A Christmas Miracle

      Lady DeAmore the Red Korbat was watching the news in the living room. Even though there was a fire going which was so cozy, and her mom had given her neggnog, she seemed down. Lady sighed heavily.

      “It's just the news,” she said.

      Cotton Candygum the Yellow Wocky took a sip of her neggnog.

      “Judging by what she is watching and her nature, she feels bad for him,” wisely expressed Cotton.

      Angel rolled her eyes. “Always the wise guy, aren't you, Cotton?”

      “Girl,” corrected Cotton.

      “Oh, whatever. Well, who DO you feel sorry for, Lady?” asked Angel. She was more empathetic to Lady than Cotton ever was.

      “Well...” Lady began. “They were putting on the news how Dr. Sloth must be more evil now than ever because it's the holidays and you KNOW how much he hates them, and I had to wonder... don't you feel sorry for him?”

      Angel and Cotton looked at each other...

      And fell to the floor laughing.

      “Come on, you guys!” said Lady. But her sisters were too busy rolling in the floor. After a few awkward minutes, the Wocky and Zafara stood up, still giggling a bit.

      “You are so strange, sister,” said Cotton in between giggles.

      “I love you and everything, Lady, but THAT has got to be the weirdest thing you have EVER said!” said Angel. The Wocky and Zafara continued laughing after Angel was done talking. Furious (and that's a first), Lady stormed into her room and began looking for her piggy bank and pink cardigan.

      Once she found them, she opened her room window that she shared with Angel. She scribbled a note so her family would know she was okay.

     Dear Cotton, Angel, and Mommy-

     I will be temporarily on leave because I need to give Dr. Sloth a present. Surprising, yes, I know, but everyone needs a chance. That's what you always say, Mommy. So today I will apply those words to Dr. Sloth. I feel so bad for him. I can picture him lying in his bed, all alone because no one likes him. But I say he needs Christmas cheer and spirit, so that is my mission. I will be okay, so please don't send a whole team of investigators to look for me. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow.

      Love, Lady DeAmore

      After she was done writing the letter, she climbed down the window, piggy bank in hand.

      No matter what, she was going to get Dr. Sloth a present.

      * * * * *

      Out in the cold, Lady DeAmore was calmly looking for Dr. Sloth. Then she realized something. Dr. Sloth lived in the Virtupets Space Station or somewhere in outer space. She lived in Neopia Central. She slapped her forehead. “I am so dumb sometimes,” she muttered.

      She went to the Marketplace to try to buy something for Dr. Sloth. Then she heard her tummy growl. “Great,” she muttered. “Just great.”

      She walked towards the Soup Kitchen. The kind Soup Faerie could give her something to eat. She approached the familiar cauldron-like home and knocked the door.

      The Soup Faerie opened the door. “Yes, young Korbat?” she asked.

      “Umm, hi, I was wondering if you could give me some, uh, soup, because I was going to do something but, umm, yeah, I got hungry, soooo.... Yeah,” Lady stuttered.

      The Soup Faerie gave her a quizzical look but let her in.

      Lady sat down in a simple wooden chair in what looked to be the famous faerie's dining room. It was simple, yet comfy. The faerie handed her some soup and sat across from her.

      “So,” the faerie said, breaking the silence, “What brings you here, when it is so cold outside, and so very late?” Lady looked up from her soup to meet the faerie's eyes. They were full of happiness and kindness.

      “Well, Ms., ummm... Soup Faerie...” Lady began.

      “No, no, please. Call me Adelle,” the faerie said.

      “Okay, Adelle. You see, I was watching the news and they said something about Dr. Sloth. That got me to think, 'As evil as he is, he deserves some Christmas cheer,'” Lady explained.

      The faerie had her chin rested on her arm.

      “I see,” she said. “But how will you find him?”

      Lady opened her mouth to speak but then closed it. She looked at her feet.

      “Just what I thought,” said Adelle, smiling. “I can help you there, though.”

      Lady looked up again. She smiled big and shrilly asked, “You would?”

      Adelle nodded. “I can arrange for you to give him the present.”

      “How?” asked Lady, puzzled.

      Adelle smiled. “You'll see.”

     * * * * *

     It turned out that Adelle the Soup Faerie was good friends with the Space Faerie. (“Call me Melina,” she had told Lady.) She took Lady to Dr. Sloth's Evil Lair of Most Terrifying Doom. Or The Lair, to everyone else.

