The first light of morning to hit my bedroom walls sent me up and out of bed with the rising sun. The rain of last night was finished and sunlight stretched across the wall as a gentle glow as early as eight. I'd spent the night drifting in and out of a light sleep that hardly lasted long at all and the sun couldn't have ascended over the horizon quick enough, as I knew that once it did, I could finally set my new plan into action.

Despite my restlessness to begin the day, I squeezed out the most rest I could get until eight o'clock. When I rose for the day, I did so with a fresh new perspective so far from the one that had overcome my previous few days. At sometime late last night, when I had been considering the extent of the control I had over my own life, I'd come to the realization that because it was purely my own, I had the power to turn it into whatever I chose, but with the cloudy dreariness that had conquered my senses, this didn't mean as much as it did now. It was my life, after all, and not anyone else's; I was going to make sure I lived it to the fullest. After the tense past few days, it was as though an entirely different set of thoughts had been thrust into my head as I was finally reminded just who I was. I was as bright, radiant, and bold as the sun itself and I wasn't going to let anyone take that away from me anymore.

After pulling myself out of bed with an excitement like pins and needles pinching my gut, the very first thing I did was tidy up the massive clutter that took up the space on my bedroom floor as well as properly make my bed. I carefully slid the drawers back into their sectors in the desk before gathering the materials and various tools that had been scattered across the floor to return them to their drawers, and then I picked up the books that I'd thrown around the room. Several of the books were bent and creased, and some were even torn, but I set them back up onto the shelves as neatly as I could. The phone that I'd destroyed was still completely unusable, easily forcing a cringe to my face at the sight of the damaged dents and the bright wires hanging out of the bottom, so I tossed it into the trash and accepted the end of contact over calls.

By tidying the chaos I'd created in the intensity of a moment of loss, I considered it like I was cleansing the past to pave the way for a better future, patching up what no longer was and starting anew. I was turning over a new leaf, preparing the first foundations of the future I was soon to build for myself and starting it off right. It was time to begin the next phase of my life.

I dressed myself in a set of dark pants and a pale yellow t-shirt, tossing on a navy blue sweater as I ducked out of the bedroom door no later than eight-thirty. It was already sunny outside, something I had been unable to say for the past several days, and so surely the temperatures had warmed up to some degree. I made myself a quick yet efficient breakfast, two scrambled eggs which took ten minutes to cook and much less time to eat, and left the table with a warmth from the heavy meal settling comfortably in my stomach.

By nine o'clock in the morning, precisely as I had planned, I was out of the house but not for long. Once a month, usually towards the beginning, a newspaper was dropped regularly at the bottom of my wooden steps for the town's residents to receive their news from the outside world, but since I'd done nothing but try to get away from the outside world for years, the only reason that I'd brought in the newspaper to my house before was to throw it out. Today, that was about to change. I had neglected to carry in the edition for the month of February when it had appeared almost two weeks ago since I saw no benefit, so as expected, I located it tucked up beside the side of the stairs, slightly dampened by yesterday's rain but it would still do.

I seated myself at the dining room table as soft sunlight blanketed the floor and the walls, opening up the newspaper I had retrieved and hearing it crackle faintly from being rustled after drying as my eyes darted across the lines of text. It wasn't a strict guarantee that I would find a column directing me to someplace I could find work, but as it covered several bits and pieces of information, there was a good chance that I could discover something that would help.

The peaceful silence stretched through the room for several minutes, only breaking for the sound of me turning a page in my newspaper. My eyes scanned the paper from title to title, making mental notes of the ones that I saw and searching for anything related to businesses hiring workers. Winter Temperatures Reaching a Record High, I read. Tips and Tricks for Improving Your Daily Lifestyle. Why You're Only Catching Sea Bass and Techniques for Better Fishing. A Not-So Happy Home - HHDA destined to fall? The Reason You're—

Wait, what? I launched myself into an upright seat in my chair in a double take at what I had seen, instantly returning my focus to the column on the inside of the page to read about what could have possibly happened to Happy Home.

A Not-So Happy Home - HHDA Destined to Fall?

If the Happy Home Designer and Academy is known for anything in particular, it has to be the dedication its workers have continuously been towards a brighter future in interior design and home-owning, but as of recent even these dedications are being questioned.

The HHDA has been undergoing an alarming drop in sales and popularity at the start of 2015 and well back into 2014, and now certain accusations and unfavorable reviews have risen greatly. With such a drastic change from the supporting comments it had formerly received, it's likely that the business will not see the coming year.

