What Truly Matters

Rellexia chewed her nails nervously as she watched the line she was standing in slowly dwindle. She and her two neopets Kuradal and Laizabel had been waiting in line for an hour, and Rellexia's nails were nibbled to the stub. That didn't stop her, though.

      "Next!" Rellexia jolted as one of the staff called for the next person to enter to room and the line marched up a step, one by one.

      "Relly," Kuradal said while tugging on her owner's shirt sleeve. "You need to relax... and stop biting your nails."

      The girl sighed and let her hand drop down, patting Kuradal on the head as she did so. She knew the Shoyru was right; she always was. She couldn't help but be nervous, though; every time the line shrank, her heart skipped a beat. What if she really screwed up? What if she got so nervous she started stuttering... that'd be embarrassing. What if...

      "I don't see why we need another Neopet in the family." Laizabel sniffed. "It's big enough as it is! And more Neopets means more neopoints wasted on necessities. Don't you want nice things, Relly?"

      "Oh, shush, Laiza. You're just upset because it means you have longer to wait to get your paintbrush."

      "Well, duh! Aren't you angry too, Kuradal?"

      The two sisters continued to bicker, growing more animated as the line went down. And down again. Rellexia was now third in line to apply for Amy, the Maraquan Uni. Apparently she was extremely popular, because dozens of Neopians appeared to apply, usually accompanied by a pirate Draik or royal Kougra. They all looked so rich... Every Neopet besides her own was painted a fancy color and all were dressed in the newest NC mall fashions where her pets were lucky to get a holiday tutu.

      Then there were the owners... who carried themselves with confidence, dressing simply as if they feared being perceived as snobbish, or just to further accent their elegant pets. They all had an air about them... a certain aura that spoke of experience and talent.

      Rellexia was just... plain. As plain as the color of her two pets. As plain as their customization. As plain as her street clothes that may or may not have a mustard stain on the collar. As plain as the trophies in her Neohome, which was also plain.

      She didn't have a chance, so why was she even trying?

      "Next is, uhm... Rellexia!"

      The girl in question jumped, quickly blurting out a "yes?!" in reply.

      "Right this way, please," the girl said as she opened the door to a small room. Rellexia quickly shushed her pets, who automatically ended their argument as they walked through the door, eyes wide with wonder.

      The room itself was mostly bare except for some portraits of Amy and a desk at which two girls a little older than Rellexia sat, the current owner of Amy and her best friend. Rellexia gulped, her anxiety rising to maximum levels. She sat in the seat across from the desk. Kuradal plopped down to her left while Laizabel took her time seating herself to Rellexia's right, slowly curling her tail around her body.

      "Rellexia, is it?" The owner spoke first.

      "Yes, that's me."

      The girl smiled, motioning towards her friend. "This is Ashley. And I'm Monica. We're pleased to meet you, and thanks for applying to be Amy's new owner. Tell us a little about yourself?"

      "Well..." She pulled a blank. She just couldn't think! All those possible owners who walked in before her looking so dignified, they all had so much to offer. They had three hundred avatars; she had one hundred ninety. They had beautiful galleries with hundreds of NC items and battledome equipment; she had a gallery show casing her dung collection.

      "I like to write," she finished lamely. This was about all she could offer, her only talent. Even then she knew she'd be beaten by artists who sketched and painted beautiful pictures of their pets and entered them in the beauty contest. She'd spent hours looking through the entries, mooning over each and every one.

      She just couldn't compete.

      "Oh you do? Have you ever been published in the Times?" Monica asked, smiling.

      "N-no," Rellexia stammered. Her heart deflated as she saw Ashley and Monica exchange a glance. She knew what that meant. She was boring.

      "What's your favorite Neopian activity, Rellexia?"

      "Well... I like doing my dailies with my other pet, Bloodfur. Sometimes Coltzan grants him better stats."

      "Uhm... Bloodfur?" Ashley asked, a badly covered look of horror on her face.

      Rellexia mentally face-palmed, just now realizing how barbaric her pet's name sounded. He was no baby Lupe, rather... He was mutant.

      "S-so tell us about earning neopoints! How do you make a living?" Monica asked, desperate to change topic.

      "I play games sometimes with my pets... But I get bored so easily I usually snipe in the shop wizard."

      "Sniping?" Monica questioned. Rellexia was sure she was expecting her to say 'restock' or 'buying stocks in the stock market'. That's what the rich Neopians did.

      "It's where you search the shop wizard for people who underpriced their items, whether from a simple mistake or just because they didn't know the true worth."

      "Isn't that... a little mean?" Ashley asked, making a face. Rellexia blushed and shrugged, slightly ashamed.

      "Whatever puts bread on the table, I guess..."

      A few awkward moments passed, Rellexia not knowing what she could say to sell herself as the perfect owner and Ashley and Monica being at a total loss on what to ask next. To say the application was going badly would be an understatement.

      "So, um..." Ashley started.

      "Why do you want to adopt Amy?" Monica finished, her gaze falling on Rellexia, serious and intense. Rellexia felt like it was about to burn a hole through her, she squirmed in her seat, which was incredibly uncomfortable.

      Rellexia opened her mouth, taking in air in preparation for the long explanation of just why she was interested in Amy. The Uni was in a word, beautiful. In many words she was elegant, queen of the sea, a shining star among the dark depths of the ocean. Not many creatures could compare to her; she was the definition of majestic. She was one of Rellexia's dream pets.

