The Lucky Negg

      It was a brisk day in Brightvale and the sun was setting over the treetops. A Cybunny named Juniper was taking a stroll through the forest on her way home when she stumbled upon a bush full of strange-looking neggs. She approached the bush and reached her paw down to grab the negg, swiping her finger across its jewelled surface. The jewels were iridescent and shone with warm tones of pink, yellow, and orange as the sun danced across its surface.

      “What kind of negg is this?” Juniper thought aloud.

      She plucked one from the bush and put it in her basket. Juniper swung her basket back and forth all the way home, humming a tune until she reached her den.

     * * *

     Once she was home, she asked her brother, Jon, about the negg.

     “Have you ever seen a negg like this before?” she asked.

     “Why, no. I haven’t. It sure is beautiful!” he replied.

     “How do you think it would taste?” she prompted.

     “It looks like it would be sweet and juicy. You should try it,” he said.

     Juniper ate the negg, like he suggested. As soon as she bit into it, juice exploded out of the side of her mouth. She giggled. It was indeed sweet and delicious!

     “Wow, you were right. It is so tasty!” she said, her eyes wide with excitement.

     “You should find that bush and bring more home for us tomorrow,” Jon said.

     Juniper replied, “If I can find it again, I will!”

     She curled up in her bed, thinking of that beautiful, yummy negg. She slept soundly and dreamlessly that night.

     * * *

     The next morning, she woke up feeling rejuvenated. She put on her jacket and headed out the door. She went to put her keys into her pocket and felt something. Could it be?! She found 10,000 NP in her pocket! She jumped up and down, squealing with joy.

     “I’m going to buy Jon and I a few boxes of Kadoatie Puffs at the store! He’ll be so happy!” she said to herself.

     Juniper smiled her entire walk to work, feeling grateful for her immense luck.

     * * *

     On her way home from work, Juniper looked for the bush with the strange neggs and found it nearly right away. Today, there were TWICE as many neggs on the bush. She plucked eight from their stems, put them in her basket, and went on her way.

     She opened the den door and said, “Jon, are you home? I found that negg bush again!”

     Jon rushed over to see Juniper’s basket overflowing with bright, shiny neggs! They were casting prisms of light all across the inside of the den. Rainbows danced across the room, pirouetting atop the kitchen table and walls.

     “Oh my goodness, they’re beautiful. Let’s have them for dinner!” Jon said, eyes wide with excitement.

     Jon and Juniper sat down to eat two neggs each, revelling in their syruppy, saccharine goodness. They were so satisfied, they were smiling from ear to ear. All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door.

     “Who could that be?” asked Juniper, her fluffy eyebrows furrowing with curiosity.

     “I don’t know. I’ll get the door.”

     Jon stood up and turned the doorknob. On the other side of the thick wooden frame was none other than the Grumpy Old King himself. Jon and Juniper stared at him with their mouth agape and their eyes the size of saucers.

     “H-hi,” says Jon, clearing his throat. “I mean, hm. Hello, your majesty.”

      Jon bows and King Skarl shakes his hand in front of his face, as if to stop him. “No need for the courtesies today, my good man. I am here to grant you a debt owed to your grandfather. As you may know, he was part of my father’s cavalry and was never returned the weapon used to win one of our greatest battles. I would like to give it to you and your family as a gift upon his passing.”

     Jon and Juniper look at one another before returning their gaze to the king.

     “Our grandfather died nearly a decade ago…” thought Juniper to herself, scratching behind her ear.

     “I don’t know what to say. Thank you so much, we appreciate you coming all the way here just for this,” said Jon. “What weapon are you returning, if I may ask?”

     King Skarl pulls the sword from its scabbard and Jon and Juniper gasp. The light that the sword emits is nearly blinding. They shield their eyes as the King responds, “It is the Gemmed Sword of Light”.

     Juniper whispers, “That weapon is nearly priceless! What are we going to do with it?!”

