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[ Day 1 ] A New Job, A New Life!
Today was moving day.
After finishing school I decided to move out of my parents? house and live on my own. Being fresh out of college, I didn?t have a job yet and I had been searching for job ads and the like. One in particular caught my interest. A mayor from a small town was looking for an assistant in the development-plan of the town, specifically on creating a recreative, nature-friendly town. As someone who studied plants, insects and nature I applied immediately. As the town was far away from my parents? home the solicitation took place through Skype.
An elderly turtle, Mr. Tortimer, who was the mayor of the town, was very friendly and enthusiastic. Strangely enough, at the end of the conversation, I was hired! The housing would be taken care of upon arrival, the mayor had said. Most things would be provided for, I only needed to take my essentials with me (how strange).
After arranging this and that, 2 months later it was time to move to my new home and my new job!
The train ride was almost 4 hours. After 2 hours the train got less and less crowdy. We were heading to a small outback town, as the mayor had explained to me during the talk. In the last half hour only me and a blue cat remained. He had looked my way occasionally during the ride, but not alarmingly so. At some point he got up and walked over to me.
?Oh! Excuse me! I have a quick question for you. It?s now 4.33 p.m. on January 15th, 2018, right?? I whipped my phone from my pocket and confirmed the time and date. ?I was right! Oh good!? the cat replied. ?I?m just gonna plop down in the seat across from you. If you don?t mind, of course!? Not that I had any say in the matter, cause he went and sat down anyway.
?By the way, you?? he started, before interrupting himself. ?Can I ask your name?? ?I?m Melyora,? I replied. ?Nice to meet you, Melyora, I?m Rover!? What followed was a conversation about where I was headed. ?To Wildwood,? I said. It didn?t sound familiar to Rover, and he pulled out the train map and asked me to point the town out. I told him I was moving there to a new job and I?d never been there before.
He worried if I would have a place to say, but assured him it was taken care of (how wrong I was).
Then the conductor announced our arrival in Wildwood. After saying goodbye to Rover, I grabbed my bag and suitcase and headed to the doors. I headed out of the train, waving one last time to Rover and went out into the town of Wildwood.
Upon exiting the train station, 4 people stood in line in front of it. Waiting for me apparently, cause a round of whispers started as soon as they saw me. ?Yo, you see that girl?? a grumpy blue bear said. ?It?s totally her!? a smiling kitten with girlish hairdo said. ?All right. We should say hi or something,? a moustached frog said.
A yellow dog called them to order, and as if rehearsed, they shouted a big ?WELCOME? for me. It gave me a little fright.
?Mayor! We couldn?t be happier to see you arrive safe and sound!? the dog said. ?You think I?m a mayor?? I asked her, confused. She as well seemed confused by my response. Then she laughed. ?Oh, come one! Quit joking around. You know exactly who you are!? Well, I was started to doubt who I was by the second. ?You told us which train you?d be arriving on!? I did tell the old mayor that, but still, I knew nothing of becoming mayor. ?You?re mistaken,? I tried to explain. ?You?re not getting cold feet, are you?? the dog asked, looking a bit sad. ?Don?t be silly! You?ll be fine! There?s nothing to worry about.? I was still not sure about the whole event, but as she was trying to cheer me up, I went along with it. She invited me to the town hall, the discuss the situation further. She handed me a map of town and together we walked to the town hall, which was just a little to the west from the station.
As we walked through the snow she chatted about the town and pointed out the apple trees, for which the town apparently is famous in the neighbourhood. I perked up a bit, as apples are my favourite fruit and in my head some ideas started on how to work with the apple trees in developing the town (as I was supposed to with the job). The town already looked pretty, covered in powdery white snow, but I already saw ways to improve it.
Arriving in town hall the dog introduced herself as Isabelle, the secretary of town hall. MY secretary to be specific. I, again, tried to explain to her that I was her only for a development assistant job and that I had a talk with the mayor, Mr. Tortimer, about it. Confused, she told me that Mr. Tortimer had indeed been the mayor of Wildwood, but that he had retired just a month ago. Apparently, he had told Isabelle that he had placed an ad for a new mayor and that I, Melyora, was qualified and had taken on the job.
After talking a bit back and forth about how this came to be, we settled to just go along with it. As Isabella said it, the difference between a development assistant and mayor in this town was non-existent, so I could just be mayor for the time being.
