Literary
Hissi Day Waiting Rooms- Wait For The Release
To the beginning help chatter, there was nothing amiss this morning. But to the Veteran eye,
several things would be wrong. Agreed, the level of noise was no lower than usual, but the
sounds were different. Through crowds, you could just about make out a sign saying 'Hissi
waiting room.The morning was cold; painfully so. And it was only increased by the waiting. It was a pointless waiting, really. There was no actual guarantee they would rewarded for their efforts.
The waiting room, even though full of happy chatters, had a gloomy air about it. Every once in a while, the HCers would run a refresh on their virtupets create-a-pet gadgets; but in vain.
Everybody's eyes were more or less trained on the giant clock above their heads. Even the Beginning HCer would have now realized what the fuss was all about. Hissi day.
The clock struck ten, and immediately everybody hit the refresh on their virtupets gadgets. The gadgets were connected by a single system to the Neopia Central's create-a-pet. The overload proved too much for it, and it overloaded, shorting out. The doors of the Help chat were immediately over run by desperate users. Through some miracle, everybody managed to get through.
The ones who didn't want Hissis, the ones who were just looking for a chat, they were left alone in the HC room. The room now looked empty, and somewhat lonely.
It didn't last however.
Not five minutes later, the room quickly filled up again. It was apparent from the returning people's faces that Hissi's had NOT been released. The ones who had planned ahead, the smart ones, opened their boxes of food, and had a not-so-settled breakfast.
The wait for the Hissis resumed.
After the 10AM commotion calmed down-
The atmosphere was getting gloomier and gloomier. Some people hurriedly walked out of the room, and went to get a copy of the Neopian Times from a nearby- seller.
Despite it being late morning, it was freezing, and more than one owner asked their furred pets to sit down close. A lesser percentage of the assembled users were looking with scorn at the people in waiting rooms.
If there had been any room to move back to the doors, one would have noticed the uniformed Defenders patrolling the board area; making sure that no one got rowdy.
Younger pets were pulled close to their guardian, trying to minimize the risk of their little ones being pulled into a crowd and getting lost. People who were usually swayed by their pets' innocent faces refused their pleas to go back home, if they were waiting for a Hissi. The ones who just wanted to get out of stampede range ignored requests to buy random plushies that street vendors were offering.
One person was trying to push through to the doors, after asking her question and getting it answered. She growled, and then thought for a minute. These people wouldn't move unless they got a Hissi, so...
HEY!! THEY'RE RELEASED!!" She yelled as loud as she could. The crowd moved to the doors, pulling her along with it. The smirk on her face was unbelievably smug.
The crowd wasn't THAT stupid, so they finally figured it out when one person had the sense to check her virtupets create-a-pet gadget. They muttered...things and tramped back into their waiting rooms.
The person who had started it didn't hear, but even if she had, she wouldn't have cared. The results had been satisfactory, and now they had a somewhat clear path back home.After she dusted herself off, she turned to her Bruce. "Remind me to NEVER come here on an LE pet day!" She declared.
The Bruce rolled her eyes. She HAD told her owner that. Humans...She rolled her eyes again, and waddled after her owner, who had started walking towards the doors.
Back in the Help Chat-
The number of people waiting had diminished. They had either said 'Agh, its time for me to leave Neopia for today', or 'I give up, they're NEVER going to release them!'. And yet, some hopeful stragglers still remained.
The subject of the chats had changed from Hissis to random things such as Pandas. Everyone was starting to lose hope...
Then it happened. 3:40 PM. Someone half- heartedly refreshed their create-a-pet. They fell over. The surrounding crowd rushed over to check what happened. Some of the smarter ones (The ones who had brought provisions) noticed the happy look on the fainted person's face, and grabbed for the create-a-pet. These smart ones proceeded to run as fast as they could to the pet creation center.
Then a not so smart one got a hold of the news. "THE HISSIS ARE HERE!!!!!" He screamed. In an instant, the HC was transformed from grey and gloomy to absolute party mode.