Despite the rise in unpopularity that the HHDA is currently facing, the cause of the change that had provoked it is, as of the current moment, uncertain. While the main issue has yet to be disclosed, complaints have been made that customers have started to feel unheard and underappreciated in a seemingly new approach the business has taken towards its future. If such comments continue, the HHDA is at risk for the end of stability and will encounter the requirement of being shut down completely.

The manager of the HHDA, an otter named Lottie who had inherited authority over the business from her uncle in the year of 2009, has been questioned frequently about this issue. Lottie has claimed that she knows no more about the situation than her customers and has responded with panic and distress, stating that she doesn't know why such a dilemma has occurred and that nothing has changed with the methods that the HHDA supports. However, both the claim of her stance in the issue and the emotional response she has given has provoked a ripple of suspicion among the customers while many doubt her reliability and some have gone as far as to label her claims as lies.

Because of the detrimental accusations that have been demonstrated against her, the future of Lottie's position of work at the HHDA is something that has become undetermined. Many unsatisfied customers are urging to take Lottie out of her place of work due to the damage she is causing to the business and replace her with Lyle, her uncle who had supervised the running of the business until 2009, as the common opinion as of January and February 2015 is that he had been significantly more responsible and trustworthy and can successfully help the HHDA progress, unlike Lottie. It is currently unknown whether Lyle or coworker Digby have been questioned as well.

I wasn't thrilled about reading the news anymore. I folded up the newspaper into a small square, pushing out a heavy sigh, and thrust away the thought of the rising troubles at Happy Home to instead contemplate the day ahead of me. There wasn't much use of the newspaper any longer, as I had found no clue as to how to find work, and so I abandoned the folded square of printed paper on the table and took my leave from the room once again.

I packed up my tall black backpack of things I'd need on a day out. I gathered together my notepad where I had jotted down my idea from last night, a pencil in case I would need to make a few more notes, a sandwich in a plastic bag to save for lunch, and other tools for potential use to fill the space. Once I had packed my belongings for the day, I slipped my weighty backpack onto my shoulders, adjusting it so that it wouldn't hang uncomfortably off my shoulders, and wasted no time as I cleared out from the house at last.

Everything was going according to plan. My first objection that I had set out was to scan through the newspaper for any work I could be hired for, but I had found nothing of my benefit. The second goal that I had scribbled down onto the notepad was to make my rounds through the busiest parts of the surrounding areas of the town, seeking for signs that someplace would hire me and asking inside shops and restaurants if there were no clear signs, and with no luck this would be followed up with asking around the town for referrals. If all else failed, I'd be back on my way to the discussion board where I had asked the first time, where Goldie had directed me to the museum, and try again. For now, I was on my way to the most populous regions of town.

I had a clear path in front of me now; nothing and nobody could stop me from achieving what was so close to my grasp. Digby had lost his faith in my abilities to find work? I would get myself some work to do with ease, and I'd do it out of spite, too. I was capable of more than he thought of me. Redd had tried to put me down for speaking my mind and remaining true to my beliefs? Well, he was no longer my responsibility, so what reason did I have to care what he thought? Not to mention that Redd, as I'd realized as I had drifted into sleep the previous night, had proved himself to be much more immature than I had been aware of before—He could have practiced responsibility and calmly left the situation as it was, but instead he threw a hissy fit and tried to insult me for speaking against him. Honestly, I was more mature than him, and I was only nineteen years old. At this point, I was just waiting for him to see the good thing he missed out on simply to feed his inflated ego.

Dew dotted the grass and moisture lingered in the atmosphere from yesterday's rain as I proceeded with my destination locked firmly in mind. The air was warmer than usual and swept across the space in gentle strokes as wisps of high-floating clouds stretched across the light blue sky with the opening of the morning. Every step came down with purpose as my backpack shifted against my back with each movement, a clear picture of how my day was meant to look mapped out across my mind. I planned to cover an exceptional amount of ground in my search. And if I ran into Redd promoting his art somewhere along the street, he could very well screw off. I had a mission to follow.

From the moment I had stepped foot from my front door, it had felt like I was a brand new animal with an entirely different personality fixed to my name, and I wore it like a mask as I went out into the world. A steady beat of confidence echoed through my soul all the way to the rhythmic thumping of my feet against the ground, moving forward without a second thought like the world was just my game and the animals around me the players. When eyes met mine, I toyed with the possibilities of the image I was printing in the memories of the holders. To all that did not know me, I could have been nothing more than an outsider, a mysterious young lady, a pretty little thing.

