Accessible Journalism

The door cracked open, and an older, green Zafara came inside. She smiled down at the Uni, hanging her cap on the coat rack by the door. “What are you so excited for, Ruby?”

She was teasing; surely she knew the answer? The Uni’s excitement seemed to shake her tiny body from the core. “Did it come out, Lana? Is it here?”

“Hmmm…” Lana the Zafara tapped her chin. “What could you possibly be talking about…?” Then she mimed an epiphany, snapping her fingers. “Oh, I know!”

Lana reached inside her backpack and pulled out a rolled-up newspaper. “The new Neopian Times!” Ruby cried.

The Uni’s joy could no longer be contained; she pranced around the foyer just for an outlet, calling out to her sister as she went, “Can you read it to me? Can you please? Can you please?”

Lana laughed. “After you get ready for bed. Let me put my things down and-”

But before she could even finish, the young Uni had raced up the stairs. Every other night Ruby fought valiantly against bedtime, but there was nothing that spurred her to action quite like the promise of their favourite bedtime reading material.

In no time at all, they were snuggled up together in the starry-patterned covers while Lana read Ruby stories. They laughed over the comics together, and admittedly, some of the articles went over Ruby’s head (although Lana said they were helpful). But the little Uni’s favorite part was the stories: especially the ones that would go on for multiple chapters. Her current favourite story was about a dashing young thief in Qasala, and her eyes got as big as Yooyuballs as her sister recounted the harrowing tale.

When that chapter was finished, Ruby begged for one more. Lana played hard to get for a moment, but quickly relented. “Oh, alright! It looks like there’s a new serial here to read, and…”

The Zafara stopped, eyes going wide. “What is it?” Ruby asked. “Is there something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” said Lana. She turned the page towards her little sister. “But I recognize the name of this author! I’ve met her before, around Tyrannia!”

Ruby’s jaw dropped open. “You’ve met a real-life writer?”

“I had no idea she was a writer. We’re always in line for the Omelette together. I should congratulate her the next time I see her.”

This news was utterly rocking the young Uni’s world. “Wait - regular people can get published in the Neopian Times?!”

Lana threw her head back and laughed. “Yes, silly! Who did you think wrote these stories? Robots? As far as I know, Lawyerbot is more of an Usuki collector than a writer…”

Ruby sat straight up in bed, her wings fluttering as fast as her heart. “I don’t know! I guess I thought you had to be special or something!”

If people who ate omelettes and knew her big sister could get published, could that mean Ruby had a chance, too?

But there were two big obstacles to her plan. She pulled them out from under the covers, staring at them ruefully.

“Too bad I can’t write,” Ruby mumbled. “My hooves make it impossible to hold a pencil.”

There was a terrible pause where neither of them said anything. Ruby was afraid she’d finally found something her big sister couldn’t make better.

Then a hand landed on her shoulder. Ruby looked up from her hooves into her sister’s eyes, finding them determined.

“Writing stories isn’t just about dexterity,” Lana said, adamant. She then leaned over to rummage in their bedside table, and before Ruby could protest, Lana was brandishing a battered old notebook at her.

“I know if you just practice, you’ll be able to come up with wonderful stories. And when you’re ready… I will write them down for you!”

Ruby nuzzled her head up against Lana’s, mussing her sister’s fur. “You’re the best sister I could ever ask for! When can we start?”

“In the morning!” Lana tousled her sister’s mane right back. “You need to get some rest if you’re going to write all weekend.”

The Neopian Times had a tendency to make Ruby less resistant to bedtime. But with that decree, she broke her personal record.

“Good night!” the little Uni yelled. And without even waiting for her sister to leave or wishing her a good night back, Ruby shut off the light, burrowed herself under the covers, and began to snore.

-

Two years and two paintbrush colours later, a Fire Uni was positively blazing with joy as she raced home from the art district of Roo Island, where she had just left the Neopian Times’s office.

Ruby had retained her childhood love of the Neopian Times. With Lana’s help, she’d built up quite the portfolio, although her current stories had improved leagues over her first attempts. She shuddered to remember her very first story, an epic saga about a broody Lupe warrior named Darkbane Moonhunter. Half of the plot points had been copied from her favourite serial at the time, while the other half was absolute nonsense. During the climax, Dr. Sloth had absorbed the power of a bunch of dark faeries, and grown a pair of demonic wings, then engaged the hero in an aerial battle… It sure wasn’t literature.

