Mayoral Mix-Up
Dear Mayor Quark:
Hi, I'm the person who was supposed to be Tempest's new mayor. I ended up sleeping on the train and missed my stop! But, it seems like they've already put you as mayor in my place. Something came up at the town I came to, so why don't you keep on being mayor there?
From a mysterious Quark.
"Mayor Quark!" The large white bear hurried up to the sole human in Tempest, seeming worried. "Oh good, I'm so glad I caught you. Can you listen for a moment?"
Was this about a new public works project? Quark wasn't sure. But if it was, it could be good. Tutu had just moved into town a couple days ago. "Sure, what is it?"
"Well it's about my catchphrase, 'twinkles'," Tutu said instead, putting a paw to her chin. "I came up with a while ago and it caught on like wildfire in my old town! But it seems out of place here. Can you help me come up with a new one? I'd like it to become popular so I can make lots of friends!"
She felt disappointed that it wasn't a new project suggestion. The list wasn't long and the suspension bridge was being built. Did this kind of thing really need a mayor's attention? "It's your catchphrase, so it should be something you have fun with."
Dear mystery Quark:
Aren't you trained or something to be chosen a town mayor? I'm only old enough to move out on my own; I hadn't even decided what kind of job I wanted. I don't know what I'm doing, just helping my neighbors out. Isabelle insists on handling all the paperwork. Really, I wouldn't mind if you came back to take over as you were meant to.
From confused Mayor Quark.
"Having two bridges is so handy, I never knew I wanted one more!" Hans said in excitement. One would think he'd gotten an amazing present instead of the town getting a bridge.
While she had picked the bridge as a practical project to start with, Quark had to admit that everyone's eagerness about it was infectious. "This one is much closer to your house," she said.
The gorilla swung his arms in a little dance and made the bridge swing as well. "Yeah! It's so much quicker to get to Re-Tail!"
"Well I was deciding on the next project to work on," Quark said. "What do you think is better: a well or a wind turbine? We'd know the well water is clean, unlike the river where sometimes you fish out boots and tin cans."
"Oh yeah, I hate that," Hans said. "About as much as all the pitfall seeds that get planted around my house. Thanks for digging most of them up, by the way, but do you know who's burying them there?"
She shook her head and added it to her mental to-do list. "No, but I can ask around. Back to the public work projects, the well would be nice, but a wind turbine would make sure we have a local source of power. Which would you prefer first?"
"Hmm." He rubbed his chin, thinking hard on it. Then he shrugged. "Sorry, I don't know. Both would be great and I'd pitch in a few pennies for either! But I can't decide which would be nicer sooner. It's August, so some days are stormy and can knock the power out. But a well would be a nice rustic accent."
"They're the same cost, so it might come down to a coin flip if people keep liking both ideas," Quark said. Nobody was gung-ho about one project over the other even though they wanted more things like this. Not even Rudy, the one who had suggested the turbine, had a strong preference between it and the well.
"Oh, but I had a really great idea for a new project!" Hans said, happy and swaying again. "I had this great dream where a stone tablet fell out of the sky! Eunice was really surprised by it and decided to stay in Tempest to decipher it. So um, could you get a stone tablet built? Because I don't want her to move out, she's been here as long as I have." He sighed, worried about a friend moving.
"I haven't heard about her moving out, but I'll try to talk to her," Quark said.
"All right, but I'll go tell Isabelle about the stone tablet in case that's not enough," he said hopefully.
Dear Mayor Quark:
You don't really need special training; you just need to be willing to help your townsfolk out and be a leader to them. Make holidays special and ordinary days fun, and most animals in this land will be thrilled with you in charge. I hear you've already become talked about outside of Tempest. Some are even suggesting it could be the next big tourist site. So you must be doing well!
From mystery Quark.
Close to her house, Eunice was sitting on a shaded rock with a magazine in hand. Her natural blue wool coat seemed thin; perhaps it grew that way in summer to not be too hot. "Hello hello!" she said, cheerfully using a greeting Quark had suggested to Bella just the other day. "I'm glad you stopped by now, since I just found an interesting personality quiz with flowers in here. Do you want to try it?"
"Sure, those are fun," Quark said with a smile. The magazine, Gardener's Paw, wasn't one she was familiar with. The quiz could be different too.
"Okay, so then," she flipped back a page to find it. "Quickly choose one of the following four flowers: Sunflower, Chrysanthemum, Daisy, or Dandelion?"
"Dandelion," she said without thinking through it. There was something about the bright pops of yellow among green grass that was extra cheerful, especially when they first turned up in spring.
"Okay, a dandelion represents strength through adversity," Eunice said, then gasped. "Oh sorry, are you going through some tough times? I didn't mean to trouble you, I just thought it would be fun. But if you need to talk to somebody, you can come find me any time. I'd be happy to make you some tea and chat about anything." She smiled warmly although she still seemed worried.
Quark smiled back. "It's okay, nothing that bad. Being the mayor just takes getting used to; there's so much that I'd like to get done, but I'm not sure what all I need to be doing to be a good mayor."
