It was a beautiful and sunny day in the town of Sleepy. Everyone was having a wonderful time as usual. The Able sisters were busy making new clothes, Mayor Tortimer was out for one of his walks, and Pete was high in the air feeling the warm breeze.
And then there was Dick, the new neighbor in town, who was busy working a sweat for Tom Nook.
Tom Nook sat inside his cool, air conditioned super market while Dick ran about the town delivering this and that to local villagers. Some of them were nice and gave him some furniture or wallpaper as a tip, but most of them paid him in bells. It was hard work, running around in the hot sun, but Dick had to work for Mr. Nook or else he wouldn't be able to pay him back all the bells he owed Mr. Nook. It was then Dick stopped for a second and thought.
"You know," he asked in his head, "what DOES Mr. Nook do if someone doesn't pay his or her bills on time?"
Dick decided to shake it off, mainly because he still had some deliveries to make and he didn't want to find out what would happen first hand. Dick finished delivering a large refrigerator to Gal, the alligator, and was about to head over to Nook's shop when Gal stopped him.
"Wait," Gal said suddenly, "you're going back to Tom's shop, right, kiddo?"
"Yes, sir!" Dick replied.
"Can you tell him I won't be able to pay this month's rent?" Gal asked. "See, my mother just recently passed away, and I needed to use all my bells to pay for her funeral. I know it might seem a little selfish, but I could really use a break this month. I promise I'll pay double next month."
"I'm so sorry for your loss," Dick replied with a frown. "I'll be sure to let Mr. Nook know, I'm sure he'll understand."
"Thanks, kiddo! You make my heart go 'twist twist boom!'" Flowers suddenly appeared around Gal's head as he smiled at Dick. Dick felt uncomfortable, he still had no idea how the villagers did that, so he just smiled and waved goodbye.
Later Dick finally arrived at Nook's shop.
"Where have you been?" Tom Nook asked Dick as he walked into the store. "I was starting to get worried, you didn't get lost again, did you?"
"No, sir!" Dick then told Tom all about Gal and how he wouldn't be able to pay this month's rent.
"Is that...so?" Tom Nook said with a pause as his paws stroked his chin. Tom was squinting, he looked slightly annoyed.
"Yes, sir, I hope you can find it in your heart to understand. He said he'd pay double next month."
"That's what they all say..." Tom whispered to himself. He then looked over at Dick. "Dick," he said with a sudden smile, "I realize now that I've been rather hard on you. I've had quite a lot of pressure on you, Dick. A lot of pressure indeed. You should relax. A Dick needs to go limp every once and a while. Tell you what, come over to my house upstairs tonight at 7, and I'll treat you to dinner."
"R-really, Mr. Nook?!" Dick was shocked, this was something he wasn't expecting from Tom. "You won't charge me at all?"
"Nonsense, Dick!" Tom laughed with a smile. "You've earned it. Free of charge. Now run along and get ready for tonight."
"Thanks a lot!" Dick smiled. Dick then went back to his house and got ready for that night. His stomach was starting to grumble just when he returned to Tom Nook's shop that night and headed upstairs to Nook's living quarters. He knocked on the door. There were footsteps coming from behind the door, and Tom Nook opened it. He was dressed in a purple suit, and there was a look of joyous excitement on his face.
"So glad you came, Dick," Tom said inviting him in. Dick walked into the room. It was like every other house in the town of Sleepy, only with an added grand kitchen with marble tiles on the counters and floor, and a refrigerator so large that Dick himself could crawl into it.
"Wow!" Dick ejaculated the phrase. "Mr. Nook, that is some kitchen you've got there."
"It's nothing special. Come, Dick. Sit." Dick walked over to the table and sat down. Tom walked into the kitchen and got out a large covered silver tray. He walked back over to the table and placed the tray at the center of the table. Dick could smell the aroma coming from the tray. He licked his lips as his stomach grumbled even louder.
"It sure smells good! What is it?"
"It's a personal favorite dish of mine..." Nook began has he removed the cover on the tray. There sat something Dick hadn't seen before. It was a firm, crispy looking brown slab. Steam puffed out of it, and it smelt so good that Dick thought his stomach was going to explode from just smelling it. He licked his lips again. "Meat," Tom finished.