I took a hike through the busiest areas of down after what must have been almost a half hour walk to reach them. I passed through streets taken up by animals to such a number that it seemed I had stumbled into some kind of festival, searching the windows of small shops, restaurants, and more for a sign that somewhere would be hiring. I even stopped inside a few to double check that there was no work for me to do, but after I'd searched high and low through the most populated places in the town, I came up with nothing. Despite this, my ambition unwavered; just because another step failed didn't mean the rest would as well. By the time that I abandoned this part of my plan, the sun shone brightly over the area from its place high in the sky and a white park clock in the middle of the street I journeyed past on my way out told me it was almost twelve noon, and so I made a stop at a nearby park to have some lunch.

A dirt path wound around a tall, grassy hill that still had lumps of melting snow looking over a wide lake that glittered under the sun's rays. It was only fairly crowded when I approached on the path, just enough animals to be considered busy but not nearly a number to be found disruptive. A trio of ducks ambled their way over the grass, chatting and bursting out in lighthearted laughter on their way. A group of animals that appeared to be a band of jocks performed deep stretches for an upcoming workout near the base of the hill. A sheep of bright, strikingly colorful wool that presented a look remarkably similar to a clown was reaching into the grass to rip out flowers scattered through the grass and offering them to the animals who passed by him, but seemed two seconds away from bursting into tears by the expression on his face every time they hustled to avoid him on their way, probably repelled by his clown-like appearance.

I located a bench at the bottom of the hill facing to view the shimmering lake, the first I had seen yet, but someone was already seated there as I neared. A lavender goat with striped yellow horns sat gazing over the dazzling lake, arm resting nonchalantly on the back of the bench as the faint breeze fiddled with the ends of his dark jacket and the tuft of brown hair that hung over his forehead, but he hadn't noticed me approaching, seeming utterly distracted by the sights that the water held.

"If only I'd brought my painting set," the goat mumbled to himself as I came to a stop at the side of the bench, staring out over the water.

"Is anyone sitting here?" I asked him. Once he finally glanced over at me, abruptly as if I had awakened him from a trance, I gestured to the empty spot beside him.

"Oh. No," the goat told me. He spoke hesitantly, and I could easily tell that he hadn't expected anyone to speak with him. Based on the hesitation in his voice and the awkward shifting of his dark eyes, I could gather that he was also a bit shy. "You can sit here."

Pulling my backpack from my shoulders felt like it had lifted a several ton weight from my back after carrying it around for so many hours. I dropped it to the ground at my feet, plopping into a seat on the bench next to the unfamiliar goat before I yanked open the zipper and fished around the contents for my lunch. My paws soon found my plastic bag and I withdrew it from the open backpack to reveal the sandwich inside.

The goat had already returned his focus to the lake as I tore open the plastic bag, short bangs flicking across my forehead from the gentle wind, but it was then that I began to register the shuffling sound of approaching footsteps towards the bench. Something brushed against my sleeved arm that sat on the armrest of the bench as the brightly colored mass of wool from the sheep I'd noticed before came into sight from beside me and a small daisy appeared in front of me. I glanced up to find that the sheep was now standing at my side, patiently glancing down at me for my response as he offered me the flower.

"Thanks," I said, carefully taking the flower from him. Something about his gifts finally being accepted seemed to make him tremendously delighted as a beaming smile flooded his bright makeup-heavy face and he bounded off back up the hill.

"Honk honk!" The sheep shouted gleefully on his way, a voice that sounded naturally loud and eager with involuntary cracks but a genuinely happy voice all the same.

For a moment, I only examined the flower in my paw, uncertain what I was meant to do with it now that I had it, before an idea struck me. I took a break from removing my sandwich from its bag, leaving it sitting on my lap as I reached up above my head, working to tuck the flower inside of my ponytail holder next to the bells. It wasn't very easy to complete, I quickly discovered, as the stem of the flower slipped out of place every time I thought it was close to fitting, and eventually, my struggles even attracted the attention of the goat from his watch on the lake.

"Here, I'll do it," the goat offered, reaching out to carefully take the flower from my grasp. I allowed him to tuck the flower into my ponytail, silent in his unbroken concentration, before he pulled away again.

"Pretty," the goat said shyly, but said nothing more as he turned his attention back to the lake once again.