      Rellexia paused, slowly closing her mouth as a troubled look crossed her face. That was exactly what everybody else would say, what many possible owners already did say. Amy was a dream pet.

      She was drawn out of her thoughts when she felt Kuradal tug gently on her shirt sleeve. She turned to her pet and the Shoyru replied with an encouraging smile, her eyes full of love and pride in her owner. Slowly she turned to see Laizabel, curled up next to the chair with her nose over her paw, pretending to be asleep. Her ears were perked, however, and after a few moments the Xweetok opened one of her eyes just enough to look at her owner, as if to say, 'Go on, I'm listening.'

      Her pets loved and appreciated her for who she was. She didn't have to have a case full of gold trophies, she didn't have to have a gallery full of paint brushes and Draik eggs. She didn't need the latest NC clothes... well... maybe she did, if Laizabel's constant complaints about her closet were any indication. They were happy, though, all of them. Not just Kuradal and Laizabel, but Bloodfur, Warrior, Star, Ninja, Britt, Vaid, Novo, Teng, and Evan. All her pets were happy and proud of their owner.

      Suddenly, Rellexia's heart calmed. She relaxed her arms and smiled kindly, full of confidence.

      "I wanted to bring in a new member to the family; we always have room, and I'm sure Laizabel would love a new sibling."

      Laizabel snorted at the mention of her name, but didn't acknowledge it further.

      Ashley and Monica gave a thoughtful pause before continuing.

      "Okay, last question for you. What makes your pets special?"

      Rellexia hesitated. She hadn't really been prepared for this question, maybe some about how she got her pets or if she traded, but this one totally took her by surprise. Monica and Ashley stared at her, patiently waiting for her answer.

      Rellexia glanced at her two pets again. Kuradal's plain yellow scales sparkled as the light hit them and her eyes gazed meaningfully back at her owner, as if to tell her to relax, that she was doing alright. Laizabel had removed the paw from her nose and was now resting her chin against it, staring up at her owner, also waiting for her answer. Her pets were cheering her on, and she had her answer.

      For the first time Rellexia met the gazes of Monica and Ashley straight on. She straightened her posture as she arranged the words together in her head. Why were her pets special? The answer was far too easy.

      "They're special because they're mine."

      The two judges looked surprised, surely expecting a different answer, and Rellexia smiled.

      "Sure, they're basic colors, or cheap colors. Sure, they don't always wear the cutest clothes... Sure, they don't always win in the battledome. But that will all change with time. I'll buy them paint brushes, I'll work on my artwork so they can win the beauty contest. I'll write every day, and submit one entry a week into the Neopian Times until all of Neopia has seen them. They're worth it, each and every one of them. And they're mine."

      Rellexia smiled one last time and stood up. She motioned for her pets to follow her as she left through the second door of the painfully small room and walked into the sunshine.

      "Phew! That was rough," the girl said as she lifted her arms, stretching.

      "You barely said anything! Kougra got your tongue?" Laizabel snorted.

      Her owner laughed, feeling like a weight had lifted off her shoulders.

      "What're you so happy for? You didn't win, you know," the Xweetok complained.

      "Laizabel!" Kuradal gasped. "Oh, Rellexia, you did great. Don't listen to her; she's just jealous that you'd adopt another pet into our family!"

      The girl smiled, patting Kuradal on the head. "It's okay. I know I didn't win. I'm way too lame an owner."

      Laizabel laughed. "You're our lame owner, though!" and Kuradal smiled quietly.

      "Come on, guys. Let's go get some ice cream!"

***

      Days later Rellexia checked her mailbox and found a white envelope, her name written in pretty cursive writing on the front. She opened the neomail and found it was from Monica.

      "That's weird... The deadline was weeks ago they should have chosen a new owner by now and transferred Amy over..."

      She sat down on her recliner chair to read the letter when Laizabel, who was curled up in front of the fireplace stretched and yawned. "You got mail?" she asked. "You've never been that popular."

      Rellexia ignored her as she continued to read the letter.

      Dear Rellexia,

      I'm sorry to say that you weren't chosen as Amy's new owner. I had many judges, more than just Ashley and it was a very close call. So many good Neopians applied!

      But Amy isn't why I'm neomailing you. Ever since you applied, I've been thinking about your answer, why your Neopets are special. Everybody else answered with questions like 'she won the beauty contest 5 times!' or 'her egg cost me eight million neopoints, her color wasn't cheap either!' but you... You said something really personal, it was beautiful. You had the best answer out of all of them, I think.

      So I looked you up! I found some other applications of yours, and some posts you've made on the boards. I even managed to track down some of your stories; you're a good writer! What I found out was that one of your dream pets is a baby Gelert; is this true? If it is, I have a hyperactive ball of fluff with your name on him! Well, not really... His name is Sammie. Neomail me back if you're interested in adopting him, no application is required.

      Rellexia leaned back, shocked. It was true, a baby Gelert was one of her dream pets. She always thought a little rascal running around would really liven up the place, and give Laizabel a run for her money.

      All this time she thought it was all about the trophies, the avatars, the expensive items and clothes, the fancy colors, and the perfect names without any numbers or underscores. But it wasn't, though; it was about love. The love she had for her pets, and the love they gave in return.

      That's all that really matters.

      "What's that, Relly, you got mail?" Kuradal asked, walking down the stairs into the living room. "From whom?"

      Rellexia just smiled, knowing they'd find out soon enough as she grabbed a notebook and pencil off the coffee table. She'd reply to Monica by the end of the day... but first. A story, about what truly matters.

The End