Cheese Fairy

     Deep in the dark of the Haunted Woods lives a old and mangy Doglefox named Gareth. The nearest settlement of Neopians think this same Doglefox is a legend. Gareth is used by parents to inspire fear in their children, to keep them from wandering into the dark forest. The story goes that the old Doglefox lurks the edge of the woods, always hungry and always looking for young children to eat for supper. Gareth laughs when he thinks about it, because young Neopians are loud and pesky little creatures he wants nothing to do with. What would he do with children? Oh no, Gareth's only concern is the cheese. Glorious round cheese. Bright yellow and gold. Creamy and sharp. There was no cheese to be found inside the Haunted Woods, and its not like he had a Kau to get milk from. All he had was nuts, berries and questionable swampy water. So the Doglefox had to resort to just a little bit of thievery every now and then. Sneaking into a cellar, and pilfering a big round of cheese, had become a monthly habit of his.

     One early morning the Doglefox was on the prowl, with a big burlap sack thrown over his shoulder. The first cellar he reached was dark and gloomy and he looked around quickly but no cheese was to be found. He moved on. But to his dismay, the next house was the same and the next after that! Frantic the Doglefox checked cellar after cellar, the sun climbing way up in the sky. It was hot and muggy and the bugs were swarming. He missed his quiet and cool dark spot in the woods and decided to just check one more house.

     He was in luck at this one, his old nose could smell the cheese before he saw the small wheel hidden in the very back of the cellar. Underneath a basket of green vegetables with a cloth covering it up, he found the golden wheel. Disappointed at the small size he grabbed it up anyway and stuffed it in his sack. He turned around quite quickly and almost fell over at the sight of the young Aisha in the doorway, sucking on her thumb.

     "Who ar yoo?"

     The Doglefox thought quick, and thinking that this child probably wasn't to bright, cause most would know who he was just by his mangy sight. He tucked his hairy head into his hooded cloak a bit more and adopted a high squeaky voice.

     "I am the cheese Faerie, young girl. Here to bestow your family with riches in three days times, that is if I could have this old smelly cheese?"

     The young Aisha's eyes went round with awe and her mouth opened in a 'o'. She dropped her thumb out of her mouth.

     "A Faerie! But-but that is our last cheese!!! Ma was saving it for the summer feast. The Kaus are gone now, and we isn't able to make more!"

     Gareth frowned. "What do you mean, the Kaus are gone now, girl?"

     The Aisha looked him over. "It was Edna that green witch, she told Da that she needed thems for a spell, and took all of them. I think she was going to flood the village if they didn't do it, or something like that, she is very evil after all."

     Gareth growled low in his throat, he was going to pay Edna a little visit soon, they we're old friends after all, and he couldn't have her messing up this sweet deal he had going. The little girl backed up a bit, looking frightened from the noise. She didn't think Faeries were supposed to growl.

     Gareth coughed, and tried to smile, but instead just showed off his pointy teeth. "Sorry, something in my throat, dear. Now, yes, three days time your family will be blessed with untold riches. So are you willing to part with this small wheel of cheese?"

     Gareth knew he wouldn't leave the cheese even if she said no, but luckily the young Aisha nodded her head and moved aside to let him through. He thought she was probably more scared now than anything else, but he needed cheese like he needed air. He felt guilty for taking the cheese and frightening the girl, as he shuffled by her slowly, her big eyes watching him now warily. Gareth actually considered leaving it, but he took a nice whiff and decided against it. He fingered a small pouch of gems hanging from his waist.

     "Remember what I said, three days time." Gareth called out as he made his way back to the wood. He would be paying a certain witch a visit, yes he would.

     It was a day later, full of cheese and considering his problems that Gareth took a dark overgrown path towards a tall tower in the distance. The closer he got the more he began to hear the moos from dozens of Kaus grazing near the bottom of the tower. He looked them over and thought how they looked like such a sad bunch. What could Edna possibly be doing with this big herd of Kaus?

     Gareth, anger increasing, approached the door to the tower. Now he was short so he couldn't quite reach the door handle so instead he made a couple of quick resounding knocks that echoed with booms throughout the tower. A green head poked out the top of one of the windows, and a screech came down.

     "What do ya want?"

     Gareth cupped his hands over his mouth, and yelled back up to the crazy witch. "We need to talk!"

     The witch slammed the window and came marching down the long tower and she opened the door, a scowl on her face.

     "I'm busy right now, Gareth." Edna said quickly and turned to leave but the Doglefox stepped forward and slammed the door open quite loudly, a few of the Kaus had even stopped grazing and looked their way.

     "Why did you take all these Kaus from the villagers?"

     She glanced over at him, not in the least bit frightened or intimidated. "Are you the hero of the village now? I thought you were their monster."

     Gareth growled deep in his chest, he was getting quite annoyed with her attitude. She was the one making life harder on him and all those cheese-less people in town. Edna was going to fix this problem, one way or another.

     She rolled her eyes, and then looked out over the grazing Neopets.

     "I'm doing an experiment on a new morphing potion, I've tested it on almost everything except Kaus."

     It was Gareth's turn to roll his eyes, this witch and her experiments. Its not like she ever got any of them right. She always was messing up here in the woods, and everyone else had to fix it.

     "You have to give the Kaus back, Edna. You stole them. They are not yours."

     She scowled at him. "I need them, I will give them back in a few weeks."

     Gareth drew himself up to his full height, and puffed out his chest with authority.

     "I swear Edna if those Kaus aren't back with those villagers in two days time, so that they have cheese for the upcoming festival, I will tell everyone you are giving out free strength potions. You will have so many people here bothering you, you won't know what to do."

     Edna stomped her foot and then peeked over at him. "Oh, all right, I can't get the potion right anyway, and we know how much you need cheese. I was going to give them back anyway......once I morphed them into Babaas" She cackled madly and reached inside her tower for a cloak.

     Edna walked out into the field and murmured under her breath, a big bright flash of light centered around the grazing Neopets and then the next time Gareth looked they had a green vine around their necks and were all attached together. Edna had the end of the vine in one hand and began to pull the Kaus towards the forest.

     "They were getting stinky anyway!" She yelled as she disappeared into the wood, the Kaus had begun to munch on the vine, but were following her along anyway. Gareth wondered how long it would take her to get the animals back to the village and how soon more cheese would be made. He smiled knowing he had one more small thing to take care of.

          Because he was lazy, of course he was late on his promise, but did that matter much anyway? The festival had started in the evening time and Gareth sneaked among the tables and platters of food, pilfering the best of the cheese and other goods. The Kaus were gently lowing in the field and the energy was excited and happy. It was too much for him, but he weaved through the crowd holding a large green gem in his hand. The young Aisha was smiling and looking around her in the fading light, Gareth slipped by her quickly and pushed the gem into her hand.

     He leaned over and growled. "From the Faerie."

     Gareth then disappeared back into his small den in the deep of the woods and the legend of the cheese Faerie spread throughout the village, and Gareth decided that was just fine with him.

     The End.