|
Somewhere along the outskirts of the Haunted Forest,
in areas of land where no civilized Neopian had ever ventured upon, a large
pile of fresh apples sat within a wheelbarrow underneath a large oak tree. Each
apple was a light color of green, with a favorable luster upon the surface of
their skin. To anyone, each of these apples would seem to be quite ordinary,
despite the fact that they were located in a rather eccentric place at the time.
However, at that time, only two Neopets knew that those specific apples were
actually enchanted. It wasn't quite often that an everlasting apple was
found, for very few magicians present in Neopia knew the spell, and a very small
majority of those magicians could barely perform the spell correctly, either.
In fact, this bunch of everlasting apples was green as opposed to being red
-- a side effect of having a bad magician choose to enchant them.
After several minutes, two small Lennies crawled
out of a hole within the center of the tree. One Lenny, covered in a black cape
that fell down to his knees, owned a large yellow coat of feathers. His eyes
were large and green, his thick eyebrows barely visible underneath the hood
of the wrinkled cape placed over his head. Following behind him was a much larger
Lenny, with a green set of feathers and large wobbly feet. Within one of his
feathers he clutched a sack of Neopoints.
The two stood in front of the wheelbarrow for
several moments, studying the bunch of apples that lie within its structure.
The yellow Lenny shivered underneath his cape, waiting for the green Lenny to
say something.
"Well..." the caped Lenny began, his voice harshly
dry and frightening as it slid from within the cracks of his orange beak. "Do
you want 'em or not?"
With a shrug of his lanky shoulders the other
birdlike Neopet continued to survey the bundle of apples, apparently not satisfied
with what he'd seen at first glance. "I'm not as stupid as you'd want me to
be," he replied, with a much more sensible tone compared to the other Lenny
present before him. "These could just be ordinary apples. I want the real deal,
kid. Besides, these are all green. Everlasting apples are red."
"I can change the shading of them right now if
that's all that is holding you back from sealing your deal as promised," the
yellow Lenny hissed, furrowing his eyebrows underneath his beloved cape. Two
Lennies had made a deal -- the magician gone bad would make him several dozen
enchanted apples for one million Neopoints, a lot less than the other would
receive for selling off the apples on the market. However, the yellow Lenny
failed to explain that his magic was limited, and that something with the apples
had turned out very, very wrong..
"Change 'em, then. And if I find out you jipped
me, you old no-brainer, I'm coming to get you."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The yellow Lenny mumbled
a few words to himself, as a soft breeze swept through the air of the night.
A few seconds later, a silver halo covered the surface of the apples, and slowly,
one by one, they began to turn into the traditional everlasting apple - a lovely
shade of red taking over their surfaces.
The green Lenny gasped and dropped his sack of
Neopoints on the ground, creating a lovely "ching!" sound as it hit the surface
of the ground.
"Deal's sealed, your one million is in that bag.
Now get outta my face," the green Lenny proclaimed, happily clutching a cluster
of apples within his grasp. With those apples he'd be able to gain as many Neopoints
as he needed to start his life anew.
The yellow Lenny nodded, an evil grin creeping
up the ends of his orange beak. "And you're quite welcome.." With a sneer and
a whisk of his cloak, he was on his way back to the city.
The pile of apples became what the green Lenny
depended upon the most in order for his life to continue. From that moment on,
he promised himself that he would gain the amount of Neopoints he had always
wanted.
Two days later; Neopia Central
WHAM!
The sound of a knife pressing firmly upon the
surface of the wooden cutting board emitted a hollow sound into the atmosphere
of the Food Shop's kitchen. Jyrosen, a white Lupe, stood bored with the cutting
utensil grasped within one of his massive paws. For a few days now he had been
working under the management of the Chia chef of the main food supply in Neopia
Central, and the job was not easy for this Lupe to carry out for several reasons:
·
- Jyrosen had no experience with preparing food until now, and it wasn't easy
for him to cook thoroughly under the pressure of constant restocks. ·
- His mind constantly wondered elsewhere instead of thinking about getting
his work done. ·
- Jyrosen had promised not to eat all of the food's stock when he first took
his job, however, he was always very hungry.
An uncomfortable lurch of hunger settled within
his stomach as Jyrosen wiped a beat of sweat off of his forehead. There was
still a lot of ham to chop, then fruit to wash, and baby food to unpack from
boxes..
"Ey, you, Jyrosen!" The metal back door flew
open as the chubby yellow Chia helped himself into the kitchen. His orange hair
was a ruffled mess -- falling this way in that in a sweaty heap on top of his
head, underneath the rather unattractive chef's hat atop his head. The Chia's
apron, which read 'I love food', was rather dingy from an hour's work.
"Yes, boss?" Jyrosen responded, clearing his
throat with nervousness while placing the knife back onto the counter. He knew
he would be getting a long lecture about why his work was to be done on time,
and it would be hard to sit through without falling asleep..
"Let me explain something to you," the shop owner
began, pulling a stool out of the corner of the room to sit upon tiredly. "This
is the main food shop in Neopia Central as of right now. Yes, there are others,
but we're the most prominent. Whenever new people come to join Neopia, we're
basically their first choice for food.
Now listen to me, Jyro. I hired you to help me
manage my shop, not make things more difficult to manage.."
"Yes, I understand." The Lupe began to stack
up the pieces of ham in time for the next restock. His paws were stained from
working with the meat. "I'm doing the best that I can, sir."
"Well, do better!" The Chia's brown eyes widened.
It wasn't often that he was this demanding, and Jyrosen could easily make out
the fact that he was exhausted from a day's work. "The next restock is in four
minutes, and afterwards your shift is over."
As the Chia left the room Jyrosen scrambled over
to the back of the room to unpack a box of baby food. The cans should've been
unpacked several hours ago, but of course, it wasn't completed, as a lot of
other things weren't. Afterwards, he washed his hands and collected several
grapes, neggs, and apples to rinse.
Time flew by as the Lupe stocked everything out
front, where it would soon disappear to hungry customers. The restock came and
went as swiftly as a breeze on a fall afternoon. Jyrosen watched from the window
in the kitchen, feeling hungrier than ever.
A few moments and daydreams later, the yellow
Chia wobbled back into the kitchen again. His face was wet with perspiration
yet again, however he seemed quite happy with the past sales. "You're free to
go home, kiddo. I'll see you at 11 am tomorrow."
Jyrosen smiled. "Okay, thanks." He didn't show
how relieved he was to be able to go home, and instead yanked his apron over
his head gratefully. As the Chia turned his head, Jyrosen quickly took a red
apple off of a shelf before dashing out of the back door.
The day was coming to a steady end, which became
quite visible to the naked eye. The sun began to set and the crowds began to
thin. Jyrosen hungrily took a large bite out of his apple while thinking blissfully
to himself. "Ah, I'm so glad the day is over. Now I can go home and eat as much
as I want to.."
He smiled smugly and began to jog towards his
NeoHome. Meanwhile, the bite of the apple he took settled inside of him, waiting
for other chemicals to react with.
To be continued...
| 
