We'll Miss You, Y14

      "She does! Mommy, I want some more. Please?" pleaded Nicki, with her closed Aisha eyes staring at her mom.

      "Sorry, I can't make anymore at the moment. I need to prepare for the New Year," she replied.

      "What's New Year?" the two baby Neopets asked at the same time.

      Nicki's mom thought for a moment, and then replied, "It is when the old year goes away and the new year comes. We welcome it by staying up until midnight on New Year's Eve, the day before New Year. I need to put up some decorations since some of our family is coming. You can ask me more about this later. Okay, sweetie?"

      "Okay, Mommy. Hey Mia, let's go play blocks in my room. Mia?" Mia wasn't following Nicki into her room. Instead, she had a look on her face that said she was upset.

      "What's wrong, Mia?" Nicki asked.

      "Don't you get it, Nicki? The old year wants to go away! We must have done something to make him want to leave..." Mia stared at the ground, feeling bad.

      "You're right! We have to tell him we're sorry!"

      "But how are we going to do that?" she asked.

      Both babies thought hard for a whole two minutes. Neither of them had any idea. So, they decided to play blocks and think later.

      "These Present Blocks are cool. Did you get it from Santa Claus?" asked Mia, as she started on the fifth floor of her tower. The blocks made it look like a pile of presents.

      "No. My uncle got me them. He also got me a Air Faerie Snowglobe," replied Nicki, from behind a wall of blocks.

      "Why? Don't you just get one gift from people?"

      "Oh, he broke my Soup Faerie Snowglobe, so he gave that one to say sorry. That and a card."

      Mia suddenly exclaimed, "That's it!"

      "What's it? What's it?"

      "We'll say sorry to Old Year, by giving him a CARD!" Mia exclaimed excitedly.

      Mia and Nicki ran to the nearest card shop, Perfect Greetings. They rushed to the first aisle they saw.

      "Let's see... Chia Holiday Greeting Card?" said Mia as she looked through the piles and piles of greetings.

      "No, Christmas is already over," replied Nicki, who was sitting on a high pile of cards.

      "I Love You With All My Heart Card?"

      Both Neopets said," EWWW!"

      "We'll never find the card at this rate..." Nicki said gloomily. But right after she said that, Mia shouted, "FOUND IT!"

      The orange card she held up read, Card of Apology. It had a face on the front that really emphasized the Apology part.

      "Perfect!"

      After they paid for the card, they started to write.

      "What should we put in it?" asked Mia.

      "What do you mean put in it? How do you put something IN a card?" Nicki wondered aloud.

      "I mean, what do we write in it?" she said as she shook her head.

      "Umm... write this down okay?" Mia picked up her crayon. "Dear Old Year, we are sorry for making you want to leave. We did not mean to make you mad. Please don't leave, Old Year. From: Nicki and Mia. Got it?"

      "Hey, why do you get your name first? I want my name to be first!"

      "Well, I came up with it, so I should get my name first!"

      "But I wrote it all down!" complained Mia.

      "Whatever! Now, how do we get it to Old Year?"

      Both Mia and Nicki had no clue where Old Year lived, so they couldn't mail it to him.

      "Why don't we just give it to the mailman, and write down Old Year on the front. He should know where to take it to!" Nicki suggested.

      "You're right! He knows where everyone lives! Including Santa Claus!" Mia responded excitedly. "Let's give it to him right now!"

      They started walking to the post office. It was a chilly day and a wind was blowing.

      "I hope Old Year accepts our apology. I really liked this year, and I don't want him to leave or a dumb New Year to replace him!" Mia cried angrily.

      "Yes, me too! Remember when-"

      All of a sudden, a breeze started. The two kids started to run toward the post office, when the card was blown right out of there hands!

      "NO!! The Card of Apology!" cried Mia.

      They chased after the card for three blocks, until they couldn't run any further. Tired and depressed, Mia and Nicki sat by an apple tree to get some rest.

