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5:38 AM.
Gulls.
Crashing waves in the distance.
Palm trees swishing in the breeze outside my window while I stared at a random ceiling in yet another random seaside hotel room.
Boredom can look an awful lot like paradise.
The life of a semi-famous detective can lead you away from home to help other islands augment and “upskill” their staff. I’m on just such an island, wrapping up yet another training program… my life now full of giving presentations, fielding questions, and drinking coffee.
I really hate PowerPoint.
At least my life has calmed down. Foxton is cleaned up. The villagers are all healthy, happy, and safe. Even Tom Nook has walked the straight and narrow, lifting Foxton up onto a million different blogs spouting rubbish like “10 Best Islands to Visit 2024. #4, Foxton.”
“You must visit Foxton’s pristine beaches and beautiful tulip fields…!”
Boredom can also look a lot like hell.
Rubbing the last bit of sleep from my face, I placed both feet on the floor next to the hotel bed. Ready to face another day.
A day that just happened to be my birthday. Like I cared. Or anyone else cared, for that matter.
“Ding!”
Grabbing my phone from the bedside table and lifting the screen to my still sleepy eyes, the words on the screen brightened my day. Finally, something to sink my teeth into.
It was Tom Nook. I was going home.
Time to call the DAL ticket service line.
1:21 PM.
Age.
It’s literally just a number.
Who decided, ages ago, that just because the earth traveled one full revolution around the sun, we were magically another full digit older?
“Congratulations! You can now go to school. Get a job. Drive. Vote. Drink. Become mayor. Senator. President. Retire. Draw down your pension. Social security.”
What was so different about me 24 hours ago? Do the cells dividing in my body know this?
I pondered this while the seaplane landed down gently on the waves next to the beaches of Foxton.
My home.
I grabbed my bag from the overhead and walked through the gates of the airport, the familiar sounds and smells of Foxton giving me a slight spiritual boost. Stepping outside into the sun, I saw Blathers waving urgently from the boardwalk.
“Jack, welcome back! I’m so glad to see you! And I believe also Happy Bir-”
I cut him off. “Good to see you too, Blathers. Tom texted me early this morning. Sorry to cut to the chase here, but what’s the issue with the Vermeer?”
He vigorously shook his head so hard I was afraid he was going to lose some feathers. “Deary me, the Wistful Painting is gone! I noticed it this morning while I walked towards Brewster’s to grab my morning café latte. It was definitely there last night, so it had to have been taken sometime between 10pm and 5:30am!”
Having a precise timeline was a good start. “Any chance of a reasonable explanation? Restoration, maintenance?”
Blathers shook his head again. “Absolutely not. I control the schedule for those kinds of things, and it’s in perfect shape! It’s just gone… someone took it!”
Looking at the state of him, I was afraid there were going to be tears. I did the only thing I could think of.
I patted his back.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this, Blathers. Let me drop my bag off at home and then stop by island services to talk to Tom and Isabelle, find out any details of on any recent events on the island. Then I’ll stop by the museum sometime a bit later for some additional questions if that’s okay?”
He nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes! I’ll be waiting for you. I’ll be there all day!”
Nodding my head, I turned towards the middle of the island. Started walking. Thinking. An obvious theft like this is asking for attention. And a fast escape.
There was no chance of this going unnoticed for very long. The thief had to know this. Which means the thief had to have a way off quickly.
Could a visitor have taken it? Just in time to catch a flight or boat back home…?
3:34 PM.
Standing in line.
A snail’s pace.
It was like Tom and Isabelle were purposely taking their time.
Every villager picked today to be in island services, picking up packages, making loan payments. I was in the back. Considering the topic of my own query, I was reluctant to skip the line and cause a stir. So I waited. And waited. Until I was finally the only one left.
Tom brightened when he looked up. “Jack, you made it home! I wish it was under better circumstances, but it’s still so good to have you here for your birth-“
I cut off the nonsense. “I’ve started checking into the issue you texted me about, Tom. Caught Blathers outside the airport about the missing Vermeer. Do you have a list of all the visitors on the island?”
He shook his head sadly. “That’s the thing Jack, with the season winding down we’ve shut the hotel for maintenance. We have so many vacationers now that we need a good couple of weeks to get set up for the holiday crowds. Even the boat service is shut down for the rest of the month.”
The implication struck me immediately. “Wait, we have no visitors at all right now?”
He looked me in the eye sadly. “No, no one.”
My heart sank.
This was bad news. The thief was someone on the island.
Likely someone I knew very well.
4:57 PM.
Someone I knew.
There had to be another explanation.
After a very late lunch and a walk to think about possibilities, I stopped by the museum to talk to Blathers. I caught him in the foyer, looking agitated and nervous. He looked up when he saw me.
“Jack! Any news?”
I shook my head. “Nothing yet. I stopped by island services to talk to Tom. Didn’t realize we are shut down to visitors right now. Can you think of anything unusual over the last week or so? Anyone lingering by where the painting was? Any villagers?”
Blathers shook his head. “No, nothing. It’s been completely normal here, except for the quietness due to the end of the vacation season. Well, wait. There is something…”
Blathers suddenly looked terrified. Something about his eyes. “Except what?”
I heard the door to the museum open.
A voice spoke behind me.
“Except I took it.”
I spun around in time to see Tom Nook dashing back through the museum's front door.
5:01 PM.
It made absolutely no sense. Why was he running? Why would he take it? He was the one that texted me in the first place!
And he was fast.
But I’m still faster. Seeing him head for the island square, his options were about to be limited.
He had nowhere to run now.
I was gaining on him when he rounded the front corner of the island services building. I surged after him with another burst of speed. “Stop, Tom! You have nowhere to ruuuuuuuun?……”
The words died on my lips as I screeched to a halt in the middle of the island square. The scene in front of me was flabbergasting. Tables set up with treats, cookies, cake. Chips. Drinks. Balloons.
A “Happy Birthday” banner in obnoxious colors.
And all of the villagers looking my direction with genuine happiness to see me, drinks and paper plates in hand.
And in the middle was a slightly out of breath Tom Nook. And Blathers right next to him. Tom just gave me a genuine smile and said “Happy Birthday, Jack. Apologies for the subterfuge to get you back here, and getting you to run after me. It was the only way I could figure out how to get you here on time. You always need a mystery to solve, Jack. Luckily, the only mystery here is the flavor of the cake Audie made for you.”
Blathers just laughed heartily. “I haven’t had to fly that fast to beat you here in a loooooooong time. You’ll be happy to know that I took down the Wistful Painting before you got back to the island, and it will be put right back up before I go to bed. Which reminds me, flying so fast and staying awake all day is making me sleepy…”
One by one, all of the villagers wished me happy birthday. Shook my hand. Hugged me. Tom hugged me last. “Thank you for all that you do for the island, Jack, and all the other islands on this great big ocean.”
As it dawned on me that maybe Foxton really is a great island worthy of those blog lists, the words of Louis Armstrong’s most famous song came to me. What a wonderful world.
But the world is not wonderful… not even close. It can be ugly.
Mean.
Stomp you when you’re down.
But there can also be empathy.
Kindness.
It can give you friends that lend you a hand to get right back up again. Friends that will give you a surprise birthday party, knowing that a measure of trickery would be needed just to get you to show up.
A wonderful world? No.
But it can be… okay. Especially at a surprise birthday party.
If you open your heart.
Marty's Milestone Birthday Bash
Once upon a time, there was a villager named Graham. Many villagers who lived on the same island as Graham, were planning a birthday party for resident Marty. Merengue was baking the birthday cake, Tex had agreed to provide music, and Jambette and Rory were decorating Resident Services. And holding it all together, Gayle, in charge of planning Marty's birthday and keeping everybody on track.
When Graham saw that everybody was chipping in, he wanted to help out too. He went to Merengue's house, where she was in the kitchen assembling a glorious three-tiered cake. Graham insisted he would be able to help, but he couldn't even reach the counter. He climbed on a stool, hovering next to the counter, where he was going to help decorate with sprinkles. As he reached his tiny hamster arms across the counter, he slipped from the stool, trying to grab something to hold onto. He grabbed the cake, which swiftly fell with him (he was fine). The cake was ruined, but as Graham tasted on his way down, delicious. "Out!" Merengue huffed, and Graham scrambled out of Merengue's house, leaving her to start again. Poor Graham.
Graham decided it was best to go to Gayle and see what he could do to help. After explaining the situation, Gayle sent him to help Jambette and Rory with the decorations. He found them both hanging bunting outside Resident Services. Once his tiny legs managed to climb to the top of the ladder, it took one minor breeze, to sweep him right off the ladder, and pull all of Jambette and Rory's hard work down with him (he was fine). He didn't need to wait for Rory's roar, he scurried away to find Gayle. Poor Graham.
Gayle listened thoughtfully, and sent Graham to find Tex. All Tex needed was a microphone and his voice, surely Graham could help with that. Tex ordered Graham to do a sound check. "Sing into the microphone like I would", Tex ordered. And with his squeaky little voice, Graham sung into the microphone. "Aaaah, my ears!" Tex cried. The volume was set far too high, and the high pitched squeak was just too much. Graham was sent away (he was fine). Poor Graham.
Graham decided to go home, he was clearly a nuisance, but Gayle was determined that Graham could do something to help. "Graham," Gayle said, "I haven't been able to reach Marty's very best friend Marina. It won't be a proper birthday party without her. I need you to go with Kapp'n to look for her."
"How will I know where to find her?" Graham asked.
"I'm not sure, but here's a bucket of paint. I bet that will help." Gayle replied. Was she confused?
Graham wandered off to Kapp'n's boat with his paint tin, and explained that he was there to help. Kapp'n had already planned to go himself, but they set off into the pink sea together anyway. They couldn't find Marina anywhere. Graham got bored. "I wonder what colour this paint is." he pondered. "I'm going to open it."
"I don't think that's the best idea." Kapp'n answered, but it was too late. With one swift motion, Graham had opened the paint (it was yellow), the boat hit a wave, and the paint leapt overboard.
With a great splash, someone popped their head out of the water. "What did you do?!" Marina gasped, horrified by the colour of the water.
"Oh, I was looking for you!" Graham exclaimed.
Marina was very displeased that Graham was dumping toxic chemical waste into the ocean, but she listened thoughtfully, cleaned up the paint, and then followed Kapp'n's boat back to the island to help celebrate Marty's birthday.
The party went off without another hitch, and everyone had a blast. The island residents all laughed about the happenings of the day, and there were no hard feelings toward Graham (mostly).
Since this is a writing contest, it will take more time to judge. Please only vote if you have read all eight entries. Thank you!