Housing, it seemed, wasn?t settled either. Isabelle explained to me that I could have my own house build and that I should visit Tom Nook on Main Street, on the other side of the train racks. After that we would finish my resident registration and we would start on being mayor tomorrow.
So off I went again, north over the train racks to visit Tom Nook.
Tom Nook turned out to be a raccoon. He was friendly and talked business, from which color roof I wanted to where I wanted him to build. ?I haven?t had a good look around town yet,? I apologised. ?Color me unsurprised!? he laughed. ?You DID just move here, after all, and there?s no sense rushing into anything!? I awkwardly laughed, as I had a feeling I was kind of rushing into things today?
Tom Nook offered to take a stroll around town with him to see if I could find a plot of land that I liked. While walking around, I asked who managed to land and trees in town and he replied that no one in particular did. All the villagers did a bit of this and that, and it was free for taking.
Now, with me being mayor, I?d have the authority to cut the trees down and do what I want, but Tom Nook warned me that the villagers might or might not be pleased by my actions. When I told him I was planning to make it greener, at least, when the snow was gone, with more trees and flowers, he looked pleased and smiled. ?I suppose that would make everyone very happy! The old mayor wanted to do so, but he couldn?t by himself, and the villagers have no clue about landscaping, so they?re no help. Just look at where Francine build her house!? He pointed towards a grey house with a blue fence that we were walking towards. I could see Tom Nook was right, as Francine had a rock placed like 3 foot from her front door, and her house was on a strip of land that got smaller and smaller because the river widened her. Right, I would not ask her for help during my own house plotting quest.
We walked on and on until I got a bit of feeling for the town. I told Tom Nook where I wanted my house and we went over there. A spot where the river bended twice, creating a U-shaped river and a plot of land, almost like an island. ?Yes, yes! So you would like to build your house here?? Tom Nook asked. ?Yep! Here!? He nodded and went around inspecting the plot of land. He commented on the nice location, near the river for fishing and being in nature. I agreed and Tom Nook put some poles in the ground to mark the area. He told me I needed to pay a down payment before they?d start building a house.
When I expressed my worry about a sleeping place, he thought a little, then pulled out a package from his backpack. ?Here?s a tent for you then. A bit shabby, but it will have to do until the house is finished. Come see me soon for that! And you?ll have to let Isabelle know where you?re going to live. Tada!? And off he went. I sighed, still confused by this strange day, and set about putting up the yellow tent.
I soon returned to Town Hall and Isabelle. She asked me about the place, and I said it was perfect, but I was worried about the payments and I was living in a tent for now. Isabelle sympathetically tried to cheer me up and suggested ways to pay for it.
We started finishing up my registration. After confirming my birthday, August 21st, she stamped a card and handed it over to me. She called it the Town Pass Card, or TPC for short, which was my proof of residency in Wildwood. I expressed my concern about the tent and not having anything to sleep on. I had my suitcase and bag for clothes, but sleeping in a tent on the cold bottom didn?t really appeal to me. ?Well, I believe Reese has a bed for sale,? Isabelle told me. ?She owns Retail, the recycling shop in town. You can?t miss it, it?s bright pink!,? she said cheerfully. ?But I have little to no money on me now,? I lamented. ?How can I afford a bed?? ?You can try to pick up shells from the beach or taking the apples from the trees and sell them at Retail. That should at least allow you to buy a bed I suppose,? Isabelle answered. ?I?ll check around town hall as well for some stuff. It?s getting late already, so I?ll explain more about it tomorrow! I?ll help you to get to know Wildwood and what you can do to make a living. But first!? she smiled gleefully, ?I would like to invite you to your welcome ceremony at the Town Plaza! Just follow me!? There was no disagreeing with Isabelle.
We walked over to the Town Plaza, which was located on the north-east corner of town. We walked past a pink store that I recognized as Retail. The three villagers that had welcomed me were already there, plus two others I didn?t recognize. Isabelle did the introductions. The bear was named Groucho, Felicity was the kitten and Cousteau the frog, who introduced himself as a chef or cook of some kind. Then there was a rabbit with a blue polka-dot headgear, who introduced herself as Francine, whom Tom Nook had spoken of. I?m not sure what she thought of me. And then there was Nana, a pink monkey who seemed very happy to meet me. Isabelle then gave a little sapling and asked me to plant it to commemorate me becoming mayor of Wildwood. It gave me a little fright, this seemed to make this whole mayor-thing kind of official, but I couldn?t say no, right? Everybody looked so expectant and happy. Maybe I could do this. Maybe I could become the mayor of this town. Maybe I?d even become a great mayor! There was no turning back now.
