Wreathies on the Record

"Good morning, Neopia. Gracie the Grarrl here, reporting that it is a beautiful day on the highest peak of Terror Mountain. The sun is shining and the mountain air is clean and refreshing. The special program we bring you today is one of mysterious origins. Until recently, very little has been known about these jolly wintery petpets known as Wreathies. But the ways of the Wreathy are not going to stay secret for much longer. The building you see behind me is indeed the rumored Wreathy plantation that houses over two hundred of the petpets that have not yet been adopted by a loving Neopet. They have graciously opened their doors to us to provide you all with an exclusive look at the life of a Wreathy, and perhaps convince you that Wreathies may be a very underestimated species that deserve a bigger part of Neopians' hearts.

In just a few moments, we will be going over and talking to the two Neopets that run this haven, Sunny and Tuffy. They will be enlightening us with their knowledge and expertise on Wreathy behavior. But first, I want to talk to you about why this would be an excellent spot to visit this winter season. Kiko Lake is frozen over. Meridell is covered in more snow than Dieter the Polarchuck can consume even if he had ten bottles of Bloat-B-Gone. But Terror Mountain is looking as festive as always! So what better way to enjoy the snow than to come spend a day among the Wreathies and maybe even take one home yourself to bring you holiday cheer all year round?"

Gracie trudges through the snow and makes her way over to the cottage. As she gets closer, it becomes clear that the green specks are indeed Wreathies out enjoying a morning romp in the snow. Two Neopets appear in the doorway of the house, followed by two smaller figures. They welcome Gracie inside and offer her some Vanilla Flavoured Borovan as the three sit down at a table to begin the interview. A Plushie Bori sits on her right and a Striped Blumaroo on her left. Two painted Wreathies totter around the kitchen preparing the drinks.

Gracie: "So tell me about this wonderful haven you have built."

Sunny the Blumaroo: "Well, we started it as a sort of a resort where Wreathies could come and relax instead of being sent off to the Cockroach Towers with their Neopet owners. Then we started taking in the ones that had been abused by being locked into Safety Deposit Boxes for long periods of time and it's grown from there."

Gracie: "Wow, you two take care of hundreds of these prickly guys all by yourselves?"

Sunny: "Well, not exactly. We do have help from our own petpets. Mine's Geena, a Blue Wreathy, and Velma the Pink Wreathy belongs to Tuffy." She gestures at the two Wreathies that had just finished serving them the Borovan and are now waddling out of sight.

Gracie: "That’s wonderful! We're all anxious to know, what have you learned about Wreathies after spending all this time with them?"

Tuffy the Bori: "Well, first of all, we have discovered that Wreathies are very vain. They spend a good part of the day just grooming their branches and berries. Each and every one of them wears a bow on top of their head for the same reason. They are also very social creatures and travel around in tightly knit packs."

Sunny: "The social structure of a Wreathy community is very important to them as well. If a lesser Wreathy tries to get his dinner served before a more important Wreathy, a fight may ensue that involves belly-bumping and slapping. It's a good thing that Wreathies have such stubby arms, really, or they might be able to do more damage."

Gracie: "I see... I noticed that all the Wreathies seem pretty happy. What types of activities do you offer for them?"

Tuffy: "We have everything that a petpet could possibly have the desire to do, from Springy Mootix Toys to books like Petpet Biology to Petpet Maze Pipes for regular exercise! Why don't we show you around and you can see it firsthand?"

Gracie: "Sure, that sounds great!"

The trio get up as Tuffy leads the way out of the kitchen. Gracie is surprised, as the interior of the cottage seems a lot bigger than one would expect from the looks of the outside. It turns out that there are only two rooms. One small kitchen and one gigantic hall. It is very cozily decorated with a roaring fire at the far wall, and every few feet a group of Wreathies are clustered together. Some are playing with Petpet Balls, while others are eating delicious berries out of a Raindorf Feeding Bowl. They walk amongst the groups and observe.

Sunny: "Ah! This group here is expressing their artistic side with a bit of finger painting. Let’s take a look at one of their masterpieces, shall we?"

Sunny picks up the parchment that one of the Wreathies has just finished splattering paint on. It seems to be a picture of Sunny and Tuffy, although Tuffy seems to have an extra leg and Sunny is missing an ear. An arrow pointing to the green Tuffy-shaped blob is labeled "Broori." The purple Sunny-blob is labeled "Blambroo." The offending paint covered Wreathy looks up at his caretakers with a smile as if expecting praise.

Tuffy: "Err, yeah. That's a masterpiece all right… Why don't we head outside and see what they're up to out there."

Venturing out into the cold, crisp air, they see some Wreathies gathered around in a circle, working frivolously on some sort of sculpture. As Velma puts on the finishing touches, they all back away to show off their creation.

Tuffy: "Aww, how cute! It looks like they've made a very detailed life size replica of Taelia out of snow!"

Gracie: "Well, they sure are ingenious little petpets. Hey, what about this Wreathy? Why isn’t it joining in the activities?" She walks over to a shed door and points to something.

Sunny: "Erm, because that's a Mistletoe Wreath... Not a Wreathy."

Gracie: "Oh... Right... Simple mistake! I was just, err, testing you. You know, to keep you on your toes and all... Anyway! That's about all I have for you all at this Wreathy plantation. I hope you have learned more about these rotund petpets than you ever thought you would. Join us next time when we answer the ultimate question of 'How much snow could a Snowmuncher munch if a Snowmuncher could munch snow?' This is Gracie the Grarrl signing out!"