Last Night, First Night
Not so much a story as a brief glimpse into life at Avie's Agency. A bit of a heartwarmer, I think. Janie and Gwen are fictional, but they represent dozens of other Neopets. All the other named pets are real.
I don't own Neo.
"Maela, get in the basket."
The Starry Aisha pushes her Faellie forward. With a puzzled glance at its mistress, it hops into the petpet basket and watches as she closes the wire door.
"Sorry, Maela." Janie sighs. "I know it's a bind. I'll give you a Petpet Treat once we get downstairs, I promise."
Setting the basket on the bed, she takes one more look around the bedroom.
The window is bare. Avie took down the pretty, star-patterns curtains an hour ago: the material will do for a new dress for Jachinthe, she says. The blue bedspread will most likely belong to some other pet, weeks or months from now, and 'Stat has already carried Janie's favourite rug downstairs.
Outside the window, rain scatters down on the little town of Laura's Haven. The Neopian Plains spread out into the distance like a child's blanket, thrown down across the real world to cover everything from horizon to horizon.
"Janie?" The door opens a fraction, and a small Acara pokes her head into the room. "Avie wants to know if you'll be having any dinner. There's going to be--"
"Soup. I know." The Aisha has learnt to recognise the warming scent of Avie's cooking. "I might have some. Tell her thanks."
Laurrie nods and leaves the room. With a final glance behind her, Janie picks up the petpet basket and pushes open the door.
In the kitchen, Avie Martinez has abandoned her usual duties. The Eyrie sits at the kitchen table, wrapping up packages. A sheet of brown paper crackles beneath her soft, white paws. Behind her, a slim Yellow Ruki is stirring the soup, gazing into the middle distance with a bored expression.
"Laurrie, find me the housewarming gifts that Desi sent. There's a black plate with gold edging, a box of scarab cookies..."
"Found them." The little Acara runs to the table, handing over the presents.
"Good girl. Jachinthe, don't let that pot boil over. 'Stat, how soon can you make the Neomail trip to Winghaven?"
Janie wanders through the kitchen, letting the constant conversations wash over her.
About me. All this is about me. She tries to remind herself of it. But the four pets in the kitchen seem to be ignoring her, pushing her out of the discussions.
"187690 Bracknell Road, Neopia Central." Avie scratches out the address in black marker for the umpteenth time. "Thanks, Jachinthe. Can you serve out the soup now?"
The bowl of soup set in front of Janie is delicious, as usual. But the five pets in the kitchen eat as though they didn't really care about it, each of them leaving the table from time to time to attend to their own tasks.
Don't they care about this? Janie thinks, stirring her soup without any real appetite. Don't they care about me?
Do none of them care about what's happening tonight?
Avie is running hot water into the bath upstairs. The scent of soap and steam drifts down and touches Janie's nostrils, clean and inviting.
"Janie?" The familiar feathered face appears round the door. "I've run you a hot bath. You should get in. You want to look nice for Martine, don't you?"
The Aisha climbs the stairs and makes her way through the clouds of steam, dipping her forepaw into the water, before climbing in with a bittersweet pleasure. Nothing this evening, not the delicious meal or the hot bath or listening to Laurrie's off-key singing as she helps to tie string on packages, can exist outside of the sad knowledge that repeats as often as Janie's heartbeat.
This is the last time.
The last time I'll taste Avie's home-made soup from a blue-and-white china bowl. The last time I'll drop a scrap of paper from the highest window, and watch it drift over the Neopian Plains. The last time I'll hear 'Stat and Jachinthe arguing.
The very last night.
She rubs the soap against her deep blue fur, thinking of the time when she didn't have this precious pattern of stars to wash. Would Martine still have liked her if they'd met back then? Would she have been so joyful at the prospect of owning her?
Yes. She would. Janie scolds herself against thinking like that. Martine is a sweet girl, loving and kind. She's proud to call such a good Neopian her friend.
Janie climbs out of the bath and rubs her damp fur dry, then brushes it down. The bristles feel sharp against her skin. She takes her favourite ribbon collar from where she's hung it next to the bathtub, and fastens it around her neck.
"Oh, there you are." Jachinthe is leaning against the wall outside the bathroom. "You'd better get a move on, girlfriend. We're going Eyrie-back, you know, so you can't leave it too late. Avie decided it wasn't worth spending money on the train." The Ruki's pink-glossed lips remain in their usual half-frowning pout as she waves a talon in the direction of the stairs. "Hurry up and get your boots on, 'kay?"
Avie waves a bundle of paper tickets at Janie as the Aisha returns to the kitchen. "These are hotel coupons, enough for two weeks, so if you get lost or stranded somewhere, just find the nearest Neolodge and you can stay there. Take them!" Obediently, Janie tucks the tickets into her collar and begins to pull on her pawboots and raincoat.
