Stuck: A Pound Story

     Owners walk by, all different kinds, to look at my friends. Like wares in a shop, they're judged and inspected until somehow, some of them are deemed adequate. Those lucky few get scooped up and taken to a new home... especially if they have what the owners call 'good names.' My Cybunny ears always hear them say things like 'Ooh, what a beautiful name!' and 'This name speaks to me!' I wish my name would 'speak' to someone, whatever that means. I guess Blubunbun isn't special enough to get anyone's attention. I'm starting to think that my name actually REPELS people. Is that possible?

     I weave my way in between some of the bigger Pets on my way to the cafeteria. In my haste, I bump into a Green Grarrl.

     Oh boy, now you've done it, I wince to myself.

     The behemoth turns around, anger on his face. "Hey! Who did that?" he growls, knuckles cracking. "You're gonna get a pounding!"

     He scans his surroundings. His red eyes pass right over me. I realize something, this time with relief, other times with frustration and sadness. This Neopet - like so many of his peers and even the owners - does not know I exist.

     Just for fun and as a little experiment, I shout with a mixture of fear and adrenaline,

     "I'm right in front of you, big bully!"

     He has no reaction. The Pets he can see have cleared out of his way, trembling in fear. Each one believes they're somehow responsible for starting this whole thing. Part of me wants to tell them what really happened, but none of them are looking at me. I am Hidden. With a sigh, I find a way through the crowd. Clutching the book in my paws, my mind pulses, frustration giving way to excitement.

     The cafeteria is, as usual, a crowded mess. I dart through gaps in the busy line of Pets waiting for food. I recognize some of them - especially Star_pony_508, the Red Uni who first greeted me when I arrived here. I just call her Star. Nicknames are a necessity over here.

     Her eyes light up when she sees me. "Blue! There you are!" she exclaims, so enthused that she loses her place in line to grab my arm and pull me to a table. "Feather, he's here!"

     A large Blue Eyrie sits at one of the cafeteria tables. A rowdy group of Neopets sits right beside her. They talk and laugh and exclaim but they don't notice her. Friendfeather89. She and Star are Hidden too. They know I exist. We can talk to each other and laugh with one another and share our dreams with one another, but why us and no one else?

     "Hi, Blue. Hey, Star," she smiles as Star and I join her. She's sipping an Achyfi and a bowl of Neggdrop Soup sits half-eaten in front of her.

     "Ew. I can't believe you actually drink those," Star manages in disgust, eyeing the soda.

     Feather quips, "It's the pound, Star. You can't be picky here."

     I chuckle. You can take the uni out of the grooming parlour, but you can't take the grooming parlour out of the uni.

     Feather finally gazes at the book in my paws. "More research?" she guesses.

     The library faerie had been generous enough to donate some books to us pound Pets. I had immediately gravitated to this particular book - I could just feel that it contained answers to my weird state of being.

     I slam my book down in front of her. "It's the Void!" I exclaim proudly. "This strange, otherworldly force keeping us away from everyone else, forcing us to live in the shadows. Keeping us Hidden."

     Feather raises an eyebrow slightly in doubt. "The Void?"

     "Yes! It has to be related to our names somehow, right? What else could it be?" I press, watching her face for agreement. "Grey faerie? Name? Void!"

     I hold the book to her face in my over-excitement.

     Feather is still for a moment. Then she rolls her eyes with a good-natured chuckle. "It is not the Void," she insists, pushing the book down with a fluffy Eyrie paw. "Besides, that doesn't even make sense. Neopets can't get new names like grey faeries can. And even if we could, what does that have to do with the Void?"

     I scoff. "Do YOU have an explanation for us being Hidden like this?" I demand.

     Star butts in. "Well, obviously, it's just Neopia magicky... stuff," she says dismissively, waving a hoof. "Simple."

     "Neither of you are even slightly curious about this?" I ask dejectedly.

     Feather thinks for a moment. "You know I consider you to be my brother, Blue," she begins with a warm smile. I nod. None of us actually know if we're siblings or not, but I like to believe Star, Feather and I were a family somewhere, sometime.

     Feather continues, "I guess I just... all this stuff about researching our condition... We have no idea what being Hidden is or how it works. It feels like the more we learn about it, the more likely we are to get separated from each other."

     She sighs. "I'd rather not try to fix it, as long as that means we get to stay together. The most mundane conversations with you and Star are worth fifty conversations with all these other Pets."

     I nod solemnly. Deep down, I know what she means. Dabbling in the unknown has bitten many Neopets in the past. And if there's one thing I never want to do, it's be alone in the pound again. Before I met other Hidden, I was the most profound kind of lonely I thought wasn't even possible. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, least of all Star and Feather.

     I put an arm around her shoulder. "You're right," I admit, pushing the book away. Friends first, knowledge second.

     Another sunrise, another mind-numbingly exciting day at the pound. I push my blue self out of bed with a yawn, looking at the sun rising over the Neopia Central hills through my window. I'm not exactly expecting potential owners, so the playground is calling to me today. Before heading out, I take one last look at my small collection of books in the corner of my room. My inquisitive nature means I can't quite let go of the desire to learn, but for Feather's sake, I put it out of mind for the time being.

     The playground is a welcome sight from the repetitive boringness of the rest of the pound. Pets of all kinds, both Hidden and not, play and romp around, letting off steam. As soon as I set foot on the lush grass, Star stampedes over to me, a wild look in her eyes.

     "I can't find Feather anywhere," she pants.

     I blink in shock. "Wait, hold on," I reply. "Do you mean to say... she got adopted? But she's Hidden, owners can't see her..."

     "I know," Star responds. "But somebody adopted her. One of my Hidden friends says the owner looked right at her. With his eyes."

     It sounds stupid, but it absolutely amazes me, and even kind of scares me. An owner seeing one of the Hidden? What had happened to Feather?

     "Another Hidden said she heard the owner say... something really weird," Star continues breathlessly. "The owner said... 'Fri- doesn't get stuck anymore.' What in Neopia does that mean?"

     Fri-... Friendfeather89... Information buzzes through my head. Is this all just hearsay? And what actually happened?

     Suddenly, a shadow passes over me. A hand-shaped shadow. Star looks up and shrieks.

     "Blubunbun," I hear a loud voice say. Before I can process anything, something grabs my neck fur and I'm plucked from my spot. I pass through what looks like a rippling layer of water. Star disappears. I know innately what's going on. I have been adopted. So this is what it's like for a Hidden to be seen.

     My new owner knows Neopia's deepest, strangest magic. While we call ourselves the Hidden, owners call us 'stuck.' Sometimes we magically get 'unstuck,' but until that happens, only those who know our full names can see us and rescue us from the pound. Only then are we seen. The cause? He doesn't think it's the Void, but he doesn't exactly NOT think it's the Void either.

     I was overjoyed to learn that this very same owner had adopted Feather. I urged him also to adopt Star, which he did once I told him her full name. I felt so lucky to feel un-hidden with my best friends, exploring Neopia like a normal Pet.

     I guess my name was enough for someone after all.

     The End.