Part IV: Arrival Shock
- Three weeks after the death of Eunice
- [1st POV of Sarah, a human newcomer]
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So here I was, reclined in the green padded seat of this boxcar train, looking out the
window. I was headed towards a new home, but where? My last decisive thought was
simply boarding this wood framed locomotive to take me wherever its tracks lay. I was
starting a new life in a new town, I just didn't know the answer of where and how...yet
that is.
"Hello, mind if I sit here? I promise I'm not crazy"
I eyed the eager looking male, sweater clad, feline suspiciously as his tail bobbed up and
down. It was somewhat annoying to be disturbed while contemplating myself, but at the
same time I was a little anxious to talk to someone on this mundane ride. I nodded to him
with a weak smile before he took the seat across from me graciously.
"Thanks, it's nice meeting friendly people on this train," He paused, eyes straining at the
floor, "I can't put my finger on it, but it seems recently things haven't been too bright in
this region."
I merely looked at him with a falsely quizzical glance, hearing only half the words he
uttered. His eyes darted around oddly, he seemed apprehensive of something, perhaps the
subject he was touching on?
"So what's your name?"
He found a new subject.
"Sarah."
"What an odd name."
There was a silence for a moment as he sat there looking at me, at first he appeared as
though he were going to laugh, but his face snapped into a disappointed frown. I glanced
at him without amusement. This character was beginning to bore me a bit.
"I'm Rover."
I nodded in response.
"This is the train to Brighton, so I assume you are heading towards that village?" he
questioned.
My boredom was quelled, I sat up to listen, folding my arms. I knew the train was headed
towards that village, but I had never been there, nor did I know a thing about it.
"Things have been...not too good, I would say." He paused again mid-sentence,
collecting himself quickly, flashing a dim smile at the wall next to him. "I'm sorry, I get a
little distracted sometimes when I think."
I nodded, looking out the window at the passing trees.
"I'm moving there," I said out to the green foliage that blurred by the glass pane, but my
words were directed towards him.
"Are you? Do you know where you'll be living?"
I shook my head, still taking in the landscape through the window.
His eyes widened as I turned my head to look at him.
"You don't know where you're going to stay? Somewhat of a risk to take wouldn't you
say? Considering the fact of the recent state of things, especially in Brighton."
I didn't know what he was talking about, but he was right about me not having a place to
stay. As the thought continued to pervade my mind, I realized that I was taking a risk. I
was a young woman, traveling alone. I suppose, in a way, I was lucky to have Rover to
talk to. I'd feel uncomfortable if I didn't have him across from me, as finding
companionship in the most obscure environments, such as this rickety train, can be
reassuring especially since I was on my own now.
"I have a friend who owns a store in Brighton, I can talk to him for you. Maybe he can
help you out with getting a roof over your head. I don't think you'd want to be homeless
your first day in a new village."
I thanked him quietly, maybe he wasn't so grating after all. His amiableness was most
comforting. I watched him as he walked down the aisle, shutting the compartment door
behind him as he used the portable phone onboard. He simply nodded and shook his head
as I listened to the muffled conversation. I felt a bit odd taking a favor from a complete
stranger, but he seemed more than eager to help this poor girl out.
I chuckled at myself, leaning comfortably into the green cushions on my seat. He
returned with a smile.
"Did you miss me?"
No.
"Yes," I replied friendly enough to please him.
"Well, you're in luck, it turns out my friend has some new houses for sale that are fairly
cheap. He just got them built in town and needs a few renters. You have money right?"
I blushed a little as I felt my pocket. I knew I only had a hand bag of a thousand bells. It
was most likely not enough to cover the favor I was being offered.
"Of course."
He flashed a beaming grin, "Wonderful. You know, I don't know why I was feeling
down earlier, maybe things in Brighton will get better now that you'll be arriving;
speaking of arriving, looks like we're pulling into the station."
I looked out the window as we slowed down, the trees passing lazily with the descending
speed.
"Looks like this is goodbye," I said calmly, brushing myself off.
"Yes...hopefully we'll see each other again soon? Good-bye Sarah, and good luck."
As the door opened and I stepped out, his words felt a bit odd to me. They had too much
finality to them. Everything so far had felt fine, but his last phrase of spoken word to me
stirred a strange sensation in my stomach. Something was eerily wrong with this picture.
I waved to him absently as I stepped out onto the platform. The icy winter wind quickly
nipped at me with biting teeth.
"Brighton...welcome to Brighton," came a screechy voice from beside me. It was a
meekly mannered monkey standing in his neatly pressed uniform. For some strange
reason he sounded almost...nervous to speak, his words shaky with tension. Did the name
of this town incite fear inside him? I nodded in his direction as I walked through the
station arch and out onto the stone path. A voice from a far quickly caught my attention.
"Excuse me?" I looked up, a somewhat burley raccoon paced towards me. He was clad in
a simple convenience store apron that covered him appropriately.
"Would your name happen to be Sarah?"
I nodded affirmatively.
"I'm Tom Nook, I run the store here in town."
