The Curse Of The Rainbow Fountain

      Everyone knows about the curse of The Rainbow Fountain, it is an old wise tale that has been around for years and years. The tale of the curse of The Rainbow Fountain is told to every Neopet in Neoschool every year in October. Elders tell the tale again and again to warn young Neopets of what could happen. "Don't go near The Rainbow Fountain on the week of Halloween, or you will turn into a mini Dr. Sloth," is what all young Neopets are told. Most young Neopets get scared by the story and stay far away from The Rainbow fountain for all of October, but sometimes young Neopets don't listen to stories about Halloween curses.

      Ivan the Ixi didn't believe in curses and every year when people would talk about the curse of The Rainbow Fountain he would roll his eyes and laugh. "I don't believe in curses,” he would say. “That story is just told to scare people, something that crazy could never happen in real life.”

      One October evening a bunch of Ixi's were playing truth or dare. Since October is a spooky month, most of the Ixi's were choosing to play it safe and pick truth. After all, it is better to play it safe and choose truth than it is to choose dare and have to do something really bad or scary. Ivan, being the daredevil he is picked dare, after all what is the worst that could happen?

      “I dare you to jump into The Rainbow Fountain!" Said Lily grinning from ear to ear.

      “No! He can’t do that," warned Emmett with a worried expression on his face. “It is too close to Halloween, what about the curse? It is not safe for him to jump into the rainbow fountain.”

      “I don't believe in curses," said Ivan smiling. "That is a silly dare, it is so easy, I will go do it right now."

      “Okay! Let’s go!” Said Lily, “I want to see what the curse really looks like.”

      “Please don’t do this Ivan,” said Emmett. “There are so many other dares you could do instead. Lily was just joking when she gave you that dare. Right Lily?”

      “I wasn’t joking!” Replied Lily, “Ivan always says curses are not real, I want to see how brave he really is.”

      “This is going to be bad," cried Emmett!

      So the Ixi's walked over to rainbow fountain.

      “You don’t have to do this,” said Emmett. “Ivan lets go play a different game.”

      “It’s okay,” said Ivan. “I am not afraid, nothing is going to happen anyway.”

      Ivan walked over to the edge of the fountain, he was a little nervous but he would never admit that to his friends. “Don’t worry,” he thought to himself. “Nothing will happen, the curse of The Rainbow Fountain is not real. It is just a crazy story that they tell kids to scare them. Maybe after you do this you will become a town hero for being brave enough to prove the curse wrong.” This was it, it was now or never. So with a running leap, Ivan jumped into the rainbow fountain. "This isn't bad at all guys," he said feeling relieved. "I look and feel the exact same, I guess I was right and the curse was just a scary story.”

      “Oh good!” Said Emmett relieved, “I was so scared for you.”

      “Uh oh!” Cried Ivan! “Something is wrong, why do I feel weird all of a sudden…" The next thing you know Ivan started glowing. The glow was almost blinding it was so bright, it was like nothing the Ixi's had ever seen before. Then suddenly, as quickly as it started, the glowing stopped. Ivan no longer looked like an Ixi, but like a mini Dr. Sloth. "Oh no!" Ivan screamed through tears, "I guess the curse is true! What am I going to do?”

      “This is really bad,” cried one of the other Ixi's.

      All of the Ixi's were freaking out. "I told you that this was going to turn out bad," cried Emmett. “What do we do now?”

      “You look like a freak," chanted Lily amused.

      “Guys this isn't funny," cried Ivan. "What am I going to do, I have to go home soon. I can't let my parents see me like this!”

      “You are going to be in so much trouble,” taunted Lily.

      “Just say it's your costume for Halloween," said Emmett.

      “Maybe that will work,” said Ivan. “I will just pretend I am going to be Dr. Sloth for Halloween.”

      So that is exactly what Ivan did, he told everyone he loved his costume so much he wanted to keep wearing it all month long until Halloween ended. His parents thought he was crazy, but since he was an only child, they agreed to let him wear his costume until Halloween was over. The children at school all found out the truth from Lily and they made fun of Ivan, but not in front of any adults, as no one wanted the truth to be found out.

      October 31st came and all of the young Neopets went trick or treating. Ivan felt worried because once Halloween ended his parents would want him to take his costume off, they still didn't know about the curse.

      “Ivan, it is time to take your costume off and get ready for bed," said his mom.

      “But mom,” begged Ivan. “It is still Halloween, let me sleep in my costume please."

      “Okay sweetie,” said his mom, “but tomorrow you need to take it off as soon as you get up."

      Ivan didn't sleep a wink that night because he was so worried about what the morning would bring. As the sun came through his bedroom window, he decided to get up and go tell his parents the truth. “Maybe they will feel sad about what I am going through,” he thought to himself. “Or maybe they will be too worried to get mad at me.” When he looked in the mirror he was an Ixi again. "Yay!" He cried, a flood of relief coming over him. "The curse is over."

      Ivan was so excited to be himself again that he ran downstairs and told his parents everything. It was so much easier to confess to his parents what happened, now that he was no longer a mini Dr. Sloth. Ivan's mom was a reporter for The Neopian Times so she printed his story in the paper all of Neopedia would know the truth about the Curse of The Rainbow Fountain. After all, everyone deserved to know that the terrible curse they had been so afraid of for centuries, was not as bad as everyone had originally thought. It was only a temporary curse and Ivan proved that by jumping into The Rainbow Fountain.

      Now in October when young Neopets are told about the curse of The Rainbow Fountain they are told about Ivan and how the curse will only last until Halloween ends. I guess you shouldn't believe everything you hear. Maybe you should test stories out for yourself to make sure they are true or not. It worked out well for Ivan, so maybe it will work out well for you as well. Why don't you go take a dip in the rainbow fountain and see what happens…

      The End.