Halcyon's Anniversary
“What’s next on the list, Cranston?” I finished adjusting the balloons for Halcyon’s celebration, taking a step back to admire my arrangement of color.
The white ostrich flipped through the clipboard until he found his place, then reached for the pencil tucked into his head crest. It slipped out from his feathers and bounced away, as if to escape its fate of being whittled down to oblivion. Alas, Cranston gave chase, and after scrambling to retrieve it, he jogged back to my side.
“Goodness, burd. I must be on my ninth workout today,” the struggling bird coughed, and I patted him on the shoulder encouragingly. Originally Sterling had offered to be my assistant (read: glorified errand boy), but in the earlier stages of planning, he’d kept getting distracted talking about his muscles with anyone who would listen. Slow and eventually getting there had proven to be superior to speedy and scatterbrained.
“Trust me, after all of this hard work, the party and the nap afterwards are going to be the best you’ve ever had.” I looked back at the balloons, my smile sinking into a frown – the yellow one had moved out of position!
Unacceptable! This is why you’re the worst color of the rainbow, I chided the inanimate object in my thoughts, while Cranston recited what we’d already completed for the final preparations.
My phone suddenly rang, interrupting my creative flow. As I put the device to my ear, the defiant balloon wiggled back out of place and danced in the breeze, taunting me.
“Hello? Yes?” I tried to stifle my annoyance, channeling my aggression into shoving the balloon back where it belonged.
“Uh, hi, sorry to disturb you, ma’am, but we’ve got a problem-“ Orville, one of the airline dodos, started to speak.
“I thought I said to field these kinds of questions to my assistant,” I sighed.
The helium hell-creature bared its fangs by freeing another one of its brethren, making two difficult beasts to contend with my artistry. I mouth the word, ‘tape’ to Cranston, causing his eyes to dart around frantically and scuttle off towards the prepping station. Meanwhile, I contended with the creature by whipping out my net and booping it in punishment.
“But ma’am…”
“I am an ~ a r t i s t ~, Orville. I’m doing important work-“
“There’s no less than 306 alien babies with some kind of moss in Customs,” he finally spat out, the stress audible in his voice.
My mind wiped blank, “Wait, we have one of those here?”
“Of course, we’re not some barbaric society!” Orville barked, then hastened to return to his professionalism, “Their… parent? Er, owner? No, collector… wrangler?” He paused for a moment, unsure of how to proceed, before giving up entirely, “He can provide neither birth certificates nor passports for the… glowing green individuals.”
“Um, well,” my brow furrowed as my mind began to tackle this unique roadblock, “I can’t see any reason why they shouldn’t just be turned away…”
“Yes, about that… you see, they’re in the same party as one of the invited guests.”
Oh no. Not this again.
“Dammit, Gulliver. Can you put him on the phone real quick? Actually, no, that’s a bad idea – can you ask if he can just shove them back into the UFO he came in? I mean, he didn’t even write in a plus-one, let alone a plus-three-hundred-something.”
"Well, he managed to lose... control... over them. They're everywhere, ma'am. We've barred the exits, but we can't contain them forever. ... Hold on."
Orville muttered something and muted the line right as Cranston approached, waving the tape dispenser triumphantly.
“Thanks so much, friend. We’ve got a problem at the airport… Gulliver’s “terrarium project” escaped.”
Cranston gasped, "He still has those?"
Noises emerged from the phone, “The gull gentleman is crying… I think you’re going to need to come down for this one. Apologies again for the disturbance! Please help as soon as you can!”
“Roger that,” I responded flatly, shoving the phone back into my pocket.
“What are we going to do, there’s still so much to be done…” I started tapping the net absent-mindedly as I headed to the airport, my companion trailing beside me, scrolling through his phone. For a moment, I thought I might have been ignored, but Cranston’s intense gaze beckoned my patience, so I continued forward, using the net as a walking stick.
When we approached the airport, Cranston finally looked up. Exchanging a pained look, neither one of us wanted to breach the building. Who knew what sort of chaos we'd be stepping into?
That’s when a stroke of brilliance hit me like a bolt from the blue.
“You know what, why not make it a party activity?” I grinned wickedly, my imagination running wild with ideas.
“What do you mean, burd?” Cranston shot me a quizzical glance before peering through one of the windows to assess the threat before us.
“I mean… as the guests are coming in, hand them a net! There’s no way we’ll be able to capture them all in time, and there’s absolutely no way we’ll be able to hide it, so may as well integrate it into the schedule!"
“Like it was all according to plan. Neat! A bit terrifying, but an unforgettable experience.”
“Exactly! People will be talking about this for years. If they don’t get maimed or injured. Or I guess that would make them talk more… anyways! Assistant Cranston! We must assemble or acquire as many nets as we can, there’s not a moment to lose!” Grabbing his wing, I take off in the opposite direction, abandoning the poor birds inside for the time being.
---
Somehow, despite all odds, it worked. The nets were delivered safely without stepping on any invasive green children, and as the guests flew in, they competed to see who could collect the most: the prize being the first and most delicious slice of anniversary cake. Screams and weeping were replaced with laughter and joy, and Halcyon’s party was saved!
Outside, I surveyed the party-goers, watching them regale tales of their feats and catch up with old friends. Cranston stood besides me, doing a happy little dance with himself.
“You did a fantastic job today, you know." I smiled.
“So did you, burd. Oh, I forgot to tell you!” he abruptly exclaimed, “I managed to help Gulliver out! I found someone while researching on my phone. Oblivia: alien baby conservationist. She’s willing to take them off his hands! … Actually, he kind of has to, since it’s all sorts of illegal for Gulliver to keep them like that…”
I nodded my head, baffled as to why anyone would conserve such creatures, but content they would be dealt with all the same, “Well, uh, I guess that makes it a good ending for everybody, then!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my adversary, the rogue balloon I had completely forgotten to tape down! It had slipped out of its prison, and was now headed up, up, up, towards the clouds…
… and then was promptly shot down by one of the attendees, looking for loot.
A happy ending indeed.
“What’s next on the list, Cranston?” I finished adjusting the balloons for Halcyon’s celebration, taking a step back to admire my arrangement of color.
The white ostrich flipped through the clipboard until he found his place, then reached for the pencil tucked into his head crest. It slipped out from his feathers and bounced away, as if to escape its fate of being whittled down to oblivion. Alas, Cranston gave chase, and after scrambling to retrieve it, he jogged back to my side.
“Goodness, burd. I must be on my ninth workout today,” the struggling bird coughed, and I patted him on the shoulder encouragingly. Originally Sterling had offered to be my assistant (read: glorified errand boy), but in the earlier stages of planning, he’d kept getting distracted talking about his muscles with anyone who would listen. Slow and eventually getting there had proven to be superior to speedy and scatterbrained.
“Trust me, after all of this hard work, the party and the nap afterwards are going to be the best you’ve ever had.” I looked back at the balloons, my smile sinking into a frown – the yellow one had moved out of position!
Unacceptable! This is why you’re the worst color of the rainbow, I chided the inanimate object in my thoughts, while Cranston recited what we’d already completed for the final preparations.
My phone suddenly rang, interrupting my creative flow. As I put the device to my ear, the defiant balloon wiggled back out of place and danced in the breeze, taunting me.
“Hello? Yes?” I tried to stifle my annoyance, channeling my aggression into shoving the balloon back where it belonged.
“Uh, hi, sorry to disturb you, ma’am, but we’ve got a problem-“ Orville, one of the airline dodos, started to speak.
“I thought I said to field these kinds of questions to my assistant,” I sighed.
The helium hell-creature bared its fangs by freeing another one of its brethren, making two difficult beasts to contend with my artistry. I mouth the word, ‘tape’ to Cranston, causing his eyes to dart around frantically and scuttle off towards the prepping station. Meanwhile, I contended with the creature by whipping out my net and booping it in punishment.
“But ma’am…”
“I am an ~ a r t i s t ~, Orville. I’m doing important work-“
“There’s no less than 306 alien babies with some kind of moss in Customs,” he finally spat out, the stress audible in his voice.
My mind wiped blank, “Wait, we have one of those here?”
“Of course, we’re not some barbaric society!” Orville barked, then hastened to return to his professionalism, “Their… parent? Er, owner? No, collector… wrangler?” He paused for a moment, unsure of how to proceed, before giving up entirely, “He can provide neither birth certificates nor passports for the… glowing green individuals.”
“Um, well,” my brow furrowed as my mind began to tackle this unique roadblock, “I can’t see any reason why they shouldn’t just be turned away…”
“Yes, about that… you see, they’re in the same party as one of the invited guests.”
Oh no. Not this again.
“Dammit, Gulliver. Can you put him on the phone real quick? Actually, no, that’s a bad idea – can you ask if he can just shove them back into the UFO he came in? I mean, he didn’t even write in a plus-one, let alone a plus-three-hundred-something.”
"Well, he managed to lose... control... over them. They're everywhere, ma'am. We've barred the exits, but we can't contain them forever. ... Hold on."
Orville muttered something and muted the line right as Cranston approached, waving the tape dispenser triumphantly.
“Thanks so much, friend. We’ve got a problem at the airport… Gulliver’s “terrarium project” escaped.”
Cranston gasped, "He still has those?"
Noises emerged from the phone, “The gull gentleman is crying… I think you’re going to need to come down for this one. Apologies again for the disturbance! Please help as soon as you can!”
“Roger that,” I responded flatly, shoving the phone back into my pocket.
“What are we going to do, there’s still so much to be done…” I started tapping the net absent-mindedly as I headed to the airport, my companion trailing beside me, scrolling through his phone. For a moment, I thought I might have been ignored, but Cranston’s intense gaze beckoned my patience, so I continued forward, using the net as a walking stick.
When we approached the airport, Cranston finally looked up. Exchanging a pained look, neither one of us wanted to breach the building. Who knew what sort of chaos we'd be stepping into?
That’s when a stroke of brilliance hit me like a bolt from the blue.
“You know what, why not make it a party activity?” I grinned wickedly, my imagination running wild with ideas.
“What do you mean, burd?” Cranston shot me a quizzical glance before peering through one of the windows to assess the threat before us.
“I mean… as the guests are coming in, hand them a net! There’s no way we’ll be able to capture them all in time, and there’s absolutely no way we’ll be able to hide it, so may as well integrate it into the schedule!"
“Like it was all according to plan. Neat! A bit terrifying, but an unforgettable experience.”
“Exactly! People will be talking about this for years. If they don’t get maimed or injured. Or I guess that would make them talk more… anyways! Assistant Cranston! We must assemble or acquire as many nets as we can, there’s not a moment to lose!” Grabbing his wing, I take off in the opposite direction, abandoning the poor birds inside for the time being.
