| APRIL 04 | PLUSHZETTE VOL 1 ISSUE 2 |
Well, dear reader, here we are again. Please let me take the time to properly welcome you all back to my world: Neopia, and more specifically: Neopia Central. I must tell you that I am glad you want to learn what happens next in my little story. Yes, that is right, only a little story, no more no less, with one goal: to amuse. Ok, I shall start off with a reminder to make everything clear. At the end of the first part of my tale I had just introduced you to the main characters: Leeta and Skater. What will happen next? Well, dear reader, you have cast the die. With your vote you have decided whom I shall follow. Skater or Leeta Leeta or Skater Skater or Leeta ? Can you feel the build-up of tension and excitement yet ? Good ! Are you ready ? Allright then, here we go … Leeta is happily walking along the street, humming to some catchy tune (probably Chomby and the Fungus Balls’ latest hit, her favourite band) that got stuck in her head. She always has the radio on while getting ready to go out and today was no different. She is wearing her woollen mittens and matching earmuffs to keep her ears (four of them) nice and warm. Oblivious to her surroundings and without a care in the world (or so it seems) she makes her way through the streets of Neopia Central. Let us take a closer look. Is she carrying something ? Yes, she is ! It is a cage. Did you see that or are my eyes deceiving me ? I thought I saw some movement in the cage. Perhaps she has got a pet with her. Let us zoom in some more now. Don’t worry, dear reader, I can assure you Leeta is quite unaware of our presence. Oh, how cute ! It is a little, baby kadoatie ! What might she be up to, I wonder ? She suddenly slows down, looks around and smiles. She crosses the street and stops in front of oh no! the horror, the horror! The Neopian Pound. What is she going to do ? Is she going to get rid of that innocent Kadoatie ?! Well, dear reader, that is something you will find out at a later date. Now, let us turn our attention to a certain lupe. After all, you have made it perfectly clear that Skater is the lupe you want to learn more about. Skater has a big smile on his snout. You might say he is on cloud nine. Why is he so happy, you wonder ? Well, his parents finally got him his dream pet: a Puppyblew. He absolutely loves everything about him. How she paddles excitedly through the snow (it is a first for the little fellow), how he comes running when his name is called (‘Bluey’), how he quietly sits and listens with his ears cocked when spoken to in a soft voice. It has taken Skater a very long time (at least in his eyes it was a long time, but in reality only a month or so) to convince his parents to get him a pet. His father was worried about the cost and his mother feared she would end up caring fo the pet. Is that not just typical for parents? They can only see the negative. Still, in the end, Skater got his way. He made a deal with his dad: he would not want anything for his birthday, nor for Christmas, if he were allowed to get a pet. He also promised to help more around the house. Now, you tell me, dear reader, how could his dad pass up a deal like that ?! Not being a stupid man, he did not, but only on the condition that Skater’s mother agreed as well. So, now the time had come to start ‘working’on his mum. He knew she would not be such a push-over as his dad. He tried several tactics: temper tantrums (which only succeeded in making his mum angry), the silent treatment (which made her sad), blatant hostility (which hurt her terribly). It did not take him very long to realize that he was never going to get a pet if he kept up this kind of behaviour. He would have to change tactics. After all, you cath more flies with honey than with vinegar. And that did seem to work. His mum slowly thawed out and warmed to the idea of having a pet running around the house. In the end, she gave in (perhaps only to shut him up ?) and put forth some rules. Skater had to promise he would clean up after his pet, feed it, care for it and most importantly love it. He very quickly promised he would (to not give his mum the chance to change her mind) and so he finally saw his dream come true. Now on to the next hurdle: what pet to get ? Skater weighed his options. Aquatic pets were rejected almost without a second thought. What would he do with such a pet ? It is all good and well for a flotsam or a koi, who feel at home in the water, but a growing lupe needs a pet he can play with on dry land. The same went for flying pets, be they insect- or bird-like: perfectly suited for a pteri or a buzz, but not so much for a lupe. What about a little robotic pet, then ? Of course they look very cool, but he had heard they have special (and expensive) needs with regards to food and care. He gathered they might be too hard to care for, so they were out as well. And so, Skater had quickly narrowed down his choices. He made a list with all his favourite pets, but ended up with way too many options. So he let the issue rest for a day and went through his list again. His parents had made it painfully clear to him that he could get one, and only one, pet. His choice would be final and irrevocable. If he were to choose a pet he ended up hating, he would be stuck with it. He knew his parents, and especially his mum, would not let him abandon an unwanted pet. They always say:”A pet is for life, not just for the hollidays.” And he does agree with that, so he realised how important this choice would be. Finally he settled on five pets he considered to be his all time favourites. The ‘finalists’ were: an angelpuss, a meowclops, a snorkle, a puppyblew and a doglefox. You, dear reader, already know what pet will be picked, but for Skater it was a dilemma he pondered and agonized over and then pondered and agonized over some more. His only thought was: What if I were to make a wrong choice? I do not want to end up with a pet I hate. So he decided he needed some help. Sure, he liked all five pets on his short-list very much, but he wanted to make certain he would pick the perfect pet. He first asked his dad, but he did not really care one way or the other and did not have anything really helpful to say. His dad’s only concern was that Skater would choose an expensive pet with tastes and needs to match. Since he could not go back on the deal with his son (what sort of example would that set ?), he just hoped for the best. Skater’s mum, on the other hand, had plenty to say. She pointed out all the special needs of each of his ‘finalists’ and also listed some of their positive and negative traits. Skater could not believe how much his mum knew about pets and how helpful she was being. When he asked her about it, she explained that she really wanted to help him to make the right decision. After all, you should never rush the choice of a pet. She then told that she was really impressed with how thorough he wanted to make his choice. She admitted that she had been terribly worried that he would be impulsive and let himself be guided by his friends. Now that she was convinced that that was not the case, she finally felt he was ready to be taken to the pet shop. But that, dear reader, is a tale best kept for the next instalment of my little story. TO BE CONTINUED… |
