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I promised to myself that as long as the cactus
flowers still floated in the garden, I would never lose hope. Lila was bound to
return to her normal self and everything would be as if nothing had ever gone
wrong. It wasn't a lost cause. All I needed was a little patience and I happen
to have a lot of that.
Lila and I had been best friends for a long
time. We met the usual way: our owners visiting each other's NeoHomes and bringing
us along with them. It wasn't long before the two of us became friends and soon
enough, best friends. We did what best friends usually do: sleepovers, playing,
munching on chocolate and cookies, and a whole lot of gabbing and talking. We
shared so many secrets… secrets that I would probably never reveal to anyone
else, including Ginny (my owner). I trusted her with all my heart and I was
sure that she did, too.
My name is Cassandra, by the way, and I'm a
blue Tuskaninny. I've always desired to be a painted pet. I want to be a Plushie
Tuskaninny, as a matter of fact. Unfortunately, Ginny just never had enough
Neopoints. Oh, don't get me wrong. She's not poor or something like that. The
problem with Ginny is that she doesn't know how to manage her NP's properly.
She wastes them away on pointless, useless things. This story isn't about her
backfiring moneymaking schemes or her shopping excursions, though.
It's about Lila, the crowd, and myself. Lila
is a green Blumaroo with an upbeat, happy-go-lucky nature. Both of us were never
accepted into the "cool and popular crowd" at our neighborhood mainly because
our species were not on the Top 10 List. Said crowd is composed of a painted
Kacheek, Gelert, Kougra, and Shoyru who ruled over the less fortunate pets (yours
truly, included). I envy all of them. Imagine, being popular and rich at the
same time. The neopet I am jealous of the most is a Faerie Kacheek named Lana.
"Look at her," I said wistfully to Lila one
day as Lana and her friends passed by (blissfully ignoring us). "She is so beautiful
and sophisticated. Don't you just wish we could be part of the crowd?"
Lila snorted disgustedly. "You WANT to be one
of them? Cass, they are superficial and selfish. I, for one, am contented
as my green self. If getting painted turns you into someone who doesn't care
about things that really matter, then, I'm better of staying this way."
"Oh, I'm sure I won't turn into a snob after
getting painted," I told her innocently. "All I meant was, it sure would be
nice to be popular and painted, at the same time. Lana has everything I ever
wanted and more." I sighed.
"Stop talking like that, CASs," Lila replied
gently. "Come on, let's go and eat some chocolate."
That's another fantastic trait of Lila's. She
doesn't care about silly, shallow things like getting painted or morphing into
a Kacheek. She probably never even dreamed of eating tropical breeze at the
Golden Dubloon. I don't think she'd even care.
It was about two weeks ago when Lila came bursting
into my room with a brown paper bag in one paw.
"Look what I've got!" she exclaimed breathlessly.
A giddy smile was on her face.
Curious, I reached for the bag and put my paw
in. I pulled out a tiny packet of seeds. Written in fancy, loopy scrawl was
the name: Floating Cactus Flower. I looked at Lila quizzically.
"Uh… what's this?" I asked in a perplexed tone.
Lila took the packet from my paw. "I thought
it was high time for us to try our paws in gardening. We could plant these in
your garden, if you want."
"What and how, exactly, are we going to plant?"
I asked uneasily.
"A floating cactus flower, of course," Lila
said cheerfully. "It's easy. All we have to do is dig a hole in the soil, bury
some seeds, water them once (and never again), and after a few days… TADAH…
a few prickly shrubs will hover in the air a few inches above the soil!"
"How do you know that's going to work?" I queried
sceptically.
"Hello!" she drawled in reply. "It says so,
right here." Lila pointed at the packet.
I looked closely and saw, in much smaller handwriting
than the one on the label, a list of instructions.
Lila tugged at my paws. "Come on, let's plant
the seeds now!"
The idea of owning a floating cactus flower
suddenly appealed to me. Almost immediately, I could feel excitement welling
up inside me. The two of us chose a spot where the sunlight was abundant.
"A cactus must have a large share of sunlight,"
Lila told me.
Together, we dug up the soil with our paws and
dropped two seeds inside.
"One for you and one for me," I said warmly.
We smiled at each other as Lila sprinkled a
tiny amount of water over the buried seeds. Each passing day, Lila and I would
check on the seeds to see if they had grown. I hardly had time to think about
how to get hold of a Plushie Paint Brush or how I could be as popular as Lana.
My thoughts were all on the cactus flower seeds.
"Maybe, the seeds aren't getting enough sunlight,"
I said worriedly on the fourth day.
