Something Purple This Way Comes

     Bart’s All Revealing Tale! (B.A.R.T.)

      Vandebart Biggsby is the name. Apple bobbing is my game. You can call me Bart. I came to the Haunted Woods a long time ago. After I settled down in Neovia, I got to know the other residents of the spookiest place in Neopia. Mind you, I keep other Neovians at a distance. Yes, I do chat with my fellow miscreants, but I never let anyone get too close. I have secrets, you see. Well, one secret in particular that defines my life. Might as well get to the point. It’s my hat. Some folks, more keen folks, that is, ask me about my hat. It’s as if they are drawn to it, gravitated to it. I know they want the truth, but I cannot tell them. I can’t tell them how I came across my coveted hat. More like, it found me. These things tend to happen if you are motivated to lead a wicked life. I wanted power and eternity! Is that wrong? True, I was never a complete saint. Well, I suppose my tale is a cautionary one, and tell it I shall, for you see, my time has come to pay the piper, and I have nothing to lose. Maybe it is vanity. Maybe something else. I want to be remembered. I want my story to live on. Will you listen to my tale? Will you share my story?

      ***

      I once lived on Lutari Island with the wild Lutaris for company. I do not remember what came before that. My Lutari caregivers, Rose and Billy, told me that I washed up on the shores of Lutari Island, shipwrecked on a stormy day. They told me that I was the sole survivor.

      On Lutari Island, I tried to find my place to belong. Where did I excel? I tried swimming with the Lutaris. I am not the most graceful swimmer. I tried racing with the Lutaris. I am, personally, a mite clumsy. I tried everything. It was not until another stormy day that I would find my calling.

      I was going for my evening stroll along the northeastern shore. The day of storms was slowly abating. Searching for washed-up treasure, I ambled along the beach. My hoof hit something and I stumbled. Looking down, I noticed a mangled red apple. Two feet away from it was another apple, and five feet further, another one. I followed the trail of apples to a beaten wooden barrel.

      Suddenly, a flash! Lightning struck and I was divinely inspired! I thought to myself, I could fix up this barrel and transform it into a game for the masses!

      I hurried to gather as many water-sogged apples as I could. I stuffed them inside the barrel, placed the lid on top, and rolled the entire thing back to my home. I could not wait to get the barrel back into sharp form. I would stay up all night!

      Rose and Billy were concerned with my fervour, but even they had to be impressed when they saw my completed project in the light of morning. My barrel beamed with the rising sun. I had filled it with all the collected apples and added other assorted items of curiosity. To top it off, I had filled the entire contraption with cold murky water. I asked my Lutari caregivers to be the first to try my new apple bobbing device!

      Rose stepped up first. She hesitated, steeled herself, and then dunked her head in with one swift movement. Water splashed everywhere! After a long moment that crawled on forever, Rose popped up from the cold and murky water with an apple in her mouth! Spitting it out, she laughed and laughed. Billy stepped up right away and submerged himself. He went into the water up to his waist and quickly jumped up with a plushie! Billy chuckled and gave the plushie to Rose. Their faces beamed as brightly as my apple-bobbing barrel. It was a hit!

      Now I wanted everyone else to try my fantastic barrel game. I built a cart to carry my apple bobbing barrel so that I could travel all over Lutari Island. Everywhere I went, the residents of Lutari Island praised my game. One never knew which item would be retrieved from the depths of the barrel. And the plunge into icy water was an exhilarating shock to the senses.

      I continued my adventures on Lutari Island with my apple-bobbing cart. Soon enough, I wanted to build a wagon, but Lutari Island was too small for a wagon. For the first time ever, I wanted to leave Lutari Island in search of wider horizons. Even a floating island had lost its sparkle. A dark glimmer in my heart wanted more.

      One night soon after, I was once again walking along the northeastern shores of Lutari Island. In the distance, I noticed a purple object laying in the sand. I approached it eagerly, as if mysteriously drawn to it by a gravitational pull.

      When I arrived at the object, I realized it was a purple hat with one slit on each side, perfectly sized to the shape of my ears. This mystical hat was meant for me! I slowly placed it upon my head.

      Suddenly, everything went dark. I stood still, afraid to move. There came an eerie voice from above, a voice from...could it be? The hat?

      Listen to me now. Listen! Fortune, fame, and glory shall be yours! Wear me, cherish me as you would a crown. Wear me for always. You may take me in thy hand, but never lay me down. Do this, and eternal life and power shall be yours to claim!

      I shrivelled into a ball on the sand. The voice held such foreboding! I blinked my eyes and suddenly I could see again. But the bleak voice was still there.

      Be not afraid. Fortune favours the brave of heart. And fortune is yours now. Wear it well and wear me always. When the time comes, I shall move on to another, but until that time comes to pass, I shall magnetize all great things to you. Be sure to tell no one of my power or else all shall be lost!

      Great things? That did sound...intriguing. And why should not fortune and fame be mine? I was worthy! Nay, more than worthy! I would not tell anyone the secret powers of the mystical and mysterious purple hat of dark foreboding. I decided at that moment to eternally wear the powerful hat. I wanted all it could give.

      Rose and Billy noticed a change in me. Dare I say, all Lutaris noticed. What did I care? I was meant for great things, and Lutari Island was far too small. I desired to leave at once. As if reading my thoughts, the hat spoke again.

      You do not need them. You are Apple Bobbing Bart! You are the great one! This place is too small for you. Adventures await upon golden shores and verdant green lands. Ask me! Shall I arrange a storm to sweep you away to distant magical realms?

      More than anything I desired this. I knew the hat was right. Without hesitation, I nodded my head and asked the hat to whisk me away.

      A BOOMING crash split the sky! A storm like none I had ever seen swallowed Lutari Island at once. Before I could think, a giant waterspout swooped me up, along with my hat and apple bobbing cart with the barrel in tow, and swished us all away into the roaring sky. Where we would land, I did not know. The call to adventure was booming in my heart as the storm boomed all around. And here was my answer to that call!

      ***

      Now here I am, years later, in Neovia. I had many adventures throughout the years travelling all the realms of Neopia. Alas, the purple hat changed me. I did not even regret the everlasting storm I caused to collide with Lutari Island. I eventually settled down in Neovia because it suited my now-darkened heart. I do gain joy from my apple-bobbing cart. And I did get that wagon, after all. And much, much more. But power and eternity have a price, and in all truth, nothing is forever. The hat had seemed to drain me as much as it had given me. And now the hat has told me that the time has come for it to move on to another victim. I am not sure what will happen to me. Maybe I do have regret now. If I had another chance, I would make amends with Rose and Billy, and all the other Lutaris of Lutari Island. I would find a way to calm the storm. I do not know if I will get that chance. In case...in case I cannot redeem myself, please, tell my tale. Please, share my story. Maybe that shall suffice as my saving grace. Maybe if others learn from my tale, I may be atoned. I leave you now with words of advice...

      Beware of the mystical and mysterious purple hat of dark foreboding!

     The End.