---
Somehow, despite all odds, it worked. The nets were delivered safely without stepping on any invasive green children, and as the guests flew in, they competed to see who could collect the most: the prize being the first and most delicious slice of anniversary cake. Screams and weeping were replaced with laughter and joy, and Halcyon’s party was saved!
Outside, I surveyed the party-goers, watching them regale tales of their feats and catch up with old friends. Cranston stood besides me, doing a happy little dance with himself.
“You did a fantastic job today, you know." I smiled.
“So did you, burd. Oh, I forgot to tell you!” he abruptly exclaimed, “I managed to help Gulliver out! I found someone while researching on my phone. Oblivia: alien baby conservationist. She’s willing to take them off his hands! … Actually, he kind of has to, since it’s all sorts of illegal for Gulliver to keep them like that…”
I nodded my head, baffled as to why anyone would conserve such creatures, but content they would be dealt with all the same, “Well, uh, I guess that makes it a good ending for everybody, then!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my adversary, the rogue balloon I had completely forgotten to tape down! It had slipped out of its prison, and was now headed up, up, up, towards the clouds…
… and then was promptly shot down by one of the attendees, looking for loot.
A happy ending indeed.
Chair Today, Gone Tomorrow
One upon a time, there lived a human named Rio. Rio lived on a barren -but not deserted- island named Alinguia, along with her friendly animal neighbours. All of the islanders were filled with excitement, as a very special occasion was upcoming- a giant party to celebrate the 1031st anniversary of Alinguia's founding!
Everyone was determined to make this the best party ever, despite Alinguia's lack of resources and infrastructure. Ever since... the incident... the place had been a wasteland, but the citizens of this once prosperous island were not disheartened, as they still maintained their most important resource: camaraderie. And with the power of friendship and hard work, this celebration was sure to be a blast! Tom Nook, self-proclaimed fearless leader of the community, summoned all the islanders for a meeting at Resident Services to discuss party plans. Each islander volunteered to help with a different task, with Rio's being to run a game of musical chairs.
'This will be easy,' Rio smiled to herself, 'There's already a boombox at the Plaza we can use. And Nook's Cranny has a bunch of folding chairs in stock... an absurd amount considering how limited the rest of their inventory is. If they let me borrow their rolling cart, moving them will be a breeze!'
---
Days, then weeks passed by, the party drawing ever closer. Rio had made no progress on arranging the musical chairs event, which concerned party supervisor Isabelle.
"Miss Rio..." Isabelle started sheepishly, "I don't want to pressure you, but the party is only a week away. I'm a bit worried you won't be able to secure all the items in time if you don't start talking with the Nooklings soon."
"Pffft." scoffed Rio dismissively, "I have plenty of time. Besides, the Nooklings are drowning in those chairs, it won't be an issue."
"If you insist..." Isabelle relented, doubt clear in her voice.
---
The evening before the party, Rio headed to Nook's Cranny to purchase the chairs.
"Seven of your finest folding chairs, please!" Rio requested cheerfully.
The Nooklings stared at her, frowns forming across their faces.
"...Our deepest apologies apologies, that item is out of stock," said Timmy. "We can place an order with our supplier and get you the items within 3-5 business days days."
"OUT OF STOCK?! You had like 50 of them last week!" Rio was in disbelief.
"Ah yes... We've had a folding chair surplus for many months, so we sold our inventory to offshore sister locations locations. We shipped them out 3 days ago ago," Timmy informed Rio.
"But as Timmy said," added Tommy, "We can place an order with our supplier, and within 3-5 business days-"
Rio interrupted, "I can't wait that long! I need those chairs for the party tomorrow!" She started pacing around the shop in anxiety. "What am I going to do? I'm going to let Isabelle down. I'm going to let all my friends down..."
Timmy piped up, "Well... We do have other types of chairs currently in stock stock. Only one of each type, but we can get you seven nonetheless."
The distraught human turned to the Nooklings, "I'll take anything, thank you!" She wiped away the tears that had fallen down her face. "I'll pay now and pick them up tomorrow morning. Oh! And can I please borrow your rolling cart?"
Timmy and Tommy looked at each other. "About that..."
---
Bright and early the next morning, Rio began the process of moving the chairs over to the party site. Only she had no rolling cart to help, as the Nooklings had informed her theirs was broken. To add to the problem, these chairs were much less portable than folding chairs, and she could only carry one at a time. And even worse, some of them were extremely huge and heavy- including a full-on recliner and a throne of all things!
But Rio was determined. Musical Chairs WAS going to happen.
She dragged, one by one, using all her might, each chair two acres to the party site. 'Thank goodness we chose this spot' she thought, remembering the original plan was to have it five acres farther away. After many hours, and only 25 minutes left to spare before the party started, she finally finished. She wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed in relief.
"Phew, you stink!" Dom teased Rio as he wrangled a bouquet of balloons. "You're totally drenched! New workout routine?"
"Something like that..." Rio murmured. 'I should probably shower and get changed. Will have to be quick though.'
Rio raced back home, as fast as her exhausted limbs would take her.
---
The party was going as planned, and everyone was having an amazing time. Rio was enjoying herself too- sure, she felt like she had fallen off a cliff, and sure, she had missed the opening ceremony because of her detour back home... but she was eating good food while listening to good tunes with good friends.
Eventually, the time had come for musical chairs. Rio grabbed a microphone and explained the rules of the game to the participants. Bob, Annalisa, Knox, Beardo, Eugene, Judy, Dom, and Julian all gathered around the circle of chairs, waiting. Rio hit play on the boombox and K.K. Rider began to blast. The animals walked round in circles, grooving to the beat, until the music suddenly stopped. They made a mad dash for the chairs, but something unexpected happened: some of the contestants were fighting over the same chairs, even though there were empty ones available!
"Uhhh... guys?" Rio spoke into the mic, perplexed at what she was seeing, "There's empty chairs..."
The contestants ignored her.
"Julian? Beardo? Judy? There's a simple chair right beside you. One of you could..."
"SIMPLE chair?!" Julian repeated the phrase with disgust. He had both Judy and Beardo in headlocks, as all three tried to inch their way onto the elegant chair behind them. "How could you possibly expect a style icon like me to DEGRADE himself by sitting on something so- so- BASIC!" he whined.
Beardo chimed in, "This elegant chair is meant for me! It's like my soulmate, but a chair!"
"I'm not sitting on any other chair," sneered Judy, "This is the only chair with upholstery high quality enough that I won't break out in hives!"
Rio sighed and turned her attention to the other fight. "Eugene, Knox? You don't have to fight for the throne, there's two empty- "
Before she could finish, Knox pushed Eugene to the ground.
"UGH!" Eugene grunted, "What's your problem, man?! Just let me have it!"
Knox was standing in front of the throne, refusing to take a seat, instead guarding it. "Only the King shall be permitted to sit upon this throne," bellowed Knox, "I will ensure so with my life."
Eugene got back on his feet and dusted off his leather jacket. "Yeah, well, that bozo hasn't shown his face in months, and my fanclub calls me 'The King' so I should have first dibs!"
"Over my dead body," snarled Knox, pushing Eugene to the ground yet again.
Dom, who was sat comfortably in the recliner, started chanting, "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
"Dom, please," scolded Annalisa, "We need to help resolve this, not egg them on!" She was fidgeting nervously in her log chair.
"Did someone say eggs?" asked Bob, curled up in his peach chair, "I'm hungry. I know we just ate, but we can go for fourths, right? I thought this chair would be a yummy snack, but it tastes funny..."
Rio had had enough. "ALRIGHT PEOPLE, GAME'S OVER! Let's move on to Sandy's Three-legged Race!"
But the fighting persisted, getting worse and worse.
'What do I do? What do I do?' panicked Rio, 'I wish I had just gotten those stupid folding chairs when I had the chance.' Then it hit her. 'Aha!'
She ran over to Resident Services. There was a ladder leaning against the building, still there from when decorations were being hung earlier. 'Perfect.' She climbed the ladder onto the roof and crawled over to the clock tower. She grabbed the clock hands and spun them backwards, over and over and over and over and over... Until finally, she was there. She had time travelled back to the day she received her assignment.
"I'm going straight to Nook's Cranny this time!" she proudly proclaimed, determined not to repeat her mistakes.
Only... she was still on the roof. And the ladder was no longer there.
"...Once someone rescues me, I'm going straight to Nook's Cranny!"
THE END
One upon a time, there lived a human named Rio. Rio lived on a barren -but not deserted- island named Alinguia, along with her friendly animal neighbours. All of the islanders were filled with excitement, as a very special occasion was upcoming- a giant party to celebrate the 1031st anniversary of Alinguia's founding!
Everyone was determined to make this the best party ever, despite Alinguia's lack of resources and infrastructure. Ever since... the incident... the place had been a wasteland, but the citizens of this once prosperous island were not disheartened, as they still maintained their most important resource: camaraderie. And with the power of friendship and hard work, this celebration was sure to be a blast! Tom Nook, self-proclaimed fearless leader of the community, summoned all the islanders for a meeting at Resident Services to discuss party plans. Each islander volunteered to help with a different task, with Rio's being to run a game of musical chairs.
'This will be easy,' Rio smiled to herself, 'There's already a boombox at the Plaza we can use. And Nook's Cranny has a bunch of folding chairs in stock... an absurd amount considering how limited the rest of their inventory is. If they let me borrow their rolling cart, moving them will be a breeze!'
---
Days, then weeks passed by, the party drawing ever closer. Rio had made no progress on arranging the musical chairs event, which concerned party supervisor Isabelle.
"Miss Rio..." Isabelle started sheepishly, "I don't want to pressure you, but the party is only a week away. I'm a bit worried you won't be able to secure all the items in time if you don't start talking with the Nooklings soon."
"Pffft." scoffed Rio dismissively, "I have plenty of time. Besides, the Nooklings are drowning in those chairs, it won't be an issue."
"If you insist..." Isabelle relented, doubt clear in her voice.
---
The evening before the party, Rio headed to Nook's Cranny to purchase the chairs.
"Seven of your finest folding chairs, please!" Rio requested cheerfully.
The Nooklings stared at her, frowns forming across their faces.
"...Our deepest apologies apologies, that item is out of stock," said Timmy. "We can place an order with our supplier and get you the items within 3-5 business days days."
"OUT OF STOCK?! You had like 50 of them last week!" Rio was in disbelief.
"Ah yes... We've had a folding chair surplus for many months, so we sold our inventory to offshore sister locations locations. We shipped them out 3 days ago ago," Timmy informed Rio.
