Alone in her room, Luciana, a green Bruce, sat gazing out her window. Her mood matched the gloomy day outside. On a clear day, she could see all the way to the wooded area in back of the Neopian Pound. However, today was not one of those days. It was windy and raining outside. Luciana could barely see out of her window. That didn�t matter much anyway because Luciana was in her own world, daydreaming.

�Luciana.� spoke a gentle voice. �Luciana?�

Startled out of her day dream, Luciana turned to find Ms. Snowflake standing in her doorway.

�Yes, Ms. Snowflake?� Luciana replied a bit embarrassed.

�Ahhh, caught you day dreaming again, Luciana,� Ms. Snowflake said with a laugh. �I came to see if you would like to go to the rec room and play charades with the other pets and staff.�

�Thank you for asking Ms. Snowflake. But I�d rather stay here.� Luciana said with a sigh and turned back to the window.

When Ms. Snowflake left, Luciana returned to staring outside. This time, she didn�t return to day dreaming. Instead, troubling thoughts were invading her mind. She tried to push them away, but they kept coming back to her.

They wouldn�t want me to play anyway, Luciana thought sadly to herself.

Luciana thought about those other girls in the pound. She was nothing like them and that upset her even more.

She remembered back to what happened earlier today at neoschool. Just the memory of it was enough to bring back the embarrassment and hurt caused by the events.
Luciana was called to read in class and she tried. She could read a little bit, but she just didn�t have the reading skills yet to raise her intelligence level. And when she tried to play with Berries and the other girls at recess, they just laughed at her for the way she waddles! Luciana remembered trying to �walk� like the other girls and she fell flat on her face! That just made them laugh at her even more!

�I�m ugly and stupid and can�t do anything right!� she cried to herself.

Her eyes filled with tears as she contimued to think about those other pets. One by one, they flashed through her mind. Berries was a sleek and graceful strawberry Gelert. Angelwing was a beautiful white Uni. She did not possess the strength of Phire, a fire Lupe or the mind of Star, a blue Nimmo� The list went on.

Luciana heard a rustling behind her. She turned to see Cyan, a red Cybunny, grabbing a doll. Luciana�s room mate left just as quietly as she came.

�Probably going to play dolls with the others,� Luciana said with a sigh.

Luciana wanted to play dolls with the others too. This time, she couldn�t hold the tears back. She lay down on her bed and cried until she had no more tears left.

Later that evening, it was time for all the pets to go to bed. Ms. Snowflake was the one to do the bed checks. This was really tucking in the pets for the night. But the older pets liked to call it a bed check.
When Ms. Snowflake entered Luciana and Cyan�s room, she asked them what story they would like read to them. It was Luciana�s turn to choose, so she chose a book about an ugly pet who turned out beautiful in the end. That was her favorite story!

After Ms. Snowflake finished the story and left, Luciana laid awake for awhile. She thought about the story and how the pet became beautiful in the end.

�I wish that was me.� Luciana said softly to herself.

�Mmm...huh?� mumbled Cyan in her sleep.

�Oh nothing,� Luciana said with a sigh, grateful that tomorrow was Saturday and she wouldn�t have to go to neoschool.

Most of Saturday came and went. Luciana remained in her room, gazing out the window. She could see the other pets playing and having fun with each other. She could also see Berries and Angelwings playing with their dolls. Luciana looked down at her own doll and then held her close. She wanted to go down there and play dolls, but they would only laugh at her again. They always laugh and make fun of her in neoschool. They would do the same here, except that Luciana always hid in her room, watching the days go by from the safety of her window.

A bit later, Luciana was called to set the tables. She entered the kitchen to grab the items needed for the table settings. Just because this was a pound didn�t mean that the pets went without chores to do. Tonight was Luciana�s turn to set the tables.

Mr. Pickles greeted Luciana as she came in. �I see you are to be my helper tonight,� Mr. Pickles smiled at her.

�Yep. It�s my turn.� Luciana grinned back.

Luciana liked Mr. Pickles because he was nice and sometimes gave her treats. She also liked him because he could cook really neat food. Not like the last cook who always made gross foods!

�What�s for dinner Mr. Pickles?� Luciana asked looking curiously in a pot.

�Tonight, we are having a watermelon feast! We are starting with watermelon soup. Watermelon is very good for you,� Mr. Pickles replied with a laugh.

Despite her gloomy mood, Luciana laughed too.

The weekend ended all too quickly and soon Luciana was on her way to class. She passed some pets that were making fun of her by humming strange songs as she waddled by. Luciana just lowered her head so no one would see the tears in her eyes.

During reading lessons, the teacher, Ms. Rhiannon asked Luciana to read again.
Luciana dreaded this moment but stood up to read. She could hear the snickers coming from around the room. Luciana just kept her eyes on her book.

�The day was br..i..ght and little Joey went out to the fo...for�forest,� Luciana said softly as she was trying to read the selection.

Laughter erupted around the room and some pets began mimicking Luciana�s attempts to read.

Ms. Rhiannon tapped on her desk to gain order again. �Thank you Luciana,� Ms. Rhiannon said, glaring at the class.

