Disclaimer : I don't own any piece of Animal Crossing, but I wish I did

I looked out of my bedroom window and sighed. It really was a beautiful view. I could see my backyard. The grass was swaying gently.

The wooden swing set my father had made all by himself when I was four years old sat there, the swings on it moving slightly in the breeze. He made it as a birthday present for me, and I used to absolutely love it. It looked old and on the verge of falling apart with the slightest touch, but it served its purpose well for my six year old twin brothers, Adam and Jacob.

The tall oak tree that has been in our yard since we moved in was full with bright green leaves, and basked in the bright summer sun.

Adam and Jacob were sitting under the shade of the oak tree. Adam munched contently on an apple, and Jacob was looking at a picture book. They both seemed to not have a care in the world. They knew that I was leaving, but I don't think they were too concerned. They were only six. It didn't offend me too much.

Adam and Jacob are sweet boys, and they looked identical. They both have shaggy dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes. Although their appearances are quite similar, their personalities are not. Adam is more outgoing, while Jacob is more shy and reserved.

Why was I about to cry? I knew I'd never see the tall oak tree, or the wooden swing set, or even this house ever again, but it was my choice. I didn't have to leave it all if I didn't want to. Was I going to change my mind… again?

No. I couldn't back out now. So what if I was leaving all of this behind? I would soon have my own house, and new neighbors, and more freedom. My life would be much better.

I love the boys and my parents, but I'm moving because I feel trapped. Trapped in this little town that has nothing for me. My life has gone nowhere so far, and I know deep down inside that I'm ready to leave it all.

My childhood was not bad at all. In fact, I was treated like a princess. My parents would buy me anything or take me anywhere. The way my parents talk about me, I sounded like a grade 'A' brat.

By the time I was five, I had met my best friend, Cherry. Cherry and I were the same age, and I think she's what changed me from being selfish to being, well, NOT selfish.

Cherry and her family were not poor, but they weren't rich either. I think my family was the same way, yet they still gave me whatever I wanted.

Cherry is the most selfless and caring person I know, and hanging out with her was what really did change me.

Then, when I was ten, my mother gave birth to twin brothers, and I knew this was my wake up call. I no longer asked for "things" all the time, and I helped with my brothers instead.

This town is beautiful and nice, and I love the people here and my family. But there's nothing here for me. I think the realization really hit me a year ago. I started telling this to mom, and she thought that I was just "going through a phase", and that "I'll find my place here when I'm older."

I didn't believe her, and look! Here I am, prepared to leave.

Telling myself why I'm leaving seems to help me stay on track. Okay, now I have no regrets. There was no turning back now, and no reason to. I'm ready. Ready to go.

I looked down at my small backpack that had 1500 bells in it, and smiled. Soon I'd be on a train, heading to a new town.

A new place.

A new chapter in my life.

A blank page for me to fill in all on my own.

And I was more excited than I've ever been in my life.

I heard mom shout something to Adam and Jacob. I looked out the window again, and saw that they were running into the house.

I picked up my bag, and hiked it onto my shoulder. I didn't really have a plan. I didn't know where I was going. I haven't called about a house, and I don't have a lot of money. Yet, the idea that I have no plans at all relaxed me more than stressed me out. It made me feel like I had more freedom. There were thousands of possibilities for me, and I could pick any single one of them on the fly.

I started out of my bedroom, leaving everything behind except the yellow and red check dress on my back, my backpack, my watch and my bells. Moving to a new house, I wanted to buy new furniture on my own, and not use anything that I have here, at my old home.

I walked down the stairs, and couldn't help but grin the whole way. My mom, and my two little brothers were waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs in the living room near the front door. Mom must have called Adam and Jacob inside to say goodbye to me. I barely reached the bottom of the staircase before the boys tackled me with a huge hug. "We'll miss you so much!" They both said together. Mom smiled at them sweetly.

"Promise to write us lots of letters?" Jacob asked cutely. I smiled down at him. "I promise."

"Promise to let us come visit you?" Adam asked, looking quite hopeful. I noticed he had little pieces of apple around his mouth.

"Well…" I thought, "Maybe when I'm all moved in, and up on my feet. But yes, you can visit me eventually."

Jacob giggled. "You already ARE on your feet!"

