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Neopia's Fill in the Blank News Source | 28th day of Running, Yr 26
The Neopian Times Week 149 > Short Stories > Lily...

Lily...

by potatorewkiki

"Everyone, I have excellent news for you! Our school is trying to promote the strengthening of relationships between family members, specifically siblings. Myra's passing out a note on it for you to give to your parents tonight, and while she does so I shall quickly go over what it says," announced an old green Techo. The teacher of twenty-seven sixth grade students nudged her small glasses closer to her large yellow eyes and began her explanation in a low but scratchy voice.

     A shadow Gelert in the middle of the second row of pale yellow desks groaned as a Darigan Moehog strode over to her and dropped a sheet of paper into her hands. Without even glancing down at it, Blue shoved the note into her desk and slouched down in her chair.

     "Sixth through eighth graders will be participating in this. Over the next two weeks, you are to do something really special for a brother of sister of yours that you don't do every day. If you turn in the slip at the bottom of the page being given to you in that period of time signed by your sibling, you will receive three free homework passes. You all know that this is quite an opportunity, because I don't believe in giving out homework passes." She nodded with a smile to her class, and then walked back over to her desk and sat down, proceeding to the grading of Meridellian history papers.

     Each person in the room's jaw had dropped open by that point. Some in the excited 'I am so gonna do that' way, others in the disappointed 'how lame is that' way. Blue's jaw dropped due to the latter reason.

     Wow, this plan can't be worse. I can't believe they're even trying this. At least Kottske will agree with me, the Gelert thought to herself, her cerulean blue eyes narrowed. She turned her head around to her best friend. The brown Uni who sat straight behind her was smirking with widened eyes and seemingly overjoyed about this as he looked over the paper. Blue raised her right eyebrow, staring at him in shock.

     "Kottske! You look like you think that this is some neat idea or something! No offense, but that's kind of scaring me," she hissed at him. Kottske cackled, looking up to her with a delighted grin.

     "Don't you see? I'll be excused from this! I don't have any siblings!" he revealed to her, in a jovial tone. Blue gasped.

     "HOW LUCKY CAN YOU BE?!" she exclaimed, blinking a few times.

     "Pretty lucky, I guess," he responded. The Gelert growled at him with clenched fists, pursed lips, narrowed eyes, and slumped shoulders. With a long held out sigh, she turned back to face her teacher, and tried to not to think of how jealous she was of Kottske.

~~~~~~

Blue stumbled through the front door of her sitter's house dragging her backpack and feet. Her eyes looked as if they were those of a pet painted with a grey paint brush, and at this time of day, Blue ACTED like that, too.

     Her younger sister, a red Shoyru known as Angel, stood next to a counter in the middle of the kitchen, spreading some cream cheese onto a bagel with a butter knife. On the right of the island was a white garbage can, in which the Gelert threw the crumbled up note about the family relationship program from school. She then tossed aside her backpack and ran to the stairway and down into the chilly, unfinished basement of the building.

      Angel stopped spreading her bagel, staring inquisitively at the can. She then dropped the bagel and knife and walked over to the overflowing container of garbage, lifting up the crumbled up piece of paper and flattening it out as much as she could on the counter.

     Taking a moment to read through the note carefully, the ten-year old girl glanced at the basement door, then to her brother who was working on homework at the wooden kitchen table, and back to the letter from Blue's principal.

     She always avoids spending time with us. I need to find something little for her to do for me, something that will get her those homework passes and have her spend a little time with me, Angel thought. She folded her arms and leaned against the island, thinking to herself about that question.

     "Angel? Did you know that there's this dead king in the Lost Desert named Coltzan?" a red Eyrie called to the Shoyru from the olive green couch. She rolled her eyes, as she had learned that in kindergarten.

     "Yes, I've visited his little shrine quite a few times before," Angel retorted, annoyed by his pathetic 'did you know...?' questions. Floryn shrugged and returned his emotionless eyes to his notebook.

     Angel paused at that moment to think. What kind of name is Coltzan? Not something you hear every day. Not a more common name... like Angel, she thought. But my name isn't Angel...

     "Flor? I have always wanted to know this: Why does everyone call me Angel? That's my middle name! My first name is Lily," she asked, with her hands cupped together behind her back, her feet shuffling on the floor, and a timid smile on her face.

     "Blue. Blue was the one calling you Angel. I asked her the same question a few months ago, and you know what she said? I remember this so clearly, give me a moment to recall her exact words," he explained, pushing his homework aside and standing up. The Eyrie's solemn expression soon turned into an odd mix between a frown and a sad face.

     "Oh yes. She said: 'Angel? Geez, is the answer not obvious enough? She's so bratty, snobby, every little synonym of those words, and she always puts herself first. Basically, the kid thinks she's the only creature in Neopia who matters at all,'" he recounted. At that moment, they shared not only Floryn's saddened look, but his feeling too. Angel put her hands on her forehead, walked slowly over into the family room and sat guiltily back in the armchair. Soon those small, bright red hands were covering her face, as her head shook behind them.

     "No, no, no... I'm not like that... I'm not... I never am... Can I be?" the depressed red Shoyru stuttered to herself. "Did... did she really say that?" Floryn picked up the bagel that he had just finished spreading cream cheese on for her up and walked over to the small girl.

     "Yeah," he admitted, a sorrowful look on his face, as if he wished he would have never told her that. The red Eyrie handed her the bagel and patted her head a few times before returning to his work. "Yes, she did..."

