| Her heart ached with intense
longing for a place where hot sands filled endless space. Where the sun bathed
its inhabitants with blinding light. Where her heart and soul once belonged and
always would… forever.
Scheherazade lifted her blue eyes and peered at
the tiny ray of sunlight passing through her bedroom window. A rather sad smile
was painted on her face as she walked toward the half-opened glass window.
How I wish I could be there, the Lost
Desert Aisha thought to herself.
What she wanted more than anything else in
Neopia was to go back to the land where she was born, the Lost Desert. She
missed the powerful warmth of the desert sun as it singed through her fur like
fire. She yearned to feel the sand beneath her paws once again. Most of all,
Scheherazade longed to hear the voice of Lady Osiri. Almost a year ago, that
exact same voice comforted her when she was left alone in the world.
The Aisha turned around and made her way across
the room to a wooden desk near the door. She sat on a little wooden chair and
surveyed the contents of her clattered table. Scheherazade slowly caressed the
surface of a Misshapen Pot she had made using Lady Osiri's pottery wheel. How
Osiri had laughed at her lame attempt at the wheel, but Scheherazade insisted on
keeping it, anyway. The Aisha's heart began to ache again and she quickly stood
up to leave the room.
I would never do anything to hurt Lily,
Scheherazade said in her mind as she took little steps toward nowhere in
particular. I'd rather stay here for her sake.
Somewhere in the living room, Lily,
Scheherazade's thirteen-year old owner, paced around worriedly. She was deep in
thought, her green eyes squinting, thinking about her only neopet. Although the
Aisha thought her owner hardly noticed, Lily did know that Scheherazade wanted
to return to her real home. The girl was extremely afraid that if she even took
her Aisha for a visit to the Lost Desert, Scheherazade would decide that she
wanted to remain there and not come back with her. She loved Scheherazade too
much to give her up…
A long time ago, Lily went to the Lost Desert
to explore. While walking, she had come upon a thin but bright-eyed Lost Desert
Aisha. She motioned for the neopet to come near. At first it hesitated and
looked back toward a little hut. After a few seconds, though, the Aisha stepped
forward and smiled. Lily immediately fell in love with the beauty and took the
creature home willingly. Ever since then, she had never come back to the desert,
nor did she have a reason to.
Now, though, she was having second thoughts.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt to visit just this once. But a tiny part of her
still didn't like the sound of that idea and that tiny part refused stubbornly.
"I'll just have to find another way," Lily
whispered and finally stopped going around in circles.
At that exact moment, Scheherazade entered the
room with that gloomy smile pasted on her face. Lily gazed at her forlornly.
"Let's grab a bite to eat at the Food Shop,"
the teenage girl suggested.
"Okay," the Aisha answered quietly.
Together, owner and neopet ambled out of the
NeoHome, each thinking their own solemn thoughts.
The next day, Lily left the house alone to
search for a present to give Scheherazade. Maybe a nice gift would take her
mind off the Lost Desert. She visited shop after shop with high hopes. As
she was walking across the streets of Neopia Central, the girl spotted a
beautiful plushie desert pet paint brush in the window of the Toy Shop. An image
of Scheherazade popped into her mind. Lily rushed into the shop and grabbed the
plushie hurriedly before anyone else bought it. She paid quite a hefty amount of
Neopoints for it, but Lily didn't care. She was doing this for the happiness of
her Aisha and that was all that mattered.
Scheherazade's eyes widened when she received
Lily's gift an hour later. A smile crept across her face silently.
She looks happy, Lily thought with
satisfaction. But something nagged at the back of Lily's mind. The sorrow in the
Aisha's eyes hadn't disappeared. In fact, her eyes looked even more distressed,
if that were even possible.
"Thank you," Scheherazade said softly. She gave
Lily a kiss before ambling back to her room, plushie lying carefully in her
paws. Lily stared after her dejectedly.
Scheherazade placed the plushie paintbrush on
her desk, near the Misshapen Pot. Making sure that the bedroom door was locked,
the Aisha grabbed her cloud Aisha pillow, lay in her bed, and cried without
making a sound. Translucent, mysterious sky blue tears poured from her eyes as
if they had been waiting for a chance to show themselves. They covered her
cheeks and soaked her pillow.
I want to go back, she told herself
through her tears.
In a matter of minutes, Scheherazade was fast
asleep, the strange tears staining her face. As she slept, her face relaxed and
she smiled peacefully. The Aisha was having the most magnificent dream she had
ever had. It was so wonderful that she didn't even want to wake up…
The hot sands of the Lost Desert were beneath
her paws once again. Strong rays of sunlight beat overhead and she could feel
herself warming up.
"Welcome back," a familiar melodious voice
greeted her.
Scheherazade turned around and came face to
face with Lady Osiri. Without a word, she gave her a hug and wept happily. Just
like always, the Aisha confided in Osiri and Osiri confided in her. As they
talked for what seemed like hours and hours, Scheherazade felt like a large
weight disappeared from her chest. She felt a lot like she was floating like a
cloud in the sky.
"Is it possible to feel like you are floating
when your feet are planted firmly on the ground?" she asked Lady Osiri.
The other Aisha just shrugged and looked at her
intently, instead. And that one look told a lot.
"You should return to your home now," Lady
Osiri spoke gently.
"I am home," Scheherazade replied with a
sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Don't you want to see Lily again?" Lady Osiri
questioned her.
The Aisha stared at the sand uncomfortably. She
could feel her heart stinging inside. She remembered how Lily had taken care of
her and had given her everything she needed. She hadn't forgotten how Lily loved
her. She imagined how Lily would feel if she lost her beloved Scheherazade.
Scheherazade suddenly missed Lily a lot. In her
heart of hearts, she knew that she loved Lily very much. The Aisha raised her
eyes.
"Go back," Lady Osiri said simply and waited
for the reply.
"I want to see Lily again," the Aisha answered
slowly but firmly, "but I don't want to lose the Lost Desert and you."
"We will always be with you," Lady Osiri told
her with a smile.
Osiri began to fade and her disembodied voice
whispered, "Forever…"
Scheherazade's eyes fluttered open. She sat up
on her bed, every detail of the dream fresh in her mind. She turned to gaze at
her wooden desk out of habit. There, sitting beside the plushie paintbrush and
the pot, was a beautiful Lost Desert Snow Globe. Although no one was shaking it,
golden stars fell down to the sandy ground inside. A smiling Aisha waved from
outside a minute pyramid.
Scheherazade could almost see the little Aisha
smiling and she grinned genuinely for the first time. She got up slowly and
walked out of her room, thinking to herself, Home at last…
One's heart and soul will always belong to a
place they call home, wherever home may be…
The End | 