"I've never seen this kind of fruit before, and it doesn't look like fish."
"It's a combination of the two, so to speak. It comes from a rare place that only I know about. Go ahead, try it."
Dick got out a fork and knife and cut into it. He put some in his mouth and chewed it. It tasted so amazing. Spicy and hot, yet so juicy and chewy. It was unlike anything Dick had ever tasted before. "This is incredible!"
"I'm glad you like it..." Tom said with a smile as he too took a bite from it. The two then spent the rest of the evening talking and making jokes. It was fun, and Dick was especially excited when Tom invited him back over to try meat again some time.
"It'll probably be awhile, though," Tom sighed, "retrieving meat is rather hard. Still, next time I get some, I'll invite you right over."
This made Dick so happy, he was glad he was working with Mr. Nook. He was so happy that he wasn't even that bothered the next morning when he woke up to find that Gal had moved away suddenly. Dick was especially curious as to why Gal had left all his stuff behind, but he didn't question it; he had other work to do.
A few weeks passed, Tom Nook had Dick over for meat a few other times, and a few other villagers had moved away suddenly. Every night the meat tasted different. Some of it was rough and chewy, some of it melted in his mouth, and some of it got caught in his teeth. Dick never really thought much of it, until Claire had moved away. Claire was a cat who Dick was sweet on. She was always nice to him and offered him cold drinks of lemonade on hot summer days. Dick liked her, the way she dressed with a small cowbell necklace around her neck and her pink dresses. Dick was working up the nerve to ask her out, but then she suddenly moved away without saying goodbye. Dick was heart broken when he came to her house to find this out, and he was still a little upset even when Mr. Nook invited him over again for some meat.
"I just don't understand why she wouldn't tell me," Dick told Tom at his dinner table. Tonight's meat tasted both sweet and sour. Normally Dick would have loved this, but he wasn't in the mood tonight.
"Sometimes people aren't who they say they are..." Tom replied as he put some more meat in his mouth. "People change as quickly as the wind. But don't worry, life still goes on. Even if we don't want it to."
"Who knows," Dick sighed, "maybe her art career finally took off?"
"Art career?"
"Yeah, she was a really talented artist. She made these really beautiful paintings. But that was her only focus, so she found it hard to make end's meet every month. In fact, I think she said that this month was going to be a real struggle. I was going to give her a few bells, but then..."
"So that explains it..." Tom whispered to himself.
"I'm sorry?"
"Nothing! Excuse me for a moment, I have to check on something." Tom walked over to his bathroom door and shut it immediately. Dick began to eat his meat again, still thinking about Claire. It just didn't seem like her, to leave out of nowhere. Who knows, maybe her art career finally took off and she had to quickly move to the big city? Dick thought about her, shopping in the big city stores, and smiled as he began to chew some more meat.
Suddenly, his jaw closed on something hard. It felt like a small lug nut was in his mouth. He spat it out and looked at it. Dick stared at the item, wide-eyed. There, in his hands, what used to be in his mouth, what used to be in his meat, what used to be around Claire's lovely neck, was a cowbell necklace. Dick looked at the necklace, then the meat, and then back at the necklace. Dick finally realized what was happening. His stomach grew nauseous, and he felt the urge to throw up.
Tom opened and shut the bathroom door again. Dick quickly put the bell in his pocket and stood up. "Mr. Nook, I'm sorry, but I feel terrible. I really should be going home."
"You sure, Dick? You haven't eaten all of your meat, you usually love it? Why don't you finish, Dick? You should eat more, you're just bits and pixels."
"NO!" Dick quickly yelled in horror. He stopped himself, then continued to say, "I'm just really bent up over Claire. I'd like to be alone. I'll be at work first thing tomorrow."
"If you say so." Dick and Nook said goodbye, and Dick had to fight the urge to both beat up Tom Nook and throw up all over his floor. Dick then walked home, and when he was finally alone in his house he spewed chunks. He cried and vomited as he remembered all the villagers who had moved away and how many times he had went over to eat meat at Mr. Nook's. The once wonderful tasting meat now left a foul memory in his mind and an even fouler taste in his mouth. Dick knew what he had to do. The next morning he went to work with a straight face. He acted like nothing unusual had happened, especially when Tom asked if Dick was doing alright.