~~~~~~

Later that night, little Lily Angel Twistoritoway sat up straight, against two Weewoo feather pillows, in a content position in her bed, with her delicate hands folded neatly in her lap. Her large, shining eyes met those of a Meekins climbing on a tree only about a foot away from her opened window. The dark sky above it was a beautiful shade of midnight blue, with stars sprinkled like glitter upon it. It wasn't that late at all, yet she was positive that her older sister would stay awake for the next four or five hours.

     "Hey, there, little Meekins. My name's..." she started to introduce, leaning forward towards the window but stopping in place. Her eyes widened to the size of the Meriballs that she scored home runs with three days before, and she let out a small gasp.

     "That's it!" she whispered. "That's what Blue can do for me!" She threw off her quilt and jumbled out of her bed in a purple nightgown, sprinting into Blue's room where her sister was brushing her hair in front of her desktop mirror.

     "Hallo, Angel," she called, rolling her eyes. "Whatcha want?" Her sister gave a sigh, and walked over to her.

     "Blue. I need to ask a favor of you," Angel said, with a gulp. Her hands were slightly shaking, but she had the courage to continue on.

     "For the next three days, I promise, I'll start to be a more kind, caring person. I'll put others before me, and I won't act like the snobby, bratty, conceited jerk that I used to be. All I ask in return is for you to do one little thing for me. I won't tell you what yet; you'll have to wait until the three days are up. If you think I've earned it, then please do it for me. It'll mean so much to me, more than anything you've ever done. It will be hard for you to understand, when I tell you what I'd like, how such a little thing can matter... but you don't know how happy I'll feel if you do what I ask. Oh, and I'll sign your little slip that I took out of the garbage can earlier today so that you can have those passes if you agree," Angel plead. For once, she didn't use her irresistible baby Shoyru eyes, she didn't cry when her sister gave her the 'I'm not so sure' look, and she most certainly not lie to get her way.

     Blue looked up from her mirror, and deep into her sister's eyes. She could tell that there was something different about her this time. That question was sincere, and the girl sounded like she truly needed what she would ask her. A wince came from the Gelert, as it was troubled in the action of deciding whether to get into this little plan of her sister's.

     "You aren't wearing your little 'I'm so adorable and innocent' face. Weird," Blue noted, still analyzing her sister to make sure she really was going to go for her decision.

