TBT's Winter Short Story Contest

[digimon]

An Unexpected Guest

Spoiler

"Ah..Ahhh...AH-CHOO!" I let out a loud sneeze before turning over to my other side with a groan. I still can't believe I caught a cold from staying out too long the other day. It was the first snowfall and I spent too much time trying to perfect my snowman making skills. All was eerily at home, I miss the sound of my friends laughter as we spend time together. All that could be heard was the faint sound of my wall clock ticking and the occasional drip from my sloppy sink. The soft glow from my muted juicy apple tv casts shadows that dance in the dimly lit room. "I wish I'd hurry up and start feeling better soon..." I let out with a tired sigh. All of a sudden, a gentle knock could be heard from the door.

"Who is it?" I called out, my voice sounding more hoarse than i expected it to be. I was worried that I looked more disheveled than usual. "It's me Honeybun! Puck! I heard you weren't feeling well." I opened the door and couldn't help but smile at the penguin standing at my doorway. "Oh Puck, you didn't have to come all this way." I moved out of the way to let him pass. He waddled in before turning to face me. "Nonsense! I heard from Bob that you were still feeling under the weather brrrrr!" He was all bundled up, scarf tied tightly to protect his face from the cold. "Here Puck, let me take your coat! Come warm up by the fire. You must be freezing from your walk over!" He was holding a purple bag with little blue flowers embroidered onto it. "Wait I came over to come have lunch with you. I figured you were feeling lonely after being cooped up at home these past few days." Suddenly he was ushering me over to the dining room. "I thought I'd try making you some soup Honeybun! It's a new recipe so I figured I would bring some over for you to try!" He beamed. "Here! You go sit down and I'll set the table"

He came back with two bowls, spoons and a ladle. He opened the purple bag he came with and pulled out a ceramic soup container. It was decorated with little hockey sticks and hockey pucks. He lifted the lid and steam rose from the container, revealing a lovely cream of broccoli soup. "This smells fantastic Puck." I said with a warm smile. "Thanks! It was hard to stick to the recipe! I really wanted to add my leftover jelly doughnuts into the soup but figured I'd save the experimenting for when I cook for myself." He let out a laugh and I internally let out the biggest sigh of relief he followed a recipe for once. He ladled a few spoonful of soup into my bowl before doing the same for himself. "Well, dig in!" I lifted a spoonful to my mouth, taking a bite out of some broccoli. Suddenly, I felt an almost overwhelming sense of relief and warmth. It felt so nice to have someone be kind enough to do something so generous and so thoughtful.

I felt my eyes grow warm with tears. "Honeybun, are you okay? Do you still feel sick?" I smiled and let out a sniffle. "No, I feel much better now Puck. I'm just so glad to have a friend like you. I can't thank you enough." Puck beamed back. "Of course! After all, what are best friends for?"

 

[moo_nieu]

"Filbert's Snowy Adventure"

Spoiler: ❄

One chilly December morning, Filbert peaked open an eye and drew the blankets over his head. It's too cold to get up just yet, he thought. "WAIT!" Filbert exclaimed as he sat up in bed with all the force his tiny squirrel body could muster. "Fang said the weather forecast predicted today would be the first day of snow!" Filbert rushed to his window, pressing his face against the ice cold glass. "The magical forecast was right!" Filbert sprang from bed, grabbed his warmest tobaggan and sweater, and pulled them on. He opened his door, and sunlight and crisp winter air filled the room. "I can't wait!" he yelled as he ran, stumbling through the door and into the snow.

"AAHHH! It's so cold!" Filbert ran through the snow as fast as his little legs would take him. His open smile was pointed towards the sky. In the distance, Filbert noticed Tybalt and Rudy running around like airplanes. Their tongues were stuck far out of their mouths. "Oh, does the cold air taste good?!" Filbert asked excitedly as he ran closer to the two jocks.
"Tybalt and I are trying to see who can catch the most snowflakes on their tongue!" Rudy exclaimed as he almost ran straight into a tree. "Whoa, that was a close one!" Rudy said as he laughed.
"Yeah, I had a strong lead of 110 snowflakes, but then Rudy ran into a tree shaking a ton of snow into his mouth. We couldn't count all the snowflakes, but we're pretty sure Rudy is in the lead now. I'm not giving up yet though!" Tybalt gave a look of confidence and a quick flex.
"That looks fun!" Filbert started to run around with them but quickly got tired. "Phew, you two are fast. Thanks for the game, but I'm off to discover more fun things about snow!"

Filbert walked to the edge of the neighborhood and headed into the forest. All that running made me hungry, but this snow is too cold to eat, and it just turns to water when I try. I bet I can grab a few oranges from the trees in front of Turnip's farm! I'm sure she won't mind as long as I save a few for her. As Filbert climbed the hill, he saw orange trees appearing in the distance. He started running toward them, but stopped in his tracks once he saw a giant black beetle rolling a snowball larger than its own body. "WHOA!!!" Filbert exclaimed, scaring the beetle off. "No, don't fly away!! I'm sorry, Beetle!" But it was too late. Filbert looked down at the snowball and thought to himself, I wonder what the beetle was doing rolling up the snow. "He must have been making snowfolk!" Filbert felt a rush of energy through his body as he noticed a second snowball close by. "I'll help you build a snowboy, Beetle!" Filbert shouted to the void. He started by rolling up the ball that the beetle had left behind. This is cold work, he thought. The snowball grew larger and larger until it was so big that Filbert could not see ahead of it. "Alright, I think this one is about finished, I'll roll it over by this tree so---" CLUNK. Filbert ran the snowball right into the tree trunk. SHHHRRP. The impact dislodged the snow on the tree, covering Filbert in a frozen pile.

Filbert was packed in the snow tightly. He tried to dig a way out, but despite his best efforts, he could not move. Who knew that something so fun could also be so scary.. and cold, Filbert thought to himself, shivering. I never even got to eat an orange, he thought as he wondered if he would ever be warm again. Suddenly, he heard someone running nearby; their footsteps seemed to be getting louder.
"FILBERT! IS THAT YOU?!" shouted a voice too muffled by snow to identify.
"Yes! Please help! I'm really cold under here!" Filbert replied. The snow started moving around Filbert, and he could feel the pile getting lighter. All of the sudden, blinding sunlight was in his eyes. "Thank you so much!" Filbert exclaimed as he rubbed his eyes, "you saved me!" He looked up to see Tybalt and Rudy.
"No problem, man! Let's get you warm," Tybalt said as he scooped Filbert into his arms.
"Yeah, Ursula has a huge fireplace; let's take him there!" Rudy offered. The group headed quickly back into town while Filbert shivered in Tybalt's arms.

"URUSLAAA!! Come quick! It's an emergency!!!" Rudy shouted as he repeatedly knocked on the door.
"Grrrr.. What is all this racket?! It's not even 11am yet, Ursula shouted back as she reluctantly opened the door. "Oh no, get him in here quickly," she said once she saw her tiny frozen friend. "I know just how to help." Ursula opened her dresser and grabbed a couple fuzzy blankets. She wrapped two of the largest blankets around Filbert and placed the adorable bundle on her sofa. "I'll make us some hot cocoa now. That should do the trick!" Ursula smirked as she headed towards her kitchen.
"Yeah!! Ursula is the best!" Rudy shouted as he sat next to the fireplace, wrapping a blanket around himself.
"For sure! Ursula's got the biggest kindness muscles on the whole island," Tybalt agreed as he grabbed a blanket for himself. "It's a good thing we put a hold on our snowflake catching competition to go patrol the island," he offered as he sat on the sofa next to Filbert. Snuggly Filbert sat up, pulling the blankets around him even closer, and pointed his nose towards the kitchen.
"Mmmmm... chocolate."

 

[Emolga59]

‘Secret’ Area

Every year in the land of Starfall there’s one night in particular where the temperature is always below -25℃. The villagers would always be extremely sad and gloomy that day… well, except for one.

Maple has always loved the extremely cold weather, she’s pronounced to be an expert hibernator, no one has ever figured out her methods of keeping happy and warm during these times.

The day before the temperature dropped, maple was found outside of her house digging up a hole from the ground, Marshal had seen and decided to sneakily follow her inside. He wondered what maple did as she usually was nowhere to be found during this time of day.

Marshal asked Maple, “Hey!! Why are you digging up a hole, you trying to find something?”

Maple then responds “No, I’m not actually. I know you’re very curious so I might as well show you what I’ve been storing in my hole.”

Marshal is very intrigued and eager to figure out what maple does, he and the other residents strongly believe that it’s about the annual cold night of December.

He then says “I’d love to come! I’ve always been curious about how you can be so positive in such disgusting weather.

Maple begins to venture inside what seems to be a tunnel she made, Marshal follows her.

Marshal then thinks to himself “I wonder how Maple finds it so easy to navigate her way through, maybe it’s because she’s been here a lot more than I think.”

As they get further down, the darker it gets and Marshal starts to frequently lose balance, he then trips and falls quite a bit.

Maple tells Marshal “we’re here! Hope you enjoy your stay” but she glances around in confusion because Marshal, is nowhere to be found.

She then worryingly says “M- Marshal?”

Then, from below, she hears a muffled voice which is presumably marshals.

“Maple, Maple, Maple… Get off”

She then looks below and finds marshal crushed beneath her feet and then apologizes to him for being on top of him.

Marshal says “no it’s ok, I’m not hurt!” To maples relief.

Marshal looks around and sees plenty of food, wood, books and all you can dream of in the underground hole that maple has kept hidden for all this time.

“Wow” said Marshal. He then asks, “How long have you kept this a secret?”

She then responds “I’ve had this for about 2 years now, I made it about 4 months after I first moved to this island”

Confused, Marshal asks her “why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Maple responds by “I didn’t think anyone would want to know so I thought, why tell people out of the blue?”

Marshal then tells her that “the entire island was curious about your frequent disappearances on this very cold day.” He then adds, “we always questioned your excitement, but now I know why you love this day.”

More time passes and eventually, it’s time for Marshal to depart and go back to his home.

Marshal tells maple “thank you so much for having me over! This area truly is amazing!!”

Maple insists “No, thank you for coming! It’s much nicer to have someone else to be there with you!”

Marshal proceeds to head home and tells all the villagers about the wonders of Maples ‘secret’ area and how fortunate he was to be able to experience it on this day.


The End

 

[Dinosaurz]

I am very sleep deprived but here u go

Spoiler

I wake up with a sudden startle. I hear the sound of a rhythmic knocking at the front door. *BANG BANG BANG* echoes through the barren walls of my house.
Rushing to the door to open it to a familiar face, Tom Nook stands there with a menacing stare. “This is the 5th day you’re late on your rent” he exclaims to me.
“I’m sorry! Just with business it’s been difficult to keep a job down” I say. “That’s no excuse, I am a very busy man! Lots of powerful connections” he responds to me. “Listen! I’m sorry, I will pay off this debt” I try to convince to him. “I will gladly pay off your debts if you just do one thing.... help me with a few “tasks”” he says. A chill goes through my spine... I remember last time this happened. The manual labour, hours upon hours of hard work. “Do I have a choice?” I respond. “No, not really. Very good! I need you to steal some priceless artefacts from the museum” he tells me. “what? I can’t! That’s illegal I’ll get in trouble” I respond. “Do you really want to be homeless this winter? Is that what you want.” He hands me a note of blueprints and walks away.

With a great huff I grab the note and start reading. The notes are hurried sketches of the layout of the museum and the value of some artefacts. One thing above all stands out... a very expensive painting of KK slider. I can’t do this! I think to myself.
I’m not a criminal! I cannot perform a heist due to peer pressure. But I recall the feelings of being outside during winter. The cold snow. I have no choice I tell myself and start preparing.

The 12th of February.
The big day to finally steal back the painting. I climb in through the window to the museum trying not to set off any alarms. I choice the day as I knew blathers would be asleep. The sun peering through the windows means I have a higher chance of being seen, but I have no option. I tiptoe through the halls of the museum looking at the beautiful objects.
I carefully look at everything until I see it... the painting. I pick out my knife and begin to cut it out. Carefully making sure to not damage the painting while trying to remove the frame.
I successfully achieve my goal and roll up the painting into my red backpack.
Feeling accomplished I go to run away yet out of the corner of my eye... I see a menacing stare.
Two eyes looking at me. I panic and go to run away, but the figure chases me. I run and run until my lungs run out of air. I feel the grab on my shoulder and tumble on the ground.
“I caught you red handed buddy stop resisting” I hear the deep voice say to me. I recognise his face, it’s Cooper. “Please let me go” I plead to him “I’ll put it back”. “It’s too late for that, you’re going away for a long time”. He says. I curl up into a ball as the impending sirens approach. I stand up and get into the back of the cop car.
I see blathers in front of me disappointed and the cop car whisks me away.

