Fyora, Queen of… Rubbish?

     But there is one place that is popular for all the wrong reasons: the rubbish dump. When Sam took the job of overseeing the rubbish dump he thought he would be educating on waste, recycling, and composting. He thought he would be making a difference and showing visitors to this humble farm how important handling rubbish was.

     At first Sam’s dreams were realised. Those dreams quickly became nightmares.

     Word spread throughout Neopia that the rubbish dump was boring and stinky. It was not fun like the other places on the farm and it was the least interesting thing in all of Meridell. Oh sure, sometimes King Skarl would make an appearance but it was clear he had such disdain for Sam and the dump. He would toss old boxes, old leftovers, and other stuff into the dump. Sure that is what the dump was for; but this distraction would often get visitors either fighting each other over the king’s scraps or chasing after him in order to see if they were worthy of his laughter.

     Skarl did not respect Sam and it did not take long for everyone in Meridell and then Neopia to join in.

     So he was alone most of his days, silently doing his job. He told himself it was okay because he was still doing important work and making a difference.

     Some days were harder than others. Better days were the ones where he was completely ignored. Worse ones were when someone or a group would come in and taunt him, throw trash at him, and yell at him; the worst part is that this would mess up his system and he would frequently have to start over again.

     Day in and day out he continued his silly little tasks, growing more detached and more bitter.

     Until one day he heard two voices arguing. Sam went to hide so he wouldn’t get hit with anything.

     “I’m telling ya, the boss lady won’t go looking for these items here.”

     “But how are we supposed to get the items back? Isn’t she going to know we ordered too much? Isn’t she going to wonder where everything went?”

     “Oh hush. Queen Fyora is far too busy to be paying attention to the details. The numbers will balance out at the end of the month, so who cares?! The most important thing is to not upset the Queen!”

     “Alright. If you’re sure.”

     “I am. Now grab that end. Hurry up. We need to get out of here before someone spots us.”

     Sam heard them grunt followed by a large thud and fast footsteps away from the dump.

     Whatever they dropped was heavy and belonged to Queen Fyora. As in… THE Queen Fyora.

     Sam was confused. He was afraid something shady was going down.

     He quietly walked up to the box. It was right at the edge of the dump, partially obscured by other items and brush. When he peered inside he could not believe what he saw.

     Paint brushes and battledome items filled the box.

     Why would they dump this here?

     Sam heard rumours about a hidden tower in Faerieland that Queen Fyora owned. He had never been there. Actually, he had never even been to Faerieland.

     Were these items for the shop? But why were they here?

     The voices said they planned to come back for the items. But when? Should he just leave them? Should he protect them? Should he pretend he never heard them and dispose of them?

     Just then Sam heard some visitors coming up.

     “Hello? Is anyone here? I have some questions.”

     “Coming!” Sam called and trotted out. “What can I help you with?”

     “I saw two Yurbles with a large box with Queen Fyora’s face on it. What was that about? Can we see it? We’ve never been within the presence of royalty before.”

     Sam wasn’t sure what to do. He hadn’t had visitors in a long time, but they weren’t really interested in him. They seemed young, a group of 6. Maybe he could make them interested through this happenstance. Thank you, Queen Fyora.

     “The box is in the back of the property. We are doing Queen Fyora a favour out here by storing it for her. It’s not actually rubbish but we just have the space to store this for her. I suppose I can give you a tour on the way there.”

     Sam took the small group through the standard tour. They, like most, were unimpressed. Sam talked about sorting garbage, the benefits of recycling, what composting is, all of his favourite topics. He knew they did not care but he hoped something would sink in and they would give a thought to this when they returned home.

     “Well, here we are. The box is just beyond the brush here.”

     Their faces lit up. One Moehog looked at Sam suspiciously. “If you’re storing this for the Queen, why is it hidden?”

     Sam began to sweat. “Well… uh… you see… there just wasn’t a lot of space inside. Plus it is out of the way. And the ones who put it here can grab it without coming all the way around.”

     “Oh, I guess that makes sense. Can we see inside?”

     Sam could not believe that worked.

     He opened the box up. “Careful, do not touch anything.”

     The group began to excitedly chat over each other. They could not believe they were so close to someone so important to Neopia.

