The sun shone brightly down on the warm village. The birds sang joyfully as they flapped their wings hard and fast, keeping up a consistent momentum as they flew around the village happily, taking in the sun's rays and ruffling their feathers. Despite the mayor's absence, the village was still bustling with life. Fish swam in the local river, their powerful tails helping them to fight against the currents, and honey bees flew around their nests perched high up on trees.
Sparro, the brown-feathered sparrow and the longest-residing villager in the town, held his year-old bug net as he crossed the stone bridge that had recently been constructed. He took a deep breath of fresh air and let it out again, smiling. His beak shone in the sunlight and reflected against the mesh net of his bug catcher. He noticed a surprisingly large bug resting on a tree, and realised that it must be extremely rare. Grinning triumphantly, he lunged for it, but just before he swung his net down he noticed another villager; his best friend, Marina, and got distracted. He stumbled, fell, and got up quick enough to see the cyclommatus stag flying far away from the scene.
Deciding that it would show up again another time, Sparro kept his pride high and turned to Marina who was standing next to her house with a watering can, no doubt about to water her pink roses. That octopus definitely had the greatest flower display in the entire village at the time, as the mayor was currently not in the town. He waved happily to Marina with his free hand. The latter noticed and, her cheeks flushing red, she nervously waved back. She quickly stopped however and started watering her flowers. The water dripped down onto the petals and through into the stem, making the roses sparkle brightly.
As Sparro retreated his hand and walked away from the area around Marina's house, his mind began racing. He couldn't compress his feelings anymore. This had been going on for a long time. He had a crush on his best friend. Should he tell her? But what if it ruined their friendship? What if she didn't feel the same way? Who was he kidding, of course she didn't feel the same way! He had to keep quiet about it. As he walked across the bridge once again, Marina turned around and watched him leave, her eyes shining. She was thinking exactly the same thing.
In the town hall, Isabelle was frantically writing on letters, signing signatures, and finishing preparations for the discussion she was going to have with Chow about his house he wanted to have a renovation for. As she finished writing the final word and flicked up her pen to signify the end of the letter, she glanced at the picture of The Mayor resting on her desk. In the picture, he was holding a fishing rod with a happy expression on his face. She sighed. She missed him. She tried to shake her mind of thoughts of the mayor and stay positive; it was only two weeks, then everything would be back to normal. Quickly finishing off the final paper, she stood up, desperate to get out of the stuffy town hall if only for a few hours. She walked towards the door, opened it, and left into the warm, fresh air.
The shih tzu took a deep breath through her nose, enjoying the smell of nature and feeling that she could almost taste the bright green leaves hanging in clusters from the thick branches of the town trees. She noticed Peck, one of the villagers, reeling in his fishing rod as fast as he could. At first, he started leaning forward from the immense strength the fish garnered and Isabelle gasped, worried he was going to fall into the water, but at the last second Peck leapt backwards, bending his body backwards and the fish was yanked into an unknown world, water splashing onto the bird's feathers. It was an extremely rare stringfish!
Isabelle couldn't help clapping proudly for the bird as he struck a confident pose. Peck shoved the fish into his pocket, no doubt going to sell it at Re-Tail, and walked away. Isabelle continued walking along, listening joyfully to the buzzing of the cicadas and whistling of passing presents attached to balloons drifting in the sky. The warm, bright rays of the afternoon sun shone down heavily on her, the heat beating down on her fur and making her pant. She crossed over the wooden suspension bridge and noticed the cute, pink-walled building of Re-Tail. A bell jingled softly as the door opened and Annalisa the ant-eater and Frita the sheep left the shop. Frita was happily clutching a fish tank holding a sea bass within her hooves.
"I'm really happy I bought your sea bass, Anna, but...it did seem a bit pricey! I mean, 20,000 bells for a sea bass? It seems just a bit sketchy..." Frita spoke suspiciously, glancing down at the tank then back at Annalisa, who wore an expression of surprise and slight hurt at being suspected of conning her friend.
"Frita, sea bass are really rare nowadays. When I reeled one up, I was so shocked, but I already had one as a pet so I decided to sell it! Since it's so rare, I decided to put it up for a decent price. I'm your best friend! I would never lie to you!" Annalisa defended her case as she held a bag of bells, her eyes creased in sadness. Frita eyed her for a moment, uncertainty swirling around her head, before she nodded and smiled.
