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 *Please do not steal my images* Here's my story, told by giggzabit..... Chapter 1: "Oh, no," I said. "You must have mistaken me. I already have three pets, I don't quite think I'm ready for another." I looked guiltily down at the poor creature, who was standing by my feet and peering up at me with the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. Such odd eyes... "Well, Miss," the Uni began, "I'm afraid you'll have to pay to have us take her back..." She trailed off, obviously feeling sorry for the creature. I looked down at her again then nodded. "OK, I'll take her," I said. "But, um, what... IS she exactly?" I asked. The Uni chuckled and handed me her chart. It said her name was Bouncybeanie and she was a mutant moehog. "A mutant!!!" I exclaimed. OK, so I wasn't exactly subtle, sue me. An Usul in a nearby cage snickered and Bouncybeanie looked down, lower lip trembling. "Oh, a-a-uh," I stammered. "That's great! I've never had a mutant before!" Bouncybeanie looked up at me with sad but hopeful eyes. "Hah!" The snooty Usul spoke up. "Why would you want such a freak? Why don't you take a beautiful pet like me home? You'll never be ashamed of me, unlike with her!" I was really beginning to dislike this Usul character, especially since she really hurt Bouncybeanie's feelings. The moehog sat down hard on the ground and began to whimper. "As a matter of fact," I said, wanting to show this Usul a thing or two about being picked on, "I think Bouncybeanie is beautiful, but more important than that, she's not a snotty brat like SOME pets here! Come, Bouncybeanie," I said, spinning on my heel, "let's get you some pretty Usukis and grooming items. After I take you for your favourite lunch we'll go furniture shopping for your own room!" Bouncybeanie lumbered after me as the Usul sat silently in her cage with her mouth hanging open in shock (and I'm sure envy as well!) When we got outside I kneeled down next to Bouncybeanie on the sidewalk. I just stared at her for a second before speaking. I wanted desperately to say the right thing for once. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Bouncybeanie's feelings. "Umm..." I trailed off. I didn't know how to tactfully say what needed to be said. I sat there floundering for a minute when she slowly raised her thick paw and placed it on my knee gingerly. I smiled. "You have to understand that I didn't really mean to adopt you, right?" I asked. She nodded sadly as her eyes welled up. "But," I said quickly, "I don't want to send you back. You're really cute and you seem so well behaved and sweet." She finally looked up and smiled. I stood up and led her towards the shops. When we were done with our shopping and taking her to the Hospital (she had a case of the Sneezles) we headed home. I was a bit worried. My three other pets are all boys. They all love to get into trouble, and even though they're all sweethearts deep deep down, I was still worried about what they might say or do by mistake. Unfortunately, me and my big mouth seldom set a good example of decorum. My neighbour was reading on her porch, waiting for me to get back with the baguette and invite her to share in its cheesey goodness. She looked up with interest as I approached and when she caught a glance at Bouncybeanie she giggled. "Gigg!" She exclaimed. "You can never resist a cute face, can you? Who's this little beauty?" She asked. I sighed with relief. "This is our newest edition, Bouncybeanie! Bouncybeanie, this is our neighbour, DJ." Bouncybeanie looked up with a big smile on her face. She raised a paw to shake DJ's hand, but DJ beat her to it and gathered her in a hug and kissed her fuzzy cheek. She then led her into the house and I followed, loaded down with shopping bags and boxes of items for Bouncybeanie. I walked into the kitchen to put away the food I'd bought and caught Webster, my nimmo, perched on top of the fridge, wolfing down what had to be the last of the Asparagus Gateau. He dropped it when I entered and Suo_Gan, my kougra, gobbled it up. I shot them a warning glance as they began to hop and dance around me shouting "PRESENTS! PRESENTS!" I had to lift everything up away from their greedy little paws. "Stop! Stop it!" I protested, waving the fluttering Bumoduxon, my korbat, away from my face. "Guys, be good for a second, we have to talk. You see-" I began as DJ chose that exact moment to walk into the room with Bouncybeanie. I heard Bumoduxon give a little gasp. I braced myself for the worst and declared, "This is your new sister, Bouncybeanie." A wide smile spread across Bumoduxon's little face as he flapped his wings furiously. "Me sister! Good goes!" He shrieked. I took that to mean he was pleased. Suo_Gan gave her a quick sniff before patting her on the back and greeting her with a warm "welcome." Webster844, to my astonishment, gave her a big hug. Bouncybeanie made more instant friends when DJ's three pets came over. Myka, her kougra, gave her a big sloppy kiss on the nose, Ivore, her zafara, started talking a mile a minute about the things he would show her, and DillyJam, her acara, immediately bonded with Bouncybeanie. Now they are inseparable......... This is a story of what happened recently....... Chapter Two:  Bouncybeanie had been with us for about four months. To me, it seemed as if things were going wonderfully, she was getting good grades, she loved