Snowglobe: Part Two

     "That went very well, Ria! I expect to see you down at the Adoption Center tomorrow so that way the Neopets can thank you! Once there, we will also discuss the float. The Neopian Times will be out in an hour or so make sure to read it!" He squawked and flew clumsily out the door. Cyborg turned to his pet with a smile on his face.

     "I'm very proud of you Ria, I didn't think you would do something like that. I have to go now, but why don't you go into Neopia Central for a little bit until the Times come out? I'm sure that you'll find something fun to do. As a reward, here's some Neopoints. Go and buy yourself a new toy, alright? See you in a little bit Ria," Cy said, and walked towards the stairs.

     Ria opened the Neopoints bag a little and smiled. There was plenty in there, more then enough for a new toy. She was going to have lots of new toys, the head float in a parade, her face on the cover of the Neopian Times...she was feeling good.

      * * *

     Ria sat on the floor of her play room playing with a brand-new Hannah Action Figure. She had traded all those Neopoints for the best action figure ever. Better than that dumb old Judge Hog one any day. Ria heard footsteps and looked up to see her sister enter the room. Sun, the yellow Shoyru, smiled and sat down next to Ria.

     "When did you get that?" she asked, looking closely at the expensive toy.

     "Cy got it for me," Ria responded proudly. Sun's mouth dropped open as she found the price tag for the action-figure.

     "You traded all these Neopoints for...for a doll?!?!?!" she exclaimed. Ria looked back at her new toy and said,

     "She's not a doll, she's an action figure. And by the way, Hannah is better then anybody and that's why she's my favorite. Plus, I deserve this toy, Cy said so. It's my reward for donating all the snowglobes you never played with to the adoption center." Ria stuck out her tongue at her older sister. Sun was surprised again.

     "You're the one who donated all of those?" Ria nodded as if to say, of-course-I-did-who-else? Sun blinked before shaking her head. "I can't believe it...but I'm so proud of you Ria!" Sun hugged Ria tightly and Ria hugged Sun back, but not with as much energy. In the middle of their hug, the doorbell rang for the third time that day. Sun jumped up and eagerly answered the door. Ria listened closely while playing with Hannah.

     "Yes, I'm Ria's sister. She's right here, I'll take it, thank you," Sun said. Ria heard the door shut and Sun hurrying into the room. She was waving the Neopian Times around and shouting,

     "Look Ria! Look! It's the story about you!" Ria grabbed the paper from her sister and her jaw dropped as she saw the article about her on the front page. Ria studied a picture of a smiling green Kougra surrounded by snowglobes. It was her! Ria scanned the page until she found the start of the article:

     Lonely Neopets at the Adoption Center are now filled with cheer thanks to Hadrialia (Ria), pet of Cyborg8000. Ria donated unused snowglobes to the Adoption Center. A quote from our secret santa: "Why not donate them to those poor Neopets who don't have any toys?" After interviewing the gift donator, our reporters went straight to the Adoption Center. We found a young, sweet looking Aisha to tell us something special, while she proudly held up a Snow Faerie Snowglobe, "Miss Ria is very nice cuz she gave us all presents when we thought Santa might never ever come to the Adoption Center. Thank you Miss Ria!" After interviewing more Neopets…

     Ria put the paper down and rolled it up. She turned away from the paper. From some reason, Ria just didn't want to read the article about herself. Ria had always dreamed of being on the front page of the Neopian Times, smiling in a great picture. The article would be about something wonderful Ria had done that would make all of Neopia ask for her autograph. And here was her chance to be that Neopet. But Ria couldn't bring herself to read the paper. She pushed it away and stared at the Hannah doll.

     Sun looked confused and leaned over to Ria. Was her sister sick? She took the paper and started to read the article, in case anything had upset her sister. There was nothing bad about the article, after the first paragraph it was actually quite flattering. Sun tried to imagine herself as Ria and she read the article again. There was nothing wrong or insulting about it! She tried to look Ria in the eye, but she couldn't get her sister to look at her.

     "Ria…did you finish the article already?"

     "Yeah, sure," Ria said. She grabbed the Hannah Action Figure and stood up. She rushed into the hallway and grabbed a white cloak hanging there on a hook. "Leaving, see you later," Ria called, as she opened the door and went out into the snow. She hurried along the street and for once at her own will, she entered Neopia Central.

