A Bori's Christmas

      The Christmas Bori jumped from his desk, grabbed his backpack and took off. He grinned again. Christmas vacation had begun.

      And in the event of this joyous occasion he supposed he could spare a bit of festive cheer. He turned to his teacher.

      "Goodbye, Mrs. Mallow, have a good holiday!"

      A red Kacheek turned.

      "Firstly Apoc, my name is Malon. MALON!!! And secondly that remark will cost you two hours of detention!"

      Apoc growled. Just once he tried to show some of that festive spirit that everyone was talking about. And it blew up in his face. So he decided to make something blow up in Mrs. Malon's face.

      Before the Laugh Grenade took effect, Apoc was halfway to the door.

      By the time he got home, Apoc was in a much worse mood, even after inhaling the laugh grenade when Mrs. Malon chucked it right back at him. The Soup Faerie had asked him to donate some Neopoints to the Soup Kitchen and when he said he didn't have any she called him an evil demon and raved on about Christmas. Being called an evil demon would have been pretty cool except that Apoc really wanted to help out. He sighed. Right now he couldn't bear one more look at anything Christmas.

      And he really wanted to be painted a different colour.

      Apoc opened the door to see his owner wearing a Twisted Roses Santa Hat and hanging a String of Lights across the living room. He clenched his teeth and wanted to head upstairs to his room when his owner spotted him.

      "Hey, Apoc! Did you see all the cool stuff I got from the advent calendar?" His teenage owner MI had thrown pretty much every advent calendar prize imaginable around the house, even in (as Apoc was disgusted to learn) the bathroom.

      "Hello. What are those boxes?"

      "Those are nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

      "C'mon MI, you buy me all these books, then treat me like an idiot!"

      "Well, if you must know, I'm saving up all the advent calendar prizes for you guys at Christmas, to make it seem even more festive!"

      Something in Apoc snapped.

      "I hate this holiday!" he cried. "It's a cheap case for the Toy Shop to triple its sales! And you never get me what I want anyway! Last year I wanted a Darigan Paint Brush, but you said no! You're the worst owner ever!"

      MI stayed calm.

      "Well, the fact is Bori didn't come in Darigan at that point..."

      "I don't care!" yelled Apoc. "The Christmas spirit is presents, and you aren't fulfilling it!"

      MI was still calm.

      "The Christmas spirit is about helping out those less fortunate than us."

      "I'm not fortunate! I'm painted a lousy colour, I have a cheap petpet, and my family is a bunch of freaks!"

      MI smiled, but it wasn't the pleasant one he had been giving before.

      "Firstly," he began, "your lousy colour cost me a hundred thousand Neopoints. Secondly, your cheap petpet is in the next room and finally, your family of freaks just walked in and heard every word you said!" He gritted his teeth.

      Apoc turned around. MI was right. His brothers, a blue Koi named Junglecat, a fire Grarrl named ApocClone and a yellow Tonu named Min had all walked in. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cheeky, his snow Kookith, whimpering.

      Apoc tried to keep cool. He had a great comeback ready when something else came out.

      "You guys are all jerks!" Apoc ran out into the snow and promptly impaled himself in a snowbank.

      Apoc whimpered a bit and headed out of Neopia Central. He walked and he walked until he found himself in the Haunted Woods. He shivered a bit, not only from the cold, but the sudden feeling that he was being watched.

      "H-hello?" Apoc tried to sound brave, but could not.

      Suddenly up from the ground burst the Esophagor. He whipped over to Apoc and grinned. Time for a before-Christmas banquet.

      Apoc fiddled for his Improved Lightning Beam and was just about to get it when the Esophagor screamed. Apoc looked up and found out why. A blue Zafara, green Hissi and blue Xweetok had attacked the Esophagor. And they were losing, probably due to the fact that they were sharing a Wet Snowball between the three of them.

      Apoc thought fast. Then he remembered he still had some Laugh Grenades left. He yelled "RUN!!!" and chucked the grenade.

