Arnold's Cliché

Once upon a time there was a green Scorchio named Arnold, who at that moment was sitting quietly in the living room of his small house. He lived a poor life, as did his owner, a young girl named Stephanie. The two of them continued to sit in silence, waiting for the bomb to drop.

     "Arnold," Stephanie said sorrowfully, "I think I'm going to abandon you."

     Arnold's eyes opened wide; he had no idea what to say. "But...but why?" he asked. His owner was abandoning him? How could this be? He thought she had loved him.

     "Just look around! We're the poorest family in Neopia Central. If you really love me, like I love you, you'll get out of this house so I can make some Neopoints without having to waste them on taking care of you."

     "But Stephanie, I thought that was what love was all about! Sticking together through the tough times. Why, why are you really abandoning me?" The Scorchio was on the verge of tears.

     "I just have to, okay? Oh, and it could also be because I'm one of those stereotypical owners that only cares about my pet's appearance, not what's on the inside," Stephanie commented thoughtfully.

     "Please don't leave me!" Arnold cried dramatically.

     "I'm so sorry, Arnold. I will always love you, remember that. Remember me..." her voice trailed off.

     The two of them walked to the pound in solemnity, then stepped in and spotted Dr_Death. "Are you here to abandon that?" he asked in a cold voice, pointing to Arnold.

     "Yes," Stephanie said, crying. "It's because I am but a poor helpless Neopian so...I need to abandon my pet!"

     "All right. Just leave it here, it'll be fine. Stories like this always have happy endings."

     The pound was very dirty. Even though Arnold had lived his entire life in a place that was kind of filthy, it was nothing compared to the pound. The whole hallway that he and Dr_Death walked through was dimly lit and had a floor that appeared to be made out of dirt. Cages that only went up to Arnold's shoulder lined each side of the hallway, holding scrawny-looking pets. Dr_Death motioned him to go into the last cage of the hallway on the right side, which was next to a red Gelert.

     "Meal times are whenever we feel like feeding you, which is usually once a week or so, and that's about all you need to know for your life at the pound. Good day."

     With that speech, Dr_Death closed the cage door and locked it, and then strutted back down the hallway.

     "Hi, I'm Barry," the red Gelert said, "I think we can be great friends."

     "Actually, we can't, Barry. Why don't we skip this whole part of this stupid pound story because we know any day a rich owner's going to come along and adopt me and paint me royal anyways? It's like pulling teeth having to just talk and become friends with you and then have someone say 'want to come home with me, Arnold?' and I have to choose between the owner and staying in the pound with you. Why would I want to stay with you anyways when there's the prospect of a royal paint brush and good food?"

     Barry slowly nodded, backing as far away from Arnold as he could. The Gelert obviously thought the Scorchio was mad, which was just what Arnold wanted.

     Arnold sighed, and moved into his cage that was apparently also made of dirt. "Oh, why did Stephanie have to abandon me? I'm going to be stuck in the pound forever -- or at least that's what I think right now -- and I'll never find the right owner."

     Just as he said that, a Darigan Kougra stepped into the hall. "I'm a mean, snotty rich pet that was just put in the pound. But don't worry, I won't last for long," the Kougra stated matter of factly.

     To Arnold's shock, Stephanie had entered the pound once again. Upon seeing the Kougra, she squealed, "It's a Darigan Kougra! Adoption Uni, please, I want to adopt this one! I've learned my lesson, I'll never take care of a pet that doesn't look cool again." Before she left with her new Darigan Kougra, her gaze met Arnold's. "Remember that I still love you," she whispered.

     Tears welled up in the Scorchio's eyes once more. His owner had left him...only to adopt a painted pet. "Go on," Arnold called back to Stephanie, "I don't need you. I don't need anybody!"

     Barry stepped out of his cage and came to comfort the poor pet. "Arnold, I know you're going through a lot right now. Just remember to be strong, and walk tall."

     Arnold groaned. "I told you that I didn't want to make friends with you, there's no point."

     "You're right," Barry replied. "But you know, I'm a really useless character and I just wanted to do something."

     "You want to be useful? Then go away, this is my story," Arnold snickered.

     Arnold lay down on the cold, hard floor.