It may be bad but at least it’s not my immortal.

 

[tessa grace]

I've never written fanfiction for anything before but its fine... hopefully-
Chevre and the Shooting Star

Spoiler

“Good evening, everyone!” Isabelle’s cheery voice echoed over the daily broadcast. “Today is Sunday, January 31st, and the time is currently 9:47 pm. I can’t believe that it’s the last day of January!”

Chevre’s eyes fluttered open. She gasped. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep! I’m about to miss the broadcast! I hope I don’t…” Chevre quickly jumped out of bed and opened her dresser, digging through the different shirts and coats that Tessagrace had gifted her over the months she had lived here. She grabbed her signature red parka (with little poof balls at the end) and put it on. Then Chevre quickly opened her door and hurried outside.

Chevre’s pink rustic door opened, the town tune “Fighting Dreamers” from Naruto playing softly on bells in the background. Standing in front of Chevre was Tessagrace. Tess was gasping from running too much, and she had grabbed a towel from Chevre’s clothesline to wipe off the sweat.

“Please don’t use my towel like that…” Chevre frowned. It didn’t matter anyway, as her clothes had frozen from the cold snow recently.

Tessagrace laughed. “Oh, sorry.” She set the towel down. “Anyway, sorry for getting here so late tonight. You missed the broadcast. There wasn’t anything important, though. Just Isabelle talking about her stupid TV habits again-”

“Hey, guys! Guess what! There actually is something going on!” Jeremiah ran across the snow towards the two girls on the dirt path, with Tangy closely following behind him. They were always together, hanging out around town, talking about food and pop culture. Jeremiah had an interesting interest for fashion, which was something that Tangy considered herself an expert on. So, they just, clicked.

Jeremiah’s little blue feet were running, almost hopping over the fences to get to Chevre and Tessagrace. “Wait up!” Tangy complained. “Remember, I’m not a frog! I can’t jump like you do.”

They stopped in front of the goat and human, and Jeremiah used his sheepish reaction. “Sorry, I forgot.” Chevre and Tangy laughed.

Tangy then gasped dramatically, her little citrus leaf on her head gleaming with melted snow. “Ohmygosh! I was so tired with that running that I almost forgot! We have something awesome to tell you guys! It’s really important.”

Chevre looked at them expectantly. “Well, what is it then?”

“I got some new gravy and I’m going to make mashed potatoes!” Jeremiah giggled playfully. “Potatoes for days and da-”

“No, not that!” Tangy elbowed Jeremiah. “Something MUCH more important than some gravy. Celeste is here!”

For the first time during the conversation, Tessagrace spoke up. “Really?! Finally! I’ve been waiting for weeks to find her, but Nintendo- I mean fate, just would not cooperate! Where is she?”

Chevre laughed again. “Look at you! You’re wearing clothes that aren’t very appropriate for the weather. Maybe you’ll want to change first.” She gestured to the ‘Elmo on Fire’ tank and black pleather skirt that Tessagrace was wearing. Tessagrace looked down at her outfit. “Oh, I forgot to change again! My bad. Okay guys, I’ll be right back!” Without another word, Tess turned around and left the three animals in the dust.

Jeremiah shook his head. “You guys really just can’t appreciate gravy, can you?”

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙​

Chevre and Tessagrace set out, this time in much better attire. Tess was wearing a froggy dress with a matching umbrella, her braided blonde hair in a brown tulip hair. She was wearing white flower tights and green Mary Janes as well. Chevre was still wearing the same red poncho, but it was cute with her sparkling eyes, nonetheless.

They walked along the stone path on the cliffs for a while, and then up and down the ramps to different areas, even through the orchard and marketplace, but they could not find Celeste anywhere! Tessa ran back and forth, looked through her telescope, and even messaged her online friends to see if they knew what was up. Eventually, though, Chevre and Tessagrace had to give up. Tess sat down on a stool next to her ramen stand and sighed in disbelief.

“I can’t believe we still can’t find her! This is so frustrating!” She cried out. Chevre frowned.

“It isn’t that bad, is it? I mean, its just a silly DIY you barely even need-”

“I know, but I already got my monthly DIY recipe, so I have a chance of getting one of the pretty glowing stars! I have been wanting them for AGES.” Tessagrace complained. “It’s not like you even care though, I mean all you do is walk back and forth for hours and talk about the weather-” Tessa caught herself. “Sorry, I’m just so frustrated but I probably should not have let my anger out on you.”

Chevre looked hurt by Tessagrace’s words. “You didn’t actually mean that… did you? I always worry that I’m so bland.”

Tessagrace laughed. “You aren’t bland at all! Sure, you say the same things sometimes over and over, but don’t we all? You’re doing great.”

They exchanged a hug and then began to dig into the New Years Noodles sitting in front of them. Chevre and Tessagrace talked for hours, laughing and reminiscing about another town with trains and a main street that they used to live on together.

“Remember when Yuka was the only one who dressed formal on New Years’ Eve and everyone felt really bad that they didn’t dress fancy either?” Tessa remembered suddenly.

They both started laughing. “Totally! It was so uncomfortable; you could just tell that Yuka felt bad. Sometimes I wish we both hadn’t moved away from Willow. There were so many good memories there.” Chevre said.

“Yeah, there were. But here in Amaryllis, we have more customization- er I mean, fun times together!”

“You’re right.” Chevre’s eyes went wide. “Look! A shooting star! Quick! Make a wish before its too late!”

Tessagrace but her hands up to her chest and closed her eyes. She was about to wish for the DIY that she wanted but suddenly, her heart changed.

✧I wish, that I could have more fun times like this with my villagers...✧

“Open your eyes! What did you wish for?” Chevre nudged Tessagrace gently. She opened her eyes.

“Oh, I’m not going to say. Isn’t keeping it a secret the most intriguing part?” Tessagrace smiled warmly.

The starlight glimmered in Chevre’s eyes. “I guess so.” She said wistfully. The 12:00 am town tune rang, and it began to snow. The tiny snowflakes seemed to sparkle and glimmer more than the meteor shower up above.

“Well, I better get going.” Tessagrace said. “Thanks for stargazing with me!”

“You too, Tess.”

Chevre walked home alone late that night, but when she got into bed for real, she thought of all the fun memories and years that Tessa and she had spent together. She turned on her lamp and pulled out some constellation stationary.

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙​

Dear Tessagrace,

Thank you for believing in dreams and wishing on that star! Even though I couldn’t find you on the island, I knew you were there. Your wish has been granted. Here is your Starry Garland DIY that you have been searching for! Remember to always believe in stars and enjoy constellations.
Yours,
✧ Celeste ✧

Tessagrace set the letter down on her table and smiled. Tess knew that this letter didn’t have Celeste’s handwriting. Instead, it was Chevre’s messy cursive. Tess then whispered to nobody in particular, “Thank you for being a fantastic friend. That matters so much more than some silly DIY.”

✧The end✧​

 

[empressbethie]

A story about our islands looking after us

Spoiler

Emily


Emily sits in her living room, picking at the lacy rug by the fireplace. Really she should be waiting by the door, but having waited hours now for her call from Tom or Isabelle, she’s eager for a change of scenery. From the Town Hall comes the chiming of the Town Tune. Emily isn’t sure what time it’s meant to signal—the clock is upstairs in the bedroom—but she knows it can’t be good. She’d seen the snow out the window this morning, had been so excited to run in it, catch snowflakes, maybe even build a snowman, but she can’t go out—not yet.

By the time Isabelle’s call comes through on her NookPhone, the Town Tune has chimed twice more and Emily has wandered around the house. Emily can tell that Isabelle is disappointed that she isn’t by the door as The Player enters the island, but hears her nonetheless on the official broadcast talking endlessly about the TV show she watched last night, buying Emily enough time to rush upstairs, fill her pockets and get to the door.

The Player is clearly excited about the snow too, making Emily run around the island a bit before finally dragging her off to Nook’s Cranny. Timmy is his usual excitable self, but she notices Tommy pass her a look, raising his voice slightly higher than usual to finish Timmy’s sentences as they welcome her to the store. She’s grateful for Tommy’s concern, but doesn’t get to enjoy it very long, being wrenched from the store before she has any opportunity of letting him know she’s heard it. She’s often jealous of the animals on the island, mostly free to wander as they please, unless it’s their turn to craft. The shopkeepers, while not controlled at whim, at least understand what it is to be stuck in one place. Emily makes a point of missing a couple of snowflakes The Player wants her to catch and scuffing a few flowers as The Player makes her run around in the snow some more. Eventually she runs into Zucker, but he only talks about bugs. Their preset conversation pieces are getting stale. The Player evidently thinks so too, because only a few seconds later, after turning Emily languidly around the empty plaza, The Player leaves.

At least Emily is already in position to attend the Post-Play Meeting (or PPM, everything around here has an abbreviation of some sort). Isabelle is out of the Town Hall almost immediately with her clipboard and smiles at Emily as they wait for the others to arrive. Soon enough, Bluebear shows up, followed by Timmy and Tommy and finally by Zucker. The PPMs used to be quite exciting when their days had been busy enough for everyone to attend, but now there’s only ever a handful of them there.

“Hello, everyone,” Isabelle finally chimes.”Total playtime was 7 minutes 48 seconds today. What went well today, please?”

There is a moment of silence before Zucker announces that we had a lovely conversation about bugs.

“And the player quit the game right after it.”

Emily realises a second too late that she’s been too harsh, watching Zucker’s eyes turn wide and dotted, as if he held his own galaxy within them. It’s a reaction he was taught to keep The Player emotionally invested in the island and its inhabitants, but it seems to come naturally to him now. “I’m sorry,” Emily says quickly, “you can only make those conversations so interesting.” The island animals are, in their own way, constrained by the rules of the game too.

Zucker seems happier after this, but still starts to look bored as Isabelle starts her assessment of the day. Emily is bored by it too and zones out until her attention is recalled by a gasp across the group. It takes several more turns of the conversation for Emily to catch up.

“But you were supposed to be on crafting duty!” Isabelle gasps.

“It was only the leaf mask recipe,” Bluebear sighs. “The Player hasn’t even crafted it since I gave it to her last time. Spying on The Player was far more important—she looked so sad.”

“I didn’t see Bluebear at all, so she must have been well hidden,” Emily replies.

“Still,” says an exasperated Isabelle, “that was very unprofessional of you.”

“We need to do something,” Emily exclaims, “The Player has been later and later getting me out the house and spends less and less time here on the island.” This remark prompts the expected lecture from Isabelle about punctuality. Emily hesitates before interrupting Isabelle, but something about this feels important. “I want to have a look at The Player too, we could get some ideas about why she’s not here as much.”

“She hasn’t bought anything from us for so long,” Timmy adds, followed immediately by Tommy’s sad ‘so long’.

“She might have been stung by wasps!” Zucker’s face changes again.

“Exactly!” Bluebear shouts. “We can set something up can’t we, Isabelle? We could blow a flurry of snowflakes somewhere, make something so wonderful that she has to get a picture of it. If she whistles us, we’ll have to look right at her!”

“That Zen Bridge by her house, over the river that comes from the waterfall by all the flowers,” says Emily. “It’s beautiful there, and it’s directly on the path between the house and Nook’s Cranny—we go over it every day.”

“I’m not sure,” Isabelle sighs, “but I must admit, The Player’s current routine hasn’t exactly been great from job satisfaction. It will give us something to work towards at least!”

And so that is exactly what they do. For the rest of the day, they work together to create a wonderful scene by the bridge. They can’t do much to change the area—Isabelle strongly objects to any bending of the rules—but they try. Zucker busies himself watering every flower in the area multiple times, causing new flowers to bloom in the gaps between them. Emily has no say in which flowers are planted on the island, but she must admit that the pink windflowers and purple hyacinths that bloom that night are some of her favourites. Meanwhile, Bluebear recruits Lolly to help her catch snowflakes from around the island and release them there, blowing on them gently to arrange them until Bluebear declares it perfect. Hamphrey, initially annoyed by the noise they were making near his house, soon joins in the project, coaxing bugs to the waterfall behind the bridge, creating a marvellous display, with the delicate common butterflies and magnificent blue emperors. Although they can’t do much about the placed items, Isabelle does allow them to give the Gorgeous Statue by the lake a little polish and to pick up some fallen branches.