"Laurrie! Laurrie! Get your boots on, hon. We're going to Neopia Central to bring Janie home."
"To the city?" Laurrie is all excitement as she stumbles down the stairs. "At night? All of us?"
"Yep. Hurry up! It's almost half past six already."
Janie carries the petpet basket into the yard, trying not to betray her thoughts in her expression.
To Laurrie, this is really just a trip to the city…
All this is about me. But no-one is mentioning me.
These last three months I've spent in Laura's Haven… Do they mean nothing after all?
"All right, you lot," Avie scolds lovingly. "Calm down. 'Stat, you get Janie and the girls up onto my back. Janie, hold tight to that petpet basket."
The lights are out in Avie's agency. As the Eyrie flaps her white-feathered wings elegantly, rising higher and higher above Laura's Haven, the house becomes a smudge of black against the twilit plains, then nothing at all.
"Hang on tight, girls!" Avie tells them cheerfully. "We're going to see if we can make it to the city before nine o'clock!"
The Eyrie-back ride is like a dream, for an Aisha who feels half asleep. Janie watches the clouds and the fading light beneath Avie's wings, glimpsing towns and forests through gaps in the blanket of cloud.
"'Stat?" Laurrie's voice breaks the silence. "When we get to the city, can I buy some stuff for myself?"
"Where would you get the money, cara mia?" is her brother's response. In reply, Laurrie grins and produces a china Scorchio bank from beneath her paws.
"Laurrie! You shouldn't've brought that. It's fragile!" Despite his sharp words, 'Stat can't help laughing at the little girl's enterprising spirit. "All right. What do you want to buy?"
"Some candy," is Laurrie's first answer. "And a new plushie, and some books and a doll for Mem and…"
"Steady on, loveling," he chuckles, ruffling her fringe with one camouflage-patterned paw. "It isn't the Day of Giving, you know."
"Hold on tight!" comes Avie's warning, and the conversation turns to silence once more as the Eyrie begins to circle lower. If Janie turns her head to one side, she can just make out a cluster of lights somewhere far below. That must be Neopia Central, where Martine is. She starts to feel a thrill of excitement.
The glow becomes a patchwork of lights and shadows, and Avie plunges into it as if she's made the trip a million times. The wind whips at her feathers as she descends, heading for the centre of town.
"Half-past eight! Pretty good going. All right, 'Stat, you know what to do. Jump down and go hand in the disownment forms. I'll meet you by the Rainbow Pool when we come back."
The Kougra tenses for a moment, then leaps down onto the paving. His smooth silhouette vanishes into a tall, forbidding-looking building whose appearance still gives Janie the shivers, even after so long.
"Right," Avie says cheerfully, beginning to flap her wings once more. "I'll say this once for all, hold onto your hats, girls! We've got to make the last leg of the trip count!"
With that, she swings round in a graceful arc and flies at twice her previous speed, through the streets of Neopia Central, not stopping for anything.
"Hey, kitty-cat!" Janie hears a sharp voice behind her, and turns in surprise. A young man is hanging onto Avie's tail, grinning up at her. "You ain't got no disc on your collar. Who's your owner? Huh?"
"MartineChristiansen," Janie says in puzzlement. "Only… not yet…"
"Not yet, huh?" The man's grin widens. "Now, there's an opportunity…" For the first time, Janie sees what he's holding in his hand: a set of forms, a pen, and a shining collar-tag with a name and address etched into it. "Let's see. What's your name, pretty kitty?"
"Oh-no-you-don't, mister!" In one smooth movement, Jachinthe swings her talon around to connect with the man's shoulder, simultaneously delivering a sharp kick with one of her back legs. His expression turns to anger as he slips from his perch and lands with a bump on the cobbled street, not before receiving a bump on the head for good measure from the Ruki's other foot.
"What's going on back there, Shant?" Avie calls.
"Sniper!" Jachinthe yells back, grinning like a maniac. "But don't worry, I got him good!"
The houses flash past as Janie watches. Suddenly, they turn a corner and sweep down a long, winding avenue.
"Laurrie! Count numbers!"
Once they're more than halfway along, Avie slows down. With Jachinthe keeping a wary eye on Janie, they continue flying until Laurrie shouts for them to stop. The end of the journey comes so suddenly that Janie is thrown forward; the other two pets have had the foresight to hold extra tightly to their places.
Avie bangs on the door with her paw, Jachinthe standing guard over Janie and her petpet basket. For a moment, it seems as if no-one will answer. Then the door opens, and Martine dashes out onto the rain-soaked step.
"'Evening, Miss Christiansen," Avie greeted her politely. "Sign here—now!"
