Po, Omni, and Tikano - Unbreakable by polayo |  |
EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING, Tikano--or Tika--would get up with the sun, wake us
all up and keep herself busy all day, checking the news page every five minutes.
In addition to that, every Wednesday night she would cry all evening in my arms,
and cry herself to sleep, wake up sluggishly the next morning and be in a depressed
mood all day. And Wednesday she would renew her usual spunk, only to have it
stolen away for another week.
"You don't need it," I told her after seventh
or so, give or take a few, week like this. "Petpet Spotlight isn't all that
matters. Look at me! I've been trying to get into Pet Spotlight since I was
a kitten, and I've gotten nowhere, except for The Neopian Times, so far. We
have each other, we don't need shiny trophies to show it."
I hugged her close and her sniffles slowed. She
nodded remorsefully and hopped out of my arms. Being the end of yet another
disappointing Wednesday, I knew that tonight would be yet another night of the
little faerie Babaa crying herself to sleep, and I, PO, her only comfort, helping
her through it.
But no matter what I say, she always feels the
same.
***
"Omni," I said solemnly as I plopped down in a chair in front of her, listening
to the muffled cries in my bedroom just down the hall. "We need to do something
about Tika. She's falling apart. Collapsing. And, as she's my pet, I need to
do something about it. But I don't know what! You've helped me through every
disappointing Monday, but what can I do about Tika?"
Omni put down her book. "You were a lot easier
than her," she said. "You always knew there was next Monday, another chance.
Oh, PO!" She reached out her arms and pulled me close. "Sometimes owning you
seems like a chore, but it's only for a few seconds. And then you're with me
again, and I forget every regret I have. You're special in my eyes, and everyone
who knows you knows your special. Anyone who thinks you're not special doesn't
matter. An author in my land, Dr. Seuss, once said: 'Act how you want and say
what you feel, because anyone who minds doesn't matter, and everyone who matters
don't mind'."
"I guess we'll just have to wait, PO And in the
mean time, show Tika why we love her. We're a family, you me and Tika. However
small, we're still a family. And these things come and go, but always we're
together. "
I was touched by how honest she was being. I'm
not saying Omni wasn't honest, but usually we spend our time teasing each other
or laughing. This wasn't like that. This was something serious. I really hoped
Tika would be okay.
"Tika," I said the next morning at breakfast,
"how would you like to take a walk with me today? I have a few errands to run,
and I wanted to show you a few things."
She shook her had sadly.
"Oh, Tika, come on! It'll be great. We'll have
a great time together, just you and me, and maybe we'll meet Omni at the Catacombs
when she can make it. Please come with me, Tika?"
She made a soft "baaing" noise which
I knew meant 'yes.' I smiled and pushed her toward the room. "Go get ready for
a great day!" I grinned. Omni and I had planned it the night before, and we
hoped it would up Tika's mood and self-esteem. A few minutes later, Tika came
out of the bedroom, looking exactly the same.
"Come on," I said. "Get ready for a great day!"
We walked into the streets of bustling Neopia
Central. After haggling for a few apples and one Starberry, my favourite fruit,
I turned to Tika.
"There's something I want to show you," I said,
and carried her, although she could have flown just fine, into the petpet shop.
It was chaos, hundreds of pets filing in and out, some cuddling their expensive
prize and some crying to see the same high prices they'd seen the day before.
"Look at this, Tika," I motioned my paw towards
all the petpets with price tags on them. "These pets don't have someone to love
or someone that loves them. They don't have a family. They're treated like things,
not like living beings. They don't have best friends, like you and Taikou, Ev's
Bluna. And, although someday they may bring a profit to the owner of this shop,
they aren't special. Only once and a while a petpet is made with an intelligent
mind. Like you. You have spunk, you have potential. You're special, you're wild,
you're free and you will be forever. Everyone who matters knows that, and everyone
who doesn't-they don't matter."
I hugged her close to my body and we walked out
of the store into the bright sunlight again.