It takes two days for The Player to return to the island, and Emily has to wait till evening at that. The Player takes Emily running over and past the bridge and Emily begins to feel more dejected than ever, when suddenly she is forced to brake, wander back to the bridge, and stare in wonder at the view. The new hybrid flowers have now had a chance to bloom, and Emily is suddenly glad that they waited the extra day. The butterflies have been joined by two damselflies, clearly drawn in by the blooms, while the sky is illuminated by the occasional shooting star and the snowflake lights that had been put up for Toy Day. The Player can hardly refuse to take some photos and she doesn’t, making Emily pull out the NookPhone in no time. Eventually, Emily hears the whistle and turns a little too quickly to look out through the screen and at The Player. She understands what Bluebear meant now—she does look sad, though Emily can’t quite place exactly how. She hasn’t had long to think this through, however, before her thoughts are interrupted by someone calling her name. It’s not a voice she recognises and, wishing she could freely turn her head to look, she is surprised to see The Player herself turn her head to respond.

“One minute,” The Player calls back, before shutting down the camera and forcing Emily to look away from the screen and back to the island. Just then a snowflake floats past Emily’s nose and The Player has her catch it, allowing Emily an extra glance directly at The Player to show it off. She finds that her smile matches her own.

Everyone runs to the plaza for the PPM that day, even though only Isabelle, Emily, and a well-hidden Bluebear had been on screen. They are all eager to hear how their efforts were received.

Isabelle, however, seems uncertain. “Total playtime was only 5 minutes 24 seconds today,” she announces, “did the plan not work?”

“No,” Emily replies, “it worked perfectly. She took lots of photos on the bridge. She just got called away—she’d just whistled me so I saw it all.”

The animals are jubilant, clapping and filling the air with flowers and musical notes.

“Her name is Emily too,” Emily says to Isabelle, after the animals have started to drift back to whatever they were doing before the PPM.

“Yes, it’s quite common for players to give Resident Representatives their own name. She probably made you look a lot like her too. It helps with immersion. Then they want to do more for the island then, you see.”

Emily thinks, starting to see some similarities between The Player’s appearance and her own: same eye colour, similar enough skin tone and hair colour, the blue wallpaper in both rooms, the grey puppy plushie and the real, barking dog she’d sometimes seen with The Player...

After that, I tried my best to make more days like that one, to get more smiles like that one. The animals on the island helped me, singing, dancing, running after bugs, all things that seemed to make Emily want to pull out her camera. Keeping a safe distance from me, they’d try to send bugs and snowflakes and balloons in my direction. We’d ask Blathers what fossils were still needed for the Museum and make a point to bury them outside the house, where they couldn’t be missed. Tommy looked for new things for the shop. Bluebear even stopped telling me she was bored and playing solo hide and seek, even though there’d been no new clothes in Able’s for weeks so she probably meant it. Zucker asked for more fish and deliveries and with those eyes who could resist? They taught reactions, played games, gave gifts, including their precious photos, which Emily hung proudly in her house.

Emily may not spend much time on the island, but my neighbours and I who live here are determined to make it count.

 

[Mick]

It's midnight. I don't write well after midnight. Going to hit post!
Below is my first attempt at building a story with AC characters. It was harder than I expected, haha.
Hope there aren't too many errors left in there.

Spoiler: -- Break --

It was dark and it was late as the two islanders strolled along, rain hats pulled down far over their ears to shield them from the downpour. "But this is NOT normal" spoke the cat, shaking her head. "Aren't you worried about it?"

"I don't know, Katt," replied Roald, who did in fact know. Between the neglected, heavily overgrown state of their island, the way new faces were constantly moving in when none of them seemed to stick around, and the strange feeling that certain days were repeating themselves, it was impossible to deny that something was very wrong. They had talked about this so often already, how they both felt something odd about their paradise. It worried him daily.

But Katt was blaming their island representative now. True, she did have a habit of disappearing for several months and returning as if nothing happened, and it was mysterious. Still, Roald wasn't ready to point flippers like that. "How would she cause all this? I think you've got it wrong, b-b-buddy."

The cat stopped walking and held out an arm to stop him too. "All I'm asking is that we tell Rex too, purrty. He's the only other one who stuck around long enough to have noticed. We'll talk later. Just think about it."

---

Standing in Katt's house, the three of them were talking. To Roald's relief, Rex didn't run off to resident services to tell Isabelle that they had lost their minds, even as Katt moved on from listing the island mysteries to explaining how she felt their representative was the root of all their problems. In fact, the lion seemed rather unfazed by the accusations that were made.

"Makes sense, cool cat." spoke Rex calmly.

"It does?" asked Roald.

"It does." Katt quickly responded. "She's letting the island deteriorate, and selling our friends, and I'm not ruling out that she's a witch."

A lot of discussion followed, their disdain for their appointed representative grew further, and before long they somehow reached the conclusion that their only option was a good old fashioned mutiny. "I say we can take our island back!" Roald said as he dropped several fountain fireworks onto Katt's workbench. "If we use these, and some rusted parts, and some iron too, we can-"

He was interrupted by a knock at the door, followed by the ringing of their familiar island tune. Before a word could be said, Katt flung open the doors to her wardrobe and started shoving both the items from her workbench and her two friends inside it, and there was no complaining, they knew they only had seconds before they would be seen. Sitting in the dark, Rex and Roald could hear Katt talking to the interrupting visitor.

"Oh, this? I'm making an Apple Hat!" she announced proudly as she grabbed a random apple from her fruit basket.

---

After sneaking across the island, past a sleeping Blathers, and far into the fossil exhibit, the trio found themselves standing in front of a closed door. Why Rex claimed that this was the only place for them to bring their DIY device was still lost on the other two, but he seemed confident enough that they'd stopped fighting him on it.

"Alright, we're safe. Nobody ever goes here" said Rex, looking around. "Although, I don't see the keys around today, maybe we should take a snack break, and-"

"Oh, forget it" called Roald, pulling on the door as hard as he could. It flew open with a bang, and the penguin grinned proudly. "Not even a sweat!" he announced as he flexed, and for once, the other two were slightly impressed.

Behind the now open door was a room that looked nothing like one you would expect in a museum. Near the entrance were tall stacks of books, written in several languages. A bit further, endless shelves that held every single thing the islanders had ever known, and more. In the distance, walls covered in glowing text with lots of seemingly random punctuation. Really, the further they walked into the room, the less it all made sense.

"You've never seen this before?" asked Rex, clearly catching on to the still unasked questions of his friends, who both shook their heads. "The bugs," the lazy lion whispered excitedly. "This is where the bugs live."

Katt pondered the meaning of that as she found and stared at a blueprint of a house - her house, with a scale model of its interior that stood beside it, complete with her new tv and the pile of clothes that she'd dumped there just that morning.

"Rex?" she asked, a shocked expression on her face. "Just explain, please. What is all this? I really don't think we should be in here."

"But this is our island!" smiled Rex. "Or, the parts of it, anyway. This is the base of the simulation. We've got your house, and my house, and a- huh huh! That's the representative home. Roald, you did bring the thing, right?"

Roald didn't respond, instead looking at Katt. Somehow, the casual mention of their reality not being real didn't hit him hard at all, as if he'd always known. And Katt didn't look shocked either, nodding her head instead. "If he's right," she spoke, "this is our chance for a better island, purrty. We won't get caught if we use it here."

After placing the device next to the house, Roald a few steps back, then pressed a button on his phone. The house instantly burst into flames, and for a while they stood and watched it burn.

Then, suddenly, they heard a distant low rumble. As it came closer, they also picked up a hint of loud angry shouting. Roald gasped, and started pulling at his feline friends. "RUN" he shouted. The three villagers escaped as quickly as they could, slamming the door behind them.

"That means we did it, doesn't it?" panted Katt. "It's our island now." For a long while, they sat on the floor leaning against the wall, recovering from their mad dash to safety.

The next morning, an upset voice cried out as a message appeared somewhere far above: "The save data is damaged. Would you like to delete the damaged save data and start over?"

The sound never reached the now thriving island below.

 

[aericell]

Secrets of the Snow​

The previous morning had been the first snowfall. The residents of Elyxion had spent almost the entire day outside together, playing in the fresh blanket of new snow.

The next morning, Filbert gets up out of bed, eager to once again step foot into the snow, have a snowball fight with Hamlet next door, and perhaps gather at Marshal's for a cup of hot chocolate to warm up. He quickly pulls on his padded jacket and heads to Hamlet's.

"Hammie, let's go play in the snow!" he yells as he knocks on his door, a snowball ready in his hand to throw once his friend opens up. Hamlet's always up before him so he must be awake by now.

But there's no response.

His curtain is open, which would usually mean he's home, but when Filbert peeks through the window, he can't catch a glimpse of anyone.

It's strange, but Filbert shrugs it off. Maybe he'd just forgotten to close it before he left for his jog. He'll probably run into him later, he figures.

He tries Marshal's next, and then all of his neighbors. It's the same thing - open curtains with nobody to be seen inside.

By the time he decides to check the shopping center, it's nearly noon. All the stores should be open, but they're all closed. Resident Services is always open, but there isn't anybody inside.

***​

He hasn't seen a single resident while he's been running around from house to house, building to building. An unfortunate thought suddenly pops into his mind - though it couldn't possibly be true... or could it? Have they all... gone somewhere without him?

He takes off to Dodo Airlines. The plane is still there. Nobody could have gone anywhere. He checks inside just in case, but as he expects, nobody's there either.

There's one left left he still hasn't looked - the museum. Maybe Blathers was hosting an event today he had missed the memo for, and everyone had gathered there earlier this morning.

Sighing yet again, he walks into an empty lobby. It'll take forever to search through all the rooms and exhibits, but he does so anyway. They have to be here somewhere.

Room after room, and it's the same result. Even the bugs and sea creatures are missing.

Feeling hopeless as he exits, he falls to his knees, sobbing to himself. He misses his friends, but he has no idea where they could've gone. He can't fly the plane, and he can't live on this island alone!

Through his welled-up eyes, he sees... movement? All he can see is white, but something's definitely moving. He dries his tears on the sleeve of his jacket, getting up and carefully approaching what seems to be a snowball, rolling on its own.

The breeze isn't very strong today, so it can't be the wind. As he gets closer, he notices something on top of it. Something black, with legs.

A bug!

"I'm so happy to see you here!" he cries, taking the dung beetle into his little arms and holding it dearly, careful not to squish it.

The bug flies back over to the snowball, continuing to roll it as it had been doing before.

"Huh? Do you want to build a snowboy? Now's not the time for that - my friends are missing!" Filbert frowns, picking the bug back up. The bug, once again, flies back to the snowball.

Seeing as he can't seem to find anyone else, and it's getting quite late, he figures he can take a few moments to help his new friend with rolling another ball nearby. After all, if he can't figure out how to get everyone back, this may be how he lives the rest of his life on the island - making snowboys with a dung beetle.

After a few minutes of rolling the snow into a size big enough for a body, he sits beside it to rest. His bug friend rolls its snowball towards him and hops onto his lap.

"All done?" he asks, glancing at the other snowball before he stands back up and places it on top of his own, putting their snowboy together.

"I guess it's just you, me, and this snowboy," Filbert sighs, unable to shake off the empty feeling of not having all his friends around to watch him make it. Just the other day, everyone had been playfully teasing him for making the head larger than the body. This one looks close to perfect.

He and his bug friend pick a few fruits from the orchard and head back to his place, eating those for dinner before falling asleep, worn out from practically running around the entire island today.

***​

The next morning, he's woken up by a familiar voice, yelling outside. As he gets out of bed, whoever's outside starts banging on his door, almost begging for someone to open up.

"Filbert!" Hamlet cries, squeezing his friend tightly as soon as the door opens.

Was that all a dream? Is everyone still here? Why does Hammie look so distressed?

"Everyone's gone!”

After several minutes of Hamlet rambling on about his morning, about going for his morning jog, knocking on a few doors, checking everywhere as Filbert had done the previous day and not finding a single soul until Filbert’s house, the squirrel comforts his friend with another hug.

