And a Cherry On Top

     It wasn't easy working in the premier confectionary of Faerieland, an elite establishment named The Chocolate Poogle. The store's black and white Poogle-silhouette sign swayed in the wind, its simplicity and bold design a marker of the elite clientele it served. Here were employed some of the best in the chocolate business, consisting of Chocolate and Candy Neopets only, and some of the best chocolatiers that Neopia had to offer.

     Every day the chocolate store delivered a cart of goods to the Gourmet Club in Neopia Central, where they concocted the most expensive and exquisite chocolate items that ever existed. The Chocolate Poogle also made weekly deliveries of high rarity items to the Chocolate Factory, and even served Fyora's banquet, designing special purple and gold truffles for the well-known Faerie.

     In short, the average Neopian was not likely to be doing business at The Chocolate Poogle. That was why Razz the Lutari wondered every day whether and when she was going to be fired. Razz quickly got back to business re-mixing the frosting she was supposed to be adding to a chocolate sculpture just now. Her family ran The Chocolate Poogle and she came from a long line of Chocolate Neopets, so she was expected to work in the family business. But Razz was finding she was not exactly like other chocolatiers.

     For one, when she first tried her paw at chocolate sculpture, the other workers were horrified. Razz worked on it for weeks, painstakingly placing each candy corn into the maw of her creation - a 4-foot tall replica of the fearsome Monoceraptor. She had even placed perfectly round cherries to represent the bloodshot eyes, and had concocted a special mix of sugar and water to feature as the drool. Razz honestly thought she had done a great job.

     When she revealed it, the chocolatiers thought otherwise.

     "Goodness! Are those fangs made of crystallized sugar?"

     "Candy corn? In a chocolate sculpture? This isn't the Meridell fair, you know."

     "What would the faeries think of this?"

     "You're scaring the children."

     Razz quickly covered the sculpture in embarrassment.

     She would never forget that memory. Instead she tried to focus on the task at hand, pouring another large slab of chocolate to cool. In the meantime, Razz enviously took peeks at her fellow workers, admiring the cherries placed perfectly on top of the white cream decorating their heads.

     Her Ixi coworker had a bright-red cherry, balanced precariously on cream and sprinkles. How it never fell off, Razz failed to understand. Her Vandagyre boss actually sported two cherries, like a crown for her long experience in working with sweets. The day manager, a gruff Yurble, of course also had a gleaming cherry, framed by her two curled ears decorated with delicate frosting.

     Razz unconsciously ruffled her own cream frosting - no cherry. As all Chocolate Neopets knew, you were only awarded your cherry when you accomplished a major deed or feat. The Ixi had designed a new mixer for chocolate, after studying engineering in Brightvale. The Vandagyre had created a brand new recipe, integrating the spicy flavours of chili peppers into their chocolates - they were a hit at gourmet clubs in Moltara. And the Yurble had petitioned the faerie council to create a day of chocolate in Faerieland, which was celebrated every year.

     Razz hadn't accomplished much, yet, and she wondered if she would ever receive her cherry. She perfectly organized the sprinkles covering her long tail every day, but was still self-conscious.

     As she stepped through the back of the store on the way to the dumpster, a group of small Neopets surrounded her.

     "Hi, Razz."

     "Have any treats for us today?"

     Several young Faerie Neopets fluttered around her. With a grin, she pulled out her latest creations - chocolate cookies with neon-orange icing and a gummy worm placed in the centre. The young ones squealed in delight and raced off, thanking her profusely.

     Razz always made treats for the young ones, but kept it a secret from her fellow workers - they would never approve of their chocolate being made for children, or garnished with gummy worms.

     As she returned, she was greeted by the Yurble manager.

     "All right, Razz, we need you on delivery duty today, as Chai's out due to a melting incident."

     Razz thought back to the last time she tried a delivery - she got lost in Neopia Central, delivered to the wrong address three times, and the chocolate was melted by the time she made it.

     "Er, maybe someone else should do it?"

     "No can do - everyone else is busy preparing for the Chocolate Ball. Just don't mess it up this time, hear?"

     The manager shoved a basket of goods into her arms before entering the kitchen again.

     She cautiously looked at the tag for the address - 1834 Tombstone Road, Haunted Woods.

     *****

     A few hours later, Razz was traveling in a country she had never been in before. She had not been very far from her home in Faerieland and was feeling cautious. Thankfully, the air was nice and cool here, so there was no trouble with melting.

