A New Friendship

      As Andrew crept closer in the dark, spooky fog, he heard noises. They grew softer as he walked along the pathway. He noticed the sounds were howling Lupes.

      "I think I am being followed," he quietly spoke to himself. He stood and thought what might happen. The sounds got closer and closer. "Uh-oh!" Andrew said as he started to run. "But if I only run for hours, will they stop following me?" he thought, scared out of his mind. He ran to the source of light, and saw a tower.

      "I'll just run in here and get those dumb Lupes off my tail!" So he ran into the tower, surprised to see his favorite green Zafara standing in front of him.

      "Oh, dear! I must have read the spell book wrong! I thought it said to take a Blue Chia Plushie, a Green Apple, and Purple Nail Varnish, throw it in the cauldron, break it up, and stir clockwise, not counterclockwise!" The Zafara turned around, shocked.

      "Why, young Neopet, will you help me? I read my spell book wrong, and I need the three items I just stated again! Darn!"

      Andrew thought and thought. "Well, consider it done! By the way, my name is Andrew. Andrew the Wocky."

The Zafara introduced herself as well. "My name is Edna the Zafara," she said.

      "I know all about you, but I am pleased to meet you," Andrew politely said.

      "Well, that's a first," Edna miserably said.

      "What do you mean?" Andrew asked, confused. Edna explained.

      "I am always thought of as a creepy Zafara. My old friend, Sophie the Swamp Witch, gets all the love. She's so much more happy than I am." Edna started to cry. "Some days, I just wish I was more loved! I wish I was Sophie!" Edna cried even louder.

      "Cheer up, Edna! We'll work it out, just you wait!" Andrew said, confidently.

      "Thank you so much, Andrew. I am so much more confident in myself, thanks to your words." Edna was very grateful to Andrew and gave him a huge hug.

      "I'll talk to Sophie about it," Andrew said.

      "No, you won't. We will," said Edna. Andrew and Edna both smiled sweetly. So they rushed to Sophie's home.

      When Andrew and Edna got there, they knocked on the door softly.

      "State your name," Sophie said through the door.

      "Andrew and Edna," Edna said. Sophie opened the door.

      "Why, if it isn't my old pal, Edna! I see you have a new friend," Sophie pleasantly said.

      "He is the only one who understands me!" Edna said, and started crying again.

      "Edna, what's the matter?" Sophie said, worried what Edna might say.

      "Sophie, you get all the attention! Everybody thinks that I'm a creepy, old Zafara. Everybody thinks I'm ugly and you're pretty! I wish I were you!" Edna cried.

      "Oh, you do not wish you were me! Everybody follows me, asking for a photo! I almost get killed, people run over me when they try to get my autograph! So, really, you don't know how hard my life is!" Sophie said, trying to calm Edna down, but she was stressing herself in the process.

      "Oh, Sophie, I wish we could start over again! We have always been so envious of each other, I wish that we both had easy, normal lives!" Edna cried.

      "Oh, me too. Me too," said Sophie. Edna looked up, ready to say something, but Sophie spoke first.

      "Yes, I will allow you to cry upon my shoulder," she said.

      "You read my mind," Edna said. She then lowered her head to let tears fall on Sophie's shoulder. Andrew, finally, spoke up.

      "Well, is this it? Are you friends now?" said Andrew.

      "I think so," said Sophie.

      "Well, you guys have to prove your friendship, don't you? Stand up for each other in some way, have an adventure, go on an epic quest!" Andrew said. Edna lifted her face and laughed.

      "What?" Andrew said.

      "I agree, we should prove our friendship, but that was plain funny!" Edna laughed. Andrew thought. He also thought it was a bit funny and gave a small chuckle.

      "Well, I'm going home. Goodbye! See you tomorrow!" Andrew said as he waved and opened the door. Edna and Sophie smiled and waved back.

      The next day, Edna and Sophie waited for Andrew. They waited, and waited, and waited. They didn't decide to search until 3:00 PM NST.

      "Andrew should really be here by now. I don't know what I am going to do! He's the only one that understands me! I'm really worried!" Edna said, looking worried.

      "I agree. Don't be so worried. We can go to his house," Sophie confidently said.

      "But we don't know his address! How can we get there?" Edna wailed. Sophie brought out an address book.

      "We can always use the one-copy-only Haunted Woods Address Book that I special-ordered!" said Sophie, clearing off all the dust on the book.

      "Sophie, you are a genius! If we manage to find him, I owe you one!" said Edna, happily. She smiled, even though she knew in her heart he was nowhere to be found.

     The rest of the day, Sophie and Edna searched through the Haunted Woods, carrying their lanterns, brooms, the Haunted Woods Address Book, and spell books. It was eerily silent. The full moon shone through the black clouds overhead. Suddenly, a voice broke through the silence. It was the Lupes again.

      "Great. More howling Lupes. I barely survived my last encounter with them," said Edna, glumly.

      "Be quiet! They can't catch us if they can't hear us! Don't you know the leader of the pack is blind? He counts on his hearing sense to help him!" Sophie whispered.

      "Now be quiet, and silently tiptoe through the dirt. No more chitchat," said Sophie. So Edna and Sophie managed to find the street they were looking for.

      "Now, to go into Andrew's house," said Edna. They were shocked at what they saw. Actually, they couldn't see anything until they flipped the lights on.

      After flipping the switch and closing the door, they heard many Neopets cheering, in fact, every breed of Neopet! It was a surprise party for Edna and Sophie, to celebrate their friendship. There were arches of balloons, and each balloon in the first arch had a letter on it, which spelled out "The beginning of a New Friendship!" The cake was shaped like a marsh, and it said, "Friends Forever!" There were cookies designed like spell books.

      Andrew cheered. "So, enjoying your party?" Sophie and Edna looked confused.

      "But, how come you didn't just bring us here?" Edna said.

      "Duh, it's a surprise party. If I took you here, you wouldn't be surprised, would you?" Andrew said. They all laughed.

      "Well, he's got a point," said Sophie, patting Edna on the back. And that is where our story ends.

The End