Then, something I wasn't planning on showing
her but decided now I surely would, fluttered by us on our left. I turned, and
pointed, showing Tika.
"See that?" I said, pointing to the young Wocky
holding a pink Angelpuss in his arms. I listened to his words, and cringed,
feeling horribly sorry for the little Angelpuss-who was probably older than
him-that he owned.
"Angelpuss are the most popular species of Petpet
in Neopia!" The Wocky boasted, smiling proudly and snottily at his friends.
"And I even got her painted!"
"See that?" I repeated. "He doesn't care about
his Angelpuss. All her cares about is winning, being on top. It's sick, inhumane.
But he does it, anyway. He treats her like a thing, not like a being, like many
of the petpets in the Petpet Store will." I could fell my eyes tearing up, so
glad this wasn't happening to Tika.
I bargained for another ten Apples, and I took
a detour down Soup Kitchen Alley. I hate to say it, but from experience I knew
that was where the less fortunate lived. One house, a one room house with only
a rug, couch and fireplace, was a house I came to often, leaving little presents
and surprises. So today, as I left the little cloth bag of apples in the window
frame, I motioned through the window, and Tika flew up so she was level with
it"This Neopian family is very, very poor. I leave them gifts that help them
survive. But one thing I've noticed all along is that, no matter how poor this
family gets, they never abandon each other. It's just one owner and one pet,
like it is for me and Omni, and then they have one petpet. Although they are
so poor, they managed to save up for a petpet, and the Shoyru this house encases
loves that petpet with all his heart, completely the opposite of the Wocky we
just saw.
"And you might think, Tika, that sine his family
is so poor that they'd buy the cheapest petpet they could and make it expensive,
because even with the pet they have they wouldn't care what other people would
say. No, Tika, they saved up enough to get a faerie Babaa. That's how much they
care." I squeezed her and rapped once on the window to alert the homeowners
that I had left them there, but ran back into the main market place before they
could see me.
"Come, Tika, we're going to the Catacombs."
We walked to Neopia Central and took a detour
into the Catacombs. There was Omni, waiting for us in the coffee shop. After
I got a saucer of milk with Snowberry powder for Tika and a mug of Snowberry
Tea for me, and Omni was sipping at her borovan.
"So how was your day?" She asked casually.
"I had fun," I said, glancing at Tika. I cringed,
seeing her attitude had only changed a bit. She still sat depressed, even though
there were so many ways I tried to make her feel better.
"Tika," Omni began, but I shushed her.
"Tika, look at me," I said. She turned her little
head and fluttered her wings softly. "Did you hear anything I told you today?
Because if you did, you'll know this now. You're my favourite, and Petpet Spotlight
wouldn't change the way I feel about you. Nothing can change the way
I feel about you. We stick together no matter what. We're unbreakable, you,
Omni and I. Petpet Spotlight is a trophy, but you're a real, living thing that
can't break. I never regret having you and I never will. Never forget that,
Tika, never."
After a night of a constantly rising mood until
Tika did once again have her usual spunk back, she practically floated for the
rest of the week. She felt, for once after the Petpet Spotlight had come out,
like she could be her self again.
I wasn't even sure if she knew that next Wednesday
was a Petpet Spotlight
day, she slept like she normally did (late), went about the house like she normally
did (lazily), and only checked the news when Omni and I did.
And that afternoon, as I was checking the news
page, I saw a sight I thought I might never see. Never taking my eyes of the
page, I smiled ecstatically. "Tika? I think you should come here. You might
want to see this..."
The End
Author's note: All right, all right, so Tika hasn't won Petpet Spotlight yet,
but she's back to her normal self and that's all that matters. Who knows what
the next Wednesday might bring? Ever since she returned to her normal self, she's
been somewhat of a role model to me. She's taught me two things which I thought
I was teaching her. But really, it was the other way around. Never give up, and
never take no for an answer. It all really works out the way it should in the
end... |
