Author's Note:

Yukihana: As you all may know, I am the main character of the story. And that *points at snowflower90* is the lousy author of said story.

Me: What do you mean lousy?!

Yukihana: How long has it been since you last updated this story? Huh? That is what I thought.

Chapter 3: Cooro & the Book of Curses

The morning sun lit up the bedroom of my new house. It was a very good thing my room was on the third story, because last night I was so exhausted from all the excitement that I had not put up any shades or curtains yet.

The beams of summer sun light warmed my face and made me want to sleep even longer. Rolling onto my side, I peeked at the little clock that sat on top of my still packed suitcase. My eyes took a little while to focus on the numbers. When they finally became clear I panicked.

"OH NO!" I yelled jumping out of bed. "I'm going to be late!" The time read 7:10 a.m. and I had to be to work at 7:45. I raced down the stairs with my tooth brush, hair brush and a change of clothes. The bathroom, like all the other rooms in the house, was covered in a layer of dust. I wiped off the counter the best I could and brushed my teeth and pulled my messy brown hair into a pony tail. I slipped off my pajama shorts and shirt and put on my favorite mint colored dress.

After storing my belongings back in my suitcase, I ran downstairs, grabbed my work apron and locked my door. I Jumped onto the delivery bike and nearly feel off the other side. Thank goodness the trip was down hill. The wind felt nice against my face and arms in the heat of the summer morning. I couldn't believe it was already this hot this early in the morning. That could only mean one thing; this afternoon was going to be a hot one. I mean, the day only gets hotter as the sun rises in the sky, right?

As I zoomed past Nan's house I heard a door slam. I applied my brakes and nearly flew over the handle bars from the force of the stop.

"Hey, Yukihana!" My new goat friend said as she ran to her fence. "Where are you headed in such a hurry?"

"Work. I am running late and have to be there in 10 minutes. How about you?"

"Deena, Pate, and I are spending the day at the beach since the weather is going to be hot. You can tell we are finally into our summer days. Next time you get a day off you should come to the beach with us."

"Will do." I nodded. "I better get going before Mr. Nook yells at me."

"See you later." Nan took the walking path that led straight down the hill.

Too bad that is too narrow for the delivery bike to fit down, I thought heading down the longer path.

Riding through town there was a peaceful quiet unlike any other I have heard before. In the city there was always the hustle bustle sound no matter what time of day or night. It made me feel like I was one with nature.

When I finally arrived at Nookington there was only a few seconds to spare. The store lights were on at full strength. It amazed me that Mr. Nook was up and working already. When I walked into the storage room Mr. Nook was waiting for me.

"Good morning. How was your first night at your new house?" He grabbed one square box and three long round tubes.

"It was okay. Kind of dusty. Since I only have to work this morning, I am going to be cleaning and unpacking this afternoon. Nan was nice enough to let me barrow her cleaning supplies."

"That was kind of her. Well, you have an easy route today. Just two stops. These," he pointed at the three long packages, "will be going to the Able Sisters. They are the town's clothing and fashion specialists. There shop is just down the path from here. The last shop will be Jay's house, which is north of here. You can just go home from there. Since I have nothing else for you today, there is no use in you coming back here. So you can straight home and finish any chores that you have. I know you want to make that house feel more like home quickly."

"Thank you, Mr. Nook," I said helping him carry the packages to the delivery cart. "What time do you want me to come in tomorrow?"

"How about the same time as today? It will be cooler for you that way and you will have the afternoons off."

"Sounds good. And that will give me a chance to do everything I want to do with the house." I smiled sitting down on the bicycle seat. "That is for the next two weeks, right?"

"Yes." Mr. Nook said. "Now you better head out or you won't have time after you get done with work to clean."

"Yes, sir," I said pushing the peddles on the bike and slowly rolling down the stone path to the Able Sisters. About a quarter of mile or so down the surprise smooth path there was a small shop built out of red wood. The low roof on the shop and the cloth awning was a dark green, which made me think of Christmas. Above the door was a blue sign with white letters that read "Able Sisters."

Inside the store was nice and cool. The clothes and fashionable items were neatly placed on shelves and mannequins around the store. It was so Quiet and peaceful.

Sitting at the sewing machine was a brown hedgehog. TAP, TAP, TAP. She seemed to be working very hard. TAP, TAP, TAP. Her swift movements lead the beautiful blue fabric through the machine. TAP, TAP, TAP. She was very skilled. Must have taken years of practice. TAP. The hedgehog looked up and from her sewing project and looked at me with questioning eyes.

"May I help you?" A soft, almost sad voice came from the creature.

