Chapter 3: Realization.
I was lying in the back room of the Town Hall, a cool flannel on my head, and Pelly and Tortimer (As I had found out they were called) sitting beside me. I was still battling between acceptance and denial, what was real? Everything I touched felt exactly like it did in 'the human world'. Surely a dream would make it feel fake too? I wasn't an expert, I didn't know.
"Feeling better?" Pelly smiled down at me, patting my hand, soothingly. What amazed me was that they didn't seemed fazed that a human had stumbled into their world. Had this sort of thing occurred before then? I tried to smile back, like I was unaffected, but I got the feeling that my smile ended up turning into something that made me look retarded. Oops. "Was there anything we could help you with?"
I had forgotten about that. The reason that I had wandered into the Town Hall. "I need a phone. To call my mum. So I can get home." I stated, rather matter-of-factly. I think it came across, fairly obviously, that I wanted to get out of here quickly. Pelly and the Mayor, Tortimer, (I should really just call them talking pelican and tortoise, seeing as I could be dreaming. Calling them by their 'names' made it seem all too real, and I wasn't certain that was the case yet.) looked at each other, a look of pity and worry were set on their faces. Uh-oh, not a good sign.
"I'm sorry…" The pelican started, clearly trying to sound as gentle as she could. It made me more nervous, I wished she'd hurry up and stop prolonging the inevitable. "…All of the town's phones are only connected to the Animal Crossing Service Centre. No-one can contact the outside world, or connecting towns that way. There's always mail service though." She added, brightly. Bright news for her, maybe, but not for me. Unless I wanted to send a letter and wait for it to be sent and received, it appeared I was stuck.
"Why would you want to go home anyway?" The Mayor interjected. "Didn't you choose to come here?" That question seemed extremely daft to me. Why would any human being want to go to a world of talking, walking, trying to be human, animals? A place that made you feel like you were crazy and delusional? It was beyond me.
"I got lost, I ended up here by mistake." I ended up explaining the whole expedition. I explained that humans didn't belong here and that I just wanted to go home, or wake up. Yep, that's right, I even included my dream theory. As I got further and further into my elucidation, they looked more and more concerned. I tried to ignore it, but my insides writhed, I knew there would be more bad news delivered.
At last I finished. The Mayor raised himself from his seat and began to pace. They obviously thought I had gone mad. Transferring into another world? A dream where they weren't actually real? They actually believed they existed. Perhaps they did, I was so confused.
"But you aren't human…" The pelican spoke, after a while, breaking the silence. I was quite taken aback by this comment. Had I somehow changed into an animal also? No, I couldn't have, I remember seeing my pale legs when I sat down on the station steps a while ago. Human legs. "…Well, you are, but not humanly human. You described us as cartoon-like? Brightly coloured and fake looking?…" She winced at the word 'fake'. That clearly offended and upset her, just as it would if someone said the same to me. "…You're exactly the same." The Mayor plodded back to us, clutching a hand mirror in his left hand. He held it up to me and I saw a reflection of some doll, brightly coloured and cartoon-ish. Exactly like the animals. That wasn't me.
Yet, it was. I looked down at my body, my clothes. My jeans and hoody had been replaced with a summery dress top, white with a red heart in the middle. My shoes had changed into blue trainers and my socks were stripy, red and white. My legs, arms and my face were pink, more pinky than peachy (which the colour of skin should be) and my skin didn't look like flesh at all. I rubbed it, expecting to feel plastic, rubber or even material, like a rag doll, but it felt like flesh. I pinched it, it hurt. If I was crazy enough, I would have clawed through my skin, just to see if I had blood and what it looked like. Just to make it clear, I'm not that mental.
This new discovery made it clear as to why a 'human' suddenly showing up didn't faze them at all. I wasn't actually a human. In looks that is. To them, I looked exactly as I should, just like they did. This couldn't be a dream after all, yet I still, desperately, clung to that philosophy.
"So, I'm one of you ?" I queried, aloud. The two animals just stared at me. "So, I've transformed into something…like you?" Maybe I should just shut up. I didn't want to anger or offend the talking animals, especially as it seemed I was stuck with them. "Sorry."
"That's quite alright." Pelly really was cheery, almost too cheery. The Mayor still seemed stiff with me, however. "I expect it's a lot to take in." She came closer to me and patted my shoulder. Then she looked back at Tortimer and gave him some sort of look.
Yes, well…" He cleared his throat and nodded towards me. "Seeing as you're staying, perhaps we should get you set up. A house, a map, acquainted with the villagers, that sort of thing." The first thing that struck me, was that there were more. More animals. Riiight. The second thing was that they actually lived in houses. The animals aspired to live like humans, no, scratch that, they were living like humans. "Pelly will get you all you need. I, however, need to get back to work." Mayor Tortimer bade me good day and ushered us back out to the front of the Town Hall. Pelly smiled politely and handed me a map.
"You can choose a house from one of the ones circled." Her feathered wing indicated the four houses scattered around the town. Each had a different coloured roof. "You may choose any you wish. I'll get onto Tom Nook- he's the store owner and he owns the houses. He built those houses, you know. He also renovates." Blimey, this Tom Nook must never get any sleep. "I'll tell him about your situation. He'll find you at the houses." She smiled again. I thanked her and set off to find a place to stay (Live seemed far too permanent for my liking.).