The Wish Faerie

      A red Xweetok pushed her way through the crowds of people and the nasty ghosts at the Money Tree with a simple fur cape around her shoulders. She looked among the piles of junk to find anything of use to herself - Katalynina or her brother, a blue Acara named Shinoshin. Katalynina and Shinoshin were abandoned Neopets, but they weren't abandoned at the Pound. Their previous owner didn't want to pay the fee to put them in there so she just left them on the street and sold their Neohome, leaving the two of them to fend for themselves. Katalynina had managed to take care of them both so far, taking responsibility as the elder sister but she didn't go out too often or even allowed Shinoshin to leave the alley in the Neopia Central Marketplace they called home with all the abandoned shops without her. They both feared going to the Pound. They didn't want to be separated as they surely would be if anyone were aware that they had been abandoned. So whenever Katalynina went out, she tried to look cared for by using whatever she got from the Money Tree. After managing to grab a few items, including a Blue Ixi Plushie she was sure Shinoshin would like, she quickly put them in a backpack she had managed to grab before anyone else could on a previous visit to the Money Tree and trekked back towards the Marketplace.

      Katalynina came back to an alley lined with dumpsters and in the middle of them was a shelter made of boxes, tarpaulin and other stuff that no one else would want. This was hers and Shinoshin's home. Katalynina was never proud of how they lived, wishing she could do better for the sake of her little brother, but it was necessary for their survival out on the streets.

      "Shino, I'm back." Katalynina said as she ducked inside of their makeshift shelter.

      "Hi Kata! What did you bring back today?" Shinoshin said, his eyes lighting up as he saw her. Katalynina smiled and brought out the Blue Ixi Plushie she had got for him.

      "Look Shino! I got this for you and it's not even a little ripped." Katalynina said.

      "Oh wow! Thank you, Kata!" Shinoshin said excitedly as he took the plushie from Katalynina and hugged it. Most toys she got from the Money were broken or ripped, so the fact she gotten one that was in good condition was a big deal to Shinoshin. Even though Shinoshin was a lot more grown up than most other Neopets his age because of the lifestyle he and Katalynina had, he still loved toys of any kind. "This is great!" He said happily. Then Shinoshin's stomach growled and he looked to Katalynina. "Kata, did you manage to get something to eat today?" Shinoshin asked her, looking hopeful. Katalynina smiled at him and got out a whole bacon omelette.

      "Here you go, Shino," Katalynina said. "It's all for you."

      Katalynina got out another whole bacon omelette as Shino took the first from her and chomped on it eagerly. She sadly watched him eat while she got started on her own. Things were always like this for both of them. While the Soup Kitchen wasn't too far away from where they sheltered, they feared going there as hundreds of pets visited here and the risk of discovery was too great. They also weren't sure if the Soup Faerie would leave them how they were or call the Pound believing that she was helping them. It wasn't a risk either of them wanted to take so food from the Money Tree was all they had and Katalynina tried hard to provide for both of them. But for now, this was all she and Shinoshin could do for themselves unless a miracle happened.

      After the two had finished eating, Shinoshin begged Katalynina to take him to the Wishing Well.

      "Why do you want to go there, Shino? You know that we have no Neopoints to throw into it." Katalynina said. And even if we did, I wouldn't waste it on the Wishing Well, Katalynina thought privately to herself.

      "Because I heard that the Wish Faerie lives near the Wishing Well!" Shinoshin said. Katalynina sighed, Shinoshin had wanted to go to the Wishing Well every day now for weeks because he had heard of a fable called the Wish Faerie. The fable of the Wish Faerie stated that a powerful Faerie that could grant wishes lived near the Wishing Well and if someone wished fervently for something they truly needed near her home, she would go and grant if for them without them needing to throw any Neopoints into the well. Shinoshin believed this Wish Faerie existed and could fix their problem of poverty while Katalynina was far more skeptical and simply couldn't believe any of their problems would be solved by wishing. However, she couldn't quite bring herself to try and convince Shinoshin that she probably didn't exist. Her brother as rarely as full of hope as he was when he had first heard of the Wish Faerie.

      "Alright, little brother. Let's get going, we don't want to be out too long." Katalynina relented. Shinoshin gave Katalynina an all too familiar look, it was a superior look he always had on when he got his way. Katalynina grabbed Shinoshin's hand and walked from the Marketplace to the Neopian Plaza, where the Wishing Well lay. As soon and Katalynina let go of his hand, Shinoshin went running right up to the Wishing Well. He closed his eyes and made his wish.

      "I wish, I wish for happiness for my sister and me!" He said fervently. Katalynina frowned sadly, if only she could grant his wish. She was suddenly compelled to add her own wish to Shinoshin's. It couldn't hurt to make one wish, I guess. Katalynina figured. She closed her own eyes to make her wish.