     “Okay, okay, that’s enough. Exit this way through the gift shop, and remember to tell your friends!”

     Sam did not notice the Vandagyre had swiped a Darigan paintbrush from the box as a souvenir.

     The next few days were back to normal on the farm with Sam tending to the rubbish and everyone coming to the farm ignoring him or mocking him.

     Four or five days after the box appeared – Sam found it hard to keep the days straight these days – someone finally came up to the dump in earnest.

     “Hello? Excuse me?”

     A friendly voice called out from the front of the dump.

     “Hi! Yes! Coming!”

     Sam rushed out from his office. He could not believe who was standing there.

     “Hi there. My name is Fyora. I have a feeling some of my items made their way here?”

     Sam did not want to get the Yurbles in trouble. He also did not really care to lie to THE Queen Fyora.

     “Hi, ma’am,” Sam stuttered. He curtseyed. Then he bowed. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do here. “Um, yes, I did overhear some folks drop off a box here. I was too afraid to touch it, I knew it was your stuff. I wasn’t involved though. I promise. I haven’t touched it.”

     She smiled sweetly. “Now, Sam. You aren’t in trouble. I know it wasn’t you. But I do know you were curious. And that is okay too.”

     “You… you know my name?”

     “Of course. I am magic after all. That’s how I knew my items were here. Almost all of my items.”

     Sam gulped. “What?”

     “I know you’ve been having a hard time here. I can’t imagine why. Sure, it may be the smell but you do such important work and I think it is fascinating. What I know that you don’t is that group of kids you took on a tour had a thief among them. The Vandagyre took a Darigan paint brush from the box my employees thought they hid.”

     “I’m so sorry let me pay for it I would never –”

     “No, no, it wasn’t your fault. It’s not your responsibility. Really, the box was good for you and good for the Vandagyre; it gave her something to remember that day by and it was a good discount from my shop. I mean, you can’t beat free, right?”

     Sam was surprised he was having a whole conversation with Fyora. She was so kind and smelled like magic. He was so used to the smell of the dump he forgot smells can also be nice.

     “This gave me an idea, Sam. I told you before that I think your work and education are important. What if I drop off a box a month? You just hide some of these items throughout and see if anyone finds them. If they do, they keep it. It will become a fun little game. It will drive up tourism and all of Neopia would love to be here to try their luck. No charge. We get so much inventory and sell so much it wouldn’t even matter.”

     “Really? Oh Queen Fyora. That is too generous. I don’t know.”

     “I do. I think it would be fun. If you would like, I can help hide the first box. It would be fun. I so rarely get to do anything silly like this. I’ve got a lot on my plate with my store and Faerieland as a whole.”

     “Well, okay. It could be fun.”

     Sam and Fyora talked and hid items throughout the dump. At first, Fyora was unsure about touching it and thought she should use her magic but she didn’t want to betray that trust she had clearly started to build with Sam. So, much to her dismay, she started touching it. She soon realised it wasn’t that bad; in fact, she really did start to find the whole process fascinating the more she talked with Sam and the more she dug through stuff.

     They didn’t want to make finding these items too easy because they wanted Neopians to visit the dump, not just run in for a free expensive item and run away. They joked and had fun, bonding over what was objectively some pretty gross things.

     Sam was surprised how easy a queen was to talk to and Fyora was so happy to be speaking with a non-faerie who wasn’t fawning all over her.

     When they were done Fyora conjured up some flyers.

     “I’ll leave some with you and I’ll take some with me. We’ll distribute these far and wide, and make sure everyone knows of this new game here in Meri Acres Farm. I must be going now, it’s been quite some time. But good luck, Sam. I will see you in a month.”

     She waved her hand and suddenly was gone, in her place a sweet-smelling blue and purple mist.

     Sam and Fyora distributed the flyers. Neopians from all over began coming to the dump to try their luck at getting a rare item. They listened patiently to Sam’s spiels, although some of them really enjoyed the learning experience.

     Fyora was true to her word. Every month she would deliver a new box and although she didn’t intend to she continued to hide the items with Sam. They would catch up on the events of the past month and laugh like old friends.

     Fyora is many things: a ruler, a friend, compassionate, gentle, firm, and powerful. But in Sam’s mind the most important thing she is will forever be a rubbish lover.

     The End.