"But as Timmy said," added Tommy, "We can place an order with our supplier, and within 3-5 business days-"
Rio interrupted, "I can't wait that long! I need those chairs for the party tomorrow!" She started pacing around the shop in anxiety. "What am I going to do? I'm going to let Isabelle down. I'm going to let all my friends down..."
Timmy piped up, "Well... We do have other types of chairs currently in stock stock. Only one of each type, but we can get you seven nonetheless."
The distraught human turned to the Nooklings, "I'll take anything, thank you!" She wiped away the tears that had fallen down her face. "I'll pay now and pick them up tomorrow morning. Oh! And can I please borrow your rolling cart?"
Timmy and Tommy looked at each other. "About that..."
---
Bright and early the next morning, Rio began the process of moving the chairs over to the party site. Only she had no rolling cart to help, as the Nooklings had informed her theirs was broken. To add to the problem, these chairs were much less portable than folding chairs, and she could only carry one at a time. And even worse, some of them were extremely huge and heavy- including a full-on recliner and a throne of all things!
But Rio was determined. Musical Chairs WAS going to happen.
She dragged, one by one, using all her might, each chair two acres to the party site. 'Thank goodness we chose this spot' she thought, remembering the original plan was to have it five acres farther away. After many hours, and only 25 minutes left to spare before the party started, she finally finished. She wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed in relief.
"Phew, you stink!" Dom teased Rio as he wrangled a bouquet of balloons. "You're totally drenched! New workout routine?"
"Something like that..." Rio murmured. 'I should probably shower and get changed. Will have to be quick though.'
Rio raced back home, as fast as her exhausted limbs would take her.
---
The party was going as planned, and everyone was having an amazing time. Rio was enjoying herself too- sure, she felt like she had fallen off a cliff, and sure, she had missed the opening ceremony because of her detour back home... but she was eating good food while listening to good tunes with good friends.
Eventually, the time had come for musical chairs. Rio grabbed a microphone and explained the rules of the game to the participants. Bob, Annalisa, Knox, Beardo, Eugene, Judy, Dom, and Julian all gathered around the circle of chairs, waiting. Rio hit play on the boombox and K.K. Rider began to blast. The animals walked round in circles, grooving to the beat, until the music suddenly stopped. They made a mad dash for the chairs, but something unexpected happened: some of the contestants were fighting over the same chairs, even though there were empty ones available!
"Uhhh... guys?" Rio spoke into the mic, perplexed at what she was seeing, "There's empty chairs..."
The contestants ignored her.
"Julian? Beardo? Judy? There's a simple chair right beside you. One of you could..."
"SIMPLE chair?!" Julian repeated the phrase with disgust. He had both Judy and Beardo in headlocks, as all three tried to inch their way onto the elegant chair behind them. "How could you possibly expect a style icon like me to DEGRADE himself by sitting on something so- so- BASIC!" he whined.
Beardo chimed in, "This elegant chair is meant for me! It's like my soulmate, but a chair!"
"I'm not sitting on any other chair," sneered Judy, "This is the only chair with upholstery high quality enough that I won't break out in hives!"
Rio sighed and turned her attention to the other fight. "Eugene, Knox? You don't have to fight for the throne, there's two empty- "
Before she could finish, Knox pushed Eugene to the ground.
"UGH!" Eugene grunted, "What's your problem, man?! Just let me have it!"
Knox was standing in front of the throne, refusing to take a seat, instead guarding it. "Only the King shall be permitted to sit upon this throne," bellowed Knox, "I will ensure so with my life."
Eugene got back on his feet and dusted off his leather jacket. "Yeah, well, that bozo hasn't shown his face in months, and my fanclub calls me 'The King' so I should have first dibs!"
"Over my dead body," snarled Knox, pushing Eugene to the ground yet again.
Dom, who was sat comfortably in the recliner, started chanting, "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
"Dom, please," scolded Annalisa, "We need to help resolve this, not egg them on!" She was fidgeting nervously in her log chair.
"Did someone say eggs?" asked Bob, curled up in his peach chair, "I'm hungry. I know we just ate, but we can go for fourths, right? I thought this chair would be a yummy snack, but it tastes funny..."
Rio had had enough. "ALRIGHT PEOPLE, GAME'S OVER! Let's move on to Sandy's Three-legged Race!"
But the fighting persisted, getting worse and worse.
'What do I do? What do I do?' panicked Rio, 'I wish I had just gotten those stupid folding chairs when I had the chance.' Then it hit her. 'Aha!'
She ran over to Resident Services. There was a ladder leaning against the building, still there from when decorations were being hung earlier. 'Perfect.' She climbed the ladder onto the roof and crawled over to the clock tower. She grabbed the clock hands and spun them backwards, over and over and over and over and over... Until finally, she was there. She had time travelled back to the day she received her assignment.
"I'm going straight to Nook's Cranny this time!" she proudly proclaimed, determined not to repeat her mistakes.
Only... she was still on the roof. And the ladder was no longer there.
"...Once someone rescues me, I'm going straight to Nook's Cranny!"
THE END
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Party of the year: Zucker celebrates his Birthday!
30 min ago
Mokuren
BBN-News
New mirror dropped: Kakashi holding a love ball in front of the Eiffel Tower
Yoshi in court for evading taxes
TBT mod found to have forgotten important quiz night during TBTWC '24
Liveblog
Day 1
01.06.2024 00:41 by Mokuren
10:21 am --- The festival preparations are nearly done and most of the guests arrived already. They are hanging out at the town plaza and are running around like airplanes in anticipation! The mood is really good!
10:58 am --- The party animals are awaiting K.K Slider. His gig will mark the start of the celebration!
12:32 am --- It seems that there is a problem with the set up for the performance. The cord extension cable for the microphone is missing! The gig will probably be cancelled at this rate. I see various people running around in search for a proper solution. I will keep you all updated!
12:50 am --- There is still no solution in sight but I saw birthday boy Zucker offering his help just now. I really hope his birthday celebration will not be a flop.
01:34 pm --- Crisis averted! The missing extension cord has been found, thanks to the quick thinking of Zucker.
01:55 pm --- In 5 more minutes, K.K Slider will start is performance! The crowd is on fire cheering on K.K Slider to come on stage!
01:57 pm --- The crowd erupted in cheers and whistles as K.K Slider took the stage with his microphone in his paw!
02:40 pm --- K.K Slider’s performance is in full swing! He is now playing a mix of his greatest hits and the crowd is loving it. The festival attendees are dancing, clapping and singing along, turning the plaza into a dance floor! The atmosphere is electric!
03:00 pm --- K.K Slider wraps up his set and the festival activities kick off with a bang! There are different games and stalls set around the plaza including various food stalls, games and merchandise.
03:43 pm --- The birthday celebration in full swing. The various food stalls are busy as villagers enjoy various treats. There is even a stall offering DIY crafts, where villagers can make their own festival souvenirs.
04:32 pm --- A surprise announcement from TBT-founder Jeremmy! He is hosting a special raffle with some rare collectibles for grab – including all imposter wands! The crowd is cheering and some are even breaking down crying in excitement!
07:00 pm --- The sun begins to set and covers the festival ground in a warm orange glow. Villagers are starting to gather near the beach for the grand finale: The firework display!
08:30 pm --- The fireworks have begun! The sky is alight with different colors, reflecting off the water. Villagers are oohing and aahing at each burst of light.
10:00 pm--- The festival grounds are quieting down, but the memories of today’s festivities will surely linger for a long time. Thanks for following along with this live blog! See you next time!
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Party of the year: Zucker celebrates his Birthday!
30 min ago
Mokuren
BBN-News
Zuckers birthday party “is the most anticipated event this year” a local resident of Aurea island said. More then 20 people are expected to attend the birthday celebration, the event is now held for the 20th time and marks an anniversary for Zucker.
“The jubilee will be extra special and hopefully people will appreciate all the work that went into the preparation”, party organiser Mokuren says.
The celebration takes place on the 25 August and kicks off with a special song from K.K Slider: Happy birthday. Organisers said audiences can immerse themselves in rock and pop music combined with some classical tunes. “We even have D.J. K.K in the evening ready to party!” music expert Airy said.
K.K. Slider also performed last year on Zuckers birthday party and said people can expect to have the time of there lives.
“Zuckers birthday party is always my highlight of the year. Everyone is welcome and the visitors are just killing it with there good vibes”. K.K Slider told BBN News.
Whatever you want to listen to music, eat cake, play party games like pin the tail, Jackbox games, coloring lineart or watch fireworks at the ocean, the activities include something for everyone. “Zuckers parties have a reputation for bringing the island together”, said local resident Octavian. “It’s not only a birthday party but an island tradition at this point”.
The highlight of the festival is the firework display that lights up the sky over Aurea. “Watching the fireworks over the ocean is just magical” Zucker said, “It’s the perfect ending to a perfect day”. Besides these activities guests also get treated to delicious snacks and local fruits with Zuckers famous Takoyaki taking the spotlight. “It would not be Zuckers party without his signature dish,” joked Raymond, another party attendee. “Everyone looks forward to it”.
The event also offers special merchandise including limited-edition posters and T-shirts featuring Zucker. “This year’s designs are really fire”, said Isabelle, an organiser for the birthday party. “They capture the tastiness of Zucker just perfect”. There is even rumoured to be a special guest appearance of the TBT-founder Jeremy.
The birthday celebration is the biggest there ever was on Aurea and marks a record for the small island. “We never had this many visitors on the island before” an employee at the community center said. “It will be great to get more victim… I mean tourists on the island!”.
Organiser Mokuren said that there is a lot of traffic to be expected and that it’s recommended to bring a tent along. “We are not prepared for having so many guests over in Aurea! There is no hotel here”.
Everyone interested in the party can also follow the livestream that can be watched on the local BBN-Channel. There will also be a livetracker for all the latest news regarding Zuckers birthday party.
“The jubilee will be extra special and hopefully people will appreciate all the work that went into the preparation”, party organiser Mokuren says.
The celebration takes place on the 25 August and kicks off with a special song from K.K Slider: Happy birthday. Organisers said audiences can immerse themselves in rock and pop music combined with some classical tunes. “We even have D.J. K.K in the evening ready to party!” music expert Airy said.
K.K. Slider also performed last year on Zuckers birthday party and said people can expect to have the time of there lives.
“Zuckers birthday party is always my highlight of the year. Everyone is welcome and the visitors are just killing it with there good vibes”. K.K Slider told BBN News.
Whatever you want to listen to music, eat cake, play party games like pin the tail, Jackbox games, coloring lineart or watch fireworks at the ocean, the activities include something for everyone. “Zuckers parties have a reputation for bringing the island together”, said local resident Octavian. “It’s not only a birthday party but an island tradition at this point”.