I laughed at Jacob, and kissed him and Adam on the top of the head. "Good bye, boys. I love you, and be good!"

My mom walked over to me. I noticed that her bright blue eyes, that greatly resembled mine, were red and puffy. She embraced me, and whispered in my ear, "Be careful."

I looked up at her and grinned. "You know I will." Mom smiled, ruffled my blonde hair, and let me go.

Mom has been trying to convince me not to move out. She'd give me all these reasons and stupid excuses, or she'd make me feel guilty. Over the time span of about 3 months, I've probably changed my mind about ten times.

Then, when I changed my mind to wanting to move again, I packed my bag with bells, and decided to just leave. This was yesterday.

I told my mom my plans this morning, and she yelled at me, and cried and called dad at work, and cried some more. But I couldn't let mom change my mind again. I needed to leave.

Dad told me that leaving home would be good for me. That I'd learn more about life, and things like that.

That wasn't the point of me moving out, but I really appreciated that dad had my back through all of this.

I opened the front door and started walking down the porch steps. Mom offered to drive me to the train station this morning after all of her crying and yelling, but I wanted the start of my journey to begin as soon as my foot crossed the threshold of my house, so I declined the offer.

"Tell dad I love him!" I shouted to Mom as I walked off of the porch. She waved to me and smiled, and I couldn't help but notice that her eyes were shining with tears.

"I'll write to you whenever I can!" I shouted at her with a grin. I could feel mom's smile radiate on my neck as I turned around and walked away, even though she hadn't said anything.

I walked cheerily down the sidewalk. My new life has officially begun.

I kept walking for about ten minutes, before it hit me that I'd probably have to say good bye to Cherry, as I would be passing her house. As I came up to her house, I saw my best friend sitting on her porch reading a book. Cherry looked up at me confused. It's not every day that I walk down the street by myself with a backpack. She climbed down her porch steps and walked up to me. "Where are you going, Wendy?" she asked, confused.

Now I love Cherry, and I have loved her ever since I met her, but I kept my moving-away-idea to myself. I just didn't want her to freak out, like she does over everything.

I smiled sadly. "I'm moving away. All by myself. I'm starting a whole new life, in a whole new town."

Cherry gasped, and her eyes welled up with tears immediately. "How come you never told me?" She whimpered.

I sighed. "I kind of kept it to myself."

Cherry started bawling, and hugged me.

Great, more good byes.

"I can't believe you weren't even going to say good bye to me!" She wailed loudly.

"Shhhhh! Cherry, you don't have to scream it to the whole neighborhood! I really need to keep moving. And so you know, I was going to say good bye to you! I'm in a rush now, but I'll write to you."

I didn't mean to sound so annoyed, but I didn't want to say good bye to Cherry and change my mind again.

Ugh, I hated sounding like such a jerk.

Cherry sniffled and waved to me. She pushed her long red curtain of hair out of her bright green eyes. I waved back, trying to put on a gentle smile to make up for how rude I sounded.

I marched on, trying to move fast so there were no more interruptions. I didn't need anyone else taking up more time with good byes. I checked my watch. It was already noon!

I "speed walked" on for about 45 minutes, through the town I have grown up in. I know it pretty well, but I've never been over on this side by the train station. There was really no reason to come over here, as most of the stores and other businesses were closed.

I walked amongst the aged buildings, until I saw a sign.

It was tall and forest green, with a black train on it. Above the train, in large white letters, it clearly stated, "TRAIN STATION".

I had made it without too many interruptions, and was quite proud of myself. I was slightly out of breath because of "speed walking" for so long. Oh well. I was about to board the train soon. The excitement flooded me with bounds of energy.

I entered the little train station, beaming. Behind the counter was an older man, reading a newspaper. He looked up as I opened the door. A little bell tingled over my head.

I noticed immediately (because it was quite obvious) that the train station was completely empty besides the man behind the counter.

I walked up to him, slightly unsure of what to do.

"The train can leave whenever you're ready, young lady." The man suddenly said gruffly. "Just tell me where you need to go."

The man's name tag stated "Tim". He was wearing a white and blue striped polo, and looked quite bored.

I looked up at an old black sign hanging behind the man that listed names of different towns in white letters. There were so many different towns listed! Hyrule, Elysium, Minan, Skyview. I had no idea which one to choose.