For the first several minutes, the park sustained a peaceful quietness as I began my lunch. Only the rustling of the breeze slithering through the grass could be heard as I worked through my sandwich, a messy assemblage of lettuce and tomatoes that I'd tossed between some bread in my rush out of my house this morning. The lavender goat kept me company from his seat on the bench beside me, but didn't appear to have any conversation to offer. And since I was preoccupied taking crunch after crunch of a sandwich I'd waited since nine o'clock to eat, neither did I.

Rumbles of conversations came and went as I continued to eat, but hardly as noisy or as exaggerated as the one that approached within earshot once I was nearly halfway finished with my meal. I had been enjoying the tranquility of the unhurried space after spending hours wandering through the most packed regions of town when a loud, almost shrill voice in a conversation I could only describe as quite big even stole away the goat's focus.

"But it's just kind of exhausting, you know?" It was the voice of a passing animal emerging onto the path as she followed along the middle, a perky cat the color of fresh blueberries with a sleeveless pink dress, a flicking tail, and wide black eyes. Walking beside her was a gray cat in a dark suit, discolored eyes of bronze and green peering through thick black glasses, and by the blank look on his face, I could tell that he would have rather been anywhere but in that conversation. "I'm literally drained right now. If I don't get some caffeine in me soon, I'm going to pass out on the spot."

I continued to chew my bite of sandwich, trying not to eavesdrop, but such a loud conversation wasn't easy to miss.

"I don't think you're going to pass out," the grey cat mumbled in response. By the dull tone of his voice, it was clear that he was becoming increasingly exasperated by his friend's lively attitude.

"Well, were you the one who was just flying to literally every city in the world to sing for all your adoring fans, Raymond?" The blue cat urged to know in a smug, know-it-all manner before allowing a teasing smirk to slip onto her face. They were coming closer along the path to where I sat enjoying my meal, soon to pass me. "No, I didn't think so. A star's gotta have a break every once in a while."

Whoever this peppy cat was, she must have been some kind of singer who had just gone on a tour to several different places and recently returned to this town, and a snooty one at that. Beyond that, I couldn't say I was too interested in meddling in others' conversations. I took another bite of my half-eaten sandwich.

The second cat, evidently called Raymond, pushed out a heavy sigh before he spoke again in a reluctant tone as if it was something he was obligated to say. "How was your trip, anyway?" he inquired.

The blue cat burst out in a gasp so sudden that it nearly startled me in my seat. "Oh, it was a dream!" she exclaimed, clasping her bright paws together as an awed expression overtook her face and her tail twitched again with excitement. The goat next to me was watching her silently, studying her as if trying to figure her out. "I think it was the best one yet. I was literally wishing that somebody would pinch me the entire time I was doing shows to prove that I was actually awake. It was literally the best!"

"Have you ever taken notice to the fact of how often you use the word 'literally'?" Raymond asked unenthusiastically, but the blue cat didn't have a direct answer as she quickly changed the subject.

"Hey, what's your dream job?" The cat inquired, her tail flicking curiously as she turned her head to glance at him, but since they had both already passed where I was sitting, I was unable to see their faces.

I didn't need to see Raymond's face to be able to tell that he had a double take for a moment at the turning around of the question. "Well, I'd like to be a fashion designer," he admitted, but he spoke hesitantly like he hadn't had an immediate answer to this. "And if that doesn't work out, I've always wanted to open up a library under my name. Somewhere far away from society where I can be surrounded by all the books I would need so that I don't have to deal with animals."

"Oh, come on, Raymond, that's boring!" The blue cat whined, provoking another deep sigh from Raymond as a shift in his arms by his sides told me that he had folded them, unfazed as the other cat proceeded to poke at his shoulder tauntingly. With the way they argued and bickered, I found, they were starting to seem more like an old couple rather than a pair of friends. "You probably want some of that money, don't you?"

"Sure, Rosie, whatever you say," Raymond muttered sarcastically, already appearing to be fed up with the turn of conversation.

"If it's money you want, unless you want to be a fabulous pop star like me, which I can't really see happening, to be honest, I hear you can get a lot of those Bells with all that banking stuff," the blue cat, Rosie, explained. "It's boring stuff too, but banks are pretty much made of money. I could hook you up with Tom Nook or something, if you want."

That was it. My eyes snapped up from my sandwich just as I was about to take another bite to shoot a glance at Rosie and Raymond, thoughts firing to process what I had just heard. I'd never heard the name before, but it was the context that drew my attention. Whoever Tom Nook was, he must have been the owner of a company relating to banking, and the way that Rosie offered to direct Raymond to him, it sounded like he was in the process of hiring. This was everything I needed, the one chance that could push me forward to the future I was seeking!