I took the sapling from Isabelle and surely but carefully planted it in the ground. Isabelle then happily and seemingly proud announced me officially becoming the mayor of Wildwood!
After a short talk with Isabelle and the other villagers I took off to collects some shells at the beach and every apple I could find nearby. I had to take out the map to find where I could access the beach, but I found it in the end. Back I went to Retail. Inside retail I met Reese and Timmy, a young raccoon that looked like Tom Nook. Turned out he and his twin brother are Tom Nook?s nephew and they own their own shop on Main Street. After promising I?d finish soon, Reese bought my apples from me, and wow, these things are worth a fortune! I was easily able to buy the bed. Together with Reese we put it on a small tow-cart and I was able to safely bring the bed to the tent, my ?home?.
I was starting to feel weary from this long day, when I heard Isabelle outside my tent. ?Mayor Melyora? Are you there?? I opened up the tent and Isabelle scooted in. ?Sorry to intrude!,? she said when she entered. ?Wow! So Exciting! It?s just like you?re camping, isn?t it?! It reminds me a lot of my childhood! Anyway, Melyora, I brought you something nice!? From behind her back she handed me a lantern. She had found it in the storage of Town Hall and thought I?d be perfect for me, since I would be sleeping in a tent. I truthfully thanked her for it, because during this whole day, Isabelle has been giving me a helping hand. We talked for a little while before realizing it was already getting quite late. ?I should be going!? Isabelle said. ?Tomorrow will be another eventful day. I hope you?ll come see me at Town Hall, Mayor Melyora!? After wishing her a good night, she went off and I went to bed.
I wondered what tomorrow would bring with me being mayor of this little town of Wildwood.
// I hope you like this blog! I'll try to post a little each day, but when all the major things from the beginning are done, I'll try to keep updating every week or so. Suggestions are very welcome! I might also went to implement some guess-games for you guys, like when a random villager moves in, I'll give a short description and I wonder who you think it will be! \\
[ Day 1 ] A New Job, A New Life!
Today was moving day.
After finishing school I decided to move out of my parents? house and live on my own. Being fresh out of college, I didn?t have a job yet and I had been searching for job ads and the like. One in particular caught my interest. A mayor from a small town was looking for an assistant in the development-plan of the town, specifically on creating a recreative, nature-friendly town. As someone who studied plants, insects and nature I applied immediately. As the town was far away from my parents? home the solicitation took place through Skype.
An elderly turtle, Mr. Tortimer, who was the mayor of the town, was very friendly and enthusiastic. Strangely enough, at the end of the conversation, I was hired! The housing would be taken care of upon arrival, the mayor had said. Most things would be provided for, I only needed to take my essentials with me (how strange).
After arranging this and that, 2 months later it was time to move to my new home and my new job!
The train ride was almost 4 hours. After 2 hours the train got less and less crowdy. We were heading to a small outback town, as the mayor had explained to me during the talk. In the last half hour only me and a blue cat remained. He had looked my way occasionally during the ride, but not alarmingly so. At some point he got up and walked over to me.
?Oh! Excuse me! I have a quick question for you. It?s now 4.33 p.m. on January 15th, 2018, right?? I whipped my phone from my pocket and confirmed the time and date. ?I was right! Oh good!? the cat replied. ?I?m just gonna plop down in the seat across from you. If you don?t mind, of course!? Not that I had any say in the matter, cause he went and sat down anyway.
?By the way, you?? he started, before interrupting himself. ?Can I ask your name?? ?I?m Melyora,? I replied. ?Nice to meet you, Melyora, I?m Rover!? What followed was a conversation about where I was headed. ?To Wildwood,? I said. It didn?t sound familiar to Rover, and he pulled out the train map and asked me to point the town out. I told him I was moving there to a new job and I?d never been there before.
He worried if I would have a place to say, but assured him it was taken care of (how wrong I was).
Then the conductor announced our arrival in Wildwood. After saying goodbye to Rover, I grabbed my bag and suitcase and headed to the doors. I headed out of the train, waving one last time to Rover and went out into the town of Wildwood.
