nine hundred in the house right now, and only thirteen thousand in the bank. And with the faeries turned to stone we can't go to the Healing Springs either."

     "I can get a job, if you want," I offer, wanting none other than to help my sister.

     "No, no, it's fine. Besides, even with mine and what will probably be your salary put together we still wouldn't have enough until the Month of Awakening," she says glumly.

     "But, Mom, I have to at least try!" I protest.

     "Breezilai, I will not have this conversation with you. I'll deal with it, okay. We'll just have to wait it out. Maybe it will go away of its own accord."

     "You know it won't," I sigh.

     She doesn't answer. Instead she turns and walks into the kitchen, probably to make dinner. Hooray, more omelettes, I think sarcastically.

     ~~~

     "You okay, Fyre?" I keep my voice low so as not to disturb her. Lately she will start spazzing if she thinks we are yelling.

     "Not really. When will Mum get me the Ointment. I don't like being sick," she sniffs.

     "I don't know. You'll get it soon, I promise."

     "Pinky promise?" And she pushes her big Kougra paw out from under her blanket, her hand balled into a fist, except for her pinky.

     I can feel a tear coming to my eye. She is so little. She doesn't deserve this. She doesn't even understand it! Why couldn't I have gotten sick instead? I silently thank Fyora she can't see me.

     "Yeah. I pinky promise," I say quietly, ready to burst into tears right there and then.

     I hook our pinkies as I say it, and I can tell she is smiling. "Your paw is so pretty. I love the colours. Lilac and white. Was I right? Lilac?" she asks.

     "I'd reckon you are." She is talking about the light purple fur I got when I was painted cloud.

     "Do you love me?" she whispers.

     "Of course I do. I love you more than anything else on Neopia," I tell my little sister. Now I am almost certain I'll begin to cry, in front of her and everything, but I don't.

     "I love you too, Breez. Can you tell me a bedtime story?"

     It's three pm NST, I think, smiling. She has lost all sense of time.

     "Sure. There was once a baby Kougra."

     "Like me!" Fyre points out.

     I chuckle. "Yes, like you. But she was very unlucky. On her way to Neo Pre-school she tripped over her own paws and broke a claw. Her Neocola exploded all over her face at lunch, and she scraped her knee when playing tag. She dug up the flowers her owner had planted, mistaking them for what she believed was like 'X marks the spot.' The way things were going she just knew her owner would never give her the Petpet she wanted."

     "Why did she want a Petpet?" Fyre asks.

     "She was an only Neopet, and she was very lonely."

     "Would you be lonely if I weren't here?"

     "Of course. I would be the saddest Neopet under the stars. But thank Fyora, she gave me the greatest little sister the world has ever seen. But back to the story.

     "Then one day she got very sick. Her owner was terrified, and didn't have enough neopoints to treat her. Scared that the little Kougra would leave Neopia and join her fellow Neopians in the sky, she got what the Kougra had been asking for. To be less lonely.

     "The baby Kougra was amazed to find that her owner had created a sister, and even though she was sick she felt happier than she had in months. The next day everyone was surprised to find she was healed, completely."

     "How was she healed?"

     "I don't know. How do you think she was healed?"

     "I think it was her new sister's love that healed her." She yawns loudly. "I'm tired, Breezilai." And with that she falls asleep, her snores piercing the quiet room.

     ~~~

     It's not like Doldrums is fatal or anything, but being sick for a long period of time, especially with something like this, could really change a person. It could mess them up. I don't want that happening to Fyre. It isn't right. But I don't see any possible way she will be cured anytime soon.

     ~~~

     Six days later I meander to the door, tired and angry at whoever is here this early for interrupting my sleep.

     I yank the door open and am about to scream at the person when I realise it is just the mailman.

     The Skeith holds a clipboard out in front of him. I grab it and quickly sign my name.

     "Who's it from?" I ask.

     "Dunno," he answers absentmindedly.

     "Thanks," I mumble, slamming the door behind me.

     I rip open the box, wondering what in the world could be inside. The first thing I see is a note. Tentatively I grab it.

     To Breezilai,

     I've noticed how depressed you have been the last couple of days. After further investigation I found out your little sister is sick. I'm so sorry, and I really hope this helps.

     From, XII

     How could this mystery person have possibly figured out Fyre is sick? Was he stalking us or something?

     I pull out a bottle wrapped in Neopian Time articles and pull it apart. I smile widely.

     Sitting in the crumpled newspapers is Mushroom Ointment.

The End