Simply Connected

     However, on the twenty-second day of the month of Eating, it was finally seen.

     "What's an apple doing on a street?" asked Angel curiously.

     Marissa, a Faerie Kacheek, rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on Angel. It's just a stupid apple!"

     "Hold on," the baby Cybunny muttered, kneeling down to catch a closer view of this mysterious item. "It looks so…perfect."

     "Maybe because it's the summer!"

     Angel's brow furrowed, and she slid the apple in her paws. It felt feather-light, and Angel's mouth immediately began drooling over the scrumptious fruit.

     "I hope you're not going to eat that!" scoffed Marissa, disgusted. "There's full of bacteria in there!"

     Angel didn't listen, and took a huge bite of the apple. The sweet taste ran across her taste buds, and loud crunchy noises emerged form her mouth as she chewed. "Wow, this is really good," she said in between bites.

     Suddenly, after having blinked, Angel was startled to see the Apple in a perfect shape once again!

     Marissa gasped after having seen this as well. "Oh my gosh, I know what that is!"

     Angel turned her attention to Marissa. "Huh?"

     Marissa ran to the apple, and stared at in wonder. "That's an Everlasting Apple!"

     Angel gasped. "Oh my gosh, aren't to things worth tons of Neopoints!

     Marissa bobbed her head. "Yeah! Keep it safe so no one can see it."

     The two friends quickly huddled together, and slowly started walking down the sidewalk of the Neopian Bazaar. Unfortunately, the two never saw the apple slide out of their paws, and land with a small thump on the ground.

     **************

     "We are all connected?!" Angel groaned, reading from her Neoschool textbook. She thumped her head against her oak desk deafeningly. Her spirits had been set to all-time low after her and Marissa had discovered the Everlasting Apple gone when they arrived at her home.

     And now, the Cybunny couldn't concentrate at all. Fortunately, she only had one homework assignment, but the one alone was so mind-numbingly stupid, Angel would have wanted a slumber party with Dr. Sloth more then this.

     "Angel, are you done your homework?" her owner, Yuvy, asked as she entered her room.

     Angel shook her head.

     Yuvy sighed sympathetically. "What's wrong?"

     "I don't get this stupid homework," Angel huffed, glaring at the scattered sheets of paper.

     Locks of auburn hair dangled from Yuvy's head as she peaked over Angel's shoulder. "We are all connected. How is this so?" she read. "Hmm, doesn't sound that hard."

     "That's easy for you to say," grumbled Angel, crossing her arms in an annoyed fashion.

     Yuvy patted her Cybunny's back. "Just try and think about that question for awhile, and you'll eventually figure out the answer. Then, you can go out and play."

     With that, Yuvy left the room, leaving Angel with confusion and questions cluttering her mind.

     **************

     "Look at that fat face of his!"

     "No, his lazy eyes!"

     "And his dorky backpack!"

     A crowd of pets gathered around a starry Techo, pointing and aggressively bullying him.

     The Techo, Shadow, tried to keep his emotions in. He firmly grasped onto his green backpack, and slowly walked out of the schoolyard, staring down at the ground. He could hear the laughs and teases behind him, and he tried his hardest to mute it all, but it didn't work. He could still feel that pain inside of him.

     "Just shut up, shut up, shut up. I hate you all," he muttered under his breath, a tear sliding down his cheek.

     Shadow hurried his way down the Neopian Bazaar of Neopia Central when he suddenly caught something at the corner of his eye. The Techo turned his head to the ground, and found a small Apple sitting there. There was nothing special about it at first glance, but still, it attracted him. Shadow's curiosity was piqued. He scurried towards the apple, and quickly picked it up.

     "Wow, this apple looks so strange, yet…perfect…" Shadow said to himself, examining it closely.

     It didn't look like a usual apple to him at all. Shadow decided to keep it in his backpack and bring it back home.

     **************

     That night, Shadow took the apple out of his bag, and laid it on his bed. It seemed to glimmer in the basking lights of his room. He was rather hungry at the moment, and after a dinner that wasn't all too appetizing, the apple looked quite pleasing to his stomach.

     Shadow lifted the apple to his mouth, and took a large bite. The taste was sweet and very satisfying. Shadow swallowed the piece, and then reached for another bite, when he suddenly noticed that the apple was back in its original perfect shape!

     "Woah!" he said, dropping the apple on his desk in surprise.

