“Wake up PAubey,” called Ekat as she walked into her pet’s room.
“Five more minutes mom,” PAubey yawned.
“No, today’s your big day, plus Zell and Kool_Bannana are already up”, Ekat
said as she pulled the curtains apart to let the sunshine stream into the room.
“Well, I can expect Kool_Bannana to be up. He’s so athletic, being a Gelert
and all. So is Zell, even though he’s a Meerca,” said PAubey, and yawned again.
“And you’re athletic too. Come on now. You don’t want to be late do you,”
Ekat asked.
“All right mom, but can we go shopping in the marketplace first,” PAubey begged
as she got dressed. They almost never had time for shopping, and PAubey longed
for a chance to buy the collar she always wanted.
“Of course not today, but if you do well we can all go to Pizzaroo,” Ekat
said happily as she walked out of the room.
PAubey finished getting dressed and walked over to the bathroom to brush her
hair with her new Peophin Mane brush. She then walked to the kitchen. Her two
brothers were almost done eating, and they were chatting quietly. Ekat turned
and looked at her.
“Finally, come on and eat,” she said as she handed PAubey a glass of milk
and buttered Faerie toast.
“Hey, PAubey, good luck today,” Zell shouted.
“Yeah,” Kool_Bannana barked, “good luck, cuz you’re gonna need it!”
“Kool, please,” Ekat said as she gave Kool_Bannana a stern look.
“Come on Zell,” Kool_Bannana said as he got up from his seat.
“Okay, bye mom. We will be back before dinner,” Zell shouted to Ekat as he
and Kool_Bannana walked out of the door.
It was a bright, sunny day and PAubey wanted to go with them. She and her
brothers always went to the Neopian Main Shops on Saturday to play with their
friends and to look at the PetPets, but unfortunately today she had to get her
first job.
***
PAubey finished eating and sat quietly, thinking. She was so nervous about
this. So many thoughts came into her head. What if she failed? What if she couldn’t
find the items? The doorbell interrupted PAubey’s thoughts.
As Ekat went to the door, PAubey leaned out of her chair and strained her eyes
to have a look. She heard voices and then Ekat came into the kitchen holding
a big package.
“Well, what do you know,” Ekat said with a smile.
“What is it mom? Let me see. Please,” PAubey yelled as she sprang from the
chair, knocking it down.
“You’ll see later dear,” Ekat quickly said as she went to put the package
down in the living room. “We have to go, NOW.”
“But mom,” PAubey whined,” can’t you just tell me what it is?”
“Well, Aunt Catheline sent us a whole box of paint brushes she found in the
attic. Now go and get your coat. We don’t want to be late, especially not for
your first job,” Ekat ordered.
“Wow,” PAubey said and sighed as she thought about all of the fun she and
her brothers could have with the paint brushes, but she didn’t have time to
think anymore, as Ekat pushed her out of the door.
As they stepped outside, Joy, PAubey’s best friend, ran towards them.
“Hey, PAubey, where are you going,” she shouted. “My mom finally let me go
outside. I had so much to do, but now we can play!”
“I can’t Joy, I’m going to get a job,” PAubey said.
“Wow, a job? Well, good luck then,” Joy said, as she ran back towards the
house.
They went to the bus stop to wait for the bus that would take them to Faerieland. When the bus finally showed up, PAubey saw that Ekat was angry. Ekat always
worried about being late, and this made her worry even more. She certainly didn’t
want to be late for her pet’s first job.
Faerieland was PAubey’s favorite place, and she had been there many times
before, mostly when Ekat took them to the Healing Springs, or when Zell had
to go get a job. Zell had told her all about the jobs, and how there were tons
to chose from. Even though PAubey had been to the Employment Agency a lot, it
felt different, now that she was going there for herself.
The bus stopped, and PAubey and Ekat got off. They hurriedly walked to the
Faerie City, because they didn’t want to miss the last job. They both knew that
if they got there at the job restock time, they would be waiting in a long line
for sure. Ekat dragged PAubey into the building as quickly as possible and they
swiftly walked to the main desk.
“Hello ma’am,” the receptionist said in a quiet voice, “ how may I help you?”
“This is my pet’s first job. May we please look at the basic jobs,” Ekat said
with a worried look. She desperately hoped there would be some left to choose
from.
“Yes, of course. Here you go,” the receptionist said and smiled at PAubey
as she handed Ekat the list.
Ekat looked over the list with a slight frown, but then she looked at PAubey
with a smile. As she handed PAubey the list, Ekat pointed to the very last job.
