Trash Everywhere

     It's really annoying.

     No matter where I start digging for a nice hole or tunnel (Yes, I like digging even if I am a faerie Bori; the wings don't get much on the way when I press them against my back), I always seem to find some more shoes or tin cans and sometimes even Bits of Barbed Wire. That's dangerous! I hurt my paw once so badly that I had to be taken to the hospital because I had a Bit of Barbed Wire stuck too deep. Irresponsible people throwing those into nature should be reported to Judge Hog or some other authority.

     One day when we were in Neopia Central, we went to the Money Tree to give some of our stuff away -because we didn't need it- we saw that the Money Tree was again filled with Rotting Old Shoes, Broken Fishing Poles, Kelp, Sea Ferns, Half Coconut Shells, Mouldy Petpet Beds and other gross things that nobody wanted. I mean it is the idea of the Money Tree to give away stuff that you don't want, but sheesh, people could just discard that stuff because nobody wants it. And they stink horribly. Neopets that have good sense of smell can't even go close to that stuff because after those rotting old shoes and moldy petpet beds dry they start to smell horrible: rotting sour stench that makes you gag. Ugh! Just thinking it makes me feel disgusted.

     After that we went to the Neopian Marketplace to find new toys for me and books for KiDai and Lega and maybe some weapons for Tiikneo. I have always liked the Marketplace because it's nice to see all the stuff that's for sale and maybe talk with some of the shop keepers there, but now even the Marketplace is starting to stink more and more because of all the drying kelp and shoes and dung. I mean dung alone isn't that bad; I actually like some of the dung furniture that Tyrannians sell, but when mixed with the stench from the so-called fishing junk, it just makes you feel sick. I don't really get the point of selling that stuff in user shops; I mean if nobody wants them from the Money Tree where they are free, why would anyone actually pay for them?

     As you probably can guess, we didn't stay long in the Marketplace. We only had one last stop on our route and that was Mystery Island Trading Post and you probably can guess that it too was full of stinky, yucky stuff. KiDai promised we wouldn't stay long and that we could wait outside when she was setting up the trades.

     So Tiikneo and I decided to wait outside the Trading Post building when KiDai and Lega went inside. They set up the trades for the week and turned to leave when they noticed a trade with the note: "10 Junk Items! - Trash Collector Program - See Lookup". They investigated it for a moment but then turned to leave; we discard all the junk items we collect on our daily rounds so there was no need for us to bid on that. When they had turned around they noticed a small yellow Acara who almost jumped at their face, or Lega's face to be precise, because Lega is shorter than KiDai.

     "Hi, you can bid on that trade, really I set it up so people can give their junk items to me so I can discard them so there will be even little less junk in Neopia. It's not too late yet, you can still bid; nobody else has bid on it yet, so please bid and I will take care of your junk problems, really. Believe me." She said it all very fast and when she had finished she took a deep breath and looked at KiDai and Lega. "Well?" she asked.

     "We do discard our own junk," KiDai said patiently, like she does with me when I get too excited about something. "But I would like to say that we really appreciate you for setting up trades like that," KiDai said and left, I mean she left the Trading Post building and came where I and Tiikneo were waiting; she didn't leave the Mystery Island. That would be really mean to leave the rest of us here when she goes home alone. We usually move as a family and are rarely moving alone. Sometimes we split up as pairs to get things done faster. But now, I'm straying from the topic.

     When she and Lega came to where we were waiting, we all prepared to go home, but then the little yellow Acara and faerie Xweetok came to us. They were really small. All the Xweetoks are small compared to other species, but she was and still is the smallest Acara I have ever seen.

     "Hey, I think it's great that you discard your own junk. You could help me to clean Neopia. I really need help; there are so few of us for now, but one day there will be hundreds of thousands of us and then there will no longer be this much junk everywhere. That's my dream at least." For being so small, she sure can talk long without breathing at all, but Acaras are water creatures, so maybe they can hold their breath longer than most species. After she finished, there was a long silence when we were trying to understand everything she said. Tiikneo just stared at the little Acara with her eyes huge; KiDai was smiling and trying to think what to say. I was thinking that an Acara and Xweetok that small could probably wear clothes meant for the Usuki dolls when Lega surprised us all.

     "Sure, I would like to help you," Lega said with a big smile. "What should we do? Do we just set up a trade like yours?

     "Ooh, how wonderful! Yes, you set up a trade, but first you have to be listed on my petpage so everybody can see that you are an official Trash Collector Helper. I'm TrashCollector and she is Kylikina, nice to meet you." She introduced herself and her Xweetok companion.

     So we agreed to join The Trash Collector Program and helpers and have always at least one trade for other users to give their junk items for us to discard. It's not really as much trouble as you would first think; when you discard the junk quickly, it doesn't start to smell as much as if it's left to rot. And we are now quite good friends with TC (that's how I decided to call TrashCollector) and Kylikina. I like to play in my family's Kelp Garden with TC and Kylikina gets really well along with my side-account brother HonouredBestSpy because they have similar hobbies.

     It's not like we can rid the Neopia of useless junk, but we can make a little difference when at least a few Neopians discard their junk instead of just tossing it to the Money Tree.

The End