Who Needs a Royal Paint Brush?
by 3dcourtney12044
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Cuni beamed at a Jelly Chia Plushie, carefully protected
inside a glass case. She touched the case with her hoof and let out a small sigh.
Moving along, the Brown Uni came across a Faerie
Queen Doll. It would make a perfect addition to her Usuki collection... even
though it wasn't an Usuki. It would still be cool.
"Hmm," the young Uni muttered, leaning against
the cold, stone wall of the Hidden Tower. Her family had been visiting Faerieland
today, and Cuni had requested to be dropped off at the Hidden Tower for awhile
to gaze longingly at the items. Her older sister was to pick her up about now...
but Cuni had expected this to happen; her sister would be late -- again.
She stared at a framed picture of a Faerie Aisha
above her and then glanced down at her Brown Miamouse, Shyle, who sat loyally
at her side. "Wondew why day put a pictuwe of an Aisha dare. I mean, I've never
heawd of hew befowe!" she muttered to her Miamouse. The Petpet blinked and cocked
her head.
Something caught her eye. The Brown Uni perked
up, and gazed at the most beautiful item she'd ever seen. Across the room, the
Royal Paint Brush's glass case seemed to glow from the sunlight one of the windows
gave.
Striding towards it, Cuni's eyes widened in awe.
She reached it, and touched the case with her hoof. There sat the Royal Paint
Brush, in all its glory, secured in a glass case. Cuni had never wanted anything
more in her life.
"Wook at it, Shy!" she breathed. Looking at her
reflection in the case, her face fell. She was tired of boring old brown! She
wanted to be painted royal, more than anything she'd ever wanted before. More
than that Faerie Paint Brush, more than a Baby Blu, more than a million Usukis.
The Miamouse stared and blinked, yet again confused.
She scampered away, but Cuni hadn't noticed as she was goggling at the item
in the case. Her eyes were fixed on the Paint Brush, and, lost in her daydreams,
she didn't hear her sister enter.
"Hey, sorry I'm late," said a Christmas Shoyru
called Xrai from behind. "Hey, Cuni, hello! Are you coming?"
Cuni shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "Xway!"
she cried loudly, spinning around to face her. People stared at her for a moment,
but she didn't care. "Xway, the Woyal Paint Bwush! I gotta have it!"
Xrai glanced at the Paint Brush. "Sorry, sis,
it's pretty expensive, isn't it?" she said, pointing to a piece of paper on
the case that read 1,750,000 NP.
"I know, bu--"
"Sorry, Cuni," the Shoyru said, shaking her head.
"I don't think Courtney would be able to afford it. Now, we gotta go! Where's
Shyle?" They both turned to see the Miamouse chewing on a red rug in the center
of the Hidden Tower. A few pets glared at them.
Cuni scooped up her Petpet, and she and Xrai
rushed through the door to exit the Tower.
* * *
Later that day, Cuni entered the kitchen to see a young girl with blonde hair
sitting at the table. Upon seeing the Brown Uni, Courtney smiled.
"Hey, Cuni, did you have fun at the Hidden Tower?"
she asked, flipping a page in the Neopian Times she was reading.
Cuni smiled innocently and sat down across from
her at the table. "Yes I did, and Couwtney, I wanted to ask you somefing."
Setting down the Neopian Times on the table,
Courtney replied, "What is it?"
"How much Neopoints do you have?"
"Excuse me?"
"You know, in da bank."
"Why do you want to know that?" questioned Courtney.
She sighed. "What do you want?" she said, knowing what Cuni was getting at.
"A Woyal Paint Bwush!" exclaimed Cuni, giving
Courtney big Puppyblew eyes. "Pwease? Pwease, pwease, pwease!" She was now pleading,
begging.
"Why do you want to be painted Royal?" her owner
asked, folding up the Neopian Times and looking at her pet curiously.
"Because," she said in the sweetest voice she
could, "I am getting bowed of being Bwown."
"Sorry," said Courtney, standing up from her
seat at the kitchen table and shaking her head. "Right now, we just don't have
the Neopoints."
"But..." Cuni began, but stopped and hung her
head in defeat. She stood up and sadly shuffled out of the kitchen.
Up in her room, Cuni flopped down on her bed
and punched her pillow in frustration. "What should I do, Shy?" she asked the
Miamouse, who was now curled up at the end of her bed. Shyle lifted her head,
glanced at Cuni, and rested her head in her paws again.
Cuni sighed and buried her head in the pillow.
"I want it so bad!" she said in a muffled voice, more to herself than to Shyle.
