The White Grundo

My name is Raratara. I am a white Grundo that was dumped into the pound. Sitting up against the stone wall, I sighed. Today was my day. My day to leave this place. At one time in my life I had believed that I would never leave here. I stretched and yawned. Frowning, I wondered why I was so sure I was going to leave the awful pound—today was not any different from my other days here.

     “Morning,” a stubby, wounded Uni muttered from the cage beside mine.

     Hundreds of us pets sat in mesh cages with our few belongings and some food. I moaned and dropped my head back to the stone floor. The floor of my own prison. I felt like I was dying here in this pit of gloom as all of my hope, strength, and everything else was drained from my body.

     “Come on, come on!” Falura called. Falura was in the same cage as I was. She took a leap over the food scraps and other dirty objects on the floor and jumped for me.

     “NO! I am not going,” I cried, pulling away from her.

     Falura, a stout and hearty yellow Yurble, caught my arm. “Why not, Raratara?” she demanded. I yanked my hand free and frowned. She sighed, putting her hands on her hips like she did when she was frustrated.

     “What if my new owner doesn’t like me? What if she is mean?” I asked anxiously. I knew what it was like to not be loved; my first owner had abandoned me... given me to the horrible pound. The pound had been so dark, cold, miserable, and lonely! Every night it had taken me hours to fall asleep with the sound of the other pets crying and calling for their owners. Would I go just to be thrown back here?

     “Why would she adopt you if she did not want you?” Falura asked me. “But I will still be stuck here, so consider yourself extremely lucky,” she said sadly.

     I froze, pondering the thought. “Maybe...” I said softly after a time of quiet.

     “Come on, she cannot be any worse than your other one.”

     “No, I suppose not,” I muttered with a pained voice. Falura pushed me towards the door and we moved down the dimly lit hall. I wanted to cry as I passed all of the pets on the way; their eyes filled with tears and their lips quivering. We came to a heavy door and the pink Uni guard smiled at me.

     “Go on through. But just Raratara,” she told us.

      I stepped out alone into the Neopian sunlight. There she was. And two other neopets were waiting with her. Aspens Author. Or just simply Aspen. One of them was a Clouded Bori and the other one was a Christmas Uni.

     “Are you going?” the guard asked me. “Or are you staying?”

     I shook my head and walked towards the group. Confused, I watched the Uni prance around in circles. Aspen was short for a human, with dark red hair and green eyes. She had a wide smile as I came towards her. A smile for me!

     “Raratara?” Aspen asked. I only nodded, dumbfounded and mute. She knew my name already? What a great start! “Do you want to come with us?” she questioned.

     “Please,” I agreed. “I never want to see this horrible place again!”

     The two other pets embraced me, squishing me as they all tried to hug the breath out of me. Aspen kissed the top of my head, smiling softer now. “Alrighty, let us get going then!” she cried happily.

     Before I knew what was happening, I was in a new, fresh home. I blinked, totally startled, and wondered what had happened between the pound and here. I could not remember how I got here or what I had done at all!

     “So, what is your name again? Sorry, I am rather forgetful,” the Bori asked me, bouncing up happily. She startled me.

     “Raratara,” was my reply. How could she have forgotten already?

     Boom! The door burst open and the Uni stumbled in with a dazed look on her face. “Sorry, I was running too quickly,” the Uni said softly.

     “This is Little Aspen and I am Mi Kirsha,” the Bori stated, patting me on the shoulder with a gentle foot. “Oh, and he is Gurie!”

     A baby Plushie Snarhook pounced on me, burying his yellow, blue, and green face in my white fur. As a Grundo, I was hesitant around the petpet, but he had already latched onto my arm. Aspen came to the door and smiled. “He can be your petpet, if you would like,” she told me happily. “The others already have their own. Fesam and Narala.”

     “You can afford to get us petpets?” I asked with surprise. My previous owner had had only two pets, me and a blue Scorchio, and he had not even fed us, let alone give us a petpet.

     “I work hard to keep you all happy,” Aspen told me. “But first... you need a bath!” She took a tub of water out into the sun and set it on the grass. Next, she snatched a bar of rose scented soap and urged me to the tub.

     I laughed and jumped, grinning mischievously when I showered the human with water. In no time, I was perfectly clean again and sparkling white. The other pets showed me around the garden and took me to play with the collection of plushies, including a fuzzy green Lupe Plushie.

          “So,” Little Aspen said slowly. “How do you like it here with us so far?” she asked me, landing on the grass.

     “It is very, very nice here. And I love little Gurie!” I said happily. I could feel within my own heart that I was being completely honest with them. And for that, I was extremely relieved and satisfied.

     “So will you be our new friend?” Mi Kirsha asked me hesitantly.

     “Of course!” I replied quickly.

     “Terrific,” she said, smiling. “So, what do you like to do?” she asked.

     “I love to read,” I told her. “I read ‘Keeping the Peace’ once,” I said happily.

     “Really?” she asked with excitement in her voice. “I always wanted to read that one! I have only read like ten books, isn’t that sad?”

     “I will start looking for some more, how is that?’ Aspen asked us. We all smiled and she nodded. “Well, I had better get looking! I will come back soon,” she said.

     I watched my new owner run away towards the shops in the distance. “She is really nice,” I stated.

     Mi Sele sighed and bobbed her head in agreement. “We all love her lots,” she said. “I am sure you will love her soon too.” She put an arm around me. “Will you come inside and eat something? Are you hungry?”

     The three of them led me into the home and sat me down on the floor. They gave me a tangerine slushie and some pepperoni pizza. I ate them hungrily, extremely grateful for real food for the first time in a long while. Gurie nuzzled up against me and I smiled. So here I sat, searching for anyone that would love me. We talked about games and the faeries, particularly Taelia, the snow faerie—Mi Kirsha adored Taelia.

     “Have you ever met a faerie?” Little Aspen asked me.

     “Of course. Lots of times.”

     “I have not met one yet,” Little Aspen said sadly.

     All of us watched Narala waltzed into the room and pranced up to Mi Kirsha. She smiled at me and sat beside the Bori. “So, what do you all do for fun?” I asked curiously.

     “Games!” Little aspen cried and then she said “Shopping!” Mi Kirsha only shrugged. “But we love to go to school, that is for certain,” they said together.

     I wondered what my life would be like. Would I be happy with my new family? Or would I possibly be abandoned again? I hoped—prayed that everything would be alright. And tomorrow I could start going to school with the others. And then I could come back to a home for the night, to good food, a clean bed, a good owner, friends, and my very own petpet!

     “School, glorious school!” sang Mi Sele. I smiled and she bounced around me in a circle before settling down on the floor again.

     “Just wait,” said Mi Kirsha, “for all of the adventures we will have!”

     “I am not so sure I really want to go on some sort of an adventure,” I muttered hesitantly.

     “Why not?” Mi Sele asked softly. I shrugged sadly, frowning. “Boy oh boy, I sure hope you change your mind about that!” she cried. “We go new places and do all kinds of new things with each other, and with Aspen, of course...”

     “If you do not like them now,” I said, “can I still learn to like them?” And My Smash nodded happily. His welcoming attitude made me feel like I could do anything. “I’m sure we can have tons of fun,” I told them.

     “We will!” he agreed.

     I smiled at them and little Gurie sneezed. Which made me sneeze. Which started the rolls of laughter from the group. I knew I was at home now, and I couldn’t wait for some awesome fun. To me, it was finally my chance to be loved. My chance to have a family that would take care of me and play with me. And that made all of the difference.

The End