A Shoyru Story by dew_drop_dancer |  |
Untitled Document
I am just one anonymous green Shoyru in a sea of used
and neglected pets. I am over a year old, much older than my owner's other
pets. Hmm… A year… A milestone my owner failed to notice while she was busy
reading and battling and playing with her other pets. But I barely notice
either. It is more unusual for her to pay attention to me than it is for her
to forget a birthday, Christmas, my species' day. They all crawl past without
so much as a toy or delicious food. All I receive is a trip to the soup kitchen
and the chance to accompany her to the omelette or shrine. I am actually quite
strong from visiting the shrine, but my owner probably wishes she had received
some nice food to lavish upon her other pets. I barely even know them.
From what I hear, they are smart, strong, and beautiful. But it's hard to gather
information when you are rarely spoken to.
I live a plain, unremarkable life. Unremarkable,
that is, unless you remark how plain it is. I have no items, nothing in my Safety
Deposit Box. Only a few hundred in my bank account for when my owner needs something
for a Faerie quest. I would love to be a Faerie. Everyone loves you, worships
you, even a hated Dark Faerie. At least they're noticed, if not loved. I have
no NeoFriends, other than my owner's other account, that is only to transfer
the few petty items I win from that nice Tombola man, but I try my hardest not
to invoke his pity. I don't even have a petpet. Those items received from the
Advent Calendar were sold to go towards a petpet for one of my owner's other
pets, but I don't mind, at least I'm fed. Even if it is only minestrone, it
tastes great after you've been starving for days. I don't have a NeoHome, but
I manage to stay warm by lingering in shops, until the shopkeepers throw me
out. "Bad for business," they say.
I hear my owner talking to someone about a new
furniture set she wants. She's says she still needs a few more thousand Neopoints,
so her poor pets will receive one less book, battle item, and petpet each week.
Poor things. I'm sure her other pets will be distraught. But despite
how I may seem, I don't hate my owner or her other pets. It's hard to
hate someone you don't know…
***
Three weeks later…
I met my owner's other pets. They're quite nice, and they were so excited
to meet me. Like I, they had heard precious little about our owner's other pet.
My owner has stopped going to the omelette and the shrine with me. She said
she's been so busy lately. Something was wrong with the construction of my NeoHome,
and the furniture store hasn't delivered the bed yet. But that's okay. My owner
let's me go by myself, well, not entirely by my self. She lets my Wadjet come
with me, so long as I wear my new battle armour. He's still a bit jumpy after
all that food he ate at my birthday party yesterday. I sit here in the shade
of my garden reading a book. My NeoFriends are out trying to get people to vote
for my beauty contest picture. I'm slowly getting used to being noticed, with
the help of the great guild I joined. I don't know what's come over my owner,
but I sure love it. I think she mentioned something about a Neopian Times article,
but I was too busy listening to all her stories to really notice it….
The End
Author's Note: This article was based on the very real, very sad
story of a pet I once knew. But it all ends well, and that neglected green Shoyru
has become the happy, vibrant NeoPet you read about at the end of this story.
Hopefully this article will cause people to realize that that green Shoyru,
or blue Lenny, or yellow Kacheek, isn't just a way to get more items and NPs
for their other pets, but it's a NeoPet that deserves to be loved, spoiled,
and cherished in their own right.
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