Author's Note: This story is completely true, even all the characters except
for the green Pteri... Sugar_Snap14, Twiliyte, and Taculi are my pets. I started
writing this the day Twi and I adopted Sugar, and as it progressed I decided
to send it in to The Neopian Times because it's a true story of one very happy
Neopian family. It was just cool how everything turned out!
"Come along, Twiliyte," I said.
"Where are we going?" Twiliyte asked, as her Warf, Nia, hopped on her back
and we began walking.
"We-ell," I said hesitantly, "I know you and NIA have tons of fun together,
but I wanted to make our home a little more cheery...I'm getting a new sister
or brother for you, Twi."
"Oh," she said shortly. "I hope she's nice."
"Don't worry," I assured her, "We'll only adopt a nice one."
We walked into the pound door, and I glanced around, scowling at the Techo,
Dr_Death.
"Oh dear," the pink Uni at the adoption desk said, "You aren't going to disown
a very sweet Uni are you? Oh dear, so many Unis seem to be showing up at the
pound these days..."
"Oh, never!" I said, grabbing Twiliyte and hugging her fiercely.
"Hey, stop that!" Twiliyte said in an annoyed voice, but I could tell she was
relieved.
"I want to adopt a pet." I informed the pink Uni.
"Right this way, then," she said with a smile, ushering me through a door behind
her.
As soon as I walked through the door, I saw row after row of cages, containing
pets of all colours, sizes and breeds. On the outside of the cages are cards
showing an id picture of each pet as well as their name and other information
about them. Twi walked next to me, slowly, looking around her in horror but
staying silent. I stroke her mane as we walk down the aisle. I look at a blue
Aisha. I checked her id and smiled at her. She smiled back.
"I'll be back in a bit," I whispered to her, "But I need to give the other
pets a chance to draw my attention." She nodded and retreated to the far corner
of her cage. I continued walking, looking each pet up and down. Some growled
at me and made faces. Others were sleeping, or simply ignored me. A few smiled
and did tricks, trying to convince me to take them home. I stuck my hand in
one cage to pat the head of a small blue Mynci who was crying.
"Get your hands of him!" a lady demanded, shoving me aside. "He's MINE."
"Oh..." I said quietly, "Well, okay." I walked on. By now, Twiliyte was crying
silently beside me. "Are you okay, honey?" I asked.
Twi nodded and gave a little sniffle. I stopped at a big cage, full of Aishas.
One green one in particular drew my attention. She was a few months old, but
she looked old beyond her years. She sat right in front of me, but she was daydreaming
and didn't notice me. I sighed and moved on. I couldn't bring myself to pick
one! I walked up to one cramped cage, containing a vicious Skeith and an adorable
blue Kougra. The Skeith was taunting and teasing the poor Kougra, but the little
one made no reply, enduring her tormentor with a strong will.
"Hey, cut it out!" Twiliyte said suddenly, cantering over quickly to the cage.
She was looking at the Skeith directly in the eye.
"I'm sorry you're in the pound, buddy," she said, "really I am. But you have
no right to hurt others."
The Skeith sneered. "You're just a goody two shoes. Bet you were never in the
pound, princess."
Twiliyte thrust her nose in the air defiantly. "As a matter of fact, you're
right. But if I was, I would treat my fellow NeoPets with RESPECT."
Then, turning to me, she asked, "Mum, can we adopt this little Kougra?"
I sighed, looking at the little one. "I think that might be a good idea."
Suddenly, two twin yellow Meercas came careening down the aisle and crashed
into me.
"Oh, I'm really, really, really, really sorry!" One squealed all in one breath.
"Me to-" the other one was suddenly cut off, staring at the blue Kougra. "Brother,"
he said in awe to his twin, "That Kougra...that's the one. The one who can be
our little sister!"
"YEAH!" The other said, jumping into the air.
"No," Twiliyte said, "She's mi..."
A look from me stopped her. I turned her away. "Let them be," I told her. "There
will be others for us. Those Meercas will really love that Kougra, I can tell.
That way there'll be more happy relationships if we don't take the one they
want. Get it?"
"Yeah, you're right..." Twi said, a little sadly.
"Let's go get that first blue Aisha," I suggested brightly, "That should be
fun!"
"OK," Twiliyte agreed, "She did seem really nice."
When we got back to the cage, though, the little Aisha was gone. The pink Uni
was just depositing a green Kougra in it's place. "What happened to the little
Aisha?" I asked.
"Oh," the Uni said, "A new Neopian adopted her. He was a young man, and seemed
really nice. I'm sure the Aisha will be happy. Did you want her?"
"Well, yes," I said, "But that's OK. I'm glad she found a good home."
Twiliyte began sobbing. "Every-every one, every single one we want gets taken
away! We're not positive they're getting good homes..." she mourned.