Then, Dick followed Tom around after he was done working. He stayed behind trees and bushes as he watched Tom walking around. Tom was doing his usual routine, shopping and telling all the villagers how they owed him money, until he did something bizarre.
Tom reset the game.
When Dick woke up, he was behind some bushes and Tom Nook was standing a few feet away from him looking in the opposite direction. Dick was thankful Tom didn't catch him, but then was shocked to see Mr. Resetti pop up.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Mr. Resetti yelled. "You can't reset the game, only the player can do that! What the fuck were you thinking?!"
"I was thinking I wanted to see you, Mr. Resetti," Tom replied in a cool voice.
"You...wanted to see me?" Resetti had a shocked look on his face. "W-why the fuck would you want to do that?"
"Because I think you're special."
"I-I'm...special?" Resetti was blushing now. He stared at Nook with great intensity. "H-how am I special?" Tom got closer to Resetti. Closer and closer, Resetti seemed to get more and more red in his cheeks. Resetti was panting as Tom put his hand on Resetti's face.
"I think you're special..." Nook continued. He then opened his mouth, and bit into Resetti's jugular vein. Resetti screamed in pain, then went limp. Nook opened his mouth and hefted Resetti's body out of his hole. "...I think you're special because I haven't eaten mole yet."
Dick almost threw up again. He waited until Nook was far gone with Resetti's body, and then he ran over to the police station and told them everything he had just seen.
"This can't be right," Officer Cooper told Dick. "Mr. Nook has the nicest dictating personality around here. Why would he eat people?"
"I dunno," Officer Booker spoke up, "things have been getting kinda boring around here lately. And Tom does display some sadistic tendencies."
"You read ONE book on mental disorders and suddenly you think you're Dr. Shrunk!" Cooper yelled.
"It's true though! You don't have to be so mean!"
"I'm sorry, I'm just a little stressed out is all."
"It's okay, sugar lumps."
"Could you two stop making puppy dog eyes at each other and help me catch this psycho!?" Dick yelled. The two officers looked at each other and nodded. "Let's go."
They ran over to Tom's shop and kicked down the door to his room. Inside Tom was in his kitchen, wearing a bloody apron and washing his hands.
"Well hello, Dick, officers," Tom casually replied. "You're just in time, I was making some meatloaf."
"Don't you mean MOLEloaf, you sick bastard?!" Dick yelled.
Nook stopped washing his hands and squinted at Dick. "You sneaky bastard...you saw that?"
"I'll take that as a confession," Cooper stepped in. "Mr. Nook, you are under arrest."
"Why did you do it, Mr. Nook!?" Dick cried out.
"I'M AN OMNIVORE, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Tom yelled as he pulled out a gun. "I CAN ONLY EAT FRUITS FOR SO LONG! I NEED MY PROTEINS, BITCHES!" Tom fired the gun. The bullet grazed Dick's arm. He yelled out in pain as the other two officers pulled out their guns and fired rapidly at Tom. Tom got hit once, twice, three times before he finally fell in a pool of his own blood. Dick opened his eyes and walked over to Tom Nook, blood coming from his already bloody apron.
"I lied," Tom said with a cough, "the meat did cost you something, Dick. It cost you your soul...you...Dick..." Tom then spat out some blood and closed his eyes. He was dead, the nightmare was over.
The officers found the skeletons of all the neighbors who had "moved" in Tom's closet, along with some leftovers in his refrigerator. Everyone was in shock, no one had seen it coming. Everyone asked Dick how he was, and if he would be okay. Dick smiled and said he would be, but he knew inside he was lying. He put up his house for sale shortly after and moved into a different neighborhood. There he made a few friends, but deep down inside he felt truly alone. Because he could never tell anyone the things he had seen, the sins he had committed without knowing it. The only person he could talk to it about was dead, and the reason why he was empty. In the end Tom Nook was right, the meat had come at the price of Dick's soul. And that's how he carried on the rest of his life. Never forgetting. And never forgiving.
The End