Lofty's Wings

      "Wings," I gasped, my blue eyes stretched wide in wonder.

      There are many beautiful things in Neopia. Baby Summer Wings are one of those things. On that first day of summer, the wings looked as delicate as glass, shimmering as the sun alighted down on them. Every time I see them, I marvel at them anew. Momma helped me put the Baby Summer Wings on, the pale pink straps fitting across my broad chest.

      Momma stepped back, hands on her hips, black eyes lightening as she took in my new appendages. Then, she smiled, making me feel warm inside.

      "You look like a butterfly, Lofty! I love your new look! Though, it seems to be missing something...come with me," Momma said, turning to walk around the right corner of our Neohome.

      I understood that a butterfly was an insect from Momma's world, similar to a Carmariller. I smiled and followed Momma. Immediately, we were immersed in my brother, Legend's beautiful garden. In the midst of the garden is our closet. To make things short, let me just say that Momma has accumulated a lot of clothes for our family.

      The family closet is its own separate building, roughly the size of a large shed. Due to the size of our closet, we decided to make the building out of rough, weatherworn stone. Ivy clings to the walls and the door is hidden, thanks to my connection to fire faeries. There are individual compartments for every sort of clothing imaginable! At any rate, Momma headed straight for the masks section after we entered the closet.

      It took only a moment for Momma to pick up the Solar Flare Mask and turn to me. My face was raised to her and she placed the mask on my face. At once, my gaze was amber tinged. It was easy to get used to. Momma was smiling at me so I moved to the full length mirror to see my reflection.

      I smiled as I took my new look in.

      "You look like a creature that has come straight from the sun. An unintended look but I love it! Its perfect for summer," Momma gushed.

      I flicked my gaze to Momma's face. She looked elated. Seeing this, even though I'm naturally well-tempered, my spirits rose to match hers.

      "If you love it, I love it," I said quickly.

      The teenage girl smiled down at me, leading the way out of the closet. I knew Momma had errands to run but I couldn't join her. Sweet was coming over for lunch. I was eager to see my best friend, so, after kissing Momma goodbye, I raced down the garden path to the front of our Neohome. Before the jelly Shoyru arrived, there was one thing I needed to do.

      Quickly, I scanned the sky. I saw no one I recognized but I did see a few flying pets and their Petpets enjoying the summer day. Soon, I'll be joining them, I thought, hardly able to control my excitement.

      "Faerie, I need you," I said, making sure that no one was close enough to see or hear me clearly.

      In only a moment, a puff of red smoke announced the arrival of a fire faerie. She smiled at me, as most do. Fire faeries seem to be especially taken with me, ever since I was created.

      "Could you fix my wings so that they are no longer as delicate as they appear," I requested.

      "Certainly," the fire faerie said, alighting down on my wings.

      The faerie began to walk along my wings, placing a hand here and there against the glass. This lasted for a few moments and then the faerie fluttered her wings to balance on my long, pointy and narrow beak.

      "It is done. Now, I must go," the fire faerie said, blinking her large brown eyes once in goodbye, before poofing in a cloud of red smoke.

      I smiled, gazing at the sky once more. Sweet wasn't in sight but I knew it was eleven forty-five. I had only fifteen minutes to wait until she arrived. I lay down in the cool green grass in the front yard, spreading out my wings. I listened to my belly rumbling in hunger and felt a slight breeze ruffle my thick blue fur.

      The fifteen minutes passed and I enjoyed the sunbathing I got as a result.

      "Lofty," Sweet called my name.

      I turned towards her, seeing only a purple blur as she dived towards earth. She pulled up abruptly, wings fluttering, black eyes wide. She was taking in my new appearance. She gasped suddenly and her face broke into a broad grin. She hugged me tight before circling me quickly.

      "Let's eat lunch first, before you teach me how to fly," I said.

      "OH YES," Sweet yelled, speeding away over the roof of my Neohome.