Upon exiting the train station, 4 people stood in line in front of it. Waiting for me apparently, cause a round of whispers started as soon as they saw me. ?Yo, you see that girl?? a grumpy blue bear said. ?It?s totally her!? a smiling kitten with girlish hairdo said. ?All right. We should say hi or something,? a moustached frog said.
A yellow dog called them to order, and as if rehearsed, they shouted a big ?WELCOME? for me. It gave me a little fright.
?Mayor! We couldn?t be happier to see you arrive safe and sound!? the dog said. ?You think I?m a mayor?? I asked her, confused. She as well seemed confused by my response. Then she laughed. ?Oh, come one! Quit joking around. You know exactly who you are!? Well, I was started to doubt who I was by the second. ?You told us which train you?d be arriving on!? I did tell the old mayor that, but still, I knew nothing of becoming mayor. ?You?re mistaken,? I tried to explain. ?You?re not getting cold feet, are you?? the dog asked, looking a bit sad. ?Don?t be silly! You?ll be fine! There?s nothing to worry about.? I was still not sure about the whole event, but as she was trying to cheer me up, I went along with it. She invited me to the town hall, the discuss the situation further. She handed me a map of town and together we walked to the town hall, which was just a little to the west from the station.
As we walked through the snow she chatted about the town and pointed out the apple trees, for which the town apparently is famous in the neighbourhood. I perked up a bit, as apples are my favourite fruit and in my head some ideas started on how to work with the apple trees in developing the town (as I was supposed to with the job). The town already looked pretty, covered in powdery white snow, but I already saw ways to improve it.
Arriving in town hall the dog introduced herself as Isabelle, the secretary of town hall. MY secretary to be specific. I, again, tried to explain to her that I was her only for a development assistant job and that I had a talk with the mayor, Mr. Tortimer, about it. Confused, she told me that Mr. Tortimer had indeed been the mayor of Wildwood, but that he had retired just a month ago. Apparently, he had told Isabelle that he had placed an ad for a new mayor and that I, Melyora, was qualified and had taken on the job.
After talking a bit back and forth about how this came to be, we settled to just go along with it. As Isabella said it, the difference between a development assistant and mayor in this town was non-existent, so I could just be mayor for the time being.
Housing, it seemed, wasn?t settled either. Isabelle explained to me that I could have my own house build and that I should visit Tom Nook on Main Street, on the other side of the train racks. After that we would finish my resident registration and we would start on being mayor tomorrow.
So off I went again, north over the train racks to visit Tom Nook.
Tom Nook turned out to be a raccoon. He was friendly and talked business, from which color roof I wanted to where I wanted him to build. ?I haven?t had a good look around town yet,? I apologised. ?Color me unsurprised!? he laughed. ?You DID just move here, after all, and there?s no sense rushing into anything!? I awkwardly laughed, as I had a feeling I was kind of rushing into things today?
Tom Nook offered to take a stroll around town with him to see if I could find a plot of land that I liked. While walking around, I asked who managed to land and trees in town and he replied that no one in particular did. All the villagers did a bit of this and that, and it was free for taking.
Now, with me being mayor, I?d have the authority to cut the trees down and do what I want, but Tom Nook warned me that the villagers might or might not be pleased by my actions. When I told him I was planning to make it greener, at least, when the snow was gone, with more trees and flowers, he looked pleased and smiled. ?I suppose that would make everyone very happy! The old mayor wanted to do so, but he couldn?t by himself, and the villagers have no clue about landscaping, so they?re no help. Just look at where Francine build her house!? He pointed towards a grey house with a blue fence that we were walking towards. I could see Tom Nook was right, as Francine had a rock placed like 3 foot from her front door, and her house was on a strip of land that got smaller and smaller because the river widened her. Right, I would not ask her for help during my own house plotting quest.
We walked on and on until I got a bit of feeling for the town. I told Tom Nook where I wanted my house and we went over there. A spot where the river bended twice, creating a U-shaped river and a plot of land, almost like an island. ?Yes, yes! So you would like to build your house here?? Tom Nook asked. ?Yep! Here!? He nodded and went around inspecting the plot of land. He commented on the nice location, near the river for fishing and being in nature. I agreed and Tom Nook put some poles in the ground to mark the area. He told me I needed to pay a down payment before they?d start building a house.
