The Unexpected Gift

     “Honey! Is that you? You’re up early!” a muffled voice shouts from below. “Come down when you can, I have something SPECIAL waiting for you!” That’s Brennie, Athaleas’ mom. She’s one of those outgoing, bubbly mothers who is overly sweet, extremely chatty, and definitely a morning person. “Who else would it be?” Athaleas mutters to herself. Her father Elex was on a business trip halfway around the world of Neopia and wouldn’t be returning for at least another three days. Athaleas still couldn’t understand why that job couldn’t wait. It was her special week, after all.

     Feeling a bit more prepared for the surprise, she makes her way downstairs where she is quickly greeted by her mom. “Oh good! I see you found that top you’d been looking for. Come now, but close your eyes!” Taking her by the hand, Brennie leads her to the kitchen. The smell of freshly baked bread, always made from scratch, and fried bacon fills the air. “Mom, you know I could smell breakfast before I ever got out of bed. I don’t know why you always make such a big deal about EVERYTHING,” Athaleas huffs, opening her eyes. Brennie’s smile fades for a moment but quickly returns. “Of course, dear. Here, I made your favourite… Bacon belly busters!” Brennie says as she slides a plate across the counter. “Sit, sit! We have a busy day, if you want everything to be perfect for tonight, we need to get going soon!” As Athaleas begins scarfing down her breakfast, her mom continues buzzing around the kitchen talking, cleaning, and talking some more. She doesn’t hear what Brennie has to say, her thoughts are consumed by tonight. “What if no one comes to my party?” she wonders. “No… Don’t be silly! Your birthday party is always a hit… You ARE the most popular girl this side of Faerieland.” Smiling to herself, she takes her last bite and pounces up the stairs. “You can take care of the errands today, right? I think I’ll stay here!” “But… What about your present…” Brennie manages to say before Athaleas reaches the top of the stairs and shuts her bedroom door. “Nevermind.” Brennie whispers in disappointment.

     A few minutes later, she hears her mom leave. “Finally! The whole house to myself. A little peace and quiet is what I really wanted for my birthday” Athaleas chuckles. “What will I wear tonight?” she asks herself as she examines the items in her closet. “No… No… OOH! YES!” she says as she plucks the hanger from the shelf. Holding a pink dress up to herself, she walks to the mirror to admire tonight’s outfit. “This is perfect!” she breathes as she spins around in excitement. Mid-spin, she spots something dark in the tree outside her bedroom window. “What is that?” Tossing the dress onto the bed, she hesitantly takes a step toward the window. A section of branches is moving but there’s no breeze, and the rest of the tree remains still.

     Returning her gaze back to the mirror, a quiet thud comes from below. “Well that’s weird, Mom can’t be back yet…” she thinks, as she leans over to look out the window. Seeing nothing in the driveway, she shrugs. “Must have been one of those pesky Usuls again. Where was I?” she picks the dress back up and delicately places it back on the hanger. Grabbing a section of hair, she says “Now, what am I going to do with you?” Athaleas disappears into the bathroom to get ready for her big night. A couple of hours later, fully dressed, hair-do complete, she skips down the stairs to grab a Neocola from the fridge, seemingly forgetful of the strange sound she’d heard earlier. She circles back to the stairs, failing to notice the back door is open.

     It’s almost dark when Brennie returns home. She can be heard working in the backyard finishing up last-minute party preparations and welcoming early arriving guests. Brennie has always been a top-notch entertainer. Music starts playing, the DJ has arrived! She can hear friends and classmates chatting and laughing. “That’s my cue!” Athaleas chirps, emerges from her bedroom, shuts her door, and makes her way down to the party. A huge cake surrounded by balloons can be seen through the back door. Flustered, Athaleas murmurs to herself “Wow, Mom. I’m not five, I don’t need balloons.” In an attempt to shake off the embarrassment, she puts on her best smile and steps outside. She spots her group of best gal pals across the yard. Confidently stepping across the back porch, she notices people are staring at her. “I KNEW this dress would be a hit!” she thinks to herself, her heart racing. A couple of Unis laugh as she walks by. “Who invited them anyway?” she wonders, continuing to smile. “Hey look, it’s Shrek!” one boy exclaims. “No, wait, that’s Meuka!” another scoffs. “What’s your problem?” Athaleas asks, looking around at the crowd. Finally reaching her friends, she breathes a sigh of relief as she taps Jipa on the shoulder. “I’m so glad you came!” Athaleas sings as Jipa turns around. The group of friends all turn to face Athaleas and gasp. “Athaleas! What happened to you?!” “It’s the dress, I told you it would be perfect for tonight!” she replies. “NO. It’s not the dress, it’s YOU!” Cassie says with a firm tone. “I know, I know, I keep telling you ‘proper skin care is vital to maintaining a youthful glow! One day, you’ll listen to me.’” Cassie grabs Athaleas by the paw and quickly pulls her behind the bushes. Grumbling, she shuffles through her purse. Snatching a mirror from her bag, she opens it and insists Athaleas use it to see her reflection. “I don’t know what everyone is…” her voice trails off for a moment, then she shrieks in disgust. Her face, once a beautiful shade of blue, is now green, and dripping with… SNOT! She drops the mirror as she pulls up her sleeves and then her skirt to inspect her arms and legs. They, too, have changed!