     King Skarl puts the sword back in its scabbard and extends his hand to Jon. “She’s a fair maiden, that sword. Isn’t she?”

     Jon nods his head, unable to form words.

     “Take care, lady and gentleman. I hope that you feel as if the kingdom has repaid its debt to you and your family. G’day,” King Skarl tips his crown, flashing them a crooked, pointed grin. The door closes behind him.

     “Wh-What was THAT?!” Juniper shrieks. “We now have a weapon worth tens of millions of neopoints just living in our house?” She starts to pace the room back and forth and back forth and back and forth.

     “I’m just as shocked as you are. I didn’t even know Grandpa was in King Skarl’s cavalry. It’s been so long since he’s been gone…” Jon replied incredulously.

     There was a silence in the room as if to mark their disbelief. Juniper looked at her basket with the four remaining neggs, the refracted light catching her eye as if to taunt her.

      Part 2

      Dawn was breaking over Brightvale as Jon made his way to Brightvale Books the next morning. He felt a briskness to his step that seemed to propel him towards the bookstore faster than usual.

      Ding. The bell on the door chimed and the shopkeeper emerged from behind a door. Her name was Natalie and she was said to be the most well-read Ixi in all of Brightvale. Her auburn fur was tousled in a carefree manner atop her head, seemingly fluffy to the touch.

     “Welcome Jon. What are you here for today?” she asked. Jon was quite the regular here, perusing the bookshelves in the shop on a weekly basis.

     “Nothing in particular. I just know you get your shipments of new books late on Wednesday nights, so I thought Thursday morning would be prime time to see your newest arrivals!”

     Natalie looked at Jon coyly, allowing her glasses to slide down the bridge of her nose so she could barely peer over the top of their thick black rims. She said in a hushed tone, “You have to promise not to tell anyone, but we got one of the rarest books I’ve ever seen come through the shop last night”.

     “Really? What book is it?” Jon whispered back, inching his way towards Natalie.

     “Come with me and I’ll show you,” she said, motioning for Jon to follow her.

     Jon looked around the empty shop, making sure no one was there to see them. He followed her through the door from which she emerged. It led to a few hallways with creaky wooden floors. The air felt thick with dust as he manoeuvred through the narrow walkway. Natalie led Jon to the storage room which was stacked floor to ceiling with books. There were books on shelves, books in boxes, books still plastic-wrapped in their crates, books haphazardly scattered around the room. Jon looked around in awe, pausing in his tracks.

     “I’ve never seen this many books before…” he trailed off.

     “Yeah? Well, I’ve never seen this book before!” said Natalie, her voice sparkling with delight. “I mean, I’ve heard of it, but I never would have thought it would be shipped here to our little store in Brightvale!”

     Jon looked at the book in her hand. It had a deep maroon cover with a beaker on it and seemed to be thousands of pages long.

     “What book is it?” asked Jon curiously.

     “Alchemy Lessons. It’s the most theoretically accurate book of chemistry in all of Neopia. There aren’t many copies in print,” Natalie said, turning the book over in her hands and tracing the binding with her hoof.

     “Wow, I’ve heard of this book, but never thought I’d be able to see a copy in my lifetime,” Jon responded in awe.

     Natalie walked away slowly with the book in hand, looking down at the knotted wood floors, biting her lip in thought.

     “You know,” she said, pausing and turning back around to face Jon. “As per the store policy, I’m not supposed to take home books for myself until they’ve been sitting on the shelf for at least a week…” Jon raised an eyebrow at her and Natalie avoided his gaze. “And I know this book won’t sit on the shelf for more than a half hour… If I were to allow you first dibs on the book, would you mind buying it upfront and letting me borrow it to read once you’re done?” she asked, impishly. “You could, of course, keep it once I read it. I just want to make sure I get my chance to comb through it. It’ll be a once in a lifetime experience.” Natalie raised her eyes to meet his, looking up through a worrisome brow.

