Terry’s Terrible Mood and The Awesome Incredible Day

      It was a picture perfect day.

      The sun was shining brightly overhead, but soft wisps of clouds and the cool shelter of the large oak trees kept it from being too hot. There was a gentle breeze too, rustling at the leaves and tickling at her cheeks. A babbling brook cheerfully brought the sound of water to your ears, beckoning you closer, while the soft green grass was just right for Neopets to take a nap on it.

      Yes, everything in Neopia was absolutely perfect, from the bright blue sky above to the deep green grass below. You would be hard pressed to find anything wrong today, and that was exactly the problem with it! Because everything was just ridiculously perfect…. except for Terry’s mood.

      With a large frown stretched across his face, the blue Kacheek was the picture of an unhappy Neopet. Maybe being out here in the sunshine, with the day practically begging him to smile should’ve changed his mind. But Terry was firm. He was in a bad mood today, and he was going to stick to it! “Misery loves company,” they said. And it definitely hated happiness.

      Indeed, the fact that everything and everyone around him seemed so happy while he himself was just fuming only made his mood worse. It was like a slap in the face, a taunt! Like the world was telling him, “Haha, everyone is happy except you!”

      Well, he was having none of it! Terry was going to head right on home and spend the rest of the day fuming the day away in the comfort of his own bed. All he had to do was get through Neopia Central, to get to the Fresh Food Shop and buy his dinner before he could.

      Simple and easy, right? Wrong! It seemed like the world was determined to make things hard for him today, because he was being tormented right and left with smiling happy Neopians all cheerfully greeting him.

          “Howdy! Having a nice day today?”

          ‘NO. GO AWAY!’ He thought irritatedly.

      “Such great weather today! Perfect for a picnic, don’t you think?”

      ‘I HATE PICNICS. STOP’ He wanted to scream.

      It was all too much for the poor Kacheek, and so he was forced to clamp his hands over his ears, closing his eyes as he desperately ran forward, trying to escape all the terrible wellwishers intruding on his mood.

      He ran only a few feet before the inevitable happened, and he tripped over some rock or stump or another and fell face first onto the ground. A load moan of pain escaped his lips, as he gingerly tried to regain his bearings. ‘Of all the rotten luck,’ he thought furiously. His temper flared again as he thought of all the annoying Neopians whose fault his fall was! If only they didn’t keep trying to talk to him!

      Shaking his head, he slowly got up again, when his eyes fell on something shiny on the floor. A lot of shiny somethings, actually. Fyora, there were a ton of Neopoints just lying on the ground! How many was that? Eyes wide, he quickly counted it all up. There was almost twenty thousand Neopoints, just lying on the ground!

      It was incredible, it was ridiculous---Terry quickly swept it all up into his bag. It looked like he was going to be eating like a king tonight! A grin flashed through his face at the thought, before it quickly dipped back into a frown. But he was still going to be eating alone, he remembered, because all of his friends were too busy for him today, of all days!

      ‘Well, whatever,’ he thought angrily. ‘I don’t need them to have an awesome time!”

      Other Neopets were just annoying, anyway. After all, they were the reason he’d fallen down (and found a bunch of Neopoints). Quickly banishing the thought of his friends from his mind, Terry headed for the food shop once more.

      Finally, he reached his destination, but there was a terribly long line! ‘Ugh, more annoying Neopets’, he thought with a sigh. Tapping his foot impatiently, he fell to the back of the line and wordlessly willed it to go faster.

      It didn’t go faster.

      If anything, it seemed to go slower. Terry was reminded of the one time his friends had managed to cajole him into spinning the Wheel of Monotony. Time seemed to pass just as slow then, as the wheel spun on for hours on end. Terry was ready to give up and just go home, food or no!

      But then, all of a sudden Neopets started to move, left and right! What was happening? Terry snapped back into attention just as all the food shop’s patrons headed for the door. Looking confusedly at this sight, his head swiveled towards the counter, where the Chia in charge looked at him apologetically as he explained, “Sorry, man, shop’s cleared out.”