     The party sounds fade for a moment after Athaleas shrieks but soon return to a dull roar of laughter and chatter. “What am I going to DO? What CAUSED this?” Cassie says concerningly, “I really have NO idea but, one thing’s for sure, you can’t be seen by Aldwin! We have to get you out of here!” Cassie pokes her head out from the bushes, does a quick scan of the party, and spots an escape route. Loudly whispering “Hey! Psst! I’ve got to get Athaleas out of here… If anyone asks, she had to leave for a minute.” Cassie and Athaleas make a run for it, slinking down the edge of the yard, and slipping into the side door of the house. They bolt up the stairs to Athaleas bedroom, pausing once they’ve reached the top of the staircase. “What are you waiting for?” Cassie says, nudging Athaleas. “Erm, my bedroom door is open.” she responds. “Okay, and?!” Cassie snarls, still nudging Athaleas. She turns to face Cassie and whispers “I shut my door before I came outside. No one has been in here since.”

     Tiptoeing as quietly as possible, the pair peek through the cracked door into the room. The curtain blows from the breeze coming through the window. Athaleas and Cassie push the bedroom door open and close the window before doing a quick look around the room. A little calmer now, Athaleas sits on the edge of the bed. “I know I shut my door. I know my window was closed AND LOCKED. What is happening?” Thinking for a moment, tears well up in her eyes. She reaches for the PJs she’d worn earlier to use them as a tissue and notices a small piece of paper at the foot of the bed. Blinking through the tears, she attempts to read the quickly scratched note. “Tell Allie the plan is complete. - Allure” it reads. “Look at this, Cassie! Who is Allie and who is Allure? What was the plan?!” Athaleas explodes. Flipping the paper over, Cassie says “This note is written on a morphing potion label from the Dark Faerie!” She holds the label up for Athaleas to see.

     Suddenly, the closet doors fly open as Allure throws herself out of the closet, laughing menacingly. “HAHAHA You think you’re soooo perfect, don’t you? The perfect house, family, and this STUPID party…” She mocks. “I see you found my note. It doesn’t matter, Allie knows and soon everyone will. That ‘Neocola’ you drank earlier, well… Let’s just say it wasn’t Neocola.” Allure turns on her heel looking around the room then nudges Cassie with her elbow. “Oh yeah, thanks for your help getting inside. So much for best friends, huh?” Allure and Cassie laugh. “What? I don’t understand! Why? Why would you do this to me?” Athaleas’ mind spins in confusion. She finds herself struggling to breathe, struggling to stay conscious. She fights to keep her eyes open but the stress is just too much and she faints.

     “Athaleas! Are you up? Hellooooo?” Brennie questions from the bottom of the stairs. Athaleas rolls over in bed, it’s daylight. “Rise and shine sleepy head! You must have had too much fun at your party.” Brennie’s voice trails off, she’s back in the kitchen clanging pots around cooking who knows what. Athaleas shoots straight up in bed and inspects herself. Her beautiful blue colour has returned! It must have been a dream. A horrible, horrible dream! Relieved, she mumbles “Ugh, just a few more minutes.” as she plops back onto her pillow. A few moments later, a deep, scratchy voice whispers into her ear “Come downstairs when you can, I have something SPECIAL waiting for you!” Althaleas’ eyes snap open as she gasps.

     The End.