Animal Crossing: The Series
Episode 19: All in a Day's Work
"DEATH TO THE OUTSIDER!" chanted the angry mob.
Sakura found herself tied to a post upon a tall wooden platform just outside of Treehut's town hall. She stared down at the crowd before her in absolute terror.
"Guys," she pleaded, "Please! I didn't know! Can't we just be civil about this?"
"You have destroyed our perfect town," yelled Mayor Shelldon, "You must pay!"
"We welcomed you with open arms," said Bill, "We provided you our services! And this is how you repay us?"
"Oh, God," pleaded Sakura, "How did I let this happen? I should have listened! Please, don't let it end like this…"
Tears formed under Sakura's eyes. She could not believe that this was the end for her…
4 days earlier:
The phone in Curt's cubicle rang. It had been a whole week since Curt started working and everything was going great for him. He was staring to get the hang of the job. Plus he really liked the people he worked with and the handsome salary he was receiving.
"Yello?" said Curt, in his most suave voice, "Marathon head office, Curtis speaking."
"Oooh," said Lindsay, over the phone, "Listen to you, sounding like a true businessman! How's work?"
"Can't complain," said Curt, "You?"
"Today's a little slow," said Lindsay, "Say, my lunch is coming up. Wanna head out for a bite together?"
"Ahhh," said Curt, "I don't remember the last time we went out together during the day. It certainly feels good to have a job again!"
"Alright," giggled Lindsay, "I'll meet you for sushi at 12:15, okay?"
"What about CJ?" said Curt, "We should call him up!"
"Nah," said Lindsay, "He's super busy today. And I think he already had his lunch like, at 11 or something."
"Too bad. Oh well, maybe next time!"
Speaking of CJ:
"Welcome to Greas-E Burger," mumbled CJ, as Snake and Poncho entered, "How may I serve you?"
"What's up?" said Snake, "You sound glum. More than usual, anyways, ha!"
"It's nothing," said CJ, "Are you ordering something?"
"Yeah," said Snake, "A box of onion rings. Extra sauce!"
"I'm having a salad," said Poncho, "Gotta watch my weight!"
Poncho patted his fat stomach.
"So," said Snake, "Curt's really enjoying his new job, huh?"
"It's not fair," said CJ, "I just found out that Curt earns more than me! I work ten times harder than that bozo!"
"Jealous, much?" asked Snake.
"I'm not jealous," said CJ, "It's just…Lately I've been thinking. I feel like I'm stuck at a dead end. Maybe it's time to change jobs or something. Or, maybe even go back to school."
"There's nothing wrong with where you are now," said Poncho, "You have your own house and your own car and you got plenty of friends. You're livin' the dream, man!"
"And you did it all yourself," said Snake, "Through hard work!"
"I guess," said CJ, "It's just…Something's missing. I don't feel like I accomplished anything worthwhile during the time I've been here."
"May I suggest something?" asked Snake, "Try doing some volunteer work! It's a very fulfilling experience. Poncho and I helped clean up the museum last week!"
"You should have seen how many beer bottles were still left over from our museum bash," said Poncho.
The two high-fived.
"Volunteer work, eh?" said CJ, "Yeah, I'll see. Maybe I could clean up this town a bit or something. That would be great! Thanks, guys!"
"Where's my salad?" asked Poncho, "I'm starving!"
Sakura, who was holding an old owl clock, entered Nookington's and immediately headed for the cash.
"Ah," said Nook, "Ms. Manaki. What can I do for you today, hm?"
"Um," said Sakura, "You see, I bought this thing in Treehut last week, and I decided I don't really need it. I don't feel like going all the way there to return it. You think maybe you could buy it off of me?"
Nook put on a pair of reading glasses and grabbed the clock from her. He quickly examined the item.
"My word," said Nook, "This is quite beautiful, yes? Look at the detail and the quality of wood…I'll give you 4000 bells!"
"4000?" said Sakura, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Apologies," said Nook, "That's not enough. How about 4500, yes?"
"Fucking crap!" said Sakura, "That's more than what I paid for it!"
"Well then, it seems you've earned some profit, hm?"
"But why so much?"
"My dear, this kind of high-quality Treehut stuff is rare here. That town has an abundance of trees that produce some of the best wood in all of the Western County. Their stuff is the envy of shopkeepers everywhere!"
"But their stuff isn't that expensive."
"Treehut has plenty of trees, so they often can afford to sell their stuff cheap. But I often have to jack up the prices due to shipping and handling fees and taxes. The price I paid you is nothing compared to what I normally pay my suppliers!"
"Why don't you just go there and get the stuff yourself?"
"Ms. Manaki, I am a very busy man. I rarely get time for myself, yes? But you…You seem to have some time on your hands."
"What are you getting at, Nook?"
"How would you like to be my business partner? You get me as many valuable Treehut items as you can, and I promise to pay you handsomely. I'll even pay a percentage of your train ticket. Imagine, Treehut will no longer be that hidden gem in the Western County. Everyone in town will flock to my store for their hand-crafted goodness! You and I will be, how do you say, filthy stinkin' rich, ho, ho, ho!"
"Nook, you magnificent bastard! Treehut, here I come…Again!"
