A Sibling Story

      "Isn't it lovely?" she gushed. "Her name is Stellania. She's adorable, isn't she? I bought the paint brush a long time ago, put it in my safety deposit box, and completely forgot about it! I found it a couple days ago, and decided to adopt another pet! Isn't it a lovely surprise?"

     Amiaxa blinked.

      "Yeah," she said, "it's great. Did you get any food?"

      "Just some omelette," replied her owner. "I got a lot of milk as well--for you and Stellania."

     Stellania was bouncing around the room, absolutely full of energy. She looked extremely happy.

      "Big sistew!" she said, pointing at Amiaxa. "Big sistew!"

     Stellania ran up to Amiaxa and gave her a big hug. Amiaxa had to smile, even though she wasn't sure about this new-sibling thing. It could be okay, she thought, but it could be horrible.....

    ***

      Amiaxa pulled her new Usuki away from Stellania for what seemed like the millionth time.

      "No, Stellania!" she said. "This is mine."

     Stellania just stared.

      "Amiaxa!" called her owner. "I need to go to the auction house for a little bit, and you're going to have to watch Stellania. Give her some milk and baby food at dinnertime, and there's some omelette and soup in the fridge for you."

      "Okay," said Amiaxa.

     Stellania ran to say goodbye to her mother and then she ran back to her sister.

      "Play!" she said. "Play!"

      "Not now, Stellania," said Amiaxa. "I'm going to be writing my Neopian Times submission, so sit down and play quietly."

     Stellania sat down on the rug in front of the fire, but in a moment she was chasing her little tail and tumbling all over the place. Amiaxa was brought back to earth from her short story when there was a loud CRASH.

      "What did you do?!?" asked Amiaxa.

     A vase was lying broken on the ground and Stellania was meekly walking away from it with her ears down.

      "How could you?" asked Amiaxa. "Come on, you're going in your playpen. Come on."

      "Play wi' me!" said Stellania. "Play pwushie! Pway Usuki!"

      "I'm busy," said Amiaxa. "Here are your plushies."

     Stellania played quietly with her plushies while Amiaxa cleaned up the vase and got out dinner.

      "Dinner, Stellania!" called Amiaxa. "Stellania! Come and eat dinner!:

     Stellania didn't come.

     "Help!" came her little voice. "Help me!"

     Amiaxa rushed into the living room. Stellania was playing with her plushies. She was making the blue Shoyru run away from the green Shoyru.

      "Hi sistew!" she said brightly when she saw Amiaxa. "My Shoyrus are fiwting! The bwue one is scawed."

      "Stellania!" scolded Amiaxa. "I thought you were really in trouble! Don't do that again."

      "Okay, sistew."

     The two girls sat down and had dinner together.

      "Stellania, don't spill your milk," warned Amiaxa. "Stellania! You've got baby food all down your front! Here, let me clean it up."

     When their owner came home, she had two shopping bags with her.

      "I bought you two some Usukis and plushies!" she said. "My auctions went really well. Now you two have to share these toys, okay?"

     The girls nodded. Amiaxa then sat down and wrote more of her short story as her owner and her new sister played with the toys. She knew that she should love her new sister, but it was very hard. Her sister got most of the attention from her owner, and Amiaxa was expected to take care of her all the time. It was so very frustrating....

    ***

      "I can't babysit her again!" wailed Amiaxa. "I need to finish my submission!"

      "I'm sorry, Amiaxa," said her owner gently. "You have to get used to it. And I really need to go and take care of the shop!"

      "Okay, I guess," said Amiaxa bitterly. "But I'll never get my article done."

     Her owner left Amiaxa to babysit yet again. Amiaxa hadn't been out of the house to have fun with her owner in a week, ever since Stellania came. But Stellania definitely had. She'd been taken all over Neopia. It just wasn't fair. The hours that her owner was gone dragged by, and Amiaxa finally put Stellania in her bed and wondered what would become of herself. Her owner never did anything with her. She was so very sick of it. When her owner came home, she went straight to bed, not wanting to look at her owner or her sister. The next day, it was all about Stellania. Her owner played with Stellania the whole morning, and Amiaxa had to make her own breakfast. Amiaxa also had to make her own lunch, because her owner was too busy feeding Stellania. She had to have omelette again, a regular meal ever since Stellania entered the family. In the afternoon, her owner took Stellania to meet some other baby neopets, and Amiaxa was left alone.

      "I can't take it anymore!" she said to herself. "I'm leaving! I'm leaving now!"

     Amiaxa packed her things in a suitcase, and grabbed the remains of lunch and packed them as well. Then she ran out into the snow. She ran down the street, running as fast as she could, hoping she would reach the pound. She knew it was a stupid thing to do, but something in her mind was telling her that her owner didn't love her anymore, and that she had to be adopted by somebody else. She ran and ran and ran, and snowflakes flew into her eyes, obscuring her vision, but she didn't care. She didn't care at all. All she cared about was getting away from her owner. Suddenly, she ran into something hard and cold. It was a lamp post, but she didn't know it. It knocked her out, right in front of the pound.

     ***

     "We should take her into one of the cages," said a voice.

      "No, no, she belongs to somebody, we just have to figure out who..." said another voice. "Ah, she's awake. Sweetie, what's your name?"

     Amiaxa saw a pink Uni and a green Techo standing above her. She was lying down on the floor of the pound.

      "I'm-I'm Amiaxa," she said.

      "Alright, dear," said the Uni. "Who's your owner?"

      "Her-her username is EmeraldsShine22," said Amiaxa.

     Amiaxa felt she would do anything to be back with her owner now. She wanted her owner, and she even wanted Stellania. She closed her eyes as the Uni neomailed her owner.

      "She'll be right over, dear," said the Uni. "Sounds like she was worried sick about you."

     Amiaxa's owner walked in the door a few minutes later with Stellania.

      "Oh, Amiaxa!" she said, rushing over to Amiaxa and hugging her. "You poor dear! I've been so worried about you! What happened to you?"

      "I wanted to run away," said Amiaxa. "I don't anymore, though."

      "Oh, Amiaxa, I know I've been paying a lot of attention to Stellania, but that certainly doesn't mean I don't love you! I love you very much."

      "Big sistew!" said Stellania, running over to Amiaxa. "I wove you, big sister."

      "I love you too," said Amiaxa, hugging Stellania and wondering why she ever left her home.

    ***

      Amiaxa picked up the Pteri plushie and flew it into the air.

      "Stellania, that blue Shoyru had better watch out!" she said.

      "Run, Maxine!" said Stellania. She giggled. Amiaxa smiled at her. She loved playing with her little sister now.

      "Uh oh, the volcano is exploding!" yelled Stellania.

      "The Fire Faerie Usuki will save the day!" said Amiaxa.

      "Lunchtime!" called their owner.

      "Coming!" they both called.

     They ran into the kitchen and happily ate together, rejoicing over Amiaxa's third story in the Neopian Times and planning the rest of their day. Amiaxa and Stellania love each other to this day. Sure they have their fights, but everybody does. Stellania even helps Amiaxa write her stories for the times. They make a very good pair, and they love doing just about everything together now.

The End