Today was my last day living in Greenwich Village. I had just graduated from Columbia University, and felt like I was finally ready to leave my parents' den behind and live off somewhere else. The day before the movers were due, I decided to get one last thrill on the subway. Then I went back, took my nylon string guitar, and out again, to the cafe around the corner.
The announcer witnessed my arrival and said "Let's have a hand for our own Thomas Fay. It's his last full day, so let's give him a pat on the back!"
I sat down on a stool and began to play. First was "Bleecker Street", then 'Blowin' in the Wind", then another round of the usual classics.

The next day, the moving truck came. I had several things boxed and ready to go. I went down to greet the truckers, but the hard part was going back up. There's this elevator guy named Charles, who pops up everywhere, and gives me a hard time trying to get on.
"You're moving out. Be gone already," he grumbled.
"But my stuff is still upstairs, and the movers told me to help out," I said, "Besides, I'm holding a guitar."
"You've been playing Guitar Hero one too many times. Now take the stairs, WIMP!"

I did what he said, resentfully. The truckers followed. A few minutes later, everything was packed. I was just about to load my bed when all my Village pals came to give me a farewell.
"I'll be seein' you old pal!" said one.
"Don't forget to write!" said another.
"Sign some autographs!" said a third.
They all gave me pats on the back and noogies on my forehead. I giggled with delight. I said goodbye to everyone, and got in the trailer, guitar in hand. The door slid down, and we were on our way.

Whereever we were going, it was gonna take a couple of days and nights on end. I slept on my bed in the trailer, got out to get a sandwich at some service stations, and saw the city lights drift by through the windows on the walls. This was the life.
As the days passed, we drifted through St. Louis, the Four Corners, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas. Finally, we were in California. The truck drove south to the Los Angeles county, and down beyond the end of Highway 1.
Then, we reached the town. It was glimmering with building and street lights, and I saw the beach on one side. Through the truck window, I saw the welcome sign.

Welcome to Rodneytown

Rodney A. Greenblat-Mayor

I was surprised. I recognized Greenblat's name from his work back at the MoMA, and now he's running a city of his own?!

The truck finally came to a stop at my new apartment building. It was roughly 30 stories high! We went in to the front desk. Nothing seemed suspicious about the doorman. The truckers turned around to unload the trailer.
"Hi," I said, "I'm the new guy. You must've got the memo that I mwas moving here, right?"
The doorman checked his list. "Thomas Fay of Greenwich Village?" he asked.
"Yes. That's me."
"Room 2525," he said, giving me the key.

The truckers came in with hands full of boxes, and headed for the service elevator in another room. I went to the normal elevator to go up to the new pad, but as soon as I got in, who should be in there, but Charles.
"I thought you'd never get here, WIMP!" he said with pure sarcasm.
Now my mind is thinking of who Charles really is. Is he a figment of my imagination, or is he too fast for me? I went out back to the doorman.

"Excuse me, sir, but the elevator guy doesn't like me," I said.
"Who? Him? He's always like that," said the doorman.
Conclusion, in other words, Charles is fast.
The doorman continued, "If he's bothering you, you can take the service elevator. He'll never suspect a thing."
"I HEARD THAT!" yelled Charles.

I retreated back to the bed in the trailer, and hid under the covers. The truckers came back for the bed, and went back to the service elevator, and pulled the lever for up. On our floor, I got out of the bed, and used my new room key. The room was practiclly empty, except for the boxes already bought up and the bed. A few minutes later, the movers were finished, and head off for the night. I set up everything and put the bed in the bedroom, and slept.

The morning came. I woke up and was delighted to be in the west coast at last. I took some pocket money and head out for the day. When I prepared to leave the building, the doorman stopped me.
"Would you like a map?" he asked. I nodded and took one.
"Also," added the doorman, "I recommend that you try the Supersonic Teleportation Devices. They're scattered across the town."
"I'll think about it," I said, and left.