Luciana took her seat and stared down at her desk. She wished more than anything that she was someone else and some place else. Always laughing at her! She wiped a tear from her eye and thought that maybe if she had been given any other name in the world, then she would be liked by the other pets.

Lunch time came and Luciana decided to skip lunch. She went out to the playground to swing for a while. At least she could be by herself for now with no one to be mean to her or make fun of her.
While she was swinging, she noticed that Ms. Rhiannon was talking with Ms. Snowflake, Ms. Cupcake and Mr. Shankly. They were all looking in her direction.

All too soon, pets started coming out to recess when lunch was over. The swings were the most popular part of the playground, so Luciana decided to go on the slide instead. She waited in line for her turn and when it came, she started to climb the stairs to the slide. Someone in line started making fun of Luciana again while she climbed up the stairs. Luciana�s heart sank as she climbed back down. She went off to sit alone on the edge of the playground. She watched as the other pets played and laughed with delight, unconcerned with the ache inside Luciana�s heart. It was at this moment Luciana truly believed she was the ugliest and most uncared about pet in all of Neopia.

After neoschool was finished for the day, Luciana returned to the pound. She wanted nothing more than to make it to her room so she could hide. Once in her room, she picked up her doll and sat by the window. She held her doll so tightly to her that it seemed as if she was trying to hold back the ache that continued in her heart.
Luciana thought about her day.

�I was just stupid today! Stupid, waddling me!� Luciana said and began to sob.

Before she knew it, Luciana felt arms move around her in a tight hug. She looked up through teary eyes and saw the blurry face of Ms. Snowflake. Luciana just leaned against Ms. Snowflake and cried herself out. When Luciana was finished crying, Ms. Snowflake asked if she felt better.

�I guess so�� Luciana sniffled, wiping her eyes.

�What made you cry Luciana?� Ms. Snowflake asked with concern.

�It�s because I�m not like the others. I�m too stupid to read and I can�t walk right!� Luciana listed with another sniffle.

�Who told you that?� Ms. Snowflake asked in surprised.

�No one had to tell me. I just know that�s why Berries and the other girls won�t play with me!� Luciana replied sadly.

�I see.� said Ms. Snowflake and she continued to hug Luciana.

Ms. Snowflake held Luciana a bit longer and then asked her if she would be willing to help Mr. Pickles in the kitchen with supper. With a nod, Luciana went down to the kitchen, the ache in her heart still following.

�Well, well well. Luciana, how kind of you to help me this evening.� Mr. Pickles said in a cheery voice. �I�m afraid that I need some help reading the items needed from my recipe book.�

Luciana went from stunned to terrified! How can she read to Mr. Pickles! If she did, then he�ll find out how stupid she is! It was bad enough to be teased in neoschool but here at the pound too? Still what choice did she have?

�Ok Mr. Pickles,� Luciana agreed in a timid voice.

Luciana picked up the recipe book and opened it up to where the page was marked. �How to make Orange Chicken� was the title of the recipe.

Well, thought Luciana, At least I like this dish.

Luciana began to read the recipe.
�First put the chi�k�en in the pot and turn on the ov�en. Then take the se�seson?...�

Luciana couldn�t make out the word and she started to panic. She didn�t know what to do!

�I believe that �seasonings� is the word you are looking for.� Mr. Pickles said in his cheery voice, without looking up from what he was preparing.

Luciana continued to read the recipe until the supper was done. With a thank you from Mr. Pickles, Luciana left the kitchen to wash up for supper. Little did Luciana realize what was awaiting her. A whole new world of understanding would be opening up for her.

On a bright and sunny day, Luciana sat by the window in her room. She was once again hugging her doll and thinking about the events of the past few weeks.
She thought about the day Ms. Rhiannon kept her in at recess for a few moments. That�s when Ms. Rhiannon told Luciana that her reading had improved greatly and Luciana�s intelligence went up to above average.
Luciana�s thoughts moved towards Mr. Pickles and helping him read recipes at night. She also remembered the times that she read bedtime stories to Ms. Cupcake and Ms. Snowflake during bed check because they had never had stories read to them.

Luciana then recalled the day she will never forget. That fateful moment in afternoon class when she turned her head and saw the new addition to the pound walk into the classroom. Right there, before her eyes, was Nila, a blue Bruce. It wasn�t lost on Luciana that Nila waddled just like her and looked just liked her, except for color of course. For the first time, Luciana understood that there wasn�t anything wrong with her. She was just as a Bruce was supposed to be�

�Are you ready?� asked a voice.

Luciana�s gaze moved to her doorway, where Nila was standing with her doll.

�Yep, I�m ready,� smiled Luciana, getting up to go with Nila. They were going outside to play dolls with the rest of the girls.

EPILOGUE
Luciana�s favorite subject is reading in neoschool. She enjoys it so much that she reads out of neoschool as well! Plus, she has become involved in learning how to cook. Now that she can read, there is no stopping her from attempting creative foods!
Luciana also discovered that words have the power to hurt and make others feel bad for who and what they are. So she is careful not to use her words to hurt others.

The End

Author�s Note: This is a short story of many I have written from my collection titled �The Neopian Pound Chronicles�.
My story has been published in the Neopian Times! Check out Issue 94!