helping out in our shop after school, and she was just the sweetest pet you could hope for. DillyJam and Bouncybeanie were only apart when they were sleeping, and through her "cousins" she made a few friends. It all seemed so perfect. Our little family was complete. But one gloomy night after a relatively quiet dinner, I noticed Bouncybeanie (BB) retire early. I had my hands full with cleaning up after the boys and making sure they lowered their noisiness to a dull roar, but when I could get free I went upstairs to see if BB was feeling well. As I approached her door, I could hear her sobbing within. I knocked gently. "May I come in, BB?" I asked softly. I heard her take in her breath and a moment later she said "come in." I entered and found her sitting sadly on her big pink bed with Suo_Gan's spardel, El Stupido. "What's wrong?" I asked, and before I could feel her nose to see if she was sick, she crawled onto my lap and buried her face in my neck. I sat with her while she cried and finally, when she could speak, I repeated my question. "What's wrong?" "I-I-" BB hiccupped. I gave her a drink of water and when she was calm she started again. "Some people and pets are just MEAN!" she burst out. I looked at her with surprise; she seemed so happy, I never heard her complain about anything. "Who's mean, sweetie?" I asked. She shook her head, not wanting to rat anyone out. "Just some people and pets. They don't like mutants, they make fun of me and one boy skeith threw rocks at me on the way home today. He said I should get my big ugly self out of Neopia for good before I made other pets turn Mutant. I can't do that, right?" she asked worriedly. I shook my head. "Why do you like me, Mum?" she asked with tears in her voice. "How can you ask that?!" I was flabbergasted. "You're a lovely, sweet pet, and whoever doesn't like you just because you're mutant deserves to be pitied. Being Mutant is only on the outside. What if it were different, what if people thought Mutants were gorgeous and Faerie pets were ugly? That would be pretty silly, huh? Just the way not liking Mutants is silly." BB was silent for a moment. She nodded. "Yeah. They're stupid, it's what's inside that counts!" BB suddenly looked angry. "You know, Mum," she began, suddenly sounding much older than she was, "Maybe it's not their fault?" I looked at her quizzically. "I mean, maybe they just don't know that it's what's inside that counts. Maybe their owners are not like you, maybe their owners never taught them how to treat people who are different." "BB, what you just said, that was very smart" I said. She smiled and I smiled back. "You're a very smart girl. I'm glad you realize all of this, I wish more people and pets thought like you." Suddenly BB's eyes widened and I knew she had an idea. I could practically see the lightbulb over her head... Oh wait, that was her lamp. "What is it?" I asked. "What if," she began, "What if we, you know, spread the word? You always say that knowledge is the most powerful tool you can have, I think other pets should deserve to learn about equal rights." "How would we do that?" I asked carefully. BB squinted. "Oh, don't bother me with details!" She quipped, waving her paw. I giggled and stood up. "Will you be OK now, BB?" I asked. She nodded and I gave her a hug before leaving her room. "Goodnight sweetheart" "Mum," said Bouncybeanie. I looked up from my painting at her. She giggled and threw a towel at me. "You silly git! You have blue paint down your nose!" I chuckled sheepishly and wiped my nose. BB came to my side and looked at what I was working on, a portrait of Suo_Gan, who was recently painted Spotted. "I was thinking," BB began. "You know how we were talking awhile ago about teaching people about mutants?" I nodded. "Well, I want to do something. We got a new little kacheek at school today. Mutant. A big mean boy pushed him off his swing because he doesn't like mutants and doesn't enjoy seeing exposed, pulsing brains. What can I do? This isn't right!" "You're right, it's not. Well, what do you think we should do?" I asked. "We? You're going to help me?" asked BB with a huge, hopeful grin. "Of course I will. We all will, I'm sure. But what do you think we should do about it? You need a plan of action" I told her. She shrugged. "I'm leaving this to you, BB" "But-" she began to protest but I cut her off. "I know you'll think of something great, BB. You just need some time," I assured her. She stared at me for a second before turning and walking off. I resumed my painting... "Bouncybeanie!" I called upstairs. "Dinner!" Nothing. I tried again. "We're having Fire Faerie Pizza!" I thought for sure this would bring her running; it's a family favourite (except for Bumoduxon, who refuses to eat anything but sweets.) I frowned and started upstairs. "Bouncybeanie!" I said as I walked into her room, and she jumped a mile. "What are you doing, sweetie? I've been calling you for dinner!" She looked up at me guiltily. "Sorry, I was just working on something..." She trailed off as she tried to discreetly shove a notebook under her pillow. I narrowed my gaze at her, and she slowly brought the book out. She handed it to me and I prepared myself for the worst. I opened the book and found little notes, things like "Beauty is only skin deep!" and "Love your fellow Neopians!" along with delicate little sketches of a mutant moehog dressed in frilly dresses with long