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Deilvia the Kacheek looked in the mirror with scorn at
her spotted fur. It was so... boring.
True, she had begged and pleaded with her owner
to spend the majority of their remaining funds to paint her spotted, but only
after a few months she was just tired of the color.
"Oh please! Pleaaaseee!" she would cry to her
owner daily.
"Deilvia, I'd love to buy you a paintbrush...
but… we can't afford one right now," Mae, Deilvia's owner, would always sigh.
This, however, did not detour the Kacheek at all and she would continue begging
and crying for the chance to be painted spotted through out the day. Finally,
her owner caved in, and after months of scrimping and saving the meager funds
they had, the small family managed to save up enough points for the spotted
paintbrush.
But that was one month ago, and new Deilvia was
so bored with her spotted coat. What did it do anyway? It wasn't that rare of
a color, it was so… so… common. Deilvia sat in her home with its drab
ripped wallpaper and cardboard floors, flipping through her latest issue of
Neopian Paint brushes. Each page was filled with beautiful pets, posing
in lost desert attire, or iridescent Faerie wings (not posing with stupid old
spotty fur she noted). She turned the pages with mild interest, until she spotted
a full page picture of a Kacheek. But this wasn't just any Kacheek! No, this
Kacheek had gray matted skin, large gleaming teeth hanging out of its mouth,
and a massive brain protruding from its skull. Deilvia smiled at the picture,
it was the PERFECT statement for her! Bold and tenacious, it matched her personality!
She skittered down the hall of the home, running into the kitchen and jumping
onto the cheap plastic table.
"Mae! We NEED this potion!" Deilvia smiled, hoping
up and down on the table, wildly waving the magazine in her owner's face. The
young girl flipped through the magazine and shook her head while handing the
magazine back to her pet.
"No Deilvia, we can't possibly afford that potion.
We… we don't have much money," she added the last bit sadly. Deilvia huffed
and started to whine.
"But… I want it…" she whimpered pitifully. Her
owner's face grew cold as she shook her head.
"No, we can't afford it," Mae nodded in a sort
of 'and that's final' way.
"FINE!" Deilvia huffed as she walked out of the
door. If she wasn't going to have her owner's permission she would just have
to do it herself…
A few hours later Deilvia proudly strutted home,
no longer a common spotted color, but now a putrid gray mutant Kacheek. She
loved the stares and gasps she received when she walked down the street. Everyone
noticed her and only her; they never did when she was spotted… but now!
Deilvia walked into her home eager to show her
owner her new and improved look! Sure, she did have to empty out the family
savings account for it and she never had her owner's permission, but it was
just such a great color, how could Mae not love it, she thought.
"Mae!" the Kacheek hollered. Mae walked out from
a nearby room, puzzled.
"What is it Deilvia-," she stopped in mid sentence,
looking down at the small, beaming Kacheek.
"What-what…"
"Isn't it GREAT?!" the Kacheek screamed as she
admired herself in a nearby mirror. "I figured you weren't really SERIOUS about
the whole no mutant thing, so I just bought the potion with the money from the
bank account!"
"You-you took money out of the account?! Deilvia
how much did you TAKE?!" the girl asked, on the verge of tears. The Kacheek
looked up at her owner innocently, not noting the tears in her welling in Mae's
eyes.
"Oh don't worry, there was still around 300 Neopoints
left, I think," Deilvia explained, going back to admiring herself in the mirror.
Mae plopped down on the worn green sofa in the living room, sobbing. Deilvia
looked over at her owner and ran over, utterly confused.
"Mae! Why are you CRYING? I just got a new paint
job shouldn't you be--"
"I saved for MONTHS for that paintbrush that
you wanted!" the girl screamed at the tiny pet, her eyes filled with tears of
rage. The Kacheek stepped back, hurt and crushed, she didn't understand…
"I worked so many jobs, denied myself so many
things, just to buy you that paintbrush! Just for you! And then you just go
out and turn yourself into this THING! Spending the last of our money for YOUR
happiness!" she cried, hiding her face in her hands. Deilvia watched her sob,
ready to cry herself.
"But-but… I-I wanted this…" she weakly retorted,
the girl looked up at Deilvia.
"What about what I want? Don't I matter in this
family? Or does family not matter to you?" she hissed before rushing out of
the room, running down the hall and locking herself in her room.
Deilvia sniffled and began to cry. She didn't
belong to the family, she was awful… The mutant Kacheek walked out of the home
dejectedly, quietly closing the door behind her and venturing out into the fading
twilight.
A hush settled over Neopia Central as the sun
began to set. Deilvia strolled absentmindedly around, thinking about the recent
events. She wasn't that eager to go back home, but she couldn't spend the night
out on the streets. She was at a loss of ideas. A sudden wind blew down the
street, scattering papers down the desolate street. A stray paper blew towards
Deilvia and attached itself to her face. She snatched the paper, balling it
up in frustration until she began to read the flyer…
NEOPIAN BEAUTY CONTEST!
ENTER YOUR PETS FOR RARE PRIZES AND NEOPOINTS! FIRST PLACE WINNER RECEIVES
RARE ITEMS AND LARGE NEOPOINT PRIZES!
SIGN UP AT THE NEOPIAN EXHIBITION HALL, AT THE END OF GUILD STREET JUST
OFF THE CORNER OF CHIA CLOSE.
Deilvia read the flyer over again, suddenly getting
an idea! Rare items, Neopoints?! It was PERFECT! She could enter herself in
the contest and with the Neopoints that she received as a prize she could pay
her owner back! It was perfect, flawless! After all, a beautiful mutated Kacheek
like her would be SURE to win first place!
The large exhibition hall was packed with pets
running about trying to get ready for the contest. Deilvia glanced about the
hall as she entered, it was rather crowded, she didn't expect this many pets
to enter and they were so beautiful too!
