Gunza the Crybaby

      Gunza tried not to cry. That would only make them laugh at him more, the Grarrl knew. This had been going on for a while. The teasing and the laughing. Clutching his Baby Meerca Plushie to his chest, Gunza bit his lip and held back the rebellious tears.

      He had tried to be tough and cool like the other Grarrls in his grade. He was supposed to be one of the most feared Neopets, for Sloth's sake! But he just couldn't muster up the courage to bully an Acara out of her lunch money. Or push an Usul out of his way when he was walking down the hall. He had tried really hard to be mean, but he was just too nice.

      That was the problem. Grarrls aren't supposed to be nice. They aren't supposed to carry around Baby Meerca plushies or hide behind their tails and blush. Gunza did. They never said 'excuse me' or 'please' or apologize for bumping into people. Gunza did. They weren't shy or timid, meek or tedious. Gunza was. Grarrls did not smile at babies and walk old Neopets across the streets. But Gunza did. And they most definitely, with out a doubt and in all possibilities, did NOT sing.

      But Gunza did.

      "Aw! The little baby Chia's crying! Ha ha ha! What a crybaby! Crybaby! Crybaby!" the chant went on and on. Gunza buried his Darigan painted head into his plushie and sobbed hopelessly. He had begged his owner to paint him that way, in a forced effort to make him look scarier. But it didn't make him look any scarier. Just more ugly. Or so everyone else said.

      Gunza wrapped his tail around himself, hugging his plushie hard, tears leaking out of his miserable, yellow eyes. The other Neopets laughed harder. Oh, if only he could be brave and tough, he would show them! They wouldn't pick on him anymore, they wouldn't dare! But, with his wings drooping in defeat, Gunza realized he could never be brave enough to do anything right.

      Still crying, he ran out of the circle, pets parting the way quickly for him. No one wanted to touch a crybaby and get germs. And on top of that, Gunza was very clumsy. He stepped on people's feet without meaning to because his clawed paws were so big. His large tail and wings always got in the way, and he had the worst case of butterfingers his teachers had ever seen.

      Gunza ran all the way to his house, not stopping to catch his breath or rest the whole way. The taunts of the other pets rang in his ears. Clumsy oaf! Little Chia! Crybaby!

      Gunza didn't stop running until he was in his room, where he collapsed on his bed and buried himself in the blankets, trying to rid his mind of the jeering voices.

      But he knew they were right. He was just a crybaby. A worthless, little crybaby.

      A knock on his door brought him back from his thoughts. It was Cuvimee, his owner.

      "Gunza, sweetie? Are you ok?" She sounded concerned.

      "I'm fine, go away!" he called back to her, and then muffled his head under his pillow. He really didn't feel like talking about anything right now.

      "If you say so. I'll leave dinner outside your door, OK? Do your homework before you go to bed," she said through the door.

      Gunza heard her put the tray down and sighed in relief. Sitting up, he looked around the room, searching for his Christmas Faellie, Cukoo. Seeing her head pop up out of his dresser drawer, with her Christmas hat flopping down over her head made him laugh out loud. She hopped down and bounded over to him joyfully, glad that he was home.

      As Cukoo bathed his face with her little pink tongue, Gunza chucked and patted her on the head lovingly. He fetched a piece of string for her to play with, jiggling it in front of her face until she pounced on it and rolled onto her back, trying to catch the slippery thing between her paws.

      Playing with Cukoo always made the Darigan Grarrl feel better. His petpet was quite literally his only friend. Besides Cuvimee, of course. But he didn't think she really counted much.

      And then there was the singing. Gunza loved to sing. It was so peaceful and relaxing, he just couldn't help himself. Before he knew what he was doing, a song came bubbling from his mouth, and his deep, melodious voice echoed in his lonely room…

     "I found a baby bird,

     Laying in the gutter.

     Peeping for its mommy,

     I thought I heard it stutter.

     The little thing was defenseless,

     Against the rain all pelting down.

