My Favorite Treat

      "But I do want it. It looks delicious!"

      It was 6:00 p.m. on a Friday night, and I, Viper12321345, and my owner were trying to decide what to have for dinner.

      "I want the jelly! Let me have the jelly!" I yelled and hissed aggressively. Katie opened her mouth to protest my choice when I lunged at her, my sharp fangs gleaming. Only then did she flee the kitchen of our neohome. "You'll be sorry," she warned.

      Alone, I opened the fridge to stare at the jelly that I had desired badly enough to threaten my owner. There it sat, on a round dinner plate, harmless looking at first glance. Only when I gazed at it intently did I notice anything strange. The violet-tinted jelly had round, red blobs of goo on the top of it. Round, fizzing red blobs. What could they be? Acid? Poison? Though uneasiness started to creep up inside me, I greedily grabbed the small plate, ignoring my instincts. Surely poisonous jelly could not really be poisonous! Cautiously, I touched the top of the jelly with a fang. It shook innocently, just like any kind of jelly would. There is nothing wrong with it, I told myself reassuringly. Even so, I hesitated for a minute before I opened my mouth to take a small bite of the strange food. The jelly seemed to be grape flavored. Bubbling, the orange liquid tasted great on my tongue. How could that liquid be acid? It was delicious. Before a minute was up, I had cleared the circular dinner plate. With a boisterous burp in the face of my owner, (who had crept in while I had been eating), I slithered out of my family's neohome. For I, being a young and growing Hissi, was still hungry.

      About 20 minutes later, I arrived in front of the shop wizard's bright blue office building. If anyone could help me find where to get some poisonous jelly, he could. "Hello," he said cheerily as I entered. "How may I help you?"

      "Well, will you please tell me where I can get some poisonous jelly?""

      "Poisonous jelly?" he asked curiously, his furry eyebrows raised. "Is that right? Now what would a young fellow like you be wanting with some poisonous jelly? Normally only the dark faeries that come by request such a thing. It's not good to consume, you know. Put you in the hospital, that will."

      I sighed. Did no one understand? I bet he had never even tried poisonous jelly! "It is delicious! Poisonous jelly is my favorite treat! I am sure I will not end up hospitalized because of it! Now, if you would, tell me where I can get some!" I said in a slightly raised voice.

      "Very well," the shop wizard snapped. "Very well." He gave me directions to the nearest shop selling the food I desired.

      Composing myself, I said, "Thank you. Good day, sir," in a deceptively polite tone. Within seconds I had quickly slithered out of the room. Good riddance.

      * * *

      Ding dong! The door rang as I entered the minuscule shop. Talk about heaven on Neopia! Next to me was an enormous, wooden shelf. But, this was no ordinary shelf. It was jam packed with dozens upon dozens of plates of poisonous jelly. Their intoxicating aroma drifted pleasantly into my nose. A bit of drool slid down my chin. Feeling ravenous, I grabbed as many jellies as I could hold, and scurried over to the counter. Though he looked strangely at me, the man at the register did not protest my strange choice of food. "That will be 300 neopoints," he smiled, successfully hiding his surprise. Overjoyed at how incredibly cheap poisonous jellies were, I quickly shoved a fistful of coins on the counter. Yum! I thought as I carefully slithered away (so not to drop any jelly). This is the life!

      I took my prize to a small bench in the Haunted Woods (my favorite world of Neopia), to devour it. Uncasing my jellies, I started to feel nauseous. For a minute I thought I would have to vomit? I wondered if I should not eat the poisonous jellies after all. Then I realized what an absurd thought that was, and started greedily shoving big blobs of tasteful jelly down my throat.

      When I had gobbled every crumb, I realized that I had not been imagining my feelings of nausea. A hurricane roared in my stomach, tearing me apart from the inside. My wings felt like they were made completely of lead, which resulted in me being unable to lift them even an inch. The muscles all over my body were sore and aching. Even my teeth were buzzing. My ears were both throbbing, causing me to hear a deafening pounding noise. Duh-Duh. Duh-Duh. Duh-duh. Every second the pounding got louder and louder still. Eventually, my head started to spin. I became dizzy, and lost my sense of direction. In fact, I lost all my senses. Who was I? Where was I? Why was I here? I was drowning, drowning in pain…And then the world went completely black.

      * * *

     "Huh…What…Why…When…Where am I?" I woke with a start, feeling groggy and uneasy. Looking around, I saw rows upon rows of beds, dozens of pale looking neopets, and nurses, attendants, and doctors. Doctors? Why was I at a hospital? What had happened? I searched my memory but came up with absolutely nothing. My memory was still fuzzy. I threw off a white, silk blanket and tried to slither out of the bed in which I lay. "Ouch!" I shrieked. Pain shot through my already weak body like a bullet. A second later, I learned that flying was no good either. Moaning, I laid back down on the fluffy mattress. Great, I thought. I'm stuck and helpless in a hospital bed. But what was wrong with me? Before I could hurt myself even more, Katie strode over, looking reassured but shaken.

      "Thank goodness you are alright! You gave me and the rest of our family quite a scare. 16 poisonous jellies in under an hour! What in the whole of Neopia were you thinking, Viper?"

      Poisonous jelly……My memory came flooding back to me like the waters of a tsunami. The poisonous jelly I found in the fridge and had insisted on eating. The warnings about poisonous jelly from my owner and the shop wizard, warnings I had ignored. The shop with a huge shelf of poisonous jelly, of which I bought 15. Eating the jellies, becoming sick, and fainting. It all came back to me then. Remembering very vividly the sickness I had felt at the Haunted Woods, I leaned over to retch quietly next to my bed.

          * * *

      Hours later, I was feeling much better, almost my normal self. In fact, I was even slightly hungry, as I hastily declared to my owner.

      "What would you like?" Katie asked, obviously glad that I was recovering so quickly, "I can get you anything!"

      I licked my fangs for a second, pondering. Anything? Then, grinning mischievously, I answered. "Poisonous jelly would be nice."

The End