First off, I didn't know anything about these towns (and I was too afraid to ask this seemingly cranky old man) and second, what if these towns didn't have houses for sale? I would have to come back home, and I did NOT want to do that. I was starting to get a little anxious, and I didn't want to make the wrong decision.

I noticed one town name at the very bottom of the sign.

Starwood.

The little white letters for Starwood were extremely dirty, and on the verge of falling off. It made me think the town was old, and almost forgotten, and for whatever reason, that intrigued me.

I smiled at the man. "One ticket to Starwood please."

He typed in some information on his computer that was on top of the faded black counter. He seemed to take a long time looking up the information, and I couldn't help but wonder that maybe something went wrong.

After a couple of minutes, he turned to face me. "I'm sorry, miss. It doesn't look like the train stops in Starwood anymore. But, there's a city nearby that the train does stop at. It looks like there's a bus that goes from that city to Starwood. Is that alright?"

"That sounds great!" I said brightly. "Whatever it takes to get me to my brand new home!" The latter statement slipped out, but I couldn't help it. I was too excited.

"Ahh! So you're moving?" The man asked in his gruff voice.

"Oh! Yes! I don't have a plan, and I'm kind of winging everything. I've never even heard of Starwood until I arrived here. I hope that there are some houses for sale there. If not, I guess I'll have to find another town to live in. I'm hoping everything works out right."

I realized I was rambling, and grinned sheepishly.

The man smiled, probably at my stupidity. "That will be 500 bells."

I reached into my backpack, and pulled out the money. I gave it to the man, and he handed me my train ticket.

He lead me through a door, and I found myself outside on a little platform. There was a small black train with red detailing sitting before us. Little puffs of steam issued from the top every now and then, making it look like the steam engine was eager to get going.

"PORTER!" The man shouted. A monkey stuck his head out of the locomotive's window.

Wait a second… a MONKEY? I did a double take, and, indeed, there was a monkey controlling the train I was going to be riding in. I could see his head, and part of his upper body. He looked just like any other conductor… except for the fact that he was a monkey. He was wearing a blue hat, and a blue suit that matched. The suit had two rows of yellow buttons going down the front.

I was extremely apprehensive about riding this train now. I mean, I've never even rode in a train before, let alone one controlled by a monkey!

"THIS YOUNG LADY NEEDS TO GET TO THE CITY!" The man shouted at the monkey.

The monkey, Porter, brought a brown furry hand to his forehead in a salute. "AYE AYE, CAPTAIN! EEK, EEK!"

The man looked down at me, and I'm sure he caught the look on my face when I saw the talking conductor-monkey.

"Don't worry," the man said with a somewhat evil grin. "Porter is extremely skilled at controlling the train. You'll get to the city in one piece." He chuckled, and guided me onto the train. I felt my hand shake as I held onto the railing and climbed up the little set of stairs.

"Have a nice trip, and good luck with your new life!" The man said, before stepping off of the train.

"Th-Thank you." I said shakily.

A couple of minutes later, I felt the train lurch, and realized we were leaving the station. "EEP!" I yelled, and plopped down in a green booth that was nearby. I took a couple of deep breaths.

Okay. I thought. A monkey is driving a train. I'll be alright. It's just a monkey driving a train. Totally normal! I'll still make it to Starwood. And in one piece! Just like that man said!

Everything is normal. Everything is alright.

I looked around the train, and noticed I was the only one on for the ride. It didn't really surprise me much at this point, considering how empty the station was. There were only a couple more booths in this car. They were all covered in green plastic, and the plastic was cracking and peeling off of the seats, revealing gross yellow foam. There were cobwebs in some of the top most corners, and dust covered all of the seats, including the one I was sitting in.

I giggled to myself, and brushed some of the dust off of my seat with my hand.

Mother would probably not approve of me riding in this run down old train with a monkey for a conductor, and that made me feel happy, and free. I was such a rebel!

I looked out the window, and watched as the train platform slowly moved behind me, and out of my point of view.

The train was gaining speed, and before long, trees and rolling bright green fields whizzed by me in the bright afternoon sun.

Then it hit me. My old town was now behind me. The wind was to my back. I was on my way to my new life, in Starwood.

And I couldn't wait.

A/N : Thanks for reading! Please comment or review! They'll really inspire me to continue!