     Ria brushed past other Neopets without even glancing at them. She was near the Rainbow Pool when she heard someone shout,

     "There she is! It's Ria!" Suddenly, the Kougra was surrounded by Neopets and owners. They all wanted to tell her how much they liked her and how they thought she was kind. How good of her it was to think of those in need. How she was some of their heroes.

     "Ria! I'm your number one fan!"

     "Ria Ria! Good job, that was really nice of you to donate all of those snowglobes!"

     "You're a great person, Ria!"

     "What a thoughtful Kougra!"

     "Mommy, I hope I grow up to be just like her!"

     Ria tried to ignore the strange voices shouting out compliments and she slowly made her way through the crowd. At last, she ran through the door of the Adoption Center and rammed the door shut behind her. She sagged against the wall as she closed her eyes and took a moment to rest. When she opened her eyes, she realized she was alone in the room except for two other Neopets.

     The room was silent and bare, with only a beaten down desk and a boring window. The walls were painted a light, nothing-special-about-it shade of yellow. There was a sinister looking door on the right side of the desk, and behind the left side of the desk, there was a less evil looking door. There was a Pink Uni and an evil looking Techo on the other sides of the desk. Ria looked at the few posters and signs around the desk but besides that, the room was empty. She walked slowly towards the Techo, who frowned. Ria backed away and walked towards the Uni. She smiled at Ria and said,

     "You're Ria, aren't you! It's very nice of you to come here, the children and adults all love your gifts. I'm sure they'd love to meet you, why don't you come back and--"

     "No thanks," Ria started, "I'm actually quite busy…I…er, have to get to the--"

     "No, I insist," the Uni said. She grabbed Ria's arm and led her happily towards the back of the Center. Ria was afraid of what she might see. After seeing the lobby, she was afraid to see how the orphans were treated. But she was surprised as she entered through the door.

     The room was large, with wall separating different sections of the room. There was big pool in the center of the room for the water Neopets. There were bunk beds that lined the wall and some bookshelves with a sign over them: 1 BOOK PER PET ONE TIME A YEAR, Ria thought of her brother Dargon, who was rated a "Genius". But what attracted her attention most of all were the Neopets in the room.

     There were Neopets ranging from young to old, strong to weak, small to huge, and they were all somewhat content. They obviously didn't want this kind of life, but they appreciated what was being done for them. Some were sitting on beds, day dreaming of their future lives, or the lives they had had with their old owners. Others were playing around, trying to forget. But most were playing with Snowglobes. Ria's snowglobes. She saw a Skeith playing happily with a normal snowglobe. She saw an Usul play with an Illusen snowglobe. She saw a Wocky place with a Grey Faerie snowglobe. She saw a Cybunny play with an air faerie snowglobe. Then, Ria noticed an Aisha sitting in the corner all by herself, playing with a Snow Faerie snowglobe.

     Why would she sit alone? There were plenty of other Neopets to play with, why was this Aisha being so picky? The Kougra stared at the Aisha, happily shaking the snowglobe again and again. For some unknown, compelling reason, Ria rushed through the Adoption Center until she reached the Aisha. The Aisha glanced up and gasped, a wide smile spreading over her face. She leaped up and hugged the Kougra. Ria was surprised, and all she could think of to do was to pat the small child on the back. The Aisha looked up at Ria while still hugging her.

     "I knew you'd come Miss Ria! I knew you'd come! Thank you very much for my Snow Faerie snowglobe, we play together all the time!" she exclaimed. Ria answered by saying,

     "So, uh, what's your name?" The Aisha pulled back proudly and pointed a finger at herself and saying,

     "Jerdana! I'm named after the Aisha from Talador!" Ria thought a moment, thinking hard. Ah yes, she vaguely remembered learning about Jerdana from History Class. Ria started backing away with a friendly smile on her face,

     "Well Jerdana, I've got to get going, so see you later!" Jerdana looked sad and stared at the ground before asking,

     "Will you come back?" Ria nodded and then made a run for it. She didn't stop until she was someways out from Neopia Central. She was sitting in a snow covered field, and the snow was falling harder then ever. What was she doing here? All she had done was lie…

To be continued...