One Sunday morning Priaia the Quiggle was outside in her back yard, picking fresh
asparagus that she had grown herself. She was very health conscious, and many
people thought she was weird because she had never eaten any junk food in her
entire life.
"Hello, Priaia!" Priaia looked up and saw that it was her friend Reeama the
Usul.
"Hello Reeama. Would you like some asparagus? I just picked them." Reeama
licked her lips.
"Sure, I’ll have some," she said. Priaia gave her a basket with a stalk of
asparagus in it.
"Thanks!" Reeama said, then continued walking down the street.
Priaia continued picking food out of her garden until it was time for breakfast.
Priaia went in the kitchen and cut up some organic tomatoes and broccoli.
"Oh, what a perfect day it is," she said. Then her brother Quinton Quiggle
walked in.
"Oh, hi Priaia. Can I have some of that organic broccoli?" Priaia sighed and
gave him some. She and Quinton owned the Health Food Shop in the Neopian Bazaar.
It was Priaia’s job to grow the food. Then, Quinton would take it to their shop
and sell it. Lately, however, the shop hadn’t been doing very well. Nobody had
been buying any health food. Quinton had been blaming it on her, because he
thought she hadn’t been doing a good job growing the food. Priaia knew that
wasn’t true. She knew it because, at the same time the Health Food Store’s sales
went down, the Bakery’s went high up! More people now ate junk food, and didn’t
want health food.
"I don’t know what we’re going to do if my shop goes out of business, Priaia."
Quinton said.
"It’s our shop Quinton. Not yours." Quinton avoided her gaze and stared out
the window. It looked like 100 Neopians were waiting in line at the Bakery.
Priaia sighed...
Ding!
"Oh! Somebody’s here! Got to run!" Quinton raced out the door.
"Hello, Mr. Techo" greeted Quinton. "What can I do for you today?"
Mr. Techo said, "Well you could speed up your service. I waited for three
whole minutes before you came." Mr. Techo pointed at the organic tomatoes. "I’ll
have some of the organic tomatoes, please."
"Priaia!" Quinton called, as he took the last organic tomato and gave it to
Mr. Techo. "We need more organic tomatoes!"
Priaia called back to him, "Be right there!" She ran to her garden and picked
up more organic tomatoes. Priaia came into the shop and gave them to Quinton.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Techo!" he said. Mr. Techo just nodded
his head and left. Quinton sighed. "Mr. Techo is the only customer we get now,
and even he is complaining about the shop."
Priaia replied, "Why don’t you put up signs saying, 'Visit Quinton and Priaia’s
Health Food shop! Northwest at the Neopian Bazaar'?"
Quinton thought for a minute."I guess that could work." He said.
"Great! Let’s get started!" Priaia replied.
They set to work. Priaia went to the craft store and bought pencils, markers,
pens, paper, crayons, glue, scissors, and pencil crayons. Quinton sketched out
some ideas for designs of posters.
"This should be perfect!" he said. He then pinned up his drawing on their
bulletin board.
"I’m back!" Priaia yelled.
"Perfect!" Quinton replied. "Here is my design for the poster."
Priaia smiled. "Let’s get started!" she said.
Quinton started writing in big bubble letters: BUY HEALTH FOOD AND YOUR BODY
WILL THANK YOU. Then he added: QUINTON AND PRIAIA’S HEALTH FOOD SHOP. NORTHWEST
AT THE BAZAAR. Satisfied, he added a border around the edge. Priaia was busy
drawing pictures of broccoli, tomatoes, apples, peaches and more health food.
"They look perfect!" Priaia exclaimed. They walked outside, and Quinton gave
Priaia a pile of posters to hang.
"You hang them up at the Bazaar. I’ll hang mine at the main shops. Then we’ll
meet at the Market Place when we’re done " Quinton said. Priaia nodded her head.
Then she walked off to hang up her signs.
