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Sketching a Pteri


by pigeons707

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Mew the Pteri was lying down serenely having the most wonderful dream she’d had in years. In her dream, it was Pteri Day, Y9, and Mew was with her brothers in Neopia Central celebrating. The new Pteri items for this year had been announced. Among the new items were a line of Pteri plushies: Baby, Christmas, Cloud, and Red. Kauvara had done some work and created the Brown and White Pteri Morphing Potions. And of course, the new Pteri colors: SKETCH and Royal!!! Mew couldn’t have been happier, as she was used to being disappointed on Pteri Days. Every Pteri Day in the past had been the same:

      Mew would travel the day before with her brothers to Neopia Central to celebrate. The next morning, they would all wait to see the results of the Pteri Flying Championships and receive an invite from Cap'n Threelegs asking them all to visit Krawk Island for free training at his Swashbuckling Academy. Then there might be a new avatar or two, and finally the new colors would be announced. Usually only one or two new Pteri colors would be available to those holding the right paint brush. Mew had always looked forward to this moment, hoping against all odds that the sketch Pteri would be introduced into Neopia- but it never was, and Mew had difficulty taking no for an answer.

      Those days of waiting were history! Mew had even packed her scritchy sketchy paint brush with her, and was finally able to become a sketch Pteri! Hardly daring to believe it, Mew waited excitedly in line at the Rainbow Pool. There was a Techo in front of her, holding a purple paint brush, and with him was a Gnorbu, holding a white one. Mew watched as the Techo held tightly to his brush and jumped into the Rainbow Pool, making a splash of multicolored paint. A second later, the Techo was thrown out donning his new purple and orange look. Then it was the Gnorbu’s turn. He held the white paint brush in between his teeth and galloped toward the pool and jumped. Again, a myriad of colors splashed into the air, and out popped a whole new Gnorbu with sleek ivory fur and a periwinkle mane. Finally, it was Mew’s turn. Mew could barely run because she was so excited. She held the paint brush with her left wing and ran as fast as she could. She was a mere three feet away from the tip of the Rainbow Pool, and she jumped. Mew’s adrenaline rush increased rapidly as she came within inches of the surface of the pool, and...

      “WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD!”

      Mew couldn’t believe it. She had just missed seeing what it would be like to finally become a sketch Pteri when she had been awakened. Rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes, Mew looked up to see her older brother Fiskul leaning over her.

      “Good Morning, Mew. Are you going to get up this morning?” Fiskul asked.

      “I was just having the best dream I’ve ever had, and you had to interrupt me!”

      “Oh no, don’t tell me you were having the sketch dream again!” exclaimed Fiskul. All of Mew’s siblings were accustomed to her having the same dream over and over - that one of her finally becoming a sketch Pteri. Her siblings were also prepared enough by now to expect Mew to be in a bad mood all day.

      “So are you going to sulk around all day, or make the best of it?”

      “No, I guess I’ll make some breakfast.”

     Mew clambered out of her icy bed, and waddled into her tiny kitchen. There wasn’t much interesting in there but a Techo clock, a mop and bucket, a sink, a poster, and four bean bags merrily arranged around a Fire Toaster. Maybe Mew’s dream had a Techo in it because she was thinking of how her Techo clock was broken?

     Rummaging through the cabinets, Mew found an apple, some churros, and an ummagine that had dried up a little bit. She noticed that Fiskul had followed her into the kitchen, and she threw the ummagine at him.

      “Enjoy,” she said stiffly. “There’s your breakfast.”

     Fiskul looked down at the squished ummagine.

      “Um, Mew, I know that you’re disappointed about not being able to become a sketch Pteri, but can’t we have something better than this for breakfast? You are usually such a good cook. How about that Kreludan recipes cookbook that you bought? Are there any good recipes out of there?

      “You might be older than me, but you’re not the boss of me,” said Mew. “I don’t feel like cooking today. Take the ummagine or don’t eat.”

      “Mew, I’m not trying to be bossy, but it sounds like you are.”

      “Sorry, Fiskul. I just really wanted to think that my latest sketch dream could come true.”

      “Look, Mew, I know how much you want to be sketch,” said Fiskul, placing his wing on Mew’s shoulder, “and maybe when the next Pteri Day comes along, you can get that wish. But until then, you must wait.”

      “You’re right.”

     The two Pteris hugged, and Fiskul went out into the garden to eat. It was another hot day in the Lost Desert, but Mew didn’t feel like going swimming in the Delta. She assumed that that was where her brother Giano was. Her other brother, X, was most likely at the Virtupets Space station with his friends.

      Although Fiskul had comforted her, Mew was still feeling sad. Slouching into her room once again, she went over to see her Petpet Piraket, Ara. Ara squawked as soon as she saw her owner. Mew looked down at Ara, and smiled. She might not be a sketch Pteri, but she had her nice Petpet and three good brothers. Trying to cheer up, Mew flew over to her bed and reached underneath her pillow. Her scritchy sketchy paint brush was there, and it looked as new as when she bought it such a while ago.

