Ultra Fashionable Potato Sack

How many times have you heard “I am not eating that” after buying some wonderfully scrummy food? Or, “that book is sooooo boring” after searching high and low for an extremely rare book? Scores of times I shouldn’t wonder. Such refusals have always been a bugbear of mine; but now things are getting out of hand!

The problem seems to have worsened since the introduction of Customisation. Neopets have too many choices to make now, and they are becoming extremely fussy! Case in point; my Acara, Bramwyn. She is a very spoilt little girl and gets whatever she wants. If I had to give an example of one of her good qualities it would have to be that she gives. She is a great giver! Well, yes, nine times out of ten what she gives away are things she does not want... but that is Bramwyn all over. She has a habit of crying and stamping her paws if she does not get her own way, which she usually does. You might say that it is my own fault for giving in to her, but anyone who has owned a spoilt Acara will know that it is far easier just to give her what she wants than to suffer the misery. So in essence, yes, I have made a rod for my own back.

At the beginning of Year 9 Bramwyn came to me, as she very often does, and declared “I want to be a Princess!”

“A princess? You are a Princess, my little Princess!” I replied, hoping that this one would not cost me too much.

“No, no, I mean a real Princess. I WANT to be a Royal Girl!“ she snapped back.

My heart sank. “Have you any idea just how much that will cost?” I said pointlessly, knowing that she did not think about such things.

“Well, you spend all day playing games and stocking your shop, so you must have enough Neopoints by now” was her answer. To say that I spend all day playing games is a complete lie on her part *cough*

As I always did, I gave in pretty quickly. I went along to see that nice, but scary Skeith at the bank and withdrew what I needed, which was a lot! After a bit of haggling, I managed to purchase a Royal Paint Brush and took Bramwyn (with a big smile on her face) to the Rainbow Pool. At last! She was a Royal Girl, which we are all very thankful for as it had temporarily stopped her complaining! She looked very lovely in her purple robes, very regal indeed. But Bramwyn is not your typical Royal Girl. She likes to fight in the Battledome, jump in puddles, throw Dung (yuck!) and generally get as messy as possible. You can imagine how much my laundry bill had gone up!

It wasn’t until the day I decided to give her a pair of heart shaped sunglasses that I realised my laundry bill could be saved. Whilst in our Closet, I realised that Bramwyn was able to remove her robes! (She’d kept that one quiet!) Of course, the first thing to do was try on the glasses. Okay, pink heart shaped glasses may not look fantastic on a Royal Acara, but I didn’t expect the abuse that I received when I handed them to her. Paws were stamped and the super sulks followed. The sunglasses were thrown back at me and she stormed off and hid in her bedroom. She slammed doors and had her music up far too loud for several days.

The very same thing happened when I bought her a woollen hat and scarf set. She sulked and refused to speak for a whole week, which we all actually quite enjoyed!

The peace and quiet was shattered when she announced that she wanted a “fancy new Background” *sigh* so off to Mystical Surroundings I went, with yet more Neopoints from the bank. After I had purchased what Bramwyn described as a reasonable Background, we went to the Closet to try it on. Whilst she was skipping around in her new background, I started to flick through all the lovely wearable items that we had come by. I came across the apparently Ultra Fashionable Potato Sack. I have to say now that it did not look very appealing to me and I wondered how a Potato Sack could in fact be Ultra Fashionable at all.

I was examining it, not too closely I might add, as I was sure it was full of Cooties when I heard “what is that you have there?”

I felt a little unnerved after her reaction to the pretty heart shaped sunglasses. “Oh, well, nothing really,” I said, stowing the Potato Sack behind my back.

“Is it something you have bought for one of the other pets without me knowing?” she demanded, pouting look on face as usual. I had no choice; I held up the sack, closed my eyes and waited for the onslaught.

“That’s interesting,” she said. I was too shocked to speak, but opened one eye. “Can I try it on?” she asked, holding out her paws.

“Well, yes, as long as you promise not to get all sulky if you don’t like it!” I demanded, trying my luck a bit.

“I don’t sulk!” she retorted as I handed her the Potato Sack. “I like it,” she said, smiling. “Very cutting edge,” she said, twirling in front of the mirror.

“Oh yes, Ultra Fashionable!” I agreed enthusiastically.

“All Neopets will want one when they see me in my Ultra Fashionable Potato Sack,” Bramwyn declared.

“And your robes will stay nice and clean when you are playing with Dung,” I said under my breath.

“Faboo,” said Bramwyn as she elegantly walked up and down. And yes, surprisingly she really did look rather elegant. And then it occurred to me! You don’t have to be rich to look good! You don’t even have to have millions of Neopoints to enjoy Customisation! I just hope that Bramwyn realises that – oh, and never discovers the NC Mall!

So as it turns out, The Ultra Fashionable Potato Sack really is Ultra Fashionable after all!