ALLEGRA SEEMED TO gather her composure and catch her breath, but when she spoke
it soon escalated into a panicked yell once again. "Humans!" she cried. "There
are humans just outside the gate! A whole pack of them just strolled up!"
"Humans?" someone shouted from the murmuring
crowd that had now gathered around the flustered lenny. "What are they doing
here? This junkyard's been closed for years!"
"They must be here to chase us out!" someone
else called.
"Chase us out? But this is our home! What'll
we do?"
"We can't let them!" a familiar voice shouted,
and Rorro pushed his way into the center of the crowd beside Allegra to have
his say. "We've all been hurt by humans, and we can't let it happen again! I
say we chase them off before they chase us off! Who's with me?"
The others roared their approval and rushed after
Rorro toward the entrance, ready to fight. But a shadow darted into the path
of the indignant mob, halting their progress. "Wait!" Dantam shouted. "These
humans aren't here to chase you away! They're here--they're here because I invited
them here!" The others gasped, and after searching for the right words for a
few moments in the wake of their shock, Dantam continued, "That's what I was
out doing so late last night--delivering letters to them, asking them to come
here...so that they could be your owners."
Instantly the crowd broke into chaos, until Rorro's
cry sounded above the rest. "Owners!? We don't want owners! All that owners
ever did for us was decide we weren't good enough for them and then leave us
out in the cold!" The others echoed his sentiments loudly, until Dantam felt
nearly overwhelmed.
"Listen to me!" he finally barked as loud as
he could, and the crowd quieted to a murmur and looked at him expectantly. Dantam
drew in a ragged breath and proceeded, "Cap used to tell us a story--a story
about having a home with a human who loved us. Was that *just* a story to you?
He wanted that for you, for all of you, and I watched all of your faces when
he told it; I know you want it too, deep down." He paused and looked around
at the faces that were now completely quiet and focused on him. "I know that
you've all been hurt by humans before. But that's part of loving someone--that
you can be hurt by them. You were hurt because your old owners didn't love you
back, but these people will. They're good people--I've searched all over Neopia
for them. I know it's a risk, to let yourselves love, to need someone, again,
but please try--at least try," he pleaded.
In the quiet that followed, Rorro stepped forward
again, a growl deep in his throat, but as he opened his mouth to speak, a scarlet
paw fell upon his shoulder. "Rorro," Toragi said softly, "He's right. Can't
we at least give them a chance?"
Rorro looked at his normally quiet and completely
loyal friend in shock for a few moments and then stormed off, snarling, "Fine,
you all do what you want, but don't come crying back to me when they dump you
again later. Some Neopets never learn." The others looked at each other hesitantly,
but followed Dantam slowly and quietly as he led them to the entrance to the
junkyard where a group of expectant humans waited just as quietly. The Neopets
paused, and for a few minutes, the two groups just stared at each other, not
quite certain of what to do.
Then a little yellow lupe pup that one girl was
holding wriggled out of her arms and trotted excitedly toward the homeless pets,
tongue lolling and tail wagging furiously. It was Brenner of course, ever-friendly
and trusting, who broke the stillness on the side of the junkyard pets and approached
the tiny pup. "Hi there," he said, bending his head down to meet the cub eye
to eye and offer his disarming smile. "My name's Brenner. What's yours?" The
pup just barked and pounced on Brenner's nose with a minuscule growl. Everyone
seemed to hold their breath for a reaction, but the big red lupe just chuckled
and fell onto the ground in mock distress. The pup tugged at his ears and climbed
triumphantly onto his bared white stomach, and Brenner rolled on the ground
laughing ecstatically all the while.
Suddenly, he looked up to see a human standing
over him. He rolled over and stood up awkwardly as she stooped to pick up the
little yellow ball of fur. "I'm Jennifer, and this is Jorda," the girl said.
"Would you like to be her big brother?"
"Big brother," Brenner rolled the words around
in his mind reverently. He looked up at the pup, who was now snuggling against
the girl with an expression of utter contentment painted across her innocent
little face. "I think--I think I'd like that," he answered. The girl smiled
at that and bent down to pat his head and Brenner's stump of a tail went wild.
This event seemed to fracture the fear and hesitation
of the others, and they gradually made their way over to investigate the other
humans. Allegra wandered through the crowds, wondering if anyone would want
an old lenny like her, when suddenly, she collided with someone and they both
went tumbling to the ground. Allegra struggled to her feet and began dusting
her feathers off. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, "My head must be in the clouds.