Martine scribbles her signature on the forms held in the Eyrie's paw, and hands them back with obvious delight. Smiling, she opens her arms as if to embrace someone.
"Go on, Janie," Laurrie prompts her, giving the older Neopet a push for good measure. Stumbling from Avie's back, Janie steps hesitantly into the light and feels Martine's loving arms sweep her off the ground.
"Martine! Is it her?" A young Gelert bounds out onto the step, his ears twitching with excitement. "She's here! Oh, Janie! Are you going to be my big sister then?"
Janie can't answer. Held close to Martine's heart, she feels so overwhelmed by warmth and love that she's unable to speak. She doesn't even notice the front door closing, leaving her in the house with the girl and her Gelert.
Avie circles down towards the Rainbow Pool, folding her wings as she lands. 'Stat is waiting there, to lift Laurrie down, and he brushes a knowing paw across Avie's cheek to wipe away something that might have been a raindrop. Jachinthe's face is turned away, and she sucks absent-mindedly at her claws.
"How did I do?" Avie asks, reflectively.
"Brilliantly," 'Stat assures her. "You did brilliantly. I know how you hate the last night."
"Last night," Jachinthe shudders. "Don't say that. It always sounds so gloomy. Like nothing good could ever… h-happen again…"
"It's difficult for all of us," 'Stat tells her, holding Laurrie tightly as she trembles with mixed emotions. "I know you're going to miss Janie, cara mia."
"We all will," Avie agrees.
"I wish I could play with her again," Laurrie murmurs, buried in her brother's warm fur. "I wish… I wish she didn't have to go…"
"Last nights are always the worst," 'Stat repeats. "Come on, Avie, and you girls too. You know what we've got to do now."
They follow him, on foot while Avie rests her tired wings.
"Evening, Rosiebel," 'Stat calls brightly as they enter the tall, dark building for the second time. "Didn't expect to see you on duty at bedtime. Shouldn't you be tucking up the residents? Don't tell me old misery-boots is doing it."
"Old Misery-Boots," comes the sharp response from somewhere in the backroom, "would be a lot less hassled if he didn't have crazy Kougras demanding an audience day and night. Don't tell me you have more forms?"
The Techo doctor strides into the front room with an expression of utter annoyance.
"We haven't any more forms, DD," Avie tells him gently. "We're here for another lost little one."
"Well, you know where the backroom is," snaps the Techo. "Get in there and pick your no-hoper. Sharpish."
"Is he really mad?" Laurrie whispers, wide-eyed.
"Nah," 'Stat laughs. "That's just DD. He's glad to have us here really."
Laurrie sits in the front room, on one of the threadbare chairs. She doesn't like going into the backroom with the others. But Jachinthe insists on accompanying 'Stat and Avie to where the dozens of lonely pets are trying to sleep.
"Hey, someone's here." A smart Faerie Lenny fixes his eyes on them. "Why not pick me? I'd be the perfect addition to your family."
"Not you," says Avie softly. "We're sorry."
"Everyone's going to want me in the morning," puts in a handsome red Wocky from his cage. "I'm a great battledomer. One of the best." 'Stat checks his chart: it's true.
"Not you," he says simply, and continues along the row.
At the end of the aisle of doors, a featherbare Pteri is lying in a bundle of blankets, trying hard to sleep. As Jachinthe gazes at her, she picks up her broken spectacles and returns a tired-eyed glance.
"What are you doing?" she says softly.
"We're just looking," Avie says, flicking through crumpled charts.
"There's a Wocky over there with really high stats… and a Lenny who's painted," the Pteri says. "They'd suit you, I'm sure they would." She smiles weakly. "And if you take them away at least we won't have to put up with their bragging. Or you could take Suziennah, she's a really intelligent Xweetok… Or are you not adopting?"
"We're fostering," 'Stat supplies. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Gwen," she replies, slightly surprised. "Or that's the short of it. Why?"
"Gwen," Jachinthe repeats. "Short. Sweet. Pretty. I like it." She glances at her family for approval.
"What're you doing here, Gwen?" Avie asks.
"I… he had to leave," the Pteri shrugs, resigned. "And I wasn't special enough to find a home. So I'm here."
"Your stats? Anything special?"
"Level one," Gwen recites. "0/9 hit points, average attack, below average defence, intelligence above average… and Neezles. Sorry." She shrugs again. "What were you looking for, anyway? A battledome pet? Someone to help you win Beauty Contests? You've sure got a beautiful Ruki there."
The voice of the Techo doctor echoes down the corridor. "Judging by the length of time you've been down there, should I bring the forms and a collar-tag?"
Avie smiles back at him, her mind made up. "You do that, DD."
The first nights are always the best.