| Christmas in Meridell is peaceful. It is the same every
year. Even before our lovely land was discovered, the carolers sang, the bright
lights on every Neohome glowed, and snow fell lightly. This year would be an exception.
I could simply feel it.
It began about a month ago when that family
moved in. It was so odd. Unlike most, they came flying in to town in a crate
pulled by two flying Eyries. The Eyries landed, and a tall, blonde human stepped
out. She wore loads of makeup. She had that look on her face that told you that
she thought that she was absolutely perfect. The kind of people I hated.
Next, a pink Uni stepped out. She looked almost
identical to her owner. And she looked as if she had the same personality, too.
I knew that I always had to greet people who were new in town. I sighed and
walked toward her.
"Hello," I said. "I'm Lucy. I'm a green Quiggle,
as you can see. Who are you?"
"I'm Andreta," the Uni said, mimicking me. "I'm
a pink Uni, as you can see. Do you have family?"
"Just my owner," I answered. "I'm an only child.
Do you?"
"I have an owner, and I have a brother," said
Andreta. "He's a Baby Shoyru, and he's very fussy. He's still in the crate."
I heard a baby wailing from the back of the
crate. Andreta ran in the crate and came out with a Baby Shoyru in her arms.
"This is Fritten," said Andreta. The baby had
stopped crying, as he was in big sister's arms. "Wanna hold him?"
"Yes," I said. Andreta placed Fritten in my
arms. He immediately began to cry again.
"He may be shy around you, since he's never
met you before," said Andreta, as she made Fritten stop crying by taking him
back. "Most babies are like that. Hey, you wanna come to my place and have a
hot chocolate? It's so cold here, with all this snow. We need to warm up."
I couldn't resist. My owner wouldn't care. She
lets me go wherever I want, and then ignored the fact that I existed until I
came back. "Sure," I said.
"This way," said Andreta, beginning to run towards
the forest. I followed. It was such a long run, I was glad when we got there.
Yet I was shocked that she had such a small Neohome. It was a cottage right
in the heart of the Meridell forest. As I walked inside, I saw that there was
limited light, and the only heat was a fireplace. "Hello, Andreta," a voice
called from down the hallway. "Why did it take you and Fritten so long to get
here?"
"I talked to my new neighbor," Andreta called
back. "Her name's Lucy. She's a green Quiggle. I brought her with me so we could
warm up with some hot chocolate."
"I see," said the voice from down the hallway.
It was getting louder and louder, which meant that whoever it belonged to was
getting closer and closer. Soon enough, the same blonde girl who I saw coming
out of the moving truck appeared in front of me.
"Hello," said the girl. "I'm Danica. I'm Andreta's
owner. I'll make some hot chocolate for you two in the kitchen, okay?"
We agreed, and Danica ran back down the hallway
to the kitchen. After a few minutes, we sat down on the nice, cosy couch and
drank our hot chocolate.
All the rest of the day, we had fun. We played,
we sang, we did everything that us young girls like to do. When Danica finally
asked that I go home, I dreamed about playing with Andreta all the way back
to my Neohome. But at night, when I slept, I had a very odd dream.
In my dream, Danica and Andreta walked out of
their cottage, both carrying axes. They both started cutting down the tall trees
that surrounded their home. I thought that they would be only cutting down one
for their Christmas tree, but I was wondering what was going on when they were
cutting down as many as possible. Before I could find out what they were going
to do with all those trees, it was the morning, and I woke up.
I was going to take the shortcut to school.
It went right through the Meridell forest. That meant that I got to walk right
past Andreta's cottage. Maybe I could walk to school with her.
But when I got to the cottage, I was shocked.
Just like in my dream, Andreta and Danica were cutting down trees. I couldn't
hold back my curiosity. I walked up to Andreta to see what was going on. She
seemed nervous talking to me.
"Hi, Andreta!" I said. "Why are you cutting
down so many trees?"
"Oh, uhhh… Danica works at a factory for Christmas
decorations, and uhh… we need to cut down these trees for paper!"
I believed her, obviously. "Well, come on! We
need to get to school." Andreta followed me to school.
***
Andreta and I walked home from school separately. Don't ask why, we just did.
On my way home, I ran into Mrs. Slabiddy. She was a nice old Kacheek who lived
not far from my Neohome.
"Hello, Lucy," said Mrs. Slabiddy.
