The Shiny Golden Star

     The locals lived in this frozen area year round so they were used to it but they welcomed their visitors every eleven months with open arms and paws. To make things as festive as possible they liked to decorate with a beautiful tree with sparkly tinsel, colourful baubles, silly character ornaments, and their most prized possession: the shiny golden star.

     This shiny golden star was known Neopia over as being a beacon of light. As a symbol of love. As an image of hope. As a token of togetherness. As an item showcasing the meaning of the Day of Giving. It reminded Neopians why everyone would gather in freezing cold Terror Mountain together in the first place: to exchange love, laughter, gifts, and memories. Because of this the tree sat on the highest part of the mountain so the star would be the tallest point in all of Neopia. It was a point of pride and a badge of honour for all Neopians to visit, but especially so for those who resided in Terror Mountain who got to decorate the tree and light the star.

     The townsfolk were just getting the finishing touches on the tree when suddenly Dendri, the Ice Crystal Shopkeeper, screamed.

     Several rushed over to him in a panic.

     “What’s wrong?”

     “Are you okay?”

     “What happened?”

     Dendri couldn’t speak. He just stared down with his mouth open with his paws on his face looking like that famous painting.

     “What?!”

     “It… It… It’s GONE!”

     “What’s gone? Spit it out, man,” Donny the grumpy toy repairman grunted as he glared at him.

     “The star. Our star. It’s not here!”

     “Calm down, Dendri. It has to be here somewhere. We’ll find it. We just need to look,” said Kari gently. She was used to taking control, although usually during “Let’s split up, it will be back home within the hour!” She said this as cheerfully as possible but deep down she wasn’t so sure. She wasn’t sure Dendri simply misplaced it; he was the most organized shopkeeper in town. In all the years of the Advent Calendar it had never gone missing before, nor had anything else. Nothing bad ever happened here.

     Everyone glanced around at each other nervously and parted ways in search of the shiny golden star.

     ***

     The Snowager always gets so tired this time of year. Sure he loved the cold – he did live in the ice caves after all – but this was too much even for him. So he went to sleep for the month. It was just as well, it was so noisy out there.

     One thing he did like though was shiny things. A second thing he liked was hoarding. A third thing? Hoarding shiny things.

     But Neopians always snuck in during naptime and tried to steal his shiny things. Always so rude. He always has to go hunt more. It was an unending cycle of steal and hunt, steal and hunt.

     A few months ago he had slithered out of his cave late at night in search of new treasure when everyone else was asleep. There were a few shops in town that had lots of shiny things that he liked. Nothing unusual though.

     Usually.

     That night was different. A door usually locked was unlocked.

     He quietly slithered in, unsure what awaited him on the other side.

     Nothing but a bunch of boxes. It looked like all that stuff those weird townsfolks put on that weird tree as they sang weird songs and exchanged weird colourful gifts when he went to bed.

     So did that mean…?

     Jackpot.

     The shiniest thing in all of Neopia.

     A five pointed star that sat atop that weird tree.

     He had gleefully tucked it into his sack and quietly slithered back into the deep night and into his dark cave, hiding it deep below all the other treasures just in case those pesky home invaders saw it and tried to get it from him.

     And now here he was, on the eve of his month-long slumber. He heard commotion outside the cave as the weird townsfolks were looking for their shiny golden star. He was worried they would burst into his cave since they knew of his love for shiny objects. But they never did. He yawned and went to sleep peacefully.

     ***

     Several hours had passed and they were no closer to finding the shiny golden star than they were this morning.

     They met back up around 9pm NST, defeated.

     “Any luck?” Kari asked as hopeful as she could muster.

     Everyone shook their heads. A few tears rolled down some cheeks.

     “Well, tomorrow is another day. We’ll find it, I’m sure.”

     Everyone went to their Neohomes feeling helpless and hopeless.

     Except for Trudy.

     Trudy was rarely home because she always had to travel for work so the holiday season meant so much to her since she got to be with all of her friends and family without the stress of work. She was determined to save the Advent Calendar and Terror Mountain and bring love and joy to the community that always brought love and joy to her, no matter the cost.

