The Afterparty Cleanup

      Ginger, unfortunately, was not as lucky as that newbie. It was already her tenth year on the job, but she had never found anything worth more than a couple thousand Neopoints. Thankfully, she did find enough items in the trash to furnish her entire apartment! Every day she came home to an eclectic mix of Birthday, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, and Faerie Festival furniture and goods.

      As a senior member of the staff, she was assigned to the Haunted Woods today. Fortunately, it was one of her favourite areas (despite the creepiness) due to the nice Neopians that worked at the fairgrounds. She looked around at the dark trees and tried not to listen too carefully to the eerie sounds around her. She could have sworn she heard someone screaming in the distance, but she reminded herself it was best not to think about it.

      “Alright, everyone! Gather around! As you can see, the Haunted Woods had a fun birthday celebration last night!” She paused and gestured toward the confetti strewn all about; the old foods; colourful, but terrifying statues and decorations; and lots of presents and little sweets! Wrappers and leftover candy filled the air with a pleasant smell, prompting Ginger to make a mental note to take home as many sweets as she could find. She had planned on joining the birthday celebrations with friends, but instead she went to bed early with her Petpet, since she knew today would be a busy day.

      “Anyways, all of you already have your packets with your assigned areas, so please pick up a bucket, mop, sponge, and trash bags before heading out!”

      Ginger checked on the others at their stations before heading to work in her own area. She was assigned to clean the Deserted Fairgrounds, along with two other veteran workers. She took her supplies to the strange amusement park and quickly got to work, though soon she heard a voice call out to her, “Want to buy a ssscratchcard?”

      “Oh hey, Sidney! Funny enough, I just found an unused scratchcard on the ground!”

      Sidney sighed and looked down sadly, “Oh, it was a ssspecial Birthday present...”

      Ginger couldn't help but feel bad for Sidney. He was clearly hurt that whoever won the scratchcard last night just threw it on the ground. Neopians were usually well-mannered and tidy, but something seemed to happen to most citizens over the holidays and special events. They seemed to forget all sense of decorum during the festivities, often littering or making too much noise late into the night.

      She put on a big smile and tried to reassure the forlorn Nimmo. “I'm sure the winner just accidentally dropped it or something... I'll scratch it quickly now! And, yeah, I'll even buy another one!!”

      “Thanksss! Hmmm, let'sss sssee what you get.... Oh, lucky you! Another Rotting Richesss card!!”

      Ginger suddenly felt her excitement start to grow. Another Rotting Riches card? She looked down at the prize she had found, and sure enough it was the kind of card that could lead to a jackpot! What a lucky day!!

      She decided to scratch both cards at the same time. One little square from this card, and then one from the other until soon she was shaking with anticipation. She had two Candy Vampires... on both cards!!! She tried to calm her heart and remind herself that she was never lucky. Exciting things like this never happened to someone like her.

      “There's no way I'll win,” she whispered to herself as she scratched her last two squares, revealing... Candy Vampires!!!

      “OOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! You are the luckiest Neopian I have ever met! I've never ssseen sssomeone win the jackpot twice! At the sssame time!!!!!” Sidney looked like he was about to faint from shock as he stared at the two winning cards in Ginger's paws.

      She still couldn't believe what had just happened, and it suddenly dawned on her that she still had so much work left to do.

      “I...I... I don't know what to say! I... I, uh, need to get back to work. Can I come back after work?”

      Sidney smiled and patted her on the back. “Of course! I'll have your winningsss ready by then!”

      The rest of the day went by in a blur. She had just won millions of Neopoints. Or was she dreaming? Surely, she was just dreaming. Nothing special ever happened to her. She was just an ordinary Kacheek, and Blue at that! Most young Neopians sported expensive and stylish colours nowadays, but not her. She wanted to try something new, yet it felt like an invisible wall always held her back. Maybe this was a sign to do something new and exciting!

