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"Eeeww!! I'm not eating one of those!!" cried Fire, a red
Scorchio, her nose wrinkled in disgust. She lived in a Mystery Island house with
three other pets and her owner, fantasy_scifi, or Fantasy. Fantasy was trying
to feed her an omelette, (and it was a Plain one! Yuuuuuuuck!) but Fire was having
none of it.
"Come on! It's a just a Plain Omelette. You eat
all the other kinds. What's wrong with it? Pleeeeeeeeease eat it," Fantasy wheedled.
"Yeah, it's a Plain Omelette. Plain and boring."
Fantasy rolled her eyes at her pet's obstinacy.
"Bounce?" she offered. The energetic (occasionally OVERLY energetic) blue Poogle
ran over and snatched the omelette as she galloped by. "See? Bounce is perfectly
happy with it!"
"Pfft. Bounce eats everything," Fire said with
disdain.
"Yesterday, she tried to eat an old boot," a
small voice piped in from the floor. Skies, Bounce's Angelpuss, was the newest
addition to the family. Since Fantasy bought her, the house was a bit quieter
because Bounce was occupied with Skies all the time, instead of bugging the
rest of the family. Bounce streaked past the three of them, heading for the
glass door that led to the outside. After she collided head-on with it, Skies
sighed. "I guess I'd better go," she said, and flew over to Bounce.
"Well, anyway, just because Bounce eats something
doesn't mean I should. Do you want me eating old boots?" Fire asked.
"Only if you toasted them first. That'd get rid
of the germs," Fantasy replied.
Fire stared at her disbelievingly. "You are such
a cheapskate," she accused, and went to follow Bounce and Skies out the door.
"I was kidding!" Fantasy called after Fire's
retreating back. Grumbling under her breath about unthankful pets, she walked
over to the cabinet trying to find a more exotic kind of omelette for Fire.
After ransacking the cupboard and finding nothing, her mood worsened. "I might
actually have to BUY omelette!" she said to herself, "What is Neopia coming
to?"
"Miser," Eagle, a regal green Eyrie, remarked
as she padded up to stand behind Fantasy.
"I'm not a miser!" Fantasy retorted, "I'm just
frugal."
"Whatever you choose to call it, you're still
a pennypincher."
"Wouldn't it be pointpincher?"
"You've got a point," Eagle tried to pun.
"Eew. That's was awful."
"I know. I'm sorry," Eagle apologized, "But the
real point is, no pun intended, that you do tend to be… er… less than generous
when it comes to food selection."
"But I've done lots of other things! Painting
Cornis, getting Bounce her petpet…" Fantasy reasoned.
"But I'm not talking about that, I'm talking
about food! Every day, you get a piece of Omelette from the Giant Omelette and
a Tin of Olives or something from Tombola or the Shrine or some other place,"
Eagle explained.
"So? Food is food."
"Do YOU eat the same thing every day?" Eagle
asked pointedly.
"Well… no... but neither do you! There are varieties!"
Eagle glared at her. "Puh-leeze." She turned
her back on her owner and stomped out the door.
"What is it with pets these days?" Fantasy wondered
to herself. She tried, one last time, to find any piece of food at all, before
giving up and deciding that she'd have to go out to buy food after all.
"Fantasy? Do we have anything to eat?" Cornis,
a beautiful Golden Uni, inquired as she trotted into the kitchen.
"We will soon. Come on, Cornis, let's go shopping,"
Fantasy invited.
"Shopping?! Yaaaaay!" Cornis' eyes lit up at
the prospect.
* * *
After making a quick stop at the bank to pick up some money, Fantasy and Cornis
went strolling through the Bazaar on their way to the Marketplace. Fantasy had
to keep a tight grip on Cornis as they passed the Grooming Parlour and Uni's
Clothing. "But they're calling to me! I have to answer the call of the Uni!"
a struggling Cornis protested.
"Maybe later. Right now, we're on a mission,"
Fantasy said, struggling to keep her Uni under control.
"But- but- the call!!" Cornis complained, trying
to wriggle out of Fantasy's grasp.
* * *
After a few difficulties, Fantasy managed to drag Cornis through the Bazaar
and into the Main Shops area. "We're almost there, Cornis!" Fantasy proclaimed.
