The Plushie Curse by swirly_silver |  |
"Plushies for sale!" Naolin's voice could be heard past
the valleys. She had been calling all day and not one customer took interest,
simply poring into the bookstore next door and sliding a short glance over the
warehouse before continuing to browse the various shops after. It was the beginning
of March and Naolin was already attempting to make progress in her favourite game,
Plushie Tycoon. "Plushie Aishas and Eyries. Come and get them. Buy a plushie for
your little pet." Still, Neopians, along with their pets, ignored the Eyrie's
advertisements.
The day ended and Naolin re-entered her warehouse
for locking up. She had not sold a single plushie and was clearly out of breath
from shouting. Tired, she traveled to the back of the warehouse where the factory
was. All workers already departed hours ago to their homes accept the manager
who slept all day and stayed in the factory all night. Naolin eyed the Grarrl
in slight annoyance. She preferred he help her in something at the shop or factory
rather than sleep all day. And he's given 60 Neopoints per hour! She
thought, disgusted. Shaking her head, Naolin made one last examine that all
machinery were shut down and then slumped back to the shop. She locked a gaze
on her plushies for a few minutes, sadly wondering why no one wanted them. She
counted all 100 Aishas and 100 Eyries, who gazed back at her with lifeless button
eyes. At last, she turned away, locking the front door behind her and dashed
home into the dark distance.
The next morning, Naolin hurried to the shop,
hoping to begin her day as soon as possible. She set up her usual table and
sign outside, stacked with a few plushies. Then she realised, as she was grabbing
a couple Eyries, about 20 of her unsold plushies were missing. Quickly in a
rush to get on with her day, she just continued to take some of her plushies
out. The only person who was able to get into the shop at night was that Grarrl.
He was the manager and Naolin was sure he wouldn't take anything. Besides,
why would he want plushies? Naolin thought, grinning to herself. A Grarrl
with a hand full of cute cuddly plushies? That's hard to believe. She laughed
to herself as she pictured a thundering red Grarrl, cuddled up with adorable
plushies.
Still, even when Naolin went to her job earlier
in the morning, not one plushie was sold. Rich folk scoffed at the quality of
the plushies. The poor scuttled away, with not enough money to buy a single
one. Day after day, Naolin would be stuck with the same routine. Shouting all
day about the "amazing" plushies on sale and ended up ending each day in disappointment
as not one plushie was sold. Soon, she was losing money and fired all her workers;
accept the manager who was to stay as long as the business carried on. Deciding
to give up on her outside advertising scheme, Naolin, the blue Eyrie living
off poverty, sat inside, drumming her paws against the counter top, counting
the tiles on the floor. She felt dozens of eyes on her, realising all the plushies
across from her on the shelf were staring at her. She began counting her Aishas.
"One, two, three…fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty-"
she gasped. Now forty plushies were missing. She looked over to the shelf populated
with Eyrie Plushies. Only sixty of them as well! Angrily, she stomped over to
the Grarrl manager. It was okay when none of the plushies were selling but not
okay for employers to steal them.
"Manager, I have recently found that forty plushies
of Aishas and forty plushies of Eyries have been missing," Naolin growled. "Only
you and I have access to the store when I'm not around and I have not been the
one taking plushies so you must be. What do you have to say for yourself?"
The manager jerked away and mumbled tiredly.
It took a few moments for him to realize that Naolin was in his presence. The
Grarrl's eyes slowly looked into Naolin's angered face. Grunt. And he fell back
asleep. The Eyrie stared, shocked as the manager slept on with occasional snorts.
Surely he wouldn't be able to steal them, Naolin assumed. He hardly ever gets
out of his seat.
The next day, five plushies disappeared from
the Aishas. Then after that, 5 disappeared from the Eyries the next day. At
last, Naolin hid in the store for the night to monitor it, for she didn't have
enough money for an alarm or security system. Faint rustling sailed through
the air from the factory. It was the manager shifting in his chair, fast asleep.
Thump. Naolin jumped at the sound. She peeked over the counter of which she
was hiding behind. She froze and gawked with wide eyes at the horror she saw.
The plushie Aishas and Eyries were alive. They were up and walking. Some were
whispering with one another. Still appalled, Naolin leaned forward to try and
make out what was being said, until she leaned too far.
Naolin lost her balance and fell sideways, knocking
over a chair beside her. She quickly regained herself and got up before the
plushies had the chance to climb back up their shelves and into their lifeless
forms. The plushies were in a mad rush to get to their shelves, even though
they knew Naolin already seen their abilities to move. All except one. A plushie
Aisha stood still, resting its eyes on Naolin. "So, you know our secret now,"
it whispered in a raspy voice. "What do you suppose we should do about it?"
It was beckoning to the rest of the plushies, who already stopped struggling
to climb the walls. A murmur just emitted from the crowd of plushies.
"How are you alive?" Naolin burst out. She had
so many unanswered questions from the unexpected event.
"We have a curse," replied the plushie. Naolin
just blinked, so the plushie continued. "A long time ago, Faerie Queen Fyora
was testing new spells on our ancestor plushies. She managed to invent a spell
that would bring us to life. She brought one plushie to life, just as a test
and gave it powers, such as super strength and invisibility powers. This plushie,
excited to explore this new world he entered, caused riots and havoc. He was
power-hungry see? So, he wanted plushies to rule the world and tried to steal
the rare scroll from Queen Fyora, the ONLY scroll that existed. Fyora was the
only one who knew how to cast the spell by heart. Anyway, the plushie did manage
to take the scroll, but merely managed to liven about 10 plushies. One of the
10 was the sidekick. He did all the budding of the first plushie. Our plushie
ancestors were Eyries and Aishas, so that's why we are different. Of course,
faeries had their ways and power. Queen Fyora, angered, brought up her army
of faeries and took back the scroll.
In the end, Queen Fyora cast another spell that
would make ALL Aisha and Eyrie plushies live and deemed that we were to be powerless,
forever, unless the spell is broken."
The plushie finished his story, but Naolin wanted
to hear more.
"So is that why you don't sell too well?"
"Yes, because if you look at our fur and compare
it to an plushie Shoyru or Draik, ours is dull. Our eyes shine dull reflections
even to the shiniest light of all the world. We've been waiting for centuries
for this burden to be lifted. We just want to be normal plushies," Naolin looked
at the plushie with pity and nodded in agreement. She did see that their eyes
gave an unusual lifeless expression and their fur was faded, as if stood in
the sun for too long. "With this distorted look, we need to be sold and given
to a nice home. Then, will the curse be lifted finally."
"All right, then," cried Naolin. "I'll help
you! I'll buy you and give you to my little cousin, Isis." Bewildered, all the
plushies cheered. The next morning, Naolin put 50 Neopoints into the cashier
box and packaged the plushie into a gift box. When the evening came, Naolin
traveled to Meridell where her cousin Isis lived and handed him the box. Thrilled
with joy, and only 5 hours old, the little Grundo hugged his new plushie Aisha.
Under Isis's arm, Naolin could just see the Aisha's face and saw its eyes brighten,
the fabric glow, and a smile curved through its mouth.
It was mid March when Naolin re-entered her
shop after the plushie incident the night before. She couldn't help but realize
the same smiles on the plushies' face, the glow of their fabric, and their twinkling
eyes. The shop's wind chimes jingled as a little Neopet, along with her owner,
shyly entered. Naolin welcomed them warmly and they pointed to the plushies,
noting that they have never seen such lifelike plushies.
The End
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