      Still, a nagging voice kept reminding her, “You are not special. Nothing exciting ever happens to you.” Why couldn't she believe something amazing could happen in her life? She literally had the two winning scratchcards in her pocket, yet she couldn't shake her doubts and negative thoughts about herself.

      She sighed and continued with her work without saying a word to anyone else. She cleaned and picked up trash until the area was spotless! She thanked her co-workers at the end of the day and offered to put everything away so they could go home early.

      “You are nothing. You are not special. Special things don't happen to you,” the voice in her head repeated over and over again. She sat under a dark tree and closed her eyes.

      “Be quiet brain! BE QUIET!!” She shouted inside, hoping to drown out the negative thoughts that always haunted her. Soon her thoughts started to drift... Neopoints... jobs... schools... parents...Brightvale... Oh Brightvale, the hometown she ran away from...

      The last time she was home in Brightvale was so many years ago. She heard the land had turned Grey, and while she worried about her parents, she knew they probably still didn't want to hear from her. Their “failure” of a daughter...

      Her parents, professors at Brightvale University, were horrified when she announced she was going to work as a cleaner. “How undignified,” they screamed out in unison, shocked that their daughter didn't want to follow in their footsteps. Ginger knew she was a bright Neopian, but she hated how confined school felt. She wanted to go out and see all of Neopia, so she decided the Cleanup Brigade was the perfect fit for her, no matter what her parents said. She did not think her job was "undignified" at all, and those around her also didn't seem to feel that way. Everyone appreciated the work the Cleanup Brigade did after the holidays, since most Neopians weren't too fond of cleaning themselves.

      Unfortunately, the rift between her and her parents continued to grow and grow and showed no signs of stopping.

      She opened her eyes again and took out the scratchcards from her pocket. Why even bother getting the money? What would she even spend that much on?

      She closed her eyes again and fought back the tears she felt forming.

      When she opened her eyes again, she was back in Brightvale, sitting across from her parents at the kitchen table.

      “You won the jackpot? Twice? Ha, well great for you! It's not like you make anything at that little cleaning job of yours. Now you can finally quit and find... something nicer to do.” Her mother smiled wide, sending waves of anger through Ginger's body. Her mother was always polite and smiling, even when saying hurtful things.

      “Yes, dear. Listen to your mother. You know how hard it is for us? Knowing our daughter works as... I don't even want to say it. Please do something worthwhile with those Neopoints, and nothing silly like opening your own cleaning business....”

      Cleaning business, cleaning business... the words echoed in her mind until she woke up and found Sidney shaking her.

      “Ginger! Your Neopointsss! I've been waiting for you! I wasss about to walk all the way to your place! Then I found you here... Why are you crying? Ssso happy about the win?”

      Ginger shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.

      “Sidney... I don't think I deserve this win. I'm nothing. Just a cleaner...”

      Without responding, Sidney lifted her up with one arm and looked her straight in the eyes. Ginger couldn't believe how strong he was!

      “Firssst, no one really dessservesss to win the jackpot. You were lucky. It was luck. But, I have known you for many yearsss, and even when busy you alwaysss make time to ssspeak and sssay hello to everyone working around here. No one elssse doesss that. Mossst visssitors are ssscared of Haunted Woodsss citizensss... You are kind. You work hard. You are a good lissstener. You are ssspecial, and I'm happy you won. I'm usssually not happy when Neopiansss win, sssince it'sss more work for me.”

      Sidney then handed her two large briefcases full of her winnings and bowed deeply.

      “Enjoy your winningsss, my friend!”

      In a blink of an eye, he disappeared into the darkness, leaving Ginger alone with more Neopoints than she had ever held in her entire life. She quickly made her way to the bank and deposited the money before heading home.

      As she walked under the moonlight, Sidney's kind words replaced the negative voice in her head.

      “You are ssspecial.” That was the first time someone ever said something so kind to her. Such a short moment in her life, but she knew she would remember his words forever.

      She thought back to her dream and the words "cleaning business" floated around again in her mind. She wasn't sure if she could do it, but she was determined to try her best!

     The End.