Now that Hamlet’s here, there’s hope.

“What’s the last thing you remember before today?” Filbert asks.

“It was the first snow yesterday,” Hamlet answers. “We were all outside playing, and then I went home and went to sleep and woke up this morning and all of this happened!”

Filbert shakes his head. “That was two days ago, Hammie.”

***​

After spending the day searching the island again in case they had both missed something, they gather back at Filbert’s house to debrief.

“We still couldn’t find anything, but you showed up today…” Filbert mutters, pacing back and forth across the room.

“Maybe tomorrow, someone else will show up,” Hamlet suggests, biting on an apple since fruits are really the only thing they have to eat right now.

“Huh? Do you want to go outside, buddy?” Filbert asks, noticing the dung beetle flying into the door, and lets it out.

“It’s so weird that you’re just keeping that in here.”

“He’s my new friend. He was helping me yesterday,” Filbert explains.

Not even a minute after the beetle leaves, it’s back at his door, wanting to go inside.

“I just let you out, now you want to come back in?”

***​

The next day, Hamlet’s knocking on Filbert’s door again. The squirrel can’t tell if it’s good or bad news, but it seems urgent.

“I checked everywhere again, nobody showed up!” Hamlet cries, plopping onto Filbert’s bed. “We’re stuck here forever!”

Something has to be triggering it, Filbert thinks, though he doesn’t know what it could be.

“I think your friend wants to go outside again,” the hamster points out, watching the beetle repeatedly fly into the door again.

Having nothing better to do, they follow the beetle outside. Maybe they’ll have better luck finding clues if they weren’t trying so hard to find them.

The beetle leads them back to the same place Filbert had found it, and lands on a snowball.

“You want to build another snowboy?” Filbert asks, locating the other one. “Fine…”

“Another?” Hamlet questions.

“It wanted to build one the day we met,” Filbert answers, trying to find the one they had built the other day. “It was right here, now that I think about it… I don’t know where it could’ve gone. It hasn’t been warm enough to melt.”

After building another perfect snowboy, the beetle seems to have calmed down. The three of them head back home, with Hamlet going back to his house and the beetle following Filbert back to his.

***​

A female voice screams through Hamlet’s door the next morning, startling the small hamster enough to fall off his bed with a loud thud.

“Someone’s in here?” the voice continues to yell loudly upon hearing the sound.

“Blaire!” Hamlet exclaims as he sees a new old face this morning.

***​

“This all sounds ridiculous,” Blaire shrugs after the two boys sit her down to explain everything they’ve come up with so far. “How are we supposed to get everyone back?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Filbert mopes. “We thought we’d just have to wait and someone would come each day, but nobody showed up yesterday. And now, you’re here today.”

“Okay, what did you do yesterday that you didn’t do the day before?” Blaire sets a notepad down with a pencil in front of the boys, who immediately start listing everything they remember doing each day.

She looks through the lists and tries to find something, anything that would help them find out what they have to do to get someone to reappear. She’s distracted, however, by the dung beetle flying into the door.

“Why do you have a bug in your house?”

“It’s his friend,” Hamlet explains. “He wants to go out again. Let’s go.”

The boys get up and Blaire follows with the notepad in hand, still trying to compare them. She sits on a log bench with Hamlet as Filbert helps his bug friend build another snowboy since the other one has yet again, mysteriously disappeared.

“That’s it!” Filbert exclaims as he finishes placing the snowboy’s head. “It’s the snowboy, it has to be!”

He rushes over to Blaire and everyone reads through the notepad as he starts explaining.

“On the first day, I built a snowboy. Hammie showed up the next day, but we didn’t build a snowboy so nobody showed up after that. Then on the third day, we built another snowboy and then Blaire, you came the next day!”

“So does that mean someone will show up tomorrow?” Hamlet asks, glancing at the snowboy that was just created.

“If I’m right, someone has to. That must be why Dungie’s been wanting to go outside everyday!” Filbert concludes, praising and patting his bug friend.

“You named it Dungie?” Blaire raises an eyebrow and then laughs. “Well, Dungie might have just helped us solve this mystery!”

***​

“Filbert, Filbert!” Blaire shouts excitedly the next day, arm-in-arm with a certain cranky-looking squirrel who seems as though he’d been woken up by getting dragged out of his bed this morning. “It worked! Marshal showed up today!”

“It worked?!” Hamlet yells from a small distance behind them, out of breath.

“It worked!” Filbert jumps up, pulling on his jacket and running outside to the same snowboy-building spot, with everyone else trailing behind him.

Hamlet, this time, joins in on making the snowboy as Blaire sits with Marshal to fill him in.

Day after day, they repeat building a snowboy, and day after day, someone new shows up and the island gradually fills up again, coming back to life. Bugs and fish start reappearing along with their neighbors - Hazel, Bruce, Merry, Bluebear, Bettina, and Shep. After that, it’s Blathers, Timmy, Tommy, Sable, Mabel, Isabelle, Tom Nook, Wilbur and Orville - the shops and buildings are back up and running!

***​

“So you’ve been building snowboys everyday to get us all back?” asks the island representative, Joanne, as everyone gathers around a bonfire on that last night of finally getting everyone back. “How did you figure that out?”

“The bug told me,” Filbert answers with a smile, watching as a snowball rolls on its own in the distance.

 

[xlisapisa]

Writing stories are definitely not my forte, but I hope this will suffice.

Spoiler: A Change In Winter

The date was 2017, the air felt very cold and dry. I stood outside my apartment looking down at a scarf that laid still on the ground as if frozen on cold concrete. It looked oddly familiar. There was no doubt I’ve seen this scarf before. It looked handmade and definitely old as you could see the frayed edges. I picked up the scarf and put it in my bag. I’m sure I’ll remember who it belongs to and I’ll be sure to return it when I do.
Christmas had just passed, but it felt nothing like Christmas. What is Christmas? With no family, no friends, and not even snow on the ground, Christmas was just another cold day. New Years is coming up so as I headed down the street to my job at the convenience store I overheard a small group of people talking about their New Year’s Eve plans. I put my head down and kept walking. Another new year and nothing new with me. I stopped right in front of Happy Days, the convenience store I have been working at for the past 3 years. I looked up and sighed.

“A new year, it’s time to make a change. Things will be different this year.” I said to myself as I looked at my watch and the time read 8:59 am.

“Oh man i’m about to be late!” I said out loud as I ran into the store, jumped behind the register and clocked in.

“Almost late I see.” said Tom, the shift manager.

“Almost late means exactly on time.” I replied with a slight smirk on my face.

“Hey Tom? Do you think It’s too late to take off for New Year’s Eve?” I asked

Tom replied just like anyone would when someone asks to take off of work with only one day in advance notice.

“Not a chance!” He said.

I figured as much, but I thought I’d ask just to see.

After finishing my shift I grabbed some food and headed back to my place. With nothing good on TV, I called it a night early and passed out on the couch. I opened my eyes to the beaming sun and the ring of my phone alarm blaring in my ears.

Last day of the new year I thought to myself as I exited my house and headed right back down the road to work.

“Last day of 2017, things will be different for 2018.” I muttered to myself.
5:00 pm is fast approaching and my relief for the night shift still hasn’t shown up. Being the only one in the shop today, I try and call the manager.

Of course he does not answer. I wait until 5:15pm and still no one has arrived. So I called Tom and he answers but I can barely hear him. He’s definitely at a party.
“Tom!” I yelled, “Timmy never showed up for his shift.”

“Oh my god!” He replied, “I hate to do this but can you pull a double tonight? I’ll make sure you get paid double time.”
I wish I had something better to say, but I can’t pass up double time. So, I said the only thing I could.

“Ok”

11:15pm comes around and one of my neighbors stumbles into the store.
“Hey Merry!” I said, happy to see a familiar face.
“Hey yourself” she replied. “Didn’t you work this morning?”

“Of course. Gotta make that money” I said trying to sound cool.

The store was pretty dead, everyone else seemed to be elsewhere celebrating the end of 2017. She ended up hanging around for a little while. After talking for a bit she said she’d hang out with me until the new year.

“Look at that!” Merry said. I turned to look and it was a couple minutes left until midnight, and the snow was starting to fall.
“Now it’s winter” she said, “I wish I had my scarf, I can’t find it anywhere.”

I suddenly remembered who the scarf belonged to. Luckily I put it in my locker when I came to work the day before. Things WILL be different this year. I thought to myself as I went to get the scarf.

“I just might be able to help you out with that” I said to her and smiled.

x_x

 

[LambdaDelta]

I hope poetic elements akin to a children's storybook are fine.

Spoiler: A Snowboy's Day

Today! Today! I was born today! How perfectly so too.
Today! Today! Hip hip hooray! Now let me share my joy with you.

The snow so pretty, and winds so chilly.
It's a wondrous land anew.
I may be stationary, but these thoughts are oh so unsteady.
So please, let me ask you:

How's mother? How's father?
And my little sibling too?
It's been ages since I've seen them.
I wonder what they've been up to.

What lands have they seen? Has it been covered with trees?
Or maybe a sprawling cityscape view?
With lights so translucent, and sounds so reverberant.
But is that sky still blue?

Tell me of springtime, of summer,
and of the autumn season too.
I'd love to witness them, but alas.
Only with pictures and words can I make do.

These spring colors, so lovely.
Does the mood reflect this hue?
But the weather, oh the weather.
Much too warm for me, but perhaps cool enough for you?

It's the season of new beginnings, but alas is my ending.
I wish I could see it come to.
Perhaps someday maybe, but the weather would surely be crazy
to bring about a snowy view.

Summer, I dare not touch. Its blistering heat would be way too much.
But I know that there are cold treats to make it subdue.
Do you think if I had plenty, even I could be ready?
Haha, just kidding. But I'd love if that were true.

The bugs and the fish so lively
is quite opposite of winter too.
It sounds so fun and friendly, but please just tell me
if you ever grow weary of summertime nature's brew.

Now autumn, its rustic tint.
The leaves that bid adieu.
The sharp chill of this season, is oh so the reason
I soon look forward for more meetings to accrue.

The pine cones, the mushrooms
and even the acorns arriving on cue.
But my favorite time is the first snowfall.
Because after's when I'll soon be built brand new.

But what have you done? I see flower fields beneath the sun.
Their colors contrast this snowy hue.
Have you made preparations, or perhaps reservations?
For a fun winter event to do.

There's snowball fights, and sledding,
and even ice fishing with a crew.
Or I hear one can get cozy by a fire so toasty.
Perhaps with a warm bowl of stew.

In a few days, I'll go away, but for now just let me say
Thank you! And happy birthday too.
Oh, and before I forget, here's a present.
From a happy me to you.

And be sure to return, before I am gone.
For these thoughts will surely ensue.
Also, I feel I'll sure have more presents, to hand off perchance
to an oh so wonderful you.

Lastly, I hope the next time we meet, I look just as sweet.
But could I ask for a favor my next debut?
I dearly miss my family, and they surely wish to see me.
So if you could make them all, I'd surely say 'Woohoo!'

 

[Holla]

Spoiler: Inspiration (not part of entry)

I drew inspiration for my story from my Crazy Dream Sequence entry I came up with back during the Bell Tree Fair last year. My prompt was “Wave-Tossed Truth”. I was proud of my entry, but looking at it raises some questions. Like how’d they get there or why are they in a boat out at sea? So I tried to answer some of those questions by coming up with a story.

Please note that English was my worst subject back in school (and yes English is my native language ). So the writing probably won’t be great and I’m sure the format will be incorrect at times. I hope you enjoy the story nonetheless though.

Entry:

Spoiler: Wave-Tossed Truth

There was once a young human villager named Charlotte. She had green eyes, a cute round button nose and pink hair tied up in pigtails. When she was only 6 years old a tragic car accident took the life of both her parents. It also left her with giant scar running from just above her left eye across her face and down to her lower right cheek. She grew up in an orphanage but due to her unsightly scar many of the other kids constantly bullied her. They often called her “Scar-lotte” much to her dismay.

