The Lonely Little Kacheek

     I sighed and nodded. “Don’t I have to?” My owner laughed and carried me outside. I sighed and put my head on her shoulder.

     “Yeah, I’m sorry. But you can pick out some toys, or books, or some Usukis, or... you get the picture right?” my silly owner asked and I smiled a small smile. “You’ll find something this time. I promise, Cheeky.”

     You would think that every Neopet in the world would love to be able to go to Neopia Central and buy whatever they want. But not me. I was too small. I am only two years old, and the top of my head barely reaches my owner’s knees! And she is only five feet tall! I also had three siblings, and they were all older than me and definitely bigger than me.

     But how does being small relate to buying things at Neopia Central? Well, first of all, when I go buy toys, I’m too little for most of them, and the ones my size are for babies. Books, well, I don’t like reading books a lot. Besides, I have a MILLION books from my owner. She loves reading and tries to persuade all of us to read. The only one that listened to her was my oldest sibling and only sister, Zafrina. She is a green Zafara and she is one of my most favorite people to be around. She’s very nice and loves me a lot. Not that my other two siblings don’t; she’s just the only one that shows it.

     Another thing, I get lost a lot. Especially if there are big crowds, it’s hard to tell who is who when I can only see their knees. I’m so little, I’ve even had the shopkeeper of the Toy Shop pick me up and try to put me on a shelf thinking I was a toy! And when I see other neopets and owners who are so tall, it makes me so jealous. I just want to be big.

     The last thing that bothers me, is that I have no friends my size. I know some other neopets who I play with sometimes, but some of them are younger than me and are still bigger than me! And most neopets pick on me, so I don’t have very many friends.

     “Cheeky, what’s wrong? You haven’t said a word since we’ve left the house!” my oldest brother Flame pointed out. My owner and Zafrina were having a deep conversation about some book walking ahead of us. I was walking with Flame on one side of me, and Skylar on the other side of me. Flame is a Red Scorchio; he loves playing around and having fun, but he can be caring sometimes. Skylar is a Yellow Shoyru and when you first meet him, he is kind of shy, but when you get to know him, he is crazy, energetic, and likes to cause trouble sometimes. Skylar is two years older than me; Flame is four years older than me. Zafrina is the oldest and is eleven years old.

     “Nothing’s wrong, I’m just thinking,” I responded in my little voice. I didn’t want to admit to them how much I don’t like going to Neopia Central. It’s embarrassing.

     “Thinking about what you’re gonna spend your neopoints on?” Skylar asked. “Mom said that she’s going to give us a thousand to spend this time! She’s been saving up her neopoints from the Game Room.”

     Mom is what we call our owner because that’s pretty much what she is. She cares for us just like a mom would. Mom is one of the best moms in the world! She is the only one I told about my problem about being too small. Somehow she finds all the right words to make me feel better. But soon I see how small and lonely I am and am back to being sad again. If only I had friends and family who were my size. Or at least toys I could play with that were my size.

     Soon we arrived at Neopia Central. Flame and Skylar immediately ran off to the Bazaar as soon as mom gave them there neopoints. More than likely, they were going to go to the Defence Magic shop to buy weapons and things for the Battledome.

     I followed Mom and Zafrina as they went into the book shop. They always went there first to see if there were any new books in stock. It was routine for them. I almost fell over when Mom didn’t enter the shop.

     “I think I’ll skip the book shop this time. I want to show you something.” She stated grabbing my paw and leading me into the Bazaar. I looked around wondering what she could possibly be showing me. I’ve been to every store in the Bazaar. What could she show me here?

     As we reached the other end of the Bazaar I found a sign that read: To the Plaza.

     To the Plaza... what in the world is the Plaza? I don’t remember ever going to a place called the Plaza in Neopia Central. Maybe it’s new.

     As we entered the Plaza, there weren’t very many shops. Well, not as many as the Bazaar. When we reached the Second-Hand Shoppe, I finally had to ask my mom where she was taking me.

     “Mom, where are we-“ but I was cut off because right in front of me I saw a huge shop called Plushie Shop. It had two big pink double doors and a giant Rainbow Aisha Plushie above them. There were no windows to see what was inside, so I was very curious.

     What is a Plushie? Were they some different types of toys? Maybe a new invention, or maybe a new daily. And why did Mom want to talk me here? It’ll probably be like the toy shop, where everything was too big for me.

     ‘Thanks for taking me to another place where I would feel out of place, Mom!’ I thought as I stared at this building.

