Come dance with the Wanderers... Circulation: 171,760,959 Issue: 398 | 26th day of Relaxing, Y11
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Honorary Faerie


by ju_ju_beans220

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"Od! Od! Did you hear? Did you hear?" My little sister Anna stormed into my room, her cheeks aflame with excitement as she wagged the latest issue of the Neopian Times in my face.

     Now, I'm a Pea Chia, so you can imagine how that felt. It felt like I was attempting to swim in a sea of books.

     "Anna! Stop!" Her tail was going crazy, wagging a mile a minute, knocking over several of my valuables and furniture in the process. Her Baby Mynci face stopped grinning. I sighed.

     "What's wrong? Why are you so crazy-looking?" I demanded as kindly as possible, waddling over to pick up the blanket, wary of Anna's tail.

     "Because!" She got her spunk back, shaking the inky papers all over me until I was sure I resembled the Black Pteri more than a Pea.

     "Anna!" I yelled, just loud enough to catch her attention. "Can you explain without knocking everything over?" I asked, squeaking slightly.

     Anna reached down and scooped me into the palm of her hand, skipping into the kitchen.

     "Well, isn't someone happy?" Ju Ju, our owner, asked us, noticing Anna's happy-go-lucky expression with an amused smile.

     She was straightening a picture, the family portrait that we had taken a year ago. A Baby Mynci, Pea Chia, blue Cybunny, and our owner, beaming. The Cybunny was our sister, Niyza, who was probably still asleep.

     "Ju Ju! You have to let me go!" Anna climbed into a chair and widened her brown eyes, her tail returning to its bouncy mode. I quickly slid down her tail and sat in my usual box that was my private kitchen.

     "If you let me see, maybe I'll let you go." Ju Ju grinned, taking the smudged article from Anna. "You want to go Poogle Racing?" she asked quizzically.

     "No! Next page!" Anna cried out in joy. Her tail began smacking the tile floor, and we didn't notice until we heard a loud thump and a cry of pain.

     "You know, before you go into helicopter mode, could you at least inform me?" Niyza, our sister, informed us.

     "Oops. Sorry, Niy. I'm just so excited!" Anna squealed, her eyes blazing with ideas.

     Now I had been awake for approximately fifteen minutes, and I was starting to get a little tired of Anna not telling us anything. Niyza seemed to echo my feelings.

     "What's your issue, Anna Banana?" Niyza asked, her Cybunny ears prowling the shelf for candies.

     Ju Ju gave her a warning glance and Niyza returned to her cereal, watching Anna intently.

     "I'm in a contest," Anna declared, standing on top of a chair in order to emphasize her claim.

     "For what? Most dramatic pet ever?" Niyza scoffed, smoothing her perfect purple pajamas. She had designed them herself and ordered them to be made.

     "No. For Honorary Faerie," she screeched a few times and hopped around the room. I just stared blankly into space.

     "And that is..." I took my breakfast and asked.

     "It's a contest. Name why you love Faerieland and you get to spend the entire day with the entire Faerie crew."

     Niyza perked up. "Even Illusen?" she gasped, holding her clasped paws under her chin. She raced upstairs, got ready, and was back downstairs before Ju Ju even answered.

     Anna frowned. Or rather, her entire body drooped as if she had come down with the Sneezles. "But-but, I'm running for this," she whined.

     The entire house seemed to go silent. Even my Gruslen, Tony, stopped hounding Ju Ju for some cookies to glance upward. Kiwi, Anna's sticky albeit lovable Quadrapus, slithered over and echoed everyone's feelings with one single, monotonous "Durp."

     "But, Ju Ju...If I won, I could meet Illusen!" Niyza danced around, her "I Love Illusen" shirt putting a final bullet point at the end of her statement.

     "But Ju Ju, I've been excited about this since this morning! And I'd get to meet Fyora!" Anna protested, her dark eyes watering with the prospect of not being able to run.

     "But!" both of them complained simultaneously.

     "I'll tell you what." Ju Ju hugged them both. "You can both try to win. I'll go buy another Neopian Times to get the second submission form."

     She put her coat on and left. There was a second of silence before the complaints and the blames began.

     "YOU ALWAYS GET EVERYTHING!" Niyza yelled at Anna, her face getting red and her bow drooping.

     "I WANTED THIS MORE THAN YOU, YOU COPYCAT!" Anna hurtled back, her eyes hardening.

     "Guys. Come on, you guys love each other-"

     "Od, be quiet!" Anna growled, her face turning crimson from the yelling that Niyza was doing.

     "I'm going to win! I'll show you!" Niyza yelled, picking up her paper and pens and storming off to her room.

     "Not if I win first!" Anna retorted, huffing and making a show.

     I merely bit into a piece of baguette and closed my eyes.

     Who would win?

     Anna with her blatantness and her adorable, chirpy personality was sure to impress the judges. But then again, Niyza's creative and sweet personality, especially her lack of drama and clear honesty, could charm anyone.

     All I could say was: I was glad that I wasn't a judge.

     The rest of the afternoon was quiet. All I could hear was the scribbling sound of pens along paper, paper being crumpled, haughty murmurs and growls under peoples's breaths, and Ju Ju sighing about how she wished that this contest would improve our family, not destroy it.

     Anna and Niyza raced to the mailbox, trying to shove their letters in first. I never knew who won, since it was a nose-to-nose match and each was trying to claim that she was, in fact, the winner.

     "I hope they would both win," Ju Ju muttered, sighing as dinner ended and the girls haughtily retreated to their separate rooms.

     "Me too." I sighed. I wouldn't want to hear the complaints if one of them won.

     The rest of the week was spent in uncanny and strange silence, minus Ju Ju's attempts to make conversation and me sneezing.

     But besides that, it was horribly silent.

     One day, after returning from the bakery to buy some cookies, I realized that there were two letters from Faerieland. My heart stopped for a second as I gulped. I realized that this letter would contain the fate for the house for at least a few weeks.

     I pointed the letters out to Ju Ju, who gave me a tense smile.

     For the first time in weeks, my family sat together on the couch, although Anna and Niy looked more pained than ever.

     "Now. I love you both, whether you got in or you didn't," Ju Ju soothed, handing over the letters.

     Anna opened hers with her teeth, and Niyza with one sharp nail. They both scurried to read the first few lines, when suddenly, Anna cleared her throat.

     "Well, I didn't make it," she said, her voice cracking oddly. My heart panged as I glanced over at Niyza.

     "Of course I didn't make it either," Niyza said, her voice oddly calm.

     She crumpled up her piece of paper and then threw it in the trash can in the living room.

     "Anna, I'm sorry," Niyza said, softly. "I was acting really silly."

     "I'm really sorry too, Niy," Anna said gently, throwing her arms around her older sister.

     "I'm sorry, both of you." Ju Ju and I entered this hug.

     And for a second, everything was peaceful and calm.

     "I'll be in my room. Anna, I'll paint your nails," Niyza suggested, to which Anna agreed.

     Ju Ju picked up Anna's letter and sadly ran her finger over Fyora's purple script. She showed it to me. Then, she picked up Niyza's letter and uncrumpled it.

     "Oh my gosh..." Ju Ju said, speechless.

     "What's wrong?" I asked, surprised.

     She showed me the letter.

     Niyza had won.

     Niyza had gotten the position after all and given it up, preferring her little sister to the fame and marvel that was meeting her hero.

     It was at that moment that I realized what an amazing family I really had.

The End

These are all my pets! I'd like to thank TNT for letting me publish this story, as well as my best friend Suga. Thanks!

 
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