     So I gathered it in my small hands

     And saved it from the ground.

     I stroked it little feathers,

     Just like one always should.

     And I gave it a kiss on its beak,

     Just like its mommy would."

      After the last note faded, Gunza got up out of bed to do his homework, digging through his backpack to find his latest math problems. He hadn't gotten very far, and was on the fifth problem (If you picked six berries in Pick Your Own and discarded two of them, how many would you have left?) when he heard a sudden commotion outside. Since his window looked out over the street, he ran to it and threw open the curtains.

      On the street down below, a group of laughing Grarrls, big Grarrls, were pushing around a fragile looking Skunk Poogle. They had taken her backpack and were tossing its contents all over the road. They laughed as her papers and pens were scattered everywhere, but she just stood desolately in the center, not able to do anything against the bigger, tougher Neopets Then the names began.

      "Hey stinky! No one wants you around here!"

      "Go take a bath, you smell!"

      "Ha ha ha! Sloth, that reek is killing me!"

      In truth, the little Poogle smelled just as normally as everyone else. Her ears drooped more and more with every name. A single tear slide down her cheek.

      Terrified at what he was about to do, Gunza practically flew down the stairs and out his front door, almost tripping again over his big claws.

      "Hey! Leave her alone! She didn't do anything to you!" he said, panting and out of breath. With all the eyes of the bullies on him, he went to stand next to the Poogle, who looked up at him in surprise.

      "Well, if it isn't little crybaby Gunza!" Gunza inwardly groaned. He should have known this would happen. The crowd laughed hard, mocking and pointing. Gunza looked down in despair at the Poogle, trying to tell her it was hopeless to fight them. But then he suddenly found her eyes staring straight back into his. They were very pretty eyes, he noticed absently. And she herself was probably the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Her fathomless black eyes looked up at him with such adoration, such trust, that an odd new feeling burst up through his stomach.

      Quite abruptly, a powerful sensation filled his mind. They had no right. No right at all, to call her those things. And push her around. And then he realized; they had no right to do that to him either. They were just…just big, mean bullies! He declared this fiercely in his head. The knowledge lifted his heart faster than he ever thought possible.

      Filled with determination that made his yellow eyes gleam, Gunza brought his tail high in the air, bringing it down with a thunderous bang to the ground. And just as suddenly, everyone who had been laughing fell silent, staring at him due to his unexpected demand for their attention.

      A loud rumbling filled his chest, when he looked at them. Baring his teeth in a ferocious grin, Gunza let the growl expand into a roar, and the very ground shook with it. Well, technically it shook from all of the galloping Neopets They were running frantically as fast as they could away from him. Even the blue Skeith who had called him the names was scampering away quickly, his ugly face filled with fright.

      "I am Gunza!" he shouted joyfully after them. "Gunza the Crybaby, and don't you forget it!" Laughing and triumphant, he looked down at the Poogle once again.

      Suddenly he was enveloped in a hug. The black and white neopet really did smell good; he noticed absentmindedly, as his nose was now buried in her fur. Stepping back quickly, they both blushed a bright red.

      "That was really brave of you," she said shyly. Her voice was very soft and quiet. Gunza liked her voice a lot. It was a good singing voice. "Thank you very much for standing up for me," she added, her eyes shining.

      "Oh. Um…it was…um…no problem. Ahem. I mean your w-welcome," he stuttered, making her giggle. Blushing even more, he helped her gather up her strewn possessions and put them back in her bag.

      "My name is Tainlua, but you can call me Tay, if you want," she said timidly.

      He beamed at her in reply.

      "My name is Gunza. Gunza the Crybaby. But you can call me Gunza for short," he said, winking at her. She laughed again. Gunza liked to hear her laugh.

      "Want to…uh…maybe come to my house and…er…hang out? Just for a while?" He dared to venture. "We could have dinner and…I could w-walk you home afterwards."

      She blessed him with a smile full of elation. "I would love that," she replied.

End.