Ringo was a green Zafara, but he was a misfit. He was tiny for his age, about
the size of a Chia. He also wore huge black glasses that made his eyes look
about eight times their real size. He was pushed around a lot in school, and
he soon became tired and crabby.
He tried to make friends, really! He watched his older sister, Shelleylou
playing with her friends, but he couldn't really see anything different that
she was doing. At first, he thought it was the fact that he wasn't painted,
but Leros wasn't painted and he had lots of friends.
He was still pondering over this when he heard Lester and Lance, the two most
popular pets in school, having a heated debate over what made a pet popular.
"I tell ya, it's your stats! If you're a weakling then you won't have any
friends," said Lance, a strong shadow Shoyru.
"No, you're wrong amigo. The key to a gal's heart is through money and plushies.
If you're rich and have a huge plushie collection, (like mine) then you'll have
an unlimited supply of friends," argued Lester, a rich faerie Kacheek.
Now this was something, thought Ringo. He wasn't terribly strong, but his
owner was pretty well off. Surely they could afford a rare plushie. Nothing
worth millions of dollars, but maybe a rainbow Scorchio plushie. He could bring
that to school and everyone would want to be his friend.
Just then their teacher, Mr. Bartlett, came into the classroom and started
taking roll call. Mr. Bartlett was a pear Chia. There was a joke going around
that he had been born that way.
As Mr. Bartlett started rattling off names, Ringo started thinking of ways
to convince his owner, battlesunn to buy him an expensive plushie. At last the
day ended, and Ringo went home, ready to try his routine for getting a plushie.
"Please mum? Pleeeeease? I swear that I'll never ask for another thing in
my LIFE if you let me!"
Ringo had gone home, and was now trying to get battlesunn to "lend" him some
Neopoints to buy what he called "something very important"
"Please, mum? My life could be ruined if you don't let me!"
Battlesunn rolled her eyes. It couldn't be THAT bad. Still, Ringo deserved
some sort of present, since he used the lab ray, battlesunn hadn't bothered
to buy him a paint brush.
Battlesunn finally agreed. "Oh all right, you can go get this "thing" but
be back before dinner."
Ringo nodded, accepted the 3,000 Neopoints and hastily left, before she could
change her mind.
At first, Ringo had been really excited to be able to get something rare,
but later on realised that there wasn't much he could buy for under 3,000 Neopoints
that was worth much.
He was just about to give up and go home when he heard someone beckoning him
from behind a large shop.
"Psst! Hey, little Zafara, over here! I've got something that you might want..."
the voice said.
Ringo cautiously crept around the shop and peered into the darkness. He saw
a huge yellow Eyrie, clad in a mangy Jazzmosis hat and clutching a briefcase.
The Eyrie smiled at him and pointed at his bag.
"I hear you're looking for a rare plushie, well I got one in here that no
one else in the world has, in fact it's so rare that I just got it from the
manufacturer. I'll let you have it for 2,000, no... 5,000 Neopoints!"
Ringo sighed. "I've got 3,000."
The Eyrie laughed. "Sold!" He thrust the bag at Ringo and grabbed the Neopoints
from his paw. Ringo opened the bag and looked inside.
"Hey! there's nothing in here! Give me my Neopoints back!"
The Eyrie cackled happily. "Can't you see it? It's an invisible Zafara plushie!"
Still laughing hysterically, the Eyrie flew away, leaving Ringo with an empty
suitcase, and the promise of deep trouble when he got back home.
The End | 