     "Yeah, it's great to see that you noticed," Angel responded. That little side conversation was very short and quiet, just taking up enough time for the shadow Gelert to make up her mind.

      "If it's all right, I'll make this answer a bit short, so you won't be like freaked out or anything... You really scare me with your happy dance. Sure, why not?" Blue responded, smiling a true, loving smile to her sister. That was an expression that she didn't use too often. Her sister smiled that same smile back, and her gratefulness caused her to jump onto her sister in a tight hug. And that was the beginning of... something.

~~~~~~

DAY ONE 

With outstretched arms, a yawning shadow Gelert sat up from bed, and waddled out of her bedroom door and down the stairs into her living room. Atop a black leather couch sat that little bundle of joy -- Angel. She was reading a magazine on the couch with her friend, Madavan, a small yellow Poogle.

     "Hey, Blue!" the red Shoyru called to her sister in delight. "Wow, you've slept really late! It's past noon! Floryn made some sandwiches for lunch, but he forgot yours so I put mine on your plate and I made another for myself. And Mom sent Potato a Magaral she caught for me! It's so cute! She's in the kitchen, if you'd like to see her. Potato said that Gymlia apologizes for not catching one for you yet, and yours will come soon." Blue rubbed her eyes and blinked at her all-of-the-suddenly kind sister, soon remembering her deal from the day before. A grin formed on her face, for she couldn't help but to admire how cool the nice version of her sister was. Sure, she was acting a bit weird, but that's a quality that she might have had before, yet she hadn't displayed it in quite a long time.

     "Okaaaay..." Blue mumbled, giving her sister a thumbs up sign and striding into the kitchen. The fuzzy little Magaral looked up at her, frowned, and slapped its thin, wire-like tail on the Gelert's ankle.

     "Ouch!" the girl moaned, hopping to the side, and closing her eyes until she heard the awaited giggles from Angel. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked to the couch that the Shoyru had sat on before, and now only Madavan did. Angel hurried to her from the sink with a cold cloth.

     "Oh dear, Blue, that's really got to hurt. Honestly, it really does," she shrieked. That kind little red Shoyru then lifted up Blue's jeans about two inches above the ankle and examined the red indent in her skin behind the Gelert's wiry black hair. She looked up to her sister.

     "It'll be fine, there's no damage, really. It only looks a little darker than the skin color is supposed to be," Angel reported, pulling Blue's jean bottoms back down and tossing the rag into the sink.

     "Wait until you see the petpet that Mom and I picked out for you this morning! It'll be here tomorrow. Isn't that great?" she announced, smiling. Not sure whether to be excited or scared, Blue just gave a quick nod and hopped outside onto the hammock by their porch. They had a normal sized yard, covered with grass and a couple of weeds here and there, and enclosed by a wooden fence that was copper in color.

     "Blue! What about your lunch?" Angel shouted.

     "I can eat later!" Blue yelled back, grinning. She then fell back into the hammock and shut her eyes...

~~~~~~

"Blue? Geez, we've all been a bit worried about you. You just slept for a full three and a half hours, and you slept past noon through the night! How late did you stay up last night?" a brown Uni asked the Gelert. He poked her knee a couple of times, until her eyes slowly opened and she let out another yawn.

     "Hi, Kottske," she murmured, sitting up and jumping off of the hammock. "Eh, I dunno, maybe two or three o'clock." And she said those words as if it was normal to stay up that late.

     Angel handed Blue her dinner as the Gelert walked into her house and sat down next to Madavan to eat…

     After almost an hour of attacking her food, Blue had finished her first and second dishes, and was in the middle of thirds. It was about five o'clock, which was early for her to eat dinner, but she hadn't eaten all day, so why not?