The highlight of the festival is the firework display that lights up the sky over Aurea. “Watching the fireworks over the ocean is just magical” Zucker said, “It’s the perfect ending to a perfect day”. Besides these activities guests also get treated to delicious snacks and local fruits with Zuckers famous Takoyaki taking the spotlight. “It would not be Zuckers party without his signature dish,” joked Raymond, another party attendee. “Everyone looks forward to it”.
The event also offers special merchandise including limited-edition posters and T-shirts featuring Zucker. “This year’s designs are really fire”, said Isabelle, an organiser for the birthday party. “They capture the tastiness of Zucker just perfect”. There is even rumoured to be a special guest appearance of the TBT-founder Jeremy.
The birthday celebration is the biggest there ever was on Aurea and marks a record for the small island. “We never had this many visitors on the island before” an employee at the community center said. “It will be great to get more victim… I mean tourists on the island!”.
Organiser Mokuren said that there is a lot of traffic to be expected and that it’s recommended to bring a tent along. “We are not prepared for having so many guests over in Aurea! There is no hotel here”.
Everyone interested in the party can also follow the livestream that can be watched on the local BBN-Channel. There will also be a livetracker for all the latest news regarding Zuckers birthday party.
New mirror dropped: Kakashi holding a love ball in front of the Eiffel Tower
Yoshi in court for evading taxes
TBT mod found to have forgotten important quiz night during TBTWC '24
Liveblog
Day 1
01.06.2024 00:41 by Mokuren
10:21 am --- The festival preparations are nearly done and most of the guests arrived already. They are hanging out at the town plaza and are running around like airplanes in anticipation! The mood is really good!
10:58 am --- The party animals are awaiting K.K Slider. His gig will mark the start of the celebration!
12:32 am --- It seems that there is a problem with the set up for the performance. The cord extension cable for the microphone is missing! The gig will probably be cancelled at this rate. I see various people running around in search for a proper solution. I will keep you all updated!
12:50 am --- There is still no solution in sight but I saw birthday boy Zucker offering his help just now. I really hope his birthday celebration will not be a flop.
01:34 pm --- Crisis averted! The missing extension cord has been found, thanks to the quick thinking of Zucker.
01:55 pm --- In 5 more minutes, K.K Slider will start is performance! The crowd is on fire cheering on K.K Slider to come on stage!
01:57 pm --- The crowd erupted in cheers and whistles as K.K Slider took the stage with his microphone in his paw!
02:40 pm --- K.K Slider’s performance is in full swing! He is now playing a mix of his greatest hits and the crowd is loving it. The festival attendees are dancing, clapping and singing along, turning the plaza into a dance floor! The atmosphere is electric!
03:00 pm --- K.K Slider wraps up his set and the festival activities kick off with a bang! There are different games and stalls set around the plaza including various food stalls, games and merchandise.
03:43 pm --- The birthday celebration in full swing. The various food stalls are busy as villagers enjoy various treats. There is even a stall offering DIY crafts, where villagers can make their own festival souvenirs.
04:32 pm --- A surprise announcement from TBT-founder Jeremmy! He is hosting a special raffle with some rare collectibles for grab – including all imposter wands! The crowd is cheering and some are even breaking down crying in excitement!
07:00 pm --- The sun begins to set and covers the festival ground in a warm orange glow. Villagers are starting to gather near the beach for the grand finale: The firework display!
08:30 pm --- The fireworks have begun! The sky is alight with different colors, reflecting off the water. Villagers are oohing and aahing at each burst of light.
10:00 pm--- The festival grounds are quieting down, but the memories of today’s festivities will surely linger for a long time. Thanks for following along with this live blog! See you next time!
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Nowhere to Run
A Snapdragon Story
A Snapdragon Story
5:38 AM.
Gulls.
Crashing waves in the distance.
Palm trees swishing in the breeze outside my window while I stared at a random ceiling in yet another random seaside hotel room.
Boredom can look an awful lot like paradise.
The life of a semi-famous detective can lead you away from home to help other islands augment and “upskill” their staff. I’m on just such an island, wrapping up yet another training program… my life now full of giving presentations, fielding questions, and drinking coffee.
I really hate PowerPoint.
At least my life has calmed down. Foxton is cleaned up. The villagers are all healthy, happy, and safe. Even Tom Nook has walked the straight and narrow, lifting Foxton up onto a million different blogs spouting rubbish like “10 Best Islands to Visit 2024. #4, Foxton.”
“You must visit Foxton’s pristine beaches and beautiful tulip fields…!”
Boredom can also look a lot like hell.
Rubbing the last bit of sleep from my face, I placed both feet on the floor next to the hotel bed. Ready to face another day.
A day that just happened to be my birthday. Like I cared. Or anyone else cared, for that matter.
“Ding!”
Grabbing my phone from the bedside table and lifting the screen to my still sleepy eyes, the words on the screen brightened my day. Finally, something to sink my teeth into.
It was Tom Nook. I was going home.
Time to call the DAL ticket service line.
1:21 PM.
Age.
It’s literally just a number.
Who decided, ages ago, that just because the earth traveled one full revolution around the sun, we were magically another full digit older?
“Congratulations! You can now go to school. Get a job. Drive. Vote. Drink. Become mayor. Senator. President. Retire. Draw down your pension. Social security.”
What was so different about me 24 hours ago? Do the cells dividing in my body know this?
I pondered this while the seaplane landed down gently on the waves next to the beaches of Foxton.
My home.
I grabbed my bag from the overhead and walked through the gates of the airport, the familiar sounds and smells of Foxton giving me a slight spiritual boost. Stepping outside into the sun, I saw Blathers waving urgently from the boardwalk.
“Jack, welcome back! I’m so glad to see you! And I believe also Happy Bir-”
I cut him off. “Good to see you too, Blathers. Tom texted me early this morning. Sorry to cut to the chase here, but what’s the issue with the Vermeer?”
He vigorously shook his head so hard I was afraid he was going to lose some feathers. “Deary me, the Wistful Painting is gone! I noticed it this morning while I walked towards Brewster’s to grab my morning café latte. It was definitely there last night, so it had to have been taken sometime between 10pm and 5:30am!”
Having a precise timeline was a good start. “Any chance of a reasonable explanation? Restoration, maintenance?”
Blathers shook his head again. “Absolutely not. I control the schedule for those kinds of things, and it’s in perfect shape! It’s just gone… someone took it!”
Looking at the state of him, I was afraid there were going to be tears. I did the only thing I could think of.
I patted his back.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this, Blathers. Let me drop my bag off at home and then stop by island services to talk to Tom and Isabelle, find out any details of on any recent events on the island. Then I’ll stop by the museum sometime a bit later for some additional questions if that’s okay?”
He nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes! I’ll be waiting for you. I’ll be there all day!”
Nodding my head, I turned towards the middle of the island. Started walking. Thinking. An obvious theft like this is asking for attention. And a fast escape.
There was no chance of this going unnoticed for very long. The thief had to know this. Which means the thief had to have a way off quickly.
Could a visitor have taken it? Just in time to catch a flight or boat back home…?
3:34 PM.
Standing in line.
A snail’s pace.
It was like Tom and Isabelle were purposely taking their time.
Every villager picked today to be in island services, picking up packages, making loan payments. I was in the back. Considering the topic of my own query, I was reluctant to skip the line and cause a stir. So I waited. And waited. Until I was finally the only one left.
Tom brightened when he looked up. “Jack, you made it home! I wish it was under better circumstances, but it’s still so good to have you here for your birth-“
I cut off the nonsense. “I’ve started checking into the issue you texted me about, Tom. Caught Blathers outside the airport about the missing Vermeer. Do you have a list of all the visitors on the island?”
He shook his head sadly. “That’s the thing Jack, with the season winding down we’ve shut the hotel for maintenance. We have so many vacationers now that we need a good couple of weeks to get set up for the holiday crowds. Even the boat service is shut down for the rest of the month.”
The implication struck me immediately. “Wait, we have no visitors at all right now?”
He looked me in the eye sadly. “No, no one.”
My heart sank.
This was bad news. The thief was someone on the island.
Likely someone I knew very well.
4:57 PM.
Someone I knew.
There had to be another explanation.
After a very late lunch and a walk to think about possibilities, I stopped by the museum to talk to Blathers. I caught him in the foyer, looking agitated and nervous. He looked up when he saw me.
“Jack! Any news?”
I shook my head. “Nothing yet. I stopped by island services to talk to Tom. Didn’t realize we are shut down to visitors right now. Can you think of anything unusual over the last week or so? Anyone lingering by where the painting was? Any villagers?”
Blathers shook his head. “No, nothing. It’s been completely normal here, except for the quietness due to the end of the vacation season. Well, wait. There is something…”
Blathers suddenly looked terrified. Something about his eyes. “Except what?”
I heard the door to the museum open.
A voice spoke behind me.
“Except I took it.”
I spun around in time to see Tom Nook dashing back through the museum's front door.
5:01 PM.
It made absolutely no sense. Why was he running? Why would he take it? He was the one that texted me in the first place!
And he was fast.
But I’m still faster. Seeing him head for the island square, his options were about to be limited.
He had nowhere to run now.
I was gaining on him when he rounded the front corner of the island services building. I surged after him with another burst of speed. “Stop, Tom! You have nowhere to ruuuuuuuun?……”
The words died on my lips as I screeched to a halt in the middle of the island square. The scene in front of me was flabbergasting. Tables set up with treats, cookies, cake. Chips. Drinks. Balloons.
A “Happy Birthday” banner in obnoxious colors.
And all of the villagers looking my direction with genuine happiness to see me, drinks and paper plates in hand.
And in the middle was a slightly out of breath Tom Nook. And Blathers right next to him. Tom just gave me a genuine smile and said “Happy Birthday, Jack. Apologies for the subterfuge to get you back here, and getting you to run after me. It was the only way I could figure out how to get you here on time. You always need a mystery to solve, Jack. Luckily, the only mystery here is the flavor of the cake Audie made for you.”
Blathers just laughed heartily. “I haven’t had to fly that fast to beat you here in a loooooooong time. You’ll be happy to know that I took down the Wistful Painting before you got back to the island, and it will be put right back up before I go to bed. Which reminds me, flying so fast and staying awake all day is making me sleepy…”
One by one, all of the villagers wished me happy birthday. Shook my hand. Hugged me. Tom hugged me last. “Thank you for all that you do for the island, Jack, and all the other islands on this great big ocean.”
