The Fearsome Twosome

     It was a Halloween Ixi plushie, sitting there and glancing back at them with round, red eyes. It was perfect. Its wings were pointed in just the right way; the cloth was professionally stitched, and the pitchfork looked sharp and menacing.

     Whispers ran through the excited Neopets. Lia wasn't one of them. She just knew she had to have the Halloween Ixi. It would go perfect with her Halloween costume, because she was going as a Halloween Ixi. And Halloween was just around the corner, too. Although the price for the Ixi was twenty thousand Neopoints and there was only one in stock, Lia knew it was hers the moment she set her big, pink eyes on it. Tearing her eyes away from the Ixi, Lia broke off in a run to her home in Neopia Central, wanting to get it as fast as possible. Lia practically tore the door off the hinges bursting inside, her hooves making clicking noises as she ran to get her older sister, Amanda.

     "Amanda! Amanda!" the Ixi shouted, catching a glimpse of the red Zafara in the living room. She was perched on their straw couch reading a book, her eyes downcast to the pages. At the sound of her name she looked up, her blue eyes searching the Ixi. It was the sign to tell Lia to talk.

     "Amanda!" Lia repeated, her cheeks even redder from the effort of running all the way to their house. "I found it! I found the perfect addition to my Halloween costume! It's perfect!" she shouted, hopping up and down with excitement. A big grin almost split her face in half.

     "Stop shouting!" Amanda exclaimed, and pushed her round, black framed glasses farther up her nose. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and then opened them again, even wider this time. "Now, what is it that you're talking about?"

     "Well, as you know, I'm going as a Halloween Ixi for Halloween," Lia began, her voice full of self-importance. "Well, I found a Halloween Ixi Plushie!"

     Amanda's eyes dropped slightly. She let out a sigh and placed her book down on the wooden table in front of her. She looked, if possible, sad. "Lia, you know we can't afford things like that. Besides, you have other plushies; why don't you take one of them?"

     Lia's face dropped. She stopped jumping at once. "You don't even know the price!" she whined, plopping down on a lime green bean bag right beside her.

     With a small roll of her eyes, Amanda sighed and picked her book up again. "How much is it?" she said dully, just knowing the answer already.

     "Only twenty thousand neo-"

     "No. Lia, I mean it, no. We're lucky to be living in a house like this, okay? We just can't afford a plushie for a one time deal. Now, go up to your room." When Lia opened her mouth to protest, Amanda blocked it. "Please, go."

     Lia was shocked. Not to mention sad. She glared at the Zafara for a moment, then trudged up stairs, her head drooped down. Once she reached her arched doorway she burst in full speed, and curled up in a ball on her bed. Halloween was tomorrow. There was no way she would get her dream-plushie now. She dropped off in a saddened sleep.

     Meanwhile, Amanda was thinking hard. She felt bad that her sister was rejected like that. It would go perfect with her costume - Amanda shot about three feet in the air when her brain suddenly popped on again. Without saying a word, she raced up the stairs and stepped into Lia's bedroom silently. She pawed along and finally found her plushie store. She opened the chest carefully, and pulled out a red Ixi plushie. Without closing the chest, Amanda ran downstairs, careful not to make a sound.

     Twenty minutes later she was lost in a pile of needles, red cloth, thread, cushion stuffing from a pillow, and straw from the couch. She was hard at work at the red Ixi, her tongue resting between her teeth as she threaded needles and twisted cloth and straw. After a while, Lia held the new Ixi up in her aching hands and smiled, delighted with her work.

     "Perfect."

     Lia woke up to the golden rays of sunlight pouring through her bedroom window. For a moment there, she'd forgotten all about the Halloween Ixi and the conversation with her sister. And then, all in a second it all came back to her. She sighed once again, her eyes drooping and her face losing a little color. She knew it was no use trying to ask again and would just have to accept it. Gazing sadly at her Halloween costume, she climbed out of bed and groped downstairs, her hooves making heavy thuds as she walked down the carpeted stairs.

     But when Lia reached the last step she jumped back in surprise. Lying there on the little step was a Halloween Ixi plushie. Lia knew it wasn't the real thing, because the eyes were pink instead of red and the pitchfork was made of straw. The wings were slightly too puffy and were stitched in cloth. But it didn't matter, because Lia's whole face lit up in a grin. Grabbing the plushie Lia ran straight to Amanda, where she was sitting at her desk, reading a book, as usual.

     "AMANDA!" the Ixi screamed, and wrapped her sister in a one-armed hug. "How did you... did you...?" Lia couldn't even stutter a thank you, she was so shocked. Her tongue felt like a block of wood as her eyes jumped from Amanda to the plushie. Did Amanda really do this? How could she? Questions swam through her mind, but either way, she was delighted.

     "Whoa!" Amanda exclaimed, but hugged her sister back all the same. When she saw the plushie in Lia's hand, she grinned and nodded. "Yup. All I did was take a Red Ixi Plushie from your toy chest and..." she shrugged her small shoulders. "...created that." She pointed to the plushie clutched to Lia's chest. "I hope it'll be okay... I mean, I know, it's not the real thing..."

     "It's wonderful! Thank you so much, Amanda!" the Ixi shouted, and again, jumped up and down. "It's just like the real thing, except better!" Without further words the Ixi sailed to her own room where she hastily pulled on her Halloween costume, holding her bag in her left arm, and, of course, her Ixi plushie in the other. A wide grin was glued to her face as she glanced into her full length mirror, twirling about and holding her pitchfork over her shoulder. Then she headed out.

     In about fifteen minutes Lia was hopping about the neighborhood, ringing fancy doorbells and knocking on straw doors. At the last house, when Lia's bag was full to the top, there was an elderly Lupe who smiled at the sight of her. "My, my," she said, as she dropped a Pink Rockstick in the bag. "Look at you! The fearsome twosome."

The End