Alia: A Tribute

"Hmmmm. What’s this, I wonder?" The hand murmured to herself aloud. She had just logged on to her computer, and found that there was a new looking icon on the desktop. It read "Creatures" and had a picture of a hatching egg on it. It opened up into an enormous unimaginable fantasy dream-like world complete with decaying technological devices, new and vibrant plant life, birds, bees, oceans, sights, sounds and experiences. She explored in awe the vibrant colours and backgrounds, the toys the machines, and she learned about the different plants and their effects from a health file.

"But who or what could this world be made for? Surely there must be some purpose to it!" And there was! Along the tool bar, she searched, finding that there was a hatchery button. She clicked it and found laid out before her, 6 brightly coloured eggs. She double clicked on a pretty swirly-blue egg and it appeared in a kitchen area.

Because she did not know about the incubator just yet, she let the egg sit, until…

"CrcrcracrakacrakalcrakalCRACK!" The shell broke in two, and out popped the cutest, most adorable little norn the hand had ever seen. Her cheerful little face with it’s cute little snout and giant smile! Her beautiful nut brown fur and her bobbing shoulder-length blonde hair! But most of all, the oh-so-tickle-and-pokable pot belly! She was perfection in one small, crawling being. Her first words:

"Eem foo! Eem foo that!" The hand promptly named her Alia. That was one year, four months, 110 cobs, 150 norns and 20 minor crashes ago. Yes, I am addicted, and I still love the game after a year, four months more than 110 cobs, more than 150 norns and 20 minor or major crashes. Out of more than 150 norns, Alia looked no different than your average horse norn. She had no special colouring, no highlander gene, no 20 brain lobes, or anything. She was the first, the best and the only to me. After she was half an hour old, I hatched her a friend, a mate, and the second norn, Akir. He was a little bald norn, pure and true, but a bit stubborn and not quite as friendly as Alia. None the less, they became steady friends, and when they were both old enough, they mated and produced my first natural norn, a little bald girl named Brie. It seemed that Akir’s bald genes were way more dominant during the early stages, because 9 out of 13 of their children were bald. This was a disappointment to me, for I had truly hoped that Alia’s beautiful hair would be passed on through her children. In a few months, they had many more children: Bainbridge, Basil, Bubbles, Barnaby, Bobble, Beth, Buttons, Blue-Belle, and Babble, as well as many more, whom I just cannot remember. The last two norns were born to Alia and Akir in their later years, when they were both about 8 hours old. I should have stopped just before them, and just let the old couple rest, but no, I had to have as many norns as I could. When Babble was born, Blue-Belle was about to turn into an adult. I eagerly waited for the time when I could mate her with an assigned male, Brian. 1 hour 20 minutes came, went, and 2 hours later, she was still was not an adult. Neither was her brother Babble. Suddenly, about 10 minutes apart, they died while walking. This was not normal. After that, I put Alia and Akir into permanent retirement, but they some how managed to find each other when they were both imported, and they had 3 more children. They turned out quite healthy, so I allowed the old couple to come back of retirement. My greed for more norns was the end of Alia. While importing her to mate with the waiting Akir, she died of SIDS. Akir moped forever after, even when I got him two new mates, Amber, and Alcine. He went on to have more children with them, but he was never the same again. We both miss poor Alia, but last December, a virus got my computer and now I’m the only one who remembers poor Alia, because my whole world was wiped out. To Alia, one of the most intelligent, cute, friendly norns to grace one of my worlds, may she rest in peace.