I didn't even see you." As she rushed over to help him up, she finally got a
good look at the boy she had knocked over.
"That's okay," he said, straightening his glasses
and sitting up. "My mind was wandering too, I guess. Now, where did my books
go?"
At those words, Allegra suddenly looked around
and noticed what the boy had been carrying when he'd run into her. Books were
scattered all around them on the ground. Allegra stared at the shiny, new books
in awe as the boy began to pick them up one by one. "I haven't ever read any
of those!" she exclaimed.
"You like to read?" the boy asked.
"Oh yes," Allegra said excitedly. "My Life as
a Lenny is my favorite. But I'm afraid my copy has been read so many times that
it's beginning to fall apart."
"That's one of my favorites too!" the boy said,
and then hesitated for a moment. "You know, I've got a brand new copy back at
my Neohome...Maybe you could come home with me and we could read it together."
Allegra smiled. "I'd love that. My name's Allegra."
The boy stood up, holding his stack of books
in one arm and taking Allegra's blue wing with the other. "Hello Allegra. I'm
Sullivan...your new owner."
Feruli and Silviana stood a little apart from
the crowd, observing the others as they found new owners. Suddenly, a girl spoke
from behind Feruli. "Hi, I'm Ramona," she said. "I've always wanted an eyrie."
Feruli realized then that she was speaking to him, but he hung his head and
refused to turn around.
"You don't want me," he said sadly. "My wings
don't work."
"Well," she replied, "I don't mind that your
wings don't work...if you don't mind that my legs don't work..." Feruli turned
slowly at these words to see a beautiful girl sitting in a wheelchair. She held
out one arm, and he found himself drawn toward it until his head was inclined
so that she could stroke his blue, feathery head.
After a few moments, the two turned to leave
toward what would be Feruli's new home, but Feruli spun around suddenly, remembering
something that he'd forgotten. "Oh, Silviana!" His constant companion had been
quietly standing by as he became acquainted with his new owner, and now she
still stood in the spot they had left, waving goodbye to him. He was torn between
his old friend and the newly-discovered warmth that he'd found in this girl's
arms.
"You know," Ramona interrupted his thoughts,
"I've always wanted a zafara too."
Feruli beamed and Silviana gave an excited whoop and launched herself into
the air, landing in the girl's lap and offering her characteristic cheeky smile.
"I'm yours!"
Rorro was sulking and trying to ignore the distant
sounds of the mingling humans and Neopets when he heard some familiar pawsteps
approaching, accompanied by the less familiar footsteps of a human. "Rorro,"
Toragi said gently. The yellow kacheek crossed his arms and refused to turn
around and acknowledge her presence. Toragi frowned and continued anyway. "Rorro,
this is Jonathan. He says he's going to paint me silver--to match my eyes. I'm--I'm
going home with him."
"Suit yourself," Rorro growled stubbornly, hoping
that his friend didn't hear the distress beneath his anger.
"Hey," the boy who stood beside Toragi said,
stepping forward, "You know, you'd look pretty neat as a mutant kacheek."
Rorro turned his head slightly to glare suspiciously
at the boy. "You would want me to be a mutant?"
"Well, I do like mutant pets, but I wouldn't
make you be one if you didn't want to. It's your fur, after all."
Rorro finally spun around all the way and examined
the boy critically. Finally, hesitantly, he said, "You know, I've always thought
it might be nice to be spotted..."
Jonathan smiled and nodded. "I think you'd make
a good-looking spotted kacheek."
Rorro continued his speculative contemplation
of the boy who stood before him. Finally, he turned to Toragi. "You know, I
think I might give this owner thing another try." The normally stoic kougra's
face broke into a grin, and she and Rorro followed Jonathan back to the entrance
of the junkyard together.
As Dantam stood by and watched his friends discover
their new owners, he thought of Madison and all of the good memories that he
had of his time with her. And he found himself finally forgiving her for leaving
him, once and for all.
"Dantam!" Feruli's shout broke the gelert out
of his reverie. He turned to see all of his friends standing at the gate with
their new owners, prepared to leave the junkyard forever. "Dantam, thank you,"
Feruli said, "But aren't you going to find an owner for yourself?"
Dantam sighed and shook his head.
"Why not?"
Dantam looked fondly at the contentment on his
friends' faces, and then he turned to look back at the pets who remained in
the junkyard, who had not yet found the perfect homes. He turned back to Feruli
and the others and smiled. "Because they need me," he said. "They need me."
The End |