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Flying


by doglvr888

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A small Faellie looked up at the sky and sighed. Why was she so sad? A small group of Pteris were soaring through the air above her. She could almost hear the adrenaline pumping through their veins, the wind gently caressing their feathers, the joy bursting out of their hearts. But why was she so sad about the Pteri's joy, you ask? Here is the sorrowful Petpet's story:

     Mosca had spent the first part of her life, like most Petpets, being transferred from shop to shop by Neopians who were trying to make some cash. This generated a feeling of insecurity in the little yellow Petpet, and Mosca also felt she wasn't wanted, wasn't loved. But finally a Neopian bought her as a pet for his Zafara, Infiel. Infiel was delighted to have a Petpet at first, but she soon lost interest. That was no problem for our heroine, though, because she had never felt much affection for her master, anyway. Infiel let her roam around the Neohome as she pleased, and Mosca still had access to her passion: flying. The Faellie was in heaven when she left the ground, gliding, faster than an Eyrie (so she thought). She was free... free from cages, uncaring owners, and all the troubles of this cruel world.

     One day, Infiel was shopping when she stumbled upon an adorable kind of Petpet that she instantly wanted. She begged her owner, but he put his foot down.

     "You already have a Petpet!" he pointed out. "And how would you pay for this new one you want?" So Infiel stormed to her room and sulked. She was sick of her aloof Faellie; she wanted the new one NOW! Then Mosca soared through the window and landed on Infiel's Pink Pteri Bank. The red Zafara had a sudden idea. She ran to tell her owner.

     "I will sell Mosca!" she cried.

     "If you really want to." He shrugged.

     The Zafara ran into her room to grab the Faellie. She reached out her furry paw to grab the Petpet, but Mosca had heard the word "sell" through the bedroom door, and did NOT want to go back to her old way of life, which included no flying, unhappiness, no flying, and (did I mention?) no flying. She tried desperately to get away, zooming this way and that, until the Zafara was at the end of her rope. Mosca fluttered warily by a wall, and then Infiel had a plan. She acted as if she had given up, but then she hastily threw herself at the wall where Mosca was hovering. Infiel pinned her stunned Faellie against the wall. Mosca let out a squeal of pain. Infiel thought the Petpet was just surprised, but a closer look revealed that Mosca's left wing was crumpled.

     "Oh no," Infiel thought selfishly, "now no one will want to buy her!" But Mosca's thoughts were on a different track: how could she fly with one useless wing? "No one will notice," Infiel convinced herself and stuffed the Faellie into a box. The dejected Faellie sat in the corner of the dark box, as far away as she could from the crude air holes Infiel had poked into the lid. She whimpered. No flying... ever again...

     When Mosca awoke from her mournful sleep, she was in a cage with a sign on it. The sign read:

     Young, Heathy Faellie

     65,000 NP

     A Techo walked up.

     "65,000? A reasonable price for a Faellie. I'll take it."

     Infiel quickly grabbed the cash and stuffed the cage into the Techo's hands. When he wasn't looking, Infiel quickly scribbled "No Refunds" on the sign.

     Soon the Techo reached his Neohome. He carried the cage to a bedroom and set it on a bed, right next to a window. He gently took Mosca out of the cage. "Hmm. What happened to your wing? It's all broken. Ah, well. I guess I can just bring you to the Petpet Lab Ray. I'll keep zapping you until you are a Petpet without wings! That will fix the problem." The Techo walked out of the room, nodding and babbling like a lunatic.

     Becoming a Petpet without wings didn't fix Mosca's problem. And getting zapped at the Petpet Lab Ray by a maniac didn't appeal to the yellow Petpet, either. So Mosca climbed out of the open window and, feeling tired and depressed, the dismal Petpet lay in a hedge under the window and decided to rest there until night, when no one would see her leave.

     Soon she could hear the Techo come back into the room. "Hmm," she heard him say while scratching his head. "Where'd that cage come from?" He then left the room again. Mosca sighed and fell asleep. That night, she crawled across the street and trotted down the sidewalk, trying to think of a way to get her wing fixed.

     "Hey!" Mosca jumped and spun around to see a Mallard, an Angelpuss, and an Altachuck looking at her. Behind them loomed an ominous shadow. The silhouette towered above them and swooped down to grab Mosca. She squealed and twisted, and ended up looking into the concerned face of a blue Kacheek. "Hey," she repeated, "your wing is all twisted! Hmm, I think Mom will know what to do." The Kacheek carried Mosca carefully into her Neohome. She shook a person, softly calling, "Mom, Mom!" The lady rolled over and looked sleepily at the Kacheek.

     "What is it, Clase?" she asked. Then she saw Mosca. "Where'd you get that? A... Faellie? Those are expensive!"

     "I was letting Egoista's Angelpuss out, but then Tipo's Mallard and Bastante's Altachuck ran out, too. They all ran off and found this Faellie. And Mom, she's hurt! See, her wing!"

     Just then, a yellow Blumaroo with glasses entered the room. It was Clase's brother, Tipo.

     "What's going on? Wait, Clase, a Faellie? Those are expensive!"

     "She probably stole it," remarked Egoista nastily. Egoista was Clase's green Xweetok sister, who had also just entered the room.

     "I can't get my beauty sleep if you're all so loud!" announced Clase's red Uni sister, Bastante, who walked in right behind Egoista.

      "We'll do something about it in the morning," Mom declared. "Everyone back to bed."

     "You can sleep with me," Clase said softly as she carried Mosca to the room she shared with her sisters. "You know," Clase whispered, "none of my siblings or my mom really understand me. And I don't have a Petpet yet. So maybe, if we can't find your owner, we can keep you." Mosca didn't care one way or another.

     The next day, Clase got a healing potion from the Money Tree. "I don't know if this works on Petpet wings, but we'll give it a shot." She had Mom hold Mosca's jaws open while she cautiously poured a few drops into the Faellie's mouth.

     "Did it work?" asked Tipo, who was watching over his sister's shoulder. Clase gingerly prodded the wing. Mosca squealed in pain.

     "No." Clase sighed. "Now what? The Healing Springs?"

     "You could ask Bastante to fly you there." Mom suggested.

     "OK." Clase climbed up the stairs to find her sister while Mosca pushed open the Petpet flap on the door.

     She sat on the front walk, feeling sorry for herself, when the group of Pteris from the beginning of the story flew by. Clase came out, followed by a grumbling Bastante.

     "Thanks for doing this, Tante," Clase said seriously.

     "Whatever," Bastante replied, rolling her eyes.

     Soon they arrived at Faerieland. They soared across the clouds. Mosca tried to bask in the feeling of flight, but her own pessimism weighed her down.

     Clase walked cautiously up to the Healing Springs.

     "Welcome to my home of healing and relaxation. What can I do for you today? Maybe I can heal you, or perhaps you would like to purchase some of my healing potions?" the faerie asked kindly.

     "Actually," Clase began, "it's my Petpet. She has a broken wing, and I was wondering if you could fix it?" The Kacheek held Mosca out to the faerie.

     "Well," she said, "I only can restore health and cure diseases. I've never fixed a broken Faellie wing before."

     "Can you at least try?" Clase begged.

     "I will try," the faerie gently said as she took Mosca, whose hopes rose a bit.

     After a little while, the faerie shook her head. "I can stop any pain she might experience, but she'll never fly again."

     Mosca hung her head. Clase sadly took her back and hugged her. Mosca looked into the blue Neopet's eyes and realized that Clase really loved her, and, somewhere inside, Mosca realized she loved the sweet Kacheek too.

     Even if Mosca could never fly again, she had Clase.

The End

 
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