Not like Ruby’s latest story. That story she’d proudly delivered to the front desk of the Neopian Times herself. That was the one they’d called her over to talk about today.

She was held aloft by joy, her tiny wings lifting her a full foot off the ground. She was so close to not only realizing her dream, but one better: they were considering her for a full-time position on the Neopian Times Staff!

They had loved her story today, and now there was only one more qualification she had to meet. Before she was hired, they wanted her to write up an article, to show her nonfiction chops. Ruby had no idea what she wanted to write about yet, but she was excited to get home and share the good news with her sister. Whatever she came up with, she knew Lana would help her get it all down on paper.

Ruby hurried to open the front door. Long ago, when Ruby was young, Lana had outfitted their Neohome with a series of handi-capable inventions that would let Ruby get around without the dexterity of fingers. For example, their front door’s handle was connected to a rope that Ruby could yank with her teeth to release the lock mechanism and open the door.

And so Ruby burst inside, calling out to her sister. “Lana! Lana, are you here?”

Some distant noise called her up the stairs, where she stopped on the threshold of her sister’s bedroom. “Lana, you won’t believe–”

But one look at her sister made the words die in Ruby’s mouth. The Zafara was frantically dashing around her room, grabbing things and throwing them into a suitcase. Her expression was one of deep concern, and she muttered to herself as she went, seemingly not noticing Ruby had even arrived.

“Lana!” Ruby called out. “Is something wrong?”

The Zafara stopped in the middle of trying to wrestle her suitcase closed. “Ruby! Goodness, how long have you been there?” Then, without waiting for the answer, she dashed to her sister’s side. Though she was trying her best to keep her expression schooled, her movements were nervous and harried.

“I’m so sorry, Ruby, but it’s Brightvale. I haven’t been able to get a hold of any of my university friends, and there’s word that the grey has been spreading there. They might need help to evacuate.”

Ruby gaped at her. “You’re leaving me alone here?”

“I’m so sorry,” Lana said. “I wouldn’t if I had any choice. You know how rusty I am with this thing!” She brandished a wand, once broken, now haphazardly taped back together.

Ruby’s mind raced at the news. Clearly it was urgent. But her Neopian Times deadline was at the end of the week, and she needed Lana’s help to physically write down her work. “Well… When do you think you’ll be back?”

Lana shook her head. “I don’t know. First, I need to find them, then I need to fight my way out of the kingdom. I have no idea how long that will take.”

She was already grabbing her suitcase. If Ruby wanted to tell her sister her good news, this was the time. She might not even have to beg her to stay – Lana knew this was her dream, and may put everything aside to help Ruby win this chance.

Lana cocked her head. “Mind if I get past you, Ruby? You’re blocking the door.”

Ruby deliberated. Lana’s expression softened.

“I know I’m out of practice, but I’ve taken down my fair share of ghouls, Ruby. I promise I will come back to you in one piece.”

Lana seemed to think Ruby’s hesitation was coming from the danger to her life – a realization that hit Ruby with intense guilt. She should be worrying about her sister’s well-being, not her own silly writing dream.

With a heavy sigh, Ruby stepped aside. “Of course, you can go save your friends. But you’re not allowed to get hurt!”

“Of course. I’ll be home before you know it,” Lana said, and with a wave, she was out of the door.

For a moment, Ruby felt almost nothing, afloat in the silence of the empty room. Then all at once, she heard a rushing in her ears, and her anxiety seemed to crash over her like a great big wave.

They didn’t really have a computer in the house, and she didn’t know what they were capable of, associating them with images of the Virtupets station floating amongst the stars. Could computers record stuff you said to them? She certainly couldn’t use a keyboard; her hooves were too wide, too unwieldy. Which probably meant she couldn’t even boot up a computer to figure out how to work a voice command.

Her anxiety propelled her forward. She couldn’t just stand here, waiting for an answer to come to her. The end-of-week deadline was drawing closer with every moment. She needed to get out into the world and find some sort of solution. Perhaps - perhaps there would be something at the school store, in the Neopian Plaza! That was out of the way of the Voidling battles in Neopia Central, right?

Regardless, she found herself racing out of the house, towards the rainbow bridge that joined Roo Island with the mainland.

-

The Techo who ran the school supplies store was writing something at the register when Ruby came in. The bell on the door startled him out of his ministrations, his graduation cap nearly falling off his head.