Upon her 16th birthday she would finally be free of the orphanage to truly begin her life for the first time. Upon leaving the front hallway of the orphanage for the last time it dawned on Charlotte that she had no idea where she would go or what she would do. Whilst trying to come up with a plan on the fly she passed by the glass window of the local news station. In the widow there was tv screen. It was currently displaying an advertisement for a new apartment complex in town. Unfortunately, Charlotte did not have any funds of her own so renting an apartment was out of the question. Just as she began to feel the hopelessness well up inside her a new advertisement began. A Tanuki-like creature appeared on screen and suddenly proclaimed “Today we would like to present to you the Deserted Island Getaway Package, hm?” The ad then transitioned to showing a beautiful tropical paradise that was free for someone to make their own. According to the Tanuki there was no upfront cost and future loans would be on a “pay when you can” basis. This was the perfect opportunity for her life to truly begin!

Meanwhile on a far away island called Maplegrove, the island rep named Sara was making a scene. Sara had blue eyes, a pointy triangular nose, and long blonde hair. The local frog villager Jambette, bear cub Barold and hamster Rodney were having a peaceful little picnic at the campsite. Sara despised these villagers will all her heart. They just moved in unannounced all within the same month. Not to mention they were hideous creatures that shouldn’t exist according to her. She pulled out her bug net without a second thought and started smacking them all on the head while yelling things like “ugly” and “freak of nature” as well as “waste of space”. None of this was new to the villagers however. All previous islands they had lived on were the same. Constant hate and mistreatment all because they were considered ugly. Enough was enough. The villagers had a plan. The past few nights they had been building a little wooden boat behind the large cliffs at the back of the island in secret. When the time was right they would board the boat in the middle of the night in search of their own uninhabited island to be free from the hate of others.

Charlotte quickly got on Dodo Airlines flight 157 bound for an unnamed deserted island that she had chosen prior. Upon landing she finally got to take in the sights of her new home. There were tall apple trees as well as a shimmering crystal clear river and most importantly not a single other soul aside from Tom Nook. Tom Nook explained that usually two other villagers join in on settling a new island but he deeply apologized that he was unable to get anyone on time. Charlotte was perfectly fine with this though. She wanted time alone. After all, she didn’t like to interact much with others due do the unpleasant experiences in her past. She decided to name the island Nozomu which is roughly Japanese for desire. As days turned into weeks Charlotte worked exceptionally hard. She pitched her tent, collected resources, constructed her own tools and worked off paying her loan to Nook. Which she didn’t mind as she enjoyed working on the island and making money in her own way.

Once the day came for Jambette, Barold and Rodney to leave they waited for Sara and all the other Maplegrove villagers to turn in for the night. At approximately 3:15am the three villagers hopped in their little crowded boat in search of new horizons. Two days passed after leaving Maplegrove and there was still no sign of other islands. Unfortunately for the trio a terrible storm was rolling in. They were already starving and parched to begin with. They closely huddled together praying that they would find land soon. Things were looking pretty bleak. Throughout the day and into the night the trio were tossed around from one big wave to the next. Enough to make any seasoned seaman seasick.

The next morning on Nozomu, Charlotte finally acquired enough Nook Miles to redeem a Nook Mile Ticket. She heard that there were several smaller islands around that would be perfect for collecting materials and that Nook Mile Tickets could get you a plane ride there. Upon landing on one of these islands Charlotte thankfully noticed that no one else was around. She quickly gathered up the peaches growing on the trees that she planned on planting back on Nozomu in an orchard to help pay back her loans. After gathering up all other materials she could find on the island she decided to relax and fish for a while in the ocean.

After about an hour, Charlotte noticed an odd shape out at sea that appeared to be coming closer and closer. Once it got close enough to the island she was able to make out a tattered looking boat. It appeared to be empty though. Once onshore, she pulled a damp dirty blanket out of the boat and inside were three sickly looking villagers. A green frog with large pink lips, a grey bear cub with a beard, and a blue nerdy looking hamster. She quickly pulled each of them out of the boat and laid them on the beach. Rummaging in her bag she pulled out her water bottle and carefully gave each villager a sip. After about 10 minutes of warming up in the sun the villagers began to stir. Charlotte offered up the stash of peaches that she had just picked to the villagers as she had no doubt they were starving. They gladly accepted. Once well enough, Charlotte led the villagers to the plane that she had come to the island on. Unsure of what to do she decided to offer the villagers to come and stay on her island for a bit at least until they got better.

Back on Nozomu Charlotte helped pitch tents for each of the villagers as well as make sure they each had enough supplies to last them a while. That night she returned to her own tent with a smile. A thought occurred to her that maybe, just maybe other villagers aren’t all that bad after all.

Several months passed and life on Nozomu flourished. Charlotte, Barold, Jambette, and Rodney became fast friends. They helped each other build houses, collect supplies and hold parties. It was all around a good time. They even shared stores of their terrible pasts from which Charlotte learned of Sara and Maplegrove. Sara reminded Charlotte of the very same bullies from her own childhood who she had failed to stand up to. She decided that she wanted to change that. Thanks to bribing Orville with treats, Charlotte managed to get a flight to Maplegrove by posing as an island reviewer. Before leaving Nozomu though, Charlotte carefully covered up her scar with concealing makeup.

On Maplegrove, Charlotte politely greeted Sara with a gift. Sara was delighted and began giving Charlotte a tour of her beloved island. Sara’s island was very well decorated to say the least. It had a beautiful outdoor cafe next to a waterfall, large flower gardens and each villager had a cute little front yard. One upper cliff was off limits though and Charlotte wondered why. Upon looking at the island map she could tell that one of the villagers seemed to live up there in solitude. After confronting Sara about it Sara said “Oh that’s just Rasher. I made him move up there cause I can’t stand to look at his unsightly scars. I can’t wait until he moves out for good. Then I’m banishing him from this island.” In that moment Charlotte quickly looked at Sara straight in the eyes and said “What about me? Am I to be banished from your island as well!?” “Whatever do you mean?” Sara replied. With her right hand Charlotte quickly wiped the makeup off her face revealing her giant scar. Sara froze. “I-I...” Sara began but couldn’t formulate any words. Charlotte sighed “Just because someone is ugly on the outside doesn’t mean that they are also ugly on the inside. Don’t you think you should give Rasher a chance? I’d love to be your friend as well if you’d have me.” Tears began to well up in Sara’s eyes. “I’m so sorry” she said. “I didn’t realize how mean I’ve been to villagers over the years. Is there any way I can make up for it?” “Well for one how about we take down that barricade and give Rasher a visit?” Charlotte said with a smile.

Rasher was shocked to hear a knock at the door. Upon opening the door he saw a teary-eyed Sara. She quickly bowed and fervently apologized over and over for the poor treatment she had given him. She said that she was willing to turn over a new leaf. She offered to relocate his house with the other villagers and to build him a cute yard. She started to send him gifts everyday and quickly became his friend. Charlotte had been right. Rasher was ugly on the outside but on the contrary he was the nicest little piggy she has ever gotten to know.

Years passed on, but Sara and Charlotte remained close friends. Sara made sure to visit Nozomu in order to formally apologize to Jambette, Barold and Rodney. From then on she was open to becoming friends with and being nice to all villagers cute, cool, ugly and everything in-between. Jambette, Barold, Rodney and Rasher all eventually moved on from Maplegrove and Nozomu but they’d always cherish the times they had. Sometimes they’d find islands with less than friendly island reps but just a quick message to Charlotte or Sara about it and they’d come right over. More often than not the girls were able to make people see these villagers in a different more positive light.

Jambette, Barold, Rodney and Rasher always made time to go back and visit Charlotte and Sara from time to time. They also loved meeting other “ugly” villagers who were feeling down. Telling them that they do matter and that there are people out there who will accept them for who they truly are. After all, all villagers deserve to be loved.

 

[Midoriya]

Ah, a writing event. This looks like it will be right up my alley. Those prizes are really cool too.

Ahhhhh, I completely forgot about this event with how busy I’ve been. I have an idea in mind for what I want to write, but not enough time. Oof. May try to submit something in the final minutes, but we’ll see.

 

[Holla]

Ahhhhh, I completely forgot about this event with how busy I’ve been. I have an idea in mind for what I want to write, but not enough time. Oof. May try to submit something in the final minutes, but we’ll see.

If it helps I only had a couple hours to throw mine together today. (I also forgot oops ) It’s not the greatest but I put in as much effort into it as I could.

I look forward in seeing what you come up with even if it ends up being a bit rushed.

 

[That Marshal Fangirl]

I don't really share my writing with anyone, so I put this off until the last minute. My inspiration was that the snowboys in AC:NH are really unhappy if they aren't exactly perfect, so I thought it'd be nice to make one feel better about himself.

“Imperfect Snowboy”​

It was a pleasant, crisp winter day on the island of Destiny. “According to local sources, it’s perfect weather to build snowpeople!” Isabelle had remarked rather excitedly, closing her daily announcement. I put on my coat and left my house, appreciating how my boots crunched as they met the freshly-fallen snow. It was a very nice day, despite the cold that nipped at my nose and turned it even redder than usual. The sky was blue and mostly cloudless, with only a stray snowflake blowing around here and there. The sun, although not doing a good job of warming the air, made the snow sparkle like it had been sprinkled with a layer of glitter. I took a deep breath and let it out, watching the cloud of steam that left my lips. Isabelle’s words from earlier echoed in my mind. Well, what better way to celebrate a day like this than to make my very own snow creation? All I needed was the perfect spot.

I wandered about Destiny, waving to my animal neighbors as I passed. They were all busy with their own wintertime activities. Sherb and Stitches stood in the plaza, sipping soup out of mugs. Diana and Judy were sitting on a bench, gossiping and shivering in their designer coats. Fauna was shoveling snow off the walkway of her house. Audie, June, Raymond, and Julian were nowhere to be found though, and the lights coming from their houses told me they had decided to stay indoors. “Good morning! Doesn’t this weather just make you want a hot caramel latte?” A sudden yet familiar voice behind me made me jump a bit. “Ah...! Oh, hi Marshal. Yeah, that sounds nice but maybe later. Right now, I’m trying to find a spot to build a snowperson.” I patted my favorite companion on the head, attempting to cover the fact that he’d startled me so much. “Oh! That sounds fun. I’d help, but the cold is no good for my perfectly-styled fur. I think I’ll head back home but be sure to come over after for that latte I mentioned.” The little white squirrel hurried off in the direction of his house. I smiled and made a mental note to stop by later. For now, I hadn’t even picked a spot for my snowy project yet.

After walking around for what seemed like 30 minutes, I at last found a patch of ground that wasn’t shrouded by flowers or decorations. Conveniently enough, that same spot had two tiny snowballs already rolled, sitting inches from each other. Delighted, I began rolling one of the premade snowballs across the ground. This was going to be an impressively large snowperson. After awhile, I had just the sizes I wanted. One was a little bigger than the other, but that was intentional. With some effort, I hoisted up the smaller snowball and stuck it onto the larger one. To my astonishment, my creation developed a face instantly. Black eyes from what appeared to be rocks, a smile made from the same rocks, and a red button nose positioned themselves perfectly on the top snowball. I was even more surprised when it began to speak, though. “I...I’m alive? Thank you so much! I’ve always wanted to experience the world as a solid form.” The voice had a youthful quality to it, almost like a young teenager’s. I barely noticed though, as I was thoroughly shocked by what I was witnessing. “You...you can talk?!” was all I managed to get out. “Yeah, I guess so! This is the first time anyone’s ever heard me, though. I’m Snowboy, thanks again for making me!” The snowperson replied, seemingly quite happy. “Uh...nice to meet you. I’m the representative for this island.” I stuck my hand out instinctively to shake, then pulled it back when I realized my new acquaintance didn’t have arms. “Nice to meet you, too. I really do appreciate that you brought me to life, but...did you have to make me so hideous?”

“What?” I blinked at this sudden change of mood. “Well, just look at my body! It’s so large, and my head is so small in comparison. I look terrible.” Snowboy, who had seemed so chipper a minute ago, sounded like he was about to sob. “Um, I think you look fine. This is my first time making a snowperson, and I thought I did a good job.” I was feeling more than a little insulted at the complaints. “I’m not trying to be ungrateful, but I just don’t like myself.” Snowboy made a noise like a sniffle. “Really, I think you’re being hard on yourself. You look perfectly normal to me.” I couldn’t believe I was having this kind of talk with something that hadn’t existed five minutes ago. “Wahhh! I’m so ugly! Nobody will ever like me!” My snowperson’s voice was teary, and if he had had the ability to do so he would likely have cried. “No, you’re not! I like you. Listen, what if I bought you a hat that made your head look more comparable to your body?” I certainly didn’t want my new friend to be sad, especially since his sadness was really my fault. “Hmm...ok. I guess we can try that.” Snowboy sniffled again. Without missing a beat, I ran off to Able Sister’s to find the perfect hat.