"I know, honey," I said, trying to console her. "Maybe some other pet?" I asked.
Twiliyte shook her head. "I think we'd better go home now."
"OK. We'll come back some other day. Thanks for your help," I said, nodding
at the pink Uni.
As we walked away, Twi suddenly turned back. The little green Kougra was crying
uncontrollably.
"It's okay, little one, it's okay, just calm down, please!" the pink Uni was
saying. Glancing up at me, Twiliyte turned around and walked back to the cage.
"It really is okay," she said calmly to the Kougra. "You're cute. Someone will
adopt you..."
The Kougra dried her tears. "Do you really think so?" she asked. I could tell
that this was an important question, and Twi knew it too.
"I know so..." She paused, "Well, I'm almost one hundred percent certain. No,
I am one hundred percent certain. You know why?"
"Why?" the Kougra asked.
"Because," Twiliyte said slowly, "We're going to adopt you. Is that okay, Stevie?"
I nodded and smiled. "And is it okay with you?" Twiliyte asked the Kougra, who
nodded happily.
"Yes!" she said enthusiastically, "I'm Sugar_Snap14, but you can just call
me Sugar."
"Agreed," I said, opening the cage and taking Sugar's paw.
As we, the new family, walked out into the sunshine, leaving the filthy stench
of the adoption center behind, I felt warm all over. Twi was positively glowing,
and Sugar was bouncing all over excitedly.
"I can't believe it, I can't believe it," she was saying over and over again.
"Believe it," I said, smiling down at her.
"I'm sooo ugly, though," she said with a tinge of sadness, "Green. I wish the
person who created me was at least nice enough to pick some decent colour for
me."
"Green looks okay," Twiliyte said encouragingly, "I do like blue, faerie and
spotted best myself, but I still think green is nice."
"Well, thanks..." Sugar said.
"Don't be so blue," I said as a joke.
Sugar laughed. "I wish," she said.
"You guys are funny," Twiliyte commented.
"Yeah, we kinda clicked," I said.
"Definitely," Sugar replied.
"Turn left," I said abruptly, crossing the street.
"What are we doing?" Twiliyte asked, "Home is the other way!"
"You'll see," I said calmly.
I led the girls down the back streets and alleyways of Neopia Central, ultimately
ending up at the Shop Wizard.
"I'd like to search for 'Gruslen'
please," I said.
"You're searching for a PetPet?" Twiliyte asked incredulously, "Whatever for?"
"Oh," I said airily, "I like them."
Twi rolled her eyes and whispered to Sugar, "She does weird things sometimes...you'll
get used to it."
"I heard that," I said threateningly.
"The cheapest is one thousand Neopoints, Ma'am," the Shop
Wizard said slowly, showing me a list.
"I'll go to that shop," I said, looking down at the paper.
"That's just three shops down to your left," he replied, placing the paper
back in one of his many notebooks.
"Thanks," I said, "Would you mind watching these two for a sec?" He nodded.
"Be good, I'll be right back," I hollered as I sprinted down to the shop. I
returned with a Gruslen and a spotted paint brush.
"Pick a hand," I said eagerly to Sugar.
"Uh..." she said.
"Just pick a hand. Any hand," Twiliyte said impatiently.
Sugar pointed to my right hand. I pulled out the paint brush. "Here, honey,"
I said with a smile. "I have no use for pets who don't like their colours."
Sugar's mouth was wide open. I picked her up in a big hug, and as I did so
I put the little Gruslen in one of her hands. She barely noticed until I put
her down.
"What's this... a Gruslen?"
"For you," I said, "Her name is Spice. To go with Sugar ;)"
"I'm so surprised, thank you so very, very much! Oh I'm so happy...I'm so
very happy I have a family!"
"I'm happy you're with us, Sugar," I said.
"Me too," Twi added, very definitely. As we all walked home, I felt pleased.
I'd had a great day, and Twi had, too. Plus we had a new member of the family,
and she had proved wonderful.
"Stevie, do you think we could stop at the Rainbow
Pool on the way home so Sugar can get painted?" Twiliyte asked hopefully.
"Sure," I said, "We're almost there anyway."
Soon a pretty green Pteri with long eyelashes was painting Sugar. "Oooh, daaling,"
she cooed, "You are go-ing to look sooo won-der-fullll."
"Thanks," Sugar said calmly, "It feels really cool and refreshing to get painted."
"There. You are complete in your spleen-dor," the Pteri said, leaning back
to look at her masterpiece. Then she held up a mirror.
"Oh my goodness!" Sugar exclaimed, "I look so different! I can't believe it.
Thanks," she said to the Pteri, "You did a great job. And Stevie...oh, how can
I ever thank you enough?"
"Having you as part of this family is plenty thanks," I said with a smile.
To be continued... | 
