Main Page Go to Short Stories Go back to Articles Go to Comics Go to Continued Series Go to Editorial Go to New Series

Show All | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Week 19 | Week 20 | Week 21 | Week 22 | Week 23 | Week 24 | Week 25 | Week 26 | Week 27 | Week 28 | Week 29 | Week 30 | Week 31 | Week 32 | Week 33 | Week 34 | Week 35 | Week 36 | Week 37 | Week 38 | Week 39 | Week 40 | Week 41 | Week 42 | Week 43 | Week 44 | Week 45 | Week 46 | Week 47 | Week 48 | Week 49 | Week 50 | Week 51 | Week 52 | Week 53 | Week 54 | Week 55 | Week 56 | Week 57 | Week 58 | Week 59 | Week 60 | Week 61 | Week 62 | Week 63 | Week 64 | Week 65 | Week 66 | Week 67 | Week 68 | Week 69 | Week 70 | Week 71 | Week 72 | Week 73 | Week 74 | Week 75 | Week 76 | Week 77 | Week 78 | Week 79 | Week 80 | Week 81 | Week 82 | Week 83 | Week 84 | Week 85 | Week 86 | Week 87 | Week 88 | Week 89 | Week 90 | Week 91 | Week 92 | Week 93 | Week 94 | Week 95 | Week 96 | Week 97 | Week 98 | Week 99 | Week 100 | Week 101 | Week 102 | Week 103 | Week 104 | Week 105 | Week 106 | Week 107 | Week 108 | Week 109 | Week 110 | Week 111 | Week 112 | Week 113 | Week 114 | Week 115 | Week 116 | Week 117 | Week 118 | Week 119 | Week 120 | Week 121 | Week 122 | Week 123 | Week 124 | Week 125 | Week 126 | Week 127 | Week 128 | Week 129 | Week 130 | Week 131 | Week 132 | Week 133 | Week 134 | Week 135 | Week 136 | Week 137 | Week 138 | Week 139 | Week 140 | Week 141 | Week 142 | Week 143 | Week 144 | Week 145 | Week 146 | Week 147 | Week 148 | Week 149

Neopia's Fill in the Blank News Source | 28th day of Running, Yr 26
The Neopian Times Week 78 > Short Stories > Beauty of Gold

Beauty of Gold

by rosey_the_bear

Untitled Document "Go away you stupid Buzz, nobody wants you here."

     Taking my cue, I slumped away, trying to be as invisible as possible. I sighed. Just the beginning of another great day, I thought. But no, not really, the day had already been awful before. Just like the day before that. Oh, and of course the day before that day, and the day before that other day, and the day before that day that's behind all the others, and maybe the day before that… no, that was Sunday. I let out a groan. My head hurt, and I hadn't even gotten to Math yet.

***

The day hadn't really started out that much differently than the others. I had woken up 15 minutes before I had to catch the bus, and Rosey had kissed me and my Peophin sister, Pheo, a quick goodbye kiss. And like usual, after that, Pheo tried to give me a pep talk about how that day would be different from all the others, better. I could tell she didn't really believe it, but I always pretended like I did, because then she could have a good school day she deserved without worrying about her little brother, the dorky Al. Then of course, I allowed myself to be pounced upon by the newcomer, the Kougra DredgNeo. And then I was out on the bus, sitting by myself alone in the very last row. Breakfast? A fleeting dream.

     The first 3 subjects taught by Ms. Kinlinski, English, Spelling and Reading, were always horrid. Ms. Kinlinksi herself was always grouchy, always looking for opportunities to give out extra homework or to pull a student's card, the disciplinary method used for 1st graders like myself. The consequence: to stay ten minutes after school for every time pulled. And of course, just my luck, her favorite victim was yours truly. I had been lucky today, I only had to stay after school 10 minutes, and I only had one extra spelling assignment.

***

And of course, after that, 1st graders have lunch at 12 on the dot, preceding the yucky classes of Science, Math and Social Studies I had to have in the afternoon with Mrs. Huton. But truly, lunch was always the worst. I had known that since my 1st day of school, I would never fit in. So I always sat alone, at a table reserved just for me, in the corner of the courtyard. I guess I should feel special.

     The honest truth is, I don't think there is another Buzz in this school. I guess there's not that many of us around, seeing as how we're so "scary" and "ugly" looking. I had always thought I had been kind of beautiful, my wings were always so glossy and bright in the daylight. Rosey had told me that they had always shined like gold, and from the moment she laid eyes on me she knew she had struck gold. But that was before school, in the little section of time between my solitary stay at the Neopian Pound, and the just as solitary chore of going to school everyday.

     I suddenly gasped, blinked, and then gasped again. I closed my eyes, opened them, and refocused them again. It couldn't be, I thought, at the same time I knew I wasn't hallucinating. There, crossing the courtyard, was the most beautiful Buzz I had ever seen. All of a sudden I began choking. Oh great, the perfect timing to suffocate on my sandwich of all things.

     After a moment of staring, I realized she was coming toward me. Of course, I thought, she's probably not beautiful to the other "normal" Neopets. Then I realized she was smiling shyly, giggling at… me? Ah! I quickly shifted my attention back to my food, now fully aware that my eyes had been goggling out of their sockets at her.

     "Hello," she said quietly, now having reached my table, "May I please sit here?" She spoke with a quietness to her voice, very much like my own, only much daintier.

