An End and a Beginning - A True Story

     The first time I logged onto Neopets... a long time ago. But, I can still remember creating my first pet, a Blue Lupe named Midnight_Charm. Midnight was blue originally. I painted her Cloud later because she had wanted it so badly. I used to get her great toys and play with her all the time. I used to take her out to explore every corner of Neopia. But then came the disagreement.

     Before, we were quite average, as your Neopian family goes. I was the bacon-bringer, and Midnight was... well, my pet. My best friend for life. The one that was always there. The one that, if I was stupid enough to run into a trap in The Lost Tomb while I was on an adventure on Mystery Island, would save me.

     But, everything fell apart when she asked me that question.

     It happened when I came back to our Neohome on Mystery Island one day. Mystery Island was Midnight’s favourite place, so I had made sure that we would build our Neohome there. Midnight was always a traveller. She wanted to see everything and everywhere, and then see more. The question came suddenly:

     “Hey, Lucky, could you give me to someone else now that the pound’s open again?”

     At that moment I dropped the shopping I was carrying.

     “W-why would I do that?! You’re my Neopet, Midnight!”

     She sighed. “Oh, come on, Lucky. I want to go.”

     I thought she was joking. I let out a laugh.

     “HA HA. Very funny, Midnight.”

     “No. Really. Can I?”

     Picking the shopping up and placing it on our table, I felt anger form inside me.

     “Midnight, stop it. It’s annoying now.”

     “I’m serious!!” she trailed off. “I’m a traveller. I want to see everything the world has to offer. I never want to stay in the same place. Never.”

     Then, it hit me. She wasn’t joking or kidding around. She’d done pound jokes like this before, but she’d never had such a serious expression. Still, though, I tried to kid myself.

     “Come off it, Midnight. The joke’s long over.”

     “Lucky,” she said, with a severe look. “I mean it.”

     Different owner, different experiences. Midnight wanted to leave me just because she wanted to see new things? I thought... I thought that I was her owner. She was supposed to stay with me!

     “You... you really want to go?! You want to leave me?!?”

     “Lucky, it’s not that much of a big deal! All I’m asking is-”

     “Oh, I get it now! You want to leave because you’re so selfish, you’ll just come and go as you please, even if I created you!”

     Midnight began to growl. “I knew that you’d get like this!! Why can’t you just leave me ALONE?!?”

     “WELL, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I’M GOING TO DO!!!”

     I can’t believe it, but we were actually yelling at each other. We were never like this. Could our bond be broken that easily?

     We started calling each other names and pointing out each other’s short-comings. It was awful to fight with your Neopet. But why did she want to leave? Just for new experiences? That was it?!?”

     After a while had passed with us yelling at our fullest, we both gave up and made for bed. As I was walking away, I heard Midnight_Charm mutter:

     “You get too attached to everything, Lucky. That’s your problem.”

     I couldn’t help but respond.

     “And you care too little for other’s feelings, Midnight. That’s your problem.”

     I spent the whole night crying.

     ***

     ...That was yesterday. When I woke up, I didn’t feel better at all. I went onto the Neopian Pound board. Despite myself, I found I was doing what Midnight wanted.

     Well, not exactly. Midnight wanted to be randomly dumped in the pound and see where it would take her. But, I thought, if I did that, she’d probably end up with some jerk that only wanted her because she was painted. No matter how mad I was at her, I wouldn’t make her go with someone like that. No way.

     Instead, I asked for people to offer what they would give me for Midnight. I looked around, and eventually found a Neopian that fit the bill: a user called ‘terrifyings‘.

     Terrifyings was a nice person, and offered me a pet for Midnight. It was a Rainbow Gnorbu called Eeliox. Despite myself, I found myself going, “Aww!! He’s so cute!!” Well, Midnight wanted to go. Might as well look for another cute pet.

     We were going to do it by transfer. I had never transferred a pet before. I didn’t know what to expect. But I did my best to brace myself. When I reached the pound, I took a deep breath. I looked at Midnight.

     “There’s still time to change your mind, you know.”

     “No.”

     “Still angry, then? Hmph! Well, you can go to your-”

     Then she turned her head.

     She didn’t look angry. In fact, when she turned to me, I saw that she was crying.

     “Lucky, I’m sorry!!”

     She hugged me. I knew what she meant. She didn’t mean, ‘Oh, I’ve changed my mind, let’s go home and be happy’. She meant that she was sorry for making me cry. Sorry for yelling at me. Sorry for not being a better pet. But, no matter what I did, she would never be sorry that she was going. It was her calling. Her destiny.

     I smiled at her.

     “Don’t cause Terrifyings any grief, you hear me? Be a good pet. Look after yourself, and your owner. Be friendly to the other pets. And... and... don’t you dare forget me!!”

     I burst into tears too, and we just stood there, hugging and crying for a long time. We must have looked like idiots, but I didn’t care.

     After a while, I stood up again.

     “Come on. Terrifyings will be waiting.”

     She got up and followed me into the pound. We went through the ‘Transfer’ door. A Robot Hissi greeted us.

     “Welcome. Please come this way...”

     ***

     This was it. I hugged Midnight one more time, and said my last goodbyes. Then, I typed in ‘Terrifyings’ on the screen. Midnight seemed to fade away slowly. As she was fading, I saw her wave and mouth some words:

     “I won’t forget you.”

     I waved back and tried not to cry. Then, a Neomail appeared in my Inbox.

     ‘Terrifyings has adopted Midnight_Charm...’

     Almost as soon as it arrived, there came another Neomail.

     ‘Would you like to adopt Eeliox...?’

     I pressed the ‘Accept’ button. Before I knew it, a Rainbow Gnorbu appeared on front of me.

     He was cute. He had a long mane, big floppy ears and big purple eyes. His colour suited him well.

     “Hello,” he said. “I’m Eeliox. Who are you?”

     I smiled. “I’m Lucky. I’m your new owner.”

     I cuddled him. I swear, Midnight, I thought. I’ll be the best owner I can be for him. In honour of you.

The End