The Quill of Gold

      Haela was a desert Cybunny. She was the queen of Qasala at the time, and she was extremely rich and beautiful, not to mention kind and just. But she had a problem. She was bored. Every day she searched through her expansive golden palace, searching for something to do. Her servants presented games to her, fancy clothes to her, beautiful gardens to her, and friendly petpets. She played the games, wore the clothes, and played with the petpets in the gardens, but still, she was bored, so very bored. Eventually, she realized what she needed to be entertained. A good story was what was needed to cheer her up. So she sent a proclamation throughout the land, a proclamation that was to be shown to every neopet possible. It read:

      "Whoever produces the best story for Queen Haela II shall be awarded a trophy, a quill of gold. Send all entries to the royal Qasalan palace.

     -Queen Haela ll, queen of Qasala"

     Many neopets read the proclamation. They thought they could write a lovely story if they tried, so that day, many, many pieces of parchment were scribbled on, and many scrolls of parchment were sent to Queen Haera's palace.

      "I can write a great story!" boasted a rich, spoiled young desert Peophin named Yetara. "I am the most talented neopet in all of Neopia!"

     She summoned for a quill and a piece of parchment and began to scribble down a rushed, not-so-great tale about a rich girl realizing that all citizens below her were trash. It was neither a good story nor a story with a good moral, but Yetara sent it in and ordered a pedestal made for the trophy she was sure she would receive. Meanwhile, Queen Haela was watching a room in her palace fill up with stories. Scroll after scroll of parchment covered the room, and it was really an amazing sight. Haela read story after story every day, and she began to be tired of it. Most were awful, some were decent, and she was still searching for one that really screamed out: "I'm an amazing story!" to her. Her loyal subjects were waiting for her decision, and Haela began to wonder whether there really was a good one in her room of stories. Out in the city, in her fancy, large house, Yetara was wondering why her story hadn't been accepted yet. She was certain it would be when it was read.

      "It's been a week!" she screamed to her servants. "I need my TROPHY! What is taking Queen Haera so long? Is she REALLY that slow a reader?"

     Unknown to Yetara, her story had been thrown away by Haela many days before.

      "I can't find the one!" said Haela impatiently to one of her servants one sunny morning. " I can't find the story that deserves my trophy. I don't understand why one hasn't showed up. Okay, I guess I'll read one more this morning, and that's all."

     She picked up a piece of parchment. It wasn't very good parchment. It was very thin and worn and the edges were torn. The ink on it was thin and very sparingly used. Haela read the story. As soon as she was finished, she grabbed a scroll of parchment and a quill, a broad, happy smile on her face. This was the one, the story that deserved the quill. This was the greatest story she had ever read. The senders of the letters had printed their addresses on the parchment, so Haela quickly addressed her letter to:

      "Jamie Harwell, 5093 Scarab Street."

     Haela frowned at the address. Scarab Street was a street completely full--some said infested--by the poor of the city. The homeless ones took refuge in alleys and the luckier ones had rough, dirty apartments with only one tiny, cramped room for them. It was a place that the citizens of Qasala stayed away from. Haela told the pet to go to the palace the next day and receive their trophy. She was looking forward to meeting them. The next morning, a desert Poogle in raggedy, dirty clothes with a dirty face and an excited expression ran into the throne room.

      "Jamie?" asked Queen Haela.

      "Yes, that's me," said the Poogle in a small, scared voice. "I heard you liked my story."

      "I loved it!" said the queen. "Here is your trophy, as promised, my dear."

     The queen handed her the tall golden quill. It was magnificent.

      "I have something to ask you," said the queen. "You see, I've been looking for a full-time author to work for me and write me stories. Would you like the job? You'd be paid for every story and you'd get room and board."

     The Poogle gasped, her eyes widening.

      "I would--I would love that!" she said. "When do I start?"

      "Today," said the queen, "if you like."

      "Of course!" said Jamie. "I would love that!"

     So Jamie became the official author for Queen Haela. As for Yetara, she was furious when she found that a poor beggar had won the trophy. She was so angry she ran away from Qasala. She eventually came to a group of houses, nothing more than a very small village, far away from Qasala. She stayed there for a while, and she became very remorseful. She was upset she had been such a brat, and that she had thrown her whole life away because she was so spoiled. So she started anew, and the people of the village soon made the new Yetara their leader. Yetara was kind and smart now, and she made the small village expand to a large city, therefore becoming the first queen of the new city, Sakhmet.

      Jamie was very pleased with her new life. She started to write a collection of stories for Queen Haela every week, and for each one the queen gave her a quill of gold. They eventually grew much smaller, but it was still a good reward. Jamie started a system where she would receive submissions for her little collection and give the best ones and the ones she had written to the queen. The queen would then send those neopets quills of gold. Jamie called her story collection "The Quill", and the queen loved it.

      One day, Jamie wrote her own story in "The Quill", and Queen Haela loved it as well. The remains of that story, the private diary of Queen Haela, and various books about the history of Sakhmet have been used by me to collect this story together. "The Quill" was indeed the inspiration for the Neopian Times, but that is another story, for another time. Bear in mind that the quill of gold promised by Queen Haela has come a very long way, from the ancient Qasalan days, to the old Altadorian days (that's another story I plan to tell you at some point), all the way up until now. I think Queen Haela would be very glad if she could see that very first golden quill now, shining in a museum in Sakhmet, sporting shine, battered gold and a long history.

The End