Reina's Hijinks: The Story of the Advent Calendar

      Cherry nodded, feeling the holiday spirit in the air. “I’m excited, too. Let’s go!”

      The two Neopets headed toward the Advent Calendar building with an extra pep in their step. A friendly Christmas Cybunny lingered near the front door, waving the two of them over. “We’re letting in a couple of you at a time. Please be respectful and only take one of today’s prizes, alright? If we catch any of you cheating, you’ll be frozen.” He turned around to open up the door for them.

     Pae entered first into a large room with white walls that were covered with holiday decor, wall-to-wall wooden flooring, a lit-up Christmas tree in the back corner, and semi-sheer curtains covering the windows. There were many tables with that day’s prizes waiting to be scooped up.

      To Pae’s right, she came across a burlap sack. “You find 2,052 Neopoints!” she squealed gratefully, excited to be adding more Neopoints to her small bank account. As she went further into the room, she bubbled, “Oh, and look what else is here!” Pae bent over to pluck a Y25 Snowglobe from the table and give it a good shake. “There’s also a Gingerbread House Living Room Background and a Gingerbread Chomby Cookie!”

      Cherry shuddered, not quite liking the first day’s prize pool. “As a biscuit, I’m not sure I can condone them giving out cookies like this…”

      Pae saddled up next to her friend and placed the snow globe into Cherry’s hands before setting a loving hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, friend. You’re right. It’s a bit insensitive.” Out of the corner of her eye, Pae thought that she saw a sudden movement. Turning to get a better look, Cherry also turned in the same direction.

      “What’s wrong?” Cherry asked, feeling even more afraid.

      Pae shook her head. “It might be my eyes playing tricks on me. Do you feel like we’re not alone here?”

      The two Neopets turned to look in the same direction Pae thought she saw someone. Cherry squinted her eyes and soon found a distinct outline of an Aisha lurking behind a curtain. “Oh, I see it now,” she whispered, pointing her shaking hand as she did so. “You see it, too, right?”

      Pae took a deep breath, resolving that she needed to confront the Neopet trying to frighten them. She slowly approached the window in question. With a shaky hoof, she opened up the curtain to reveal Reina the Christmas Aisha standing there happily.

      “Hello!” Reina shouted, sending Pae flying backwards a few feet. Before Pae could even get a word out, Reina boasted, “I’m here to spread holiday cheer!”

      Pae breathed heavily from the mild heart attack Reina caused her. “What are you doing here? And why are you hiding!?”

     Reina didn’t miss a beat and continued, “You have found me, therefore you will be rewarded an extra prize. I’ll be hiding around this building every day this month so make sure you come back to try to find me!”

      The two Neopets stood there dumbfounded at this Christmas Aisha. “O-okay,” Pae finally said, unsure of what else she could say about the situation unfolding.

     “Here you go!” Reina thrust a package in a shiny, white box with a red ribbon at Cherry first. “Here’s your prize!”

     Cherry opened the mysterious present to reveal what was inside. Sitting at the bottom of the box were a pair of Turbo Scissors. Smiling slightly, she politely grinned. “Thank you, Reina.”

     Reina grabbed an item from her pocket and handed it over to Pae. “Here you go!”

     Pae wasted no time in ripping the packaging off of her tiny box. When she got the lid off, inside sat a Snowglobe Pencil. “You, uh, you really seem to like school supplies, huh?” she jested, hoping that Reina would find it funny.

     Reina stared at the two of them unchanging before she pulled her lips up into a creepy smile. “Enjoy your prizes, you two,” she told them before sprinting back to her hiding spot for the next Neopet to come and collect their daily prizes.

     Pae and Cherry gave each other a brief side-eye. “That was weird, right?” Cherry asked quietly.

     “That was definitely weird,” Pae confirmed, staring down at the pencil. “I can’t even use this,” she complained, awkwardly sticking her hoof into the box to try and retrieve the item. “I think I’m just going to donate it to The Money Tree. Let’s at least hope that tomorrow is different.” The two of them exited the building together, talking about their new items as they went.

     The following day, Pae and Cherry decided to visit the Advent Calendar with each other again. When it was their turn to enter the building, the two of them agreed that they hoped Reina wouldn’t be there. But, to their dismay, she was hiding in plain sight.

     “I think I see her,” Cherry whispered, bumping Pae’s arm and pointing toward the Christmas tree in the back. There was an unmistakable set of two Aisha feet standing on the bright red and white tree skirt. The rest of her body was hidden by pine needles.

     “Oh, yeah, that’s her alright,” Pae agreed. “We can see you!” she shouted louder this time. “You’re behind the tree.”

     Reina let out a cackle, revealing herself quickly. “You caught me!” she gushed, happy that they were partaking in her game. “I’ve got some bonus prizes for you. Are you ready?”