“A customer?” Then, adjusting his cap and his tone, “A customer! Incredible! What can I do to help you, my dear?”

He was beaming at her so thoroughly, that Ruby had to look around to make sure she was the one he was so excited to see. In fact, she was the only customer in the shop. It dawned on her that while everything else in the neighbourhood might appeal to restockers, a school supplies shop didn’t have the most glamorous wares to offer.

“Do you have any self-writing pens?” Ruby asked.

The Techo blinked at her. “Come again, dear?”

Ruby’s face grew hot. “Um - pens that write on command?” When he continued to look at her like she had two heads, she spotted a pen with wings and nudged it with her nose. “Like this Air Faerie Pen. Can it fly? Maybe I can tell it what to write…”

“It’s a pen, dear. You can’t talk to it,” the Techo explained, slowly.

“Do you have anything that can write down what I say to it? A… a robot pen, or a computer of some kind?”

The Techo scratched his head. “I’m sorry. If you want something like that, perhaps you’d better go to Virtupets.”

She should’ve gone with her first idea, after all! Determined not to waste a trip, she pressed. “Well, what sort of product would you recommend to me?”

“We’ve got some lovely notebooks!” He proffered one with a fluffy pink cover.

Ruby smiled nervously. “That’s very nice, but what do your hooved customers use to write? Like, if another Uni came in, or an Ixi, or a Kau…”

“Goodness.” The Techo lowered the notebook onto the counter, his expression mystified. “I’m sorry to say I don’t know! I can’t remember the last time a customer came in here, let alone one like…” He fumbled. “One like yourself.”

Ruby left soon after, her chest thrumming with anxiety. What in Neopia did everyone else do in situations like this? She didn’t have any friends who were also Unis. She really didn’t have a lot of friends outside of Lana, period. Her sister had always been enough for her - her caretaker, her family, her best friend. But now, alone in an empty plaza, Ruby’s life suddenly felt very isolated. She wondered if other people needed so much help just to exist, or if everything was just easy for everyone else.

She shook her head, as if the rush of air would keep her tears at bay. It was no time to panic. Her dream was on the line. She needed to keep trying.

-

Virtupets didn’t have much to offer her. There wasn’t a school store or a computer depot, and when she stopped by the Robot Petpets shop, she didn’t see anything particularly dextrous. There was a robot with wheels, a robot whose entire body was a wheel, and even a sentient vacuum cleaner, but nothing looked ready to type for her.

“Sorry, we’re a bit picked over right now,” the Grundo at the counter admitted. “Regardless, Robot Petpets aren’t always as, eh… cerebral, as you’d think. Take the Wheelie.” He held up a little robot that looked like a smiling unicycle. “He’s got hands, sure, but he’s about as smart as a Warf. He’s mostly good for companionship.”

The Petpet gave Ruby a charming little smile she didn’t return. “Isn’t there anything you’d recommend?”

The Grundo tapped his chin. “We don’t carry them here in the store, but if you can find a Combobot in the Marketplace, he could do all sorts of computing for you.”

Ruby’s heart skipped a beat. “Really? That sounds promising!”

“Yeah!” The Grundo shopkeeper wrote down the species' name for her. “There’s an upgraded version you can check out, too. I know 300 thousand seems a little steep, but for the best possible-”

“Excuse me?!” Ruby exclaimed. “They cost HOW much?!”

“Three hundred thousand, last I checked. I suppose they could be cheaper by now…” The shopkeeper scratched his neck. “Or, er… more expensive.”

The shopkeeper wrote down a few Petpet names for her in case she wanted to check people’s personal shops, but Ruby had a feeling most of them would be out of her price range. Still, she thanked him as he tucked the note into the tote bag she wore around her neck.

On the verge of an anxious breakdown, she headed to the recreation deck for something to eat. She managed to find something edible-looking, thankfully bereft of space fungus or grobleen, and sat down at a table to eat.

She was halfway through the bag of cosmic cheese stars when a clanging sound pulled her from her nervous spiral. She looked in the direction of the noise and saw a trash can, its sides denting as something crashed around inside. No one else on the deck seemed to notice, too deep in conversation at their own tables. She left the rest of her stars to go investigate, half expecting the trashcan to reveal itself to be a robot that would offer to take her trash for her.

To her surprise, a small, green creature leapt out of the can. Two arms held onto the rim, while two more brandished a package of dehydrated space fungus. The creature had four arms total, three eyes, and dark green skin speckled with brown spots.