"Well, okay! I'll see you later, Anna!" Frita called, waving goodbye. She turned around and walked away from Re-Tail in the direction of her house which was near the cliff edge by the beach. Annalisa watched her leave before a shadow crossed her face and she grinned mischievously, looking down triumphantly at the bells she now owned. Isabelle watched, her mouth agape in an expression of shock, before the humorous side of her personality took over and she laughed, her eyes closed as she thought about the hilarious situation over and over. Once a trade was done, you couldn't go back. That was one of the laws in the village.
Passing Re-Tail, the sounds of two quiet voices grew louder and louder as Isabelle walked closer to the source, until she realised the two voices were shouting! Investigating, she noticed Deirdre and Bob were staring at each other, almost as if they could not contain their anger. They were standing directly in front of the noticeboard. Isabelle noticed that dirt was on Deirdre's legs and feet.
"How could you be so cruel!? You knew I was coming over here to look at my birthday message for next week, and you planted that pitfall seed so I'd topple right into it! You ruined it! Did you get your laughs!?" Deirdre pointed a hoof at Bob, tears visible in her eyes. Her ears were drooping in sadness, but every few seconds they would perk in anger.
"Nope! Nope, nope! It wasn't me! It's just chance that I happened to be walking past when you fell in! You can't just accuse me, it was complete coincidence!" Bob retorted logically, and Deirdre felt even angrier at Bob's calm response that made her feel extremely insolent. Her face turned a bright red and she pulled out her bug net, rearing back with a yell, prepared to smack Bob right over the head with it.
Gasping in immense shock and slight fear, Isabelle dived forward and leapt in-between the two of them. Deirdre, seeing Isabelle, got slightly disoriented and forgot what she was doing for a moment. She relaxed and her hand holding the bug net dropped down, showing that there was no longer any threat from the deer. She still glared in disgust at Bob, which the cat returned whole-heartedly.
"What's going on here!? You two know the town doesn't like arguments, and here you are! Please just try to relax, this town is well-known for its harmonious neighbours! You can't be fighting." Isabelle said soothingly, her paws stretched outwards, one on Deirdre's chest and the other on Bob's to stop them from attacking each other. "What happened, Deirdre?"
"Peck buried a pitfall right by the noticeboard! He did it on purpose 'cause he knew I was gonna go there!" Deirdre replied angrily, planting her foot down firmly on the ground with her hands on her hips. Peck opened his mouth to speak back but Isabelle hushed him. Both of the animals trained their eyes on the replacement mayor.
"Deirdre, I know you must be irritated, but it's not fair to assume. Peck was just walking by; it doesn't mean he's the one who planted the pitfall seed. Peck, if you were the one who planted the seed, you both know that pitfalls are generally disliked around the area and if one is dug up it should immediately be binned or sold. Okay?" Isabelle spoke confidently. A happy shiver ran down her spine. The feeling of the villagers listening to her words...undestanding what she was saying...just gave her such a thrill!
"...Yeah, alright." "Okay." came the replies of Deirdre and Peck respectively simultaneously. Immediately after talking, the two turned their backs to each other and walked away from the noticeboard. Isabelle suspected that it would be a while until they made up, but she knew they would. The villagers in the town had always been far too kind to hold a grudge against one of their friends. She continued walking, gingerly touching her haphazardly formed bun hairstyle, hearing the small bell jingling cutely.
As she neared the edge of the village, she passed by Tucker's prehistorical-themed house, hearing loud, eruptive snoring emanate from the thin walls and actually making the shack shake slightly. She giggled to herself; while almost every other villager was up by 9AM, Tucker slept in until it was deep into the hour of eleven. She tried to think about what it was like to sleep in; to stay inside the warm, cozy covers for an extra few hours. Isabelle had never experienced it, as everyday she forced herself to wake up extremely early so she could leave the house before her annoying twin brother, Digby, woke up. She still loved her sibling dearly, however.
The yellow shih ztu finally reached Chow the panda's oriental-styled household. Taking a deep breath of satisfaction, she placed her paw on the cold, metal door handle...then it hit her. She had forgoten her papers! Groaning in frustration at how big of a klutz she was, she reluctantly and tiredly turned around to head back to the town hall, walking away in an irritated fashion. As she disappeared, Chow's door opened and the former emerged, along with his best friend, Cheri. They were both laughing hysterically as they left.
"Ahahaha...to get to the other side...ahaha-oh, wait! I forgot! I meant to give you something! It's really...erm...special!" Chow muttered awkwardly, as if he was not used to doing kind things. His cheeks blushed a deep shade of pink, almost red, and he swayed back and forth. Cheri giggled as she brought out her fishing rod. "I'll go search for it, and give it to you later, okay?"
