Have Hope

      The cheerful, sweet voice of a pink Uni trilled through the air, her blue eyes bright and happy.

      “Rosalie, do I ever forget to lock up?” came the grumpy reply.

      Rosalie gave a patient sigh. “All right then,” she called, “I’m heading out for the night, Doctor! Have a wonderful evening!”

      “Wonderful evening my hair,” grumbled the yellow Techo, running a paw through his rapidly thinning hair. He was slumped behind the desk to the Pound, which doubled as the Adoption Agency; he had been running it for the longest time, with Rosalie as his trusty assistant.

      Sometimes, he thought the Pink Uni, sweet and young and innocent, was stronger than he was! She would come day after day, arriving precisely at seven in the morning and leaving at seven at night. And she would tend to the abandoned pets in the Pound.

      Everything Rosalie touched turned to gold, in a matter of speaking. She was kind and beautiful and gentle, everything that a sore heart in the Pound needed to recover. One touch from her pink hoof seemed to soften even the hardest hearts, inspire a flicker of hope in every cold, abandoned pet. Everyone looked up to her; perfect, golden, big-hearted Rosalie.

      The Techo often wondered how she did it; remain so light-hearted and pleasant all the time, he meant. After all, wasn’t that how he had started? Fresh out of the Academy, his heart lighter, his hair thicker...

(flashback)

      “Are you sure you have everything under control, Dr. Eath?”

      “Positive!” exclaimed the young Techo, his eyes beaming with excitement. He couldn’t wait to work at the Pound! He was living his absolute dream job: he could nurse the ill, feed the hungry, give shelter to the lost; he had always loved helping others, and now he could get paid for it! It was almost like a dream, and too good to be true.

      AnJelica, the former keeper of the Pound, gave a little chuckle at the young Techo’s excitement. “Remember Dr. Eath, you’re a professional now!”

      And the yellow Techo certainly looked the part: stark white lab coat (with pocket protectors), glasses sitting snugly on his nose, and a nametag which read (through unfortunate coincidence) Dr. D. Eath.

      The first time Duke had seen his name tag, he had been self-conscious at the fact that the first initial of his first name and his last name put together was ‘Death’, but AnJelica assured him that it was nothing to be embarrassed about. Besides, this was going to be the first day of the most wonderful career in the world.

      In retrospect, it was scary just how wrong one little Techo could be.

     *~*~*~*~*~*~*

      “Hello there! How may I help you?” Duke greeted enthusiastically, peering out from behind his desk. There stood a young, haggard looking owner with a Wocky at her side, bedraggled, with tear-stained cheeks.

      “I’m abandoning her,” the girl said shortly, handing over the Wocky’s leash.

      Duke was stunned. “What? Why?” he asked. “She’s not sick or anything, right?”

      “No, nothing like that,” the girl said impatiently, but before she could elaborate, the Wocky broke out in noisy wails.

      “Mommy, Mommy, please don’t leave me!” she begged, clinging to her mother’s leg.

      “Uch! See what I mean?” the girl snapped, heartlessly shaking off the Wocky. “I can’t stand her anymore! Get her out of my sight!”

      “No, please!” the little Wocky pleaded, her paws clasped together, sobbing as if her heart were breaking. “I promise to be good! I’m sorry I broke your vase, I’m sorry!”

      Stunned, Duke took the leash from the girl. “Wait, so why exactly are you abandoning her?” the doctor asked curiously.

      The girl looked just as surprised. “Because I can,” she replied nastily. “She eats a lot of food and takes up space in my house and gets sick all the time!”

      “But!” protested the poor young doctor, helplessly confused. “All Neopets take up a little space—”

      “No!” stormed the girl. “Don’t you understand, stupid Techo? I don’t *want* her anymore!”

      She shoved the wailing Wocky towards Duke, and stormed out of the Pound.

      Duke was shocked. She was abandoning her beloved pet for no reason at all? Gathering the Wocky in his arms, he cuddled her close and murmured: “Don’t worry, my little one. We’ll find you a loving owner soon.”

      Greatly comforted, the Wocky snuggled against his chest and, like all little children when faced with peril, quickly fell asleep.

      The Techo shook his head as he opened one of the cages, and gently nestled the Wocky inside the cold, iron pen. Surely this would be the only case of reckless abandonment that he would face, he reasoned.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

      The cheerful ringing of the bell alerted Duke to a presence, but when he turned around, the greeting died in his mouth. The clothes that adorned the figure were so colourful and bright, Duke was momentarily blinded by the dazzling sight.

