A Yurble's Tail As Old As Time

      Alexis, the little red Yurble, picked up her paintbrush began applying pressure on to her canvas as her hand floated gracefully. Albert, the jocular blue Yurble, was playing with his puzzle pieces that became a picture of a Christmas meowclops. Just then their mother came into the room.

      "Okay, kids, your father and I will be leaving soon. We expect you to be on your best behavior when Grandma comes over to babysit you two," instructed their mother.

      "Mummy," Albert moaned. "Where are you going later? Is it alright if you stay home?"

      "Yeah! Grandma can be really boring sometimes. She snores whenever she takes her nap," Alexis chipped in.

      "We have to leave soon!" yelled Mr. Yurble from the living room downstairs.

      "We have talked about this yesterday. Your father and I are going to tend an important dinner that is organized by your father's office. It would not be appropriate to take you there. Besides, I am almost positive you both would feel bored hearing the adults talk. Your dinner is in the oven. Grandma will help to prepare it for you when you both are ready to eat. Alright, I have to go now. It is almost half past seven. Remember, behave," replied Mrs. Yurble.

      Ding dong!

      "That must be Grandma Yurble. Please do not stay up too late," Mrs. Yurble said in a hurry and rushed down the staircase.

      "Bye, Mummy," answered Alexis and Albert in perfect unison.

      "Lexi! Why don't we pretend to go and sleep now then we don't need to hear Grandma Yurble's boring stories?" Albert suggested.

      "That is a brilliant idea. Quick! You keep the puzzle pieces while I stack the story books," Alexis continued.

      Thump! Thump! Thump!

      Both the twins could hear Grandma Yurble's footsteps that thundered against the hard parquet floor. Their bedroom door creaked open slowly.

      "Hello, children! I baked chocolate chip cookies this afternoon and I brought some over for you to eat after dinner. Are you hungry?" asked Grandma Yurble.

      "Um, we are going to bed now, Grandma," answered Alexis with a fake yawn flickering across her face.

      "Oh my Fyora! Why, it is still pretty early. Are you two feeling alright?" questioned Grandma with a shocked look on her wrinkled face.

      "Yes, yes, we are fine. We are just really tired," answered Albert quickly.

      "Okay then. I will be downstairs if anyone needs me," Grandma Yurble said and closed the door for the twins to sleep.

      Grandma Yurble went downstairs to put her delicious cookies in the cookie jar. After that she went to curl up comfortably on the soft and wooly babaa chair while reading a copy of the Neopian Times.

      "I am really hungry," complained Alexis.

      "I am too but I also do not wish to her those boring stories of hers," whined Albert.

      "Hey! I have an idea! What if we sneak downstairs to the kitchen while she is sleeping away. I mean she snores ever so loudly, she probably would not even notice," suggested Alexis.

      "That is a pretty good idea! Perhaps you be the lookout and peeked from the stairs and see if Grandma Yurble is asleep," agreed Albert.

      "What? Why do I always have to do all the work?" argued the red Yurble.

      "Because," emphasized Albert, "I am older, so get to work, junior."

      "By only five minutes!" said Alexis reluctantly, but her stomach was rumbling so she was not in the mood to start a discordant argument with her brother.

      She crept as silently out of the room as she could and tip toped half way down stairs. She was unable to hear Grandma loud snores. This meant that Grandma Yurble was still awake. She could hear the occasional flipping of papers that jarred the deafening silence. Alexis tip toed back upstairs to report to her brother.

      "Grandma is downstairs. I could hear papers flipping. She is probably reading the Neopian Times," said Alexis.

      "Good, so Grandma is busy. Let us sneak downstairs quietly to the kitchen for cookies!" Albert exclaimed gleefully.

      The ravenous twins quietly tip toed down the parquet staircase and eventually made it to the bottom. They went past the flower vase and Albert peered at Grandma, who fell asleep. The twins surreptitiously went into the big kitchen. They saw the Yurble pasta with broccoli and tomatoes in the oven their mother had made. However, the pasta was ignored and they went straight to the kitchen cabinet where Grandma had placed the chocolate chip cookies earlier on.

      "Yum! Grandma's cookies are beyond amazing!" cheered Albert.

      "They are but I am feeling thirsty. I will go and get a cup of chocolate Kau milk," replied the little red Yurble.

      Alexis opened the cabinet and took some milk and placed it beside her brother. Thereafter, she went to take two cups for her brother and herself. Unfortunately, she tripped and dropped the cups on the floor.

      PING! CLANG!

      Grandma Yurble woke up with a jump. She heard some noises coming from the kitchen.