      “I’ll use you someday,” said Mew. “Then I’ll be a living drawing. That will be cool.” Tucking the paint brush underneath her pillow again, Mew sat on the floor with Ara, thinking. Mew thought about how stubborn she could be, but she couldn’t help it. There had to be some way that she could become a sketch Pteri. She thought back to her dream and thought of how excited she had felt as she was running up to the Rainbow Pool. But Fiskul just had to wake her up before she could find out what it was like to become sketch. Wait a minute! Mew was not only a cook, but an artist. Even though she couldn’t become a sketch Pteri now, she could make herself look like one. Mew flew over to her desk, and opened the drawer, revealing her learn-to-paint sets. She had gotten so many of these over the years, either as Christmas gifts, or for her birthday. There was a set of watercolors in each learn-to-paint set, but every little slot that was supposed to have the white paint was gone. Mew reached further into the drawer to find an old marmalade jar that had been cleaned out and was now overflowing with non-magical white watercolor paint, some light colored blush, and some flour. It was such an inconvenience that there wasn’t just sparkly white paint, but you can’t have everything.

      Mew took an old, battered issue of The Neopian Times, and unfolded it onto the floor. She placed the marmalade jar on top of the old newspapers, and reached into her drawer again.

      “Hmm, Know Your Seeds, I need to re-read that book, some broken quills... eureka!”

      Mew pulled out her sparkly blue paint. Now she had everything that she needed in order to look like a sketch Pteri. Shaking with excitement, Mew opened the marmalade jar and overturned it onto her head. Cold paint spattered onto her, and it actually felt good on this hot day. As soon as Mew was covered, she rubbed the watercolor into her feathers, making sure to get every inch of herself covered. Mew’s addition of flour and blush made sure that the watercolor was thicker, and it was able to stick to her easier. The white paint was now on, and she was halfway there, but of course a sketch pet had to have the blue lines! This was what the sparkly blue paint was for. Mew dabbed some of it onto her wing and made the blue lines that all sketch pets had. A little bit on her wings, and some underneath her eyes, and she was almost done. She still had her tail, which she could do by sitting down and spreading her tail out in front of her. Looking onto the icy desk, Mew saw her reflection. She had done such a good job so far!

      Walking out of her room and into the garden, Mew saw Fiskul sitting at the round table.

      “Hey thanks, that breakfast was—”

     Fiskul stopped and gaped at Mew.

      “MEW? How did you become a sketch Pteri? What did you do?”

     Mew felt good at the sound of these words. If her brother really thought that she was an actual sketch Pteri, then her art skills were up to scratch.

      “Well, you ruined my drum roll, but that’s okay, I’ll say it anyway,” said Mew. She stood on the round table and bellowed,

      “Presenting the wonderful, the beautiful, the magnificent Mew, the one and only sketch Pteri...”

     Fiskul jumped and gave a cheerful whistle.

      “But how did you get like this?”

     Mew explained how she had put her non-magical paint, blush, and old flour to good use.

      “I see. You did a great job; those blue sketch lines look real!”

      “Thanks, bro. However, I am missing the sketch lines on my tail.”

     With that, she sat down on the round table and spread her tail out between her legs. Curling her tail over, she made sure she covered every spot, and made rather a meal of making the tip of her tail look extra special.

      “I’m so pleased with this,” Mew said to the garden at large, and she pranced around Fiskul in circles, enjoying the impressed look etched on his face.

      “I think I am having such a nice day that I am going to visit the Fruit Machine in the city, would you like to come with me?”

     Fiskul considered his sister thoughtfully.

      “I was going to read Radioactive Pteri Part One, while I wait for Part Two to be released,” said Fiskul.

      “No problem, Fiskul, I would really like to go to the Fruit Machine now.”

     With that, Mew waddled the length of the garden, and with a heave, hoisted herself into the air, flapping vigorously. There weren’t many Neopets out on Delta Close today, many of them were actually swimming in the Delta or at least cooling themselves off in there. An elderly Kyrii was in the water washing her robes while a nearby Apis bent down to drink. The Delta offered a nice oasis within the warm community. Making more efforts with her wings, Mew could discern Sakhmet in the distance past Coltzan’s shrine.

      Hues of gold and brown, and hundreds of sand dunes; Mew would never tire of the terrain that was her home. Descending closer to the city, Mew could make out Cobralls silently slithering below as well as a stray Anubis. Within the walls of the city, she was very low. Scorching although the sun was, it did nothing to wear off her paint. As market goers below looked up, they smiled in awe at the sight above them.

      “A Sketch Pteri!”

      “Wow, look at that Pteri, she’s white and blue!”

      “I didn’t think they’d released that color yet.”

      “No me either, I can’t believe it!”

      “Amazing.”

      Smiling widely, Mew was ecstatic. Even though she wasn’t officially a Sketch Pteri, she could still put her knack for art to good use. The day that Sketch Pteris are a reality, will be a very happy one indeed, thought Mew to herself. With this pleasant thought in mind, Mew descended onto the ground beside the Fruit Machine tent. She would try her luck with this at least...

The End

Author’s Note: Special thanks to my good neofriend, Liktra, for allowing me to write about her Pteris in this story. Her blue Pteri, mew_mint_lorikeet, really wants to become a Sketch Pteri, so hopefully on the next Pteri Day she can get that wish. I hope that everyone enjoys reading this. Neomails welcome. ~pigeons707

 
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