One Neopoint. Seriously?

      To her surprise an annoyingly happy pink note was stuck to the fridge addressed to her. ‘Zariniey, you seemed to have slept through your alarm!’ She recognized the handwriting as her sister’s Xavrine’s, aka her arch nemesis lately. They had gotten along until about two weeks ago when Xavrine’s mood had shifted dramatically. Presently, Zariniey thought to herself that it was probably Xavrine who messed with her alarm so Zariniey wouldn’t wake up in time to do the quest first thing. Last night they had gotten into a fight about the fact that Zariniey never spent a single Neopoint. Zariniey’s hands became fists as she seethed. She continued reading the note with narrowing eyes: ’I’ve gone to the liberty of completing the quests, but left the last for you, so you wouldn’t break your streak of completing Quest Log quests. Think of this as a peace offering! Aren’t I the kindest sister ever?’ Zariniey scoffed aloud at this. Xavrine could have easily woken up Zariniey. ‘Anyways, the last quest is to go to the Poogle Races and find a Poogle named Ko. Ask him for the first score of the morning. Have a good morning!’

      “Poogle Races?” Zariniey echoed aloud. “That doesn’t sound like a usual quest…” Zariniey contemplated for a moment. Had TNT introduced a new type of quest or was Xavrine messing with her? Still, Faerieland was closer than Quest Log so it didn’t hurt to try…although everything about this sounded strange and suspicious. A Poogle named Ko…Zariniey had never been to the Poogle Races, but her sister Xavrine frequently went, as she had a bad habit of gambling. With a defeated sigh, Zariniey set off for the Poogle Races.

      It was not long before Zariniey arrived in the colourful and joyful Faerieland and made her way up to the Poogle Races. A nonchalant Red Scorchio greeted her at the ticket booth. “Care to place a bet?” He asked in a monotone.

     “Um..no..I’m just looking for a Poogle named Ko.”

     “You have to place a bet to enter the arena.” The Scorchio responded back with the same drab tone. “Poogle One, Two, Three, Four, Five, or Six?”

     “Um…Poogle Two then.” Zariniey pulled out one Neopoint and placed it on the counter.

     The nonchalant face of the Scorchio crumbled into pure judgment. “One Neopoint?”

     “What? Is there a minimum?” Zariniey asked, eyes widening.

     “One Neopoint. Seriously?”

     Zariniey sighed, pulling out nine more and placing them on the counter. It was painful to let go of these few Neopoints as she hadn’t spent even one Neopoint in years now.

     The Scorchio rolled his eyes and grabbed the Neopoints from the counter, giving Zariniey a ticket. “You may enter.”

     Hiding the pain that tore through her from letting go of these Neopoints, Zariniey smiled and walked past the ticket counter and through the area that led to the stadium. She was immediately thinking about how she could earn back those ten Neopoints. She would have to do an extra game in the Games Room today. As she entered the stands, the voice from the speaker reverberated through the air: “Current time is 10:08. The next race starts in 2 minutes!” To Zariniey’s surprise the place was crowded, and the low rumble of conversation filled the air. A warmth and excitement sprung inside of Zariniey, momentarily distracting her from her Neopoint worry. She hadn’t stepped outside her routine in so long, too afraid of spending Neopoints. She walked over to a group of Lennies that were seated in the stands. They were different colours: Red, Starry, and Pirate. “Ex-excuse me!” She managed to get out. The Lennies stopped talking, all eyes shifting toward her. She felt small and scared. Had it really been this long since she had talked to a stranger? She used to be quite the social butterfly until she had began her obsession with stashing Neopoints. “Um…sorry, but do you know a Poogle named Ko?”

     “Ko?” One Red Lenny echoed back to her. “Of course, everyone knows Ko! What is it your first time here? Which Poogle did you bet on?”

     “Poogle Two.”

     “Good choice.” The Lenny responded giving Zariniey a brusk pat on the back. “I think we’re going to win this one. Come sit with us. Ko should be entering here any minute, and he usually stops by to say hi. My name’s Len by the way, and she’s Cen.” She pointed to the Starry Lenny. “And he is Pen.” She pointed to the Pirate Lenny. “We’re siblings, if you couldn’t guess already.”

     Zariniey smiled timidly. “Nice to meet you all!” She took a seat next to them.

     “Is this your first time here? I’ve never seen your face around.” Len questioned.

     Zariniey nodded. “Yes, but my sister comes here often. Xavrine is her name. Do you know her?”

     A sharp laugh came from the Starry Lenny Cen. “Everyone knows Xavrine, just like everyone knows Ko. Xavrine has been on a bad streak lately though. Her mood has soured, hasn’t it?”