As it dawned on me that maybe Foxton really is a great island worthy of those blog lists, the words of Louis Armstrong’s most famous song came to me. What a wonderful world.
But the world is not wonderful… not even close. It can be ugly.
Mean.
Stomp you when you’re down.
But there can also be empathy.
Kindness.
It can give you friends that lend you a hand to get right back up again. Friends that will give you a surprise birthday party, knowing that a measure of trickery would be needed just to get you to show up.
A wonderful world? No.
But it can be… okay. Especially at a surprise birthday party.
If you open your heart.
Echoed laughter on an empty stage.
The world stopped. The music fading, I could only hear my heart beating in my chest. Pushing through the crowd, I saw my father slumped over the table. His proud, strong face lay pale, puddles of cold sweat collecting on the tablecloth.
“Dad?” I called out to him, my voice shaking. The walls cracking around me, I reached out and managed to grab his hand, which lay cold and clammy in mine, yet weakly held me back.
I turned to the side and saw my younger sister staring in shock. I saw her begin to shake, and tears beginning to form. Taking her hands, I leant down to her and looked into her eyes, bringing her back to reality.
“Go, call the ambulance now. Tell them the address, that a man in his 40s has collapsed mostly unresponsive, is short of breath, and is cold and clammy.” She hesitated, not wanting to take her eyes away from her fading father.
“Go!”
She stumbled away.
Watching her pale figure push through the forest of balloons to grab her phone, I hoped that being given a job would hold off her panic for a little longer.
The eyes of the crowd, people who I’d known for years, coming to celebrate my dad, now felt like strangers, an audience coming to witness my world crumble around me.
The joyous music rung like an echoed laughter.
The spotlight shone down as I reached for his hand once again.
“Dad? Stay with me please. Squeeze my hand if you can hear me, okay?”
A faint squeeze met my hand with a weak groan that buried its way into my heart. I’d never seen my dad like this before. I- I couldn’t panic, the spotlight was still on me.
“Eric! Help move the table back a bit!” I shouted at my cousin. “Sammy, help me lay him on the ground!”
The statues came to life, quickly moving into their roles on the stage.
“Dad? Hey, I’m still here for you, okay? We’re just going to carefully move you down onto the floor, okay?”
Another groan, another pang in my chest, the panic desperately beating at the walls of my heart, trying to escape, trying to crawl their way out into my throat.
I swallowed, ready for the next act.
Sammy moved towards his legs as I gently pulled back my dad’s chair, and firmly looped my arms under his. “On, 3.. 2.. 1..”. And he was lifted. In the heat of the spotlight, with the faint beating of the music, he felt almost weightless. The three of us dropping to a bow, I looked up to see the face of my sister, with more actors coming to join the stage for the final act.
The ambulance had arrived, and the dance had begun.
Heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen, lift. Adrenaline, more checks, it was time to shift.
Reciting my lines in turn to the man, telling him all that I possibly can.
And with one final bow, he was taken away, and I was left broken on an empty stage.
The world stopped. The music fading, I could only hear my heart beating in my chest. Pushing through the crowd, I saw my father slumped over the table. His proud, strong face lay pale, puddles of cold sweat collecting on the tablecloth.
“Dad?” I called out to him, my voice shaking. The walls cracking around me, I reached out and managed to grab his hand, which lay cold and clammy in mine, yet weakly held me back.
I turned to the side and saw my younger sister staring in shock. I saw her begin to shake, and tears beginning to form. Taking her hands, I leant down to her and looked into her eyes, bringing her back to reality.
“Go, call the ambulance now. Tell them the address, that a man in his 40s has collapsed mostly unresponsive, is short of breath, and is cold and clammy.” She hesitated, not wanting to take her eyes away from her fading father.
“Go!”
She stumbled away.
Watching her pale figure push through the forest of balloons to grab her phone, I hoped that being given a job would hold off her panic for a little longer.
The eyes of the crowd, people who I’d known for years, coming to celebrate my dad, now felt like strangers, an audience coming to witness my world crumble around me.
The joyous music rung like an echoed laughter.
The spotlight shone down as I reached for his hand once again.
“Dad? Stay with me please. Squeeze my hand if you can hear me, okay?”
A faint squeeze met my hand with a weak groan that buried its way into my heart. I’d never seen my dad like this before. I- I couldn’t panic, the spotlight was still on me.
“Eric! Help move the table back a bit!” I shouted at my cousin. “Sammy, help me lay him on the ground!”
The statues came to life, quickly moving into their roles on the stage.
“Dad? Hey, I’m still here for you, okay? We’re just going to carefully move you down onto the floor, okay?”
Another groan, another pang in my chest, the panic desperately beating at the walls of my heart, trying to escape, trying to crawl their way out into my throat.
I swallowed, ready for the next act.
Sammy moved towards his legs as I gently pulled back my dad’s chair, and firmly looped my arms under his. “On, 3.. 2.. 1..”. And he was lifted. In the heat of the spotlight, with the faint beating of the music, he felt almost weightless. The three of us dropping to a bow, I looked up to see the face of my sister, with more actors coming to join the stage for the final act.
The ambulance had arrived, and the dance had begun.
Heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen, lift. Adrenaline, more checks, it was time to shift.
Reciting my lines in turn to the man, telling him all that I possibly can.
And with one final bow, he was taken away, and I was left broken on an empty stage.
Marty's Milestone Birthday Bash Once upon a time, there was a villager named Graham. Many villagers who lived on the same island as Graham, were planning a birthday party for resident Marty. Merengue was baking the birthday cake, Tex had agreed to provide music, and Jambette and Rory were decorating Resident Services. And holding it all together, Gayle, in charge of planning Marty's birthday and keeping everybody on track.
When Graham saw that everybody was chipping in, he wanted to help out too. He went to Merengue's house, where she was in the kitchen assembling a glorious three-tiered cake. Graham insisted he would be able to help, but he couldn't even reach the counter. He climbed on a stool, hovering next to the counter, where he was going to help decorate with sprinkles. As he reached his tiny hamster arms across the counter, he slipped from the stool, trying to grab something to hold onto. He grabbed the cake, which swiftly fell with him (he was fine). The cake was ruined, but as Graham tasted on his way down, delicious. "Out!" Merengue huffed, and Graham scrambled out of Merengue's house, leaving her to start again. Poor Graham.
Graham decided it was best to go to Gayle and see what he could do to help. After explaining the situation, Gayle sent him to help Jambette and Rory with the decorations. He found them both hanging bunting outside Resident Services. Once his tiny legs managed to climb to the top of the ladder, it took one minor breeze, to sweep him right off the ladder, and pull all of Jambette and Rory's hard work down with him (he was fine). He didn't need to wait for Rory's roar, he scurried away to find Gayle. Poor Graham.
Gayle listened thoughtfully, and sent Graham to find Tex. All Tex needed was a microphone and his voice, surely Graham could help with that. Tex ordered Graham to do a sound check. "Sing into the microphone like I would", Tex ordered. And with his squeaky little voice, Graham sung into the microphone. "Aaaah, my ears!" Tex cried. The volume was set far too high, and the high pitched squeak was just too much. Graham was sent away (he was fine). Poor Graham.
Graham decided to go home, he was clearly a nuisance, but Gayle was determined that Graham could do something to help. "Graham," Gayle said, "I haven't been able to reach Marty's very best friend Marina. It won't be a proper birthday party without her. I need you to go with Kapp'n to look for her."
"How will I know where to find her?" Graham asked.
"I'm not sure, but here's a bucket of paint. I bet that will help." Gayle replied. Was she confused?
Graham wandered off to Kapp'n's boat with his paint tin, and explained that he was there to help. Kapp'n had already planned to go himself, but they set off into the pink sea together anyway. They couldn't find Marina anywhere. Graham got bored. "I wonder what colour this paint is." he pondered. "I'm going to open it."
"I don't think that's the best idea." Kapp'n answered, but it was too late. With one swift motion, Graham had opened the paint (it was yellow), the boat hit a wave, and the paint leapt overboard.
With a great splash, someone popped their head out of the water. "What did you do?!" Marina gasped, horrified by the colour of the water.
"Oh, I was looking for you!" Graham exclaimed.
Marina was very displeased that Graham was dumping toxic chemical waste into the ocean, but she listened thoughtfully, cleaned up the paint, and then followed Kapp'n's boat back to the island to help celebrate Marty's birthday.
The party went off without another hitch, and everyone had a blast. The island residents all laughed about the happenings of the day, and there were no hard feelings toward Graham (mostly).
Gawa and the King's Cake
Gawa was a goblin of modest means. He lived in a small hut on the outskirts of the goblin kingdom of Parkrek. While Gawa was confident in many things, his greatest pride was that of his baking. He had learned it from his Granny Gob many years ago and took every effort to put all the love and care into every single baked good. He never once considered himself to be of royal stature despite his immense pride in his baking skill.
Alas, here he was, busily gathering all the very best ingredients he could possibly find. The rarest of berries. The finest of flour. The eggiest of eggs. Why? Because the royal guard had informed him the previous day that he would be given the great honour of baking King Goblin’s birthday cake.
Both frantic and excited, Gawa burst into his kitchen. He laid out all the ingredients and got to work. The flour was fine. The eggs were eggy. But the berries - the berries were his strongest point of pride. He had found three perfect Glubgon berries among the many thousands. Big and juicy, it was the exact amount he needed. The exact amount Granny Gob used to make the best cake Gawa had ever eaten.
He sifted. He stirred. He beat.
Finally it was time to decorate the cake -- the second most important part of cake making. He gathered his many piping bags, bottles of food colouring, and bowls full of different coloured frosting. Getting into the zone, Gawa began painting a scene with frosting. The scene depicted King Goblob standing atop his throne, as he was known to do often and with gusto.
Nearing the end of his artwork he took a moment to stand back and reflect.
Suddenly, a swampclap bird crashed into the kitchen window! Gawa jolted in fright, knocking over all of the food colouring bottles. Most of the food colouring hit the walls and floor -- all except for the blue. Instead, blue had spilled over the entire cake, destroying all of his hard work. Gawa was heartbroken. Then the panic set in. Gawa’s mind raced. Not only was his art ruined - King Goblob hated the colour blue! So much so that he moved the entire kingdom into a valley under a thick canopy so that he didn’t have to see the blue sky ever again.
Yet there it was. A blue cake. And only minutes before he would have to leave to present it to the king and his guests. Gawa was lost. He was seeing stars. To serve a blue cake to the King would be a literal crime, on par with murder and tax evasion. What could he possib—suddenly, an idea came to Gawa. An exciting idea. This just might work!
