Lost and Found

     I sighed as I drifted along. The sun was warm at my back, and down below, all the neopets scurrying along looked so tiny, so adorable. I smiled. This was truly the life. The sun was warm, I was happy, my brothers were beside me, taking care of me, and there was nothing else to do, so I just closed my eyes, breathed deeply...

     ~*~

     When I woke up, the view below was different. Before I fell asleep, I saw swarms of petpetpet sized Neopets running around a store with a brown roof, and a large pool with a rainbow coming out of it. Now? It was different.

     Underneath me was a lot more grass than I was accustomed to. And not nearly as many of those comforting, ever-busy Neopets, although there were still some. These were dressed in plain brownish-gray sacks, and some had shiny things my brothers called tools. They told me those Neopets were gardening. This would give them “food” to survive. I looked up at my brothers. “Do I need food to survive?”

     “No, dear.” They smiled at me.

     I looked down again, this time to stare at the different-looking buildings. The rooftops were made of materials cheerful shades of brown and red, and buildings were of some sort of white material. Or of flimsy-looking brown stuff. My brothers told me it was “mud.” Something about that word made me feel uncomfortable.

     “And well it should,” they said. “Mud is dirty. And dirty isn’t good.”

     I stared at them somberly, and then smiled my acceptance.

     I sighed as I drifted, the sun at my back, and the few Neopets working below. With the sun at my back, my brothers by my side, and nothing to do, I closed my eyes again.

     ~*~

     This time when I opened my eyes, I had expected there to be something different. At first, the differences weren’t too obvious. There were still some of those “mud” houses, and a similar number of Neopets as the previous location. But the roofs... The roofs were the color of the grass and the sun. It was a very pretty place.

     These Neopians also were different. There weren’t many brown-gray clothes. Instead, they almost blended in, wearing similar colors to the grass and the roof. It was a lot of fun, seeing if I could spot the Neopets despite their camouflage. The few that I was able to see clearly had something white in their hands.

     My brothers told me they were “studying.”

     “Can we stay here?” I asked my brothers plaintively.

     “No, dear,” my oldest replied with a slightly sad smile. “We need to move on.”

     “We might come back, though,” my other brother said.

     “And besides, there’s so much more you haven’t seen!”

     I blinked contentedly.

     I sighed as I drifted, the sun at my back, my brothers with me, and the Neopets studying below.

     ~*~

     A burst of cold wind this time woke me up. I stared down below, and grinned with glee. It was so sparkly! There were tall, beautiful green trees, but no grass. Neopets laughed, giggled, and skipped. Others had little balls of white stuff and were pelting them at each other.

     “Snowball fights,” my brothers explained, clearly amused at my fascination.

     I swooped down slightly for a closer look. Not close enough to see everything at normal size, but close enough to see clearly. Everyone was so cheerful! Snow, the white stuff, was literally everywhere. Neopets were even eating the stuff!

     I approached the end of the valley, and the wind assisted in moving me towards my brothers. The mountain then began to climb. I squealed my delight as the wind gave us all a large push up the side of the mountain. I smiled at my two brothers, and they smiled at me.

     Contented, I sighed as I drifted along. My brothers were beside me, the sun was on my back, and the Neopets cheerfully played below as I closed my eyes.

     ~*~

     This time, I woke up because the sun was gone. I couldn’t see below me; it was too dark. No, that wasn’t quite true. I was seeing what was below me. It was darkness that I was seeing. Dark, scary trees. They weren’t at all like the snow-covered trees of the previous place. They clawed towards me, trying to rip me apart.

     A bright sudden burst of light ripped across the sky, followed immediately by a loud noise. I looked towards my brothers for reassurance, but, where were they? My brothers! Were they gone?

     Fully awake now, like I never was before, my eyes zipped in every direction, trying to see where I could not. The sun was nowhere to be seen, and around me, strong giants seemed to be trying to tear each other apart. One looked like it might have been my brother, but it was really dark. And huger. Bursts of light similar to the one I’d seen earlier, and a noise so loud it hurt seemed to be coming from it.

     The wind here, too, was not at all kind. Whereas even the cold wind had been gentle, this one, like the trees below, was fierce. It whipped me this way and that; I could no longer keep myself in remotely the same place.

     Finally, I found one stream of wind that seemed to be going in the one direction I wanted to go: away. I successful caught ahold of it, and moved myself as quickly as I could with it.

     As I left, I thought I heard my brother call my name, but as I turned, all I saw were the giants fighting with each other, two of them fighting with greater desperation.

     Was it possible? Yes, it seemed it was. Those two giants really were my brothers, but changed. They had left me, to fight with others of our kind. All the giants in the area spouted the bursts of light, but I was quickly going away from that area, and I could no longer see. I tried to go back, but the wind kept pushing me onward.

     Suddenly I regretted my rash decision to jump aboard some random wind-stream. All I wanted to do was turn back and find my brothers again, but it was too late.

     I felt my color change, and I slowly started to cry.

     I cried as I drifted along. My brothers were no longer with me, there were no Neopets to watch, and the sun was not at my back. Despite this, I closed my eyes.

     ~*~

     This time, I waited to open my eyes when I woke up. I could tell the sun was at my back again. Oh, I hoped that all I thought I’d been through was just a dream! Slowly, hesitantly, I opened my eyes.

     I gasped.

     My brothers were not there, but underneath me were other clouds, just like me! I felt my eyes go huge as I started to look around. I was in a city. Not floating above one, I was in one. The color was a gorgeous purple-lilac. The sun was always shining. And the Neopets...

     When I was up above, I hadn’t realized how huge they were. I tried to shrink away, and successfully managed to float up to a little above the height of their heads.

     But soon, the mysticalness of my surroundings began to wear off. I realized again that I was alone. My brothers had left me, and I had no clue where I was.

     I began to cry again.

     ~*~

     I had not cried very long, however, before I felt a gentle touch in my mind. I opened my eyes, and standing below me was a creature like I’d never seen before. It was tall, and very, very pretty. Its hair was gold, its eyes blue. And it was talking to me in my mind.

     “What’s the matter, little one?” it said. Its voice was soft, but high. It was a sweet, soothing voice.

     “I’ve lost my way and my family,” I sniffled back.

     “Oh, my poor dear. Here.” Much to my surprise, a hand actually reached out and touched me, pulled me toward it. “I’ll take care of you,” the voice whispered to me, and snuggled me closer. This being must have had some sort of magic; my brothers had said that only magical beings could touch clouds. I snuggled back.

     “What’s your name, sweetheart?” the voice asked me again.

     Still sniffling, but starting to think about smiling, I replied.

     “Cirrus.”

The End