Spring Clear-Out

     I began early in the morning, being merciless in my decisions about what to keep and what could be discarded. A pile of donations for the Money Tree was created, although a lot of our stuff was just junk to be discarded as I didn’t want to clog up the Money Tree with rubbish that would not be of benefit to even the poorest Neopians.

     After three trips to the Money Tree laden with unwanted belongings, and numerous other broken items discarded, I finally stood back and was pleased with the progress I had made. It was finally possible to fully visually assess what we had in our storage box, and the items were organised to ensure they would be easy to locate when they were needed in future. I closed and locked the door behind me before heading back to my Neohome for a well-earned cup of tea and sit down.

     The next morning, I was getting ready to head out to Meridell to do my daily quest for Illusen when my Grundo ran down the stairs towards me.

     “Have you seen my Blumaroo plushie, Abs?” He asked, the words racing out of his mouth as though he was struggling to contain his excitement. “I’m off on a picnic with my friends, and we are all supposed to be bringing our favourite plushie, but I can’t find Pinky the Blumaroo anywhere!”

     “When did you last see him, Finn?” I replied, sure that Finn had simply misplaced him in his bedroom somewhere.

     “Well, we definitely put him into storage a few weeks ago because our cousins were coming to visit and I didn’t trust them near Pinky, remember?” Finn explained. “But I haven’t seen him since… He must still be there!” Before I could say anything, Finn was grabbing his coat and guiding me towards the front door.

     Even before we reached the Safety Deposit Box a feeling of unease was building in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t recall seeing a Blumaroo plushie at all during my epic clear-out the previous day. I had a feeling this was not going to end well.

     Over an hour passed as Finn and I searched through every drawer and cupboard, items being flung all over the room. My previous day’s organisation gone in a fraction of the time it took for me to sort it.

     “He’s not here!” Finn wailed in despair, looking around the storage facility in desperation. “Where has all our stuff gone? There was definitely more here before!”

     “Erm, I had a bit of a clear-out yesterday,” I paused, knowing this would not go down well as my pets were fiercely protective of all their items. “I donated long-forgotten belongings that somebody would make better use of than us. Old toys that you’ve outgrown and the like.”

     “What!” Finn exclaimed. “You don’t mean that Pinky has been sent to the Money Tree, do you? How could you?”

     “Um, well I don’t remember seeing him yesterday. Although he’s certainly not here now, so I’m afraid it looks like that is almost definitely what has happened.” There had been a mountain of plushies yesterday, and I couldn’t for the life of me recall if any of them had been a Blumaroo. “But I would never have sent him there on purpose, I must have made a terrible mistake!”

     Finn burst into inconsolable tears.

     “Finn, I’m so sorry! How can I ever make this up to you? Shall we go to the toy shop right now, see if we can get an identical plushie?” I rushed to comfort him, but it seemed to just make him cry even harder.

     “No other Blumaroo plushie can ever replace Pinky! He was my best friend and now I’ll never be able to see him ever again!” Finn wailed.

     “Finn, I’m sorry, I feel rotten. Let me at least take you to your favourite shops and games, try and cheer you up… please?”

     Finn looked up at me, thinking.

     “Maybe there are a few things you could do to begin to make it up to me,” Finn began thoughtfully. “There are a few things I’ve had my eye on, and I’m also kind of hungry…”

     Three hours later and we had visited all of Finn’s favourite spots. He had managed to convince me to buy him a new yo-yo, a Usuki plushie, a wooden sphere puzzle, and even a beautiful striped toy box to store his haul in. He’d seemingly enjoyed relaying to the Toy Shop owner how I’d thoughtlessly disposed of his beloved Pinky without a second thought. The shopkeeper had looked at me disapprovingly and shook his head.

     After leaving the Toy Shop we had played several of Finn’s favourite games before looking for something to quell his insatiable hunger. I’d tried to draw the line at his request for three hot dogs but he stuck his bottom lip out and allowed it to quiver, tugging at my heartstrings and reminding me that it was my fault that he had been upset in the first place.

     Finn had a great outing and grinned from ear to ear as he showed off his new toys to any unsuspecting pet who strayed within an arm’s length of us as we sauntered around Neopia Central. I had to admit that I was a bit embarrassed as the other owners silently judged me for excessively spoiling my Grundo.

     We then eventually turned back from home, Finn clutching his stomach slightly but denying that his eyes had indeed been larger than his stomach as I had accused.

     As we approached our street Finn finally admitted that the ice cream in addition to the multiple hot dogs had probably been too much, and I was shocked to see that his complexion was now a frightful green colour.

     “Bleurgh!” He exclaimed as he was sick all over himself.

     “Oh no! Okay, let’s quickly run back home, we’re only around the corner!” I grabbed Finn’s hand to guide him back to our Neohome.

     Once back in the house I sent Finn straight to the bathroom to clean himself up whilst I went to his bedroom to get him some clean clothes. Opening his closet, I looked on the top shelf for his favourite shirt when something in the bottom corner of the cupboard caught my eye. Something that looked soft… and pink…

     “Finn! What is this?” I shouted angrily, a Pink Blumaroo plushie clutched in my fist.

     Finn peered around the doorway into the room.

     “Ah, you found him…” Finn looked down at the floor guiltily as he said this. “I have absolutely no idea how he got in there! Thanks for the trip out anyway!”

     The End.