"Yes, you," she adds, the smile not leaving her face. "But only if you want to, Wesson. I don't want to make you enter this if you don't want to." The human girl bites her lip, fully showing the Kougra the page. Are you looking for fame? The chance to have your story heard by all of Neopia? Apply for the Pet Spotlight today and tell us why you're special!

The Kougra sighs, nodding. A hint of a smile creeps across his furry cheeks and he looks up at his owner with bright eyes and a twitch of his long tail. "You really think I could do it, Shannon?" The girl smiles, kneeling next to him.

"I know you can, Wesson." She taps his nose once, affectionately, and hands him the form. "I can get a little piece written up for you, after all, I'm ahead of all of my Times work now anyways. I should get out of this rut I'm in for my latest piece at some point- but let's face it, I never mind helping you out. But most of this is on you." The girl runs a hand through her messy hair and ties it up before retreating to her desk to prepare the paperwork.

Wesson runs, nearly tumbling over himself as he scampers toward his room. Flinging the door open, he keeps the application gripped tightly in one sandy brown paw. He's trembling still, but it's all from excitement now. The prospect of being- for even just one week- the most known pet in Neopia intrigues him. His brother and sister had taken most of the family glory, after all. They starred in their owner's Neopian Times pieces and as much as he doesn't mind (or at least that's what he tells himself), he knows that most of the interesting stories Shannon wishes to tell are those of the squabbling Lex and Colfer. For once, something could be all about him.

He set himself up at his little table, with his Altachuck Weslie across from him, and stared at the blank paper he laid out. Tell them why you're special. Wesson stumbles across this idea for a moment, tapping his fuzzy lip with the crayon. There's just so much to say, but is it special? His tongue pokes slightly out of his mouth as he begins.

Dear Pet Spotlight People:

My name is LennoxWesson, but everyone calls me Wesson. I am an Island Kougra and I am writing to tell you why I should win the-

Wesson frowns. "No, that's not right," he murmurs, crumpling the paper up and tossing it on the bed. He begins again.

Dear Pet Spotlight People:

Hi! I'm LennoxWesson, but everyone calls me Wesson. Do you have a Pet for this week's spotlight? Well, you do now! I am the youngest of four pets. I like to play Yooyuball and play with my Altachuck, Weslie. She's the best Petpet in the world. Sometimes, she-

He stops. "This would work... for the Petpet spotlight," he sighs, rumpling the paper again in his too-large paws and tossing it aside. Leaving his chin on his hands, he frowns, looking down at the blank paper. The task of telling someone why you're special isn't an easy one. I have siblings who are smarter than me, Wesson thinks, I love my Petpet but I can't just write about Weslie. I don't know what makes me special. The assignment just seems too daunting.

It must have taken hours, the papers piling up in crumpled heaps around him before a soft knock at the door reveals his owner again. "Wesson, what's going on?" she asks, taking a seat next to him. He looks up at her, the picture of disappointment painted on his face.

"I don't think I can enter the Spotlight. I don't think I'm special enough," he admits. She tilts her head to the side slightly. "But Wesson… you are special. So many things about you make you special!" She picks up a crayon and a piece of paper and looks up at him again. "Tell me one thing about you."

Wesson sighs, crawling over to the bed and flopping on top of it. "I'm painted Island," he grumbles. He tugs uselessly at the wreath around his neck as his owner scribbles a little.

"You had to work hard with me to be painted Island, right? We played lots of games and had to save up lots of Neopoints just to get the lab ray. And when we got it, you were the only one who was brave enough to step up in front of it. Neither Lex nor Colfer did it. And you got zapped over and over and over. It took a couple months. And then suddenly… we did it! And you got exactly what you wanted the very first try, right?" Wesson's eyes lit up a bit.

"That's kinda special…" he admits, and the human girl grins.

"See? You're a really special pet, Wesson. Now get to work," she adds, slipping out of the room again. Wesson clambers back over to his seat and, picking up a crayon, finally begins to write the letter.

*

Dear Pet Spotlight People:

My name is LennoxWesson, and I think that I am a pretty special Neopet. But really, all Neopets are special in their own way. Sometimes finding out why we're special is hard. So many people think that being special means something certain, like being painted a pretty colour or being a rare kind of pet. Some people think being special means being really smart or really strong.

I think that being special means all those things. It's the journeys we take on our way to becoming colourful, smart, or strong, or even our journeys to becoming just the way we are that makes us special. I'm an Island Kougra. There's lots of Island Kougras out there. But when I was going to become Island, I worked hard with my owner to save up neopoints and buy that map to the Laboratory. I got zapped over and over and over and nothing happened. It took weeks and weeks. But one day, I got zapped Island. Exactly what I wanted! I think that's pretty special, if you ask me.

Some pets might say that isn't special, it's just lucky or the cheap way out. But I think it's special. I think that's special, I think my sister who's an eventide Lutari is special, and even my brother and sister who are just yellow and red are special too. Because what makes a Pet special is the stories they can tell about their experiences.

I could tell you about the first day I adopted my Petpet, or the time I ran around playing Yooyuball in the hot sun for hours and hours trying to become an official player in the Altador cup (even though I'm a bit too small for that). I could tell you countless stories about growing up with my family and about all the adventures we've had in Neopia. I could tell you all of those stories. And they'd all be pretty special. I think that every little thing that I've done combines to make me special, even if they're just little things.

So my name is Wesson. I have a petpet named Weslie. I like to play Yooyuball. I used to be a lab pet. I'm painted Island. I have three siblings and an owner. I like to go on adventures. I'm afraid of the Snowager. I like going on trips to Mystery Island or Faerieland. I am a bit loud, a bit small, I'm not quite grown into my big paws.

And I am special.

Thanks for your consideration. I hope you think I am special too.

Love,

Wesson

*

Wesson looks at the words on the paper for a bit longer than he expects to. Something about them glow, leap out of the paper, sparkle in front of his eyes. He gathers the letter up and runs back out to the living room to pass it on to his owner. She picks up the letter in one hand and scans through it, finally smiling at the end. She doesn't say anything, she just leans down to give Wesson a hug before he goes off to play.

The paperwork is gathered together and she adds Wesson's letter to it. Taking a final piece of paper, she adds a small cover page in her neat handwriting. One sentence, the first thing anyone will see when taking in the application, before they read the story or Wesson's letter or notice the picture that goes with it. Just seven words that made the whole Spotlight worth it.