After the first batch of Hissis
Several people stayed around for a while more, going to 'rate-my-hissi-name' topics, but most of them went back home. And a good percentage of those did that because their other pets were threatening to burn their ownership certificates.
Within a few hours, the ones who had left after getting fed up of waiting came back. They proceeded to complain and gripe about missing the release. The impolite ones, anyway. The polite ones sighed and settled down to wait a little more.
If someone had observed the happenings of the day, they would have noticed a pattern. ''Wait-appear-create/miss-celebrate/gripe''. This repeated for many times. 3:40 PM NST, 7:15 PM NST, 8:30 PM NST, 10 PM NST...
Then it stopped. And the ones who were unlucky enough to have missed them went home. The polite ones. The impolite ones stayed in the Boards to troll people who HAD managed to get one. They were largely ignored.
A few hours into the new day, one person made a board. "I can't wait for Koi Day!". The board was instantly filled with comments such as 'OMG! I HAVE TO GET ONE!!', 'Oh wow, they're almost as good as Hissis!', or 'I HAVE to get it! Its the coolest LE pet EVER!'.
The uniformed Defenders outside heard the commotion and shook their heads. Silly, silly humans!
The Silent
The Silent. They are everywhere in Neopia. But they are shielded. They are in a different world. They cannot communicate and they cannot interact. By now, you must be thinking if I'm crazy. You're saying 'Wouldn't we notice if there were a bunch of people who couldn't talk?', aren't you? Well, in fact, you CAN'T notice. You can't because they cannot be seen.
Yes, dear reader, the Silent are the under-13s.
Ah, now you're listening, aren't you?
If you were under-13 when you first came to Neopia, I implore you to think back, far back, back to the time you first stepped foot on Neopian soil. I see the realization dawning on your faces. You remember, don't you? You remember a world filled with nothing but Neopets. None of the humans being talked about were to be seen. But you figured it out, didn't you? You understood the enchantment upon this domain. The enchantment that prevented you from seeing and being seen.
There. It has all come back to you, hasn't it? The lonely streets, the lonely homes, the lonely world. You managed to ignore the loneliness by going to the arcade, and playing with your own pets, right?
No, don't be scared of those memories. They are a precious treasure you must never attempt to throw away.
I see the past is making you uncomfortable. Fine, we shall come back into the present.
Oh, you are still skeptical, I see. Fine, concentrate on the street. Concentrate...concentrate...ah! You've seen it. Ghostly figures and pets moving about, am I right? No, dear. Your nod needn't be so fearful. For those are not spirits. Those are the Silent. They are unable to communicate and interact, as I told you. You cannot talk to them. You cannot touch them. They are shielded by the ones above, TNT. Shielded from the outside world as well as from themselves. Yes, you too would have been like that if you came into Neopia young.
Now, i shall take off the spell that allows you to see them. Relief washes over you face, but it is unnecessary. They cannot hurt you, or make an effect in your life.
Let me rephrase that. They can make an effect in your life, but in grand ways, such as the coveted official spotlights, or the Neopian Times. Yes, dear, they CAN.
I will take your leave, but I shall leave you a warning. Do NOT irk them. Yes, it is very hard to do this, but you can, by deeply insulting a wide range of people. Even a simple comment such as 'I hate moehogs' might be enough to do it.
Why must you do this, you ask? It's because when they are old enough, you WILL be able to see them. And they? THEY will be able to see YOU.
A Little About the Pieces
1.Hissi Day Waiting Rooms- Wait For The
Release- This was written straight onto the waiting room boards during Hissi day. I
wanted to help everyone pass the time. Sadly, I had to go before the first release, so the
times were calculated for me by a friend who checked various boards announcing the arrival
of the Hissi. This piece is 70% fiction, such as the parts about the Defenders of Neopia. But
yes, one person DID falsely start up hype in the waiting room by saying the Hissis had been
released. But they didn't mean it, and included in the very same post that they were kidding.
That didn't stop some people from rushing to create-a-pet,
though.2.The Silent-This is about the under-13 users of Neopia. As you know, all their communication features are blocked for their own safety. I conveniently didn't mention parental consent in this, because that would ruin the theme of the piece.