| 64587465874368767 woke up in her bed. She looked out the
window, only to see that there was no snow. "C'mon, I thought this was winter!"
she yelled to the weather. "I command you to snow!" she said aloud. "C'mon, I'll
make it worth your while afterwards!" Apparently, whoever made snow knew that
64587465874368767 wasn't exactly the richest yellow Poogle around, and couldn't
afford to give him much. "Aww, you're mean." 64587465874368767 walked down to
the breakfast room, disappointed. Disappointed, that is, until she saw what the
family was having for breakfast.
"I think Holycow81's gone insane," said 64587465874368767's
red Techo brother, Groucho45, through a mouthful of pancakes.
"Here's your hearty Christmas breakfast, guys!"
said Holycow81 quickly as he set a tower of pancakes onto the table.
"Christmas isn't for two days, Holycow81," said
Skyhawk1010, the yellow Kougra.
"It isn't?" asked Holycow81 with dawning comprehension.
"Oh, thank Fyora. What a relief! I haven't even gotten the Christmas shopping
done yet."
"Oh, okay," said 64587465874368767 as she took
out a small slip of paper. "My list is pretty short this year." She handed her
list to Holycow81.
"'A Faerie Paint Brush'," Holycow81 read aloud.
"I've told you several times this year, 64587465874368767, I can't afford that,
let alone buy Christmas Dinner afterwards."
"But I've been really good this year," said
64587465874368767. "That is, unless you count that thing with the experimental
Neocola..."
"I told you never to mention that again," said
Holycow81 as he shuddered, thinking of the infamous Neocola experiment disaster.
64587465874368767 rode her bike out of the garage
and to school. It hadn't snowed, and it was perfect biking weather.
"Okay, class, before we go today, I'd like to
know who would like to be in the school Christmas play this year," said the
teacher. 64587465874368767's hand shot straight up. "Okay, 64587465874368767,
you can act as... let's see... an elf." 64587465874368767 put on a good gloating
face as she left the school that day.
The next day, after another mistaken pancake
breakfast from Holycow81, 64587465874368767 went to school. She was excused
from class to do a group rehearsal with the rest of the actors and actresses
in the school. "Okay, 64587465874368767, you're by the paper mache fireplace
there," said the director. 64587465874368767 did as she was told.
A blue Kacheek next to her recited his lines:
"Ahem... 'So, Santa, what are you going to do about the... um... the...'" The
Kacheek couldn't remember his lines. 64587465874368767 started to get annoyed.
"You're supposed to say, "'What are you going
to do about the stolen presents!' Don't you even know that one sentence?"
"64587465874368767, please stick to your own
lines."
"I'm just saying it will be embarrassing if
he forgets his lines in front of the audience."
64587465874368767 left school late that day,
after a trip from the principal's office. When she got home, still seeing no
sign of snow, Holycow81 suggested that she visit Santa at the mall.
"No, he's a fake. I don't believe in him," said
64587465874368767 as she read over her script.
"Sheesh, you've sure been grumpy lately, Scrooge,"
said Groucho45.
64587465874368767 read her script over for the
six millionth time before she went to bed. That night, she had a bit of a strange
dream.
"64587465874368767..." said a wavering voice.
"64587465874368767..." it said again.
"Whaddaya want?" asked 64587465874368767 as
she got up.
"I am Holycow81! I used to be your owner!"
"But you're still my owner. You're still alive."
"Oh, yeah." The specter thought for a moment.
"Well, that doesn't matter. Basically, I just wanted you to know that you're
going to be visited by three spirits. Just so you know, don't say I didn't warn
you."
"Uhm... okay," said 64587465874368767 as she
went back to bed. As if to make her action pointless, she was awoken by another
voice.
"I am the spirit of Christmas past!" moaned
a ghostly voice.
"Oh," said 64587465874368767. "Well, make it
quick. Tomorrow's Christmas, I have a lot to do. There's that play, I have to
open my presents..."