"Hello, Mrs. Slabiddy," I said. Mrs. Slabiddy
always got her Christmas tree at least a month before Christmas. "Do you have
your Christmas tree yet?"
"Well, no," said Mrs. Slabiddy. "There are no
trees in the forest. That new family in town cut them all down."
I was mad at Andreta now. How could she and
Danica cut down every single tree in the forest? If Mrs. Slabiddy couldn't get
her Christmas tree, neither could anyone else. But I kept my anger to myself.
When I got home, there was an issue of the Neopian
Times on the doorstep. I picked it up, walked inside, sat down, and read the
front page headline. It read:
MERIDELL FAMILY CUTS DOWN TREES
Every family in Meridell needs their Christmas
tree. However, it will be almost impossible for anyone to get theirs this year.
The newest family to come to Meridell, which consists of a female owner, a female
pink Uni, and a male Baby Shoyru, has cut them all down.
I didn't want to read the rest of the article.
I understood. And I was mad, too. I didn't want to talk to Andreta anymore.
The next day, there was yet another Neopian
Times issue on my doorstep. I picked it up, wondering if it had anything to
do with the alarms I heard last night coming from the corner store. This time,
it said:
ROBBERY AT CORNER STORE
The new family of three has stuck again. The
three of them have robbed the corner store on Verdant Valley Road and Scenic
Drive. All items that have anything to do with Christmas have vanished. The
criminals escaped, but they were seen. If found, there is a million Neopoint
reward.
Now I was VERY angry. Unable to hold back my
anger, I ran all the way to Andreta's cottage. I would not politely knock on
the door. I smashed a window and came in without being invited in.
"Why, hello Lucy," said Andreta, as she walked
towards be with an angry face. "What brings you here?"
"I know what you've been up to," I said. "You're
stealing Christmas! It's a crime to steal the one day where everyone is the
most happy!"
"So what," Andreta said impolitely. "In my family,
we celebrate Evil Day. It is only celebrated by those who are evil, like my
family. And the holiday tradition is to move to a new location and steal Christmas."
"Well, move out," I said. I reached into my
pocket and took out something I didn't even know I had… a Quiggle boomerang.
I threw it at Andreta. It hit her right in the face, then came flying back to
me. I cheered. Andreta was on the ground.
"Wait!" I heard a voice cry. Danica was running
straight towards me. She was carrying a large torch, which was lit. As I focused
on Danica, I realized that the flame was purple! I threw my Quiggle boomerang
at Danica, but it burned to a crisp in the purple flame. Now I only had myself
as a weapon. I aimed a punch at Danica… and she was now on the ground, too!
I cheered again, but then I heard something.
"Gaga!" The only member of this family came
crawling towards me. But what could tiny Fritten do? He was only a baby and
not a very big one either! But unexpectedly, he flew towards my face. Now I
was on the ground. Everything turned black.
***
My eyes fluttered open. I was in a bed that I had never seen before. I was
not in my own bed, and I was definitely not in the hospital. It must have been
Andreta's bed. Andreta herself was coming towards me.
"Lucy," Andreta said. "You won."
"What do you mean I won?" I asked.
"Look outside," said Andreta.
The bed I was in was beside a window. I was
grateful for that, since I couldn't manage to stand up. My eyes glowed as I
looked outside.
The quiet streets of Meridell, which were once
dark at night, were lit up with Christmas lights. A large Christmas tree at
the nearest intersection stood there, and was lit up with thousands of lights.
There was a crowd around it, and they sand a delightful Christmas carol.
"You brought Christmas back," I said.
"Yes," said Andreta. "I soon realized that there
was more to Christmas than presents and decorations. It's about giving. That's
why I gave Christmas back to Meridell."
"Thank you," I said. "Can we be friends again?"
"Yes, but not for long," said Andreta. "My family
is moving to Happy Valley for the start of Year 6."
"I'll miss you when that day comes," I said.
"But for now… you're it!"
For the first time since Fritten knocked me
to the ground, I got up and started running. Andreta and I played tag and other
silly games every day until the last day of Year 5. And even after Andreta left,
I sent her letters and photos of me as I grew up. I even made a few visits to
Happy Valley for special occasions, like when Andreta graduated from Neoschool.
I had made lots of new friends, but Andreta would always be my best buddy. And
nobody could replace her.
The End
| 