      Squinting, he made out the form of a Gelert, whose pelt was already a bright, sea-green. Contrasting with the sea-green was a shockingly pink lab coat, with blue clouds floating on it. A stethoscope hung from the figure’s neck, but it too was designed in the same flowery, flamboyant way the clothing was. This was obviously a figure that wanted to be remembered. However, the scariest part of all was this: the clothes did not look garish whatsoever on the Gelert; the fashion statement could be pulled off with style to spare! Even if she had donned a potato sack, the Gelert could still look like she had stepped out of a palace.

      “Can I help you?” Duke asked, still squinting. The Gelert was obviously female, and about the same age.

      “I’m Lala,” the Gelert said cheerfully, sticking out a paw for him to shake.

      “That’s an interesting name,” Duke said, putting it mildly.

      Lala laughed. “Well, my real name’s Natalie, but Lala’s much more memorable, don’t you think?”

      “You can say that twice and mean it,” Duke muttered, keeping a smile plastered on his face. If anyone forgot this Gelert’s name, they certainly would remember her fashion statement.

      “Are you Duke?” Lala queried.

      “Yeah,” the Techo replied, heaving a huge mental sigh of relief that Lala had not called him Dr. Death. Was it really his fault that his first name started with a D, and his last name was Eath, and those letters put together just *happened* to spell out ‘death’?!

      “I work at the hospital a few blocks down,” Lala said cheerfully, shaking Duke’s paw. “Since we’re in the same line of work and all, I thought I should drop over and stuff, and see if you needed any help.”

      Finally, Duke realized that Lala was not an escaped lunatic, and he gave her a little smile. “Well, thanks for dropping by. Why did you want to be a doctor anyways?” he asked curiously, reaching for the coffee pot – he loved a good tale.

      The Gelert grinned in a sudden bout of shyness. “It’s kind of a long story,” she hedged.

      Duke glanced around in an exaggerated fashion. “I don’t see anyone,” he said innocently, grinning.

      Lala smiled in return and said: “All right, then.” Settling down on the floor, she curled her tail around her hind legs while Duke plopped down on top of the counter.

      “I’ve wanted to be a doctor ever since I can remember,” Lala said matter-of-factly. “I was abandoned by my owner, you know.”

      Duke squirmed uncomfortably. He was never good with giving sympathy. Fortunately, Lala didn’t seem to mind. “Sorry,” he managed finally.

      “Yeah, well,” she shrugged, “it was a long time ago. But I still remember what it felt like to be dirty and alone, lying on the sidewalk on a sizzling hot day. The fleas were buzzing around me, and my stomach was an empty pit. All day long, people walked by, but didn’t even acknowledge me. I didn’t matter; I knew I was really sick.”

      She must have taken notice of Duke’s horrified face, because she hastily continued: “Things got better when Nicole found me. She already had four pets and couldn’t take me home; but she ran to the hospital and bought me medicine. I know it doesn’t sound like much – after all, I was still hungry and dirty – but it was the only kind thing anyone had done for me in the entire time I was lost.

      “After that, I’ve just been kind of inspired. I know that I want to help others in the way Nicole helped me. I’ve had a bad life in the beginning, and I want to make sure no pet goes through what I had to. ‘Making Neopia a better place to live’ and all that, you know?”

      A thoughtful silence stretched out while Duke absorbed all that Lala had told him, the silence not at all strained or forced.

      “Hey, Lala?” he finally said, breaking the silence.

      “Yeah?” she replied pleasantly.

      “I would have bought you medicine too.”

      Lala grinned, and in that moment, a friendship unconsciously blossomed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

      “Hello. Hello? HELLO?!?!”

      Duke poked his head out from behind his desk, stirring up a great whirlwind of paperwork. “You bellowed?” he asked irritably, shaking the papers off of his hair.

      It was a young man standing in front of him this time, well dressed, and with a Pink Aisha at his side.

      ‘He’s well dressed; he can’t possibly have any reason to abandon this Aisha,’ the doctor thought, immediately brightening. He hadn’t had an adopter in a while.

      “I’m Nathan,” the teen continued. “Dr. Death—”

      “It’s *not* Dr. Death,” Duke corrected quickly. “It’s Duke.”

      “That’s not what the nametag says,” replied the teen warily, looking bored.

      Annoyed, Duke thrust his nametag into Nathan’s face and said: “There. Do you see it? The little dot that comes after the D? Yeah. It’s D. Eath. Not Death.”

      If he had a Neopoint for every time someone called him Dr. Death, he could have retired by now. It was discouraging. Why did the period after the D have to be so small anyway? Maybe he could talk enlarge the font somehow.

      “Can I help you?” Duke sighed.

      “I’m abandoning her,” Nathan said simply.

      Duke gaped. Two poundings in two days? Well, at least *this* well-dressed teen ought to have a good reason.

