Little Wish

      This probably is the wish of every pet living in the pound, especially a pet that is usually "invisible".

      Well, they might not be an invisible pet. In fact, there were two types of pets in the pound. The first type is the pet that you can see when you enter the pound. Another type is "stuck pet". They lived in the pound, but could not appear due to unknown reasons.

      They would show up in the pound only once their name was searched. As a result, their chance of being adopted was greatly reduced even though they had decent names and colours. Those pets without these conditions, not to mention, they stayed in the pound almost forever.

      This Shoyru was one of them. His name is so long that he could not even remember. He just remembered the meaning – "my blue Shoyru 82". Although his name suited his colour-blue, it did nothing to increase his chances of being adopted.

     He could only look at the pets playing in the bright sunshine through the small window of the room every day. He envied them. He prayed to the stars every night, wishing that he could fly under the sunlight one day.

      Dr. Death, the old Techo who took care of them, knew the wish of these children. However, the rules of the pound must always be followed. Their wish would have a chance to come true unless there were no rules or the rules no longer applied.

      And this opportunity soon came when Dr. Death received a letter from the Secret April Fools Joke Association.

      They invited him to host this year's April Fools Joke; it was up to him to decide what joke to make to all Neopians on April Fool's Day. Dr. Death was happy to take over this responsibility. He was very keen on designing April Fool's jokes. He wanted to take this rare opportunity to make the wish of those children come true, so that they can spend a day in the sun.

      "Rick! WAKE UP!" An island Bori opened the door forcefully and shouted at the chocolate Bori lying on the bed.

      "Umm……" However, Rick did not seem to be ready to get up. After making an unknown monophonic sound, he pulled up the blanket and covered his head.

      "Just a few minutes, Scatori. "

      "DON’T stay in bed! There is an important issue!" Scatori pulled Rick out from the blanket. "Hu brought another pet back!"

      "It's so painful…… Just an extra pet…… It’s nothing……" Rubbing his cheeks and muttering, Rick gradually cleared his head and began to realise the problem. He stared at Scatori with his shiny purple eyes. "Wait, there's another pet besides you, Baltoro, Dave and me?! Only four pets are allowed to live in a family!"

      "That's why it's important! Go to the dayroom and listen to Hu's explanation!" He grabbed Rick's hand and pulled him to the dayroom.

      Hu was sitting on the sofa in the dayroom. A tasty burger fragrance filled the dayroom as usual. Dave and Baltoro were preparing breakfast in the kitchen as usual.

      "Good morning" Hu smiled at Rick and Scatori. He pointed at the chair and invited them to sit down. "Dave and Baltoro, please come here for a minute."

      "Sure." Baltoro, a white Bori with a pair of brilliant purple eyes, answered politely and walked out from the kitchen, followed by a zombie Bori, Dave.

      "……We are making burgers…… What is more important than this……?" Dave muttered with a flat voice, putting down a plate with a freshly made burger on the dining table.

      "……Hi……May I have a taste?" A weak and unfamiliar voice asked timidly.

      All Boris looked in the direction of the voice. A little blue Shoyru walked out from behind the sofa.

      "Of course, please enjoy it." Baltoro was the first to react. He led Shoyru to the table and gave him a fork. Shoyru stared at the burger and licked his lips, took a bite.

      "Yummy!" He said. He just could not stop from poking into the cuisine and bringing it to his mouth.

      "Hu, who is he?" Rick asked.

      "The pound has launched a Foster Program. This blue Shoyru is the pet that is fostered in our family," Hu explained to them. "I don't know when he will leave. So we have to take our time, have a wonderful day with him."

      After learning the ins and outs of the matter, Rick, Scatori, Baltoro and Dave all decided to take good care of Shoyru. Although Shoyru was a foster pet, they treated him as their younger brother. They took him to participate in their favourite activities.

      Rick first brought Shoyru to the chocolate factory. Shoyru was so excited. It was the first time for him to see those colourful sweeties.

      "Do you like chocolate?" Rick asked.

      Shoyru nodded his head. Rick smiled and asked him to choose the candy he wanted.

      Lollypop, candy Floss, chocolate……Shoyru could not decide which to choose. He wanted to try them all. But he was too shy to do this. Rick knew what Shoyru was concerned about. Therefore, he took a bag and stuffed each kind of candy into it.

      "It is too many. I can not take them." Shoyru was shocked when he saw a big, big bag of mixed candy. He shook his head and intended to give the bag back to Rick.

      "It’s my treat." Rick refused to take it back. He left Shoyru behind and walked to the checkout. Shoyru looked at him thankfully.

      When they stepped out of the chocolate factory, Scatori met them and took over. Scatori took Shoyru on a tour of Mystery Island. Dancing with passionate and friendly natives, playing Mynci Beach Volleyball, seeing the great scenery of Techo Mountain, Shoyru enjoyed these activities very much.

      After lying back on the beach and seeing the wonderful sunset, they went home when the night fell. Baltoro had prepared a delicious dinner for them already. Then Baltoro brought Shoyru to his own library after the meal. He told many stories to Shoyru. He also took out a star map, teaching Shoyru about constellations.

      When Shoyru was tired, Baltoro prepared a cosy bed for him. The soft bed made Shoyru feel very comfortable. He fell asleep soon, recalling scenes of today in his dreams.

      The big bell rang 12 times. April Fool's Day passed.

      Shoyru opened his eyes. It was time for him to go back to the pound. Although he wanted to say goodbye to everyone, he did not want to wake them up and disturbed their sleep.

      "……I will go with you……" When Shoyru was about to open the door, Dave raised his voice and stood behind Shoyru. Shoyru thanked him. He was afraid of walking alone in the darkness.

      They walked on the silent road, the faint moonlight and starlight shone on them, creating a peaceful atmosphere. Dave looked a bit scary, with a big scar over his right cheek and no facial expression. But Shoyru did not feel scared. Instead, Shoyru felt safe when walking with him.

      Back at the pound's cot, Shoyru felt very satisfied. This April Fool's Day was the happiest April Fool's Day in his life.

      A Few days later, Shoyru was called out by the Pink Uni. He felt very strange and followed the Pink Uni.

      "This is the pet you want to adopt, please take good care of him." Pink Uni said and entrusted Shoyru to the Neopian at the adoption table.

      Shoyru could not believe that he would be adopted one day. He was surprised when taking a look at the Neopian. It was Hu.

      "It's fate to be your foster home on April Fool’s day. We want you to be our family member." Hu explained. "I prepared a gift for you! Follow me!"

      Hu led Shoyru to the Faerieland.

      "What are we doing here?" He remembered that Hu's home was in Terror Mountain.

      "I heard from Scatori, you like the scenery of the sunset, right?" Hu said and walked towards the Rainbow Fountain. Fountain faerie Naia was waving to them.

      "Come on, go down and take a dip."

      Shoyru stepped into the dusk-like water. After a while, the spring water began to fade, and Shoyru gradually turned into Eventide.

      Shoyru was so surprised and could not say anything. He watched the happy Shoyru flapping his wings and hovering in the sky.

      April Fool's Day is full of love.