“Let’s see,” Sierra said to herself walking up to the Food Shop over on High Street in Neopian Central. “I’ve got just enough neopoints to pick up a few churros after buying those packages of gift wrap, and just enough time to get back to the Faerie Employment Agency and still get a good rating for this job.”
She didn’t have to remind herself that she was already full up from her lunch at the Soup Kitchen – her stomach could tell her that. No, she was thinking of the probability one of the faerie’s would want churros. And until they went and asked for some, well… there was no harm in stocking them in her own small shop that Elijah took care of over on Mystery Island. ‘And why shouldn’t Elijah be the one to mind the store when I’m out doing errands all day’, Sierra thought practically. ‘Why, if that lazy Kougra had his way all he would do all day would be to lay on the beach-as though anything ever happened at the beach!’
It wasn’t that Sierra was greedy; not at all. She worked hard for her share of Neopoints in the manner that suited her best. Sierra was friendly, and outgoing, and loved to move around constantly… so she did errands that allowed her to mingle with the shopkeepers, shoppers, and other Neopians and kept the store stocked by playing Dice-A-Roo on Roo Island every day until she got completely fed up with boredom. The rest of the neopets in her family pitched in by using their talents too: Audrey earned neopoints by solving puzzle games, and even Elijah could be trusted to stay in one place for long periods of time – he might stray as far as the beach, but at least he remained on Mystery Island – and he did play Tombola faithfully every single day. And Rosemary… well, truth be told Rosemary spent more Neopets than earned them, but she had an important job. Rosemary was in charge of their Neohome. Every piece of furniture, every flower, even the planning of the layout of the rooms before they are to be constructed was Rosemary’s responsibility. And she was good at it, being of a gentle nature and meticulous mind. Sierra knew that when their Neohome was finally done one day, it will have been created with love, and with Rosemary’s dedication to pay for it.
Sierra shook her head to clear it – it really wasn’t like her to stop to woolgather outside of a store;and still on the clock!
There was a soft chime of a bell when Sierra opened the door to the Food Store and stepped inside. She gave a quick glance around the shop first, and then walked up to the shopkeeper.
“Hello, Mr. Chia.” Sierra said brightly, giving him her best doggy grin.
“Hello, Miss Gelert.” the little yellow Chia answered, wiping his hands on his ‘I Love Food’ apron. “It’s a lovely day outside, isn’t it?” She nodded her head, and the Chia continued, “We have a special today on a rare treat… could I perhaps interest you in a Lemon and Thornberry Jelly? It’s only 686 neopoints.”
Sierra’s heart sank a little. The jelly did look rather tempting – but she certainly couldn’t afford it!”Actually, I came in for some churros… do you have any?”
Two shakes of a Babaa’s tail and Sierra had two orders of churros to stock her store with – but the Lemon and Thornberry Jelly seemed to call to her from across the room. She had been full up… but especially now in the Food Shop with all of its delicious looking foods and that vague aroma of cheeseburger that the store’s edifice itself always seemed to have…
It took her a couple of moments, more than she’d normally like to spend anguishing over an impulse buy – but all she really could think about was having a perfect little Neohome, with all those little things that they all had been saving and earning for…
“Sorry, I really can’t.” She said, and quickly left.
It had taken longer than she had expected to get to the Faerie Employment Agency. Or perhaps it only felt that way because she was in a real rush. Instead of having time to spare, she was running late and now her preoccupation with delicious Lemon and Thornberry jellies nearly vanished with the horrible feeling of having disappointed the faeries.
She turned in the packages of gift wrap, having just barely made the deadline. So it wasn’t as awful as she thought it was going to be while she was traveling from Neopian Central to Faerieland – but she didn’t quite feel great as she usually did either. She took the envelope with her pay and left after some pleasant banter with the faeries working there – not wanting to be rude, though her heart wasn’t truly into it as it normally was, either – and sat on a fluffy white cloud a few yards outside of the Agency.
Then something happened.
Sierra noticed a small bag just under the edging of a particularly fluffy cloud. She walked over to it and stooped down to pick it up. It had neopoints in it! A lot of neopoints, Sierra amended, taking a quick count. Sierra, being very honest and trustworthy by nature looked around to see if perhaps the Neopian who lost the bag was around.
She even stood there, bag of neopoints in her hand, for ten minutes. Nothing, no one came close. Oh, there were Neopians walking by, further down the road by the Agency. But where she was standing, by a small grouping of Faerieland houses, it was pretty empty.
‘How random!’ Sierra thought. “I’ll have to give the majority of these to Rosemary – we should have another room constructed in a few hours. And if I go back to Neopian Central – I can buy a new Acara book for Audrey… as for Elijah – I’ll treat him to a Cocoa Juppie – that’s his favorite – when I get back home to Mystery Island. And as for me…’
Sierra gave her best doggy grin again because she knew the Book Shop was right next to the Food Shop.
“Lemon and Thornberry Jelly, here I come!”