A Favor for Jhudora

     I looked down at the tear in the Dark Faerie Collar. What had I done? I looked up into my distraught sister’s face. The Island Ixi was on the verge of tears.

     “Mom worked so hard to make it to level 44 in Jhudora’s quests. She’ll be so upset!” Maddie whimpered. “Georgie, what do we do?”

     I frowned and said, “I’ll figure something out. Don’t worry, Maddie, this was my fault. You told me not to touch it; I should have listened to you. Look, go play in your room and if Mom asks about it, tell her you haven’t seen it and you don’t know anything. I’ll try and get this fixed or replaced.”

     “How are you going to get it replaced? They are too expensive; you’ve never saved more then five thousand Neopoints.” Maddie said.

     I could feel my fur standing up on my neck. Maddie wasn’t helping me any.

     “Madeline, just do it!” I cried in frustration.

     “Okay.” She sighed as she left the room.

     I ran and got my coat and hurried to the Eyrie stop. I needed to get to Terror Mountain and to Donny’s repair shop. Maybe he could fix it and I could have it back before Mom even got home. The time it took to get from my home in Neopia Central to Happy Valley was killer. I was so scared that Mom would come home early and she would notice right away that her collar was gone, and she would ask Maddie. I knew Maddie would lie and say it was her fault and she lost it and try to cover for me, because that was the kind of little sister she was. But I couldn’t let that happen. I rode the lift up to the top of the mountain and ran as fast as I could in the deep snow. I was an Island Xweetok so it was a little difficult to run fast in the snow. I arrived at the door of the repair shop and went in.

     The surly old Bori sat behind his work bench like always. I pulled the collar out of a coat pocket and put it on his table and asked if he could fix it. He looked at it a moment before saying no. I put it back in my pocket and left.

     “What else can I do?” I whined aloud as I got onto the lift back to Happy Valley.

     Once down there I noticed a sign for ships to Faerieland. I had an inspiration. I would go to Faerieland and ask Jhudora if she could fix it. Sure, it’s not smart to ask favors of dark faeries, but I was at the end of my rope and willing to try anything. I got on the ship and not long later it was underway. I would have enjoyed the trip a lot if I didn’t have that knot twisting in my stomach as I thought of how sad Mom would be if I couldn’t get it fixed.

     I looked at my watch as I got off the ship. Mom would be home in about four hours; I had plenty of time. I looked around the ruins of Faerieland and spotted Jhudora’s Bluff. I made my way there as fast as I could. There were no other pets there at that time so I went in. Jhudora was sitting in her chair looking bored.

     “Here for a quest?” she asked.

     “Not exactly. I was wondering if you could fix this,” I said, holding out the collar.

     Jhudora took it and looked at and then asked, “And why would I do that? If you were as careless as that, you should suffer the consequences.”

     I could feel tears filling my eyes as I cried, “It’s my mom’s; she worked so hard to get it. She’ll be so sad if she finds out what happened to it. Please, Jhudora, I’ll do anything!”

     “All right, I’ll fix it, but you owe me a favor,” Jhudora said.

     “Anything!” I cried.

     “Not today, I’ll tell you when I want it,” Jhudora said.

     Her fingers began to glow green and she ran them down the torn edges and they melded together again.

     She handed it back to me and said, “Here you go, and remember my favor.”

     “Oh, I will,” I cried in relief. “Thank you so much!”

     I hurried home and was glad to find that Mom was not home yet. Maddie came running and I could see that she had been crying.

     “Oh, Georgie, could you do anything?” Maddie asked.

     I pulled the fixed collar out of my coat pocket and showed it to her.

     “Good as new. See, it’s all better,” I said.

     Maddie jumped up and down, laughing. I decided not to tell her how I got it fixed. It would worry her. I put the collar back in its place and tried to forget that it had ever happened.

     I did forget that it had ever happened as time passed without Jhudora claiming her favor. Then one day I was walking through Faerieland alone when she appeared.

     “Hello, Georgina. I’ve come to claim my favor,” Jhudora said.

     My stomach dropped, but I owed her.

     “Okay, what do you need?” I asked, hoping it would be easy.

     “I need you to go to Meridell and to Illusen’s Glade and bring me a Leaf Taco,” Jhudora said.

     “But, I’m not on any quests for Illusen and it’ll take me weeks to get it, if I’m lucky,” I protested.

     “She keeps them in her fridge,” Jhudora said.

     “But I can’t steal from Illusen!” I cried.

     “Well, then, if you won’t do me the favor you owe me, then I will have to undo the favor I did you,” Jhudora threatened.

     “No, don’t do that!” I cried, desperately.

     “I’ll give you until midnight to return with that Taco before I recall my favor, so you choose,” Jhudora replied.

     With that she was gone. I stood there trying to think of some way out of it without having Jhudora undo her spell that fixed the collar. I decided that the only thing to do was go to Meridell. An hour later I arrived in Meridell. I looked over towards her glade and saw a long line of people waiting for quests. I felt terrible about what I was about to do.

     I scoped out the area and tried to figure out how to get in and out with the taco and not be caught. I could just see my mom’s reaction to picking me up from the dungeon over a taco. She would be livid and she would rant about how she thought she raised me to be better than this, and Maddie would never respect me again. Still, I had to try; I couldn’t let Mom down.

     I managed to sneak around the house. There was a window open in the back and I climbed in. I felt even worse about climbing in through a window. I felt like a thief now. I made my way to the kitchen quietly and opened the fridge door.

     “Well, what do we have here?” asked a voice.

     I looked over and saw Illusen watching me. I jumped and began to cry and poured out the entire story to her and begged her not to turn me in. She came over and put her hand kindly on my head and pulled out a handkerchief and wiped my tears.

     “Don’t cry, little one,” Illusen said kindly.

     She reached into the fridge and handed me the taco.

     “You’re giving it to me, even after what I did, and for Jhudora?” I asked.

     “Of course I am. I made a lot extra. You’re the eight this month. Jhudora is hooked on Leaf Tacos. She keeps trading favors with unsuspecting Neopians and then sending them here to get them. I couldn’t turn those poor people away to Jhudora’s tender mercy. Besides, it amuses me highly that she likes my cooking,” Illusen explained. “But in the future, don’t ask favors of dark faeries, because owing them one is not worth it.”

     I smiled and thanked her and hurried back to Faerieland. I ran to Jhudora’s Bluff and into her home. She was waiting and I held out the taco. She took it and grinned.

     “Well, now you have paid your favor back. Thank you, Georgie,” Jhudora said. “Now, go home.”

     I walked out feeling much better. I learned a valuable lesson from that experience. Never touch anything that isn’t mine and never owe Jhudora a favor.

The End