Life before Love

by dreamergirl28506

Anahstasia_56 had a good Neopian life. She had 10,000 NP in the bank, and four pets. A red Uni I'll call Kira, who dabbled constantly about if her eyeshadow looked good or if her lipstick ran off her lips; a yellow Kiko I'll call Macie, who was quite lazy, always "tired" and never wanted to do anything; a blue Usul named Dina, who was very studious, and was always being bought nice toys because of her good grades; and a red Shoyru called Jia, who was a great Battledome fighter, and always being congratulated. One day, anahstasia_56, or Anah, needed to run an important errand to pick up a codestone to pay the Training School. But she was terribly busy managing her store, and none of her pets wanted to go.

"I just renewed my lipstick," Kira would whine.

"I'm too tired to go, I was planning on taking a nap," Macie would yawn.

"I need to write an essay on shop items," Dina would mumble.

"But Mom, I must train for my battle against the Earth Faerie tomorrow," Jia would protest.

So Anah, cold hearted as she was, decided to create a pet that could run errands for her. Yes, the perfect idea. Not that she'd really have to like the pet. First, though, she had to abandon someone. She abandoned Macie, finding her too lazy to be of any good. At the Central, she chose for her pet a timid little blue Kacheek, Lea_86, or Lea. Anah didn't even speak to Lea, just snapped a collar around her neck and dragged her home. But some of her pets weren't happy.

"She'll make a mess of my makeup," Kira complained.

"She'll get in the way of my studies," Dina groaned.

Only Jia accepted Lea into the family. Lea was scared of her at first, hearing rumors from Kira about Jia the Jigantic, but soon found out Jia was much nicer than the other sisters.

Anah soon took the advantage she had wanted of Lea. Every day, Lea would go out and fetch fresh baguette rolls and other pastries for her sisters and owners breakfast. She hardly ever got any breakfast, anyway. Once she arrived home with the food, Anah told her to "take a walk or something; just get out of the way", so she walked down to the Marketplace and went to her favorite place, the Toy Store.

Once there, she went in and stared at the Scooters, Bicycles, and dolls hungrily. Soon the Lupe noticed her and walked over.

"Are you buying anything, little girl?" she asked kindly.

"No ma'am, I have no money, and my owner won't give me anything; I have no toys, but I like to look at the ones here," she replied.

Tears silently ran down the Lupe's cheeks. Then she ran behind the counter and took out a little doll.

"Unfortunately, I have to keep good toys for business, this is all I can give you, but I think you will like it," she said.

Lea stared. It was a Reject Rainbow Cybunny Doll. Even though it was a Reject, she thought it was the prettiest thing she had ever seen.

"Th...thank you so much," she gasped, and she ran out of the store before the Lupe could change her mind.

At home, Anah noticed the brown paper bag she was holding and confronted her.

"What's in that bag? Did you have leftover money? I told you never to waste the family savings on yourself!"

Lea showed her the doll. Anah frowned.

"Where did you get that?" she demanded.

Lea swallowed her fear. "I found it behind the toy store."

"Oh, begging, were you? You can keep it, since it's a Reject. But no more begging, you hear me? It makes the family look poor!"

Lea nodded "yes" and ran to the attic, where she slept. She ran to her bed and fell asleep.

Many months later, Lea was sent to run an errand for some battle armour for Jia. She asked the Shop Wizard where she could find one, and he pointed her to the shop. When she got there, though, there was trouble. A Meerca was managing the counter with a name tag that read "Julia." Julia glared at Lea. "What? I thought Kimmy didn't allow ragbags in our store."

"I...I just need a metal shield."

"You're not getting it. Who knows what you would use it for. Now get out!" Julia yelled.

Lea dashed out of the store. The 200 NP Anah had given her for the shield fell in a mud puddle, and so did she. Gasping for breath, she ran home.

Anah was furious with Lea. "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE LISTENED TO THAT GOOD FOR NOTHING MEERCA! AREN'T YOU SMARTER THAN THAT? NEVER MIND! YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!"

Lea grabbed her Cybunny doll, and Anah grabbed her by the collar and dragged her to a big blue building with red letters. She couldn't read the letters, since she had never gotten any teaching. But she knew what was happening when Anah marched up to Dr. Death and yelled, "I want to abandon this stupid pet!" "Calm down," Dr. Death said. What's the lass' name?"

"Lea_86."

Dr. Death scribbled something in a notebook. Then he looked up. "Give me that," he said, motioning to grab the Cybunny doll. "You won't be needing it anymore."

Lea hugged it to her. "Please," she begged. "It's my only thing in the world."

Dr. Death glared, about to say no again, but the red Uni at the Adopt desk whispered something in his ear, and he nodded. "Fine, you can keep it. But this is the last time, Seni," he told the Uni.

Anah marched out of the pound without even saying good-bye, and Dr. Death carried her to Cage No. 12.

Lea looked around at her roommates. She waved hi to a red Usul, Laura, and a green Peophin, Splash, and then looked around, and, with amazement, noticed a snoozing yellow Kiko at the other end of the cage.

"MACIE!" she cried, giving her a huge hug. Macie and Lea had become friends, because Anah had brought Macie to the Create Central, and then abandoned her.

"Mm...huh...what happened? Who?"

"It's me, Macie! Lea!"

They exchanged hugs and then, immediately, Lea started to cry.

"It's...not...my...fault...that...that...stupid...Meerca...not...let...get...shield......" she sobbed.

"You know, Lea," Laura said, "We were all abandoned too. None of us came here voluntarily."

Lea swallowed her sobs. "Why'd you get abandoned?"

Laura hung her head. "My owner loved me until the Meerca came out. She already had four pets, so she abandoned me and got a Meerca."

"And I got here because my owner got tired of me," Splash said sadly.

"And you guys all know how I got abandoned," Macie said.

Lea hung her head. "I'm sorry."

Laura put her arm around her. "Don't be," she said.

Two months later, a little Chia was walking through the pound and noticed Splash. "Mommy Mommy I want this one!" he cried. So Splash was gone, and Macie, Laura and Lea were a little sad, but happy for her. They didn't like her replacement, a stuck-up split Elephante. Soon Laura got adopted by a pretty girl with a striped Kacheek, and Macie got adopted by a chubby girl with a Tuskaninny.

Soon a year had passed, and Lea still waited in the cage. She had shared a cage with twenty NeoPets, but one day a girl came down the hall. Behind her were a spotted Kacheek, a green Kiko, and a yellow Zafara. The spotted Kacheek noticed her first. "Look Dreamer, look at this pet! Can we have this pet?"

The girl came over and looked at Lea. She smiled. "Hi there. You're awfully cute. How long have you been here?"

"A year," Lea mumbled.

The girl turned around. "Dr. Death, I want this one, please!"

Dr. Death came and unlocked Lea's cage. "Hi, I'm Dreamer, and this is Gepenta" pointing to the spotted Kacheek "KikoKutie128285" pointing to the green Kiko "and this is ZafaraCutie18492" pointing to the yellow Zafara. She looked at the Cybunny doll. "Want to throw that away? You can have much nicer toys than Rejects."

Lea shook her head "No".

"OK," said Dreamer. "Come on, let's go home."

And after a life with a cruel owner and a year in the pound, Lea_86 finally found a home.

The End