"I don't think so," Lila answered me.
"Well, maybe, they didn't get enough water the
last time. Let's water them again."
"I told you, already, didn't I? The seeds only
need to be watered once and NEVER again. A cactus doesn't need a lot of water."
"B-but…"
"Don't worry, CASs The seeds will grow into
cactus flowers soon enough."
My best friend often told me that I didn't have
anything to fret about but hey, I'm a worrywart. What was I supposed to do?
Anyway, I woke up early on the sixth day and promptly ran out into the garden.
I cried out gleefully. There, hanging in the air, were two floating cactus flowers!
"Wuzzat?" a startled Ginny appeared behind me,
rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Look, Ginny!" I shrieked and clutched her hands.
"Cactus flowers!"
Ginny stared at the two flowers and she suddenly
became wide-awake. "I wonder how much we can sell them for at my shop…"
"You wouldn't dare!" I sputtered. "These are
Lila's and my flowers."
"Oh," Ginny replied. She turned around abruptly
and went back in.
Needless to say, Lila was just as overjoyed
as I was. We watched, fascinated, as the cactus flowers hovered in midair. We
observed how the flowers seemed to turn toward the direction of the sunlight
and how each day, its petals (or leaves?) became longer.
"Our cactus flowers appear to be growing well,"
I noted, gazing fondly at them.
Before Lila could answer, we heard the sound
of Aurora's voice from afar. "Lila! I've got a surprise for you…" Her voice
sounded eager and pleased. Lila and I glanced at each other.
The Blumaroo shrugged, looking quite puzzled
herself. "I'd better go."
The mystery was solved the next day when Lila
came in the morning and almost knocked the door down. "CASs, CASs! GET OUT OF
THERE, WOULD YOU?"
"All right, I'm coming," I grumbled. I pushed
the door open.
There, standing on two velvety paws, was a pink
Kacheek with bright black eyes and a wide grin. I got a sinking feeling in my
stomach. "Lila? Is that you?"
"OH MY GOSH! YOU SOOOOO WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT
HAPPENED TO ME. AURORA BOUGHT ME A KACHEEK MORPHING POTION AND A PINK PAINT
BRUSH. NOW, LOOK AT ME. AREN'T I THE CUTEST NEOPET YOU HAD EVER SEEN? I'M HEADING
OVER TO LANA'S PLACE AFTER WE TALK. SHE INVITED ME OVER WHEN WE MET ALONG THE
STREET YESTERDAY. I FEEL SO LUCKY!"
Lila definitely didn't sound like Lila at all.
First of all… her voice was silky, breathy, and giggly. Secondly, Lila would
NEVER be persuaded to morph into a Kacheek and much more, to get painted. She
hated superficial things. She always said so. I could not believe it. Maybe,
I had been wrong about her, all this time.
"Well?" the pink Kacheek asked smugly, waiting
for my reaction.
That's when I did something that was very out
of character. I slammed the door on her cute, pink face. I could hear an indignant
cry from the other side.
"If that's how you want it, then," my former
best friend said haughtily.
The sound of retreating pawsteps was music to
my ears. I approached my bedroom window and peeked out gingerly outside. I could
see Lila walking quickly toward Lana's NeoHome. Lana. The crowd. Somehow, I
knew that Lila was going to be part of the crowd and that she would "blissfully
ignore" little me the way Lana and the other always did.
"Lila is no longer Lila," I told myself bitterly.
"I hate her."
But I couldn't bring myself to hate her no matter
what I did. I stared unhappily at Lila-who-is-not-Lila-anymore everyday as she
passed by with her "new" friends. I noticed that as she came past me, the pink
Kacheek would laugh merrily and look like she was the happiest neopet in the
world. Just to spite me, I bet.
I promised to myself that as long as the cactus
flowers still floated in the garden, I would never lose hope. Lila was bound
to return to her normal self and everything would be as if nothing had ever
gone wrong. It wasn't a lost cause. All I needed was a little patience and I
happen to have a lot of that.
"Hi!" I managed to chirp when she walked across
the street. "I just wanted to tell you something…"
She stopped and for a moment, I felt a surge
of hope.
"Do I know you?" Lila sneered coldly and walked
on.
The very next day, I visited the garden to look
at the cactus flowers. For some unknown reason, they had shriveled up and died.
The withered flowers no longer hovered in the air. Instead, they were lying
on the soil forlornly, crushed petals and all. I felt that sinking feeling in
my stomach again as a realization hit me. The cactus flowers were gone… and
so was our friendship. Goodbye forever, Lila…
The End
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