They may be pretty, but they have NOTHING
on me! she thought arrogantly as she confidently strode across the hall,
making her way to the contestants dressing rooms.
Deilvia looked in the brightly lit vanity mirror
and frowned. She didn't know what she could fix, she was already perfect! A
prize winner!
"Why are YOU here?"
Deilvia turned around and glowered at a Faerie
Krawk, twirling her silky green hair around a long pink claw. A desert Aisha
and a milky white Uni stood on either side of the Krawk, both sporting sly,
contemptuous smiles for the Kacheek.
"Hey! She asked you a question!" The Aisha snapped
at the mutated Kacheek. Deilvia frowned and put her hands on her hips, hissing
at the group.
"I'M here to compete for FIRST PLACE in the beauty
contest and to make sure that losers like YOU don't win!" She smirked. The group
looked at each other and then began to laugh loudly and shrilly, pointing at
Deilvia as they did so.
"YOU!? YOU THINK YOU CAN WIN YOU UGLY MUTANT?"
the Krawk laughed. Deilvia lowered her paws, but her glare still remained.
"Yes I DO, because we ALL KNOW mutants are the
most fashionable pets EVER!" she yelled. The group laughed once again, pointing
and jeering at Deilvia.
"Do you know WHY mutant potions are SO cheap?!"
the Uni snickered at the Kacheek.
"Because no one would ever be caught DEAD as
a mutant!" the Krawk finished, still laughing.
"I mean look at you! Your brain is seeping out
of your skull! It's GROSS!" the Aisha commented while the group continued to
laugh.
"You're gross!" the Krawk scoffed before the
group walked away. Deilvia sat on her small stool and watched the group leave,
she slowly turned back to her vanity mirror and looked at herself. She thought
she was beautiful, but what did she know? Deilvia hopped off her stool, walking
towards an exit when a hand clapped her on the shoulder.
"Excuse me ma'am, are you Deilvia?" asked a cloud
Lenny wearing a headset microphone and holding a clipboard. The mutant Kacheek
nodded and the Lenny pointed towards a door in the back corner.
"You're up ma'am, just walk through that door
and give your speech to the audience," he instructed, half dragging Deilvia
over to the door. She looked with apprehension at the rusty old stage door and
sighed, slowly pushing it open as she walked onto the stage. Deilvia squinted
at the harsh spotlight shining into her eyes, quickly looking around the large
room, filled to the brim with pets of all colors and species. A low mumbling
surged through the room as the Deilvia slowly walked over to the microphone,
and adjusted it causing the sound machine to emit a loud wail of microphone
static. The crowd openly laughed at Deilvia, crushing more of her confidence.
"Contestant #773, Deilvia," the judges announced
to an unenthusiastic round of applause.
"Now Miss Deilvia, please tell the audience
why you believe you should receive their votes," the unseen judge announced.
Delivia searched her mind of things to say, her usual swagger was gone as all
she could think of were the horrible things that has happened during the day.
Those pets, her ugly face, and Mae, where was she? Was she still crying? Was
she at all worried?
"Miss Deilvia, please tell us why-"
"I don't," the Kacheek announced into the microphone
firmly. The crowd muttered among themselves and shook their heads as she continued
her speech.
"I don't think I should have their votes. I'm
not pretty, I'm not rich, I'm not popular, and I'm not the type of person who
should win this! I'm not pretty, I'll admit it. I deserve to look like this
because this is what I look like on the inside… ugly," she sniffled at the last
words and continued her speech.
"I entered this contest because I had to fix
a mistake, and that's all. I don't deserve to have any praise for what I did,
because I did an awful thing. Don't vote for me, please, I don't deserve it…"
Deilvia slowly walked off the stage, not looking back, hiding the tears in her
large eyes.
Deilvia sat on the park bench, whipping her eyes.
She wasn't she how long she'd been crying, but she knew it had been a while.
Her eyes were burning, the tears refusing to come anymore, though she still
had so much sadness left in her.
A group of Neopets walked by, staring at her
as they passed by her and began to speak in undertones among each other.
"She's so UGLY!"
"Look at that FUR!"
"And her brains! EWWW!"
Deilvia clutched her tail close to her and began
to shake.
"I'm so... ugly," she cried to herself.
"You're not ugly."
Deilvia looked up and saw her owner looking down
at her. The Kacheek couldn't tell if she was angry or happy, she looked so emotionless.
The girl sat down and sighed looking over at her pet.
"I can't say that I'm not disappointed in you,
because I still am," she admitted. The tiny pet nodded.
"You should be! I'm such an awful pet! You should
get something nicer, like an Ixi or an Aisha…" she cried. The young girl picked
up her pet and smiled at her.
"You are not awful, everyone does bad things.
You do things that you aren't quite proud of, and you learn not to do it again,"
she smiled. Deilvia looked up at her and smiled hugging her owners arm.
"I guess, but… why did you try to find me out
here and this late?" the Kacheek asked suddenly stricken by this question. Mae
reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small note and handed it to
her pet. Deilvia slowly opened the normal looking envelope and unfolded the
neatly written letter, slowly reading it aloud.
Dear Miss Deilvia,
Congratulations! You have been voted by your
peers as the third place winner for you species (Kacheek) in the Neopian Beauty
Contest! Please stop by the exhibition hall anytime between 6 am and 9 PM next
week to pick up your trophy and prize of 2,500 Neopoints.
Once again, congratulations!
Deivila smiled and climbed on to her owner's
shoulder and sat down.
"Let's go home Mae, it's late and you should
be in bed!" Deivila joked. Her owner slowly stood up and walked down the street
towards their home.
"Hey Mae, do you think I could get painted Faerie?"
"Don't start…"
The End
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