The air inside the tailor shop was almost shockingly warm in comparison to the extremely cold weather outside. “Hello! Welcome back to Able Sister’s. What are you looking for today?” Mabel greeted me, friendly as always. “Hi, Mabel. I’m looking for a hat, can I see your winter selection please?” I waved to the blue hedgehog and her sister Sable, who was in the corner at her sewing machine as usual. “A hat? Of course! We have lots. Here is our current stock.” Mabel gestured to a bin by the dressing room. It was full to the brim with hats of all kinds. Fancy top hats, baseball caps, helmets, and many others filled the bin. At last, I found a bunch of knit winter hats. I selected a cute blue one with a white pattern and a pom pom, paid, and left.

Before long, I was back in front of Snowboy. “What do you think?” I asked, holding my purchase up. “It’s nice, but will it really make my head look bigger?” he asked skeptically. Gently, I placed the hat on his snowy head. “Wow, that looks great! It definitely does what I said it’d do,” I complimented, feeling pleased with my selection. “I don’t know...you’re just saying that aren’t you?” the snowperson didn’t seem to believe me. “I’ll go get a second opinion if it’ll make you happy.” I ran off once again and basically dragged Marshal from his nice warm house, insisting that it was important. “Oh, hello. You’re the snowperson I’ve been hearing about, huh? Nice hat.” The squirrel, now in front of Snowboy with me, made sure to mention the new accessory like I had told him. “Really? Well, that’s nice to hear. Maybe I’m not so bad after all. Thanks, you guys.” Snowboy seemed a lot happier, which was a relief. I promised I’d visit him tomorrow and walked off with Marshal, looking forward to that latte.

 

[~Kilza~]

Well, here's my short story. Opted not to go for an AC story and instead focused on the winter theme. I wish I had more time to refine this, since I feel that it's very rough in it's current form, lol, but oh well. Participation is the main thing I'm worried about.

Spoiler: The Climb

“I have to do this. These thoughts in my head won’t rest until I do.”

“Just promise me this. You’ll come back alive, okay?”

“I promise.”

Stephen, a man in his mid-50s who was fairly fit and grew up in cold environments, hugged his wife Jennifer at the base of a mountain as a light dusting of snow fell around them. For the past year, Stephen has been tormented by thoughts of how his son Kody, a very athletic man in his early 20s, had disappeared and likely died when he went climbing on Mount Lebnows, a 7,100 meter high mountain, the highest in the Felizard region. With it close to Christmas, he had set forth to bring closure to his disappearance, and to possibly accomplish what his son couldn’t.

As Stephen began his trek up the mountain, he reflected back on how he got his son into hiking. Five years ago, Kody was watching the news with him and Jennifer when they saw the news of the first mountain climbers to reach the peak of Mount Lebnows, where the year-round winter conditions have made climbing it treacherous and claimed the lives of dozens of climbers who dared attempt to reach its summit. Kody became obsessed with the idea of climbing that mountain as well, and had asked Stephen and Jennifer for some hiking equipment for Christmas to get him started. That Christmas, they gave a fluorescent red and blue mountain backpack with his name stitched into it, and also gave him a map of the highest mountains in the world. In addition, Stephen and Kody went to a nearby mountain nicknamed Snowfoot that Christmas Day, where they managed to climbed to the peak in under 6 hours. At the top, Kody said nothing, and just hugged his father. His warmth filled Stephen’s soul, and he let his son know that he will one day climb Mount Lebnows.

As Stephen finished up the first day of his climb, with some snow lightly falling around him and the temperature chilly but bearable, he set up camp for the night. As he sat within his tent, a tent that allowed him to maintain a fire in it to heat up some meals and stay warm throughout the night, and ate some frozen food he warmed up, he couldn’t help but let his thoughts keep going back to that first climb. He remembered how wide the smile on Kody’s face was and how he could feel Kody’s determination to conquer all mountains radiate through his body.

Stephen continued to climb each day, making his way closer to that summit. The weather continued to be on his side, and he even managed to enjoy some cold but sunny days during some of the first few days. At the end of each day, as he warmed up and settled in for the night, he felt like this was doable, that he would manage to make it to the top, and that somehow, he would find his son somewhere on this mountain, alive and well.

Two weeks in, and the weather had taken a turn for the worse. The snow had picked up like crazy and just got heavier and heavier, the wind had become face-numbing and the visibility became poorer. Even when it didn’t feel like a blizzard was happening, the temperature was cold enough to make any person freeze in their tracks. In spite of everything telling him to head back down the mountain and wait until the weather got better, Stephen knew that he couldn’t stop until he had made it to the top. He knew that Kody wouldn’t have stop just because of this, and that just motivated him to keep going.

As he trudged along the snowy path, with his own footsteps being covered by the snow continuing to fall and no footsteps able to be seen anywhere ahead, he thought back to just over 2 years ago. In early January, Stephen and Kody went climbing on another nearby mountain, Winterhead, when the son was home for a brief visit. By this time Kody had managed to become much more experienced in mountain climbing, and had begun tackling many of the world’s tallest mountains with relative ease. It was a nice day outside, with a moderate snowfall providing some nice ambiance for their climb. However, during the climb, Kody kept racing further and further ahead, leaving Stephen struggling to catch up. He soon got frustrated and lashed out at his son, and Kody ended up snapping.

“I don’t have time to wait for you. If I ever want to climb Mount Lebnows, I need to be able to easily conquer mountains like these. You’re just holding me back, I could easily be at the top if not for you.”

“Son, I know that you have climbed tons of mountains, but Mount Lebnows is different. You can’t just tackle it with a cavalier attitude and expect it’ll all work out. You need to be-“

“Need to be what? I’ve climbed some of the tallest mountains, like Valisaj, Mookirook and Yimmer. Do you really think I can’t climb Lebnows?”

“I’m not… I’m just saying, if you approach it the way you’re approaching this climb, you’ll never make it to the top.”

“You know what, Dad? Just go away. Head back down the mountain and wait for me. I don’t need you.”

“Kody, wait-“

Before he could say anything else, Kody was already out of sight. Stephen just sighed and went back down to the base of the mountain and waited for his son to come back, sitting on a nearby bench as the snow fell on him. Once his son came back down, they had a silent drive home, and Kody quietly left during the night. That was the last time he ever saw his son in person.

As those thoughts swirled in Stephen’s head, the trail just kept getting steeper and steeper, and his progress had slowed down significantly. He was only managing to climb half the distance he was at the beginning of the mountain. He was learning first hand why this mountain was so difficult to climb, as the snow made it harder to make it up the mountain, and the cold temperature and high winds made it so you just wanted to give up and never go outside again. But Stephen only had one thing on his mind, and so he kept going, no matter how much snow was in front of him, no matter how cold he was getting.

Stephen was now three weeks into this climb, and the weather was not improving. He realized he had made a miscalculation when he was packing for the climb, and now he had very little resources left. He was likely going to succumb to his fate on this mountain. He had thought about just trying to climb back down, but he didn’t think it would change anything, he was likely a goner either way. He had a flare gun and shot it into air when the snow and wind had calmed down for a moment. He didn’t think there was any hope of rescue before he froze to death, though, so he continued his climb as the snow picked up again, just hoping he could somehow do the impossible and make it up this mountain.

As Stephen continued climbing and prepared for the inevitable, the only thing he could think about was the letter he and Jennifer received last Christmas from Kody. It was short, but it made it clear what he was going to do.

“Mom, Dad, I’m not coming home for Christmas this year, since I will be climbing Mount Lebnows. Dad, even if you don’t believe I can do it, I’m going to climb it. I know I can. I’ll make it to the top, come back alive and immediately head home so I can tell you ‘I told you so.’ Love, Kody.”

While Stephen didn’t really know whether or not his words that day on Winterhead had pushed Kody to pre-emptively climb Lebnows before he was truly ready, Stephen worried that was the case. He realized he was just making the same mistake his son had made, but he was resigned to his fate.

Slowly, Stephen continued working his way up the mountain. A couple more days had passed, and he was completely out of food, and completely out of fuel for his fires. He was running on fumes at this point, and was just hoping he could find someplace on this mountain where he could avoid having his corpse get completely buried by the snow. He trudged along hopelessly, barely managing to drag himself along, when he finally saw a cave. He breathed a long sigh of relief and slowly made his way towards the cave.

Exhausted, Stephen staggered into the cave. He was shivering like crazy, and could barely pull his flashlight out of his backpack. He knew this was probably the end, and slumped down against the wall. With the wind howling outside the cave and some snowflakes drifting in, he mustered up the energy to turn on the flashlight and slowly looked around the room. He spotted a rotting corpse against the opposite wall. There, he noticed the distinctive mountain backpack, colored fluorescent red and blue, resting beside the corpse, with the name “Kody” stitched at the top.

“It’s you…”

Tears began flowing down his face. Stephen, using what little energy he had left, crawled over to the corpse. He took off his knapsack and grabbed a present from it, which he had wanted to give to Kody a year ago for Christmas. As he held onto the present and looked at his son’s corpse, he noticed that Kody’s left leg was broken. He realized his son must have died because he broke his leg and had no way of climbing back down the mountain to get help.

“Kody… I’m sorry… I wish I could’ve taken back what I said… I really hope you know how much I loved you and how proud of you I was…”

Stephen placed the present in Kody’s lap. He sat in silence as he shed some final tears, with no thoughts left in his mind. His eyes shut closed and he passed out, right next to his son.

 

[hestu]

Here's my story! I wrote a fictional ACNH/winter story from the perspective of my resident representative. Thanks for the fun prompt!

Spoiler

It's the 31st day of 2021. I woke up dazed, wondering how I made it outside already, fully dressed and ready to start the day. I'm wearing the same outfit that I've been sporting for months now, but somehow the other island residents haven't taken notice. Snowflakes fall from the sky, and I wonder how they can be both bleak and beautiful at the same time. I hear the morning announcements—Isabelle has found her lost sock, again. Great, I was losing sleep over that. I think this is the 27th time, and I begin wondering if it's the same sock each time, or 27 different socks. Either way, I make a mental note to mention building a laundromat in town to "take a load off the villagers' minds." I hope she takes the hint, but I have a feeling we'll hear about the 28th found sock within the next few days. I take a look in my mailbox; there are two letters. I open the first. It's from Papi, and it reads, "Do you like how this postcard smells? I dipped it in gravy, then licked the gravy off and sent it to you! Man, I love smells! -Papi." ...What? I rub my eyes, and shove the soggy letter in my pocket. I open the next letter, "Do you like how this postcard smells? I dipped it in gravy, then licked the gravy off and sent it to you! Man, I love smells! -Zucker." Okay, so they're messing with me. I crumple it up and put it in my pocket. I decide that it's a good day to head to the shops, as if I don't do the same thing every day, anyway. I head into Nook's Cranny and wave to Flora, who is intensely eyeing the sandcastle that's in stock. I stop dead in my tracks. That can't possibly be right. I walk over to the shelf that is currently housing a sandcastle with a little blue flag. I stare at it for a solid two minutes before I turn to Flora. I barely get a "hello" in before she starts telling me how desperately she wants this sandcastle. I decide to buy it to send to her in the mail, wondering how I'll get it into an envelope intact but knowing that's a problem for future me. I hand the Nooklings my bells and wave goodbye to Flora, hoping that this will help my chances of getting her photograph. As soon as I step outside, I hear a strange whistling. I look up and see a green balloon with a present tied to it. I pull out my trusty slingshot and take aim. POP! I tear off the ribbon and open the box to find…five pieces of clay. I roll my eyes and toss it into the drop-off box at Nook's Cranny. I head over to the Able Sisters next door. I make sure to say hello to Sable, understanding her quiet demeanor but knowing her desire for real friendship. She tells me that she made some new patterns for me, and I quickly turn my head to wipe away a tear. I smile and thank her, knowing just how much this gesture really means. We chat a bit more and I thank her again for the patterns, then I'm on my way. I decide that it's a good day to go fishing and I pull out my colorful fishing rod. I hustle toward the beach, but I'm stopped along the path by Bill, who insists on buying the sandcastle in my pocket. How did he know about that? I politely decline, and continue on my way to the shore, discreetly making sure that Bill isn't following me. As I walk along the beach looking for the best place to cast my line, I pass by Gulliver, who is completely trashed again. I decide to leave him be, knowing that even if I help him, his bad habits will get the best of him yet again. I find a decent fishing spot and notice large shadows in the water. I cast my line—sea bass. I cast it again—sea bass. Suddenly, my fishing rod breaks, and I realize it's not a great day to go fishing after all. As I head back home, I notice the lights on at Lobo's house, and decide to pop in to see if he's crafting. I knock twice and open the door, not waiting for a reply of any sort before barging in. I'm in luck, though, because Lobo is intensely hammering away at his workbench. I say hello and ask what he's working on. He tells me about the revelation he just had and lets me know that he's discovered the perfect way to build a tall lantern. He asks me if I'd like to learn how to make one, and forces me to take the recipe card, either unthinking or not knowing that I'm the one who crafted the 14 tall lanterns currently scattered around the island. I wave goodbye to Lobo and run toward my house as the snow crunches beneath my feet. Snowflakes twinkle around me, but I'm too tired to get out my net to catch them. I open my front door and drop Lobo's recipe on the floor, scattered with about eight or nine other recipe cards. I know the HHA doesn't like the clutter, but I can't help but think that they're pretty demanding for an agency that willingly breaks into my house in the middle of the night. I empty out my pockets, putting away the things I've accumulated throughout the day and stuffing my storage to the brim. I'm starting to feel tired and begin to power down, ready to do it all again in the morning.