There was a pharmacy two buildings over. I decided to pop in and get some postcards. They were two for a dollar, and there were five different designs. So I took one of each, and had three dollars ready. The cashier was a teenager, and as soon as I put the cards on the counter, he said "You want fries with that?"
Either he's supposed to say that, or he's out of it.
So now I got some postcards, no fries. I put them in my pocket and would use them later.

Now to use that teleportation thingy the doorman told me about. The map had a small bit on how to use it.
Insert a quarter
Punch in the code of your destination
Enter the machine through the top slot. You will land in your destination machine through the bottom slot.
How to put yourself in, it didn't say. I saw the code for "Beard Burgers", and entered it on the keypad. I inserted a quarter, and inserted myself head first through the top slot. I came out from a machine near the "Beard Burgers" place, but my head hit the sidewalk hard, and I was knocked unconcious.

I layed there for a few minutes, then a little boy came and tapped me with his foot.
"Mister?" he said, "Are you okay?"
I woke up. I was outside the burger place. The little boy turned out to be a dog (It's hard to not notice his black floppy ears and his tail) and he helped me up.
"Thanks," I said, "I was just overwelmed."
"First time using this thing?" said the dog boy, pointing to the machine.
"Yeah. Actually it's my first time in town. I was just on my way here."
"Really? This has the best burgers in town!"
So we went in.

I went to the counter. The guy was human with a giant afro and a black lab coat, and his name tag read "Col. Noodle".
"Col. Noodle?"
"That's right," he said "I spent last year at military school and earned this title. Now, what'll it be?"
"I dunno. Just a hamburger."
"With fries?"
"WOW!" I squealed, "I was asked that at the pharmacy!"
"Okay, then no fries."

Later, I had my burger. I was sitting in a window booth with the dog, PaRappa, who was sitting next to what seems to be is girlfriend.
"Are you dating or something?" I asked
"Yeah. Her name's Sunny Funny," explained PaRappa, "She's a flower."
"Cute! A flower child!"
Sunny blushed and smiled. We didn't talk much. We just finished the burger, and I gave PaRappa a little slip of paper. It said
Thomas Fay of Greenwich Village
Apt. 2525 Teleport to #609
"Thanks," said PaRappa.

I teleported back home, feet first this time. I went back up to my pad, and rested. My first day has been exciting so far. I already made friends with a dog and a flower. I studied the map for a while. Let's see... there was a recording studio, a karate dojo, a music store, that burger joint, and the beach. There were about five or six music venues I could perform at. The I saw a Tex-Mex place called The Texican Grill.

I went down with my guitar in hand. I decided to go to the studio first. I inserted a quarter and entered the code. I entered through the doors and walked over to the receptionist.
"Hi. I'd like to record here."
"Do you have any previous performing experience?" said the receptionist.
"Well, I used to perform in cafes at the Village."
"THE Village?"
"Yes. I just moved here."
"Just a moment please."

The receptionest picked up the phone and dialed her boss. "This is the receptionist. I have a man here wishing to record here. He says he's from Greenwich Village," Then she turned to me, "What is your name, sir?"
"Thomas Fay"
"His name is Thomas Fay. He seems fresh out of college. I'm pretty sure he has the experience. I'll send him up right away," She hung up and turned to me again, "He'll see you upstairs. Good luck, Mr. Fay."

I headed through a door and up the stairs. Waiting for me was a man named Jack Smash (He was unusually pumpkin-headed).
"So you're the Village boy fresh from college?" he asked me.
"Yeah. Spent four years at Columbia, working on my butler's thesis."
"Can't your butler work on his own thesis?"
We both chuckled, and head into a booth.
"There's a band down here called MilkCan and they're finishing up," said Jack, pointing to a girl group down at the microphones, "Say hello, then go down and show us your stuff."

The band went up to the booth. They appeared to be made up of a sheep with red hair, a blue cat, and a mouse with dynamite on her head.
"Tom, this is Lammy, Katy, and Ma-San," said Jack while I shook their hands, "Girls, Thomas Fay is from Greenwich Village. He's new in town, so make him feel at home."
I shook Ma-San's hand and she responded with what sounded to be gibberish.
"MAMAMAMAMAMAM" she said (It's an honor to meet someone from the Big Apple)
"MAMAMAMA" I replied (Thank you, Miss San)
"MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA" (Amazing! Did you study at Columbia?)
"MAMAMAMAM" (Yes. And yourself?)
"AMAMAMAMAMAMA" (I haven't studied English yet.)
"AMAM" (I recomend it.)
"MAMA" (Have a good time here.)
So gifted, Jack thought.

