Home: a Lupe's Story

     This didn't turn out too well. Whenever she called for me for dinner I never went down to eat. When she asked me if I wanted to go for a walk, I walked the other way.

     This was a bad choice. Weeks after I started this, she seemed different. She was talking to Snowball more and more. Finally I decided to listen to what she was telling the Kougra. "Snowball, I'm still worried about her. She won't even look at me now. What am I doing wrong? Do you think she hates me about not paying all my attention to her?" She sounded worried. About me. I immediately wanted to run into there and tell I was sorry. Sorry about everything I did to her when Snowball first arrived. Then I heard footsteps coming from that same door I was hiding behind.

      I ran all the way to my room as fast as a Kyrii. Then Lucy opened the door. "Crystal. Do you want to go for a walk?" I was so happy. I haven't been out for a walk in so long. I ran straight to her faster then you could say mutant Gelert. When we got outside we walked straight to Neopia Central. We stopped at the food shop and bought a great sandwich which I wolfed down. Then we walked to the soup kitchen. There I greeted the soup faerie and ate till I couldn't eat another bite. Then when we stopped at a tall white building I thought this was a new store. Boy was I wrong. We walked in there. When I looked around, I saw three doors: one pink one, one a shiny grey color, and the last one a deep shade of blue. We walked into the blue one. Lucy had tears streaming down her face as she walked towards a mean looking Techo with messy white hair. The Techo started asking questions about me like name and stuff. Finally she handed me to him along with a bag of neopoints. She was sobbing while walking out of the room. Was I the one that had made her cry? I jumped before the mean old Techo could get me and ran.

      I ran and ran and ran. I ran till I passed a large forest filled with many spooky things, even getting chased by a ghost Chia. I continued till I was at Kiko lake. A place Lucy and I have visited plenty of times. Soon I grew tired and had to stop. I looked for the closest place to sleep. All I found was an old soggy cardboard box. Close enough, I thought. I collapsed there in the wet, cold hard box where I fell into a fitful sleep. A sleep filled with terrible dreams.

     I dreamed of Lucy and Snowball. They were having the greatest time of their lives it seemed. Was it because I was gone now? I woke up crying. Was it true? Were they glad I was gone? Why did I ever think of ignoring Lucy? I loved her. She loved me. The next thing I knew I was crying. I went back to sleep. This time I dreamed of her getting me again telling me that I was a worthless Lupe. I woke up crying again. I couldn't sleep the rest of the day. I was sad. I felt sick. Sick with the neoblues.

     I wandered the streets digging through trash cans to find any food I could. A couple times I managed to find an old copy of the Neopian Times to see the date. Almost every night I went to bed starving. Finding places to sleep was hard. At night the temperatures dropped. The leaves on the trees started to change colors from a vivid green to a pale orange or yellow or dark red. When they began to fall off the temperature began to fall, every night getting colder till soon there was frost covering the grass when I woke up. I didn't like this. I was used to being cuddled up to Lucy by the fire when it was like this. When the temperature got lower it rained less. Instead the snow fell. The gentle snowing turned into icy cold blizzards which felt worse then getting blasted by the Snowager. As time went on, more shoppers were out now, buying gifts for their pets.

     It was near Christmas now. Temperatures below zero. I nearly froze out there. Soon I found myself in a familiar place. It had a row of neohomes all lined up. All of them had lights on. Happy pets with their owners. It must be Christmas Eve. Everyone was with their family. Everyone but me. I walked down the snow covered streets. A few minutes after I started walking it started to snow, harder than it ever had before. I was cold and thought back to Lucy and Snowball. They were probably inside enjoying the fire and having a great time opening presents. Before I noticed, I hit a door. Falling back I saw the neohome. It all seemed familiar here. It seemed like I had been here before. The whole neighborhood seemed familiar. The wind blew hard, making me shiver more than ever. I was interrupted from my thoughts by what happened next. I was surprised as the door began to open. Someone was slowly opening it. I smelled gingerbread. One of my favorite treats I used to eat all the time with Lucy during Christmas. This made me tear up just at the thought.

     When it was fully opened I saw who was there. "LUCY. SNOW BALL?" I yelped loud, surprised to see Lucy and Snowball.

     "CRYSTAL! IS IT REALLY YOU? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN WE WERE WORRIED SICK WHEN WE HEARD YOU RAN AWAY FROM THE POUND! QUICKLY COME INSIDE. YOU MUST BE FREEZING" Lucy immediately started when she saw me. I was brought inside, then pulled into a hug. I didn't feel sad now. My neoblues cured. Cured by the happiness I felt now. I was home. Home with my family at last.

The End