"Yes, Leonardo."
"Who is he?" A tall, muscular Gelert towered over me, his nose twitching.
"He reeks of humans! A convert?"
"Uh... um, yes sir. He ran away from Neopia Central just-just today."
"Very well. He may sleep at the edge of the clearing until he proves himself."
"Yes, Leonardo. Thank-you, sir," Lindsay said. Leonardo narrowed his eyes
at me before turning sharply and marching back to his group of Gelerts, huddled
around a small fire.
"You sleep over there," Lindsay instructed me, waving a delicate paw in the
direction I was to sleep.
I nodded and murmured a barely audible "Thank-you." Before plodding over to
the area and flopping down with a sigh. Despite how sleepy I was, my intricate
smell refused to allow me to sleep. The heavenly scent of roasting Chia meat
taunted me, making my mouth water. I tried to cover my nose with my paws, but
the smell was too strong. Just when I thought I would go insane, two small feet
appeared in front me and a chunk of the meat was set before me. I looked sleepily
up into Lindsay's face and smiled. Shaking her head, she turned and walked away.
Finishing the meat, I gave a contented sigh. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad
place to live, after all.
***
A week had passed, the most fun weak of my entire life. Lindsay had taken
me under her wing, so to speak, and has seen to it that I was cared for. I still
slept on the far side of the pack, and Leonardo ignored me, with the occasional
glare.
Lindsay and I spent our days romping through the fields, we had become quite
good friends, actually. But, Maybe it was more than that. Every time I closed
my eyes I could see her carefree, laughing face. I often caught her looking
at me with a look of love I had only seen in Caitlin's eyes before, as she had
looked at me. Worry, concern, affection... affection? Was I... were we falling
in love? Ridiculous! No Way! I regarded it with little more than scolding myself
for my imagination.
One day, we had been romping in the fields, when we stopped to watch a mother
Pteri chasing her young Pteri from a distance. The mother crooned and cried
as if in agony of her child's waywardness. Finally she gave up and settled on
a tree branch, weeping. The young Pteri circled back and landed on the branch
next to its mother. Screeches of joy rose from the mother's throat as she enveloped
her youngster in her wings, while, at the same time, scolding it. Lindsay laughed,
but my eyes filled with tears.
"I have to go back to her," I whispered, shakily.
"Who... you mean, Caitlin...? But I thought--"
"Yes. I have to go back to her." I turned to face the momentarily speechless
Lindsay.
"But, you belong here, with us... with me. Leonardo will come to except you
when you prove yourself and, and, the rest of the pack already loves you--you
fit in perfectly..."
"No. I belong with Caitlin, amongst the things I grew up with," I croaked.
Tears ran down Lindsay's face. "But, But-please... I'll miss you... you can't
leave me... I-I..."
"Come with me! Caitlin will adore you!" A brief look of hope flashed over
Lindsay's face, and then vanished.
"No... N-No, I belong here. Where I grew up."
I nodded, with understanding. "Just as I belong where I grew up."
"Pl-Please reconsider!"
"I must go, Caitlin loves me."
"But... But... I-I... I... love you..."
My eyes widened. Of course I knew it; I loved her, too. I wanted to tell her,
but what was the point? She belonged where she had always belonged, just as
I did. Why make parting harder? Seeing the conviction in my eyes, she tried
one last time.
"Will-will you at least come to see me?"
Oh, how I wanted to say yes... but why? I would only have to say good-bye
over and over. "No," I said, shaking my head gloomily. "We must both move on
with our lives and say good-bye."
"Good-bye, Andrew," she whispered, raising her mournful brown eyes to mine.
"I won't ever forget you."
"Nor I, you." With that, I forced myself to turn and walk away, in the direction
of civilization.
My heart felt ripped into, I was lonely and empty inside. What else could
I have done? A strong, but gentle wind pushed me from behind, as if reassuring
my direction. I cast a glance over my shoulder at the beautiful Gelert I had
left behind. The sunrise framed her purple fur in a golden glow, and tears glistened
on her slender face. Her ears and tail rolled and waved in the wind. Turning
her muzzle to the vibrant sky, she let out a long, lonely, wailing howl. I too,
turned my face towards the heavens and wailed. I looked back to her and she
was gone, a glowing golden frame in the shape of her remained there, looking
at the horizon.
The wind pushed persistently at me, and I turned and jogged the way it willed
me to go. Home. I loved her, and I missed her, and I knew I always would. But
I knew where I belonged, and where she belonged. Maybe I wouldn't be a Paint
Brush Professor. Maybe I hadn't ever amounted to much. But that would change.
I knew where I was going, and I knew whom to build my life upon. And that was
the day my story began.
The End | 