"Sure, Chow! No need to hurry, I'll be around all day!" replied the small pink bear cheerfully, winking at Chow before turning around and skipping away towards the local river, filled with chilly but refreshing water to drink and fish in. Chow smiled before turning around and entering his dark house once again. The thought of his house renovation made his stomach tingle and he grinned in excitement. He wondered when Isabelle would get to his house.
For now, though, he chose to focus on searching for Cheri's special gift. He walked over to his oak wood drawer, his bare feet making satisfying clunks on the floor. He crouched down and grabbed the circular, stubby handles, and pulled it out. As he rummaged around in the drawer vigorously, pushing past his old clothes and unwanted items, he heard his door creaking creepily. The sounds of the birds chirping and water running pleasured his ears for a moment before the door closed with a surprisingly loud slam, making the bear jump. For the first time in his life, Chow felt unnerved and slightly uncomfortable. He felt goose bumps forming on his skin. His hands were clutching the handles of the drawer. He stared down, his eyes wide, at the items inside.
"...Isabelle? I-it's about time you were here, gwahaha..." Chow said nervously, slowly rotating his head to face his door. Sighing in relief, he smiled to see his friend. He immediately relaxed. His friend, however, didn't seem as relaxed. They were wearing a grimace, and were clutching a shovel so hard he was sure it was going to snap. "Oh, hey! Sorry, I can't hang out right now. You'll never guess; I'm getting a house renovation! Isn't that great? Gwahaha!"
"Oh...really? That's...great, Chow." replied the person with no change in their expression, except a sickening smile forming on their lips as they raised up the shovel. Chow looked closer at them, confused at their strange attitude. "I'll be sure to make this quick."
"Well, okay, but you have to hurry-GAH!" Chow yelled for a split second as the animal lunged at him, and before he could react he was struck in the jaw with the metal shovel. The strength of the attack was so hard that the shovel dented slightly. His world spinning, Chow collapsed to the floor of his house. He stared up at his light, waiting for the nausea to fade away, as he thought about what happened. Did they just...whack him? He couldn't open his mouth. His teeth hurt. His face was stinging. He was sure he felt blood.
The animal leaned over him and Chow stared into their eyes. All he saw was mad pleasure. They enjoyed that. They enjoyed beating him with a shovel. As they raised it up again, the light reflecting off the tip, Chow tried to call for help, but all that escaped his lips was a pathetic croak as the shovel struck him again. This time he heard a crack. His nose...it felt strange. He couldn't breathe through it. It only took a second before the immense pain stabbed into Chow like a knife. His nose had broken! He tried to caress it, but his attacker was holding down his arms. He was helpless! What was going on? Isabelle had to show up soon...she had to rescue him!
Blood ran into his mouth and he tasted the iron-like sensation of it, then proceeded to shiver in horror. His attacker continued to batter him mercilessly, repeatedly in the face. The innocent panda started crying as he realised this was where he would die; in his own house, murdered by someone he thought was his friend. His world started blurring; all the colours were mixing into spirals and forming together to create one last, bold colour which signified the end of his existence; black. His eyes rolled back into his head and his body slacked completely.
The murdered slowly stood up and gazed down at the corpse; they were severely proud of their work. Blood was splattered everywhere within a one metre radius of the dead panda, and his nose and jaw were horribly disfigured. They stared at the blood-stained shovel; they would have to clean that up later, no doubt. They turned away from the scene, grinning maliciously, and opened the door of the house. Peeking outside cautiously, they made sure nobody was near before dashing away, not looking back.
Only thirty seconds after the murderer disappeared from the scene, Isabelle returned. She couldn't help feeling excited for Chow; he would be the first villager ever in the town to have a house renovation, except for The Mayor of course. Her head tilted slightly to the left in confusion as she noticed the door was wide open. She quickly resolved that he must have been waiting for her. She stepped closer to the door, one foot in front of the other. She reached the door and turned the corner, her eyes widening in absolute terror and the highest form of confusion.
"Ch-Chow...what..." Isabelle stared down at the former villager's unmoving corpse. Her eyes shimmered with wet tears. She didn't know what to do. "No...no...NOOOOOOOOO!"
"..."
"...no..."
"..."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
...
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, please review and tell me your thoughts! This will be a continuous story; like a murder mystery. The next chapter should be out soon! Please review, and see you next time!