Hope For New

     I'm just a yellow Kougra; nothing special. If you want to read my story, go ahead. My story has a happily-ever-after, yes, but it's not like that. My story is much more complicated. It's hard for me to even tell it nowadays. So if you really, truly want to read it, go ahead. Go on, read it, but this is a warning.

      ***

      I felt something tickle my nose, and I scrunched it up.

      "Soooooo cute!!" A voice. A girl. "I'll call you Marty!" This girl spoke in exclamation points. "Come on, Toto!" I saw a green Xweetok flick his tail and follow the girl after she handed a bag of Neopoints to a pink Uni behind the desk. "Thanks so much! He's soooo cute!!!" She said again as she opened the jingling door and we hopped outside. She put me down and got out a blue collar with a jingly bell on it. "For you!" She popped it around my neck and snapped a leash onto it. Toto, the Xweetok, already had a leash on. He swayed towards me and whispered, "I'll explain it when we get to Melissa's Neohome. Trust me, though...It's not a home."

      I blinked. What was going on?

      "We're going to the Pizzaroo to CELEBRATE!!!!!" She said this like it was the most exciting day of her life. Heck, maybe it was, I had no idea.

      We walked for a while, and soon my pads began to hurt from the steaming sidewalk.

      "Can we take an Eyrie?" I asked a little quieter than I would have liked.

      "Oh, sure, Mart Mart! But you're going to have to talk a teensy bit louder with Toto and I, OKAY?!"

      I just nodded while we waited for an Eyrie to fly down. We ended up finding a pirate Eyrie who enjoyed talking (gee, just like someone I know), and talked to Melissa the whole time. Toto saw this and found it a good time to 'explain,' or whatever.

      "Melissa is a collector," Toto began. When he saw my confused look, he elaborated. "She finds rare items—Or rare Neopets, for that matter—and falls in love with them. For a while, at least. Eventually she just sells them or donates them."

      "Why'd she keep you?" I realised this sounded rude only after I said it. "Sorry…"

      "It's alright." Toto twitched his ear. I could tell it wasn't alright after all. "I was her first Neopet. We explored the site together, and she's become attached to me like she does with rare items, except she won't let me go. I've come to like her, actually."

      "How?" I didn't understand how anyone could stand her, especially Toto, since he was so quiet and she was so loud.

      Toto laughed for the first time. "I escape to my books, of course! She buys them buy the pound." He reached for Melissa's back pocket, and she didn't even notice him pull out a card. "See?"

      The card had Toto's picture on it, along with one of what must be his Petpet, an Altachuck. Two words caught my eye; ULTIMATE GENIUS

      The highest rank for intelligence, I'm pretty sure. I didn't want to ask, for fear of Toto laughing at me.

      "Wow!" Was all I could say.

      Toto chuckled. "She thinks that's pretty rare in a Neopet. That may be the reason she keeps me." He looked longingly at Melissa and shook his head, popping the card back into her pocket just as the Eyrie landed.

      "Talk later!" Melissa said to it, waving, as we got off. The Eyrie nodded and soared off.

      We turned to look into the window of the Pizzaroo and smelled the heavenly scent of...Pizza.

      ***

     After we all had full bellies and happy hearts (except maybe Toto. He seemed a little...Je ne sais pas.), we walked in the crisp, nighttime air until we reached Melissa's Neohome.

      Toto was right, it wasn't a home, but boy was it shiny! Trophies and rare items sat in glass cases, looking like they were shined twice a day.

      "They are," Toto whispered, seeming to read my mind.

      Photos of Melissa and Toto with metals lined the wall, and one in particular caught my eye. Toto in a photo with a young Weeble. He seemed happy for once. I wondered who it was, since I'd seen an Altachuck on his card, but I didn't have much time to think, because Melissa hurried me upstairs, Toto close behind her.

      "Here's Toto's room!" Melissa opened the door to Toto's room. Bookshelves lined each wall, and the bed in the middle had a comforter with little pictures of books. A few classic books sat on Toto's bed, and in a little Petpet bed next to the desk in the corner (which was also piled with books, and a few trophies I assumed Melissa forced Toto to put in there), which a baby Altachuck slept in.