He was insatiably nervous, his eyes darted from left to right frantically. It was all very
distracting as I watched him carefully. His mannerisms puzzled me, what was he afraid of?
It was as though he expected someone to leap out at him any second.
Before I knew it, we were looking at the simplistic one room homes, but I wasn't
listening to his voice. Instead I was watching his movements. They continued to irk me.
His sweaty palms, his perspiring forehead, an incredible oddity in the brisk ice chill of
winter air. He fumbled through his keys and pressed one to a doorknob on a house. Locks?
That was odd, I had never seen a village with locks on their doors. I used to think that
locks were only for banks and post offices. I suppose in Brighton, things were a
little...different. The troubled feelings returned.
He clicked open the door to the bare naked room. A simple radio, a box and a diary
ordained the steel floored, wood paneled dwelling. It was indeed, cozy. I felt that it would
do, so I nodded to him appreciatively. I was quite tired by now and I wanted somewhere
to sleep as soon as possible. However I don't think I'd have a comfortable night tonight
on the steel floor as it was too soon to buy any furniture. I'd have to wait till tomorrow
morning.
He handed me the key which I quickly pocketed. "That will be 19,800 bells."
Oh hell, the money! I screamed in my mind.
I meekly handed him my gold bag of bells. I knew there were only a thousand inside, but
it was all I had.
"Sarah."
I looked away. His voice held a tone of disappointment.
"This is not nearly enough, you only have a thousand bells with you?"
"Oh a thousand bells sounds VERY nice!" A shouting voice erupted from the trees,
catching my attention. But before I could blink an arrow pierced straight through the
raccoon in front of me with a spray of crimson, the wooden spear poking out his chest.
He gave me a pained look of shock before I heard the clang of money hitting the ground.
He had dropped the bag of bells, the coins showering over the gray cobblestone in an
entropy dance of chaos. He collapsed to the stoned earth in front of me with a strained
grunt of pain. I didn't know what to think, I couldn't react. I was stunned, shocked,
horrified. My jaw hung in an open mouth expression of alarm. I succinctly jerked my
head down to see a splatter of blood on my floral print dress. It was not my own blood,
but that of Tom's.
Another arrow whirred past my head, piercing into the wooden door behind me with the
splintering sound of metal stabbing hard timber. I threw myself into the nearby trees,
picking myself off the ground in reflex and running away as fast as I could. My thoughts
were a blur, I couldn't think straight, only the repeating image of an arrow ripping
through Tom's body could flicker through my mind.
"What kind of godforsaken place is this?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Three weeks after the death of Eunice
- [1st POV of Sarah, a human newcomer]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So here I was, reclined in the green padded seat of this boxcar train, looking out the
window. I was headed towards a new home, but where? My last decisive thought was
simply boarding this wood framed locomotive to take me wherever its tracks lay. I was
starting a new life in a new town, I just didn't know the answer of where and how...yet
that is.
"Hello, mind if I sit here? I promise I'm not crazy"
I eyed the eager looking male, sweater clad, feline suspiciously as his tail bobbed up and
down. It was somewhat annoying to be disturbed while contemplating myself, but at the
same time I was a little anxious to talk to someone on this mundane ride. I nodded to him
with a weak smile before he took the seat across from me graciously.
"Thanks, it's nice meeting friendly people on this train," He paused, eyes straining at the
floor, "I can't put my finger on it, but it seems recently things haven't been too bright in
this region."
I merely looked at him with a falsely quizzical glance, hearing only half the words he
uttered. His eyes darted around oddly, he seemed apprehensive of something, perhaps the
subject he was touching on?
"So what's your name?"
He found a new subject.
"Sarah."
"What an odd name."
There was a silence for a moment as he sat there looking at me, at first he appeared as
though he were going to laugh, but his face snapped into a disappointed frown. I glanced
at him without amusement. This character was beginning to bore me a bit.
"I'm Rover."
I nodded in response.
"This is the train to Brighton, so I assume you are heading towards that village?" he
questioned.
My boredom was quelled, I sat up to listen, folding my arms. I knew the train was headed
towards that village, but I had never been there, nor did I know a thing about it.
"Things have been...not too good, I would say." He paused again mid-sentence,
collecting himself quickly, flashing a dim smile at the wall next to him. "I'm sorry, I get a
little distracted sometimes when I think."
I nodded, looking out the window at the passing trees.
"I'm moving there," I said out to the green foliage that blurred by the glass pane, but my
words were directed towards him.
"Are you? Do you know where you'll be living?"
I shook my head, still taking in the landscape through the window.
His eyes widened as I turned my head to look at him.
"You don't know where you're going to stay? Somewhat of a risk to take wouldn't you
say? Considering the fact of the recent state of things, especially in Brighton."
I didn't know what he was talking about, but he was right about me not having a place to
stay. As the thought continued to pervade my mind, I realized that I was taking a risk. I
was a young woman, traveling alone. I suppose, in a way, I was lucky to have Rover to
talk to. I'd feel uncomfortable if I didn't have him across from me, as finding
companionship in the most obscure environments, such as this rickety train, can be
reassuring especially since I was on my own now.