      The three pets heard him just in time, and jumped off the flailing Esophagor, who looked just in time to be hit full force with the Laugh Grenade.

      Amidst the Esophagor's hideous laugh, the Zafara motioned Apoc to follow them and Apoc, who had nowhere else to be in particular, followed.

      When they were a good distance away from the Esophagor, who was now making a strange tittering noise, Apoc stopped to catch his breath and turned to the Zafara and his companions.

      "Time out here!" Apoc panted. "Who are you? And why did you save me?"

      "What other choice did we have?" the Zafara asked. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to have a Wet Snowball, would you? That was our only one!"

      Apoc moaned. Evidently this was what MI meant about the less fortunate. He had to admit, his Regal Oak Wood Bed seemed pretty good right now considering how late it was, but it would take more than that for him to embrace the Christmas spirit.

      "Fine! But who are you?"

      "My name is Dasher, this is Har and Mage. We're orphans; our owners abandoned us. Did your owner abandon you?" Dasher turned to Apoc.

      "Oh yeah, he was really mean!" lied Apoc. "Do you mind if I spend the night with you guys?"

      As soon as Apoc saw where he was spending the night, he died a little inside. The three pets' home was an assortment of discarded machinery from the Deserted Fairground formed into a tiny three room house. Apoc was almost positive their lighting plan was at an all time low.

      "Do you like it?" Mage asked. She turned to Apoc. "It's not great, but-"

      "No, no, I love it!" Apoc smiled. "Shall we go inside?"

      While Dasher and Har showed Apoc the house, which consisted of a bedroom, kitchen and living room Mage fried up some Baked Beans. She divided it up into four sections, which were served by broken pieces of a Silverware Set. Apoc had never actually eaten Baked Beans before; he usually whined until his owner stuffed something in his mouth to shut him up, so you had to excuse him when he accidentally ate the can and spent the night on the floor clutching his stomach.

      The next morning Apoc helped get the house ready for Christmas. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no cleaning skills, and after he attempted to flush the sink down the toilet Dasher and Har decided to send him with Mage to collect some food from the Money Tree.

      "So what happened to your owner exactly?" asked Apoc quietly as they entered Neopia Central.

      "One day he talked to me and my three brothers. He said that a pet in his other account needed to be moved to this one, so he had to let one of us go. He chose me. I tried to convince him otherwise, so he grabbed me and chucked me outside, then upgraded his security so I couldn't get back in. Have you ever climbed a barbed wire fence?"

      Apoc was quiet. After hearing this horror story he felt sort of bad. His owner never chucked him outside, except for that one time when he put starving Jetsams in his bed. And now today, Apoc kind of thought he deserved it. His owner, not him, being put outside.

      Apoc was snapped out of thought when he realised they were at the Money Tree. As he put his training at the Academy to good use and snagged some Trail Mix, he heard an all-to-familiar noise.

      "Apoc!" The Bori turned and saw his teacher.

      "What are you doing here?" The Kacheek scanned his image. Apoc looked very dirty and was clutching some Trail Mix. Mage was standing beside him. Then Mrs. Malon noticed something different. It wasn't Apoc's appearance or companions. It was his face. Although he didn't look overjoyed to see his teacher Apoc looked happy. Not the sort of happy look he had when a scheme was working or when he was getting a gift from his owner. A genuinely happy look. Mrs. Malon stepped back a few feet, then turned and ran off.

      "That was weird!" laughed Mage. "Come on, let's go home! I got some omelette so we're all set for dinner!" They headed off.

      Meanwhile Mrs. Malon was wandering the streets of Neopia Central. She couldn't get this strange version of Apoc out of her mind. Suddenly she saw his owner MI. He would be able to explain things. She called out to him.

      "Hi Mrs. Malon, have you seen Apoc?" MI looked frantic, like he hadn't slept all night.

      "Why?" she asked.

      "He ran away! We've been looking everywhere! I even offered a 50 000 NP reward. Do you think it'll be enough?"

      Mrs. Malon grinned evilly.

      "Definitely." She smiled.