“How about this one,” Ekat asked PAubey
PAubey looked at where Ekat was pointing.
Find two Neoflake Cakes
Time - 48 minutes
Base Reward - 60 NP
“I’ll take it,” PAubey shouted and she smiled a broad smile. PAubey was overjoyed.
She had bought the cakes before and she knew they weren’t that expensive, so
Neopoints wouldn’t be a problem.
The receptionist asked her to fill out a form with her name and the kind of
job she had just gotten. Then, PAubey and Ekat walked out of the Employment
Agency.
“Well, you know you have to do this on your own,” Ekat said as she straightened
PAubey’s jacket.
“Yes, yes. I know. Don’t worry mom,” PAubey said as she smiled reassuringly.
“All right then. I will be back in an hour. I trust you’ll be done by then.
Meet me in front of the employment agency,” Ekat said as she walked away.
PAubey had 200 Neopoints to spend, and she knew she would have enough left
over to play The Wheel of Excitement, so she decided to do it now. PAubey walked
over to it, and paid the Faerie 100 Neopoints.
“Okay,” the Faerie said, “give it a spin.”
PAubey grabbed the handle and spun the wheel eagerly. It spun around and around
until it began to stop. All of a sudden the sky darkened and the Lava Ghoul
appeared. It opened its giant mouth and breathed fire all over PAubey’s silky
fur. It was so unexpected, and she didn’t even have a chance to move. PAubey
ran toward the Healing Springs, tears streaming down her face. Some of her fur
had burned off, and her whole body was scorched. Her beautiful mane was now
a sticky, gooey gray, instead of the bright blue it used to be.
She saw the Water Faerie, perched upon her rock, and ran toward her. As PAubey
neared her, the Water Faerie’s eyes opened wide and she stared in awe. All of
a sudden she looked normal again and said, “ I am very, very sorry dear, but
I cannot do anything without your owner present.”
“But look at me ma’am,” PAubey shouted, ”can’t you see I’m hurt?”
“Yes, of course dear,” the Faerie calmly said,” but I am not allowed to do
anything without your owner’s permission. Now don’t worry. I know it hurts,
but you will be okay.”
PAubey couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could she carry out her
job like this? As she was about to leave the Water Faerie called her over and
gave her a small bottle. She told her it would soothe her pain long enough for
her owner to return.
PAubey slowly walked away from the healing springs, but then she looked at
her watch. She only had twenty minutes left! PAubey boarded the bus and ignored
the look the bus driver gave her. She sat down in an empty seat and drank the
potion. In five minutes she began feeling better, and was feeling fine when
she got of the bus. Her once pretty pink jacket was stuck to her burned skin,
but she was to worried about the job to notice. PAubey ran to the shop wizard.
She looked at him and said, “Can you please find me a shop with the cheapest
Neoflake Cakes?” He took out his big, dusty book of items and looked for the
cheapest price. “Here you are, shop number 98, owner Sunray09,” he told her,
and pointed toward the direction of the shop.
PAubey ran out of the shop wizard’s building quick as lightning and bolted
to the shop he directed her to. She quickly ran inside, past the shopkeeper,
and grabbed the two last Neoflake Cakes. PAubey slammed them down on the counter
and gave the shopkeeper 20 Neopoints.
“It’s only ten Neopoints, dear,” the shopkeeper told PAubey,” today is half
price day.”
PAubey took ten of the Neopoints she had just given the shopkeeper and yelled,
“Thanks,” as she ran out of the shop.
She boarded the bus yet again, and could tell the bus driver was curious, but
didn’t say anything. As they were nearing Faerieland she gathered her items
and got ready to leap off the bus as soon as it stopped. Finally, the bus stopped,
and just as she had planned, she darted off, never looking back, toward the
Faerie City.
She ran into the Employment Agency and noticed the receptionist was the same.
“Right on time,” the receptionist said. “I’m sorry, you won’t receive a bonus,
but here are the 60 Neopoints you earned.” PAubey eagerly took the Neopoints
and looked at them for a long time. She had done it she thought, she had done
it. All of a sudden she heard a shriek behind her. It was Ekat.
“Oh, my goodness! What happened? Oh, PAubey, I should have never left you alone,”
Ekat shouted, as she ran to hug PAubey
“It’s a long story mom,” PAubey said, “ I’ll tell you later, but can we go
shopping?”
Ekat looked at PAubey and smiled. She smiled even more when she saw that PAubey
had completed her job.
“Of course,” Ekat said as they headed toward the bus. “Of course.”
The End |