"I have a friend who owns a store in Brighton, I can talk to him for you. Maybe he can
help you out with getting a roof over your head. I don't think you'd want to be homeless
your first day in a new village."
I thanked him quietly, maybe he wasn't so grating after all. His amiableness was most
comforting. I watched him as he walked down the aisle, shutting the compartment door
behind him as he used the portable phone onboard. He simply nodded and shook his head
as I listened to the muffled conversation. I felt a bit odd taking a favor from a complete
stranger, but he seemed more than eager to help this poor girl out.
I chuckled at myself, leaning comfortably into the green cushions on my seat. He
returned with a smile.
"Did you miss me?"
No.
"Yes," I replied friendly enough to please him.
"Well, you're in luck, it turns out my friend has some new houses for sale that are fairly
cheap. He just got them built in town and needs a few renters. You have money right?"
I blushed a little as I felt my pocket. I knew I only had a hand bag of a thousand bells. It
was most likely not enough to cover the favor I was being offered.
"Of course."
He flashed a beaming grin, "Wonderful. You know, I don't know why I was feeling
down earlier, maybe things in Brighton will get better now that you'll be arriving;
speaking of arriving, looks like we're pulling into the station."
I looked out the window as we slowed down, the trees passing lazily with the descending
speed.
"Looks like this is goodbye," I said calmly, brushing myself off.
"Yes...hopefully we'll see each other again soon? Good-bye Sarah, and good luck."
As the door opened and I stepped out, his words felt a bit odd to me. They had too much
finality to them. Everything so far had felt fine, but his last phrase of spoken word to me
stirred a strange sensation in my stomach. Something was eerily wrong with this picture.
I waved to him absently as I stepped out onto the platform. The icy winter wind quickly
nipped at me with biting teeth.
"Brighton...welcome to Brighton," came a screechy voice from beside me. It was a
meekly mannered monkey standing in his neatly pressed uniform. For some strange
reason he sounded almost...nervous to speak, his words shaky with tension. Did the name
of this town incite fear inside him? I nodded in his direction as I walked through the
station arch and out onto the stone path. A voice from a far quickly caught my attention.
"Excuse me?" I looked up, a somewhat burley raccoon paced towards me. He was clad in
a simple convenience store apron that covered him appropriately.
"Would your name happen to be Sarah?"
I nodded affirmatively.
"I'm Tom Nook, I run the store here in town."
He was insatiably nervous, his eyes darted from left to right frantically. It was all very
distracting as I watched him carefully. His mannerisms puzzled me, what was he afraid of?
It was as though he expected someone to leap out at him any second.
Before I knew it, we were looking at the simplistic one room homes, but I wasn't
listening to his voice. Instead I was watching his movements. They continued to irk me.
His sweaty palms, his perspiring forehead, an incredible oddity in the brisk ice chill of
winter air. He fumbled through his keys and pressed one to a doorknob on a house. Locks?
That was odd, I had never seen a village with locks on their doors. I used to think that
locks were only for banks and post offices. I suppose in Brighton, things were a
little...different. The troubled feelings returned.
He clicked open the door to the bare naked room. A simple radio, a box and a diary
ordained the steel floored, wood paneled dwelling. It was indeed, cozy. I felt that it would
do, so I nodded to him appreciatively. I was quite tired by now and I wanted somewhere
to sleep as soon as possible. However I don't think I'd have a comfortable night tonight
on the steel floor as it was too soon to buy any furniture. I'd have to wait till tomorrow
morning.
He handed me the key which I quickly pocketed. "That will be 19,800 bells."
Oh hell, the money! I screamed in my mind.
I meekly handed him my gold bag of bells. I knew there were only a thousand inside, but
it was all I had.
"Sarah."
I looked away. His voice held a tone of disappointment.
"This is not nearly enough, you only have a thousand bells with you?"
"Oh a thousand bells sounds VERY nice!" A shouting voice erupted from the trees,
catching my attention. But before I could blink an arrow pierced straight through the
raccoon in front of me with a spray of crimson, the wooden spear poking out his chest.
He gave me a pained look of shock before I heard the clang of money hitting the ground.
He had dropped the bag of bells, the coins showering over the gray cobblestone in an
entropy dance of chaos. He collapsed to the stoned earth in front of me with a strained
grunt of pain. I didn't know what to think, I couldn't react. I was stunned, shocked,
horrified. My jaw hung in an open mouth expression of alarm. I succinctly jerked my
head down to see a splatter of blood on my floral print dress. It was not my own blood,
but that of Tom's.
Another arrow whirred past my head, piercing into the wooden door behind me with the
splintering sound of metal stabbing hard timber. I threw myself into the nearby trees,
picking myself off the ground in reflex and running away as fast as I could. My thoughts
were a blur, I couldn't think straight, only the repeating image of an arrow ripping
through Tom's body could flicker through my mind.
"What kind of godforsaken place is this?"
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