     She pounded an entire pot of coffee as she was determined to stay up all night if she had to in order to right this wrong. Heart racing and limbs jittering she once again set back out in search of the shiny golden star.

     She started with Top of the Mountain since that was the last place it was seen. She checked every shop’s stockroom, every cave’s crevice, even used a metal detector to go through the snow. Alas, not there.

     She then scoured Happy Valley in the same way but no such luck. Although she thought she had a lead at Merry Outfits and she got giddy, but it was merely part of the paint brush outfit.

     With that left she knew she had to brave the Ice Caves. She dreaded it for many reasons: cold, dark, slippery, but most of all the Snowager lived there.

     She was most worried about it being with the Snowager. It was the only thing that made sense. It was the only location in all three areas on the Mountain no one searched yet. Despite living here he was always an outsider in the community. And, most of all, he was well known to like shiny objects.

     Trudy gulped and made her way to his lair. She got more jittery as she got closer, unsure if it was the caffeine or nerves. Perhaps both.

     She heard rustling and she got closer and froze. It was soon followed by snoring. So he was asleep already. She checked her watch. 2am. So it was hibernation time already. Maybe she could do this. She crept closer up to the cave, stood outside for a moment, took a deep breath, and tip-toed inside.

     There he was: the Snowager. Curled up in a nice little circle around his treasure. The shiny golden star had to be there. Trudy knew it.

     She slowly and quietly worked her way around the Snowager inspecting the pile for the shiny golden star.

     And there it was.

     At the bottom of the pile in the back of the cave – like the beacon of love, light, and hope it always was known to be – it sat and called to her.

     “Okay, Trudy,” she thought to herself. “It’s go time. You got this. You. Got. This.” She mentally had to hype herself up. She closed her eyes in preparation. When she opened them she found herself making eye contact with the Snowager.

     “AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” She shrieked and jumped back.

     “What are you doing in my lair????!!!!!!!” He bellowed sleepily but angrily.

     She glanced down at the shiny golden star. The Snowager followed her gaze.

     “NO. MINE!” He hissed and slithered up close to it.

     “Why? Why do you want it so bad?”

     “Shiny!” He glared at her.

     “I know that. But we need it. Please?” Trudy was terrified but tried not to show it.

     “Why?”

     “For the Day of Giving.”

     “Don’t care,” he sneered. He would not budge.

     Trudy felt hopeless.

     “You can come join the celebration instead of sleeping, if you want. We’ll get you a gift. Many gifts. New shiny things. Just this one means so much to us. It’s a tradition.”

     The Snowager considered this. One super shiny thing or many less shiny things.

     “Fine. MANY shiny things.”

     “Come into town in the morning. Bring the shiny golden star.”

     The Snowager nodded and laid back down. “Leave,” he commanded. Trudy hauled herself out of there as fast as her little legs could go.

     ***

     The next morning, Trudy was the first one up at the tree.

     Everyone sleepily and anxiously began gathering.

     “I found it!” She said when the last stragglers came in. “But we have to make a trade. Everyone, go find as many shiny things as you can and wrap them up. Quickly.”

     “Why?” inquired Mr. Chipper.

     “JUST DO IT!” Trudy rarely yelled so it took everyone by surprise. They hastily obeyed.

     By the time everyone came back with various shaped packages in various colours Trudy was standing with the Snowager.

     The townsfolk did not know what to make of this sight so they froze in fear.

     “Are you okay?” Armin asked as reached for his sword.

     The Snowager stood up ready to fight but Trudy held her arm out. She turned to him. “Show them,” she said kindly. He relaxed a little and pulled out the shiny golden star, and plopped it up on top of the tree.

     Everyone gasped. It was back and it was beautiful.

     “Here are your gifts as promised. I hope we can be friends in the future,” she said to the Snowager. She turned to the crowd. “Everyone! Bring him your presents!”

          The townsfolk were confused but obliged and one by one handed him their offerings. He opened them all up and squealed with delight.

     “I think we’re all going to be friends from now on,” Trudy smiled and patted the Snowager’s head.

     The Snowager looked down at her and smiled.

     “Look!” Tinoryl pointed up at the tree.

     Everyone looked up as the sun reflected on it, making it sparkle and shine like never before.

     The shiny golden star.

     The End.