The Jelly Ones

     Of course, Jack had kicked, screamed, and cried the entire way, but Teresa would not change her mind. She seemed as if she couldn't see or hear him at all. Teresa seemed entirely oblivious to the fact that she was killing any chance of Jack being a normal Blumaroo by taking him to the dreaded machine.

     The lab ray turned Jack into the "cutest Jelly Blumaroo", according to Teresa. Jack didn't think so. The lab ray had not only changed his color. Jack's personality was completely changed by it.

     In the first few days of his life, when Jack had still been a normal Yellow Blumaroo, he had been obedient and caring. When he was zapped into the Jelly Neopet that he was now, he was disobedient and quick-tempered. There was a simple solution to this, but neither Teresa nor Jack could see it. Apparently, neither one could see past the end of their nose.

     Here he was now, writing on the wall with his paw, leaving a wavy yellow line of jelly that read, "Clean me!"

     Down at the other end of the line of jelly was a furiously scrubbing teenage girl, scrubbing off the words as fast as they came on. Unfortunately, Teresa had gotten there too late, and was now doomed unless Jack stopped.

     "Are you going to stop any time soon or am I going to have to pounce on you?" asked Teresa. Her arms were getting tired, but Jack looked like he could go on all day.

     "You wouldn't want to pounce on me, dear owner, as I would get Jelly all over your 'expensive' clothes," replied Jack. As a matter of fact, he could go on all day, seeing as how he passed through the kitchen every once in a while. He could also speed up and then take a nap.

     "Then why don't you stop?" Teresa answered breathlessly, as she completely exhausted by now.

     "I'm not going to stop because these walls are terribly dirty. They're brown, and they should be Jelly," Jack retorted.

     "What are you TALKING about?" Teresa said, stopping her work and looking Jack right in the eye. "These walls are WOOD. They are SUPPOSED to be brown. Not Jelly covered."

     "Exactly." Jack answered, getting further and further away every second. "They should be Jelly. If I have to be Jelly, so does everything else around me. And since I can't go outside or everyone will eat me, that means this twelve-room Neohome is going to be Jelly."

     Teresa sighed, picking up her sponge and bucket and getting back to her tedious work. Suddenly, Teresa heard a knock at their wooden door. She tossed the bucket at the wall, letting the water do its own work and rushing to the door.

     She thrust the door open, glancing this way and that. She saw nothing until she happened to look down. There, on the doorstep, was a tiny Jelly Usul.

     Of course, Teresa couldn't pass up the opportunity, Calling for Jack, she gently picked up the Jelly Usul. When Jack hopped up, he was shocked at the sight that beheld him.

     The Jelly Usul, whom Teresa had named Jackie, was staring at him with wide, adorable eyes. Jack stared back. They held a short staring contest before Teresa broke the silence.

     "Well, Jack, I have decided that Jackie will be your new sister. You should be the perfect pair. Jack, show Jackie around," Teresa ordered. Apparently she really liked the letter "J".

     Reluctantly, Jack began showing Jackie around. He had never thought that Teresa would be evil enough to get another pet. Really, wasn't one troublesome pet enough?

     The Jelly Usul, even after two weeks, would not speak. She just clung to the Yellow Usul Plushie that Teresa had bought for her and did what she was asked or showed. This made her look so cute, Teresa made her the active pet all of the time.

     It was at this point that an evil thought passed through Jack's mind. "If she's so young, she'll think that what I do is right. Maybe I should show her a few tricks..." Jack's mind whirled with the possibilities. An episode in the House of Jelly Neopets was about to begin.

     The next day, before Teresa woke up, Jack taught Jackie that smearing her paw on the wall and leaving behind a big mess was "good". The innocent-minded Jelly Usul had absolutely no idea what she was doing; she was just following the influence of her older brother.

     When Teresa woke up, the first thing that came to her mind was that the jelly-covered walls were part of a dream. After a particularly hard pinch, though, she confirmed that she was in reality. Then, the slow-thinking owner realized that there was a lot of jelly on her previously scrubbed-clean walls.

     A piercing scream rippled the air in Neopia Central, an unnaturally loud sound produced by an owner surrounded by jelly. Teresa had an incredibly high voice, one that would give anyone an earache if she screamed at the top of her lungs like she was now.

     Another scream pierced the air, this time shrieking, "JACK, YOU GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW OR I WILL TURN YOU INTO MUSH!!!"

     Both Jack and Jackie popped their heads into Teresa's room. No one seemed to notice the smug smile on Jack's jellified face. It would be wiped off shortly and replaced, however, when he heard Teresa's scream.

     "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THIS, JACK!!" the Jelly Blumaroo's owner shrieked. "I HAVE TRIED AND TRIED AGAIN TO BE NICE TO YOU, BUT YOU JUST DON'T RETURN THAT KINDNESS, DO YOU?!"

     A look of pure anger instantly broke through the smug smile from a moment before. Jack, barely controlling his anger, quietly responded, "First of all, Jackie took part in this too, but I know you won't believe me. And second--"

     "OF COURSE I DON'T BELIEVE YOU, YOU SQUISHY---YELLOW---THING!!! JACKIE WOULD ONLY DO THIS IF SHE SAW SOMEONE OLDER DOING IT TOO!! IT'S ACTUALLY YOUR FAULT!!" Teresa continued screaming.

     Jack would have flinched, but he was far too furious to think that his owner had caught him dead on. Jack was outraged, though, so he just continued speaking in that odd quiet voice as if nothing had happened. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted"--here Jack shot Teresa a dirty look--"I don't recall you being specially kind to me."

     "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!" Teresa yelled. She had been starting to calm down, but Jack's simple sentence had shot her rage shooting back up. "I HAVE GIVEN YOU EVERYTHING A NEOPET NEEDS! A HOME, FOOD, TOYS, EVEN A PLAYMATE! YOU CAN'T CALL THAT UNKIND!"

     "You might have given me all of my needs, but you took away my happiness a long time ago. I can certainly call that unkind," Jack replied.

     It was now that Teresa realized just how cruel she had been that fateful day so long ago when she had taken Jack to the Lab Ray. How he had screamed for her to not do it, and how she had so selfishly not listened to him. Tears filled here eyes, and the owner stooped down and hugged the Jelly Blumaroo so tightly that he could have exploded.

     "I'm so sorry," Teresa whispered into his jellified ear. And those three words told Jack that things would be getting better soon.

     A week later, scrubbing the walls was a yellow Blumaroo, perfectly content with what he was and how he looked. Watching him was a yellow Usul with a Yellow Usul Plushie held tightly in her paw. Next to the Blumaroo was a teenage girl, scrubbing away and thinking how lucky she was to have such wonderful pets and such a wonderful life.

The End