      "What do we do now? We lost the card and now we don't have anything to give to Old Year. How do we tell him not to leave?" Mia and Nicki began to sob.

      A Bori was heading home from the market, when he saw the duo. Knowing that something was up, he walked toward them and asked, "What's wrong, little ones? By the way my name is Barron."

      Nicki looked up, tears running down her eyes, and said, "We, we , we... made Old Year want to, to ...leave, so we wrote him a *sniffle* card. But the wind, blew it away. Now Old Year is going to leave! WAH!"

      "That's all?" asked Barron.

      "YES! I don't want Old Year to leave!"

      "What're your names?"

      "Mia and Nicki," replied Mia in between sniffles.

      "Well Mia and Nicki, Old Year isn't mad at you."

      "He isn't?"

      "Because there isn't anyone named Old Year. So, there would be no one to be mad at you!" he started to laugh, but the two baby Neopets just stared at him.

      "He does exist! You're just lying to make us feel better!" yelled Mia.

      The Bori thought for a second. How could he cheer them up? There wasn't an Old Year, so he wouldn't be able to bring them to him so they could apologize. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

      "You're right. I am lying. Old Year is mad at you."

      "See? We did make Old Year mad. Now he'll leave!" they began to cry again.

      "But! There is a way to tell him your sorry. You want to know how?"

      "Yes! Yes! How do we tell him?"

      "You see that tree over there?" Barron pointed to a Cotton Candy Tree nearby. "If you place a cotton candy leaf from that tree onto the ground, you will be able to hear and talk to Old Year. Now I have to go. Good luck!"

      Hearing this, Mia and Nicki rushed to the Cotton Candy Tree and plucked a leaf from it. They placed it down onto the ground next to it.

      However, they didn't know that Barron was right behind the tree.

      "Old Year? Are you there?" asked Nicki.

      "Yes?" replied 'Old Year'.

      "Oh! Did you hear that Mia? Old Year said something! Barron wasn't kidding!" Nicki cried jumping up and down.

      "Mr. Old Year? We're sorry we made you mad. We didn't mean to. We don't want you to leave!" apologized Mia.

      "I'm not mad at you," 'Old Year' replied.

      "You're not? Then why are you leaving?"

      "Because I have to. My time is up. But, a New Year will replace me."

      "But, we don't want a New Year to replace you. We like this year! We had so many good times!" Nicki said.

      "Ah, but you will have good times in the New Year, too." The two didn't look like they believed him so he continued, "When were you born?"

      "In April 2011."

      "Well, did you have good times in 2011?"

      "Yes..." answered Nicki.

      "But you had good times this year, too didn't you?" asked 'Old Year'.

      "Yes..." said Mia.

      "Then you will have good times in the new year, too. Maybe even better then this year!"

      "I guess you're right, but what will happen to you? If you leave? Won't you be lonely?" Mia looked up at the sky, at nothing in particular.

      "I'll have all the other Old Years with me. 2011 of them. That's a lot of people isn't it? How can you be lonely with so many people?"

      "I guess you can't! We'll miss you, Old Year, but we hope you are happy!" Mia and Nicki smiled at the Cotton Candy Tree.

      "I will be if you remember this," he said.

      "Remember what?" asked Mia, curiously.

      "Remember to think about me when you celebrate the New Year. Remember to say goodbye to me," 'Old Year' said softly.

      "Okay, we promise! Goodbye Old Year!" they cried.

      "Goodbye, Mia and Nicki!" Barron cried.

      On New Year's Eve, Mia and Nicki welcomed the New Year. But they didn't forget to say goodbye to the Old Year.

      At 11:59 P.M, they sat together on the balcony, staring out at the sky, and together they said, "Goodbye, Old Year! We will miss you!"

      As the bell rang 12, they said, "Happy New Year!!!"

      The two friends smiled at each other, imagining everything that would come in this New Year.

The End

Happy New Year!