The Chasm

Chapter 3

Sorry for the wait!

"Lily, there's an envelope here for you. From AJHQ," Julie called, bringing a stack of mail from Lily's mailbox.

"Intriguing," Lily said dryly. "It's not like I get a message every day after a strike," she retorted, grinning and holding out her hand nonetheless.

Julie laughed. "I have to go now, but see you later?" She waved goodbye and left Lily's small den. Lily nodded absentmindedly and opened the envelope with a roll of her eyes.

"What the..." Lily's eyes grew wide as she read the message. She reached out her hand and grabbed the back of the couch, easing into a sitting position on it. "Oh. My. Mira."

"Hello!

"As stated earlier, you will be facing consequences for rioting after we told you not to. However, we see this may make you want to riot more, so we will not be giving you negative consequences. Instead, go to the nearest library and redeem this code in a computer to receive a free 12-month membership!

~AJHQ"

Lily took short, disbelieving breaths, her mind racing. This has to be a trick. There is no way they would just hand out membership for a year! Despite her cynical thoughts, Lily grabbed a backpack, stuffed the envelope into it as well as her wallet, and began walking to the bus stop, hoping to catch one headed to the library in Coral Canyons.

Just as she reached the bus stop, a bus came barreling in. "All aboard for Coral Canyons," the driver said, sounding bored. Lily smiled, hardly believing her luck that day. I wonder if this... isn't a trick? Maybe I really will be a member soon, and Julie, Rose, and I can— Wait. They won't be members! How can I tell them that I'm a member if they aren't?" Lily was broken off from her thoughts by the bus screeching to a halt.

She shook her head, grabbed the bag, and departed the bus, walking the familiar path to the library. The only ones there were nonmembers, as members could easily buy a laptop and use it at their own dens.

With shaking fingers, Lily opened the lid of a computer and clicked the button that read, "Redeem Code." Lily carefully typed in each digit and letters, and finally...

CODE ACCEPTED. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR PROMO GIFTS.

Lily widened her eyes, barely holding back a whoop. She clicked the yellow present box with a wide grin. An image of a lucky skunk, for the month of March, flashed to the screen. GO TO THE FRONT DESK TO RECEIVE YOUR SWITCH PENDANT. Ecstasy was an understatement. Lily was beyond thrilled at this, so thrilled she could hardly contain herself. She stood up shakily and moved to the front desk. "Hello," she said. The panda there, a librarian, looked at her in recognition.

"Oh wow, you're Lily! I am a huge fan of your protests. I've attended as many as I could!" Lily grinned and nodded.

"It's great to meet you. It's really inspiring to know that there are people out there who care." And that is why I will never stop. Never. "But, anyway, I seem to have gotten a... membership. I'm supposed to get my switch pendant here?" The panda blinked twice then nodded quickly.

"Your code please?" she asked formally. Lily recited it uneasily, surprised by the sudden change in her voice. The panda listened and then presented Lily with her switch pendant. Lily gasped in awe. She had seen them before, but none were quite so beautiful as this one was to her.

It was a blue brooch, with an intricate peacock feather design on each petal of the flower. The base of the petals were teal, and the peacock designs were royal blue, royal purple, and mint green. Lily held her breath as she pinned it on. "Thank you. Thank you so much!"

The next few days were overwhelming. Lily arrived at home only to see tons of boxes at her shabby porch. She opened one to see a Lucky Castle, and there were many skunk furniture sets in the others. One box even contained a pet skunk!

On the third day, Lily sighed in contentment. She deleted her skunk animal, but was now relaxing in her Arctic Wolf Body in her Liza's Garden den with all her member accessories. Suddenly, Lily heard a familiar Ding!

One of her buddies was on. And it was Julie.