Learning to Cope by taffychic | |
I stood quietly outside the door of my pet's room. I hadn't
heard from her in almost a day and a half, and the fact scared me a little. Celestilla,
the self-proclaimed world-famous gossip columnist, was usually both very visible
and extremely vocal, but since the morning before she hadn't shown her nose outside
the door. She was even refusing admittance to Andromeda, her best friend and photographer,
and that was unheard-of.
Tuning my senses to any noises that might tell
me what was going on inside the room, I could occasionally hear the familiar
clopping noise of my Uni's hooves on the wood floor. "At least I know she isn't
in a coma," I muttered to myself. Determinedly, I scooted closer to the door
and pressed my ear to the wood to catch any sounds I was missing. I yelped in
surprise when an enormous crash sounded a few inches away from my eardrum. When
my ears stopped ringing, I could hear Celestilla's voice grumbling curses at
me. At me! I thought, reaching new levels of astonishment. Except in jest, Celestilla
had never spoken a hateful word toward me in her life.
"Darn you, Taffy, I know you're out there, probably
worrying your ridiculous little head off about me. Well, I won't come out; I'm
never coming out again! I'll just sit in here and write my column from watching
NTV, and you can just go tell Andromeda that I won't be needing her services
anymore. Now go away." A scratching noise on the other side of the door made
me jump, but I soon realized that it was just Celestilla's petpet, apparently
imprisoned against his will. "And take Shankly with you," Celestilla amended,
opening the door a crack to let the whining Doglefox out. He scampered down
the stairs and made a beeline for the back yard, yipping urgently as he went.
Seeing my chance, I quickly shoved a foot and
one shoulder in the crack before she could shut the door. With a quick shove
and a wiggle, I was in the room, Celestilla before me. She sat down hard on
her rump and squeezed her eyes shut. "Foiled again," she moaned.
With a feeling of trepidation I took in my surroundings.
Her room, usually somewhat tidy, was now a snorklesty. The shattered pieces
of what had once been an expensive glass Uni figurine lay inside the door where
Celestilla had thrown it at my head. There were empty boxes of chocolates and
crumpled cans of CF Cola everywhere; either she had a hidden stash, or someone
was supplying her through the window. The sheets on her pallet had been teased
and twisted into a nest shape, as if she had lain curled up into a small ball
for some period of time, and the rug in front of her mirror looked worn from
much pacing. The blinds were drawn even though the day outside was lovely, and
the room was in a faux twilight.
Steeling myself, I walked to the window and
opened the blinds. Celestilla turned her head away so that I might not see her
face, but the changes were impossible to hide. The dreaded Makeover had struck
again.
"Celestilla, look at me," I said weakly. She
obeyed, a pleading look in her eyes as I examined her new form.
"Cartoonish" is the only way I could describe
it. Short, chubby legs took the place of long, graceful ones. Her neck was much
shorter and her gorgeous red mane was no longer flowing, but thick and shaggy.
Her intensely blue eyes were lost in a hide of almost the same color. Before,
she had stood waist high to me at the shoulder, but now her head barely reached
my hip. And with the sad expression she was wearing now, she looked like nothing
more than an equinized, scolded puppy. Silently, her stare pleaded with me to
make everything all right again.
I sat down on the floor and absently stroked
Celestilla's nose, trying my best to think of something to say that wouldn't
make the situation worse. Shankly crept into the room, hesitated for a moment,
and then began licking the tears from the Uni's forelock. She rewarded him with
a weak smile, and, encouraged, I cleared my throat.
"Celestilla, I've been around Neopia for quite
a while now. I was there when the Polypup became the Gelert and when the Gelert
was made over, as well. A lot of people were unhappy when that happened, especially
the people that already owned Gelerts and liked the way they looked before.
They called it 'cutification' and the pound was full of abandoned, made-over
pets.
"We've been lucky; except for some re-shading,
the Uni has remained basically the same throughout Neopian history. But I knew
that it was coming. Everything must change, and most of the time it will change
with or without our permission. Fyora knows, you've a right to be upset, and
I'm upset too. But there's nothing you or I or anyone can do. We'll get used
to it in time."
Celestilla got to her hooves and turned to face
me, an angry light in her eyes. "But Taffy, look at me! No one is going to take
me seriously any more! We Unis were already stereotyped badly enough when someone
came up with the idea that we're all empty-headed, giggling, fashion-obsessed
ninnies, but now that our appearance reflects that stereotype people are going
to walk all over us!" She turned to study herself in the mirror. Contemptuously
she spat, "I might as well be a flat image on a computer screen for all the
depth my appearance has now. This face couldn't show intelligence if the fate
of Faerieland depended on it!"
I sighed and came to stand behind her. "This
from you, Celestilla! You, who have been misjudged by your appearance for all
your life. You of all people should realize that there will always be stereotypes
as long as there are people who are shallow enough to uphold them. It's up to
you to prove those shallow people wrong.
"And don't underestimate your fans, Celestilla.
There are hundreds who read your column each week, and they will respect and
admire you no matter what you look like." Celestilla looked thoughtful at this,
and I smiled. Celestilla had already proved herself wrong; that face could certainly
show intelligence after all. I quietly left, shutting the door behind me.
The End
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this story! Please keep in mind, though,
that this is FICTION and only my way of expressing my opinion on the Uni makeover.
I meant no disrespect to Uni owners, new or old; I think that pets should never
be judged by appearance, "but by the content of their character." However, everyone
is entitled to his or her own opinions, and I would be interested to hear others'
views on the subject. Don't hesitate to Neomail me!
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