     Suddenly, something sparkly emerged from the apple. Shadow squinted to see what it was. It looked like something magic, but he couldn't really make it out. An idea suddenly popped in Shadow's mind.

     The Techo rushed to his bookcase, snatched a catalogue, and began flipping through some pages frantically. He stopped when he had found what he was looking for.

     EVERLASTING APPLE: 990,000 NP l DESCRIPTION: THIS APPLE WILL ALWAYS STAY TRUE TO ITS NATURAL FORM, EVEN AFTER HAVING BEEN BITTEN OR DAMAGED

     It was in the Hidden Tower catalogue that his owner had gotten a few months ago while visiting there to purchase a paint brush. Shadow turned back his attention to the fruit, wide-eyed. He couldn't believe that an item that was close to being worth one million Neopoints was laying on his desk.

     "I'll…just keep it there for now," said Shadow, nervous. He wiped some sweat from his brow, and then slid into his bed, soon falling asleep.

     As the night continued on, a violent wind overtook the peaceful weather outside. The window in Shadow's room began rumbling, and suddenly, it slid open, violently sucking out anything that was nearby.

     Including the Everlasting Apple.

     Alongside a Punchbag Bob Pencilcase, and some books, the apple flew out into the night sky, its eyes set on it new target already…

     **************

     Shadow sobbed as he walked down the stairs.

     "It's gone!" he cried. "I can't believe it!"

     "What's gone?" yelled his owner, Will, from the kitchen.

     "Nothing," said Shadow, covering up his the sadness in his tone.

     There was no reply afterwards. The Techo trudged to the main door, and swung his bag over his back. He felt anger burning up inside of him.

     "This isn't fair. Why does everything bad happen to me?" he growled, balling up his fists.

     He then angrily left his home, heading towards another tortuous day at school.

     Meanwhile, across the street, a Grarrl who went by the name Bouie gazed out the window towards the house that the Techo had just emerged from.

     "It looks perfect," he hissed, eyeing it closely. "There are most likely tons of valuables in there…"

     He waited patiently, sitting on his recliner, waiting for the final member of the house to leave. Finally, when he saw an adolescent boy leave the house with a plastic bag in his hand, he jumped in excitement and headed for the door.

     "I'm leaving poor, coming back rich," he cackled.

     Leaving the house, he checked to see if any neighbors were walking by. None; the coast was clear. Bouie quickly dashed down the street and up the driveway of the large home. He gave a kick to the perfectly mowed lawn and then ran into the backyard where he would enter the house through a window.

     Upon arriving, Bouie could feel the excitement in him gather up rapidly. The feeling almost felt overwhelming. The blue Grarrl grunted, and slowly walked to the window, when he suddenly saw something still lying on the grass.

     Bouie swiveled his head towards the inanimate object. "STOP!" he boomed. When he saw what it was, he sighed, relieved. It was merely an apple.

     "A stupid, useless apple," Bouie said to himself.

     All of a sudden, a glimmer of light emitted from the apple, catching Bouie's attention once again. "Hmmm, maybe there's something to this apple that I don't know about," he whispered, kneeling down.

     He snatched the apple, and gazed at it. He felt as if the fruit was pulling him towards it, compelling his eyes to watch. Bouie suddenly opened up his mouth, and took a huge bite of the apple.

     A burst of bright sprinkles abruptly exploded around him, causing Bouie to jump in surprise, and allowing the apple to escape from his hand. It rose into the air, and fell on top of a tree branch, which pulled it down, and then suddenly threw the apple back up into the sky, like a slingshot.

     "NOOOOO!" wept Bouie, peering up into the baby-blue sky, the image of the apple growing fainter. "DON'T LEAVE ME! YOU'RE MY TREASURE!"

     The apple disappeared from his sight. It continued to fly through the air, locating its final target. It descended, passing through some fluffy white clouds, and then landed with a loud PLOP on the ground.

     Walking just behind the apple as it had fallen was a baby Cybunny named Angel. The Cybunny who had been the first to discover it.

     Angel's widened in shock when her eyes set upon the apple. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, jumping down. "I-it's the apple!" Magic dust suddenly coming from the apple blinded her eyes, causing her to giggle. "Wow, I can't believe it's come back to me!"

     Suddenly, the realization hit Angel like…well, an apple. She looked down at the apple in awe. "We are all connected," she whispered.

     The baby Cybunny's face suddenly stretched out a big and joyful grin. Angel stood up, and made her way back home, finally having that special answer for her homework.

The End