     "Any day now a rich owner will come adopt me. Any day now..." he muttered, and then went to sleep.

     ****

     Three days passed and no sight of the rich owner had come. On the second day Barry had been adopted by some boy that looked poor, and Arnold had laughed in the Gelert's face as he sadly walked away with his new owner. At least the pest wouldn't be invading his story anymore.

     To make matters worse, also on the second day Stephanie had come back with her Darigan Kougra, seen the newly-abandoned rainbow Draik, and immediately adopted her. This time she completely ignored Arnold.

     So, by this point Arnold was about to take even a poor owner.

     Just wait one more day. Good things usually happen on the fourth day, Arnold thought.

     In what stories do they? another, smarter, part of Arnold's brain asked.

     Um...um...

     My point exactly.

     Deciding to ignore his feuding brain, Arnold went to sleep.

     ****

     "Let's get that pet, Mommy, that pet!" was the shrill cry that woke Arnold up.

     "That pet is very cute, but we've got to adopt that Scorchio over there because this is his story."

     Arnold opened his eyes and sat up. This was it, the rich owner!

     The owner and a baby Kougra, obviously her pet, walked over to Arnold's cage.

     "Yeah, I'm supposed to ask if you want to come home with me and you're supposed to cry and this will be all mushy, but why don't you just come with me without shedding one tear?"

     "Okay! Wait a minute, you're rich, right? Because I don't want to be adopted by some poor person who won't love me."

     "Of course I'm rich," the owner replied. "By the way, I'm Becca. This Kougra here is named Diane. Come on, and say goodbye to the pound forever! I'm also going to buy you everything you ever wanted, so don't worry about that either."

     Arnold left his cage gleefully, and skipped to the adoption desk with his brand new owner that was going to love him so much. On the way up to the desk, he saw many pets in their cages: a Skeith eating a rather large lunch, a Lenny reading a book, and a Uni putting on makeup.

     "I'm here to adopt--" Becca began.

     The adoption Uni cut her off. "You're adopting the green Scorchio and giving him a nice loving home where he can forget about his poor past."

     Becca winked, and handed the Uni the required sum of Neopoints "You've got this story all figured out."

     ****

     "Where are we going? Even though I know it's the rainbow pool, I still have to ask," Arnold said.

     "It's a surprise," Becca replied, grinning.

     "Close your eyes, Arnold, close them!" Diane pleaded.

     The Scorchio shut his eyes tightly, and a minute later, Becca commanded for him to open them. He gasped in shock at what he saw, even though he wasn't shocked at all.

     The three of them were standing before the rainbow pool, and Becca was hiding something behind her back.

     "Becca, hurry up and give me the royal paint brush already," Arnold urged her.

     "Okay, fine." Becca slowly pulled the paint brush out from behind her back, then practically thrust it into Arnold's face. "Surprise! I bought you a royal paint brush!" she exclaimed.

     Arnold gave a huge gasp.

     "Why did you gasp when you knew that was coming?" questioned Becca.

     "Dramatic purposes," Arnold replied while grabbing the paint brush and jumping into the Rainbow Pool.

     When Arnold came out a few seconds later he was royal. I could explain about what a royal Scorchio looks like, but you could go to the Rainbow Pool and look at it for yourself and save me the trouble. I like that idea better.

     "You look fab-u-lous Arnold!" Diane shrieked.

     "Whatever," Arnold mumbled.

     "Don't you like it?" Becca asked.

     "I..."

     ***

     Arnold's eyes snapped open; beads of sweat ran down his face. He quickly got up from his bed, then looked in the mirror.

     He was green.

     He ran down the steps, only to find Stephanie making him a nice breakfast in the kitchen. "Well hey, Arnold, how are you doing?"

     Arnold would have fainted, but instead he needed to say something. "It was all a dream!"

     "What was, honey?" Stephanie asked.

     "Oh, it was nothing... I love you, Stephanie." Tears streamed down the Scorchio's cheeks.

     "I love you too, Arnold! And I always, will. Always," she whispered.

     The two of them embraced each other tightly, and Arnold realized that she loved him for who he was, not his looks.

     ...And they both lived happily ever after.

The End