flowing hair. She looked up at me expectantly. "These are lovely pictures, BB!" I exclaimed. "Why didn't you ever tell me you liked to draw?" BB shrugged. "I dunno," she began. "I'm not very good. I was just doodling..." "Nonsense! These are very good!" I told her. She looked at me, as if she thought I was lying. I smiled reassuringly and she sighed. "Well," she began, "this notebook is full of my ideas for a mutant rally." "A mutant rally?" I asked. "Yes," said BB. "I've been trying to think up a way to spread the word. Writing a Neopian Times Article isn't enough, so I thought that this would be nice. Not a violent protest or anything, I just wanted to have a gathering of Mutants and people who love mutants. Does it sound like an OK idea?" she asked. I was silent for a second. She watched me ponder and her lip started to quiver. "I think that's a great idea, BB, but..." I didn't want to hurt her feelings. "Don't you think that this is, um, sort of a lot of work?" I asked. She glared at me. "Hey! You told me that this is worth fighting for and it will be hard, anything worthwhile is! Besides, you guys will all help me. Please, Mum, I know we can do this!" She looked determined, so I nodded. She let out a yelp and jumped off her bed, no doubt running straight to tell DillyJam her good news. I smiled to myself, thinking, "She sure is worth fighting for..." I couldn't sleep. I was so excited; Bouncybeanie's mutant rally was to be held tomorrow! Our plan was to get a good night's rest, get up early and have a huge breakfast, then get ourselves down to Neopia Central around 11:00AM so we could set up for the rally. So much for a good night's rest! I decided to look in on everyone to see how they were doing. Let me just point out that this would also prove to be a good way to wear me out; our neohome is huge. Webster was fast asleep in bed, gripping a calculus book in his little arms. Bouncybeanie wasn't in her room, so I continued my rounds. Suo_Gan was growling and biting his pillow, obviously having a nightmare, or else dreaming of a large steak, and Bumoduxon was sleeping on his stomach, flapping his wings and muttering something about candy. I was starting to get worried now; I still hadn't found BB. I decided to check in the home office. I opened the door and there she was. I struggled not to giggle, she looked so cute. Apparently she had been up late painting some banners and signs and had fallen asleep on the floor.  "BB," I whispered. She lifted her head and groggily gazed at me before resting her head heavily back on her paws. I sighed and struggled to pick her up and carry her to her room. As I laid her in her bed and covered her with her soft pink blanket, she whispered, "I'm pretty," in her sleep... After a rather noisy breakfast, we set out for Neopia Central, our wagon loaded down with supplies, our pets, and some of their friends. We reached our designated spot and began to unload. A Kyrii and a Chomby hoisted a huge banner, which screamed "Mutant Rally! Show Your Support And Join Us!" Suo_Gan and Ivore set up a big sign that said "Beauty Iz Only Skin Deep!" Suo_Gan's heart was in the right place, but he's always had trouble with spelling. The rest of us unloaded the piles of signs we made. I signaled for everyone to join me in a circle so I could address the group. "Hi, guys," I began, "I'm really glad you all could make it today. Luckily, the weather forecaster said we're to have clear skies all day with barely a breeze, so hopefully there will be a lot of people and neopets out and about today, shopping and enjoying the nice weather. So, if you happen to see anyone milling about, but not too busy, please go up and fill them in on what we're doing. OK guys? Let's make this a rally to remember!" Everyone clapped and whistled. Spirits were high, we talked a lot of people and pets into joining us. Soon, Neopia Central was even more jam-packed than usual. There was excited chatter all around me and I began to feel a bit giddy, when suddenly it started to get quiet. I turned to see why and spotted a large mean-looking skeith with a snarl on his face approaching BB. A Grarrl, a Chomby, and a Buzz accompanied him.  He walked right up to BB and said, rather loudly, "What's this all about? Y'all preachin' peace, love, and sappiness?" He and his buddies snickered. Before I could say anything, BB stepped up to him boldly. "Yes, actually we are," she said. "And if you have a problem with it, we don't really care!" The Skeith laughed and help up his paws in front of him. "Easy," he chuckled. "I aint here to cause no trouble. I think what yer doin' is great!" and with that, he picked up one of the signs and held it above his head. His buddies followed suit. BB looked back at me and grinned. "WOO-HOO!" She exclaimed. The whole crowd erupted in wild applause, hooting and hollering. I guess that proved that you can't judge a book by its cover! As evening approached, Hubert the Hot Dog Mynci passed out some hot dogs for us all to eat. We had a lot of fun, but most importantly, we got a lot of people and pets to think and change their behaviour towards mutants. As an added bonus, Bouncybeanie's self-confidence increased and now she is much more outgoing.  Would you like to show your support? Join The Mutant Rally! 
Add a button to your shop or webpage to show everyone you've joined the Mutant Rally!  
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