"Ah yes, presents," said the ghost, which looked
like a human game show host. Older members could tell that he was a ghost of
an old Bruce. "That's not all you cared about before. Let me show you..." The
ghost snapped his fingers and, suddenly, 64587465874368767's bedroom turned
into a one room Neohome. 64587465874368767 saw a green Jubjub in the corner,
looking around at the Neohome in amazement.
"Hey, that's me!" said 64587465874368767 as
she attempted to tap the JubJub's shoulder. She realized that she was, basically,
not physically there.
"Yes, that's you after you were adopted by Holycow81.
You were grateful to be with such a loving family, and didn't care about material
things," said the ghost.
"Well, that was when I was young and ignorant,
before I knew what paint brushes really were."
"Not enough for you? Well, I'm outta here,"
said the ghost as he dissolved into the air.
"Hey, wait! I have no idea how to get back..."
said 64587465874368767 to the emptiness in front of her.
Suddenly, another ghost came into 64587465874368767's
view. "Lemme guess, I've read the book. You're the spirit of Christmas Present?"
The spirit nodded. It looked like a faded red
ixi. "Yes, I am the spirit of Christmas present, thank you very much for giving
the mystery away. Just let me show you something." He snapped his fingers and
they seemed to be sent to another place. 64587465874368767 looked toward the
table and saw the Kacheek in the play.
"Hey, that's the guy who couldn't remember his
own lines!"
"Just keep looking, okay?"
The family appeared to be having nothing but
gruel and dried prunes. "Sad," said 64587465874368767. "But how is this any
of my business?"
"Geez, is that how shallow you really are? Well,
there's only one hope for you now." The ixi ghost snapped his fingers again,
and suddenly, 64587465874368767 found herself in a graveyard. A cloaked figure
came into her view.
"So, are you the ghost of Christmas future?"
The ghost nodded and lead the way to a broken up, moss covered gravestone. "What
a sad grave. Whoever was buried here sure must not have been very popular."
She rubbed the moss off and saw the text on the gravestone.
It read: "64587465874368767 the Poogle, Hated
by all."
"Oh no! Al hates me?" said 64587465874368767
with terror. "But I read all his stories, and I took that class in Lupology..."
The ghost pointed to the second "L" in "All".
"Oh, good," said 64587465874368767 in relief. "Hey, wait, that's even worse.
Does that include Al?"
The specter nodded again. "Oh no! Tell, me,
spirit, is it possible for me to change these happenings?" The spirit did nothing.
"Hey, I know how to get out of these nightmares! I'll just pinch myself..."
"OW!" yelled 64587465874368767, sitting in her
bed in her room. "Hey, there's still time!" Unaware that in was three in the
morning, 64587465874368767 ran outside.
She went to the money tree and donated everything
she could spare. The poor Neopets that quickly grabbed her things were full
of joy.
64587465874368767 then went back home to enjoy
a few more hours of sleep. She got up later and went downstairs, expecting to
see a big pancake breakfast. Instead, she saw Holycow81 sitting at the table
with a bowl of Neocrunch.
"Hey, where's the pancakes?" said Chiastovsky.
"What?" said Holycow81. "Is it really Christmas
this time? Sorry about that."
"That's okay," said 64587465874368767, "at least
we're all together."
"Are you okay?" asked Skyhawk1010.
"Okay?" said 64587465874368767. "I've never
been better! Now, the play is in a few hours, we'd better get ready!"
During the school performance, in 64587465874368767's
part, the Kacheek went up to speak: "So, Santa, what are you going to do about
the... uh... the..." 64587465874368767 handed him a card with the part written
on it. "Thanks, 64587465874368767," the Kacheek whispered.
"No problem," said 64587465874368767, "Merry
Christmas!"
When everyone left the auditorium, pleased with
the performance, they were in for a surprise. It was snowing. All the town was
covered in a white coat. All the young Neopets played outside, building snowmen
and sledding down slopes. Holycow81 and his pets went home to open the gifts
under the tree.
64587465874368767 opened her gift to find something
surprising. "A Faerie Paint Brush?" she said. "I thought you couldn't afford
one, Holycow81."
"I couldn't."
"If you didn't... then who...?" 64587465874368767
looked up into the sky. This was one Christmas she'd never forget.
The End
| 