I went down the stairs to the studio. Jack turned on the red light and pressed RECORD. With my guitar in hand, I performed a dramatic version of "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream". I thought I saw a tear in Lammy's eye. When I finished up, everyone in the booth was crying, except Ma-San.
"MAMAMAMAMA" she said, stopping the tape (That's village music?).

I went back up to the booth.
"So what do you say?" I said
"I say we should put this out", said Jack, shaking my hand, "Welcome to Pet Records!"

We exited to the hallway, with MilkCan in tow. At the same time, another singer emerged from one door over. She was a green bug in a purple dress, with a head shaped like an egg and antennas as round as little stress toys.
"Ah, Teriyaki Yoko!" said Jack, "We have a new Village boy on our label."
"Talk to me another time. Where's my limo?" she said impatiently, heading for the stairway.
Jack started to follow, but he turned to me.
"She's more of an idol around here, but believe me, she's a very bad singer," he whispered, then ran over to the bug.
"Listen, you got to know this guy! His song made Lammy cry!"
"That's what I don't wanna hear," she insisted, "but we should get to know him."
She faced toward me, "Any chance we could get together, hon?"
"How about the Texican Grill?"
"Done. I'll order something with Teriyaki."
Then I turned to MilkCan
"Sooooooooooo you wanna come too? You know PaRappa?"
"We all do," said Katy, "and we'll come."

So that night, I got to the Texican Grill. I picked a large round booth table near a window. It gave me a good view on the street. The first people to show up were PaRappa, Sunny, and a couple of others (They looked like a taller dog and a fox). PaRappa and Sunny sat next to me, and the other two sat across.
"Hey, Tom!" said PaRappa, "How's your first day so far?"
"Great," I said, "I got signed to a record label. Are you going to introduce me?"
"Oh, yeah!" he said, and made me shake hands with the dog and fox, "Tom, this is Matt-Kun and Paula Fox."
"You're the village boy everyone's talking about! Glad to know you," said Matt.
"Thanks"

Just then, I saw another party emerge from a taxicab. It was Lammy, Katy, and Ma-San. I waved through the window, and they went inside to my booth. Katy and Ma-San sat on either side of Matt and Paula, while Lammy sat next to me.

"Well, I guess that's all of us," I paused, "but then again, maybe we should wait for..."
Before I could finshed, I saw a limo pull up on front of the joint. Out stepped Teriyaki Yoko, still with a purple dress on. She stepped inside, and went over to our table.
"How was your gig?" asked Lammy.
"Worst one ever," said the bug, "people gathered around me, and I realized they were trying to look up my dress. So I made a break for it."
"Ouch. Tough crowd." said Paula, reaching over for a corn chip.

I was going to ask this earlier, but I didn't get the chance to. Then I spilled.
"What's the deal with everyone being animals, if you know what I mean?"
"Well, if you must know," said PaRappa, "It was all based on a scientific discovery."
"Which was?"
"If a human coincidently or purposely have an intercourse with an animal, their off spring is likely to be a hybrid of the two species. Paula's parents are a human and a fox. Lammy's part lamb, part woman, and Katy is what they call a cat-girl."
I was surpised. I didn't know that stuff could actually happen.
I guess Darwin was wrong, I thought.

So, as they say, you learn something new every day. I head back through the teleporation machine, and over to my new pad. I took a postcard from my new stack, and began to write to an old Village friend.

Dear Matt,
I'm having a good time here at my new home in Rodneytown. Half of the population, shockingly enough, is anthropomorphic, and I didn't seem to mind. You should come down someday, but stay away from Charles.
Regards,
Thomas Fay

This was only my first night in Rodneytown. I had a future ahead of me.