      After Apoc and Mage got home, they sat down with Dasher and Har for Christmas dinner. While it wasn't the most filling dinner Apoc ever had, he enjoyed it the most. Plus, the next morning he had the chance to give each of his friends the presents he bought for them on the way back from the Money Tree.

      After dinner the four pets lay out on their straw beds thinking.

      "Mage?" Apoc asked after a while. "If you had the chance to go back to your owner, would you?"

      There was a long pause.

      "No," Mage answered softly.

      "Yeah," Apoc said, even softer. "Me neither."

      The four pets were woken up in the middle of the night by someone banging on the door. After a minute it broke and a shadowy figure stepped through.

      "Merry Christmas!" Mrs. Malon snarled. She pointed an Attack Fork at Apoc. "I've been searching for you for hours!!"

      "What do you want?" asked Apoc defiantly.

      "I want the 50 000 NP your owner's offering for your return!" Mrs. Malon snarled. "I think that will be an excellent Christmas present to make up for this dreadful evening!"

      The three pets gasped. Apoc stood awkwardly.

      "You're coming home!" Mrs. Malon reached for Apoc.

      "I sincerely disagree!" Apoc whipped out an Improved Lightning Beam and fired, knocking his teacher back.

      "Why didn't Apoc tell us about that?" asked Dasher. "We could've sold it for a proper Christmas dinner!"

      "Why would his owner offer so many Neopoints for his return?" asked Har.

      "Apoc," asked Mage, "what's going on?"

      Before Apoc could answer, Mrs. Malon smiled and got up.

      "I anticipate trouble," she sneered. The teacher whistled and some Defenders of Neopia swooped in.

      "Look, some abandoned Neopets!" cried Danger Buzz.

      "I'll take care of the Bori!" commanded Judge Hog. "You and Lightning Lenny get those pets to the pound!"

      "NO!!" Apoc cried.

      "Now little one, I think you'd better thank your teacher. She got you home just in time for the holidays!"

      "I can't believe you!" Apoc screeched. "You ruined the happiest moment in my life for a few Neopoints!! You'd better enjoy this holiday, because it will be the last happy moment you will ever have!!!"

      "Someone's cranky!" laughed Judge Hog. "I'll get you home!"

      By the time Apoc arrived home he was asleep in the superhero's arms. MI hugged the sleeping Bori tightly and tucked him in for the night. When Mrs. Malon later came by for her reward, he turned her away because he didn't like her very much.

      The next morning Apoc woke up to the sound of presents being opened. He ran downstairs and his family greeted him, with the exception of Jay who took this time to help himself to some presents that were not his.

      "We're really sorry, Apoc!" said MI.

      "We'll try to be better family!" said Min.

      "Meep!" went Cheeky.

      "Are you all nuts!?" cried Apoc. "I'm the one who's been selfish! Can you ever forgive me?"

      "Of course we can!" laughed MI. "Jay, get away from those presents!"

      After several hours of quality time with his family, Apoc excused himself and ran back to the Haunted Woods. He ran for miles until he found it.

      The house was battered; it was evident a struggle had occurred. Apoc went inside and glanced around. It seemed so empty now.

      Then he remembered something. He looked for the spot where he hid the presents. When he finally found it, he gasped in shock.

      The presents were missing.

      Apoc ran away from the Haunted Woods, back to Neopia Central. He didn't go home, though. He ran straight to the pound.

      "Excuse me," gasped Apoc. "Can you tell me if a Hissi named Har, a Xweetok named Mage, and a Zafara named Dasher are here?" Dr. Death stared at Apoc for a while, then went to look.

      "Nope," he replied.

      Crushed, Apoc headed home. He did enjoy the rest of his holiday, and he most certainly made good on his promise to get revenge on his teacher. But a part of him still missed a certain location in the Haunted Woods, constantly replaying his rescue from the Esophagor, his time at the Money Tree, and that fateful evening.

      In summary Apoc learned a valuable lesson that changed his outlook on life. It lasted about a week.

The End