A Faerieland Day in Neopia Central

     Kora the Blue Poogle pouted, dramatically flopping down on her bed as she looked at her mother, Eppa the Purple Poogle. It had been over a month now and the young Poogle was as listless as can be. She had gone from pacing the house to trying her hand at gardening and even had a go at painting to no significant satisfaction

     “MOM, I’m…” Kora trailed off. “BOOOOOOOOOORED!!!”

     Eppa looked at her restless daughter who was now hugging a pillow and rolling around comically.

     “Sweetie,” Kora’s mother was ever so patient. “How about I tell you a bedtime story? A faerie story!”

     “Oh, mother, you know I love your faerie stories but I want to go to Faerieland! For real, not just in stories.”

     Eppa understood her daughter’s feelings. The mother-daughter duo had planned a fantastic once in a lifetime trip to Faerieland this summer – something Kora was really looking forward to ever since she was a little Poogle – but it was cancelled until further notice. Her Faerieland interest began as a baby when her mother would tell her magical faerie stories at night before bed and that interest had only grown since then. Not only that, but it would also be her very first time out of Neopia Central and she had been so excited to go on an adventure – her first real adventure.

     “I know, Kora, but you know commercial transport to and from Faerieland has been patchy since the beginning of the year and it’s completely shut down for weeks now.”

     “I know, I know, but surely it’ll be fixed soon,” Kora pouted. “Oh, mommy, when will it be fixed?”

     The Purple Poogle patted her daughter on the shoulder. “No one knows yet, we will just have to be patient and keep an eye on the news.”

     Kora whinged a little bit more and pouted once more before resigning to bed.

     Eppa gazed at her now peacefully snoozing child and felt a mildly bitter sadness knowing that her only wish had been crushed. Of course, there was nothing Eppa could do to literally get them to Faerieland but she racked her brains none the less.

     That’s it! There was nothing Eppa could do to get the two of them to Faerieland… but she could bring Faerieland here! Well, sort of anyway.

     Without waiting another second, Eppa concocted her genius plan for tomorrow. She hoped it would brighten up little Kora’s spirits.

     “Good morning, Kora,” Eppa smiled, drawing the curtains to let the sunlight in. “Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead.”

     “Morning, mom,” Kora rubbed at her eyes sleepily.

     “No time to waste, up you get. We’re going out today!”

     Kora was extremely confused but did not hesitate in following Eppa’s directions. She was pleasantly surprised to find that her mother had made faerie bread (her favourite) for breakfast. They quickly got ready and headed to Neopia Central bazaar.

     As they approached the shopping area, Eppa decided it was time to fill Kora in on what exactly was going down today.

     “Kora, I know you’re disappointed we can’t go to Faerieland but I thought we’d have a Faerie-full day right here in Neopia.”

     Kora finally understood what her mother was getting at and it sounded awesome!

     First stop: Grooming Parlour

     The two got a mini makeover at the Grooming Parlour. Kora chose a Fire Faerie inspired look complete with a fierce Fire Faerie Eye Shadow and had her hair groomed with a Fire Faerie Hair Brush and Fire Faerie Hairspray while Eppa thought it’d be fun to go for an opposite look with a Water Faerie Eye Shadow and a spritz of Water Faerie Perfume. She also picked up a Water Faerie Regenerating Cream for herself to bring home to use and bought Kora a Tooth Faerie Toothbrush and Tooth Faerie Toothpaste to encourage her daughter into good dental habits.

     Feeling great in their new getup, the duo headed to the Chocolate Factory for something sweet. Keeping in line with the Faerie-full theme, Kora selected a handful of Glitter Star Candies and Glitter Moon Candies.

     “Try one, mom,” Kora picked up one Glitter Star Candy and one Glitter Moon Candy and held both out to her mother. 

“Oh, dear, I think they’re a little tad too sweet for me. You have them, Kora.”

     Kora was only too happy to oblige!

     “How about some smoothies as well, Kora?”

“Aren’t smoothies sweet too?”

     “Not to worry, I’ll just ask for mine with no added sugar.

     “Oooh, I know! I’ll have a Mega Orange Carrot Smooth because I’m orange today and you can have a Mega Plubarb Smoothie since you’re blue!!”

     “Sounds good, darling.”

     The two stopped in front of the Smoothies stand when suddenly Kora let out a shriek. She pointed at the specials poster next to the large menu outside the Smoothies stand and could barely contain her excitement.

“Mom, mom, MOM,” Kora was practically jumping up and down now. “They have a Frozen Faerie Ixi Coconut Smoothie!! Wow, I’ve never seen it before. Can I get that instead? Can I get it?!”

     Eppa laughed at her daughter’s enthusiasm. “Of course.”

     Sipping on their smoothies, the two strolled over to the Collectable Card Shop. Kora’s collection was small since she had only begun collecting a year ago and she only wanted to collect Faerie cards. The only Faerie card in stock today was the pink The Tooth Faerie one, which Kora already had, so they left without making a purchase.

     “Ah, that’s unfortunate but let’s see what they have in Usuki Land,” Eppa said, hoping to keep Kora’s spirits high and the Faerie-full theme going.

     Fortunately, Usuki Land was jammed packed with Faerie options for Kora to browse. A whole section of the store was lined with Faerie Usukis: Air Faerie Usuki Doll, Battle Faerie Usuki Dolls, Dark Faerie Usuki Doll… the list went on.

     Kora’s eyes were wide in wonder. How could she possibly choose?!

     “I want them all!!”, Kora exclaimed.

     “Of course you do,” Eppa tutted. “But you can pick one only, alright?”

     Kora pondered hard, tossing up between a few before ending up with two faerie dolls, one in each hand: a Fire Faerie Usuki Doll and a Snow Faerie Usuki Doll. Kora wanted to keep going with her Fire Faerie theme but the Space Faerie Usuki Doll was a limited edition one that was super rare to find. She was torn.

     “Look, Kora,” Eppa pointed to the side of the display where a row of Fire Faerie Usuki Sets and Negg Faerie Usuki Sets were. “How about we get the Space Faerie Usuki Dolls and the Fire Faerie Usuki Set so you can still dress the Space Faerie Usuki up in the Fire Faerie outfit?”

     A genius idea! Kora was delighted. She carefully put the Fire Faerie Usuki Doll down, whispering a promise that she’ll be back for it, and rushed to the register with her goodies.

     “Ready to go home now, Kora?”

     The Blue Poogle nodded exuberantly.

     The midday sun was high in the sky by now and the temperature was getting a little too hot to be out and about. Plus, Kora couldn’t wait to get home to play with her new doll.

     Eppa led the way home, glad that her daughter was happy and animated once more.

     The End.