A Change for the Better

by jugglegirl

"Would you look at this," murmured Maeer, engrossed in her latest issue of the Neopian Times. She was sitting at a small table, drinking hot tea.

"What?" groaned Latri, a rather bloated Cybunny who was presently reclining on velvet pillows, with a box of expensive chocolates close at hand. She was alternating between lazily dropping the rich, dark chocolates into her open mouth, and dabbing at her lips delicately with a Neonapkin.

"This," said Maeer, showing her the latest issue of the Neopian Times.

Latri glanced lazily at it, and promptly went back to her chocolates. "What does it say?" she mumbled through a mouthful of gooey caramel.

"Listen to this," said Maeer excitedly, reading from her newspaper. She was reading an article entitled I Want to be Poor!!! "This person says that they want to be poor for the sake of their NeoPets. Wow." Maeer looked up from her paper to see Latri's reaction.

Latri was, at that moment, wondering if the chocolate with the little orange swirl on top had orange cream or coconut filling. "Latri," said Maeer impatiently, "What do you think of the article? Is that inspiring or what?" Latri blinked lethargically up at her owner.

"Um, I guess so," she finally responded. "But, why would some person give up all their money?"

In her brain, she could not contemplate the possibility of not having money; there had always been good food, expensive toys, and endless amounts of money.

"Well," Maeer tried to explain, "This person doesn't want their NeoPets to become spoiled, and conceited…" she trailed off.

Latri apparently hadn't noticed a thing, and went back to her chocolates.

That night Maeer went to bed, thinking about the article. She remembered when she used to be poor, especially in her first account. She was always scrabbling for money, and worried night and day about the well being of her NeoPets. She was finally forced to abandon her loving pets, and vowed that she would never be poor again, and have to hurt another pet. But now, as she tossed and turned, she was wondering if her choice had been the right one. She certainly hadn't wanted to harm her NeoPets, but maybe she was being a little excessive with Latri.

She looked over to where Latri slept, snoring loudly on velvet cushions. She though fondly of when she had adopted Latri, how she had fed her, and tried to make life the best she could for her. She wanted Latri to be happy but… Finally, she fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning, she woke Latri bright and early. Latri grumpily wolfed down a huge breakfast of streaky bacon, coffee with marshmallows, and more chocolates. Maeer brightly told her that they were going on a little trip today. Latri waddled out of the house, following Maeer.

They first went to the bank, where Maeer firmly told the teller that she wanted to take out all her money. The teller looked rather surprised, but did as she asked. Latri was sure the money was going towards some new expensive toy, she thought contentedly. The next stop was the Money Tree. Latri was puzzled; she had never been here before! She looked up confusedly at Maeer.

"I'd like to donate some Neopoints, please," she said in a strong clear voice to the Blumaroo behind the desk.

"What!?!" cried Latri, shocked. "What are you doing? We never donate Neopoints!" Maeer knelt down on the floor next to her. There were tears in her eyes.

"I know you think this isn't the right choice, but we have to do this," she said.

Latri watched, shocked, as her owner firmly donated 87,000, their entire account, to the money tree. The Blumaroo was also shocked as he accepted the vast amount. "Are, are you sure?" he asked, confused. Maeer nodded.

"Thank you! Thank you!" cried the Blumaroo.

"Everyone will be so grateful!" Latri was numb.

How would they live? What would they do? Maeer looked directly into Latri's eyes.

"I had to do it," she said softly. "I didn't want you to become one of those spoiled NeoPets, who has everything on her command." Finally, Latri understood.

Maeer smiled down at her. She knew that their lifestyle would be different now, but she was sure they had made a change for the better.

The End

Authors Note: I was really touched by alec17's article in issue #41 of the Neopian times. I think it's great some Neopians care that much about their NeoPets.