The Ploy
Gawa paced nervously back and forth in the hallway beside his cake, ready for the doors to open. He had been provided a cake cart with which to deliver the cake, furnished with a silver platter and lid. Finally it was time. He took a deep breath and marched forward into the long room. At the end of the decadent table of royal guests sat the King himself. A burly and jovial goblin. All the guests talked amongst themselves, laughing and eating.
Gawa rolled the cake cart along the outskirts of the room and stopped where he had been instructed. He bowed and removed a tray from inside the cart. This immediately caught the eye of the King who was clearly very excited about dessert.
Gawa lifted the tray and presented it with yet another bow.
“Your grace,” he started, catching the room off guard, “I present to you not only one of the finest desserts your gracious kingdom allows to exist, but also a game, if you will.”
“A game, you say?” Scoffed the King, momentarily taken aback. But quickly a wry smile touched his lips. “Go on, then. Let us hear it and we shall judge your proposal, highly uncommon as it is, I do love a good game!”
Perfect, Gawa thought.
“Judge, you will. For this game is one only those in this room are suited to play.” Gawa tried his very hardest to portray himself as a humbled servant in the presence of greatness, when in reality he felt only fear. “For this game is one of tasting!” He yelled, beckoning forth the tray in his hands, showing that instead of a cake it held ribbons of many colours (excluding blue, of course).
“Speak plain or not at all. I’m hungry!” Demanded one of the goblins in military garb.
“Apologies, my lords,” Gawa bowed lower. “This game is a game of tasting, for only those in this room have the palette and ability to taste divinity in its purest form.” This sentence tickled all in the room, including the King who sat up accepting the statement to be of truth and nothing less. “Therefore, I provide you all with the richest of silks so that you might don them before eating this, the fruits of many years of labor, and then see who can name the flavour and fruit of the cake without looking!”
At first, the room was silent and Gawa felt sweat building on his forehead. But all tension vanished the moment King Goblin clapped loudly.
“A game! And cake! Yes, this is superb!” The King clapped more.
With that the rest joined in and everyone donned their blindfolds excitedly.
To Gawa’s great reassurance every last crumb was eaten before anyone had seen even the slightest speck of blue. Many guesses were thrown around at the answer to the cake’s fruit, and many friendly arguments ensued.
But at the end of the day Gawa had saved his great moment, and the King had decreed a new royal birthday tradition.
Gawa was a goblin of modest means. He lived in a small hut on the outskirts of the goblin kingdom of Parkrek. While Gawa was confident in many things, his greatest pride was that of his baking. He had learned it from his Granny Gob many years ago and took every effort to put all the love and care into every single baked good. He never once considered himself to be of royal stature despite his immense pride in his baking skill.
Alas, here he was, busily gathering all the very best ingredients he could possibly find. The rarest of berries. The finest of flour. The eggiest of eggs. Why? Because the royal guard had informed him the previous day that he would be given the great honour of baking King Goblin’s birthday cake.
Both frantic and excited, Gawa burst into his kitchen. He laid out all the ingredients and got to work. The flour was fine. The eggs were eggy. But the berries - the berries were his strongest point of pride. He had found three perfect Glubgon berries among the many thousands. Big and juicy, it was the exact amount he needed. The exact amount Granny Gob used to make the best cake Gawa had ever eaten.
He sifted. He stirred. He beat.
Finally it was time to decorate the cake -- the second most important part of cake making. He gathered his many piping bags, bottles of food colouring, and bowls full of different coloured frosting. Getting into the zone, Gawa began painting a scene with frosting. The scene depicted King Goblob standing atop his throne, as he was known to do often and with gusto.
Nearing the end of his artwork he took a moment to stand back and reflect.
Suddenly, a swampclap bird crashed into the kitchen window! Gawa jolted in fright, knocking over all of the food colouring bottles. Most of the food colouring hit the walls and floor -- all except for the blue. Instead, blue had spilled over the entire cake, destroying all of his hard work. Gawa was heartbroken. Then the panic set in. Gawa’s mind raced. Not only was his art ruined - King Goblob hated the colour blue! So much so that he moved the entire kingdom into a valley under a thick canopy so that he didn’t have to see the blue sky ever again.
Yet there it was. A blue cake. And only minutes before he would have to leave to present it to the king and his guests. Gawa was lost. He was seeing stars. To serve a blue cake to the King would be a literal crime, on par with murder and tax evasion. What could he possib—suddenly, an idea came to Gawa. An exciting idea. This just might work!
The Ploy
Gawa paced nervously back and forth in the hallway beside his cake, ready for the doors to open. He had been provided a cake cart with which to deliver the cake, furnished with a silver platter and lid. Finally it was time. He took a deep breath and marched forward into the long room. At the end of the decadent table of royal guests sat the King himself. A burly and jovial goblin. All the guests talked amongst themselves, laughing and eating.
Gawa rolled the cake cart along the outskirts of the room and stopped where he had been instructed. He bowed and removed a tray from inside the cart. This immediately caught the eye of the King who was clearly very excited about dessert.
Gawa lifted the tray and presented it with yet another bow.
“Your grace,” he started, catching the room off guard, “I present to you not only one of the finest desserts your gracious kingdom allows to exist, but also a game, if you will.”
“A game, you say?” Scoffed the King, momentarily taken aback. But quickly a wry smile touched his lips. “Go on, then. Let us hear it and we shall judge your proposal, highly uncommon as it is, I do love a good game!”
Perfect, Gawa thought.
“Judge, you will. For this game is one only those in this room are suited to play.” Gawa tried his very hardest to portray himself as a humbled servant in the presence of greatness, when in reality he felt only fear. “For this game is one of tasting!” He yelled, beckoning forth the tray in his hands, showing that instead of a cake it held ribbons of many colours (excluding blue, of course).
“Speak plain or not at all. I’m hungry!” Demanded one of the goblins in military garb.
“Apologies, my lords,” Gawa bowed lower. “This game is a game of tasting, for only those in this room have the palette and ability to taste divinity in its purest form.” This sentence tickled all in the room, including the King who sat up accepting the statement to be of truth and nothing less. “Therefore, I provide you all with the richest of silks so that you might don them before eating this, the fruits of many years of labor, and then see who can name the flavour and fruit of the cake without looking!”
At first, the room was silent and Gawa felt sweat building on his forehead. But all tension vanished the moment King Goblin clapped loudly.
“A game! And cake! Yes, this is superb!” The King clapped more.
With that the rest joined in and everyone donned their blindfolds excitedly.
To Gawa’s great reassurance every last crumb was eaten before anyone had seen even the slightest speck of blue. Many guesses were thrown around at the answer to the cake’s fruit, and many friendly arguments ensued.
But at the end of the day Gawa had saved his great moment, and the King had decreed a new royal birthday tradition.
the brightest star
❝ I hope death is like being carried to your bedroom when you were a child and fell asleep on the couch during a family party. I hope you can hear the laughter from the next room.❞
Wisp isn't quite sure where the time's gone. It feels like just yesterday he was lying in the damp summer grass with Celeste, sweating softly in the nighttime heat as they gazed at the stars. Now September is just a breath away, and he's fated to spend the rest of eternity searching for fragments of himself on this island.
The stars twinkling above him now look the same as they always have, the same luminous spheroids that soothed him to sleep as a child and that shone down on him and Celeste on his last normal night. He imagines the grass would feel just as damp, the nighttime heat just as sticky, if he was able to still feel them.
He doesn't have much sense of time anymore, and he supposes it no longer really matters anyways, but it'll take a lot more than death and the fog that comes with it to make him forget Celeste's birthday.
He watches her now, as she watches the stars, and tries to pretend that she knows he's there with her.
"Her birthday's coming up soon."
He startles at the sudden voice coming from behind him, and turns to find Serena staring at him pensively.
"You can't just sneak up behind people like that, you know," he tells her.
She sighs. "We're dead, Wisp. Sneaking is all we can really do."
He flinches at the reminder; tries to hide it. Clocks the twinge of sadness in Serena's gaze and knows he didn't do a good job.
"Celeste's birthday," she starts again.
"I know," he sighs. "It's in 13 days."
"I heard her talking with Blathers earlier. She's not planning on celebrating."
His gaze snaps back to hers sharply. He knows it's wishful thinking to hope to find a trace of teasing in her face, as cruel as it would be if she was, but he's still disappointed to come up empty.
"Why not?"
She looks at him with pity. "You know why not."
Wisp swears his heart stops for the second time. Celeste had been excited for her birthday all year. She'd been crossing out each passing day in her calendar for months, every "X" bringing her special day closer. She'd spent hours chattering animatedly to him and Blathers about it as they exchanged fond glances behind her back, her happiness warming up even the coldest of days.
Celeste had never been too interested in her birthday before, her heart too full of her love for everyone else to ever really want to celebrate herself, but this year was different. This year, there was going to be a meteor shower on her birthday.
Celeste is no stranger to meteor showers. He'd been by her side for many of them, watching her watch the stars, trying to imprint the wonder in her gaze to memory. He used to tell her that meteor showers happen just for her, that he's certain they started the day she was born, just to see her eyes twinkle in the way that rivals even the most brightest of stars.
But this year is the first time there'll be a meteor shower on her birthday. They had made plans to eat birthday cake—chocolate, her favourite—under the stars. He had even bought her a new telescope he had been so excited to surprise her with.
She found it when she was clearing out his apartment after... after...
(She took it home with her, not looking at it the whole way, and shoved it in the back of her closet as soon as she could.)
Wisp is broken out of his thoughts by the sound of feathers ruffling, and he turns back to Celeste in time to watch her head home.
He waits until she's disappeared from his sight before facing Serena again, who is still watching him with sad eyes.
"I can't be what ruins her birthday," he tells her.
He can't be.
~~
Celeste's birthday arrives in a parade of gloominess and rainfall. The news had been saying today would be sunny and clear-skied for weeks, perfect meteor shower weather, only for the forecast to change abruptly last night.
Wisp spent all night willing the forecast to be wrong, begging anything who was listening for it to be a mistake. But when sunrise came and the sky remained gloomy and cloudy, the soft plopping of raindrops hitting the earth all around him, Wisp knew the kind of day he was in for.
The rain only comes down heavier as the day progresses, the soft splashes now sounding like gunshots in his ears, and when nightfall comes, there is not a single star in the sky.
(Wisp can't be what ruins Celeste's birthday. But neither can this.)
He feels the adrenaline swimming through his veins as he searches the island for his solution. He finds her by the fountain in front of Resident Services.
Serena's back is to him as he approaches, too enthralled by the fountain overflowing to pay him any mind, but he knows she knows he's there. She always does.
He doesn't waste any time with pleasantries. "I need you to change the weather."