 

[idiotdoomspiral]

Spoiler: the lost dreams of a thousand residents

The Dream Suite was constructed on our island recently and it has always been my favourite place to go. Being an Island Representative is hard work; the terraforming, the advertising, the crafting...doing all of that during winter's wrath, too. Sometimes I just need to go somewhere to relieve all that stress. Today is a lazy Sunday, Nook says I don't need to work.
That's how I'll spend my day off.

"So...what kind of dream would you like to visit this time?" Luna asks.
"I'll leave it up to you," I reply while shuffling my sleeping mask on. "The only thing I request as usual is that I want to see the dreams of other towns, no islands."
"Mmmmm...yes, I can do that for you."
Why would I want to go to a town of all places? There's nothing fresh, new, exciting or interesting to see anymore. Islands are the hot new thing everyone's raving about. Besides, most of these worlds are average at best, if I came here looking for something special then I would be here all day & night, leaving unsatisfied. In most cases, the dreams I visit have been long abandoned by their mayors.
That's what makes it interesting.

"Now...I'm going to...turn down the lights..."

These towns were once bustling with people and animals together, and as the years have gone by they've corroded away, becoming shells of their former selves. Years ago, I and others alike were given the opportunity to upload a splitting image of our towns to some kind of network, mixed with the thoughts of our personal hopes and dreams to create something truly special, hence why they are called Dream Addresses. Like the islands, there was a time when every town blossomed with life. I could perceive all of the joy and laughter erupting from every setting, all I can hear now are the echoed voices of my guides and a very faint sense of what their tune once was. As their hopes and dreams towards their town fade, so does the entire atmosphere. Ghost towns. They're desolate, somewhat melancholic. Very rarely are there signs of any villagers residing in these places to this day, left to be forgotten. It's like urban exploration, I'll never know what hidden treasures from the past I may find. Whatever happened to these locations is entirely up to your imagtination.

"One...sheep...
"Two...sheep...
Three..."

While I drift off into the unknown, my mind begins to explore my memories from long ago...

~~
Well, that's my shift wrapped up. Our final customer has just skipped out of the door. I'll have an evening coffee before I head out.
"The usual, please."
It's always nice to sit down and chat with Brewster. He's so quiet and reserved, the least judgemental out of every animal I've ever met, perfect for cooling off after a busy day. I don't get payed for volunteering here, it's just something I've wanted to do.
"Coo...what are you planning on doing tomorrow?" he utters as he's brewing my coffee.
"Tomorrow..."
Tomorrow?
"The same thing as always...every day..."
Every day.
"I've memorized everyone's favourite coffee...built everything...fulfilled every single one of my villager's requests...I've seen everything there is to see...everything..."
I pause to clear my babbling thoughts, taking some time to reflect on my situation. What do I really want to do?
"Doesn't that get...stale? Doing the same thing over and over again? For years on end? It's driving me crazy."
Brewster nods, but I can tell right away that he disagrees. He's fine just the way he is, always brewing coffee.
"Coo...Tom Nook is having these same questions, I think...Isabelle is planning on holding a ceremony for him...to say farewell."
Farewell? Farewell for what?
"...Haven't you heard?"
I guess my shocked expression gave that away.
"...Nook's established himself as an Island Executive..."
What's that?
"...and he's hiring Representatives for his new project..."
Could this be my dream?
"...embarking soon..."
A brand new adventure.
"...but that lifestyle...isn't for me...coo..."

"...not yet, at least..."


"...your coffee?"

Ah! I forgot about the coffee!
Jeez, it's already stone cold. How long was I daydreaming?
I was so lost in thought...for a moment there...almost forgot to pay too.
"Coo...thank you."
Time to go home.
"I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"
That was the last time I spoke to Brewster.
~~

There's just so much stuff.
Wilted flowers wrap around every corner. Very few plants have survived in these wastelands. The grass has deteriorated so much, too...
The rivers are filled to the brim with various varieties of trash...
This mayor built a classroom for their fellow townsfolk. The radio on the teacher's desk is still working, a bubbly melody surges around the room. But no one's here. No one has attended for years.
This mayor was working on a path to connect all of their structures together. It's beautiful...but then it ends abruptly, leading nowhere.
And this mayor even brought their parents along for their journey! They're all long gone now.
What's left behind are the remains of what used to be their houses along with a dusty doorplate.
Oh, and the mailboxes are completely full...
I've dug up a couple of time capsules in some dreams, they describe their ambitious plans for the future of their towns, their lives. It's so bittersweet.
…A Rafflesia in this one...what a nightmare...
There are probably over a hundred weeds in each town. No, thousands. Hundreds of thousands. At least a million...
I've been exploring these bleak landscapes for so long today that I can't comprehend the concept of time. Keeping all of these mental notes is exhausting too, the only thing I can think of doing is to keep questioning it all:
Who were these people, and why? Why did their dreams eventually wither away?
What is their story?

I've returned from the dream world once again, more restless than ever. Still don't know what time it could possibly be.
"Another dream plea-"
My wallet is empty. One dream is 500 Bells, right? Somehow I completely drained it without realizing...there goes my allowance.
That's all for now. Time to go home.
"I'll see you next week, Luna." I say as I wander outside, back into the harsh cold reality.
I hear a hushed "thank you, sweet dreams" echoing from behind.

I arrived at the suite late in the afternoon, and it's very early in the morning now. I'm so, so tired from my adventure today. Looks like I'll be sleeping in tomorrow, hopefully Nook won't be too disgruntled with me...time to get some real sleep.
I have so much to think about right now.

~~
I am one of those mayors.
That used to be my dream. Becoming mayor, even if it was completely by accident, felt like I was building my whole life up for that moment. I turned over a brand new leaf! A brand new adventure. I did everything I could to fulfil that dream.
What does that dream look like now?
A shell of its former self.
I didn't tell anyone but I departed shortly after my conversation with Brewster. Life in this town had, to put it simply, gotten old, after years and years of running it. I wanted, craved something new, Nook and his little helpers lent me a hand so I could realize that dream.
This wasn't the first time I had disappeared. I took extended breaks, vacations, anything to clear my head. That worked for a while, I would come back with a fresh mindset, ready to lead the town once again. My dream continued on living. But eventually I just had enough. It died.
Everyone is moving on; Blathers departed with us to find new creatures and expand a new museum, then along came the Able sisters, Isabelle, Leif, all of them...Luna just built the suite here. Is Brewster next?
What does that mean for the other villagers?
My villagers?
And what about the people I befriended before that? The folks in the city? Way back when in a wilder world? I stopped thinking about them a long time ago.
Does that make me selfish? A bad person?
I don't know.
This island life won't last me forever, will it?
One day, these will suffer the same fate as the towns.
The same cycle will keep repeating again and again.
...
As life goes on though, you move on from things. And that's what I did.
Like these mayors, I found another dream. I'm living that dream to the fullest right now.
It's not supposed to last forever.
I've moved on from my past, so everyone else must have too.
And if they haven't...
That means they're still happy with they way that things are.



So, I'm okay with that.
~~

I can feel the sun rising on my face through the cracks of my windows.
I'll sleep in just a little longer...
And after that,
I'll continue to embark on my new horizon.

End

im not super confident in my writing but i gave it a good go ;__;
the concept i came up with is a fictional retelling of dream addresses and what comes of them in that future.
edits for typos/adding+changing words

 

[Snakeisbaby]

Inspiration for this story came from my villager cycling and wondering what the villagers would make of it haha! The first two sentences came to me and then it flowed on from there. I do hope anyone enjoys and do excuse grammar errors I didn’t pick up as my mind read what it is supposed to say! Now that I finally finished I am looking forward to reading everyone else fab entries

Spoiler: My short story <3

Snake had noticed the comings and goings of house x. Peculiarly it seems as if time was moving back and forth but of course that was impossible.

Oddly enough Genji who neighboured house x seem very unfazed by it all when Snake expressed his concerns. But he did originally come from the fair land of Squishy so perhaps they did things differently over there?!

Snake had been kicking it at Half-Blood since day 1 and seen the island many changes and lack of changes….. Geez their island representative was sooo lazy… Didn’t they know decorating their island got their arms super buff?! But alas Snake guessed he couldn’t complain, afterall, he had only contributed a measly 5,000 bells to building the bridge. Speaking of bridges Isabelle didn’t even announced the completion which to Snake seem a bit heartless.

Instead opting to blabbering on about a lost sock, Snake didn’t understand the excitement himself but perhaps he was still a TAD bit bitter about Isabelle saying no to the gym.

Anyhoot back to the matter at hand, now Half-Blood had once been a no one leaves EVER kind of island. Oh except for the island representative which hardly seemed fair?! But that what happens when you hastily decide the island representative Snake supposed. In his defence, he may had one too many cups of pear juice and was pumped on all the recklessly changing your life to live on a deserted island. Beside as Hazel and him later explained to the others it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Despite his and many others attempts to leave, the residents stayed exactly the same?! Was the up and leave kind of attitude truly dead?! Couldn’t someone just turn over a new leaf without getting permission?! Snake didn’t even know why he even bothered trying as the island representative had taken a strange liking to him since day 1. He felt watched always which did make sense considering his doorstep was mere feet from them. Still I suppose they were harmless enough, afterall they planted a tree in between our two houses with no room to grow. So there must not be too much going on in their big head….

A chance of escape proved futile until one day Bluebear did the impossible! Maybe it was the constant talk of ‘Maglev in love’ that finally made the island representative crack. We will never know but what Snake did know she was off the island to go live her superstar dreams.

Next poor Victoria moved in, oh she didn’t know what she was in for…. Snake felt like he met her before, another life perhaps?! She settled in well, celebrated her birthday, got poorly taste clothes mostly unfortunately. Snake heard from Coco who heard it from Rolf the island representative wouldn’t stop complaining to Isabelle for months!

Somehow she managed to get out too eventually but not before Rex. He was a nice fella even if he did have a strange obsession with bugs... Judy replaced him! As for house x, Fang or was it someone else, Snake could hardly remember he was there one moment and gone the next! Some random dude he never seen before came and took him.

Things seemed to settle for a while, until the most exciting time of the year came… Toy day normally brought fun and excitement but this year just brought confusion and uncertainly. Isabelle was running on repeat announcing new neighbours and their departure! Somehow Toy day seem to be getting closer and further away all at the same time! Although the lead up prior years did always seem to drag this was just becoming plain ridiculous. And Snake could swear he saw Beau moved in on three separate occasions. But alas, he couldn’t keep anything straight, the days were all muddle in his head!

The final straw was when Judy left, another house x?! What had this island become?! Snake knew he needed to get off this crazy island pronto or last year somehow?! Snake waited carefully for his moment to strike after New Year. Perhaps this will mean new beginnings to the island representative and he will finally get out of her clutches! His mission was a success, on moving day he couldn’t stop singing in excitement.

