Abacra Shenesa, as her adoption certificate said, was at home alone, for the 364th day in a row. Her 'owner' Adam, had been on leave for school. Abby, as she was called by Adam, was plenty old enough to take care of herself. She had enough to eat, she had things to amuse herself. But there was still a burning hunger inside her. It wasn't for blood, or any creepy stuff like that. She truly, truly just wanted love.

She fully understood why Adam had left, and she wasn't mad at him. She was glad that her 'Daddy' as She called him, was getting a proper education. She was just getting awfully lonely, and Adam forgot to get her that petpet he had promised her before he left for school. She forgave him for that too, but there was only so much you could do with an origami pig. She had set the petpet on her bedstand, and she often talked to it as a way to vent her stress about Adam still being gone. She knew that Adam had been gone for 364 days, but she failed to realize her birthday was the next day. A wire in her brain just wasn't working, so she didn't realize the most sacred time to her was the day after. If that wire did come on, she would be faced with unmeasurable sadness, so it was better that the given connection was switched 'off.'

She was a very bright Zafara, both figuratively, and literally. He had used a Glowing Paintbrush on her for her 1st birthday, and the next day would be her 6th. She had learned to take care of herself shortly after her first birthday. 
She had a few things that she was embarrassed of. She had a bit of what you could call an 'obsession' with the mythical item known as the “Baby Paintbrush.” She had been to Farieland recently, and she had caught a glimpse of it. She had heard stories about it from Adam from before her first birthday, but she barely remembered them.

As she was drawing another guessing-self-portrait of her as a baby, there was a sound of footsteps on gravel outside the house. The mailman had come but once, giving her a letter from Adam. He had said this was the only letter he would send, because he gets extremely busy at school, so she should not worry about him if he doesn't write. Since that happened, she was sure that the only reason there would be footsteps outside the house would be Daddy finally coming home. She had a dumb hope in the back of her mind that he had gotten a Baby Paintbrush for her, but she highly doubted that. 

She walked down the hallway to the living room, and peered around the corner as a key jangled in the lock of the front door. She held her breath, not knowing what to expect from how long he had been gone. Had he grown out of having a pet around? Would he not care about her as much as he used to? Those questions raced through her mind, like an atom in a particle accelerator.

The door unlocked, and the handle began to twist.

Abby just stared at the doorknob, wondering. Hoping.

She had matured a lot since he had left. She no longer referred to him as 'Daddy' when talking to Weezer, that origami pig. She called him 'Father.' She no longer wore bows in her hair every day, she just let it all hang out. She began to wear her clothes around the house, instead of just when her and Adam went out.

The door began to open. Abby stepped out from around the corner, and stood, in her khakis and T-shirt, her gaze fixed on the middle of the door. 

As the door became thinner, the image of a human came into view.

A neopet owner.

Her owner.

Adam.