     “Yeah, for about the past two weeks…” Zariniey admitted. She had wondered what had caused the shift in attitude. Now it was starting to make sense.

     “Yup, her bad streak has been about that long. It’ll pick back up.” Cen said with a smile.

     “And the Poogles are in their places ready for the countdown!” The announcer’s voice boomed from the speakers, making Zariniey almost jump out of her seat in fright.

     “Loud isn’t it?” Len said grinning towards her.

     Cen was on the edge of her seat now in anticipation. The excitement was contagious, and Zariniey looked down to the track spotting Poogle Two. There was a possibility she could win her Neopoints back and then some! She thought now with a smile.

     “3…2…1…go!” The announcer cried.

     Then the Poogles were off. Poogle Three was at the front, and then Poogle Two started catching up, and then Poogle Six tore to the front. Oohs and ahhs came from the stadium. Now Poogle Six was leaps and bounds in front of all the Poogles and made it to the finish line instigating a roar from the stands that oozed a mixture of both happiness and disappointment.

     “I won!” Cen said with a big grin.

     “Congratulations!” Zariniey said excitedly. Then Zariniey realized she had lost the Neopoints she had bet, but it had all been so fun…a little too much fun. She realized now why Xavrine spent her time here. The ten Neopoints she had spent was well worth the feeling, she thought.

     “Oh there’s Ko,” Len said pointing toward the entrance to the stadium seating. A Red Poogle was exiting. “Hm, looks like he’s going somewhere.”

     “Oh, I have to follow him!” Zariniey said hurriedly, remembering Quest Log. “It was nice meeting you all.”

     “Come back sometime, won’t you?” Len said with a smile.

     “Yes, of course!” Zariniey said getting up and shooting Len, Cen, and Pen a warm smile, and then she quickly made her way over to the exit where the Poogle had disappeared. Exiting the stadium, she looked around and spotted the Poogle walking down the purple bridge. Was he going to the Rainbow Fountain? She wondered. “Ko!” She screamed out enthusiastically.

     Ko turned to face her.

     Zariniey ran over until she was right in front of the Poogle who towered above her. “I’m Zariniey! Xavrine told me to come find you and ask for the first score of the morning. She said it was for Quest Log.”

     “Yes, I bumped into Xavrine this morning, and she told me you would ask me.” Ko chuckled. “Zariniey, right? I heard a lot about you.”

     “Really?” Zariniey asked, surprised.

     “Oh yes. Xavrine and I are best friends. Look, do me a favour and pay for a spin for me.” He said nodding toward the Wheel of Excitement.

     “A spin?” Zariniey repeated, heart dropping. If she remembers correctly a spin was a whole five hundred Neopoints! “Five…hundred..Neopoints?”

     “You know what? A spin for me and a spin for you! Just round it up to a good thousand Neopoints.” He laughed loudly, his hand slamming down on her back and patting aggressively. “When was the last time you did a little spin?” He said with a knowing wink.

     “I can’t remember.” Zariniey responded in a small voice. Was he trolling me? Zariniey wondered to herself. If he knew about her, he must know that she didn’t like spending Neopoints. Friend or foe she did need to know those scores…

     “Well, come along.” He said, marching over to the wheel. Zariniey followed behind trying to think of a polite way to get out of this, but she couldn’t think of one. Was it that she was this rusty at socializing or was it simply that there was some part of her that wanted to spin the wheel? She recalled the thrill of hearing the clicking sound as the various prizes rolled under the pointer. Well one thousand Neopoints wouldn’t break the bank, she rationalized to herself.

     The light faerie welcomed them in with a smile and Zariniey reached into her pocket, pulling out a thousand of Neopoints and placing them on the counter. Total for today: one thousand and ten Neopoints spent. She let a little sigh slip out as the Light Faerie collected the Neopoints.

     “A spin for Ko and a spin for me.” She said, a bit of confidence forming in her voice.

     “You got it!” The faerie said with a big smile. “Would you like to do the spin?” She asked Ko.

     “You know me all too well.” He said, stepping up and pulling the wheel with an aggressive swing that sent the wheel spinning at a ferocious speed. Gradually it began slowing down. Click, click, click. It landed on the… death symbol!

     “Oh sorry, you have come down with Chickaroo.”

     “Seriously?” Ko said folding his arms.

     “You win some, you lose some!” The Light Faerie responded, but Zariniey could hear a note of glee behind her voice. Maybe the Light Faerie had been hanging out too much with the Dark Faerie, Zariniey thought to herself. “Next!” The Light Faerie chirped, looking toward Zariniey. “I haven’t seen you around.”

