MYSTERY ISLAND - Sand
Fever has taken another step in terrorising Neopia. It seems that Sand
Fever 'mutated' into a new disease Sand Addiction Neurological Disorder, or
S.A.N.D. for short. Quite obviously this sickness is not new either. It has
been around for AT LEAST three months.
This disease has just about the same effects on its victims as Sand Fever.
The main difference being the urge to buy sand is much stronger and it doesn't
wear off quickly if at all.
Treyz Kushrinada (treyz_kushrinada) via Neomail brought S.A.N.D. to my attention
after he read my article. After learning that Sand Fever had an advanced stage
I decided to write an article to warn Neopians everywhere, and who better to
interview than the person who informed me of its presence? So I invited Treyz
to be interviewed and he accepted the invitation.
We sat down across from each other and the interview began.
"You have S.A.N.D. right?" I asked, even though I already knew that he had
it.
"Yes, unfortunately I do..." he replied.
"How long have you had this sickness?" I questioned, knowing that if THIS
had been around for a long time that Sand Fever had to have been around a lot
longer than I had expected.
"Hmm...it's hard to tell when it started, but I'd say I've had it for around
three months now..."
"How did you get it?"
Treys paused for a moment before answering. "Well, first I had contracted
Sand Fever, which you've already written an article about. Then one day, while
stumbling around the shop wizard, I came across a few sand wholesale shops...shops
with at least 100 bottles of sand in stock. That's when I contracted S.A.N.D...by
seeing so many bottles of sand at one time..."
This most certainly surprised me. "That's very interesting. Do you think that
S.A.N.D. can be contracted without having Sand Fever first?"
"It's quite possible...but there are so few 'cheap' shops around that have
such large quantities of sand. It's possible, but would probably be rare..."
he said.
"How many bottles of sand do you currently own?" I said with little hesitation.
But Treyz refused to tell. "Hmm...you ask a touchy question, for to reveal
the exact number would prove how divesting this disease could be. Let's just
say there's no shop presently in Neopia that's large enough to hold all of just
one colour of my sand, let alone all four colours..."
"I see. Do you limit yourself to how much NP you spend on a single bottle
of sand? Like I myself would only buy a bottle of sand that cost 1 NP" I asked.
"I do limit myself, but in a broader sense." He said. "I'll pay anywhere from
one to ten NP for a single bottle of sand, though I have unfortunately paid
10,000 each for 6 bottles of black sand, due to my carelessness to look at the
confirm the price before buying them..."
That made me laugh pretty hard. "Well, that'll make people look more closely!
Do you suppose you'll ever get over S.A.N.D.?"
"Anything's possible, but I wouldn't bet any NP on it. As long as there's
sand for sale in Neopian Shops, I think I'll be addicted..."
"How often do you buy sand? Every day?" I asked this only because I myself
had spent just about every minute I was allowed on to buy sand.
"Every day for at least two hours a day..." He replied.
"Wow. That's pretty impressive." I said. "Don't you ever get irritated or
annoyed with yourself when you are buying the sand?"
"Sometimes I do...but that's usually only when the page is loading. Once it's
loaded and I see the sand for sale, the urge just kicks in and I feel the need
to 'buy buy buy'..."
"Do you think you ever could sell your sand if the disease went away?"
"I could sell it, but I don't know that I would." He said. "I'd probably just
stick it all in a shop, assuming I could get a shop large enough to hold it
all, as a warning to everyone of just how far S.A.N.D. Can progress..."
"Well, that would be a good idea." I commented. "I'm afraid that's all the
questions I have, but do you have anything to say to your fellow Neopians out
there?"
"Don't eat yellow snow...? Erh...I mean don't buy bottles of sand...they're
bad for your health and all. Leave the sand alone; you're Neopets will be glad
you did..." he said.
"Do your Neopets have anything to say?"
"Sharzyanka, my Jubjub, would probably say she hates sand cause it gets stuck
all in her fur and is hard to get out..." he said after a moments pause.
"Anything else?"
"Nope...I think that's it..."
"Okay," I said. "Thank you for your time."
After thanking him and saying goodbye he went on his way.
This conversation I had with Treyz Kushrinada just proves that S.A.N.D. is
a very dangerous disease. If you have Sand Fever try as hard as you can to get
it to go away as fast as possible. S.A.N.D. may very well be a permanent disease
that could wreak havoc on a persons mind. Stay away from large amounts of sand
or any persons that may have advanced Sand Fever. S.A.N.D. will infect you whether
or not you want it to.
There may be some immune Neopians, and hope that you are one of them. But,
perhaps, there is some advantage to having Sand Fever or S.A.N.D. You could
always trade your sand at the trading post with some exclamatory statement such
as 'Bid before it's too late' in the wish list box. Believe me, some people
will give you a lot for ten bottles of sand. Also one day the creators of Neopia
may make something that sand can be used for and the worth of these bottles
may go up. Who knows?
But until then beware of Sand Addiction Neurological Disorder. | 