     "I'm finished." By then she had Kottske, Madavan, Angel, Potato, and some blue Lupe with a nice shiny suit of armor waiting around the table for her to finish up. The blue Lupe with a nice shiny suit of armor was just an illusion that Angel was seeing, of course…

     Everyone sighed with relief at that moment, and they all scrambled away into different directions, Potato to clean the table, Madavan to the couch, Angel with her Magaral and Kottske to Blue's side, and the blue Lupe with a nice shiny suit of armor disappeared.

     "Oh no! Where'd Jeran go?" the Shoyru suddenly exclaimed, just as Blue stood up from the wooden chair.

     "Angel, you're holding him," Kottske pointed out. "That is what you named him, right?"

     "Yep," Angel said with a nod. "But there was a blue Lupe with a nice shiny suit of armor standing there next to Potato! I swear, I saw him! I really did!" Kottske and Blue immediately burst into laughter.

     "Angel, you need to go to the doctor or something! You're seeing Jeran!" Blue told her, giggling. She ran up the stairs with Kottske, but hopped back down a few to tell Angel something.

     "I'm terribly sorry, but I forgot to mention this. Nice job today, just don't put in any extra acts of kindness. They really freak me out. You just don't be a snobby jerk or a self-obsessed brat, and I'm happy!" Angel smiled, knowing that if Blue was happy already, then her plan would turn out just fine.

~~~~~~

DAY TWO

"Meep!" a low voice squeaked. Blue opened her eyes, and after adjusting to the light, she screamed at the sight of a large pink Meepit sitting just inches from her face.

     "EEK!" she exclaimed, as the creature darted off of the bed and onto the chair at the Gelert's chair. Blue immediately sat up straight, her eyes almost half as large as the petpet's, and her heart beating so fast from the abrupt awakening. Angel was leaning against the closed bedroom door smiling.

     "I guess that's a bit of a shock. Blue, this is Offsephious. Offsephious, my older sister, Blue, and your new owner and best friend," the red Shoyru introduced, pointing to each pet/petpet as she mentioned their name. Blue looked up at her, seeing that she looked pleased with the petpet and her sister, and sighed.

     "How late is it now?" she asked, blinking a couple of times and glancing at the Meepit suspiciously as it sniffed her clothes dresser. Angel giggled, motioning towards her clock which read 1:37 PM. Blue groaned, reaching her hand to the side of the bed as she grabbed her journal and flipped it to the most recent entry. Seven pages long -- that must have been what took her so long last night.

     "Ugh… that's terrible," the Gelert murmured, hopping off of the bed, kneeling next to Offsephious, and patting him on the bed. The Meepit turned around and, again, began staring at poor Blue.

     "Aww, I think he likes you! So, how do you like your new petpet?" the girl asked, sheepishly holding her hands together in front of her stomach. Blue jerked her head up to face Angel, flinging her ears backwards.

     "This is my new petpet? Are you kidding? That's so awesome!" she squealed, jumping up and down with merriment. The beaming Shoyru just watched her sister freak out, and ended up shaking her head and exiting the room.

     ~~~~~~

     A few hours later, Angel trotted up the stairs into Blue's room. Her hands and head were covered with sweat, as she had just returned from a midsummer Meriball game that was long and tiring. She had her team uniform on: a light blue, navy blue, and white T-shirt with 'The Feepits' on the front, and 'Twistoritoway 13' on the back, plus a matching cap. The uniform was a bit dirty, but Angel didn't really want to think about that now. It was already dinner time, and the shy little Madavan had reported that Blue had been up in her room, hanging out with Offsephious since the red Shoyru left.

     She carefully and slowly pushed the door open to ensure that it wouldn't interrupt the Gelert's time spent with her new petpet. There, under Blue's completely awesome tie-dye teal comforter, sat her sister, and beside her, the little pink Meepit who was just staring at her with his huge, frightening eyes. Blue held a book in her hand, one that was lavender in color and moved around too much for Angel to read the title of.

     "…and the blue Lupe looked up at her Whoot, smiling. He liked his petpet a lot, and he always would. The end!" the Gelert concluded, slapping the book shut and grabbing Offsephious. She jumped out of her bed, and was about to hop out of the door, when she bumped into a red Shoyru, leaning against the door, grinning, and tapping her feet.

     "And it's time for a little thing called 'dinner'. Potato said that you can eat up here with Sephi if you'd like, but you need to tell me now," she explained.

     "Sephi and I'll eat up here! Say thanks to Potato for letting us do it. Oh, you and your Magaral are welcome to eat with us, you know," Blue reminded her, shrugging with a small smile. Angel raised her left eyebrow, glancing between Offsephious and her sister, who both looked as innocent as… uh, a Gelert and it's Meepit? Angel sighed, but still decided to give in.

     "Okay, okay! I'll eat up here with you! One second, lemme go grab Jeran…" she shouted as she bounced down the hallway to her room. Blue and Offsephious exchanged glances, and the shadowed pet blinked a couple of times as her petpet just stared at the door of Angel's bedroom until it was burst open by the little Shoyru who was supposed to be exhausted from her Meriball game who clutched a small purple ball of fuzz.

     "Wow, she really put a LOT of thought into that name," Blue whispered in a sarcastic tone.

     "Meep!"

     Angel dropped Jeran onto the bed, and then sat down next to Blue, exhaling some air before she spoke up to her sister. Offsephious was still staring at her, which was really freaking her out at that point.

     "How can you stand him staring at you like that all of the time?"

     "Heh, I'm his owner, I'm supposed to be able to tolerate that." Blue patted her Meepit on the back, and then looked back up to Angel. "How can you stand carrying around a little ball of purple fuzz, and call it Jeran. Geez, he's so much better looking than that!" The two of them giggled together.

     "Blue! Angel! Come down here and get your dinner!" Madavan shouted up to them from the kitchen. The two girls jumped up, grabbed their petpets, and then ran downstairs together to retrieve their dinner…