"Uh… My name is Yukihana. I am working for Mr. Nook right now to pay off my debt. I have a delivery," my voice felt like it was going to break. I never did like being put on the spot.

"Very well. You can sit them in that corner over there. I am rather busy and I have a dead line to meet. Mable will move them to storage when she is back," said the brown hedgehog. "My name is Sable, by the way. Now I really must get back to work."

I place the packages where she had told me to and started to leave the little shop. As I was leaving, a dark blue hedgehog with bright pink cheeks came rushing into the store.

"ACK! I am sorry. Please don't leave. My sister is very busy with the next designs. I am actually the one who sells things. Please don't let my sister scare you off."

"Oh, she didn't, honestly. I was just delivering a few packages from Nookington's. I am on my way to making my nest delivery," I smiled warmly, hoping she wouldn't freak out anymore.

"You must be Yukihana. Pelly told me that we had a new resident in town. My name is Mable. Come by if you need anything," the dark blue hedgehog said with a heartwarming smile.

"Alright. I saw a couple dresses in here that I love and a couple of hair pins." I waved my good-bye and jumped on the delivery bike. The road to Jay's was half way between the Able Sisters and Nookington's. It was about another ten minute ride. The dirt path was rather nice. The lovely aroma of nature was all around. The pine trees in their summer glory and the fruit trees spread along the path. Light shined through the leaves and branches giving everything below a warm earthy look.

The cicadas buzzed to one another from tree to tree. I, personally, like the evening cicadas the most. Their almost haunting buzz sounds so peaceful on warm summer nights. The cicadas that are out during the day are quite annoying. The hotter it gets the louder they are.

The sound of the dirt popping underneath the bike tires came to a stop. Jay's house was rather plain. From the way the places looked, Jay didn't spend much time at home. Nan and Deena had beautiful flowers planted everywhere. Even Bob had done something to his house that at least made it look like someone lived there.

Just as I lifted my fist to knock on Jay's front door, I heard yelling coming from the back yard.

"You can't do that," an unfamiliar voice said. "That's cheating."

"Not if we never made a rule against it," a more melodic-chirpy voice rang. "Besides, that just makes us tied now and there is still two hours before lunch."

I could tell the second voice was Jay's, but what about the first? I knew it wasn't Tank's. His was slightly lower.

"Fine," said the first voice in an almost childish tone. Then he added with a bit more mischief, "but you owe me some orange soda at the least."

As I rounded the corner, a bug net nearly hit me in the face. I screamed and fell to the ground When I looked up two sets of eyes were on me. One belonged to the fine feathered customer and the other belonged to a boy about my age. Not just any boy though. A human boy. It shouldn't have been as shocking as it was, but in a town full of animals, you never know what to expect.

"Yukihana? What are you doing here?" Jay took a step closer.

It took a couple seconds for me to realize I was still sitting on the ground. When I finally got up and brushed myself off, I smiled and said, "I have delivery for you from Nookington's. I heard some yelling from back here and thought I would check to see if it was you."

"Well, it is. Thanks. I have been waiting forever for this book. Look," he turned to the boy next to him, it's the insect and fishing guide."

"Awesome," cheered the boy. Then his purple eyes focused on back on me. "Who's your friend, Jay?"

"Oh! This is Yukihana. She moved to our village yesterday. She lives just north of Town Hall. Nook has forced her into working for him." Jay laughed softly. "Yukihana, this is Cooro."

"Nice ta meet ya," Cooro said " I'm from Stardrop. It is the next town over. Not too far. I spend a lot of my time over there though."

Jay laughs. "He practically lives here."

"It's nice to meet you, too." I bowed politely.

"We should hang out sometime." Cooro flashed a smile.

"Sounds great. I can't today though. I've got a ton of unpacking and house cleaning to do."

"No problem. I f you need anything let me know. I am an expert lifter. Jay, Tank, and I are champion furniture lifters."

"Thanks. Well, I better go start cleaning and get everything unpacked. I want to at least return Nan's cleaning supplies."

"See you tomorrow?" Cooro smiled.

"Yeah," Jay said, "We are supposed to hang out with Deena and Nan. Tank and Pate might come, too. We are going to hang out by the waterfall."

"I have to work in the morning. If you are still there in the afternoon, I'll join." The idea of sitting by the waterfall in my swimming suit to bet the heat sounded great.

"We'll be there all day," Jay clapped his wings.

"Alright. See you later." The boys waved good-bye as I headed up the trail that leads to my house.

Not too far from Jay's house is one of two stone bridges that cross the Kame River that winds through Sundrop. The river is a beautiful dark blue. The Kame River flows from Rainbow Waterfall at the northeastern part of town to the Southern Sea directly south.