      I knew she was headed for the back door of the kitchen. As she did that, I picked up speed and met her in the kitchen. Together, along with our Petpets' help, we carried our lunches and utensils outside. Being a lovely day, we settled ourselves next to the pond. I was admiring the sparkle of the sunlight on the water.

      I knew that Sweet was absolutely bursting with questions but she was also hungry. She took a gigantic bite of her Mynci Vegetable Melt Sandwich and I followed suit. After swallowing, Sweet looked at me expectantly. I willingly told my best friend about what had happened that morning. She flapped her own wings eagerly.

      "I can hardly wait to teach you how to fly! Lofty, this is going to be great! We can do all sorts of fun things now that you have wings," Sweet exclaimed, stuffing some Potato Wedges dipped in ketchup into her mouth.

      Sweet is my best friend for good reason. Other than being friendly, fun-loving and always eager, she also has only one speed: fast. She is the only pet that I've ever met who could easily keep up with me at all times. That being the case, we easily polished off our lunch, finishing with Chokato Kougra Pudding as our dessert. Almost as soon as Sweet had finished her last mouthful, she went into the air, swooping wide around me and the garden, laughing in glee.

      I reared up, my wide blue paws reaching out to her. "What about me?"

      The jelly Shoyru dropped down beside me. "Right! First things first. Make sure your wings work."

      I flapped my wings. I knew they worked, I could feel them.

      "Now, rise up into the air," Sweet said, spreading her wings and flapping them three times to demonstrate.

      I had to flap my wings hard a few times, due to my greater weight. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself floating, even if it was a tad wobbly. Sweet smiled warmly at me, G.G. Bear, her jelly Ona, fluttering beside her with a worried look on his face.

      "You're doing fantastic, Lofty. Now, I'm going to show you the aerial view of the labyrinth. If I go too fast or need assistance, I'm here for you," Sweet said encouragingly.

      I was eager to have an adventure and I wrinkled my nose. G.G. Bear copied my face, tapping one purple paw on his owner's shoulder. The jelly Shoyru turned around to look at me. She laughed at the look on my face, shaking her head in true best friend fashion.

      "Oh, Lofty! I know how quick you are to learn and how much you enjoy traveling. However, you need to fully adjust to flying before you branch out. Today, Neopia Central. Tomorrow, the rest of Neopia. OK," Sweet cocked her head, large black eyes fixed on my face.

      I sighed but then smiled, knowing she was right. I nodded my head reluctantly.

      "Could we at least fly at a faster speed," I asked.

      "Nope! Everything other than basic flying skills is for tomorrow and beyond," Sweet said firmly, turning her back to lead the way to the labyrinth.

      I growled, feeling suddenly mutinous. My logic was telling me to listen to my best friend, who truly cared about me and understood what I needed. Then, a small (very small) part of me hated that I had to wait, for anything. Me, the baby Yurble who was quite spoiled but tried not to show it. I struggled with these feelings for a few moments, not moving.

      Finally, I squelched my negativity, my sunny attitude telling me not to ruin a fabulous day and an even better friend on something as silly as my impatience. I swooped low, copying a move that I had seen Sweet do a hundred times. I stretched my paws to brush the calm pond and then I quickly climbed upwards, flying right in front of Sweet. I looked back at her, grinning wide. She narrowed her eyes for a moment but she has as good a nature as I do and she laughed suddenly and sped up to fly beside me.

      "Fine! You want to fly into the wind-,' Sweet started before I cut her off.

      "As I usually do," I said quickly.

      "As you usually do. Then, OK! I challenge you to a race around the entire boundary of N.C."

      "I accept your challenge but first, I have an idea. Put your paw over mine. Now, on three and together we shout This is going to be the best summer!"

      "One...two...three..."

      "THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST SUMMER!"

      Then, the race began and the outcome didn't matter because the next three months were going to be truly awesome. With a sigh, G.G. Bear flew back to my Neohome to wait our return.

The End