~~~~~~

The stars twinkled in the sky, as it was past midnight, and Blue was still awake. Typical of her, a true night Whoot she was. A Meepit sat on her windowsill, leaning its head against her, as they both gazed outside at Potato's pond. Offsephious had his eyes glued to a Batterfly, but Blue just looked at the water. It was a gleaming blue in color, holding the unique reflections of every object at its bank in a watercolor type form on its surface. Suddenly, her door was slowly opened by a small creature with a Shoyru's shadow.

     "Um, Blue? I'd really like it if I could tell you what I'd like from you now. That way, you can sleep on it and all," she whispered, her blue nightgown being wisped by the breeze that filtered through the open window. She looked like a ghost in the night, but Blue just welcomed her in, turning on a small, aqua-colored light so that she and Angel could see each other.

     Angel took a deep breath and then spoke to Blue in a soft voice. "Will you please call me Lily again?" Blue stopped all thought and froze in place for a moment as she recalled her sister saying that what she would ask would mean a lot to her. The Gelert instantaneously realized what calling Angel Lily again would mean to the Shoyru, and why her sister was so nice to her those past two days.

     "You don't want to be called a name that makes me sound like I still hate you, do you…?" Blue whispered. Angel shook her head slowly. Blue looked down at the floor, as every piece fell into place.

     "You weren't the true jerk in this situation, were you?" the Gelert asked, as a small tear rolled down her cheek.

     "No, but I wasn't the only person whose attitude was improved in these past two days, either," her sister responded.

     "Thanks, Lily."

     "I can sign that--"

     "NO! I don't need the homework passes! This has paid off for something better… Something much better."

     There, as they kneeled together in the darkness of the night, Blue had learned quite a valuable lesson, one that she could not have learned without the help of Lily Angel Twistoritoway.

The End

Author's Note: Thanks for reading, and I'd just like to say that I would be overjoyed if you can Neomail me about this story, or anything really. ;)

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