"Alright, bub," said Resetti, "So ya wanna do some volunteer work, huh? Good. You can start by pullin' out all the weeds in this acre!"
CJ looked around. Weeds occupied every square inch of the ground.
"Aw man," said CJ, "There's so many!"
"Kids these days," said Resetti, taking the cigar out of his mouth, "When I was your age, I was already workin' the mines with my brother, earnin' just 100 bells an hour. Pullin' a few weeds out of the ground should be no problem, 'specially for a guy with muscles like yours!"
"Can't I at least get a spade or a pickaxe or something?"
"You'll ruin the ground. I can't have too many holes here. Now, GET TO WORK!"
With that, Resetti burrowed into the ground and disappeared. CJ moaned and put a pair of gloves on. He began pulling the weeds out, one by one.
Later that day, Sakura headed back to Treehut to shop for some goods.
"Ms. Manaki," said Bill, "It has been a while, yes? What brings you back to our fair town?"
"Oh," said Sakura, as she shopped around, "I've been busy, but now I'm back. I just can't get enough of your stuff!"
"Ho, ho, ho!" chuckled Bill, "Well, if you like that, you should visit Clarence's shop."
"Who's that?"
"Why, he's the town carpenter. He sculpted some of the items I sell here. He's a nice old man, but a little lonely. For a small price, he can sculpt you just about anything, hm?"
"You don't say…"
"WRONG!" yelled Resetti, "That ain't how you plant flowers! What's wrong with ya?"
"I put them in the order you asked," said CJ, "Red tulip, white cosmos, pink cosmos…"
"YOU DEAF OR SOMETHING?" shouted Resetti, "It's white cosmos, red tulips, then pink cosmos! Dig 'em out and START OVER!"
"Ugh," sighed CJ, "I volunteered so I can feel like I'm making a difference. So far, I've done nothing but hard labour for no pay!"
"Welcome to the real world," said Resetti, who then burrowed away.
CJ grumbled and began digging out the flowers he planted near the train station.
"Why, Sakura," said Nook, examining the wooden sculpture, "This is fabulous! You say there is a guy over there who specializes in making these, yes?"
"That's right," said Sakura, "I asked him to make me so more. I'll head there tomorrow to pick them up."
"My dear," said Nook, "Thank you so much! You have made me a happy salesman!"
"And you," said Sakura, taking her cash, "Have made me one happy chick."
That evening, ¾ of the gang went behind the post office to hang out. A very tired-looking CJ lit a cigarette and took a big puff.
"How was your day?" asked Curt.
"Exhausting," said CJ, "But I can honestly say that I made this town a better place to live!"
"Good for you," said Lindsay, "When tourists step off the train, the first thing they see will be all those pretty flowers you planted."
"Yeah," said Curt, "Great job! I don't why you're suddenly so interested in helping the community, but it's very inspiring. I wish I could do something more to help out."
"Well," said CJ, with a sense of pride, "It's certainly not for everyone. You don't get paid, but that feeling you get in your heart is totally worth it."
Suddenly, Sakura arrived, holding a wad of cash.
"Wow," said Curt, "Where'd you get all that money?"
"Sold some old junk," replied Sakura.
"That's a lot of junk," said Curt, eyeing the money, "But hey, who am I to judge?"
"I have Friday off," said CJ, "That means I can stay out late tomorrow night. How about we all do something together?"
"Yeah," said Curt, "We should totally go that French restaurant. I'm buying, of course, since I'll be getting my first paycheck, hehe…"
"Oooh," said Sakura, "Look who's high-balling now."
"I know," said Lindsay, "Soon, he'll be richer than all of us!"
CJ frowned.
The following day:
"And I sculpted that one while I was in the Peace Corps," said the old Beaver, as he pointed to various sculptures around the room, "Oh, and that one I started during the summer of '75, but didn't finish it until about 10 years later. Yessir, by that time, I had completely run out of enthusiasm."
"Uh-huh," said Sakura, bored.
Sakura sat in the shop, waiting as Clarence the Beaver finished sculpting a small frog statue.
"There ya go, missy," said the old man, as he handed Sakura the sculpture, "Always nice to have company, you know. I remember back when I was a young carpenter just starting out, I..."
"Yeah, yeah," said Sakura, "Having friends is great and all, now, you think you can carve me a cabin chair? Nook...Er, my buddy needs one."
"Anything for a sweet young lady like yourself," said the man.
"Good. I'll be back later to pick it up later. See ya, old man."
As Sakura stepped out of the old beaver's shop, she ran into Bill the Raccoon.
"Bill?" said Sakura, "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the shop?"
"Ah," said Bill, "I had to run an emergency errand. I presume everything is going well, hm?"
"Oh, it's great," said Sakura.
"Yes," said Bill, "I see you were just at Clarence's."
"Yeah," said Sakura, "He's pretty good, isn't he?"
"It's the second time in two days you go there, yes? What could you be doing with all those wooden knick-knacks, hm?"
"Well, some are for my collection and, um, some are for...Friends. Yup!"
"Friends, hm? Well, good luck with your collection. I would love to talk some more, but I must be on my way. Take care, miss."
Bill eyed Sakura as she ran for the train station.
To be Continued…