      “Why are you abandoning her?” Duke asked, his features troubled as he looked at the Pink Aisha. She was ‘pretty in pink’, so it wouldn’t be long until she was adopted; but why in the name of Neopia was Nathan abandoning her? He was the poster boy for Filthy Rich!

      “Don’t you know?” Nathan snorted impatiently. “There’s been a discovery of a new Neopian species, the Lutari! They’re incredibly hard to catch, but I know this person on Mystery Island—”

      “Wait,” said the Techo disbelievingly, holding up one paw. “You’re pounding her... to get a different pet?”

      “Yeah,” Nathan replied, staring at the Techo strangely. “I mean, she’s boring, and have you *seen* the Lutari? They’re *so* cool!”

      Duke’s heart was starting to ache. First the little Wocky, abandoned because she demanded the basic needs of a living being, and then this Aisha, pounded because her owner had grown bored of her?

      What kind of reasons were these? Why did Neopians do this? How could they be so cruel? He wasn’t making an accusation by saying ‘how could they be so cruel’ – he was genuinely baffled. Could Neopians really be that cold-hearted? Was it... possible?

      And as he led the Aisha toward a cage, he felt his heart grow darker; and darker still it would grow as the years went by.

(end flashback)

      “Hello? Is anyone there?”

      Dr. Death looked up from his paperwork, his eyes bloodshot, his face splattered with ink.

      “I’m always here, aren’t I?” he snapped grouchily, stifling a yawn.

      The Gelert who had entered let out a bark of a laugh in response. “True enough,” she admitted, flicking her sea-green tail good-naturedly. “Come on, Duke, we haven’t hung out in so long, I was beginning to think you’d forgotten me!”

      A hint of a smile seemed to hover around the Techo’s mouth as he said: “I don’t think it’s quite possible for anyone to forget you, Lala.”

      True enough, the Gelert’s flamboyant clothing had not changed over the years.

      On unspoken agreement, Lala curled up on the plush pink rug, and Dr. Death hopped up on the counter, just like they would do when they had been young.

      “Duke—” Lala began, but the Techo interrupted him.

      “It’s Dr. Death,” he said shortly.

      There was a long silence.

      Lala sighed a quiet little sigh, full of melancholy – not quite sorrow. “You used to hate it when people accidentally called you Dr. Death,” she murmured.

      “Dr. Death is who I’ve become,” Duke said grimly. “My old self was foolish and stupid. I didn’t know that cruelty and cold-heartedness came as a package deal with the job as Pound sitter.”

      “C’mon, buddy,” Lala begged.

      “The world is so cold, Lala!” Duke exclaimed, gazing off into the fireplace. “This place is full of so much sorrow and unhappiness. This place—the Pound—is the place that every Neopet is afraid of! And I have to come here, day after day!”

      Quietly, Lala sat, and she understood. The Pound had robbed Duke of his innocence. It had been too much for him; the Techo had given up on the world.

      “Why isn’t Rosalie affected?” Duke asked quietly, referring to his Pink Uni assistant. He plopped down on the ground next to his long-time friend and sighed.

      Lala stared into the fireplace, contemplating. “Because Rosalie believes,” she said finally, believing whole-heartedly in her words. “She believes that things can change, and she’s going to help make that change.”

      “After all she’s seen, how can she still think that’s going to happen?” Duke asked incredulously. “She’s seen the terrible injustice in Neopia!”

      “Neopia’s not perfect,” Lala said carefully, knowing that what she said could change her friend’s thoughts on Neopia forever. “Far from it, in fact. And yeah, we have cruelty and unfairness and unhappiness in our lives. But you know, there’s one thing that we have to fight all that, and you’ve lost it. It’s called hope, Duke.”

      Dr. Death stared blankly at the ceiling above and heaved a great sigh.

      And just like that, they sat for the remainder of the night, gazing through the window at the starry night sky. When the dawn came, highlighting the sky in soft mauve, Dr. Death rose to his paws and took a pen from his pocket.

      He took off his nametag.

      And in between the ‘D’ and the ‘Eath’ of his name, he put a tiny little dot.

      He was D. Eath again.

      When you’re the Pound Sitter, you see a lot of things, but not always the things that you want to see. If you didn’t keep fast of hope, it would be gone. Duke had lost faith in Neopians. He had lost hope for the world. But all it took was a little hope to put the sparkle back in his heart, because he believed.

      He believed that things could change.

The End

Dedication: To the real Lala (who could most definitely pull off Doctor Lala’s crazy fluorescent clothes) for all the laughter, craziness, and mentally disturbing random weirdness that inspired me to pick up a pen and write again. Bless you, you crazy, clinically insane Aussie, you are much loved!