The figure held a finger to their wrist, most likely pressing a watch of some sort, and they said something in an incomprehensible language, foreign to human - and animal - ears alike.
A bright cluster of lights behind them caused them to be nothing but a strange, but somewhat familiar, silhouette. It was hard to make out the exact shape, the bright lights made it hard to look in that direction.
Suddenly, the figure struck a triumphant pose and, in English, yelled, "Welcome to Planet 747!"
I put down my book and rubbed at my tired eyes, suppressing a yawn. A glance at the grandfather clock beside the window informed me that it was half past three in the morning. I had intended to go to bed at midnight - a somewhat decent hour - but my book was calling to me as I closed my laptop. Thus, why I stayed up an extra three hours.
Going to bed at a decent hour had always been a problem for me, especially in school, my parents even tried to homeschool me so there was no possible way for me to be late.
I walked through the living room to turn off the television as I went. Some strange program was on, with an alien being shown on television. Ugh, late night (well, early morning) television.
Did I believe in aliens? No. Okay, well, maybe just a little. But my neighbor, Punchy, insisted that they were out there and even presented plausible evidence to me.
My neighbors are a bit… Strange. Not just because they're animals, in fact, that's actually become the norm to me. It was because all of them had these crazy theories. Most were fairly simple, like how the local shopkeeper, Tom Nook, had a basement filled with plush versions of himself.
Punchy… Well, he has the oddest ones.
He is constantly saying how aliens live among us. When I first met the sleepy eyed cat, he asked me what green tasted like. Because (according to Punchy) aliens can taste colors. (Green tastes like saltines, or so I've heard from Punchy's weird blog.)
Oh! I guess I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Cheese. As in… Uh… Cheese. I have short blonde hair, hazel eyes, and an overall pale complexion, thanks to my mom's mom. I typically wear unwashed t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers because they're comfortable and functional at the same time. I have a pretty big house with six rooms: my office, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, dining room, and guest room. My two closest friends are Punchy and Opal.
Let's see… I live in Animurg, it's a small town with ten residents, if you don't include the shopkeepers like Nook.
And… That's it. That's all there really is to say. So, back to the present.
I climbed into my classic bed, not even bothering to get under the covers, and quickly fell asleep.
I awoke at six eighteen in the morning. That was odd because I set my alarm for-
Thump thump thump!
I pushed myself out of my bed and walked over to window, familiar with this routine, and pulled it open. The sun was just beginning to rise, and standing in the dewy grass in front of me were Punchy and a tired green elephant - Opal.
"Hey, Cheese! You have to come down here, mrmphi! We bring news!" Punchy told me cheerfully.
"Can this news wait for later?" I huffed.
"Nope! The early bird gets the worm, mrmphi!" Punchy grinned.
I sighed and slipped on a (most likely) clean outfit. I combed my hair with my hands and walked outside. That was another thing about Punchy.
He was persistent. If he had an opinion, he'd stick with it. It was just in his nature.
Punchy smiled at me and began walking, gesturing for the two of us to follow, his black tail with the white and tan tip swaying almost hypnotically.
"How can you even get up this early? I thought you were a cat who enjoys his sleep." I yawned.
"I dunno, mrmphi," Punchy shrugged, "But I just had a gut feeling so I just had to get up!"
"Wait, have you even checked to make sure that your gut feeling was correct and not just hunger, snoot?" Opal asked, somewhat angrily.
"Nope! That'd take the fun out of it, mrmphi!" Punchy smiled.
Opal was not pleased by the fact that punchy hadn't checked before waking them up at the crack of dawn. She grumbled and I could see small puffs of smoke coming from her ears. Not to mention her glare she shot at Punchy every so often.
The cheerful black and white cat's yellow eyes got wider than usual and he took my hand and Opal's, running towards a large house that had to hold at least three decent sized rooms.
"A new neighbor!" Punchy cheered as he dragged us along.
"Wait," Opal said before Punchy knocked, she rubbed her eyes, smoothed the fabric of her dress, and put on her typically smug expression, "Okay… Now."
Punchy rolled his eyes and knocked twice.
A rather bored looking rabbit answered the door. She had white fur, brown bangs, hot pink gloves, and a spider web dress.
"Yes?" Even her tone sounded bored.
Punchy grinned from ear tip to ear tip, "We came by to say welcome to Animurg!"
The rabbit still didn't look amused, but Punchy continued.
"My name's Punchy, and these are Opal and Cheese, my friends!" the cat smiled.
"Right. My name's Tiffany. Not Tiff. Tiffany." The rabbit sighed.
Behind Tiffany were two more rabbits, a blue one with glasses and a white one with ruby red eyes that gave me the chills.
"Hey Tiff! Who's at the door?" the white one called.
"Visitos. And don't call me Tiff!" TIffany called back.
"Visitors?" said the blue one, who ran up to the door and pushed his glasses up, looking very official, "Good day! My name is Doc." Was that a hint of a blush I saw while he was looking in Opal's direction?
"And I'm Ruby!" the one with the white fur piped up cheerfully.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," I said politely.
Opal remained silent.
"Hey! Y'know what we should do tomorrow night?" Punchy sang.
"Oo! What?" Ruby asked.
"We should totally have a sleepover at my house!" Punchy cheered.
"Why don't we have it here? There's a bunch of room, a full-on kitchen, and a TV." Tiffany suggested.
"Hmmm… Yup! Sounds like a plan, mrmphi!" Punchy sang.
"Mrmphi?" Ruby said, tilting her head in confusion.
"It's his catchphrase. Like how mine is snoot, snoot." Opal said.
All three rabbits looked confused, but quickly nodded in unison.
"See you tomorrow!" Ruby called as the door closed, separating the trios.
"They seemed nice!" Punchy said, walking away.
Opal and I began to walk in the same direction, both of our houses were by each other, and we were still sleepy.
"That Tiffany is such a snob." Opal scoffed when they were a safe distance away.
"Opal! Don't judge people so harshly!" I scolded, turning to face her, "That's what I thought when I first met you, but we're friends now!"
"I know, I know," Opal huffed, "She just didn't seem to care."
"Well, maybe you guys can bond at the sleepover. You do seem pretty similar."
"We'll see." Opal marched towards her own house.
I frowned as I entered my own home and went to my study, pulling out a blank notebook.
March 21st - Sunday
Three new residents moved in today. Doc, Ruby, and Tiffany. All rabbits.
I've known all animals to have a catchphrase, even if it's very subtle, like a small noise. But this trio didn't know why Punchy said "mrmphi".
I'll be keeping my eye on these three.
I closed the notebook and put it in a drawer, rubbing my temples.
So this is just the first chapter of an idea I got yesterday.
(And just for the heck of it)
CHAPTER QUESTIONS!
1) What do you think is going on with the new neighbors?
2) What is your opinion on Punchy?
3) Has your friend ever pulled you into something that they weren't even sure of?
See you soon!