     "Uh, yeah, I mean, sure… yeah, go ahead." I stumbled over my words, and chided myself mentally realizing how stupid I must sound.

     "Oh, thanks!" She sat down quickly, across from me, and we stared at each other a moment. She started to giggle profusely, at the same time I started to laugh.

     "I'm sorry," I gasped out, "I didn't introduce myself, my name is Al."

     "My name is Rebby," she replied.

     "Well uh, actually, my real, I mean "whole" name is Alla133101," I said with uncertainty.

     "Well hello Alla133101," she replied, with amazing accuracy at getting my name right, "Actually, you see, my real name is Rebbaca66."

     "Most people think Buzz are evil," I said.

     She spoke now solemnly, not a flicker of amusement on her face, "I know, but I'm not." She cast a glance toward the other Neopets., "They seem to think I am…" she trailed off.

     "I know," I said suddenly with conviction, "But we aren't, and we need to show them that."

     "What?" she stammered, "How? How could we, uh, what?" she repeated again, obviously astounded.

     "We need to show them that we aren't evil, that we are just the same as them, that we deserve respect!" I ended with a shout. Trembling, I realized how much I needed this, proof that we weren't evil.

     "But how?" Rebby replied intently, seemingly as needy as me.

     Suddenly, I came across an idea. "The truth."

     We settled a time with the principal that day, and after hearing that we wanted to help educate the students, he agreed to let us show the students what we had to show them in two weeks. Until then, Rebby and I practiced.

***

Rebby turned out to be a great friend, and for the first time ever, I felt like I really belonged. We shared many of the same interests, and she came over almost everyday. But it wasn't enough, we both knew that, we had to show the world what we really were.

     Finally the day came, and Rosey and DredgNeo came to attend the assembly. Pheo was already there of course, in the grade above me, and just knowing they would be there, filled me with courage. At 3:00, near the end of school, the bell rang symbolizing an assembly, and all the students filed out to the auditorium. But however, instead of going into the seats, me and Rebby went up onto the stage.

     The moment I got up there, I began sweating. The light above the stage was very bright, and emitted great heat too. Nervousness crept back into my system, and I located Rosey in the audience. Silence had fallen over the auditorium the moment the only two Buzz had gotten up on stage, and we knew what we had to do.

     "Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to correct the false rumors you have heard about us Buzz," said Rebby, into a microphone, enlarging her small voice until it filled the entire room. All remained quiet. "Please listen, to what Al has to say."

     "We Buzz, we aren't evil," I started slowly and uncertainly. "We are just like all of you, not bloodthirsty, not cruel. We are just normal Neopets. like you, that want to be treated with respect, and fairly."

     At this point, some of the almighty Buzz haters started to boo. Among these included Ktulu, a mean old bully who has hated me since Kindergarten.

     "Please!" I said, gaining more intensity and losing more fear by the second, "Just because we look different, just because we may look scary, does not mean we should be treated differently than all of you! It doesn't really matter what's on the outside, it's what's on the-" I was cut off abruptly by Ktulu.

     "Hey creep! It does matter what you look like, you're a freak. You got wings on you, and you ain't no Neopet like us. You just a freak, a mutant, a bug, that only deserves to be squashed!"

     Silence fell over the hall, and I for one didn't speak. Then, miraculously, the crowd began booing. "Go back to where you came from, you're the creep!" And at the obvious dislike, Ktulu all of a sudden seemed to become small, and he sneaked out of the room.

     The crowd began to cheer, and I looked over at Rebby. She had tears in her eyes, as one small Aisha shouted, "Look! That Buzz has wings of gold!" This was quickly followed by, "The other one has green wings!" "Their wings are beautiful!" And soon the audience began to shout all these wing compliments up on the stage.

     "Thank you everybody!" I said, and was about to get off the stage, when everything was abruptly stopped by a mighty roar.

     "What do you mean, they have pretty wings?" yelled the Kougra, my little brother DredgNeo, "Is that all they've got? I mean, look at them."

     The crowd looked back up at us, obviously puzzled. "They don't just have wings of gold ladies and gentlemen, those Buzz have beauty of gold."

     This time the applause that rippled from the audience was deafening, and shouts, cheers and whistles filled the air. Screams of "Go Buzz!" filled the auditorium. And then I took the best cue I had ever gotten in my life. I jumped into the air, spreading my wings of gold and shouting to Rebby, shouting to everybody that cared to listen, more ecstatic then I had ever been in my life, "We have beauty of gold!"

The End


Search :
Other Stories

What Does Valentine's Day Mean?
"Happy Valentine's Day!" exclaimed JadePaw the (newly morphed and painted) cloud Draik. She ran up to GoldenRhino and handed him a bright pink Valentine.

by too_kule


_Viv_vindA_'s Story
"You're home! You're home!! Did you bring us a sister?" a blue Kougra asked.

by halfling__elf


We’ve Been to The Lost Desert
"What? Spooky you say? I'm spooky? " The voice came from behind them. They both turned around to see the ghost of Coltzan.

by poy222


No Peace at All!
I raised my eyebrows in suspicion. It wasn't like my brothers to complete homework in such a short time. "Then show me your work first," I shot back, in an unbelieving tone.

by unique377


Faerie Sorrow
This particular autumn, however, things were much worse. War was raging in Meridell, uprooting the fertile soil and wrenching raw potatoes from the earth.

by rosella_destiny


Neopets | Main | Articles | Editorial
Short Stories | Comics | New Series | Continued Series | Search