Ann Dessie and James Nook were two adventurous tanuki, who had built a noble life, at the others' service.
They had met during a charity event, and for them it had been the beginning of a story that had led them to travel far and wide, visiting remote but romantic places, meeting peoples of a thousand colors and intriguing customs, and finally helping the poorest and most needy ones.
For thirty years, the Nooks hadn't held back when it came to taking a plane or a ship, nor when it was necessary to walk in the hot sun or maneuver a rowboat with the sea in a calm state.
With such an eventful life, they had no children, delighting themselves with the smiles and hugs of the myriad children they knew on their travels.
Except… One day Mrs Nook woke up with severe dizziness; she had blamed the fact that she was now fifty years old and she no longer had the determination of the past, she blamed the scorching heat of the savannah they were visiting, and the uncomfortable hammock on which she had slept.
She had consulted with her husband and the two had reached the small village clinic, and there they had made an incredible discovery: Ann was pregnant!
She would never have believed it was possible, but it had happened.
The Nooks were worried, but also immensely happy and decided to slow down their lifestyle.
Ann was radiant, with her dark brown hair softly combed in waves on her head, and held in place by a tiara her husband had given her for the wedding.
She had light blue eyes and wore white dresses, airy and refined long skirts that swayed to the rhythm of the tropical wind.
Her husband, James, was five years older than his wife and with golden hair, slightly disheveled on his forehead, and intense black eyes.
He had taste and elegance, but he didn't like to boast about it, and he was considered an uncle by the children of the village.
After two months of pregnancy, Ann gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, who was given the name Tom.
The whole village of Vureko had great celebrations for the birth of its benefactors' son, and the Nooks felt their hearts sink into total joy. They didn't yet know that all of this was destined to end quickly.
Six months after Tom's birth, there was an invasion of mosquitoes in the village, so much so that the inhabitants of Vureko were forced to remain holed up in their homes for a whole week. However... some of them got stung and developed a severe fever; among them, little Tom's parents.
Ann and James were weakened, exhausted from dehydration caused by vomiting and high fevers, so much so that Thao, a wise okapi in charge of the village, advised them to move to the capital, Tokera, in order to be properly treated, together with the inhabitants of Vureko most affected by the disease.
"May these necklaces protect you. We made them with the leaves of our father tree, the baobab. Heaven bless you."
It was a goodbye with tears in their eyes and the wish for a better future, far from the disease.
The Nook spouses were hospitalized in Tokera hospital, with the disease that granted them very little rest.
Fortunately, little Tom was not infected, and since tropical fever did not spread between person and person, that was already a great relief. The baobab blessing worked with him.
However... Both of his parents had developed the hemorrhagic form, which took James away first, after a long night of pain, delirium and the intertwined hands of the two spouses sharing the same room, and who remained like this until dawn. Ann refused to let go of her companion's now cold hand.
Two weeks later, Ann felt the end of her coming close, so she took the paws of the nurse that had cared for her so warmly:
"Leen, thank you for taking such zealous care of us. Now it's time for me to go, to rejoin my husband. I'm sorry that our baby is left alone, so please..."
Ann had begun to cry, so the elephant came closer to her and stroked her with the trunk to calm her down.
"… I would like my son to return to Leafy, my hometown. We have no living relatives, but I would like him to grow up there, welcomed by a nice family..."
"… I will do my best." Leen promised her.
Ann, after smiling at her one last time, dozed off. An hour and a half later her soul left her mortal remains.
The bodies of the unfortunate Nook spouses, after a brief but intense funeral in the church in front of the hospital, were cremated and transported to Leafy, to be buried in the family chapel.
As for Tom, the deputy director of Leafy's orphanage took charge of coming and picking up the baby directly from Tokera hospital, to host him in her facility. The tanuki puppy slept peacefully all the way, with his honey-colored fur and his eyes as blue as the sea.
Thus, Tom Nook began his life at Sunbeam Orphanage, a place that contrary to common expectations turned out to be warm and welcoming, although it couldn't possibly replace the melancholy the child felt from time to time, when he was accompanied in front of his parents' grave, or when he saw that someone was being adopted...
By the time he was eight, he had given up on staying with Susan and Laura, respectively deputy director and director of the orphanage.
Susan was a Pomeranian dog, she was young and for the children of the institute she was a sort of older sister, while Laura was a sober and refined chamois, capable of tenderness and severity, dosed with great skill.
However, Tom didn't mind swinging on the see-saw while the little ones were taken in the car by their new parents, in a way he felt at peace, and was happy for the new life of his adoptive siblings. As for him… He would have stayed at Sunbeam until he was of age, and then he would have worked hard as a teacher.
Fate, however, had other plans in store for him.
A hurricane was about to hit on the life of shy and quiet Tom Nook.
An orange hurricane.