      After flying at least a billion miles from Neopia Central to Dr. Sloth's Evil Lair and blah blah blah, they arrived.

      “Do you have Dr. Sloth's Christmas present, sweetheart?”

      Lady frantically gasped. “Oh my word! I got so hungry I forgot to buy it!”

      The Space Faerie told Lady to calm down. “Love is the biggest present you can give. And you should know that,” she pointed out. She put her hand in Lady's shoulder. "That is the only present you need."

      Lady waved her arms up and down. She jumped up and down. She spun in circles. Then she started talking.

      “But he's an evil mastermind! He could easily kill me! My family would NEVER know about it!” she yelled.

      Melina smiled. “Love is the biggest present you can give,” she repeated.

      Lady and Melina knocked on the metallic door from Sloth's lair. A robotic voice came from a voice... thing. “Name?” it inquired.

      “The Space Faerie and Lady DeAmore the Korbat,” she said.

      They could hear some scrambling after that. It sounded like robotic things being thrown to the ground. “Out of my way, you fools!” came a voice from the weird tech thing. “Why, hello, Melina,” said a threatening voice.

      “Sloth, I mean no harm. I am here in peace. Someone wants to visit you.” She smiled down at Lady, who was whimpering.

      “I have no time for this. Evil plans must be hatched! Good plans must be ruined! My highly intelligent mind MUST come up with...”

      He was cut in mid-sentence by Melina. “Just shut it, Sloth. You should be glad to have company.”

      The door opened and Lady and Melina found themselves in a dark, long hallway. After a few minutes, they got to a room where tons of robots and Grundos were frantically running from place to place, some holding important papers, others pushing carts, and yet some others snoozing. A small orange Grundo came up to them. “Hello. I am Gigabyte. Master Sloth tells me that against his wishes, you have come to see him. Let me lead you to him.”

      * * * * *

      “What?” impatiently asked Sloth once Gigabyte had found Dr. Sloth's office (no Grundo or robot is allowed to go there, so no one really had any idea where he spent the day). Only the Space Faerie was in there; Lady was outside the door, waiting for the faerie to tell her to come in. Lady was so nervous, she thought of escaping and just letting Melina give Sloth a present. But she couldn't.

      “It's the holidays,” said Melina.

      “Oh, my! Really? That is news to me!” sarcastically said Dr. Sloth. He smiled wryly while Melina rolled her eyes. “What about them?” he said more grumpily.

      “There is this neopet that wishes to say something to you,” explained Melina.

      “More hate letters?” asked Dr. Sloth. He appeared to look for something. Then he exclaimed, "A-ha!" He had papers in his hand. "Hate letters? Already got THOSE.”

      Melina shook her head, sighed, and turned around to motion Lady to come in.

      “Hello, Mr. Sloth.” She said it more confidently than she thought she would. “I know it's the holiday season and everyone gets presents. But not you.” She stopped to look at Sloth to see if she had made an effect on him yet. He still looked annoyed. “Drat,” she thought. "Maybe coming here WAS bad idea. I could have stayed home and watched Neovision. I could be safe at home, where it is warm and friendly, sipping neggnog..." She shook her head as if to let the bad thoughts out of her head and continued.

      “So I wondered,'Why you should be the only one to suffer alone, in silence?' Can't you possibly remember younger days where you stayed up so late to wait for presents to magically come? And in the morning, jumping up and down, waiting for your mom or dad to give you some neggnog or hot chocolate with marshmallows and cookies with sugar? Then you would invite all your friends over to share your Christmas miracles? Can you remember Christmas being your favorite holiday and looking forward to it ALL YEAR LONG? Can you, Mr. Sloth, can you remember all of that?”

      At first, Lady thought that she had had no effect on the villain whatsoever because of the expression in his face. But then his face softened, he got tears in his eyes, and he started bawling like a baby Kacheek.

      “It's true!” he cried. “It's all so very true!” He sniffed. “I remember the Christmas tree we put up! And the cookies! And the neggnog! And the presents! Also the Christmas cartoons, and the waiting for this magical holiday! What happened to all of that?” He shook his head sadly, reminiscing. Then, he stood up from his chair and hugged Lady.

      “Merry Christmas, Mr. Sloth.”

      “Merry Christmas to you too.”

The End