      “Oh for Fyora’s sake!” Terry groaned aloud, slumping visibly. Of course he waited in line for nothing. Why was he even surprised? Nothing was going right today, he thought, ignoring the way the Neopoints he’d found on the floor had just jangled. With his luck, they would probably be stolen and he’d end up in jail for picking it up.

      Sighing, Terry went to leave, but thanks to the crowd, he had waite for the other shoppers to leave the shop first. Sending an irritated look at the figures all too slowly exiting through the door, the Kacheek moved back towards the counter, leaning back against it as he grumbled about what a horrible day he was having.

      “Hey buddy, couldn’t help overhearing you!” A cheerful voice startled Terry out of his thoughts, and the Kacheek ended up banging his elbow against the hard counter in the process.

      “Ow!” He cried, rubbing at the bruise that was sure to be forming. Ugh, what was with today?

      “Ooh, sorry ‘bout that.” The Chia said, wincing, “Hopefully this will make up for it!” With a flourish, he placed a plate before him. Peering closer, Terry realized it was.. Steak?

      “Looks like the shoppers missed one. It’s a rare one too.” He explained, grinning. “Steak surprise! Freshly baked steak, broccoli florets and a jacket potato with lashings of butter. Yum!”

      It looked and sounded really good, Terry thought. Still, it seemed too good to be true. Warily, he asked, “How much?” It was probably too expensive for him.

      “About twenty thousand Neopoints!”

      Terry’s eyes widened. That was about the amount he’d found! Quickly, he dug into his bag and deposited the coins on the counter. Maybe his day wasn’t going to be so bad, after all.

      “One steak surprise coming right up!” The Chia transferred the food into a neat takeout box which he soon handed over to the Kacheek.

      It was just in time, because once he turned around, the exit had cleared up and he was free to leave too. A small smile starting to form on his lips, he headed outside. As soon he did, however, a familiar blue figure swooped on by. ‘The Pant Devil!’ He thought in dismay.

      But his Steak Surprise remained unstolen, in his hand. Instead, his empty hand was soon holding a Stealthy Krawk Morphing Potion! Terry’s mouth dropped open in shock. These things cost millions of Neopoints! He was rich! Looking up, he realized that he was actually looking at the Pant Devil’s “evil” twin, with goatee and all. “Thanks man!” He called out, as the figure sped off into the distance.

      Food in one hand and expensive morphing potion in the other, Terry walked back home, whistling a cheerful familiar tune to himself. Maybe none of his friends cared, but clearly at least the world did. Who needed his friends?

      ---

      Terry was still distractedly whistling when he finally arrived at his house. Busy with his things, he did not realize anything unusual at first, not until…

      “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERRY!”

      Nearly dropping his precious items in shock, the Kacheek looked up to see all his friends gathered in his living room, which was transformed with cheerful birthday decorations. There was a large, fluffy cake on the table and a small pile of gifts too.

      “W-what...?” Terry stammered confusedly, hardly believing what his eyes were seeing.

      A Red Techo walked up, grinning wildly. It was his best friend Ken. “You didn’t think we were really all too busy for your birthday, did you?”

      Terry flushed, unable to say that he had. The Techo seemed to know anyway, with the way he laughed and elbowed him teasingly. “We just wanted to surprise you.””

      “I’m real surprised.” Terry confirmed, laughing himself, more in relief and embarrassment than anything.

      Ken pushed him further inside, where everyone was chattering happily. Terry smiled, feeling warmth bubble up in his chest. No matter what he’d tried to tell himself before, he realized that his friends were what really made his birthday special. Finding Neopoints on the ground, getting rare gourmet food or even an expensive morphing potion was nothing compared to this. Knowing his friends cared about him enough to do all this for him, well, that was priceless.

      Still, he couldn’t resist rubbing in his good luck a little. Shaking his head, Terry began, “You guys won’t believe what happened to me today…”

      The End.