She looks at him then, eyebrows raised. "What?"
"I need you to change the weather," he repeats. "I need it to stop raining."
"And what makes you think I can do that? I'm dead, not magical."
He scoffs. "We both know you can do anything you want except for one thing."
"I'm not magical, Wisp," she tells him again. "Anything I do comes at a cost."
"I'm willing to pay it."
"And if I'm not?"
They stare at each other for what feels like a lifetime, a lifetime neither of them got to experience, until Serena sighs warily.
"There are no stars in the sky, Wisp. The earth can sense she doesn't want them," she sighs again. "I can't do anything about that."
"Please," he begs. "It's her birthday."
Serena looks sadder than he's ever seen her, and the sight is so wrong that he almost wants to tell her to forget it, to spare her the weight of what he's asking. But they both know he can't. Finally-
"I can't do anything about the stars," she repeats. "But you can."
He blinks at her. "Me?"
She doesn't answer. Instead, she turns towards the fountain again, walks closer to it, and shoves her hand in. Her hand splashes around in the water for a moment, like she's blindly grabbing for something, until a golden light begins to shine from the water. It's dull and warming at first, like a fireplace on a cold winter morning, and then it morphs into a light so blinding and overwhelming, so bright that he has to turn away.
The light dims as quickly as it shone, and when Wisp's able to see again without green splotches clouding his vision, he sees the golden axe in Serena's hands.
"If I hit you with this, you'll shatter into spirit fragments. You'll float up towards the sky, and the earth will take care of the rest."
She looks at him, the remnants of gold in her gaze. "You'll be her star again for the last time."
"The last time?" he asks.
"Once you leave this form, you can't return to it," she tells him solemnly. "You will never return to this island, or to her."
"That's the cost."
It's not a question.
"That's the cost," Serena confirms.
Wisp looks up at the sky, takes in the blanket of rain clouds and pretends he can feel the coolness of raindrops hitting his face. He pictures a clear sky kissed by stars.
It feels like living.
"Will it hurt?" he asks.
"It'll feel like dying," she tells him. He laughs.
He takes a deep breath in, and looks around for the last time. He thinks of the damp summer grass and sticky humid air. He thinks of eating chocolate birthday cake with his friend as they gaze at the stars.
"Goodbye, Serena."
He pretends not to notice the tears in her eyes.
"Bye, Wisp."
She swings the axe.
~~
Celeste leaves the house at the insistence of her brother. She had planned to spend her birthday hiding from the world, from the unopened telescope in her closet and her calendar that's stuck on the day her world flipped upside down, but Blathers seems to have finally had enough of giving her space.
"I thought it was going to rain all day," he tells her as he holds the front door open for her. "But the clouds seem to be done crying."
She warily steps outside, cringing at the wet and muddy grass beneath her feet, when twinkles of light from above catch her attention.
She looks up, and feels her breath leave her in a quick whoosh.
The sky shines with white, yellows and blues, what feels like a million shooting stars dancing by in the night. Each one twinkles before disappearing out of sight, almost like they're trying to communicate with her.
Meteor showers happen just for you.
Celeste feels her brother wrap his wing around her. They both ignore the tears streaming down her face.
"Happy birthday, sis," Blathers whispers.
She looks at him and smiles. It doesn't quite rival the brightest of stars, at least not now, but she's hopeful it will again one day.
She looks back up at the sky, and doesn't have to pretend that Wisp is there with her.
❝ I hope death is like being carried to your bedroom when you were a child and fell asleep on the couch during a family party. I hope you can hear the laughter from the next room.❞
Wisp isn't quite sure where the time's gone. It feels like just yesterday he was lying in the damp summer grass with Celeste, sweating softly in the nighttime heat as they gazed at the stars. Now September is just a breath away, and he's fated to spend the rest of eternity searching for fragments of himself on this island.
The stars twinkling above him now look the same as they always have, the same luminous spheroids that soothed him to sleep as a child and that shone down on him and Celeste on his last normal night. He imagines the grass would feel just as damp, the nighttime heat just as sticky, if he was able to still feel them.
He doesn't have much sense of time anymore, and he supposes it no longer really matters anyways, but it'll take a lot more than death and the fog that comes with it to make him forget Celeste's birthday.
He watches her now, as she watches the stars, and tries to pretend that she knows he's there with her.
"Her birthday's coming up soon."
He startles at the sudden voice coming from behind him, and turns to find Serena staring at him pensively.
"You can't just sneak up behind people like that, you know," he tells her.
She sighs. "We're dead, Wisp. Sneaking is all we can really do."
He flinches at the reminder; tries to hide it. Clocks the twinge of sadness in Serena's gaze and knows he didn't do a good job.
"Celeste's birthday," she starts again.
"I know," he sighs. "It's in 13 days."
"I heard her talking with Blathers earlier. She's not planning on celebrating."
His gaze snaps back to hers sharply. He knows it's wishful thinking to hope to find a trace of teasing in her face, as cruel as it would be if she was, but he's still disappointed to come up empty.
"Why not?"
She looks at him with pity. "You know why not."
Wisp swears his heart stops for the second time. Celeste had been excited for her birthday all year. She'd been crossing out each passing day in her calendar for months, every "X" bringing her special day closer. She'd spent hours chattering animatedly to him and Blathers about it as they exchanged fond glances behind her back, her happiness warming up even the coldest of days.
Celeste had never been too interested in her birthday before, her heart too full of her love for everyone else to ever really want to celebrate herself, but this year was different. This year, there was going to be a meteor shower on her birthday.
Celeste is no stranger to meteor showers. He'd been by her side for many of them, watching her watch the stars, trying to imprint the wonder in her gaze to memory. He used to tell her that meteor showers happen just for her, that he's certain they started the day she was born, just to see her eyes twinkle in the way that rivals even the most brightest of stars.
But this year is the first time there'll be a meteor shower on her birthday. They had made plans to eat birthday cake—chocolate, her favourite—under the stars. He had even bought her a new telescope he had been so excited to surprise her with.
She found it when she was clearing out his apartment after... after...
(She took it home with her, not looking at it the whole way, and shoved it in the back of her closet as soon as she could.)
Wisp is broken out of his thoughts by the sound of feathers ruffling, and he turns back to Celeste in time to watch her head home.
He waits until she's disappeared from his sight before facing Serena again, who is still watching him with sad eyes.
"I can't be what ruins her birthday," he tells her.
He can't be.
~~
Celeste's birthday arrives in a parade of gloominess and rainfall. The news had been saying today would be sunny and clear-skied for weeks, perfect meteor shower weather, only for the forecast to change abruptly last night.
Wisp spent all night willing the forecast to be wrong, begging anything who was listening for it to be a mistake. But when sunrise came and the sky remained gloomy and cloudy, the soft plopping of raindrops hitting the earth all around him, Wisp knew the kind of day he was in for.
The rain only comes down heavier as the day progresses, the soft splashes now sounding like gunshots in his ears, and when nightfall comes, there is not a single star in the sky.
(Wisp can't be what ruins Celeste's birthday. But neither can this.)
He feels the adrenaline swimming through his veins as he searches the island for his solution. He finds her by the fountain in front of Resident Services.
Serena's back is to him as he approaches, too enthralled by the fountain overflowing to pay him any mind, but he knows she knows he's there. She always does.
He doesn't waste any time with pleasantries. "I need you to change the weather."
She looks at him then, eyebrows raised. "What?"
"I need you to change the weather," he repeats. "I need it to stop raining."
"And what makes you think I can do that? I'm dead, not magical."
He scoffs. "We both know you can do anything you want except for one thing."
"I'm not magical, Wisp," she tells him again. "Anything I do comes at a cost."
"I'm willing to pay it."
"And if I'm not?"
They stare at each other for what feels like a lifetime, a lifetime neither of them got to experience, until Serena sighs warily.
"There are no stars in the sky, Wisp. The earth can sense she doesn't want them," she sighs again. "I can't do anything about that."
"Please," he begs. "It's her birthday."
Serena looks sadder than he's ever seen her, and the sight is so wrong that he almost wants to tell her to forget it, to spare her the weight of what he's asking. But they both know he can't. Finally-
"I can't do anything about the stars," she repeats. "But you can."
He blinks at her. "Me?"
She doesn't answer. Instead, she turns towards the fountain again, walks closer to it, and shoves her hand in. Her hand splashes around in the water for a moment, like she's blindly grabbing for something, until a golden light begins to shine from the water. It's dull and warming at first, like a fireplace on a cold winter morning, and then it morphs into a light so blinding and overwhelming, so bright that he has to turn away.
The light dims as quickly as it shone, and when Wisp's able to see again without green splotches clouding his vision, he sees the golden axe in Serena's hands.
"If I hit you with this, you'll shatter into spirit fragments. You'll float up towards the sky, and the earth will take care of the rest."
She looks at him, the remnants of gold in her gaze. "You'll be her star again for the last time."
"The last time?" he asks.
"Once you leave this form, you can't return to it," she tells him solemnly. "You will never return to this island, or to her."
"That's the cost."
It's not a question.
"That's the cost," Serena confirms.
Wisp looks up at the sky, takes in the blanket of rain clouds and pretends he can feel the coolness of raindrops hitting his face. He pictures a clear sky kissed by stars.
It feels like living.
"Will it hurt?" he asks.
"It'll feel like dying," she tells him. He laughs.
He takes a deep breath in, and looks around for the last time. He thinks of the damp summer grass and sticky humid air. He thinks of eating chocolate birthday cake with his friend as they gaze at the stars.
"Goodbye, Serena."
He pretends not to notice the tears in her eyes.
"Bye, Wisp."
She swings the axe.
~~
Celeste leaves the house at the insistence of her brother. She had planned to spend her birthday hiding from the world, from the unopened telescope in her closet and her calendar that's stuck on the day her world flipped upside down, but Blathers seems to have finally had enough of giving her space.
"I thought it was going to rain all day," he tells her as he holds the front door open for her. "But the clouds seem to be done crying."
She warily steps outside, cringing at the wet and muddy grass beneath her feet, when twinkles of light from above catch her attention.
She looks up, and feels her breath leave her in a quick whoosh.
The sky shines with white, yellows and blues, what feels like a million shooting stars dancing by in the night. Each one twinkles before disappearing out of sight, almost like they're trying to communicate with her.
Meteor showers happen just for you.
Celeste feels her brother wrap his wing around her. They both ignore the tears streaming down her face.
"Happy birthday, sis," Blathers whispers.
She looks at him and smiles. It doesn't quite rival the brightest of stars, at least not now, but she's hopeful it will again one day.
She looks back up at the sky, and doesn't have to pretend that Wisp is there with her.
