| Annatha the Uni stopped as she passed the furniture store
to admire herself in the glossy window. She smiled at her beautiful appearance.
Her coat was soft and silky; her hooves painted a royal blue that matched expertly
with her starry coat. In her hair she had woven daffodils and violets made of
pure gold. But, although Annatha was extremely beautiful, she was also very
vain and self-centered. She put herself before others and spent her owner's Neopoints
on herself. This really didn't matter, because her owner, Anise, had made a killing
on the Neopian Stock Market.
After admiring herself for a good ten minutes
she sighed and continued on her way. She had bought a new Faerie paint brush
recently, and was looking forward to being the envy of her friends. She was about a block away when she felt a grubby
hand tug at her side. Outraged that someone would actually do that she whipped
herself around to face it. She found herself staring into the ice blue eyes
of a scared little Poogle with a few rags to cover itself.
It whimpered pitifully and she rolled her eyes.
"Oh, one of YOU, well, you are not getting anything from ME!" She was about
to turn and walk away but the Poogle grabbed her again.
"You dropped these," it said softly, and handed
her a handful of Neopoints. She quickly took them and said, "Why you little
CREEP! You STOLE these! Be glad I don't report you!" And she turned away. The
Poogle sat there, surprised and hurt, and slowly sulked back to his pitiful
little cardboard box to escape the cold winter wind that had started to blow.
Annatha continued walking with her head in
the air, but when she got to the Rainbow Pool the gates were locked. She huffed
a few word of disapproval, then turned and went home, this time taking the long
way so she wouldn't have to face the homeless Poogle.
That night, she fell down onto her fluffy pillow
and dreamt of what the paintbrush would do. The next morning, she woke up to
her owner telling her to pack up what would fit in her suitcase.
She opened a weary eye, "Why?" she grumbled.
Maggie sighed, "There's been a complete stock
market crash, I'm afraid we're going to have no home for a while, just a little
while. So pack ONLY what you need."
Annatha didn't say a word, just picked up
a few items and put them in her suitcase. She fought back the tears as she left
her warm, cozy room and belongings, which she'd, cared for more than anything.
It was cold outside, the wind was extremely
cold and bitter, but Annatha refused to go into the cardboard box her owner
had found for her. When it was dinnertime, she stuck her nose up at the pieces
of Negg found in the garbage. That night she was cold and hungry. It's awful
to be homeless! she thought bitterly, and finally swallowed her pride and
slept in the box.
When she woke up her owner told her to go and
see if anybody would be willing to spare a few NP, while she went to find the
Money Tree, which was a pretty far distance away.
Annatha thought it'd be pretty easy, but she
found that most people and pets ignored her like she had ignored the homeless.
A few threw one or two at her face, hurting her, but at least it was something.
She sat down and counted what she had gotten. She only had 5 NP… enough for
a Tchea Fruit of a piece of cheese. She sighed and went back to the corner of
the street to beg for more money.
After a while a rich, well groomed looking Meerca
walked by, dropping about 20 Neopoints. Annatha rushed over and scooped them
up. She was about to run away with it, but she sighed and said to herself, "These
are not my Neopoints, that Meerca must've worked hard for them, he deserves them
back." She walked hurriedly up to the Meerca and grabbed his coat to get his
attention. He spun around and glared angrily at her. Then, he noticed the NP
in her hand.
"YOU THIEF!" he shouted and grabbed the Neopoints,
even the five she had gotten from begging.
"But-I," she started, but the Meerca continued
to scream at her, so she ran off with tears in her eyes. She kept running and
running and running. Going so fast things were a blur rushing past. A buzzing
noise was heard all around her, getting louder and louder.
Annatha jumped suddenly out of bed, she sat
there, dazed for a minute, then turned off the buzzing alarm clock. She made
her way downstairs where Maggie was already having her breakfast, scrambled Neggs.
"It was all a dream!" Annatha sighed, and
sat down for breakfast.
"Annatha," Maggie said, "I was considering
adopting another pet, do you think it's a good idea?"
"Good idea?!" She gasped through a mouthful
of Negg, "Of course! I know just the pet!"
And with that she ran out the door. She ran
until she got to the same street where she had seen the Poogle the day before,
in the same spot, begging for Neopoints. She was startled and a bit frightened
to see her, but when she saw her warm smile she smiled back.
"Hello, what's your name?" Annatha asked.
"Um, Cauddy," she cautiously replied.
"Where do you live?" She glared at the cardboard
box. Danya said nothing.
"Oh, no home?" she nodded.
She looked at the ground like she was embarrassed.
Mandelini smiled and said, "Well, you do now. Come home with me."
Danya was overjoyed and gladly took her paw
as she led her back home. Since then, Annatha has donated many items to the
Money Tree, and gladly welcomes less fortunate Neopets into her home. Maggie
is proud that Annatha has swallowed her ego and let a hoof out to others.
She gladly participates in Annatha's good deeds and strongly backs them up.
The End
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