When I expressed my worry about a sleeping place, he thought a little, then pulled out a package from his backpack. ?Here?s a tent for you then. A bit shabby, but it will have to do until the house is finished. Come see me soon for that! And you?ll have to let Isabelle know where you?re going to live. Tada!? And off he went. I sighed, still confused by this strange day, and set about putting up the yellow tent.
I soon returned to Town Hall and Isabelle. She asked me about the place, and I said it was perfect, but I was worried about the payments and I was living in a tent for now. Isabelle sympathetically tried to cheer me up and suggested ways to pay for it.
We started finishing up my registration. After confirming my birthday, August 21st, she stamped a card and handed it over to me. She called it the Town Pass Card, or TPC for short, which was my proof of residency in Wildwood. I expressed my concern about the tent and not having anything to sleep on. I had my suitcase and bag for clothes, but sleeping in a tent on the cold bottom didn?t really appeal to me. ?Well, I believe Reese has a bed for sale,? Isabelle told me. ?She owns Retail, the recycling shop in town. You can?t miss it, it?s bright pink!,? she said cheerfully. ?But I have little to no money on me now,? I lamented. ?How can I afford a bed?? ?You can try to pick up shells from the beach or taking the apples from the trees and sell them at Retail. That should at least allow you to buy a bed I suppose,? Isabelle answered. ?I?ll check around town hall as well for some stuff. It?s getting late already, so I?ll explain more about it tomorrow! I?ll help you to get to know Wildwood and what you can do to make a living. But first!? she smiled gleefully, ?I would like to invite you to your welcome ceremony at the Town Plaza! Just follow me!? There was no disagreeing with Isabelle.
We walked over to the Town Plaza, which was located on the north-east corner of town. We walked past a pink store that I recognized as Retail. The three villagers that had welcomed me were already there, plus two others I didn?t recognize. Isabelle did the introductions. The bear was named Groucho, Felicity was the kitten and Cousteau the frog, who introduced himself as a chef or cook of some kind. Then there was a rabbit with a blue polka-dot headgear, who introduced herself as Francine, whom Tom Nook had spoken of. I?m not sure what she thought of me. And then there was Nana, a pink monkey who seemed very happy to meet me. Isabelle then gave a little sapling and asked me to plant it to commemorate me becoming mayor of Wildwood. It gave me a little fright, this seemed to make this whole mayor-thing kind of official, but I couldn?t say no, right? Everybody looked so expectant and happy. Maybe I could do this. Maybe I could become the mayor of this town. Maybe I?d even become a great mayor! There was no turning back now.
I took the sapling from Isabelle and surely but carefully planted it in the ground. Isabelle then happily and seemingly proud announced me officially becoming the mayor of Wildwood!
After a short talk with Isabelle and the other villagers I took off to collects some shells at the beach and every apple I could find nearby. I had to take out the map to find where I could access the beach, but I found it in the end. Back I went to Retail. Inside retail I met Reese and Timmy, a young raccoon that looked like Tom Nook. Turned out he and his twin brother are Tom Nook?s nephew and they own their own shop on Main Street. After promising I?d finish soon, Reese bought my apples from me, and wow, these things are worth a fortune! I was easily able to buy the bed. Together with Reese we put it on a small tow-cart and I was able to safely bring the bed to the tent, my ?home?.
I was starting to feel weary from this long day, when I heard Isabelle outside my tent. ?Mayor Melyora? Are you there?? I opened up the tent and Isabelle scooted in. ?Sorry to intrude!,? she said when she entered. ?Wow! So Exciting! It?s just like you?re camping, isn?t it?! It reminds me a lot of my childhood! Anyway, Melyora, I brought you something nice!? From behind her back she handed me a lantern. She had found it in the storage of Town Hall and thought I?d be perfect for me, since I would be sleeping in a tent. I truthfully thanked her for it, because during this whole day, Isabelle has been giving me a helping hand. We talked for a little while before realizing it was already getting quite late. ?I should be going!? Isabelle said. ?Tomorrow will be another eventful day. I hope you?ll come see me at Town Hall, Mayor Melyora!? After wishing her a good night, she went off and I went to bed.
I wondered what tomorrow would bring with me being mayor of this little town of Wildwood.
// I hope you like this blog! I'll try to post a little each day, but when all the major things from the beginning are done, I'll try to keep updating every week or so. Suggestions are very welcome! I might also went to implement some guess-games for you guys, like when a random villager moves in, I'll give a short description and I wonder who you think it will be! \\
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