Kevin woke up to a faint light glowing from his main floor, the desk lamp he forgot to turn off. The dimly lit room casted flickering shadows on the way, and if Kevin hadn't just woken up, he might've noticed the second alive shadow, being emitted from the corner of his room.
Still half asleep, he stumbled down his wooden steps into the brightly lit room. Instantly, he covered his eyes trying to block out light, in too much pain to see. While fumbling for the lamp, he managed to trip again, reopening the wound on his knee. Cursing, he stood up and switched off his lamp. Looking outside, he noticed the weak pale blue light of dawn. Kevin also noticed that his new neighbor, Peanut, was already out and about, whistling while attempting to catch bugs.
Reluctantly, Kevin stepped outside, walking up to meet his new neighbor. "Hello…." He muttered meekly.
"Oh, hi!" She exclaimed, a thick southern account piercing the air. "My name's Peanut! What's your name?" She asked excitedly.
"I'm Kevin. I'm new here too." He responded, a little less scared of this animal, as she seemed less mean and angry as others.
"It's nice to meet you, Kevin!" She gave him a friendly hug and smiled.
Kevin stepped back, and for the first time, inspected this new friend. She was a squirrel, as pink as cotton candy, with a little blue patch on her head. She was cute, he decided, something you'd say a about a child. He nodded, deciding she would make a good friend.
"It's nice to meet you too! I'm surprised that you don't hate me, everyone else does. Because of the… You know… Yeah…" Kevin finished lamely.
"Because of the what?" Peanut inquired. "I lived on a remote ranch in the
southern mountains."
"That explains the accent." Kevin thought.
"Last week, some humans came and said I had to move. I didn't really question it, because they promised a cheap house in a full town. What happened that caused the animals to hate the humans?" Peanut asked.
Kevin smiled grimly. "For the past few years, the humans have been at war with animals. A civil war, of sorts. There were many factors that contributed to the war. Politics was a major cause. We humans have more of a liberal point of view, where most animals were conservatives. Religion played a huge part too, Theists vs. Atheists, etc. The government was made up of the people, voting for whom they thought would do well in office. This caused a mix of animals and humans to be elected, creating a lot of arguments. One day, I guess somebody just got too angry at the other species, and declared war." He stopped to let Peanut soak in this new information.
"Two weeks ago, the humans defeated the animals, and won the war. They moved the animals to these towns, made of majorly of animals. All their possessions, houses, were sold for a fraction of their price. The animals were forced out here." Kevin stopped for a second, and started again, slower and sadder. "I lost my home a couple days ago, after bankruptcy. I only had one chance, to move out to one of these towns with my only money I had left. My new neighbors haven't been as friendly toward me as I expected."
Peanut, now on the verge of tears, stepped forward and embraced Kevin. "I don't hate you. It's not your fault. You didn't start the war, you didn't fight in it." She smiled sadly.
"How did you know I didn't fight in the war?" Kevin responded, confused.
"They would have given you money, made sure you had a place to live, if you fought in the war." Peanut responded. "Hey, did you know your knee is bleeding? Come into my house, I'll fix it up."
The pair walked into the female's house. "Oh wait, I forgot, I haven't finished unpacking yet. I'm sorry, I can't help you." She explained. "Oh wait! I'll go buy some bandages from Tom Nook. You wait here, I'll be right back."
Kevin stood up. "No, it's good. I got it." He stood up and walked to the door.
Peanut got up after him. "Let me come too. You're injured, and you don't need to suffer the wrath of the villagers alone."
Kevin smiled and held the door open for her. The pair walked to Nook's together, a small wooden shack, dark and shady looking. "Dang, you would think this place is like the black market." He muttered. The two walked into the shop, and looked around. Dimly lit, just like his room, with old rotting wood. A moldy smell occupied the air.
"Oh, it's the human." Nook looked at him with disgust. "Get out of my shop. I don't sell to your kind." He sneered. Then, he noticed Peanut walking beside him. "Oh, isn't it my favorite new villager! What would you like to buy today?"
Peanut frowned at the tanooki. "Actually, WE would like some bandages. Do you have any?"
Oh, so you and this waste of space are friends now?" Tom Nook muttered. "I'll see if we have anything in the back." He stalked off to the back room, slightly annoyed. Not too long after, he returned with yellowed strips of cloth. "This is the best I have, take it or leave it, two hundred bells."
"Oh…" Kevin muttered. "We don't have any money…" He said barely above a whisper.
Now obviously annoyed, Nook glared at them. "Just take it and get out of my store before another animal shows up and dies from the sight of your face."
Kevin snatched the yellow fabric from Tom Nook, and walked out of his shop. "Thanks for that…" He muttered to Peanut. "I wouldn't have gotten it without you." He explained, somewhat embarrassed.
"Oh, it's no problem at all! I love helping people!" She exclaimed. She walked right next to him all the way back to her house, where she helped him put on the bandage. He smiled at her, while she helped bind it to his leg, when all of a sudden; their silence was interrupted by a low rumble from Peanut's stomach. "Oh, I guess I'm hungry!"
Kevin smiled. "Watch this." He stepped out the door and tucked his long hair behind his ear. He quickly scaled the tree right next to Peanut's house, and grabbed 3 apples. Inspecting the apples, he noticed they were a perfect bright red, with ideal juiciness and smooth texture. He slid down the tree and handed two to Peanut. "Here, you have two of them."
The friends each took a bite out of their apple, letting the juicy flavor roll over their taste buds. "Perfection of a fruit." Peanut commented.
Noticing the sunset, Kevin decided it was time to hit the hay, considering he was awake early that morning. He gave Peanut another friendly hug, and walked into his house. Unlike the night before, it took him forever to fall asleep, even after he laid down in bed, and when he did fall into the depths of slumber, he did so restlessly.
A/N: So, I meant to have this up last night, but I was with my girlfriend for a while, and I planned to write when I got home, but my twin brother was with our friends, and I got distracted. I ended up spraining my wrist playing football with them, and I never got to write, so I got it done tonight. I'm really happy with where this fanfic is going, I think I'm doing well with it. So far, it's been entered in two competitions, Dougieowner's and AnimalCrossingExtravaganza fanfic competition. So watch out for it and see how it does. Slán!