     “Natalie, I would want nothing more. I’m honoured that you trust me enough with a book this rare,” Jon blushed and scratched his head bashfully.

     “Of course I do, Jon. You’re in here every week buying new books for your collection and are nothing but kind every time. You were the first neopet I thought of when I saw this book come through,” she said with a dainty smile.

     “Thank you, truly,” Jon responded. “And hey - I won’t even haggle for this one. I’ll pay in full.”

     Natalie and Jon shared a laugh before heading back to the front of the store.

     * * *

     “Juniper? Are you home?” Jon opened the door of the den, hobbling inside with the weight of his new rare book filling his arms.

     “Hiya Jon!” Juniper pranced out of her room with a smile on her face. “Whatcha got there?”

     “You’ll never believe my luck,” Jon said, placing the book on the table. “I got one of Neopia’s most sought after books from Natalie today. It just so happened to be shipped to the store the night before and I was the person Natalie trusted enough to sell it to.”

     Juniper placed her paw on the book, tracing the words on the dense cover. “Huh…” she said, sitting down at the table and trailing off in thought.

     Jon looked at her with concern. “What? What is it?” he asked.

     “Well, it just seems odd. All of these crazy wonderful coincidences that keep happening,” she said, her eyes studying the ceiling before landing on Jon’s gaze.

     “What do you mean?” asked Jon, still confused.

     “I don’t know. Don’t you find it strange that I found thousands of neopoints in my coat pocket one day and then the next, King Skarl himself showed up at our door with a priceless weapon? And now, this… All of this can’t be a coincidence,” Juniper said, the severity of her tone leaving an eerie silence in the air.

     “When you put it that way, no. I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” Jon said, bringing his paw up to his mouth in thought. “Oh, I know! You’ve been carrying around a Uni Shoe in your pocket, haven’t you?” Jon laughed, clearly amused with himself.

     “Stop joking around! This is serious. There must be something bringing us this luck. I just don’t know what…” Juniper stared off into the distance, pursing her lips as she thought harder. Something caught her eye. It was the basket that held the four remaining mystery neggs.

     Juniper stood up abruptly and gasped. “Jon! It’s the neggs!” She ran over to the basket on the counter and grabbed one, holding it up to examine it.

     “You really think so? They’re just neggs, Juniper. How could they bring us luck?” Jon asked sceptically.

     “Jon, neggs give neopets a range of things - items, abilities, illnesses. Why wouldn’t a negg be able to bring us luck? It makes total sense!” she exclaimed with pride.

     “Maybe you’re right…” he said, motioning to Juniper to hand him the negg. He turned it over a few times in his paws. “So, what do we do with them?”

     Juniper looked from the negg to Jon and back again, her eyes growing wide with the realization that this decision was heavier than the million neopoint book on their kitchen table.

     Part 3

      Later that night, Juniper lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. She kept thinking of all of the possibilities held within these neggs. They could give so many neopians love, happiness, and riches. They could give a pounded pet a new home. They could make a neopet never have to return to the Soup Kitchen again...

     “There are so many ways these neggs could spread joy throughout all of Neopia, so why am I so worried?” she thought to herself as her heart began to race with the realization at the tip of her tongue.

     Juniper sat up in bed, breaking out in a sweat as she finally understood what power these neggs truly had.

     “Jon! Jon!” Juniper yelled, running into his bedroom.

     Jon nearly jumped out of bed, startled out of a dead sleep.

     “Holy Kadoaties, Juniper! It’s midnight! What are you doing barging into my room and waking me up?!” Jon shouted through sleepy eyes and a groggy voice.

     “It’s the neggs, Jon! The neggs!” she shouted back, waving her arms in distress.

     “What about the neggs, Juniper?!” Jon asked, obviously irritated. “They’re on the counter. The neggs are fine! Let me go back to bed.” Jon pulled the covers over his head, groaning in exasperation.