Leaving absolutely no time for second thought, I immediately clambered up from my seat on the bench, causing the goat to quickly glance at me to see why I was getting up so quickly, and abandoned my unfinished sandwich on top of the plastic bag on the seat as I hurried to catch up with Rosie and Raymond.

"Actually, I don't really..." Raymond began, but his voice trailed off as mine took his place.

"Excuse me," I called out to get their attention, jogging to catch up with them. Instantly, they both turned around to face me, stopping in their tracks to be able to address me, but only Rosie had an obvious reaction to my presence.

"Oh, hi, sweetie!" Rosie gushed, an overly sweet beaming smile finding its way to her blue face again. Raymond watched me quietly, having no clear opinion whatsoever on the situation or being interrupted. "What do you need, silly?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but hear something in your conversation," I began. Raymond silently glanced at Rosie for a moment as if with a wordless judgement for her loudness before he shifted his gaze back to me. "You said something about someone named Tom Nook. Can you tell me about him?"

"There isn't much I can tell, since there isn't much that I know," Rosie admitted. "Serves me right for bringing unfamiliar names into my conversations. But I do know that he's trying to start up his own bank or something like that. I do a lot of travelling for my work, so I get to hear the gossip from pretty much everywhere. But by what I've heard, it sounds like he could use all the help he can get."

My heart was soaring right out of my chest, a thrill that almost completely snatched my breath away at the sudden drop of news. Hope. For the first time in two years, genuine hope for the future I was after. I had to find him. I had to connect with him.

"How do I get to him?" I begged to know, but in the abruptness of the question offered an explanation for my passion towards the situation. "I've been looking for work for years. This is the closest thing to success that I've ever achieved."

"Okay, silly, calm down for a minute!" Rosie teased, but I was far too elated to come back down to earth, chest rising and falling with rapid, agitated breaths. "I got you. I'll buy you a plane ticket to take you to the island where he works and I can even make your flight as soon as tonight. Just give me your phone number and I'll call you when it's booked."

"Oh, no," I burst out before Rosie could get carried away with the idea of being able to call me, as she seemed to get carried away with ideas easily. "My phone broke last night. I can't make or receive calls anymore."

"Really?" Rosie replied, seeming confused as to how such a thing could happen. She was quiet for a moment to think, staring up into the light blue sky as if the answer would be written somewhere in the clouds, before she met my gaze again. "I don't really have any other modes of communication. I suppose you could just meet me here later and I'll have the ticket ready for you. We can meet here in about two hours, does that sound good to you?"

And just like that, I caught a glimpse of my future. I was scheduled to find and meet with Mr. Tom Nook no later than tomorrow morning, where I would either begin a better future or be faced with failure once again. After everything I'd been through, it was time for things to change at last.

And I was ready.

"That's good. That's perfect," I told Rosie, but couldn't keep a tremble out of my voice from the thrill I was surrendering to. "Thank you so much. I'll be here no later than two o'clock."

"As will I! I'm Rosie, by the way," Rosie confidently introduced herself, despite the fact that I had already known her name after picking it up during her conversation, but Raymond didn't seem too pleased about this.

"You don't really have to introduce yourself to everyone you speak to, do you?" Raymond asked Rosie tiredly.

"If I don't tell her who I am, how will she know who to thank, silly?" Rosie shot back in her usual teasing manner.

. . .

I packed my bag that very night.

The hours had seemed to crawl by as I had waited for half past one to arrive so that I could finally leave to meet with Rosie again. I kept myself busy by tidying the house wherever I could, picking up any small messes and dusting the furniture, since it would be the last day I would actually spend in this house. Sunlight danced across the floors during my work while I returned often to the bedroom to check the time on my alarm clock and make sure that I wouldn't be late, and finished up my cleaning just a few minutes before my time of departure.

I met with Rosie in the park, the same park where we had met hours earlier. I arrived nearly five minutes before two, but she had been there already, standing at the top of the hill while waving energetically to get my attention and shouting for me—She hadn't learned my name, so what she shouted was "Yellow dog! Yellow dog! Yellow dog!"—Without Raymond or anyone else by her side. The interaction didn't last longer than a couple of minutes, lasting only long enough for Rosie to give me the plane ticket she had bought and me asking how much I would owe her for buying it, but Rosie insisted that the joy that lit up in my face when she was able to help me was payment enough.