      "Kids? Was that you?" she asked.

      She heard the noise coming from the kitchen and walked towards the kitchen. There she saw the shattered pieces of glass sporadic all over the floor.

      "Do not step or play with the glass pieces children. I will clean it up. Walk out of the kitchen carefully," ordered Grandma. The twins obediently left the kitchen.

      "This is all your fault!" chided Albert. Alexis bowed her head in sadness. However, Grandma Yurble was kind and wise. She prepared the Yurble twins their pasta in a jiffy and gave them cookies when they were done with their main meal.

      Grandma Yurble continued reading The Neopian Times while the twins continued playing the living room. When Grandma was flipping the papers, Alexis chanced upon an old picture printed in the newspaper. The picture was a Weewoo delivering mail.

      "Oh! This little Weewoo is funny. It is delivering neomail!" giggled Alexis.

      "Why that was how mail was delivered in the olden days, Lexi," Grandma explained and continued, "these days children like you are now privileged."

      Both the twins looked confused and puzzled.

      "Comparing between now and long ago, many things have changed. In the past, there was no such things as neomail. Mails were delivered by Weewoos. Such mails can take days to arrive or even weeks. That depends on where the sender and the receiver lives. It was a system when Weewoos delivered mail to your doorstep. Weewoos are clever petpets. They get familiar with the roads around town. However, if the sender sends mail to another land, then the Weewoo would have to fly to another land and in that land, the local Weewoo there would take over since the original Weewoo from the foreign do not know the places as well the locals," Grandma patiently said.

      "Wow! I did not know that!" said Albert. Grandma Yurble chuckled.

      "That was not the only thing that changed. In the past, Uni Taxis and Eyrie Cabs were very uncommon. It was very expensive. Most Neopians could not afford luxuries either. We would stay at home and play games with our siblings to past the time. There are not as much shops as there was back then. This is partly why we didn't go out either. Neopia Central is a very old shopping area in Neopia. Later, the Neopian Bazaar and Plaza were built. More shops were set up and remade. For example, there were no transfers in the pound a while back. There as only adopt and abandon. Now, there are transfers and it has become so convenient to move. Furthermore, because of transfers, there are also less pets going in and out of the pound. I remember when it was packed full! It was so difficult to move! My old friend, the pink Uni was always very busy and -"

      "You know the pink Uni?" Albert cut Grandma off her sentence.

      "Why yes! She is a very old friend of mine. We used to have adventures back in those days. Not only Neopia Central but the other lands too. The lands are now well constructed and expanded in some areas," Grandma Yurble continued explaining.

      "Really? Well, I like Faerieland!" Alexis cheered.

      "Nuh-uh! Haunted Woods rocks!" argued Albert.

      "Settle down now, kids! Not to mention both lands were very different before. They built the new place very well.

      "Faerieland was rebuilt quite recently because of the war. Before that, it looked very different. They changed everything! The healing springs, all the shops in Faerie City like the petpet shop or games like Faerie Cloud Racers. You could not imagine!

      "Not forgetting Haunted Woods too! It was a complete revamp!"

      "Wow! I never knew! What about school?" asked Alexis.

      "School was very different back then too. My mother used to make us our lunches instead of you buying food in the cafeteria now. What we learnt in school is very different from what children learn these days. Life was simple back then. Everything was less. Now, you can play so much more games and collect so much more things like stamps, avatars and trophies. Long ago, there were only three main categories in the games room, not including the featured game. There were only puzzles, luck and chance and action. Now, games are very well placed into their respective category such as worlds, adventure, strategy and card and board," answered Grandma.

      "That is so cool! I did not know such things happened!" Alexis cheered.

      "Alright now, it is your bed time. You should go to bed now," Grandma Yurble responded.

      "But I am not tired yet! I want to listen to more stories!" exclaimed Alexis

      "Grandma? These stories are really interesting! Why is it you never told us these stories?" asked Albert.

      "You children never took time to listen," explained Grandma.

      The kids grew silent and looked at each other, feeling very guilty.

      "Sorry about that, Grandma. It is just that sometimes you're reading the Neopian Times and it gets really boring. And when you are not reading, you take a nap, you snore as loud as the roar of the Snowager! Could you tell us more of these stories in future?" replied Albert. Alexis swiftly nodded her head in agreement.

      Grandma Yurble laughed and nodded.

      "Now off to bed, you two. It is late," Grandma told the twins.

      The twins went obediently upstairs and got into the beds. Grandma Yurble tucked them in and they fell asleep almost instantly dreaming about the interesting stories Grandma Yurble told them.

The End