It was two days before Skaeath's birthday. Madfour had bought him some Asparagus
Pie, his favourite food. The little Skeith was forever sniffing around his NeoHome,
searching for it. His owner had cleverly hidden the food, where Skaeath would
never go... The
Health Food Shop. The Health Frog wasn't pleased about this. "That Skeith
is far too unhealthy!" he would say, wiggling his finger way too close to Skaeath's
face. "He should eat some PROPER food." And at that he would hand the little
Skeith a piece of health food. It would be thrown onto the floor, and Skaeath
would go off and terrorise Hubert for a Flamin' Hot Dog. That couldn't be good.
Madfour noticed his bank debts were 7,000 NP. Too much. He would have to do
something about it. No more gourmet foods for Skaeath, in fact... he wasn't
going to buy anything. Going to the Money Tree was the best thing to do. But,
alas, his Skeith had already pillaged it. Then going to the Giant Omelette,
he was confronted by Sabre-X: "You've already had a piece of omelette. Come
back tomorrow," he growled.
Madfour shouted in outrage, "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM I'LL..." suddenly,
he was cut off by a swarm of Buzzes eager to get some food.
Little did his owner know that Skaeath was actually not the culprit. He was
really just wandering through the Neopian Market. There was always good bargains
there. One kind little Poogle even gave him a little package, wrapped in an
old copy of The Neopian Times. What Skaeath really wanted was a Rod of Dark
Nova, but by the shape of the package it couldn't be that.
He asked the Shop Wizard, "What's the price of a Rod of Dark Nova?"
The wizard furrowed his brow, and finally said, "100,000 NP."
The Skeith screamed. About 30 shopkeepers looked at him. Going red, Skaeath
apologised. "What about a toy one?" he said again, flustered.
The Shop Wizard did his impression of brow furrowing again, and said, "40,000
NP."
The Skeith bared his teeth, and gritted them, which was quite hard because
he'd neglected to bring any grit. This was going to be a hard day. So he went
back to his NeoHome, jumped into his 'jelly' room, and opened the package...
Inside, a pie...
It was the morning before Skaeath's birthday. Madfour had walked into the
Health Food Shop. The health frog was lying injured on the marble floor, and
the Asparagus pie had gone. "Ugh..." he groaned, and flopped forward.
Madfour carried him all the way to the Healing Springs. After the Water Faerie
had healed him, the Quiggle said, "It was a Skeith. A brown Skeith... with...
the same clothes as... Skay..." he heaved, and continued, "...ath. Bashed me
with a big club. Till I had less than no health left."
Madfour was outrage again. "THIS TIME HE'S GONE AND DONE IT! FOR THE LAST TIME!!!"
Spinning round, he stormed out of the shop. Caring less than ever for the Neopians
around him, he was like a juggernaut. Unstoppable. Madfour flung open the door
to the NeoHome, its hinges nearly fell off.
Their neighbour came to the door at said, "Um, Mr. Person?"
Madfour stopped in his tracks, and turned around, slowly and calmly. "Yes?"
he asked, booming out the words with unrealistic stability.
"Um... nothing...."
Turning around again, Madfour pushed the door to Skaeath's room. He was lying
there, half asleep, with Asparagus smeared on his face. Madfour took on the
atrocious behaviour only a great actor can fake. Burning with anger, he grabbed
Skaeath by his studded collar.
"Ahh! Ahh! What's going on?!" the little Skeith cried, developing a mask of
true fear. Madfour didn't answer. He only stormed out, dragging his pet behind
him.
Skaeath yelped helplessly when he saw where he was going. Big letters spelt
out his fate: 'THE NEOPIAN POUND'. But Madfour didn't go to the kind, pink Uni.
But to Dr_Death. Skaeath pleaded forgiveness for something he didn't know about.
Tears welled up in his eyes as Dr_Death was given the 250 NP fee. Madfour turned.
His body hunched. A single silver tear rolled off his face and onto the surgical
white tiled floor. He slowly walked away from his abandoned pet. Was it right?
he thought, Was I right...? There was no turning back... was there?
It was six hours later. Skaeath had been adopted by another Neopian. Madfour
wept. Wept tears of remorse and self-pity. He HAD done the wrong thing. And
he must get him back. When Madfour had done a lookup on Skaeath, he was owned
by Bobbyboy5465456494. His user lookup said he liked torturing pets, and not
feeding them. Then he found that he lived at 54674378977 Slush Street. He went
straight there... to sort this mess out.
"Give me my Skaeath!" Madfour cried, into the window. Bobbyboy answered.
"WHAT?" he said in a gruff voice,
"Give me back my Skeith!"
"WHY?"
"I need him... he's mine."
Bobbyboy smirked. And opened the door. Skaeath was lying still on a table,
above which hung a home-made lab ray. "No," Madfour mouthed silently.
An evil grin spread across bobbyboy's face. "IF YA WANT 'IM SO BAD, TAKE 'IM!"
he boomed as he flicked a switch. Space and time became treacle. The Skeith's
former owner flew through the air, grabbing Skaeath with both hands. The ray
was fired. It hit Madfour with immense force. It had spared his pet, but at
a cost. Madfour grimaced in pain as the ray's effects faded. Nothing had happened.
Bobbyboy ran. His skin peeled away, and he was really DR. SLOTH! Laughing menacingly,
he walked away. Sparks flew from Madfour's clothes.
"Are you OK?" he said.
His Skeith nodded. "Thanks... You're the best. But I still don't know why you
abandoned me."
***
It was Skaeath's birthday. He had a Borovan Cake and lots of Asparagus Pie.
When the two happy Neopians had finished, there was a knock at the door. They
both opened it. It was Fyora the Faerie Queen! She said in a beautiful voice,
"For saving the world from Sloth's Lab Ray V2, I reward you this." She handed
Skaeath an ornate Rod of Dark Nova. His face lit up like a Christmas Tree.
"Thank you, Fyora. I am very grateful!"
There was a silence.
"Good luck!" said the Faerie Queen. Then she disappeared.
Skaeath turned to Madfour and said, "Thank you. This is the best birthday I've
ever had!"
Madfour's impressed expression turned blank. "It's the only birthday you've
ever had."
The End | 
