Baelia's Favourite Day

     Thunder exploded overhead and lightning jumped through the clouds on a cold gloomy morning. Baelia’s eyes fluttered open with the booming in the sky echoing in her head.

     What a gross morning, she thought, staring out her window from the safety of her bed as dark and ominous clouds enveloped the grey sky.

     Grey…

     Baelia quickly sat up. She couldn’t believe that she’d nearly forgotten. It was Grey Day! Better than any other day in the year because Grey Day was her day. The one day of the year where everyone in Neopia can empathize and understand Baelia. Where she’s not the different, sullen, and depressing faerie. This is the day where everyone feels just like her.

     She quickly hopped out of bed and got dressed, smoothing down the wrinkles in her patched-together dress. She ran her Faerie Hair Brush through the tangles in her hair and checked her reflection in the mirror. She frowned. Everyday she knew she was missing something, but today she felt the absence of her wings more strongly than usual.

     No matter, this was still her day! She thought to herself and quickly ran outside and into the streets of Faerie City. The normally bright and bustling streets were mostly empty, as rain thundered down onto the cobblestones and drenched every Neopian in sight. Most were running from place to place, eager to stay out of the downpour. The buildings and Neopets surrounding Baelia were just as grey as the sky on the bleakest day of the year.

     She decided first she would head into the Faerie Weapon Shop to chat with Aethia. She stumbled through the rain and down the street until she stood outside the store. She caught a glimpse through the window of Aethia standing behind the counter whispering furiously to Jhudiah. Baelia was surprised, what was Jhudiah doing here? She cautiously walked through the door.

     “Who is it- oh, Baelia!” Aethia gasped, jumping in surprise.

     “Sorry, is this a bad time?” Baelia asked cautiously.

     Aethia and Jhudiah exchanged a glance, then furiously shook their heads.

     “N-no, of course not!” She stammered. “You just surprised us! There’s hardly been anyone in here all day on account of…”

     Aethia and Jhudiah exchanged another troubled look. Baelia furrowed her brow in confusion.

     “On account of…?” She repeated, stepping towards the two suspicious faeries.

     “On account of this gloomy weather outside! Can you believe it? It’s been nonstop all morning.” Jhudiah exclaimed, gesturing out the window to the downpour outside.

     Baelia shrugged.

     “I mean yeah, it makes sense. It usually rains on Gr-“

     “Actually Baelia!” Aethia jumped forward, shushing her with a finger to her lips. “Jhudiah was asking me for some Battledome weapon recommendations so you should probably go. It’s going to be SO boring and I’m sure you’ve got lots of other stuff going on today, right?” Aethia giggled nervously as she gently guided Baelia back to the entrance of the shop.

     “Uhm.. yeah sure, I guess. I’ll see you guys later.” Baelia mumbled, stepping back outside into the gloom as Aethia shut the door quickly behind her. Baelia looked back through the window, watching as the two Faeries huddled once again behind the counter.

     That was weird, Baelia thought to herself, disappointed that neither of her friends acknowledged that it was Grey Day. She sighed, looking around for another friendly face she might be able to talk to. She gasped at the sight of Kari, the Negg Faerie, whispering into Illusen’s ear under the awning of the Petpets Shop.

     What were those two doing in Faerieland today?

     She cautiously approached them, mindlessly squeezing the rainwater out of her hair, catching the two unsuspecting faeries by surprise as the splash of water hit the ground with a slap.

     “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to surprise you guys!” Baelia said, nervously clasping her hands behind her back. Illusen and Kari exchanged a wary look. Then, Illusen flashed Baelia an anxious grin.

     “No worries Baelia! It’s totally fine, not an issue at all. Please don’t worry about it.” Illusen rambled, nervously glancing at Kari.

     “What’s going on?” Baelia asked, feeling suddenly very suspicious.

     “Nothing!” Kari laughed. “We’re just uh, planning for the next Festival of Neggs of course. It’s coming up so soon and Illusen’s going to help me out this year.”

     Illusen squinted at Kari, who shot her a stern look.

     “Yeah, that’s all.” Illusen agreed slowly. “Just some major holiday prep, you know how it goes.”

     “Yeah, I mean since today’s Grey-“

     “Oh, Illusen we’re late! For that, uh, Negg meeting that I planned. So we could figure out… you know.. the Negg situation.” Kari gripped Illusen’s arm and began to pull her down the street.

     “Sorry Baelia, we’ll chat later! We gotta run!” Illusen called, and the two quickly sprinted down the block.

     What is going on? Baelia grumbled to herself, watching as Faeries on every corner quickly darted into buildings and down allies that were out of her sight.

     This is my favourite day of the year and everyone’s too busy to even hang out with me! Did I do something wrong? Baelia thought nervously, slumping onto a nearby bench, feeling completely defeated. She sighed and buried her face in her hands, feeling the cold rain pelt her skin and soaking her to the bone. She sat there for what felt like hours until she felt someone sit on the bench next to her.

     “Baelia, are you okay?”

     She looked up and gasped at the sight of Mira, the Space Faerie. Mira giggled at her shocked expression.

     “Mira, what are you doing in Faerieland? Is something the matter?” She asked worriedly.

     Mira tossed her head back and laughed dramatically.

     “Don’t act so surprised. I like to stop by occasionally and say hi to my friends.” She teased while bumping Baelia’s shoulder with a smirk. “Why so gloomy? I mean, other than the usual gloom, of course.”

     “Everyone’s being super weird today. No one will talk to me, and it’s Grey Day! My favourite day of the year, and no one seems to care but me.” She pouted.

     The Space Faerie stood up with a flourish and held out her hand.

     “Come with me!” She smiled. “I have to show you something.”

     Baelia hesitated, feeling suspicious of what Mira could possibly have to show her. But what choice did she have? It’s not like she had anything else to do.

     She took Mira’s hand and let her be her guide as they walked through the rain towards the Faerieland Bookshop. A big ‘CLOSED FOR GREY DAY’ sign was taped to the front door.

     “Why would the Library Faerie close for Grey Day? That doesn’t make sense.” Baelia wondered, but Mira just smiled in response.

     “Let’s go in.” Mira said, and she waited as Baelia pushed open the front doors.

     “SURPRISE!”

     Baelia jumped backwards, nearly knocking Mira over in her shock. The room was packed full of faeries, all of them wearing grey party hats and holding grey balloons in their hands that floated all over the room. There were tables lined up full of grey foods and baked goods and a giant sign that covered the back wall. “HAPPY GREY DAY BAELIA” it read in bold grey letters.

     “What is all of this?” She squeaked. Illusen and Kari stood at the front with Aethia and Jhudiah, all of them holding slices of grey cake and wearing grey party glasses, hats, and necklaces.

     “You didn’t think we’d actually forgot it was Grey Day, did you?” Aethia laughed, putting a plate with a slice of cake in Baelia’s hands.

     “Yeah, come on, it’s your favourite day of the year!” Illusen giggled.

     Mira gave her a quick hug then ran towards the group to chat with her faerie friends.

     Baelia took in the party surroundings of the room and sighed.

     “I hate surprise parties…” She whispered to herself and began to eat her cake.

     The End.