     “No, Jon. I’m not concerned about the neggs right here, right now. I’m concerned about what the neggs will do to us,” she said, lowering in her voice as if the neggs were listening from the kitchen counter.

     Jon laughed from underneath his bed sheets. “What? You think the neggs are going to eat us in our sleep? They’re just neggs, Juniper! And they aren’t even the ferocious kind.”

     “Ha-ha, very funny. You know that’s not what I mean!” Juniper rolled her eyes in frustration and pulled the covers from off of his face. She sank to her knees, leaning in closer to Jon’s face.

     “The neggs have the power to give us unimaginable things. That power could make us selfish and greedy. Jon, I don’t want that. And I don’t want that for Neopia either,” she laid her head on the side of the bed.

     Jon reached a paw from beneath the covers and stroked her head.

      “Sister, you are not selfish or greedy. These neggs may be powerful, but you and your heart of gold hold far more power,” Jon reassured her.

     “Thanks, brother,” Juniper said with a sigh.

     “Now get back to bed. I promise we will come up with the perfect plan in the morning.”

     Juniper picked up her head and smiled sincerely at her brother.

     “Okay, good night,” she said, shutting the door behind her.

     * * *

     Light shone through the window of Juniper’s room, waking her up. She yawned and sat up, looking at the clock and realizing that she slept in on this beautiful weekend morning.

     “Jon?” she said, looking for her brother as she came out into the kitchen.

     “Good morning, sleepy head!” he said, handing her a steaming cup of ginger green tea, her favourite. Before she could even say thank you, Jon continued. “While you were sleeping, I came up with a plan for our little lucky neggs over there,” he motioned towards the basket on the counter.

     “Oh? And what is that plan?” Juniper asked, intrigued.

     “Well, you were right. These neggs could spread greed, hatred, and jealousy throughout Neopia. They have power that has to be harnessed for good and managed. That’s where we come in.” Jon sipped his tea, allowing a brief silence to fill the room.

     “Uh, you do realize we’re just two Cybunny siblings living underneath a tree in the forest of Brightvale, right?” Juniper raised her eyebrows, words dripping with attitude.

     “Yes. Yes, I do.” Jon sipped his tea again.

     “Okay… Let me ask again - WHAT is that plan of yours?” Juniper looked at Jon as if he was absolutely insane.

     “We will pick all of the lucky neggs from the bush each day, donate them to the Money Tree, and never tell a soul.” Jon sips again, finishing his cup.

     The expression lines on Juniper’s face relaxed as she let this plan soak in. “That’s… That’s brilliant,” she said in disbelief.

     “Told you I had a plan,” Jon smirked, looking at his sister out of the corner of his eye with a smug look on his face.

     Juniper ignored him. “The Money Tree… It will ensure that these neggs go to any Neopian - no matter how poor or rich they are, no matter how happy or sad they are, no matter… Well, any condition at all! They can’t be greedily hoarded this way or bought or sold!” Juniper exclaimed, a smile spreading from cheek to cheek in utter relief.

     * * *

     The next day, Juniper went to the bush and gathered nearly thirty lucky neggs. She swiftly donated them to the Money Tree and the news about these neggs spread like wildfire. The cover of the Neopian Times was plastered with these mysterious neggs, its pages filled with stories of neopets all around Neopia eating them and having brilliant luck. Some neopets won huge payouts at Food Club while others restocked rare item after rare item. A few neopets even got to take a dip in the Rainbow Fountain. Whatever their happenstance, it spread joy throughout Neopia, just as Juniper and Jon had hoped.

      To this day, it is said that the Money Tree gives out lucky neggs every so often to Neopians who radiate the same selflessness and golden-hearted spirit that Juniper and Jon possessed. You just have to arrive with an open heart, an open mind, and a belief that joy can be found in the most peculiar of places.

      The End.