The Plushie

     The first memory he had was shivering cold - despite his fabric - and wrapped under the long tail of a giant ice worm. Later, he would learn that this particular worm was called 'the Snowager'; not that it mattered much. They weren't close, him and the ice worm, as there were billions of other plushies and assorted items just like him fitted neatly into a pile under the large worm.

     That being so, his days were boring and repetitive, as items came and went, until a day came when a Camouflage Kougra reached his paw into the pile of plushies and wrapped it around the Green Tuskaninny Plushie himself. His memories may be fuzzy, but he could remember quite clearly the warmth - literal and emotional - that he felt when he was picked up by a Neopet for the first time. The Kougra got a good grip on the plushie and ran in the other direction, frantic but careful, so as to not wake the giant, sleeping Snowager.

     "Come on, Susan, hurry up!" a yellow Aisha whined from outside the cave. "What did you get?"

     The Kougra slowed down, panting a bit, her breath visible in the cold, and opened her paw. "Just some plushie. Come on, we have to make another stop."

     At that moment, the Green Tuskaninny was rather rudely shoved down the Kougra's backpack. Although it was more warmth than he had felt in a while, it was also quite dark. He couldn't see who it was when a voice appeared.

     "Oh, look at that, a new prize from the Snowager!"

     After a moment, he could tell the voice was coming from a Baby Wocky Plushie in a corner of the backpack, or perhaps it was the Rainbow Mynci Plushie beside it. The Green Tuskaninny Plushie thought he should introduce himself, but he wasn't sure how. Plushies generally don't do much of introducing. But these plushies seemed so sure of themselves, he thought.

     "I know the type. Not worth much. Likely he won't last."

     The Green Tuskaninny Plushie's heart sank, or at least it would have sunk if plushies had hearts. Now, who are these plushies to be saying they know me?, he thought. I bet they aren't even experienced plushies at all.

     "Hey, who knows, maybe they'll end up keeping this one."

     "Not likely. You know how Susan is about price."

     The Green Tuskaninny Plushie hated this conversation, as he couldn't understand. Suddenly he thought he ought to say something, anything in retort. But before he could, light entered the backpack and he was lifted out. It was the Kougra, his new owner, hopefully wanting to play with him.

     In an instant, he was tossed to the ground, and came face to feet with a yellow JubJub in an odd little hat. His new owner and the JubJub spoke for a bit, talking of numbers and shops, while the Aisha he had seen before stood nearby, eyes rolling and paws tapping impatiently. The Green Tuskaninny Plushie thought they had some very important business to discuss, so he waited patiently until he dozed off.

     The next memory the plushie could recall was, once again, being tossed, this time into a pile of items quite like the one he was in to begin with. He wiggled his way out of a Rusty Old Can and watched the Kougra and the Aisha walk far away from him until they completely faded away. Panic overcame the plushie as he looked at his unfamiliar surroundings. Items, piles of items, and in the center, a thick tree trunk with a friendly look. His eyes then layed upon an Usulbat Plushie.

     "Where am I?" he cried to the plushie. "Where's my new owner?"

     "You've been donated," the Usulbat Plushie answered, in an old and wise voice. "We're at the Money Tree, friend."

     "This isn't right! I finally had an owner, a Camouflage Kougra, and she was going to play with me, and, and maybe the Aisha, too!" he stammered out frantically. Finally, he stopped and dropped down on a pile of junk, sighing. "Why didn't they want me?"

     "Perhaps it's for the best. I was what you call 'wanted' once. I was put up for display in my owner's gallery for years until she got tired of me. Now here I am, and I feel just as unwanted as I did before.

     "A plushie's life is give or take, I suppose. Some of us are wanted only for our value, some of us for our looks, and few of us have the privilege of ever actually being played with. And a lot of us, we're not wanted at all. We're given away as prizes and thrown away as junk. And there isn't quite much we can do about it."

     The Green Tuskaninny Plushie gaped at the other Plushie's story. This, he had not known. He was proud to be a Plushie up until now. Maybe he didn't know that much about life as he thought. After all, he was just some worthless Green Tuskaninny plushie from the Snowager. With a sigh, he settled back against the tree. "It's not fair," he said.

     "You'll just have to accept the facts, kid. It's a long life, with ups and downs. Don't worry, you'll get yours."

     The Green Tuskaninny Plushie took one last tearful look at the Usulbat Plushie and then drifted off.

     The next memory the Green Tuskaninny Plushie had was yet another paw lifting him up. This time it belonged to a Split Acara with a smile on her face as she picked him up. "Here we go, Sam," she said. "Just what you asked for - a new toy!"

     Before he knew it, he was being handed off to a Baby Gelert beside the Acara. The Gelert looked down at him with curious eyes that soon turned into a gleeful expression. He wrapped his arms around the plushie and squealed with delight.

     "I love it!" he said. And the Green Tuskaninny Plushie could not believe it, but he was almost sure the Gelert was talking about him! Could this be it, he asked himself, my happy ending? Perhaps the Usulbat Plushie was wrong. Maybe it doesn't have to be all woes.

     As the Acara and the Gelert, with the Green Tuskaninny Plushie in his arms, walked off, the plushie broke out of his state of shock and happiness to look back at the Money Tree. The Usulbat Plushie sat against the trunk, staring back at him, and the two plushies nodded for a moment. Then a shadow came over the latter plushie and reached a paw down to pick him up. Together they went in the opposite direction.

     The Green Tuskaninny Plushie could only find himself hoping that both of their new plushie adventures would be great. And so he looked forward, snuggling into his new owner's arms.

The End