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Description

The sun rose on a bright Monday morning here in Place. With a yawn, I stretched myself out of bed and looked out of my bedroom window. Sure enough, a new house stood where my awesome flowers used to be. It was time to meet just whoever had the audacity to make such an entrance and to hear exactly what they had to say for themselves.

With a heavy knock on their front door, I let myself in to the newly built establishment.
There was a distinctive lack of a carpet, or any flooring, for that matter. Instead my shoes went from touching the grass outside, to a hard layer of grey cement. The air was filled with dust, as if the house had stood here for a hundred years. The smell of oil and machinery tickled my nose as, amongst the many cardboard boxes, things one would expect to find in a construction site lay dormant in each corner of the small room.

In the middle stood the occupier; a small, pink bear with short blonde hair. They faced towards me as I opened the door, and at first, I thought I was about to verbally assault a child. I dialled back my frustration as a result but was surprised to see that the new resident I was dealing with was no cub. As they turned to face me, I was greeted with a pair of dark eyes overshadowed by a deep and heavy brow. Despite his vibrant fur and polka dot attire, this bear was anything but cute.

“Ah” he exhaled as he first caught glimpse of my puzzled expression “I assume you must be this village’s humble mayor?”

“…humble?” was all I managed to squeak out.
He had an accent I couldn’t place, but it was distinctly Eastern European – perhaps even Russian. Or whatever this world’s equivalent is, anyway. I suppose that one encounter with Gulliver confirmed that England existed somewhere, so the geology of animal land is most likely the same as human land. Ugh, I can think about geography later.

“I must say” he continued with his sultry little voice “I was quite smitten by Place once I spotted it on the map. A Secluded Retreat… how wonderful!”

“Yeah” I said “we have nice flowers too…”

“Oh my” he cringed “I do apologise for my rather, how you say, inconsiderate choice of settling myself. In the way of the bridge too, Mr Nook tells me, yes?”

“T-that’s right” I replied. I was a little nervous talking to him, but I couldn’t quite figure out why.

“Once again, my deepest apologies, Mr Mayor” he grinned “However, if you ask me, that wasn’t the greatest placement for a bridge to begin with. Perhaps now would be a good excuse to relocate it?”

“Well, it was already here when I moved in” I explained “That bridge further north-west of here? That’s all me!”

“And what a splendid bridge it is!” the bear exclaimed “Cobblestone. So much more refined and appealing than the rickety little thing outside my front door, yes?”

He was making a lot of good points here. I said that I would talk about this with Isabelle. I mean, hey, if we’re gonna make this town look good for potential business owners and would-be residents, the bridges need to look as spic and span as everything else, right?

“My name is Vladimir, by the way” he said, extending a paw. I bent over to shake it. His grip was terrifyingly firm for a creature his size.

“Welcome to the neighbourhood!” I chuckled. “If you need anything, just give me a holler. I may be your mayor, but I’m also your glorified errand boy.”

Vladimir laughed at that.
“Very good, very good. I’ll make sure to do whatever I can to help Place grow in your vision…”

He put a strange amount of emphasis on the word “your”, but I chose to ignore it. Finally, somebody I can trust around here!

~Author’s Notes~
A new neighbour has arrived in town. He seems nice, right?

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Description

The sun rose on a bright Monday morning here in Place. With a yawn, I stretched myself out of bed and looked out of my bedroom window. Sure enough, a new house stood where my awesome flowers used to be. It was time to meet just whoever had the audacity to make such an entrance and to hear exactly what they had to say for themselves.

With a heavy knock on their front door, I let myself in to the newly built establishment.
There was a distinctive lack of a carpet, or any flooring, for that matter. Instead my shoes went from touching the grass outside, to a hard layer of grey cement. The air was filled with dust, as if the house had stood here for a hundred years. The smell of oil and machinery tickled my nose as, amongst the many cardboard boxes, things one would expect to find in a construction site lay dormant in each corner of the small room.

In the middle stood the occupier; a small, pink bear with short blonde hair. They faced towards me as I opened the door, and at first, I thought I was about to verbally assault a child. I dialled back my frustration as a result but was surprised to see that the new resident I was dealing with was no cub. As they turned to face me, I was greeted with a pair of dark eyes overshadowed by a deep and heavy brow. Despite his vibrant fur and polka dot attire, this bear was anything but cute.

“Ah” he exhaled as he first caught glimpse of my puzzled expression “I assume you must be this village’s humble mayor?”

“…humble?” was all I managed to squeak out.
He had an accent I couldn’t place, but it was distinctly Eastern European – perhaps even Russian. Or whatever this world’s equivalent is, anyway. I suppose that one encounter with Gulliver confirmed that England existed somewhere, so the geology of animal land is most likely the same as human land. Ugh, I can think about geography later.

“I must say” he continued with his sultry little voice “I was quite smitten by Place once I spotted it on the map. A Secluded Retreat… how wonderful!”

“Yeah” I said “we have nice flowers too…”

“Oh my” he cringed “I do apologise for my rather, how you say, inconsiderate choice of settling myself. In the way of the bridge too, Mr Nook tells me, yes?”

“T-that’s right” I replied. I was a little nervous talking to him, but I couldn’t quite figure out why.

“Once again, my deepest apologies, Mr Mayor” he grinned “However, if you ask me, that wasn’t the greatest placement for a bridge to begin with. Perhaps now would be a good excuse to relocate it?”

“Well, it was already here when I moved in” I explained “That bridge further north-west of here? That’s all me!”

“And what a splendid bridge it is!” the bear exclaimed “Cobblestone. So much more refined and appealing than the rickety little thing outside my front door, yes?”

He was making a lot of good points here. I said that I would talk about this with Isabelle. I mean, hey, if we’re gonna make this town look good for potential business owners and would-be residents, the bridges need to look as spic and span as everything else, right?

“My name is Vladimir, by the way” he said, extending a paw. I bent over to shake it. His grip was terrifyingly firm for a creature his size.

“Welcome to the neighbourhood!” I chuckled. “If you need anything, just give me a holler. I may be your mayor, but I’m also your glorified errand boy.”

Vladimir laughed at that.
“Very good, very good. I’ll make sure to do whatever I can to help Place grow in your vision…”

He put a strange amount of emphasis on the word “your”, but I chose to ignore it. Finally, somebody I can trust around here!

~Author’s Notes~
A new neighbour has arrived in town. He seems nice, right?

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