In her head, she could picture the precious Paint Brush gently lying on the
velvet, red cushion.
There was a knock on the door. "May I come in?"
said Xrai from the other side of the wooden bedroom door.
"I guess so," grumbled Cuni, not lifting her
head from the pillow.
Xrai entered her room and sat down next to Shyle
at the end of the bed. She stroked Shyle's soft, brown fur. "Courtney told me
about your little conversation in the kitchen," she said quietly. Cuni said
nothing, just sat there, motionless. "Cuni, I understand how you feel. There's
a lot of things I want, too!"
"Pfft," said Cuni.
"...but you know what helps me?" the Christmas
Shoyru said, looking at her younger sister. "To think about what I have, not
what I don't have."
Cuni now raised her head and stared at her sister,
who got up from her seat on the bed. Her look of puzzlement made Xrai add, "Just
think about it, okay?" With that, she left the room, closing the door behind
her, leaving Cuni quite confused.
"What'd she mean?" Cuni asked her brown Miamouse
in wonder, turning to Shyle. There was no answer; she hadn't expected one, anyway.
For a few minutes, Cuni thought about it. Think
about what she had? Well, she had a nice Usuki collection. And a cool Miamouse.
And a pretty Neohome to live in, with good quality bedrooms.
She also had two brothers. She smiled as she
thought about Snickers, her Starry Kougra brother. She could picture him quite
clearly in her mind, playing his favourite game, Cheat. He was always there
for her when she wanted advice, and he wasn't like most pets. Almost nothing
seemed to annoy him, even when Cuni's old Mallard wailed at night when somebody
got up for a glass of water. Okay, bad example....
Now she thought of Alec, her older brother. He
had been zapped by the Ray into a Aubergine Chia, and it had taken some getting
used to. But now, she was quite fond of his new look. Cuni knew how Alec was
sometimes quite sensitive about his hobby; reading. Some people made fun of
him for it, but she didn't. When Cuni was adopted into the family, all he did
was support her, so she now returned the favour.
Then there was her oldest sister, Xrai. She and
Alec fought more than Illusen and Jhudora, leaving Cuni and Snickers to deal
with their arguments. When she wasn't fighting in the Battledome (or with Alec...)
she could be a pretty good influence, Cuni thought. Like right now, giving her
this advice and always being there for her.
Suddenly, Cuni realized this was all given to
her by Courtney. Her owner, the one who bought her Usukis, the Neohome, even
Shyle. She created Xrai, Snickers and Alec and adopted Cuni. If it weren't for
Courtney, Cuni might still be in the Neopian Pound!
Her eyes lighting up, Cuni gently picked up her
Miamouse and hugged her. "Shy, I am so gwad you're my Petpet," she said softly,
now knowing that without Courtney, she wouldn't have Shyle, either.
She placed Shyle back on the bed, hopped up,
and trotted down the stairs. It all made sense, what Xrai had said; to think
about what she had, not what she didn't have.
Cuni had three great siblings, a Petpet, and
the best owner in Neopia. She found Courtney in the family room now, sitting
on the couch, drawing a picture in her sketchpad. The Brown Uni galloped over
to her, jumped onto the couch, and hugged her owner tight.
Surprised, but nevertheless pleased, Courtney
returned the embrace. "I'm sorry Couwtney," Cuni said after they hugged, hanging
her head in shame. "I don't need a Paint Bwush aftew all!"
Grinning, Courtney forgave her. "It's okay, Cuni.
How did you decide you don't need one?"
"Xway told me to think of what I had, not what
I didn't have," exclaimed Cuni.
Courtney picked up her sketchpad, which she had
set down on the coffee table in front of them. She flipped to the page where
she'd been drawing, and showed it to Cuni, whose eyes widened.
It was of a smiling, Brown Uni in the garden
outside. In the picture, Courtney had made Cuni look like the most beautiful
Uni in Neopia. She almost couldn't believe it was her.
"The picture of perfection," said Courtney, almost
in a whisper. Cuni smiled happily, and she looked exactly like she did in the
drawing; cheerful, and in no need of a Royal Paint Brush.
Now knowing this, Cuni hopped up and made her
way for the front Neohome door. "Where are you going?" questioned Courtney.
"Well, since I don't need a Woyal Paint Bwush,
I've decided to go and stare at the Baby Paint Bwush instead," exclaimed Cuni,
and with a little wave, she was gone.
Courtney shook her head in wonder and sighed.
"Xrai?" called Courtney. "I think you need to have another talk with Cuni when
she gets home...."
The End