It was a Mutant Krawk Petpet! Ruby watched with fascination as it carefully pinched and pulled the package open with two of its hands, then sniffed the insides. Whatever it smelled must have met its muster, because it upended the bag, pouring the shrivelled pink bits onto its waiting tongue. Its movements were so deliberate, it was like watching a tiny Neopet at work.

Inspiration hit Ruby like a brick. Krawk Petpets became Krawk pets. Surely that made them smarter than the average Petpet, and thus the ideal candidate to help her out?

“Hey there, little guy,” she called out in a gentle voice. When the Krawk ignored her, she went back to her table for her leftover snacks and came back with the corner of the bag between her teeth.

The Krawk perked up immediately when she approached, and when she laid the bag of cheese stars on the ground between her hooves, the Krawk leapt down out of the trashcan to take them.

To her delight, the Krawk didn’t run with its treasure, sitting down to eat right in front of her. While it busied itself, Ruby leaned down to awkwardly manoeuvre something out of her tote bag. When her head emerged, she had a notebook and pencil clenched in her teeth: pity purchases made at the school supplies store, earlier. She placed them down on the ground near the Krawk. It didn’t acknowledge them.

“My name is Ruby,” she said, feeling a bit silly. The Krawk glanced up at her briefly but then returned to eating its snack. She searched for something to say to ingratiate herself to this creature. “You have, uh… really cute. Eyes.”

All three blinked out of sequence at her. She repressed a shudder. “Would you… like me to buy you more food?”

That clearly got a reaction. The Krawk looked at her properly, head cocked.

“Yeah? Food? You want food?”

To her delight, the Krawk nodded! Ruby gently tapped the notebook and pencil she’d placed on the ground with her hoof. “Here. Take this.”

The Krawk looked at the notebook. Then at Ruby. She smiled nervously. “Go ahead!”

She nudged it towards the Krawk, who looked at it a while longer before finally taking the notebook into its hands. Ruby nodded emphatically.

“Good, good! Now, this…”

She pushed the pencil towards the Krawk. It grabbed it, but dropped the notebook.

Ruby resisted the urge to scream. “You need both…”

The Krawk held the pencil up to its face, examining it closely. Ruby watched with bated breath...

…As the Krawk chomped down on it, splintering the wood.

“No, no!” Ruby cried. “You need to-”

“What are you doing with my Petpet?”

At the sound of a new voice, Ruby nearly jumped out of her skin. She whirled around to see a Garlic Jubjub looking at her, a single eyebrow raised.

Her wings plastered themselves to her back with mortification. “Sorry! I didn’t didn’t know it belonged to anyone. It was digging around in the trash-”

“Yeah, I know,” interrupted the Jubjub, in a tone that suggested she was the weird one, for being anti trash-feeding. “I left him here for just a minute while I was shopping.”

The Jubjub’s eyes fell on the notebook and pencil. “What are you doing, anyway? Are you trying to feed YOUR trash to my Krawk?”

“No, no! I was…” Ruby hesitated, embarrassed to admit it. “I was, uh… trying to get him to write.”

The Jubjub was officially looking at her like she was the most unhinged person on this space station. Ruby rushed to explain herself. “It’s just, I have hooves, you see, so I can’t write things down myself, and I figured since Krawks are basically Neopets, maybe he could write for me, and…” It occurred to her suddenly. She was talking to a Jubjub – they had no arms!

“What do you do, when you want to write?” Ruby asked.

Oddly, the Jubjub perked up. “Easy!”

He flipped open the notebook and grabbed the pencil in one surprisingly dextrous orange foot, and wrote a message in perfect cursive:

“Stay away from us!”

Then the Jubjub set down the stationary, whistled for his Krawk (who hurried to his side), and walked off.

Once the shock wore off, Ruby slumped in defeat. She had tried it all, and she had failed. There was nothing left to do but to admit she couldn’t write her article. Maybe if she asked, the Neopian Times would extend her deadline.

…Or maybe they’d wave her off and accept the next hopeful young writer in her place. She wouldn’t know until she asked.

Ruby thought about everyone she had approached for help that day. The school supplies shopkeeper, who had no idea how a huge portion of the Neopet population used his wares. The well-meaning Robot Petpet seller, who nonetheless couldn’t offer her an affordable solution. And now this embarrassment with the Jubjub.

She had a sinking feeling the staff at the Neopian Times wouldn’t be any different.

To be continued…