The Neopian Thief

     Angel set out one morning to go to school. While going to school she passed Neopian Central, and decided to grab a cup of coffee. Then she realized that she didn't have any money along. Angel quickly swooped into the shop, grabbed a cup of coffee out of someone's hand, grabbed a tigersquash iced bun from someone else, and then ran out the door before anyone could see her face. She ran out of Neopian Central and onto her school. On the way she devoured her breakfast, thinking about what she did.

      Why did I do that? she thought to herself. I don't want to be a thief, but…

      A thought suddenly came to her. Stealing was so easy. She was a fast runner, and nobody would ever suspect her. So what was stopping her?

      The next day Angel had off school, and she decided to go to Mystery Island. She saw the food shop, and she ran in, took an oyster salad, and ran back out. She also went to the Rock Pool and took a petpet that she later sold. Stealing was so easy. She felt like she was on top of the world.

      "I'll never, ever, in a million years get caught for stealing. Who would think of sweet, innocent me as a thief? No one, that's who," Angel said aloud. "Nothing is stopping me from doing this. I'm going to get everything I've ever wanted and more! I can steal books and get smarter; I can steal grooming items and be beautiful! I can take ice cream, chocolate, lollypops, popcorn, nachos, pizza, hot dogs, coffee, school supplies… the list goes on and on! Everybody will envy me, and nobody would ever suspect me as the thief. Nobody can stop me now!"

      Or so she thought.

      The next day in school Angel's class watched a movie on Neopian thieves. They watched how the criminals were taken off to be locked up forever, to be fed barely enough to survive, to be tortured until some strangled themselves. But that didn't stop Angel. She was dead set on getting everything she ever wanted. She wanted to be rich. She wanted to be popular. She wanted the whole planet answering to her every call. And she was going to make sure that it happened.

      When Angel went home that night, her mother pulled her aside.

      "Angel, when I went up to your room earlier you had all kinds of new toys and dresses that I never got you. Where did you get them?" her mother asked.

      "I uh… I… I got them from my friend at school. Yeah, that's it. I got them from a friend. Is there a problem?"

      "Well I was reading the Neopian Times earlier and there has been a recent set of robberies. I just wanted to be sure that it wasn't my precious Angel being a thief. I didn't think it was, but I had to be sure."

      "Oh, it is okay Mommy. I know you just want what's best for me. I love you so much!" Angel replied, a little too sweetly. She was at the peak of her thieving, and she didn't want her mom interfering in it. That would only cause problems. And she couldn't afford problems, especially now.

      Angel then went up to her room and put on her pajamas. She pulled the sheets down and slid into her bed. She quickly fell off to sleep. But her hobby haunted her in her dreams.

      In her dream, Angel found herself up to her usual pastime, thieving. This time she went into the Chocolate Shop, where she saw a huge, expensive piece of chocolate. She quickly ran over to grab it, and picked it up. She ran about two steps when she realized that it was too heavy for her. Soon everyone gathered around her and started chanting 'Thief, thief, thief, Angel is a thief!' over and over again. Angel then dropped the chocolate and ran out of the store. She ran and ran and ran until she couldn't anymore. When she stopped, she heard shouting. She ran to see what the commotion was.

      'There is a new bounty out! One million Neopoints to whoever catches Angel the Quiggle, dead or alive! She is a thief, possibly armed and dangerous. Go and find this thief!'

      Angel couldn't take it anymore, and hid in a hole. Soon she found herself being dragged out of the hole and into the town square where she was locked up in chains. A man lit a torch and brought it closer and closer to where she was. A woman dropped some sticks and twigs at her feet. She realized what the torch was for, and started screaming. The man lowered his body, and the torch touched the twigs. Then she woke up.

      "No, no, don't burn me!" she yelled in her sleep. "I didn't do it! No, please don't burn me!" Angel looked around to find herself safe in her bed, with no man or woman trying to burn her. She was okay. Her secret is still safe. She thought about her dream for about thirty minutes. She decided that her dream didn't mean a thing. She was still safe; she wasn't caught. She finally decided that she was going to stick with stealing. She was much too far in to back out now.

      While Angel was walking to school, she saw Fyora, the faerie queen, in Neopia Central.

      "That's odd. What is Fyora doing here? Oh no…" Angel cut off suddenly. She knew what Fyora was doing. She was here to help catch the thief. Angel knew that she was in trouble now.

      "Hello! Miss Quiggle, could you come over here please?" asked Fyora.

      Angel started to panic. "Sure," she called. "What for?"

      "I have some questions to ask you about the recent string of robberies. Do you know who did it? Have you seen the robber before?" Fyora asked.

      "Um, no I don't, and I've never seen her before. I have no idea who the robber is, but she is very good at robbing people I must say," Angel replied.

      Fyora thought for a moment. "You say you don't know who the robber is. But yet you say her. If you don't know the robber, how can you know the gender? Or are you the robber?"

      "I…um…I…uh…I… Fine, yes, I am the robber okay? I stole all of those things. I was able to steal things from nearly every shop in Neopia. It was all me. Do whatever with me. Send me to jail. I'm sorry for what I did though. Just do your worst," Angel yelled.

      "Do you still have everything you stole?"

      "Most of it anyway. I have everything but the coffee and iced bun that I originally stole. Why?"

      "Well," Fyora said, "If you still have everything, you can give it back. And you can pay for the coffee and bun, I'm sure that didn't cost much. And then I'll let you go with a warning. But next time, things could be very serious. Normally I don't let anybody off with a warning, but seeing as you are a mere child I will. Just never, ever steal again. Okay?"

      "Okay," Angel replied.

      Later that day Angel confessed everything to her mom. Her mother grounded her for two months, but forgave her. Angel never stole another thing in her life. She had definitely learned her lesson.

The End