"You're doing fine as far as I can tell," she said, kicking her feet out. "Our old mayor didn't like changing anything, but you got a new bridge up already. That's really useful."
Unfortunately, Eunice wasn't sure between the well or the wind turbine, and she didn't know who was burying pitfall seeds around Hans' house. But Quark was able to convince her to stay in Tempest a while longer. She couldn't think of any of her new neighbors that she'd want to see moving out.
Dear mystery Quark:
I don't know why they'd talk like that. All I've done so far is suggest that we build a second bridge and chop down a tree that was right in front of the first. I have been helping my neighbors out, but that's just a good thing to do. Actually, I've been thinking, isn't it strange that two humans named Quark happened to be moving into Tempest on the same day from the same train? I believed no one else would have a name like mine. Who are you really?
From confused Quark.
Most of the town had shown up for the opening ceremony to the second bridge, but not Gigi. The purple frog got nervous when asked about that. "Well, I was thinking about it," she said, still messing with the potted plant by her window. "But... well, could you do something for me?"
"What's the matter?" Quark asked. Gigi usually wasn't like this, pacing around inside her house.
"See, me and Rudy got into a huge argument earlier this morning," she said, going over and taking a wrapped box out of her closet. "I didn't go out to the ceremony because I didn't want to run into him. But I feel really bad about it and I want to give him a gift as an apology. But I don't want to start the argument again, so could you take this over to him in my stead?"
"Sure, it's no trouble," Quark said, taking the present. "But what'd you get into an argument over?"
She tugged at her flowery shirt. "It's my fault; I had questioned the validity of creamed spinach karate and he got angry about it. I'm still not sure it's a proper sport, but if he feels so passionately about it, there must be something behind it."
"I've never heard of that," she said. But then, this land was very different from the human city she'd grown up in.
"Me either! What would even make it different from regular karate?" she shrugged. "I suppose I should have asked him about that rather than say he was wrong."
Quark didn't ask Gigi about the pitfalls, since she lived right next door to Hans and had to deal with them too. But she did ask the public works projects, only to get another person excited about both but unable to decide between them.
Dear Mayor Quark:
Well, you've got me there. You do have a wonderfully unique name; I know because I gave it to you. Yeah, it's Dad. When you mentioned moving out to that area, I wrote up an old friend of mine, Tortimer. You may have met him as the previous mayor of Tempest. I asked about what towns were good and open to a human moving in. In his reply, he said that he was going to retire as Tempest's mayor and thought that any child of mine could be a good replacement as he remembered me being kind and thoughtful. Sorry about arranging this all without telling you; I thought it'd be a fun surprise.
From Dad (not a Quark)
"Huh, what's this present for?" Rudy asked as his tail twitched.
"Gigi wants to apologize for starting the argument this morning," Quark said. He hadn't been far from her house. Then again, he didn't live that far from her either. Everyone in Tempest lived alongside this river.
"Really?" the cat asked, his ears turning down in regret. "I've been thinking about it too; I didn't need to blow up on her like that."
"What is creamed spinach karate about anyhow?" she asked, since that question made her more curious than anything else going on today.
He did smile at that. "Oh, it's this awesome new trend going around the martial arts circles! It is kind of niche right now, but I'm sure it'll be huge before long. See, it's like if Popeye decided to become a black belt, because everybody builds up to be buff and goes, 'Yarrr!' And they eat creamed spinach before every tourney to give them an extra boost, then see who has the most powerful punch! It's so incredible, I'm building up to become a rising star of creamed spinach karate!"
"That does sound awesome," Quark said, laughing at it.
"Yeah! So let's see what's in the box." Being pretty strong for a cat, he tore the ribbon in half and ripped the lid off with extra gusto. He then pulled out a purple shirt that had a large yellow star on the front. Rudy's eyes nearly popped out of his head in surprise. "Whoa, is this..? Yeah, check it out!" He then back-flipped on the spot, changing right into the big star tee. Rudy then flexed with what muscle a cat like him could have. "Hah hah, I feel awesome in this! Don't I look super buff now?"
She laughed even more because as a cat, he was nowhere near as buff as Hans was as a gorilla. "It looks great on you!" she said when she got a moment.
Rudy was too happy to care about the laughter. "Of course! Man, this is such a great gift. I'll have to find a quality apology gift for her too. I don't even care what that tiff was about now; she has great tastes. Oh, and I want to give you a little something for helping us out. Now I won't have to lose a friend." He handed over an apple, which would be nice to plant for a new tree.
While that problem was solved, Rudy didn't know anything about the pitfalls or which project to take on next.
Dear Dad:
It was you? I was wondering about that, not just because of the name. The train I took was awful quiet even if another passenger was asleep there. This is a great town and it is nice I got a job right away, so I'm not mad about it. Still, it is a lot of responsibility and I can only hope I'm doing things right. But I didn't know that you lived in a town like this before. Why didn't you move back when Tortimer said he wanted to assign a new mayor?
From Quark (love ya!)
