Ramenli sat on her Grandmothers lap. "Why are you giving me a jar for my birthday? Normally at least jars have jam..."
Her Grandmother laughed. "That there is a pixie jar. You capture pixies and place them in a jar and eventually they'll make a pet for you"
Ramen's eyes grew large "Really?! I'll go out to the Garden and catch some now then!"
"Not so fast now" her grandmother cautioned "you have to be careful capturing pixies"
"Why? They're so little, they can't hurt me"
"That's not the reason. The pixies you capture do more than just make a pet, they also put themselves into it. If you pick all mean pixies then you'll have a mean-spirited pet. But if you pick all nice ones then your new pet will be very gentle. Also you need three pixies. If you get at least two male pixies then your pet will be male, and if you get at least two female pixies then you will have a girl pet."
Ramen thought for a moment. "So I have to be careful about what pixies I choose"
"Yes dearie, now go have fun finding the pixies that you want for your pet"
Ramen walked into the Garden, trying to be quiet so she wouldn't terrify the pixies. She sat down carefully and watched as pixies went about their business. All of the sudden a commotion caught her ear
"That flower is purple! It is so obviously purple! IT HAS REDDISH TINTS IN IT!"
"Now now," another voice patiently said "that is most certainly blue. The red is from the flower next to it and your eyes are playing tricks on you"
"Are you calling me a liar! I can see perfectly fine!"
A tiny pixie flew up angrily from a flower, still shouting down at the one that she had been arguing with. Ramen swooped the jar and hurriedly covered the opeing with a cloth before she looked in. An angry looking pixie yelled back at her, her voice muffled by the glass. Ramen shrugged to herself, maybe a bit of anger wouldn't be bad in a pet but she would have to be careful to get a happy one as well.
Ramen carefully kept the sealed and made sure not to jostle the jar too much as she crept around the Garden. Slowly she walked about until, lo and behold she spied a pixie just sitting on a low hanging leaf, sobbing. Ramen craftily snuck up, and faster than you could so "Hotaru!" grapped the distracted pixie. Then with careful patience she put the new pixie into her jar. The pixie quickly saw the other pixie and began sobbing out her life story, which Ramen heard a few snippets of before the cloth covering was completely secured "And then...a berry...eaten by...maybe a crow!" all the time the pixie sobbed and carried on like she had just lost her best friend, family, and several limbs
Ramen soon wanted to scream. Even muffled as the voices were the screaming and shrieking of the first pixie mixed with the sobbing and whining of the second one was about to drive her nuts. On top of that the noise was scaring away other pixies. However she did not merely want to start over from scratch, pixie hunting could be a lenghty process. In desperation she puzzled over her dilemma. An angry pixie would probably have its mood somewhat negated by a happy one, and a bit of anger in anyone was healthy. However she wouldnt be able to stand listening to a pet whine all day and night. So carefully she opened slid her had over the opening of the jar and then removed the cloth. She moved her hand so that the whiny pixie would be closest to the escape hole and then sighed in relief as she managed to get rid of it and keep the first pixie. This present was a lot of work after all!
Ramen sat in the grass. This time she would watch carefully for pixies that would be good for her jar. Something zoomed by her face, followed by another something. She heard a tiny voice yelling with glee as if an after thought to the surprise. Gradually the beings slowed down some, resting on some of the larger blades of grass.
"I told you I was faster!" The first pixie spoke.
"You cheated, besides you were supposed to be gathering food like the rest of us" the second one scolded a bit angrily.
The two continued to bicker back and forth until finally they just seemed to tire of it. The second one laid back to take a nap and the first one began to pull crazy stunts, like flipping of the grass blades and flying up just before hitting the ground. Ramen carefully opened her jar and with a sudden movement so that the very first pixie couldnt escape swooped the jar to catch the two new ones. She hurriedly replaced the cloth and tied it with the ribbon.
She now had three pixies, the angry female, the hyperactive boy, and a rather down to earth (?) male. So she would have a male pet, and the personality should be fairly balance. She smiled to herself and went to go show her grandmother her jar.
