Niemyra's Big Break

     8:13 AM.

     Niemyra blanched and quickly checked the watch she kept on her nightstand, certain her eyes were playing tricks on her. Her alarm clock was set for 6:30 AM – how could it possibly be reading almost two hours late? Surely enough, the watch read the same, the dial now clicking over to 8:14 AM.

     She placed a paw over her eyes, trying to draw in deep breaths to calm herself down, although the task seemed nearly impossible. This was quite possibly the biggest day of her life, and she had overslept. As a reporter for the Neopian Times, punctuality was almost as important as journalistic integrity, and Niemyra had finally scored the interview of her dreams – Aethia the Battle Faerie.

     Aethia had announced recently that an anniversary edition of When All Else Fails, her bestseller, was being published, and she wanted to go on a press tour to promote it. As Aethia’s biggest fan, Niemyra had begged and pleaded with her boss to allow her to interview Aethia and publish an article. He was hesitant at first – Niemyra was a fairly novice reporter, after all – but Niemyra proved herself time and time again with her book review column (I Know Why the Caged Weewoo Sings is a wonderful coming-of-age story) and confirming weekly that, rest assured, Dr. Sloth is still sealed in the Space Faerie’s Token.

     After starting at the Neopian Times six months ago, Niemyra knew that her dream to interview and write about inspiring Neopians could come true. Growing up, she had pored over newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and biographies of her heroes, entranced by their triumphs and failures, and made it her life’s mission to be the person who told their stories. Her first interview had been in grade school when she interviewed Mikey, someone claiming to be Erick’s (yes, the Erick from the Temple of Roo) ninth-great-grandson by marriage once-removed. The interview was fascinating to Niemyra, as Mikey told many stories of how nepotism had impacted his life by being the ninth-great-grandson by marriage once-removed of Erick, specifically discussing how he wasn’t sure if the firing from his job had been due to bad performance or if they figured out he was related to a famous historical figure and were jealous.

     But all of her progress in her career could come crashing down as she continued to stare at the clock, now ticking to 8:16 AM, wondering how it was possible that she overslept so much. The alarm started blaring again, causing Niemyra to jump and snap out of whatever sleep-induced trance she had been under. She slammed her paw down on the stop button and bounced into her bathroom, brushing her fur as quickly as possible, tossing on the closest clothes she could find while trying to ignore the faint odour drifting from them, and fastening a bow between her ears. Niemyra and Aethia had agreed to meet at 9:00 AM, and the trek to Faerieland was a long one. She knew she would be pressed for time, but there was no way she wasn’t going to make it. This interview was entirely too important.

     She had hoped to get there ahead of time to rehearse her questions and make sure her pen had enough ink, as well as test her five backup pens. She had at least packed her messenger bag the night before so she had her supplies prepared, but there was no way she would have enough time for the pen tests. Deciding to pick her battles, Niemyra gave herself a once-over in the mirror, cringed at how dishevelled she looked, took a deep breath to try and calm her racing heart, and rushed out the door.

      The trek to Faerieland was one of Niemyra’s least favourite. Faerieland itself was beautiful, but the journey through the Haunted Woods always gave her the shivers. Hurrying past the clown Chias that always seemed to be lurking in dark corners, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the aquamarine waters of the Healing Springs glistening in the morning sunlight. The outskirts of Faerieland seemed to buzz with energy as she made her way toward Faerie City. The weather was warm and sunny, not a cloud in the sky, which seemed to lessen the panic that had been bubbling at the surface since she left her house.

     She could do this. She was a capable reporter and journalist, and Aethia had seemed excited about the interview when Niemyra had reached out. Niemyra may be a bit frazzled from the late wake-up and glimpse of the Brain Tree she had seen on her way through the Haunted Woods, but she was in Faerieland now, and she was about to interview someone who could set a precedent for the rest of her career. Everything would work out.

     The pink and purple buildings seemed to glow against the backdrop of the blue sky as she approached Faerie City, and Niemyra felt a smile spread across her face. Faerieland was one of Niemyra’s favourite places to visit, and this time was even more exciting because of the Neopian waiting for her in the Bookshop. There were crowds of Neopians everywhere, haggling with shopkeepers and munching on breakfast from Faerie Foods. She had to resist the urge to make a beeline for the Weapon Shop to get a sneak peek at Aethia. Niemyra was calm, cool, collected, and professional – she would not be phased by one of the greatest legends Neopia had ever seen.

     As Niemyra continued towards the Bookshop, Walein winked at her as he hovered above the city, and she felt the buzz of adrenaline she always felt when she knew something great was about to happen. Today was her day. Nothing could stop her now!

     Once inside the Bookshop, she ordered a Celebratory Cup of Cocoa (this was a celebration, after all) and checked her watch. 8:58 AM. She couldn’t believe she had made it all this way in time for the interview, and she almost jumped for joy when she realized she had a couple of minutes to spare for her pen tests. She reached into her messenger bag and pulled out her notepad and six pens, using the last page to test and make sure they all still had ink in the twelve hours since she had purchased them and taken them out of the package. Once satisfied that she would not run out of ink, she arranged the pens neatly above her notepad and took a sip of her cocoa. There was a clock hanging above the shopkeeper, and she nearly broke out in a cold sweat once it ticked to 9:00 AM. She was mere seconds away from meeting Aethia.

