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Gordan, the green Grarrl, stood by the fence watching
the other pets play ball in the park’s field. Today was Thursday and it is their
weekly outing from the Neopian Pound. As usual, none of the other pets would
play with him. What’s worse is that all of them were friends but no one wanted
to be his friend. You see, Gordan was different than most pets. He looked normal
enough and he was a nice shade of green. But Gordan was a Grarrl and Grarrls
weren’t liked very much. Although he was never quite sure why…
“BALL FOUR!” shouted the umpire.
Gordan brought his attention back to the game.
They looked like they were having the best time ever! He watched as Buster,
a starry JubJub, stepped up to the plate. Buster wasn’t a very good player,
but at least he had friends. And he would most likely be adopted soon because
of his starry color.
Again Gordan drifted off into his own thoughts.
He wouldn’t admit this to anyone, but what he wanted most in the whole wide
world was for someone to love him. Every night since Gordan came to the pound
he would wish on a star asking for a mom or dad to take him home. In the morning,
when Gordan woke up, he would soon realize that today was not the day. But maybe
tomorrow…
“GORDAN!”
Gordan turned suddenly to see Mr. Shankly walking
towards him. Mr. Shankly was the director of the Neopian Pound. He is a nice
man who does all he can to find new homes for the pets.
“Hi Mr. Shankly,” replied Gordan miserably.
“You know, Gordan, maybe if you tried to go over
and play, they would let you.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” said Gordan, knowing
very well that he was not welcome over there. But he made a move towards the
field anyway.
Gordan slowly made his way across the field.
He steadied himself for the rejection that was surely going to come. He approached
Buster, the starry Jubjub, who happened to be talking with Don Juan. Don Juan
was a perfectly athletic, silver Gelert and of course the most popular pet in
the pound! Popular pets are normally adopted very quickly. But while they're
around, they can sure be difficult to handle.
Don Juan and Buster stopped talking and looked
over at him.
“Ummm, ca-can I play?” asked Gordan, stuttering
meekly.
Buster looked over at Don Juan, “Well...” he
said, trailing off.
“We’ve already started the game,” answered Don
Juan quickly. “If you had asked at the beginning than maybe you could have played.”
“Oh, OK. Thanks anyway," said Gordan as he turned
to walk away. He was disappointed but not surprised.
I didn’t really want to play anyway, thought
Gordan. Gordan walked off the field and sat down under the shade of a large
Oak tree. He stared over at the other pets playing ball. Suddenly, tears ran
down Gordan's cheeks. The truth was that he did want to play, he wanted to have
fun.
Meanwhile, across the park, Mr. Shankly was watching
Gordan. He knew that Gordan was lonely and shook his head in disappointment
at the thought. He had tried to talk the other pets into being friends with
Gordan, but it was so hard to accept the little Grarrl. Mr. Shankly just didn’t
know what more he could do for Gordan.
Mr. Shankly wasn’t the only one watching Gordan.
Unbeknownst to the group of pound pets in the park, there was someone else who
had noticed Gordan sitting under the tree…
“TIME TO GO!” called Mr. Shankly.
The bus had been packed up and it was back to
the pound for the pound pets. Back to the loneliness for Gordan.
Later that night, when Gordan was getting ready
to wish upon his star, Mr. Shankly stood beside him.
“Did you have fun today?”
“It was OK, sir,” Gordan replied. He was surprised
that Mr. Shankly had come into his little room. That didn’t happen very often.
Mr. Shankly sat down on the bed, “Gordan, is
there anything you would like to talk about? Have the others been treating you
well?” he asked.
“I’m alright, Mr. Shankly. The other pets treat
me fine," answered Gordan. This was a little fib and Gordan knew it, but he
couldn’t admit the truth. Not to anyone. Sometimes, not even to himself.
“Your day will come, Gordan. It just may be a
little while.”
“Thank you sir.”
After Mr. Shankly left, Gordan lay in bed thinking
about their conversation. My day would come... but when? he thought.
Gordan had been in the Neopian Pound longer than any other pet. He was only
a few days old when he came to the pound. Gordan was left on the steps, so no
one had any idea of his history before that. But he couldn’t help thinking that
whoever had him before the pound didn’t want him either.
Gordan felt so alone and unwanted. He tried to
understand why. Why was he so different and why was he treated so differently?
Gordan pushed away the ache in his chest as he slowly fell asleep.
Several weeks had gone by since that fateful
day in the park. That day the stranger took notice of a green Grarrl under a
large Oak tree.
Gordan was in the pound’s recreation room. As
usual, he was watching what was going on around him, quietly sitting on the
sidelines.
“Mail Call!” announced Ms. Pop Tart as she came
into the room. She passed out the mail to everyone and then came to Gordan.
“You have a letter, Gordan.”