Snake was peacefully packing up the last of his stuff when he heard a knock! Oh it must be the blasted island representative but instead an unfamiliar face stared back at him. Ohh ohh this seems all a bit too familiar and sure enough they just happened to have an empty plot?!

It all seemed a bit contrived to Snake but I mean what choice did he have?! Here was a person with an empty plot and him packing out to move, what a total coincidence… The person left again who he knew nothing about other than the fact he felt compelled to move to their island. There was a sharp knock, Snake looked up, huh it was Tom Nook and the Nooklings, baseball bat in tow. Oh here he goes, he is going to give me a stern talking about keeping up with my exercise. Did he even know who he was dealing with?! They marched over menacingly, as Tom Nook prepared his bat, the nookling, uttered ‘it is time for you to go! …Go!’

As Snake felt his consciousness drifting away he mused to himself would his house just become another house x….

 

[Flyffel]

The Greatest DIY Recipe

And, that's it! My ultimate DIY recipe is done. With this recipe, I am going to make my breakthrough as a DIY influencer on Nookagram!!

...

87 likes and two shares...

Back to the drawing board.

My goal here might sound shallow and selfish. Why would anyone want to be a Nookagram influencer? Just enjoy your DIY and be happy if someone else builds it, too, right?

I love coming up with DIY ideas, I truly do. But I miss the time when I was a child and I came up with recipes with my two best friends - Bones and Kiki. We were the best team possible! Bones had amazing ideas, I was skilled in turning them into working plans and Kiki was a master of details, coming up with the small stuff that made the recipes truly unique!

Kiki, Bones, do you guys remember? We swore that we would become the best DIY creators in the world!

But it has been years, and Bones hasn't come up with a DIY in ages.

I often talk with him about it, but it seems like he has lost his passion for DIYs. He says that it doesn't matter if you, Kiki, aren't here. Kiki, where are you? What happened to you? Do you still make DIYs? Do you use Nookagram? If I make a recipe that becomes famous, will you see it?

I, for one, haven't given up on my dream! And I believe that we will meet again!!

Coming up with DIY recipes isn't the only thing I have been doing. I have been working hard on this island, doing small tasks this tanuki tells me to to do and earning these points that I can use to travel around the ocean. On my travels, I have been looking for you, Kiki, never giving up hope that your friendly smile might greet me on one of the many islands.

Kiki, I often dream about the day that you told me that you would leave. You said that you felt inspired by all the bottles that washed up at the shore containing all those interesting DIY recipes. You always wondered what you could find on the other side of the horizon. What kind of world inspired all these different recipes.

To be quite honest, I had anticipated you leaving for a long time at that point, already. It wasn't a surprise that you wanted to leave, and I would have loved to tell you to stay, but precisely because I love you so much, I felt that it was the right thing not say anything and let you go and explore the big world.

It seems like I still have to learn a lot more to become famous on Nookagram, huh? I wondered while strolling around the island and walking past a tent on the local campsite.

"Hey, come on in! Do you want to see latest DIY recipe I have created? By the way, do you know if there are any vacant houses here at the moment? Hey, hey, why are you crying? Please say something? It's alright, it's alright... We have all the time in the world to talk. But let me say this first: I'm home!"

 

[Giddy]

Spoiler: Mole cricket, mole cricket, where art thou?

It’s a new year, and a new day in the simple town of Ereta.

The night before, Jack Frost had visited every house painting the windows with an icy resemblance. A new layer of fresh snow glistened as the first light of morning slowly stretched over the horizon.
But the bitter cold was not afraid of such light and continued to nip at the tippy toes of Redd the fox.

He shuffled out of his tent, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he observed the blanket of snow surrounding him. His fur bristled as he barely sunk his foot into the crystalline flakes; but he wore a grin as he remembered his little bet between Lionel, on whether it would snow again that very night.
Of course, Redd has his ways of winning even if it hadn't snowed that night.

Redd drags out a shovel and begins shoveling the snow away from his tent. The shovel scraped at the stone gravel painfully causing Redd's ears to flinch back from the noise.

By the time he was half way finished, the sun was greeting him from above and he thought this was a good time for a break.
The moment he looked up, he'd noticed the Mayor - Lyric - walking absentmindedly towards him. Her hair was a disheveled mess, but most strands were tucked underneath a comfy hair-bow wig. She had tucked her hands into the pockets of her dress; kicking up snow with her boots.

She had only just passed Pudge's house before locking eyes with the trickster fox. Redd waved cherrily.
Lyric could only grimace at the sight of him, and she began to back away and into Pudge, who had only just left her house, and pushed herself and a shocked Pudge back into Pudge’s home and slammed the door shut.

Redd’s ear flicked in annoyance, but let it go. He was about to go back to shoveling till he heard it.

Chhhirrrrrrrrrrrruuururururuuupppp~

He paused in his step and realised the sound was coming from under the snow before him. It was a bug, there was no mistaking it. But Redd had no time for it’s droning racket, and slammed the shovel down onto the snow; the noise stopped immediately.

Triumphantly he walks back towards his te-

Chhhirrrrrrrrrrrruuururur chhhhhiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr~

His mind began to whirl with utmost irritation.

He turned his head and his eyes twinkled with anger; the shovel glistening in the sun. Redd started dashing off in the snow, swinging the shovel into the white land hoping to expose the bug from its hiding place; for only soft flakes to fly in the air in its wake.

The shovel suddenly made a snapping noise, and Redd could only watch as it broke in two; which only made Redd angrier.

“What sort of shovel breaks!!?” He cried out in bewilderment, shaking it in rage before throwing it as far as he could.

The chirping continued to taunt him.

Redd’s instincts overcame him, and as he sat on all fours, his ears flickered towards the bug’s position before jumping into the air and coming down head first into the snow. He began digging in the snow for the culprit; his tail swishing madly up above.

After tiring himself out, he felt a small tap on his back that made him jump. He looked up to see Samantha.

Samantha was the other human living in Ereta, her house sat a little too close to the Town Hall, and to Redd, she seemed more like a version of Isabelle. A more out of Town Hall and pushier Isabelle.
She wore a more comfier and formal office suit, along with a woolly pom pom hat and gloves. Her bob cut hair bounced as she cocked her head in confusion.

Chhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuuurrrii~

“Oh blast it all Where is it!?”

Realization struck Samantha, and she began to laugh; a deep hearty chortle. “You know,” She began, bending down to his level. “That mole cricket is pretty devious. The mayor has all but given up on finding it.”

“Shouldn’t the mayor be the one getting rid of annoying pests?”

Samantha hugged her knees, smiling. “Then, why are you still here?”

“My license is still valid!”

Samantha frowned at this. Redd was just about to resort back before he heard the mole cricket again. He whipped his head round towards the noise, moving away from the plaza, and jumped back into the snow; kicking snow in Samantha’s face.

He was on hot pursuit, following the chirping noises, and ignoring the fact that all the snow he had been throwing was attacking any villager that drew near. He was chasing after the noise before suddenly he couldn’t hear it anymore. Redd skidded to a stop once he noticed he had ended up near the edge of the cliff, just by the waterfall. Redd picked himself up to see how far he had ran, and noticed he wasn’t alone.

Behind him was a green, metal bench and sat upon it with a blanket covering his belly, was Alfonso. He eyelids drew heavy as he gripped his cotton blanket in his claws. Redd frowns at this, and starts shaking his body; the snow flinging itself at poor Alfonso.

“Agh-please stop, Redd! You’re going to make me all cold!” Alfonso shivered, trying to hide underneath the blanket. “You’ll get a cold, you know. Sitting in the snow like that.”

Redd could tell the wetness was seeping into his fur. But he put his paws on his thighs, as matter of factly and countered back, “So would you, if you continue to sleep on the bench in the middle of winter!”

Alfonso just shrugged. “Agree, to disagree.” He replied, patting his blanket with food patterns etched into the fabric. “This blanket is keeping me quite warm.”

It was a special present from the mayor to him on his birthday. And it seemed to be doing the trick as Alfonso looked to be slowly falling back to dreamland.

“And what if it starts to snow?” Alfonso’s nose bubble popped in shock from the thought and he quickly scurries off home.

Redd’s ears heard the faint sound of crushing snow and turned to see Lyric stride on over, holding her Nookphone; not looking pleased with him.

“Oi, Redd. That’s not nice,” She sits on the bench. “The one time there’s a free seat by Alfonso, and you ruin it...I wanted to take some cool pics of us both.”

Redd crossed his hands. “And how does that help your mole cricket problem?”

“My mole cricket…?” Lyric turned her head noticing the noise of the bug was distressing Lionel and Butch’s conversation. She turned back to him. “Oh, I got headphones for that, can’t hear that when I got th-

Redd swiped the headphones and threw them off the cliff.

Lyric had been so caught off guard by this sudden vandalism that Redd had enough time to change the focus to the dreaded mole cricket situation.

“Mayor, you’ll be happy to know that I am determined to helping you get rid of this mole cricket for you, for a price of course~”

“A price?” She gaped, still keeping a watchful glare.

“Very simple really, now that I’ve realised this awful bug has ruined my sales. So in return for assisting you, I’m kind enough to let you buy all my stock for today!!”

Lyric narrowed her eyes “And if I don’t?”

Redd gleamed, rubbing his hands together. “I’m glad you asked! And if you don’t….well don’t be too surprised if all my stock from this point on turns out to be fake~”

She stares at him in astonishment, and Redd puts his paw up for her to shake. She clenched her teeth, before taking hold of his paw and adding, “And you’ll buy me new headphones.”

“Deal.”

Samantha stood behind Lyric, with an icy glare. “So you rather make debatable deals with Redd, than do your mayor duties?” She questioned, making them flinch at her tune.

“It was my only way of getting her help in this.” He explained, pointing up at Lyric; to which she pouted at him. “I don’t have a shovel any more, so I need help cornering the bug.”

“Say no more~” Lyric sang, as she brandished a golden net and shovel from her pockets.

“Eh, where did you get those from?” Samantha asked, deadpanned.

“The island has many friends!” She remarked, protecting her tools. Redd looked at them questionably.

“Are you sure these won’t break? I know Lyle’s work you know…” Lyric pulled them away from Redd’s claws.

“He is right about one thing though.” Samantha smiled, making them look over to her. “This bug is too difficult to get on our own. We’ll need back up.”

Lyric’s face slowly broke out into a grin once she realised what Samantha meant. And before they could stop her, twirling as she reached into her pockets and bringing out a microphone. Blurting out the names of all their villagers.

By the time they had gotten everyone ready, equipped with a shovel of their very own - Samantha holding the net - Redd was already in position. Deep undercover in the snow.

Sccccccccccccccrrruppppp Scccrrrrrrrruu-

Redd’s snout popped out of the snow as he lunged for the mole cricket. Running on all fours to keep up with the insect and to guide it towards it’s ambush.

Samantha noticed Redd running in their direction, and rang the yen bell to alert everyone.
Alfonso, Pudge, Merengue, Phoebe, Lionel, Freckles, Purrl, Butch, Skye and Coach skittered to place, slamming their shovels down into the snow; creating a wall of steel that any bug would fear. With one golden shovel cutting off any escapes.

The sound of the mole cricket deafened their ears, so sight was their only option to witness the catch. The insect started to panic as Redd jumped into the snow; making the mole cricket airborn. Once Samantha saw it, she swung her net.

For only Redd to pounce up and snapped his jaws over the cricket; the chirping died on the first crunch. The set of faces looking at Redd were amusing to him.
Most were either surprised by his chosen actions, others disgusted. Skye had fainted.

"I’d thought victory would taste less musty…" Redd said to himself.

Samantha tried comforting the villagers before saying, "Well, now that's dealt with...How about we all go to Phoebe's for freshments and a film!" The villagers cheered.

Redd blinked. "M-me too?"

"Of course!" Lyric cheered, taking his paw and following suit with everyone else. "Merengue made snacks for our tired efforts and Phoebe has the best films for the occasion!"

Phoebe's house was slightly crowded, but there was enough room on her gorgeous bed, where Redd snuggled into the pillows and was handed a hot cocoa, the popcorn, pumpkin pie and snacks on a low table below the TV where everyone got ready for the film; once they stopped fighting over what to watch of course.

Lyric bounced next to Redd, relaxing into the sheets with a green tea. They both shared a look before laughing.

The laughing died down before Redd simply implied: "I do hope you don’t think this gets you out of our deal."

"Damn it!!"