"Yeah, yeah," Cornis said sullenly. She still
hadn't forgiven her lousy owner for not letting her go into the shops. Suddenly,
she remembered something and perked up. "Hey, have you heard of this new world?
I think it was called Terror Mountain!"
"Where've you been?" Fantasy asked, amused at
her pet's amazing lack of attention span as well as the fact that she seemed
to be a little behind, news-wise. "Terror Mountain is old and decrepit."
"Who said anything about Terror Mountain? I was
talking about Faerieland!" Cornis exclaimed.
"Faerieland's pretty old, too. Are you okay?
Has all this walking made you tired?" Fantasy said with concern.
"You must have a hearing problem. Do you want
me to yell it in your ear? Mystery Island!!"
"Okay, that's enough, you need to go see the
doctor. Maybe you have Neomonia or something." Fantasy headed toward the Hospital.
"If anyone needs to see a doctor, it's you! Come
on, I'll show you what I'm talking about!" Cornis grabbed Fantasy's sleeve with
her teeth and pulled.
Fantasy rolled her eyes. "Okay, if it will make
you stop babbling."
* * *
Half an hour later, Fantasy stood dumbfounded at the edge of a world that was
completely yellow. Everything single thing in sight was yellow. Yellow, yellow,
yellow. Yellow trees, yellow buildings, yellow sidewalk… just basically yellow
everything. Fantasy squinted at one of the trees and poked it. It made a jiggly
sort of noise and wobbled back and forth. Fantasy jumped back, wide-eyed and
skittish.
"Leave the tree alone, Fantasy," Cornis admonished.
"But- it's- it can't be!" Fantasy blurted. "Tyrannia
really exists?" She was staring open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the world around
her, as everything she had ever been told about the existence (or non-existence,
that is) of Jelly World fell to pieces around her.
"This isn't Tyrannia," Cornis quietly explained,
as if Fantasy were a small child. Tyrannia is that place where there are cavepets
and everything's made out of stone."
"I know that, thank you very much!" Fantasy snapped,
insulted.
"Well then why'd you…" Cornis stopped talking
when she realized that a screw must have come loose in Fantasy's brain when
she saw this world. She must be in shock, Cornis thought.
"Look! Free food!" Fantasy yelled.
Or not, Cornis thought. She's still
the same old Fantasy. Cornis sighed at her owner's love for all things free.
Fantasy sprinted over to a large mound of jelly.
A translucent red Wocky stood between her and her beloved free food. "NO!" the
Wocky bellowed. "You cannot take more than one jelly per day!"
"But… but I haven't taken any jelly!" Fantasy
cried. "Please, please let me have a piece! My pets are starving-" At this she
gestured to Cornis, who knew the game well after so many days at the Giant Omelette.
Cornis sucked in her belly and looked pitifully at the Wocky.
"Please, sir, may I 'ave a bit o' jelly?" she
pleaded. The Wocky looked at her, and his belligerent expression melted away.
"Poor little thing," he said gently. "Take all
the jelly you want."
"Thank you, sir," Cornis said in a small voice.
She padded over, took a piece of Strawberry Jelly, and smiled weakly at the
Wocky. "Thank you so much!"
After they were out of hearing range, Cornis
turned on her owner. "What was the point of that?" she asked. "You could have
gotten a piece just by telling him you hadn't been here yet!"
"Oh, but watching you act is so much fun! Didn't
you want to be an actress when you get older?" Fantasy asked.
"Yes, but that's degrading!"
"Fine, then. Ruin my fun," she pouted. Cornis
sighed. It was going to be a looooong walk home.
* * *
To make a long story short, they got home with the jelly still intact. Well,
half the jelly still intact. (Cornis got hungry) When they got home, they were
besieged with questions about the mysterious blobbly red jelly in Fantasy's
hands.
By way of explanation, Fantasy said, "Don't worry,
you'll all get to see where it came from. I plan on visiting that world every
single day from now on."
The End
Author's Note/Disclaimer - Of course Jelly World isn't REAL, what
were you thinking?! The Neopets Team wouldn't try to trick us like that!
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