Afterwards, that very night, I packed my bag for my trip. The knowledge lingered in the back of my mind that I would no longer be coming back to this house, probably for as long as I lived, and yet it was still so difficult to process, seeming like I was just packing up my belongings for fun and I would stay in this town for the next several years. I wouldn't even be spending one last night in this house; my flight was too soon for that. The fact that I was leaving at all still couldn't wrap around my head, no matter how much time I spent packing.

I gathered up everything I would need into my giant backpack, as I had no suitcase to carry my belongings. I gathered everything from the storage room that I had brought from my tent a couple years ago as well as a few favorite books from the bookshelf, though I wouldn't have the space or strength to carry all of them. After packing, I took the time to make my bed like I had never been there at all, completed any last-minute cleaning that wouldn't get to be done once I took off, and left behind the bookshelf full of books for the next animal to stay here. At ten fifteen in the early hours of night, just forty-five minutes before I would board the plane, I took my leave from the house for the last time.

The sky was pitch black and dotted with stars as I tugged the front door shut after me. The air was cool but not exceptionally cold, sweeping through the street with a temperature no more chilled than late September. Crickets chirped from the shadows in the late hour as I descended the wooden steps, paws clutching the straps of my backpack hanging from my shoulders, but once at the bottom of the stairs I allowed myself a pause to examine the house behind me.

Gazing up at the house I was leaving behind for a moment, I couldn't help but think of Apollo, the old eagle who had left three days ago like I was doing now. I wondered if this was how he had felt while leaving as well—The slowness in the recognition that this wasn't home any longer, but at the same time, the light, breathless atmosphere in the air at the thought of travel and so much uncertainty to come. When I had walked Apollo to the airport on his way out of the town, I hadn't had the faintest clue that I would be in the same position days later.

The shuffling of my shoes over the street was the only sound to accompany the endless whirring of crickets along the sides. I knew the way to the airport like the back of my paw after living in the town for so long, but making a trip there in the utter darkness was an entirely different sensation. My eyes had already begun to adjust as I ventured along the path, catching sight of houses beside me on my way, and I walked in silence.

A glow of light from the lobby in the airport shone through the cloudy glass door, cast faintly over the path leading up to it. I reached for the doorknob, prepared to enter the building to wait for my flight, but just as my paw perched over the long handle, another pause seized me as I tossed a glance over my shoulder at the town I was abandoning. It seemed like the entire town was asleep, not a single movement in the darkness as identical houses lined up along the sides of the street stretching behind me.

Leaving this town meant leaving absolutely everything I had known here. Goldie, my neighbors, all of it. If I were to be prepared to leave, I needed to be prepared to say goodbye to everything that had led me to this point. This was a whole new chapter in my life, a potential change so drastic that I could hardly comprehend it. If anything, at least I could say I was going out with a bang. But the main question was, am I ready to make the chance I've always wanted?

A thrill suddenly descended upon me at the thought that my breaths quickened and my chest felt as though it were caving in on itself. An enthusiastic smile instantly found its way to my face at the mere idea of what future lay before me and I practically yanked my way through the doorway, bursting into the airport without a second thought.

The bright lights of the airport lobby felt to throb against my tired eyes in the late night. I seated myself in one of the available chairs to wait for boarding and had waited there for almost half an hour before I was instructed to move again at last. The gathering for the flight was much slimmer than I had previously imagined, which made sense due to the hour of night, and only about seven animals joined me in the lobby in anticipation for our upcoming flight. It seemed like the wait to board dragged on for a lifetime, the pinch of nervousness for the trip in my gut, the bouncing of my knee as I sat in my chair, and the frequent pondering of what would come next becoming a sense of routine soon after sitting down, and then the process for boarding was announced.

I couldn't board quickly enough. I followed close behind as the other animals made their way into the plane, slipping into their own rows of seats, and I claimed a window seat for myself near the middle of the plane. General instructions were offered as I thrust my bag underneath my seat and buckled up my seatbelt, and that was when the trip began.

I watched the town I had known for so many years slowly grow farther and farther away through the round window as the plane rose gradually higher into the sky, taking me away. I could see the reflection of my own dark eyes staring back at me, and in those eyes I could even almost catch everything they had witnessed, everything that had brought me here to this very moment in time. But those memories were in the past now, and it was time to make new ones and focus on my future.

It was time to begin the life I had always dreamed of. The moment I stepped foot off of this plane again, it was up to no one but myself to determine my path. Now, I just needed to find out what Tom Nook had to say about it.

I'm on my way, Mr. Nook, I thought silently to myself as the town was completely overtaken by the shadows of night. Please spare some time for me.