TYRANNIAN JUNGLE - May laughed as we read our fourth article in the Neopian
Times. "That was a good idea, you know about making the series on forgotten
shopkeepers and all," I told my cloud Kau, May_4545. She nodded her head and
smiled.
She stopped moment as we walked in to our NeoHome, her mind was racing for
a forgotten shop keeper. But she gave up and trotted into our NeoHome. But it
was the next day at lunch when we found out where to go.
May trotted in to the kitchen of our NeoHome, searching for her favourite
lemon sweeties. But instead May found two bright orange slips of paper. May
looked around and took a closer look. "Moon! Thanks Moon!" May trotted quickly
into our small living room. "Thanks Moon!" She held up the orange slips of paper
that turned out to be tickers to see May's favourite group, M*YNCI.
"So, Moon," May asked sitting on the couch next to me, "When are we going
to Tyrannia?"
"Right Now!" I said, getting up to find my bag. "But first, take this! It
may come in handy." I tossed her the book, How To Speak Tyrannian. She
caught it and flipped through the pages quickly.
"Okay!" she yelled. "Off to Tyrannia!"
And we were off... to the prehistoric Neopia.
***
May and I shared a love for a Tyrannia; it was one of our favourite worlds.
"Um Moon!" May told me as we strolled the dirt streets lined with houses made
of mud, and stones. "Why don't we do our forgotten shopkeepers article on a
Tyrannian shopkeeper?"
I thought for a moment, and smiled. "Well, I don't speak Ugga Ugga, but that's
why we have that book. So okay, May... why not?"
May nodded and we crossed through the jungle, looking at the large stones and
the huge trees.
I looked for some sort of shop. "There... May," I called out, "why
not the furniture shop. No one knows about him!"
May turned to me with a disgusted look on her face. "Moon, it smells so bad
in there, they sell dung furniture!"
I nodded and then continued walking and searching. "May," I told her, "wasn't
there was a food shop around her."
May smiled and thought a moment. "Come one Moon, through here," she said,
leading me through a large clump of trees. "There you go! The food shop." May
pointed to a large stone Chomby. "Let's Go!" she said as we ran towards the
building.
We stopped and looked up for a second. It had seemed a lot smaller when we
first looked at it. We continued our journey, up the cold stones stairs until
we arrived in a small room.
The walls were made of stone and the floor of hay. Nothing special, but what
really was special was the shopkeeper. He was a Chia, but like no other Chia
I had seen before. He had a patch of knotted black hair on the top of his head
that covered most of his face. He was bigger than a normal Chia too, and a bit
slumped over.
May smiled and turned to me. I nodded the approval for her to go ahead.
May flipped through the book, and said to the Chia, "Ug Ugga Uggia ug ug ug!"
May smiled and the shopkeeper walked over.
"May," I whispered, what did you say to him?"
May turned to me. "I said, that we like to write story on you, or maybe
I said 'Oh! Why don't the asparagus fly?'"
The Chia turned, and pointed to himself, and in very slow and very careful
English he said, "I speak English some." He smiled and pointed himself again.
May smiled and put down the book and spoke slowly and loudly, "Very good!
You tell me about you?" she asked.
The Chia pointed to himself and smiled, and nodded his head. "Me name is Carlo,
I sell food, I grow the food. It good food. You like?" he asked, pointing to
me. I smiled and nodded my head. Between you and me, I can't stand Tyrannian
food.
"Very good..." I told him, but whispered to May, "this is going nowhere fast,
ask some more questions?"
May nodded. "So, Carlo," May asked, trying to think of a question. "What about
your family. Do you have a family?"
"Yes, Yes," said Carlo, "Me young cousin sells much Petpets to much people.
She good at job. But she don't like me." He looked like he was going to cry,
but he continued, "We got in fight, we do not talk more. It started when I was
very young, I like eating. I ate many things. She did not like me eat meat.
She vegetarian. I still eat meat. Now she sell pets. I like the pets. But she
not sell to me. That makes a Carlo sad."
May nodded her understandingly. "What about this building, didn't it take
a long time to build?"
"I found it," he told us. "It empty. No one use it, so Carlo say, 'I will
make good shop. And make much money.' So Carlo buy pet from little sister. That
would make Carlo much happy." He clapped his hands and said, "That all!"
May and I climbed down the stones stairs, silently. When we got down and began
walking to the Plateau to go to the M*YNCI concert.
May said, "And all he wanted was a Petpet!"
I nodded my head, and we continued to walk to make our way to the concert
hall.... | 