     Suddenly, the front door opened, and a low murmur broke out among the patrons perusing the bookshelves and waiting their turn to order at the counter. Niemyra turned with everyone else, noticing a golden glow emanating from the open doors. Her breath hitched, knowing this meant Aethia was about to grace the Bookshop with her presence. And Aethia was there to see her.

     A slow beeping began to creep into Niemyra’s ears. She ripped her eyes away from the door to glance toward the shopkeeper making the beverages. Didn’t she know that Aethia was near, and she needed to silence the timer or whatever was making that incessant noise? Niemyra’s eyes began to narrow in suspicion when she realized that no one else seemed to notice the shrill sound. How was she supposed to conduct an interview in this environment? Maybe Faerie Foods would be a better location for this meeting, but that would have to wait until Aethia made her entrance.

     The doors were still propped open, the tendrils of the golden glow creeping into the Bookshop. The beeping began to get louder, and Niemyra cringed at how annoying the sound was but decided to put it out of her mind because nothing was going to dampen the experience of this interview. If Aethia made a comment about the noise, Niemyra would coolly suggest they move their interview elsewhere so there were no distractions.

     Suddenly, Aethia emerged from the golden glow, her eyes searching the room before they landed on Niemyra. She had to grip the chair she was sitting on so she wouldn’t jump up and sprint over to Aethia in excitement. Aethia seemed to float over to Niemyra, and all Niemyra could do was stare at her, completely starstruck.

     “Niemyra,” Aethia greeted, her voice taking on a hypnotizing quality. “Please wake up.”

     Niemyra blinked, closing her gaping mouth in surprise. Wake up? What did she mean?

     “Pardon?” Niemyra responded, eyebrows furrowed in utter confusion.

     “Please wake up,” Aethia repeated.

     Niemyra glanced around nervously, wondering if anyone else heard what Aethia was saying to her. Was she being pranked? Niemyra was looking at Aethia with her eyes open, and she was being asked to wake up.

     What?

     “Aethia, I’m so sorry, but I am awake?” Niemyra’s response sounded like a question more than a statement because she was beginning to question her sanity.

     Aethia shook her head. “You’re not awake, Niemyra. But you must wake up.”

     Niemyra opened her mouth to argue with Aethia when suddenly, she was jolted awake, in her bed at home. Dazed, she tried to get a sense of her bearings. The incessant beeping that she had heard in the Bookshop was actually her alarm clock letting her know that it was time to get up for her shift at the Bookshop. Niemyra sighed, totally dejected.

     Niemyra’s real job was as a barista at the Bookshop in Faerieland, and she envied the reporter from the Neopian Times she had seen interviewing Aethia last week for the next issue of the Times. Niemyra wanted that job. She had written a couple of articles for her school papers, but nothing had ever stuck. There was nothing wrong with being a barista, but she knew her passion lay in writing and telling the stories of others.

     She slowly got out of bed, trying to shake the dream from her conscience, and dragged her feet to the bathroom to get ready for the day. She knew she needed to make a change in her career, but she didn’t know how to do it. Aethia was her hero, but there was no way she would agree to an interview with someone who didn’t work for the Neopian Times. Maybe she could re-interview Mikey, Erick’s ninth-great-grandson by marriage once-removed and submit it to the Neopian Times as a freelance journalist. Surely that would gain her some traction – right? She could even title it the Dangers of Nepotism – Almost as Scary as the Temple of Roo.

     As she headed out the door for her shift, she began to mull over other options for interviews, identifying the pros and cons of each. She didn’t have a lot of contacts, but she knew that some leg work and patience could sort that out. She saw famous Neopians at the Bookshop all the time (even Queen Fyora once!) so she had opportunities – she just had to take them.

     After clocking into work, she tied her apron around her waist and began cleaning the espresso machine, eyeing the exact table and chairs from her dream where she interviewed Aethia. She tried to push down the feeling of envy towards herself in her dream, which was fairly ridiculous, when someone stepped up to the counter. Niemyra noticed she looked faintly like Kauvara, which was odd because she didn’t know of any relatives.

     “Hi, welcome to the Bookshop’s Coffee Corner. What can I get for you?” Niemyra greeted politely.

     The Kau glanced at the menu behind Niemyra before returning her seeing gaze to Niemyra. “What would you recommend? I don’t normally come to Faerieland but had to come for a special request today from my sister.”

     She had a very kind and soft voice, something that Niemyra made a mental note of. She seemed a bit shy but Niemyra swept it aside as it was probably due to the nerves of being in Faerie City.

     Niemyra rattled off their most popular drinks, and the Kau responded with what she wanted to order. As Niemyra took her payment, she asked, “Who is your sister? Would I know her?”

     The Kau glanced around in an almost nervous way before whispering, “Kauvara.”

     Niemyra almost fell over. She was talking to Kauvara’s sister? The elusive Allita? She’d seen her once when in Kauvara’s shop years ago, delivering berries from Roo Island. She didn’t pay much thought to her back then, but it was like a lightbulb went off in her head now.

     This was her chance. Allita could be her first real interview.

     Niemyra cleared her throat nervously and looked down at the coffee she was pouring into a cup as she asked, “How would you feel about an interview?”

     Allita watched her carefully before breaking out into a small smile. "Yeah, I think I'd like that. I have many stories from my travels to Roo Island."

     And there it was: Niemyra's big break.

     The End.