The Jelly Kindness Campaign

      I might as well tell you now - but please, do not cringe. My name is GizzmoKitty, and I am a rare jelly Aisha. Despite unjust superstitions, I am a friendly personality, one who enjoys yooyuball, loves to visit the fantastic world of Faerieland, and harbors a chronic fear of toast. Regrettably, the vast majority of Neopians merely glance at my blue translucent skin, and fail to see the kind soul inside.

      Of course, we all know that Jelly World doesn't exist. I may be a jelly neopet, but my brain has not turned to mush! I personally believe that such an obviously fake location was invented as a scary story for Jellies like myself. Rumor has it that the mythical Jelly World contains a location that gives out free jelly for neopets to snack on. I promise you, nobody finds the idea of edible jelly more appalling than yours truly. It gives me great comfort to know that such a place only exists in my nightmares. Now that we've gotten this trivial matter taken care of, I'd like to cut to the chase: even though we have arisen from no particular land of Neopia, jelly neopets absolutely exist.

      It is quite a cruel world out there for us Jellies. Neopians these days are immensely fond of those helpless, drooling baby neopets, but refuse to acknowledge Jelly neopets such as myself, simply because we are falsely attributed to a nonexistent location. Surely, Neopians think, because Jelly World does not exist, jelly neopets cannot exist either! These people are misguided and naïve to the point of sheer stupidity. Jellies are just like any other lab ray food type, really. All of us are real, unique, and absolutely under no circumstances edible (So you there, licking your lips. Yes, you. Stop that.).

      If you had met me a few years back, you would have never had to question my legitimacy - I did not always have to worry about being brushed aside or chewed on by my fellow Neopians. I was born a cheerful blue Aisha. As a young neopet, I enjoyed dancing in flowery meadows, frolicking around the then-airborne Faerieland, and gorging myself on chocolate ice cream. Though adulthood was still a distant blip on the horizon, I dreamt of growing up to be a beautiful faerie Aisha with a quaint cottage near the Healing Springs. I had a group of amazing Neopian companions, who I thought would remain by my side throughout my lifetime. I was the definition of carefree, happy, and relaxed.

      All of this changed when my owner purchased a rather expensive map for herself. I can still remember that day as if it just occurred. She skipped her way into our neohome, whistling and grinning like a Poogle race winner. The lady's usually quite the cynical type, so her elation put me a bit on edge, to say the least. My apprehension turned to confusion when she arranged nine pictures on our giant coffee table and turned to stare at me.

      "Err... that's quite an easy puzzle?" I questioned, padding forward to stare at the tropical scene of an ocean and some island shores. But no, she explained, laughing all the while. The nine images spread before me combined to form much more than a simple puzzle. I was staring at none other than the secret laboratory map, used to unlock access to a mad scientist's lab ray. And this particular map held my fate in its deep blue sea.

      Though hesitant, I agreed to be my owner's first lab pet after a long period of consideration. Okay, that is a lie – once I discovered that it could potentially turn me into a faerie Neopian, I didn't even bother to put up a fight. It was all fun and games for a while. At my daily lab ray treatments I gained a few battledome stats and turned into quite a few beautiful colors. When, at long last, I was blessedly zapped into a faerie Aisha, I was absolutely sure that the secret laboratory was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I could fly! I could soar! I spent hours zooming around Faerieland, skimming over clouds and admiring the breathtaking castle architecture. It never occurred to me that the laboratory ray would betray me with a different color. But betray me it did, as a month layer I was transformed from a beautiful faerie to a blue jelly blob.

      The repercussions of my transformation were both swift and unforgiving. Friends I had played with days before either completely ignored me or tried to convince themselves that my presence was a hallucination. I began to withdraw from the world, just as the world had withdrawn from me. At a low point, when I was starving, I even chewed on one of my own ears. However, even as all this was happening, there was still one person who loved my new color: my owner. She constantly told me how much she loved my appearance, and, with her help, I slowly adjusted to my new self. I learned to avoid hungry Skeiths, as they seemed to scamper after me no matter how many times I declared that my ear had tasted horrible. I joined a support group for other food and fruit type pets who shared many of my problems. And finally, I began to love my jelly exterior for the unique color that it is. Though I will always treasure my time as a faerie, it is my time as a jelly pet that has made me the Neopian I am today. I have learned to accept myself. It is time for the rest of Neopia to drop their stigma and catch up.

      So please, the next time you happen upon a jelly neopet, greet them with a warm smile and a nice "Hello." Ask them how their day was, or volunteer to join the jelly pet petition to E.A.T., or Eradicate All Toast (Just be careful how you word that. Coming up to one of us and declaring that you would like to E.A.T. would not go over well.). Whatever you do, please remember that your kindness, or lack thereof, could either make or break a sweet jelly neopet's day. So, fellow Neopians, I implore you to opt for kindness. For those of us fortunate enough to have been zapped jelly are quite like any other Neopian - just a bit little more jiggly.

The End