After crossing the bridge, there is a heavily wooded area that has a large variety of fruits. The dirt Path ran right by the fruit trees. Directly to the east of is the path that leads to the town gate. The whole time I was traveling to my house all I heard was the crunching of the dirt under the tires of the delivery bike.

By the time I arrived at my house, the uphill peddling had wore me out. After a couple rice balls for lunch I was ready to get started on my house cleaning. I took the bucket that Nan let me borrow and filled it in the Kame River. It amazes me how much heavier a water filled bucket is compared to an empty one.

On my way back up to my house I caught a glimpse of two villagers walking up the path from the beach.

"Yukihana!" A familiar voice rang through the trees. Nan and Deena met me in front of Nan's house.

"How was the beach?" I sat the bucket of water on the ground.

"Awesome," Deena squealed. "So, cool and refreshing!"

"You should join us, Yukihana," the goat glowed. "We just came to get something to eat and my beach umbrella."

"I wish I could. I have to clean my house though. You wouldn't believe the dust in that house."

"Oh, trust me," Deena said, "I think we could. Lila was never home. Always sticking her nose into everyone else's business, I bet that girl never cleaned." Deena had this awful look on her face as if she were remembering something horrible. Seconds later she was back to her cheerful self. "That is too bad though. The beach is soooooooo much fun."

"Maybe this weekend. Cooro and Jay want me to hang out with you guys at the water fall tomorrow but I have to work in the morning. I will try to make it depending on how much I get done today." My Head started spinning at the thought of everything that needed to need to be done.

"You better go work hard then," Nan said excitedly. "We want you to be there. Jay is cooking lunch. Plus, It will be nice and cool by the waterfall."

"Then I better get to work! See you tomorrow, Deena. I'll drop off the cleaning supplies later, Nan. Bye!" I grabbed the bucket of water and ran up the hill to my house.

When I was home I quickly got into cleaning mode and by the time I was done with the first two floors the place looked brand new. I decided that a lot of the furniture need replaced because it was not my taste. Regal was sooooo not my style. I preferred the ranch or cabin look.

The last place I needed to do a deep clean was my bedroom on the 3rd floor. I scrubbed the windows clean and hung some plain white curtains up. I swatted the cobwebs from the ceiling. Then, I scrubbed the floor sparkly clean with the mop. I was about done when the mop slipped out of my hand.

A hallow thud was the sound that echoed through the room. It struck me as unusual because I thought the floors were solid or at least had insulation in them. I picked up the mop and tapped on the wood 3 boards over. A solid thud and no echo. I hit the initial board and it resounded again.

"Wha?!" I couldn't believe my ears.

I carefully tiptoed over to the board. Poking it with my socked toes it made a horrible squeak. I managed to pry the loose board up and uncovered a spot where all the insulation had been pushed back. In the space I found two leather backed books.

One was a rich royal purple with gold lettering across the front and the side. 'Cursed from the Past' was the title. The other was a pink diary. There was a page marked in the curse book. I flipped to it not knowing was to expect.

Animal Crossia

This country of Animal Crossia has been cursed by the fortune-telling sorceress Katrina. She grew tired of the shadowy lives and secrets of the people. She turning them into animals, trapping them in that state until someone who was not affected by the curse would come along and free them. The curse also restrains the cursed people from moving anywhere outside the country of Animal Crossia. The curse, however, back fired and turned her into animal as well. Now she too shares the fate of Animal Crossia.

Breaking the Curse

The curse may only be broken by a human not affected by the curse. The human must befriend all the villagers in the town. They must become such close friends that the cursed ones will tell them a secret that no one else knows. Then during the Bright Nights Festival, the human must stand above the town hall clock tower and shout out their own darkest secret. After that they must release a balloon with papers telling the deepest secrets of all the villagers while reciting, "On this cold winter night let all the darkness and curses be lifted and take flight."

"So, that's why everyone is an animal!" I knew I needed to do something to help my friends. I opened the Pink book and on the first page it said 'Lila's Curse Progress Diary' Before I even began reading that I looked at the clock and noticed it was 7:30 p.m. I needed to hurry and return Nan's stuff before it got too late. Lila's diary had to wait until later.

One thing I knew for sure, I discovered an enormous secrets and it was going to lead to some tough work if I was going to attempt to help out the citizens of Sundrop.

Finally, the shadowy feeling lifted from my house, but a whole new mystery has been unlocked.

A/N: I am posting two chapters today. PLEASE make sure you read the author's note at the end of the next chapter. The fate of this story depends on what you think of it. Should I continue? Should I just scrap it? Should I just quit writing?

Let me know what you think. Bye!