     She couldn't believe the things she was seeing in the Haunted Woods. An entire carnival that ran all the time - not just during holidays. Lights and sounds astounded the Lutari as she witnessed a few games of Test-Your-Strength. She found the Bagatelle tent fascinating and funny. The Wheel of Misfortune spun and clattered, and she jumped when a scary shadow suddenly emerged to spook the playing Neopets. The Aisha at the Corkgun Gallery gave her a wink and tried to persuade her to part with her Neopoints for a game.

     Razz was just surprised at how much fun everyone was having, whether they were winning or losing. It wasn't all stuffy Neopets in suits and dresses, commenting on the texture of the meal, then. The cream frosting decorating her head and tail suddenly felt lighter. But there were no other Chocolate Neopets here - was there a place for her?

     With the Fairground lights reflecting in her eyes, she finally made her way to the delivery destination, a suspect-looking tent with strange sounds inside. Razz entered the tent.

     "Hello, chocolate delivery from The Chocolate Poogle..."

     The inside was difficult to describe. There were many long tables with a number of possibly food-related items on them, although some were in the process of moving, escaping, attacking, or gazing. Cauldrons bubbles with green soup that seemed alive. Some dishes actually were alive, and looked at her with eyes blinking. An almost gummy rat scurried underfoot, almost tripping her.

     Razz should have been scared but instead she laughed. There were so many different kinds of dishes! She could only imagine the reactions of the Faerieland chocolatiers.

     Finally a short Bruce clad in a bat-wing suit emerged, carrying a clatter of cooking tools and blenders.

     "Oh, drat! Just what I need is another broken appliance."

     He shoved some tentacles back into the pot they were escaping before addressing the Lutari.

     "Oh yes, my chocolate delivery. I need time to practice before Halloween, you know." The Bruce took the package from Razz and paid her with a bag of Neopoints.

     "Do you need some help?" Razz just wanted to stay in the tent to have a longer look around - there was a lot going on.

     The shopkeeper deftly grabbed some of the Almost Gummy Mice and shoved them back on the shelves.

     "Well...I'm designing a few things for the upcoming season. They need to be perfectly scary, of course. But I just can't get the sugar concentration solid enough."

     He pulled out a bakery tray of doughnuts, each one featuring a different Mutant Neopet. In one, a Mutant Usul gazed with three yellow candy eyes, in another a melting Gnorbu was dissolving in icing. The Mutant Uni doughnut's horn was lopsided and fell to the side. The crystallized sugar was not holding up well.

     "Oooh..." Razz could only gaze at the monstrosities. Gleaming candy eyes, sugar frosted fangs, green-dye drool, licorice leathery wings. She could work with this.

     "I think I have some ideas."

     ******

     That day, Razz did not return to The Chocolate Poogle, although she did send the delivery payment via Batterfly back to the shop. Until sundown she worked with the shopkeeper, perfecting some especially terrifying designs and coming up with some new ones.

     The Spooky Foods Shopkeeper was pleased to find someone with ambitions as horrifying as his. He rubbed one flipper under his short beak and looked at her sidelong.

     "You know, I really need a big showy design for the upcoming Halloween Festival, something to really promote the shop. It needs to be big, scary, and intimidating. And edible, of course, but that's less important. Got any ideas?"

     Razz curled her chocolate tail excitedly. "I have a great one!"

     ******

     That Halloween was the most success the Spooky Foods Shop had ever experienced, in all of its years operating in Neopia. The massive chocolate Monoceraptor was the talk of the Haunted Fairgrounds, and Razz was now churning out terrifying chocolate creations on the daily. The Haunted Woods natives loved her designs, and she was especially pleased in concocting Halloween treats for young Neopets trick-or-treating. Even the Mayor of Neovia came to see her chocolate sculpture work, recoiling at the lifelike glaring eyes and sharp teeth.

     The Shopkeeper was the first to approach her after the festival.

     "Razz, I would normally say that today you earned your cherry on top. But as you know, we do things a little differently here."

     Razz chuckled, almost forgetting that she was once so concerned with cherries.

     "It's fine, boss. I'm just happy getting to do my work."

     The Shopkeeper motioned to her, and the Lutari knelt as he placed something on her frosting-laden head, right in the centre of her small ears and surrounded by chocolate sprinkles. It was a small glowing Apple Lantern, shiny red and with a carved grin that mirrored its new host.

     The End.