     “I’m Zariniey.” She introduced herself. It felt like her social skills were gradually coming back to her.

     “Well, Zariniey, would you like to do the honours?”

     “Sure!” Zariniey walked over and grabbed ahold of the wheel. It was much heavier than she thought, as Ko had made it look as light as a feather when he spun it. Putting all her strength behind it, Zariniey pulled the wheel into a spin. It began spinning, although significantly slower than Ko’s had spun. Then slowed even more. Click, click, click. A gasp escaped her lips. “Twenty THOUSAND Neopoints?”

     “Well, it looks like it’s your lucky day.” The Light Faerie responded. The glee was no longer in her tone though. From behind the wheel she grabbed a light brown sack of Neopoints and handed it to Zariniey. “Twenty thousand Neopoints.” Then she muttered under her breath. “Maybe it’s good I didn’t know who you were.”

     “Twenty thousand, Ko! Can you believe it?” Zariniey said happily.

     “Well run along you two. Other Neopets want to spin too.” The Light Faerie said folding her arms.

     Zariniey and Ko headed out. Ko turned to Zariniey. “So what should we spend it on? Poogle races? Nah, you already did that today, right? Maybe we should go down to the shops and do a quick splurge there. We could probably buy ten books with that amount or a few Usuki dolls if that’s your thing.”

     “Spend it?” Zariniey echoed. “I thought I should save it…”

     “And do what? Have it rot in the bank?”

     “Well, there are stocks you know. That’s a wise investment.”

     “Ok yes, stocks are a good investment, but when was the last time you had a little fun with your money?”

     “Well, I did the races this morning.”

     “And how much did you spend there?” Ko asked, raising an eyebrow as if he knew it was a small amount. Xavrine had clearly filled him in quite a bit about her.

     “Ten Neopoints.”

     “Ten Neopoints!” He tilted his head back letting out a loud, hearty laugh. “That’s even less than I thought! I bet Gary had a field day with that one. I can see his resentment now.”

     “Who is Gary?”

     “The Red Scorchio at the counter. Was it really your first day at the races? I mean Xavrine told me you were a penny pincher, but you’re really on a whole other level!”

     “Penny pincher? Now that doesn’t sound good.”

     “Well, it’s not! It’s one thing to save and be smart. It’s another thing to live your whole life trying to avoid spending Neopoints. Look here.. I won’t tell you the scores of the first races unless you spend every single one of those Neopoints you just won! And you got to find a creative way to spend it too. You got to live a little Zariniey.”

     Zariniey sighed. He did have a point. “Well…I’ve always wanted feed a Kadoatie.”

     “At the Kadoatery? What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

     When they entered the Kadoatery all the Kadoaties were fed, and there were other Neopets waiting for the feeding time to begin. “Competitive,” Zariniey whispered to Ko.

     “Always.” He responded with a grin. “We got to be fast if we want to successfully feed a Kadoatie.” Ko turned to a Green Gelert. “Do you know when the next time will be?”

     “Probably in the next minute or so. How have you been Ko?”

     “Great, great. You know, same old with me.”

     Ko seemed to know everyone! Zariniey felt a twinge of desire to be the same way or at least to be more social than she was currently. She didn’t know anyone these days, apart from her sisters. Perhaps the cost of saving all her Neopoints was higher than she thought…Her thoughts were broken by loud mews and cries of Kadoaties. Zariniey and Ko broke into a spring towards the cages as the other Neopets scrambled as well. Zariniey and Ko managed to find one Kadoatie cage. Mewsy was crying for ‘A Smatter of Ketchup’. “A Smatter of Ketchup? Really?” Zariniey giggled.

     “There’s no time to waste Zariniey! I’ll man the cage. You run to the Shop Wizard!” Ko exclaimed, pushing her off in the direction of the Shop Wizard.

     Zariniey ran over to the Shop Wizard, repeating the food name to the wizard. He gave her the shop name that was fortunately not too far away, and she dashed to it, grabbing and paying for the item. She ran back to the Kadoatery, heart pumping, adrenaline beating through her.

     Fortunately Ko was still at the cage, and the Kadoatie was still crying loudly. Zariniey ran over and stuffed the Smatter of Ketchup into the cage. A binging sound resounded, and the username of Zariniey’s account appeared below the cage.

     “Nice job!” Ko said with a smile.

     “That was…stressful…but fun.” Zariniey said, smiling back. “I still have a little over nineteen thousand Neopoints though.”

     “Well, that item was less than usual. Should we pop by the Food Shop?”