It took until afternoon to track down where Drago had gone; he was visiting the insect displays of the museum. "If you think about it, insects are like the lobsters of land," he said as the display cicadas sang nearby. "How do you think they'd taste with some butter and salt?"
"Most of them are too small to be more than a quick bite," Quark said. "But I have wondered about that, like somebody online was talking about chocolate covered ants."
He grinned, showing off his teeth. But he was a harmless dragon. "Yeah, like would they be like crispy rice in chocolate bars, or a seasoning like salt? We'll have to find some to try."
"Sure. Actually, I had some things I've been asking about around town. I'm deciding on what public works project to work on next, either a well or a wind turbine."
Drago put a hand on his jaw. "Huh, really? Will it be a wishing well?"
"I don't think so, just a regular water well," she said. The short description Isabelle had didn't include anything about wishes or magic.
"Oh, that's a pity," he said, seeming worried. "I could really use a wishing well about now."
"What for?"
He hesitated, but then looked down at her. "Because I'd like to undo a wish I made on a shooting star a while ago. I didn't mean for anything bad to happen! But, see, I had gotten mad at Hans that night when I really shouldn't have. I already apologized and he acted like he'd forgotten about it. But before that, I wished on that star that Hans would have really bad luck. And it's happened!"
"Is that why he keeps getting pitfall seeds around his house?" Quark asked.
Drago sniffled; he really didn't mean anyone harm. "I think so and I feel awful about it. It's not like I'm the one putting them there! I'm not, I never bury pitfall seeds anywhere. But they keep showing up by his house and I'm worried that he's going to get hurt. I don't know what to do. It's hard enough to get a wish granted, so I don't know how to get one un-granted."
While Quark didn't know either, there was someone who might. "Well, Katrina is visiting town today. She was able to suggest an accessory to increase my luck today, so she might know how to undo a wish for bad luck on someone else."
"Oh yeah, a fortune teller would know that kind of thing." His smile was still a bit guilty. "Thanks, I'll go right to her tent and won't leave until she helps me. Then I'll find a way to grant Hans lots of good luck to make up for the bad."
Dear Quark:
I'm sure you can handle the responsibility of a mayor; I believe in you. And yes, I did live in another town like Tempest before. Tortimer had been the mayor there in Forest. I remember when me and a friend moved in there; we were about your age and were offered our choice of four tiny houses arranged in a square just south of the train station. While it was tough to adjust, it was one of the happiest times of my life. All the animals were so friendly and cheerful; many days felt rewarding in small ways.
One of my biggest regrets is that I got convinced that I should move back to human lands. Other humans claimed that it was a childish escape to live in the animals' relaxed society. But a great many humans could learn things from the animals, about a gentle way of life taken with joy and gratitude. I'm currently tied down to my job, so it'd be too much trouble for me to move out there. I know your mother's worried about you living with animals, but I'm glad you had the chance. Maybe if another chance to cross the border opens up when I can retire, I'll talk her into moving out there. For now, I hope that you make your life enjoyable and worthwhile.
Love, Dad.
In the evening, Quark returned to town hall. Isabelle was still working at her desk. "Oh, hello Mayor Quark," she said, smiling warmly.
"Still working, Isabelle?" Quark said, going to the desk.
She nodded. "Yes, a lot of people have moved in since you arrived. It's so promising, isn't it? Now Tempest might grow strong and healthy instead of staying small."
"Well then you'd better teach me some of the work you do so you don't overwork yourself," she said, smiling.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about me," she said, embarrassed. "I love this job. But if you really want to learn, then it would look good if you could do more for yourself."
Quark nodded. "Yeah, I want to be a good mayor. I just got a letter from my Dad; he kind of set this whole thing up for me with Tortimer."
"Is that what happened?" Isabelle asked, tilting her head. "Sorry, I didn't hear anything from Tortimer about that, just the name of the new mayor and what train you'd come in on."
"Well Dad believes in me and I want to make him proud," she said, leaning on the counter. "And I want everyone in Tempest to be happy, so I'll work just as hard every day."
"That's wonderful," she said with a beaming smile. "Sure, I'll help you learn more of the official business. We can start tomorrow, I'll need a bit to decide what to start with."
"All right. Oh, and I've decided on what public works project to do next.
It came down to a coin toss, but Tempest would work on getting a well next.
Dear Dad:
Someone else might be mad that you did this all without telling me anything, setting me up as a mayor in a town far away. But I'm happy here and I want to make sure all my animal neighbors have a good life. You're right, if more humans had been like the animals here, things would have been far better in my school, and even the whole city. So thank you for giving me this opportunity. I'm not going to waste it!
Here, these are some of the pears that grow all over town. Maybe you can help convince Mom to move out here with them. I'm going to have some apple trees growing soon, so if she needs more convincing I'll send some of those too.
Love, Quark
A/N: For this story, I decided to take one day in my town and record everything that happened while I played. Then I'd chose the narrative from those records. Well, that particular day didn't give me much of a narrative, but it did let me immortalize creamed spinach karate. So, overall a good thing? Hee hee. Everything that happened here except the letters was something that happened on that day. If you like the idea, go ahead and give it a try.