      "So he does have an Altachuck!" I said without thinking. This made Toto's face fall a little. Melissa saw this and shook her hand in Toto's face. "Don't worry about that Weeble!" She laughed, shaking her head. "I'm sure he found a new home!"

      Toto glared at Melissa. "I'm going to bed." He growled, whistling for the little Altachuck to wake up. It blinked open it's eyes, realized where it was, and sprang up to follow Toto to his bed.

      The light of a flashlight made me suspect Toto wasn't going to bed anytime soon.

      "And here's your room!" Melissa squealed after closing (slamming) Toto's door. She opened up a room across from Toto's. It had a blue door that looked new, and the inside was mostly empty. A bed in the corner of the room and a desk in the middle were the only furniture. The walls were sky-blue, and the carpet was a soft gray. The room looked brand-new, and I was grateful for it.

      "Don't worry, we'll go shopping tomorrow, and maybe even win you a few trophies of your own!"

      "Oh, um, can I get a few books?" I asked shyly, heading over to the empty desk and remembering what Toto said about escaping.

      Melissa's face fell a little. "Uh, sure," For once she didn't say something in exclamation points. As she closed the door, I heard her mutter to herself, "Too many books. Wonder why I always get stuck with Neopets who actually like them,"

      ***

     The next day was full of things to do; after a breakfast of Glowing Jelly, Melissa took me shopping, leaving Toto at home to do who knows what. She tried fitting me into a hat, which I refused. Finally, after doing boring shopping, like buying things for my room, we went book shopping. A blue Nimmo greeted us from behind the counter. His long legs were propped up on the counter, and his nose was stuck in a book. "Welcome," He mumbled to us.

      I looked through all the books, and picked out three large ones that I guessed would hold me through. Maybe I'd even see if Toto would let me borrow some from his library.

      After book shopping, which Melissa hurried me through, Melissa brought me to the Petpet shop to pick out a Petpet. It smelled like hay and was very warm. The Petpets ran around, slept, ate, and played throughout the whole shop. A certain Greeble caught my eye, and it was love at first sight. Melissa tossed a bag of Neopoints at the front desk and blew a bubble of gum, then popped it with her teeth.

      "C'mon! Lets go to the Pizzaroo to CELEBRATE!!!!" She sounded happy again, which I guess was a good thing. I found out at the Pizzaroo that my Greeble hates Pizza, but has grown very fond of milk, which is where he got the name Milk. A pretty simple, self-explanatory name, but with a lot of meaning. To me, at least. Toto grew fond of Milk, too. He'd scratch him on the head every morning at breakfast time, and laughed when he did something cute or funny. If I hadn't known better, I'd have said everything was perfect. Well, perfect pays a price.

      ***

     I learned to live with Melissa, and Toto wasn't so bad. He let me borrow his books, and Milk liked to play with Toto's Altachuck, Purrr. I didn't want to ask about his Weeble just yet. It seemed like a sad topic, and he had enough to worry about already. He told me I'd lasted longer then most of the others so far, even though I've only seen four sunrises here so far.

      I feel like he jinxed me, though. We were passing the pound when something—someone—caught Melissa's eye. "So long," Toto had whispered to me. I didn't know what he was talking about until I realised who Melissa was looking at. It was a baby Eyrie with big eyes and an enormous beak for someone his size.

      "Sooooo cute!" That's what Melissa had called me. I could tell something was happening.

      "This is what always happens," Toto shook his head. "Melissa only likes having two Neopets. I've kept her away from here for as long as possible while you were here, because, I hate to admit it, but I've grown rather fond of you." He started talking faster as Melissa tugged us inside the pound.

      "I'm sorry to see you go, really. I promise I'll take care of Milk for you, if Melissa allows it."

      Suddenly I had to know about his Weeble, but Melissa was already handing over a bag of Neopoints.

      "Wait!" Toto was turning his back. "What about your Weeble? I need to know!"

      Toto whipped around. His face was grim. "I thought I could trust you not to ask." He turned his back and flicked his tail, and I knew right then that he wasn't turning back around.

     To be continued...

          If you're reading this, I've been published in the Neopian times!! Woohoo!!

To be continued…