      "Oh, Wish Faerie. If you truly exist, I wish for you to grant my brother's wish. Or to at least make sure he finds happiness. Life has been hard for both of us, but even more so for my brother. So please, grant this wish." Katalynina wished quietly and just as fervent as Shinoshin. Then she called to Shinoshin, saying it was time to go.

      Later that night, Katalynina awoke and was not sure what had awakened her until she heard a faint tinkling sound. Then in a flash of soft light, a Light Faerie appeared before Katalynina, but it wasn't like any Light Faerie she had seen before in Faerielamd when their old owner was still with them. She had golden hair, light skin and yellow butterfly-like wings like all other Light Faeries, but her eyes were a soft sky blue and her dress was coloured in powder-blue and moonlight-yellow.

      "W-who are you?" Katalynina breathed, sure she was dreaming.

      "My name is Mina. I am the Wish Faeire." Mina said in a soft voice.

      "Then you're not just a fable?" Katalynina asked. Mina smiled softly, like everything else about her.

      "I am as real as you and your little brother, Katalynina. I heard your wish so I came to say that I am granting it." Mina said. "Now go back to sleep little Neopet. You will see the effects of your wish tomorrow."

      The next morning started out like any other at first. Shinoshin was begging Katalynina to bring him along on her daily outing to the Money Tree. But unlike every morning, when she usually refused him, Katalynina felt compelled to take him along.

      "Alright, you can come. You might as well learn how to do this yourself. But stick close by me and whatever you do, don't try to go for something by yourself." Katalynina said.

      "Yay! Thank you, Kata!" Shinoshin said. Katalynina smiled and they both headed out for the Money Tree. It was crowded as usual when they got there with poor Neopets like themselves and the ghosts that continually took from and gave items to the Money Tree.

      "Okay, first rule of getting items from the Money Tree is to be quick. Sure, you've got to consider if you really need it. But you got to be as quick as possible as a lot of other Neopets are looking at that same item, hoping to grab it. Let me show you how it's done." Katalynina explained to Shinoshin. She pushed through the crowd and spotted a wind-up toy Shinoshin would enjoy. She rushed in to grab it but a split second after Katalynina did, an owner tried to grab it and her hand ended up over Katalynina's. Katalynina stared, petrified at the owner, then quickly pulled her hand and the toy away and made a run for it, grabbing Shinoshin with her other hand as she fled.

      "Kata?! What happened?!" Shinoshin called to her.

      "An owner spotted me! It may mean nothing but I don't want to take any chances!" Katalynina called back.

      "Wait! Please wait!" Came another voice. Katalynina looked behind her and saw the very same owner who had tried to grab the same wind-up toy. Katalynina sped up, wanting to keep herself and Shinoshin safe. She thought that she had shaken the owner when they returned to their alley in the marketplace when a few minutes later that owner turned into their alley. "P-please... Stop running..." The owner said breathlessly. Katalynina growled and covered Shinoshin with her cape.

      "What you do want?! If you want the toy, you can't have it! I got it fair and square!" Katalynina yelled.

      "N-no... I didn't want the toy. It's just, you seemed so scared and something else. The look everyone gets when they're all alone. I should know because, I'm all alone too." The owner said.

      Shinoshin, dodging Katalynina's attempts to pull him back went over to the owner.

      "What's your name?" He asked her brightly.

      "My name is Angela." She replied.

      "My name is Shinoshin, but you can just call me Shino and that's my sister Katalynina." Shinoshin said happily and the two struck up a friendly conversation almost right away. Katalynina watched them, warily at first but then began to soften as by the sound of things, this owner was finding life hard too. Then she remembered what she thought was a dream last night. If it was real, was this owner the answer to their wish. Shinoshin did seem very happy talking to her and she was like them. There was a saying, petpets of a feather should stick together.

      "Maybe, we should stick to together." Katalynina said tentatively, not quite believing she was the one suggesting this. "I mean, we're all alone. If we stick together, we won't all be alone anymore."

      "Do you mean, you'll be my Neopets?" Angela asked.

      "If you want us to be." Katalynina replied.

      "Please, Angela?" Shinoshin put in.

      "Of course I want you to be my Neopets! This is great! We'll go all over Neopia and I'll save up a lot of Neopoints and buy you all sorts of stuff for you and our Neohome!" Angela replied excitedly. Katalynina grinned, Angela's enthusiasm was contagious and the day suddenly seemed brighter. Maybe this time, having an owner would be different and be sweeter than it was before. Up above them, the Wish Faerie hovered, satisfied that she had once again answered the wishes of one who had needed them most.

      The End.