Priaia first hung her sign next to the Beauty Parlor. As she was going to
hang up her second sign by the Smoothie Shop, she bumped into Soleeha the Shoyru.
"Oh hi, Priaia!" Soleeha said. "Come to buy some smoothies? I hear they’re
very good."
Priaia shook her head. "I’m posting signs to promote healthy food."
Soleeha replied, "Okay, then. I’m going to go buy a Smoothie. Good luck with
your posters!" She then walked into the shop. Priaia hung up her second sign,
then hung up ten more signs until she met Laquori the Lenny at the Bakery.
"Laquori!" she exclaimed. "Instead of buying that cake, why don’t you go up
to the Health Food store and buy some organic peaches? Or vitamin B tablets?"
Laquori answered, "Well, I’m having a party and every party needs a cake,
right?"
Priaia frowned. "I guess. But that doesn’t mean that your guests wouldn’t
like to have some healthy food before they eat the cake."
Laquori gave Mr. Cakeso the Kacheek, the money for the cake. "Well, maybe
you’re right. I guess I’ll stop off at the Health Food Shop to get some stuff.
Does your brother own that shop?"
Priaia replied, "No, he doesn’t own that shop. He and I own that shop." Laquori
didn’t hear Priaia, because she had already run off to buy some health food.
Well, at least I got one person to buy from the shop, Priaia thought
to herself. Then, she continued hanging signs.
Meanwhile, Quinton was hanging signs around the Petpet Shop, when he met Rarba
the Zafara. "Good morning, Rarba" he said. "Come to buy a Petpet?"
Rarba replied, "Yes, of course. I would really like to get my hand on a Poppit."
Quinton hung up his seventh sign. "Well," he said. "After you buy a Petpet,
are you going to buy food for it?"
Rarba eyed the poster."Yes. I was planning on buying a nice slice of pizza."
Quinton frowned."Why not buy some health food so that it can grow big and strong?"
Rarba considered the thought."Well, I guess it’s not a bad idea. But first
I must go into the marketplace and tell the Soup Faerie an important message."
Quinton nodded. "Oh, Rarba! While you’re in the Market Place, could you hang
up the signs for me?"
"Sure." Rarba replied. Then he walked into the Petpet store.
Well, I got one person to consider eating healthy, Quinton thought
to himself. Then he continued hanging signs.
Quinton found Priaia near the Health Food shop. "Look, Quinton! Look! Our
signs worked!"
"Oh wow!" Quinton exclaimed. It looked like all of Neopia was in line at the
shop. "We'd better get in there so that we can serve these people," Quinton
said.
"We? Both of us?" Priaia asked.
"Yes, Priaia," Quinton said. "both of us." Priaia hugged Quinton. When they
went in, Soleeha was first in line.
"Oh, Priaia! It’s so good to see you again. Your signs inspired me so much
to eat healthy, that I just had to come."
Priaia smiled."So, Soleeha. What would you like today?"
Soleeha looked at the foods."I think I’ll have some Vitamin A tablets please,"
she said.
"Sure," Priaia said, then gave her a bag.
Soleeha waved goodbye.
Quinton then said, "I’ll take the next order."
"Okay," said Priaia. Reeama was next.
"Hi Quinton... Priaia. I would like some organic leeks, if that’s okay."
"It’s fine," Quinton replied. Priaia gave Quinton some organic leeks to hand
to Reeama.
"Goodbye!" Reeama said. Priaia and Quinton waved, then took the next customer.
When the day was over, Quinton said, "That was the busiest day I have ever
seen." Priaia nodded her head.
Then she said, "Well, it was fun working in the shop. But I suppose I’ll have
to go back to working in the garden, right?" Quinton shook his head.
"No. You can have a permanent job at the shop, and we'll both work in the
garden!"
"Oh Quinton, thank you!" Priaia exclaimed.
From that day on, Quinton and Priaia ran the Health Food shop together, and
never did they disagree again.
The End |