“I... I... I have a what?” he stuttered.
“A letter. Someone wrote to you,” she stated.
Ms. Pop Tart was just as surprised as Gordan about the letter. But she was also
just as thrilled to see that someone wrote to him!
Gordan took the letter and stared at it.
“Open it,” said a gentle voice from over his
shoulder. Violet, a purple Aisha, was standing beside him. He quickly became
very aware that everyone was looking at him, waiting…
Gordan slowly opened the letter, savoring the
moment. He had never gotten any mail before. Gordan wondered just who could
have written him.
Gordan silently read what it said. This person
had very neat writing.
“Well…?” Jolly, a very hyper, pink Poogle said.
“What does it say?”
Gordan looked around at all of them and he didn’t
know what to think. Violet looked over his shoulder and read the letter out
loud for him.
“I just wanted to say hello.”
No one said anything, but everyone thought it
was an odd letter. Even Gordan thought so, but he took his letter and went back
to his room. He looked at the letter some more. There was no name or return
address on it.
Someone had written him! Him! Gordan! Someone
had taken a piece of paper and took a pen and wrote a letter to him! Gordan!
A letter for him!
Gordan folded the letter and put it in his pocket.
And when ever he wanted, he could take the letter out and reread it. This was
a very special letter.
Two days later, another letter came for Gordan.
What a surprise! Gordan was in his room when Ms. Pop Tart brought him the letter.
She was closely followed by Violet and some of the other pets. They all waited
while Gordan opened the letter.
Again there was no name or return address, but
Gordan read the letter silently.
“I thought I would send you more greetings.”
Gordan looked up at the other expectant faces.
Violet, was small but bold. She came and took the letter and read it to the
others. Now it seemed like a grand mystery. An adventure! Two letters from someone
Gordan didn’t know!
Gordan carefully placed the second letter with
the first in his pocket. And then he went out to the recreation room. Soon,
one of the pound staff called all the pets to supper. Gordan and Violet stood
up from the bench and followed the others out.
Gordan thought about the letters late into that
night. He wondered if he would get another one. Gordan was too afraid to hope,
but he couldn’t stop himself. However, his question was answered 3 days later,
when the third letter arrived.
This time Jolly came running in holding the letter
and bounded onto the rec room couch, handing it to Gordan!
“You got another one!” She exclaimed!
Again, no name and no return address. And again,
Violet took the letter after Gordan read it. This seemed to become her job.
“I hope you are well and happy.”
Before anyone could say anything, Gordan took
the letter and went to his room. This was the strangest letter of the three.
Happy? Happy? Gordan couldn’t remember happy. He was alone and no one wanted
to be his friend. He was well… but happy?
Gordan placed the letter in his pocket with the others and went back to the
recreation room to watch some TV.
For the next few weeks, Gordan was receiving
letters regularly from this mysterious person. Always, with no name and no return
address. And the most curious of all… the letters were always one sentence about
something that Gordan liked!
“I like parks.”
“I enjoy baseball.”
“Oak trees are my favorite tree.”
This was so exciting! This person seemed to be
the only person in the world who cared and wanted to talk with him! Him! Gordan!
This was a concept that he still didn’t understand.
On one particular day, he received a letter,
in which Violet read of course.
“I love to read.”
“That’s really strange,” Buster stated. “Gordan
reads all the time.”
All the pets looked at Gordan. This was strange.
It was not only strange, but it was unusual too! Gordan took his letter and
went back to his room. He placed that letter, with the others, in a little box
that Mr. Shankly had given him for them.
“I really want to know who is sending me these
letters!”
“It’s a mystery. But they sure sound like they
know you. It’s almost scary!”
Gordan turned to see Dalton, a red Scorchio, standing in the doorway. Oops,
thought Gordan. I must have said that out loud.
Over an hour later, Ms. Pop Tart went to Gordan’s
room to get those two for supper.
A few Thursdays later was, if you recall, the
day of their weekly outing to the park. Once again, Mr. Shankly did notice Gordan
in his usual spot, sitting under the large Oak tree. He was watching the others
play ball. But this time he was with his friends, Jolly, Buster, Dalton and
Violet. What they were talking about, Mr. Shankly couldn’t know. But what he
was sure of was that those special letters had made a difference in Gordan.
He was no longer alone.
EPILOGUE
Gordan continued to receive letters from this
mysterious person for a couple more weeks. Then they stopped just as suddenly
as they had begun. But that was OK because just after they stopped, Gordan was
adopted by a woman who just happened to enjoy reading, outings to the park and
playing baseball.
Gordan, now a golden Grarrl, now lives happily
with his mom Lis, his brothers and sisters. And most importantly, he understands
that his day did come and he is very wanted and much loved.
The End
Author’s Note: I hope you enjoyed my story. Please feel free to offer comments.!
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