     “As we’ll ever be,” Pae deadpanned, feeling emboldened.

     Reina ran over, handing a similarly sized box to each of them before clapping her hands together. “Open them! Open them!” she chanted.

     Cherry grinned. She tore the paper off of the beautiful box to reveal what was inside. Once she removed the lid, her smile faded. Another pair of Turbo Scissors sat at the bottom of the box. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, she politely smiled again. “Thank you…”

     Pae opened up her box carefully to reveal an Icy Brucicle that had clearly been in there for quite some time. She lifted the box but accidentally tipped it over which sloshed water out onto the floor. “Sorry,” Pae mumbled, watching as the popsicle stick fell to the ground.

     “Oops, I didn’t mean to give you that box!” Reina apologized, taking the empty box back. “Here, try this one instead!”

     Pae didn’t have her hopes set high for this next gift but opened it with enthusiasm anyway. Inside was a Snowglobe Pencil. “Again?” she couldn’t help but complain.

     Reina stifled a giggle. “Enjoy! See you tomorrow!” There was a gleam in her eye that Pae and Cherry couldn’t place as she ran away to hide.

     “She’s messing with us now, right? It’s no coincidence she gave us the same items twice in a row?” Pae asked her friend.

     Cherry shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I could’ve sworn I heard others say that sometimes she gives out the Seasonal Attack Pea and some other prizes. We’ll have to wait and see.” The two Neopets left the Advent Calendar building together shaking their heads. “At least we got some cool things today,” Cherry said in reference to the Christmas Ixi Morphing Potion and The Red-Nosed Ixi Action Figure they received as their main prizes.

     “Agreed. Honestly, I just want to keep coming back to see what Reina’s going to do. She’s a little… Out there.”

     Cherry silently agreed with a nod. They made their way back through Terror Mountain to carry on with their day.

      This pattern continued throughout the first week of December. Now, the count of Turbo Scissors for Cherry was up to four, and the Snowglobe Pencil count for Pae was up to five. Give or take a Gingerbread Mynci (which Cherry felt was exceptionally cruel) and an Eau De Skunk. When the seventh day of December arrived, Pae and Cherry headed out toward the Advent Calendar building with purpose. “I swear if I get another pencil…” Pae muttered, fully convinced that Reina was a jester and they were the fools.

     The two of them bumbled up the steps of the Advent Calendar building, opened up the door, and found that the place seemed eerily quiet. “You know she’s messing with us now,” Cherry whispered while they sauntered up to the tables to grab their main prizes. They stopped in sync, bringing their heads up to look at each other.

     “We got coal!?” they yelled in unison.

     Cherry started laughing. “But at least it’s cute. It’s a cute coal. Look at its little red ribbon headband and all!”

     Pae shook her head in disbelief. “Aww. And the little fella here? A Pebble? It’s adorable!” Pae was thankful for the amazing new event prizes this year but still had the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that Reina was close by. “This year’s advent calendar keeps me guessing. It would keep me on my toes if I had any.”

     Suddenly, they heard a sneeze come from above them. They looked up at the same time, seeing Reina suspended in the air hanging onto a large rope that dangled from the ceiling.

     “You found me!” Reina shouted, descending the rope at a fast velocity. She promptly landed on both of her feet right in front of them.

     Pae let out a yelp, clearly surprised at Reina’s appearance. “Yeah, not on purpose,” she told her pointedly.

     Reina giggled. “Well, I have your gifts for finding me right here,” she handed Cherry and Pae their boxes. “I think you’ll be pleased.”

     Cherry opened up her box quickly. Her mouth gaped open in mock astonishment before she flipped the box over, dumping its contents out. Another pair of Turbo Scissors fell to the floor. “I can’t believe you. Where are you getting this many pairs of scissors? How many scissors do you think I need!?” She slowly picked them up to tuck them into her pocket.

     Reina cackled. “Who doesn’t need extra scissors?” she asked.

     Pae fumbled with her lid, and once she got it off, she peered into the box. The Magic Behind the Prank book sat at the bottom, patronizing her. “Wow. How fitting.” Now everything made sense. “Are you writing this book or just taking notes?”

     Giving them a smirk and a chuckle, Reina shrugged her shoulders. “A magician never reveals her secrets!” With that, she climbed the rope back up toward the ceiling to wait for the next set of unsuspecting Neopians to make their way in so that she could be found.

     Pae and Cherry couldn’t help but have their own laugh about what was going on. “This is going to be one long December, isn’t it?” Pae asked.

     “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Cherry admitted. “And that’s the beauty of it!”

     The two of them left the building with a twinkle in their eye. They roamed around Terror Mountain together enjoying their new rocks, book, and scissors while silently wondering to themselves what else would be in store for them at this year’s Advent Calendar.

     The End.