     Zariniey’s stomach growled in response. A few moments later they were walking out of the Food Shop, Ko with some Edible Purple Socks (Zariniey thought this was a strange choice, but kept this thought to herself) and Zariniey with a Bacon Muffin. As they scarfed down their food, Ko’s eyes landed on the Auction House. It was a brown build shaped like a gavel.

     His eyes flicked to Zariniey. “I think that’s our next stop. Have you ever done it before?”

     “Done what?” Zariniey asked confused.

     “Tried to nab items in their last seconds in the auction house. Oh, it’s a serious rush! How many Neopoints do you have left?”

     “Still about seventeen thousand.”

     “Perfect. Let’s go!” They walked across the soft green grass to the building. Already Zariniey could hear the excited chatter of voices. When they entered the Blue Scorchio was standing in front of podium, gavel in hand, showing off the latest item that was about to expire. It was an adorable Kadoatie! There was a list of bets beneath it, the latest one being for one million one hundred thousand. A minimum increment value of one hundred thousand. “Going once! Going twice! Sold!” The gavel came down with a loud crash, and a pink Aisha came in grabbing the Kadoatie off the table and replacing it with the next item: Fire Faerie Wings.

     “Those are pretty cool,” Zariniey noted aloud.

     “Then get them!”

     “Six thousand Neopoints! Oh, that is more than they’re worth.” Zariniey said, scrunching up her nose.

     “Live a little!” Ko said, nudging her with a smile.

     “Going once!”

     “Six thousand two hundred!” Zariniey piped up.

     “Six thousand four hundred!” Another voice came out from the crowd. Zariniey couldn’t locate the voice, but it sounded so much like her sister Xavrine.

     “Six thousand six hundred!” Zariniey countered.

     “Six thousand eight hundred!” The voice came out again.

     “Sold!” The Scorchio said, his gavel coming down.

     “What? I wasn’t done!” Zariniey said angrily.


     “That’s how it works! Time is up!” Ko said with a laugh.

     The Aisha came out again, exchanging the wings with a Blue Draik Egg! To Zariniey’s shock it was only at eight thousand Neopoints, and the minimum increment value was only one Neopoint!

     “How is that possible?” Zariniey asked in awe.

     “It happens from time to time.” Ko responded, unfazed.

     “Eight thousand ten hundred!” Cried a Koi next to Zariniey.

     “Eight thousand five hundred!” Another voice came out.

     “Eight thousand nine hundred!” Said another.

     “Sixteen thousand nine hundred!” Zariniey found herself say with a loud, confident voice. It was all she had left so she figured she’d go all in.

     “Sold!” The gavel came down.

     Ko looked to Zariniey with surprise, his usual cool demeanour nowhere to be found. “Wow! You got it! Now that’s a serious find!”

     Zariniey heart was beating fast and loud. “I can’t believe I got it!” She hadn’t felt so alive in…well, she couldn’t even remember! It had really been that long!

     “Wasn’t it worth it to spend your wheel prize?”

     “Was it ever!” Zariniey said in amazement. But she realized now it wasn’t simply because she had scored an awesome item, it was also because she had done so many new things and made a friend along the way.

     “Let’s go collect the item.” They went around back to the collection centre. There was a short line, and they quickly got the item, and Zariniey placed it into her bag with care.

     “Oh, I almost forgot about the Quest Log!” Zariniey said looking up at Ko.

     Ko laughed. “Well, I feel a little bad now. The scores are not what the last quest is…”

     “What?” Zariniey asked, though not completely surprised.

     “Zariniey!” Came a voice from behind.

     Zariniey turned around and gasped. It was Xavrine holding the Fire Faerie Wings.

     “I’m sorry for the deception. These are for you.” Xavrine said, handing over the wings. “A real peace offering this time. I wanted Ko to get you out a bit and try some new things. The Quest Log activities are all waiting there for you to do. I know how important it is to you.”

     “So the scores have nothing to do with the Quest Log?”

     “It was just an excuse for you to meet and hang out with Ko a bit. He’s cool, right?” Xavrine said with a grin.

     Zariniey pulled the Fire Faerie Wings on and glowered at Xavrine. “You know I’m going to get you back for this one day, right?”

     “I wouldn’t expect any less.” Xavrine said sticking out her tongue.

     “How about we all head over and do the Quest Log activities together?” Zariniey said with a grin. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to spend the Neopoints we earn there together afterwards anyway.”

     “What? Are you serious? We haven’t hung out outside the house in so, so long!” Xavrine exclaimed. “And you’re not even keeping the Neopoints?”

     “Sometimes, you got to live a little.” Zariniey responded, winking toward Ko.

     The End.