(I have to admit that I don't actually remember exactly when I wrote this story. Unfortunately when I got a new PC in 2020 and transferred all my files over, for some reason, all of my Word documents obtained the date they were brought to the new PC as their "Created On" date, so I have no reliable way to definitively date any pre-2020 stuff besides my memory, blog posts, and in the case of stuff that got into the Neopian Times, the year in which it was published in the NT. But I'm reasonably certain I wrote this shortly after Return to Lynwood in 2017, so I'm going with that unless I find evidence to the contrary.)
As I worked on Return to Lynwood, I had so much fun writing the Browning family that I really wanted to do more with them. Millie was a grey Ogrin out of sheer happenstance - I'd randomly selected the species and colour of all the family members as neither trait would be important to the plot - but I found I wanted to explore more of what being grey (and mature for one's age) might mean for a tween dealing with increasing social complexity among her peers.
In canon, grey Neopets are generally depicted as rather depressed and morose, but I wanted to try a different take on grey-ness--Millie's personality suggests that grey Neopets are just quieter, more thoughtful, and less emotive than the norm. Her levelheaded demeanor helps to balance out her rambunctious younger brothers, at any rate.
Also, I was a lot like Millie when I was her age; I was quiet, bookish, reserved, and on a totally different wavelength than the other preteen girls around me who always seemed to be screaming about something. I wanted to write a story validating quiet, brainy kids, and help them see that the things the other kids currently don't understand about them are actually strengths that they'll be respected for someday. (Just don't expect to be respected for anything until college. Adolescence is an absolutely insane time for everybody. Just grit your teeth and get through it.)
To be honest, this got rejected from the Neopian Times and I never bothered to re-submit it; I suspect it got rejected because the general plotline isn't all that unique (main character feels like an oddball in her peer group and then wins acceptance). But I'm still fond of the story, I think it has important things to say, and I just really enjoy writing the Brownings as a cute little Edwardian family living somewhat normal lives in the midst of ghosts and curses.
(Also, Eldritch the Gremble shows up in future stories, so I thought it important to include his debut in the corpus. Grembles are kind of a running joke in my Neopets work for some reason.)
Millicent Browning was not going to boarding school.
“Absolutely not,” Mother had assured her the first morning of summer holiday, after Millie had been promoted from primary school, as the family sat at breakfast. “They’re horrid places full of cliques and gossip and mean-spirited pranks. I wouldn’t wish one on any of my children, even if we could afford it.” Mother was a beautiful red Kougra lady who seemed to have a natural grace about her. She also wore a necklace of fangs given to her by the Werelupes, for helping them on an adventure. Truly she was not a woman to be trifled with.