     “We’re going here, Cheeky,” my mom told me as we entered inside. I was a little hesitant, but when we entered, I almost screamed. It was a big colorful shop and everywhere there were... little neopets. They were all smaller than me. All of them were my size. And on the first shelf I saw, there were little Blue Kacheeks. Just... like... me! I ran over to them and picked one up. It was so soft and mushy.

     The tag read: Your neopet will love you forever if you get this charming Blue Kacheek Plushie!

     I looked up at my mom and she was beaming at me.

     “So you like them?” she asked, obviously knowing the answer would be yes.

     “Mom!” I squealed in excitement. “They’re perfect! This one is small, just like me! And so are all the others. They even have yellow ones, and green ones. Look!” I sprinted to another shelf. “This one is a Green Zafara, just like Zafrina!”

     “I know, sweetie. You can spend 1000 neopoints, so get as many as you want,” she explained and I started beaming too. They were just so perfect for me; I couldn’t believe it.

     I was just about to grab some more plushies when someone approached me. It was a white Cybunny with blond hair in a ponytail. She was wearing a blue and pink dress with hearts on the sleeves. She was wearing a huge smile on her face, obviously glad to see me so happy.

     “Hi there, I see you’ve made some new friends?” she asked, grabbing a basket beside her. “Here, this will help you out. You’re lucky because I just marked down all the prices on the plushies. Bring them up to me once you find what you need.”

     I smiled and took the basket from her, thanking her. So these are plushies, huh? I started searching to see which plushies I wanted. I decided I would find my whole family.

     The Red Scorchio Plushie’s tag read: Being one of the more popular pets in the game, this Scorchio doll is more expensive than other plushies.

     I was a little upset when I saw it was 1,300 neopoints. I put it back on the shelf and glanced over at my mom talking to the shopkeeper. She would probably be able to haggle so the price was lower, but I would only be able to get one other plushie.

     Soon I found a Yellow Shoyru Plushie and its tag read: Please take me home! :)

     I smiled when I saw it was only 234 neopoints. I grabbed it quickly off the shelf and put it in my basket.

     I smiled and decided to find some others. Soon I was done and very happy because I was able to find six plushies. I found a Green Zafara, Yellow Shoyru, Purple Grundo, Blue Acara, Green Lutari, and a Red Xweetok. I set my basket of plushies on the counter and my Mom went through the prices getting ready to haggle on each one.

     “I tried to find all of us, but the Red Scorchio was too expensive. It was 1,300 neopoints!” I explained to my mom as she went through the plushies.

     “Oh, I’m sorry, honey, I would give you the extra neopoints, but that would mean I would have to give your siblings extra neopoints too. I just can’t afford that, though,” she explained. “Maybe you should withdraw some of those extra neopoints you have in the bank for next time we come.”

     I thought about that and nodded my head in agreement. I’ve been saving up all of my neopoints in my bank from playing games in case I ever needed some neopoints for something good. Now I could finally withdraw some of it. I have over 10,000 neopoints in it! I had more than any of my other siblings!

     Once we got home...

     “Hey, you guys!” I shouted after my siblings. Every time we go to Neopia Central we all get separated and then meet back at our Neohome. “Look what I got! Look! Look! Look!”

     I was so proud of my plushies, I couldn’t wait to show them off. Zafrina, Flame, and Skylar came running at me and stopped in front of my basket. I pulled them out one by one and set them in front of our couch.

     “Look, Zafrina, here you are.” I pointed to the Green Zafara. “That’s you, Skylar.” I pointed to the Yellow Shoyru. “That one’s me!” I pointed to the Blue Kacheek. “I would’ve gotten you, Flame, but a Red Scorchio was 1,300 neopoints. But tomorrow Mom is going to take me to the bank so I’ll get more neopoints and go again to get you!”

     Zafrina laughed and told me, “Oh, those are adorable. And look.” She picked up the Blue Kacheek Plushie. “This one is little just like you. You’ve now got six new friends who are small like you.”

     “I know! It’s awesome!” I explained, picking up the Purple Grundo and flying it across the room. “I can make them do whatever I want. I could make a little family of plushies!”

     My real family laughed, not at me but with me. I beamed a big smile. “These are the best!”

     And with that, I scooped up my plushies and ran off to my room to start the adventures with my new little and squishy family.

     I started off by giving each of them a name, and I started to pretend that they were meeting each other. After a while I stared at them all and I grabbed the little Blue Kacheek plushie and whispered,

     “I will never be lonely again with you!”

The End