#new-leaf

     I must have dozed off some time in the night. Try as I might, I couldn't catch Mr. Nook in the process of the expansion, and when I awoke, my home was suddenly bigger. He is not only a magician, but a ninja as well. I am intrigued and also terrified of this man. I must admit, the house is a lot bigger than I thought it would be, I can even fit my new air conditioner on the wall, so I don't have to deal with those humid summer nights. I spoke to Mr. Nook about the price, and it will be some time before I can pay this off. Oh well, as long as it's taken care of there's no rush, he said. I don't like keeping the man waiting, but I don't magically have the money on me right now, so I'll work hard.

When I went to the town hall to check on how the permit approval was going, Isabelle told me that the old mayor was in town, and that I should meet him out on the pier. I figured that either this man would know that I wasn't supposed to be the mayor, or at least be able to give me some tips on what I should be doing. On the pier stood an old turtle, dressed in a silly tropical shirt with a goofy smile on his face. If I were to guess, I'd say that he recently retired, but I digress. The fellow, named Tortimer, congratulated me on becoming mayor of Everlast, and invited me to come to his retirement island. I couldn't go out there today, but he said that the invitation will always be open, and he'll leave a boat at the dock so I can visit. I might have to at some point, but I don't think I need a vacation when I've just moved in.

I wonder if you've been on vacation this summer, I know the weather calls for it. The beach sounds so alluring the more I think about it, lazing about in swim suits on the warm sand. I hope you're relaxing in your free time and not pushing yourself too hard, both you and dad. I hope to hear from you soon.

                                                                               Your son,

     Great things have happened today. Through fishing and shell selling, I've been able to pay off my house to Mr. Nook. Now, he's talking about expanding my home for another fee. I admit, my house does seem a little small, and could use the upgrade. Feels like a scheme, but I went with it. I only hope it's a greater expansion than I expect. Somehow, I feel that I'm only going to be able to fit in a chair or two in this new room. He says that he'll be able to start on it tomorrow, and this time I'll be up to see this magical construction at work.

Some of the townsfolk told me of a rumor that if you shake a tree that doesn't bear fruit, pieces of furniture can fall out. Of course, this sounds like complete nonsense, but I gave it a shot anyway. Lo and behold two things fell from the trees today. I'm more surprised that I was not hurt, and I have no idea how they fit in there. Being the skeptic that I am, I put them in the flea market area and put a low price on them. I figure that someone had to have lost them, and maybe they will claim them. One of them I'm not even sure how it stayed together up there.

I got a very interesting experience today. The train tends to pass through every so often, making myself wonder a little why I decided to live near the tracks, but today it stopped and dropped off a person. The man called himself Nick, from a town called Lann. He stopped by today to visit a resident that decided to move away and moved in to Everlast. News to me, I didn't know anyone had moved in, magical construction and all. He seemed sincere enough, and was kind enough to let me take a commemorative picture, though I find it strange that some of my apples, which were a gift from Isabelle, have suddenly gone missing. I'll ask him about it when if I see him again, I don't think he'd steal them though.

I hope you're enduring the summer well, loading up with fans and air conditioning, the weather looks like it's going to be hot for a while. I wonder if it's even summer back home, I don't know how far I went from you, but hope you're doing well all the same. I would love to hear how things are for you, and hope to hear from you soon. Love you Mom.

                                                                               Your son,

     Thunder and lightning all through the night and into the morning doesn't let me get much sleep. At least I'm not in that tent, I don't think I could have dealt with the possible flooding. They expect the weather to stay like this through the entire day, so I had better rummage for an umbrella. There is a plus side to all this rain at least, the fish seem to be more abundant, and I might get to catch something besides sea bass. I've only ate it a few times now and I'm already tired of it. It's like eating old fish sticks. I spoke to Mr. Nook today, and he informed me of the amount I have to pay for the rest of the house. As much as I prodded him, he wouldn't let me in on his secret for construction. I'm still going with construction magic.

While I was down at the beach, I came across a sailor washed up on the beach. Luckily, he seemed to only be sleeping, and took me a bit of prodding to get him awake. He said his name was Gulliver, and he went overboard while fighting a giant sea creature. Somehow, I doubt his story. He did seem a bit lost, and couldn't remember his own destination. He fed me some information about where it could be, and it seemed to be fairly simple to piece together. I hope he's able to find where he meant to go, being lost is no fun.

When I had the time, I got to meet with a few of my neighbors and am really starting to get comfortable with my living space. My nearest neighbor is a sparrow named, well, Sparro. He's a very nice fellow, though he seems to be obsessed with exercise. He always seems to be jogging about, and talking about getting his calves more defined. You would think that he is training for a major competition. Today while chatting with him, he thought it would be fun to give me a nickname. I don't have a problem with having one, but I'll be honest, the one he decided to give me, I hope that it never catches on.

I can't help but feel a little homesick from time to time, but I don't want you to worry about me. This is my first solo journey into the world, and I want to make the best of it. I hope that everything is going well for both you and Dad, though I have yet to hear from him. I want to make both of you proud, and I'll try to make everything around here the best so that someday you can visit. I'll write you again soon.

                                                                              Your son,

     I'm starting to think this place employs some kind of magic. I awoke this morning expecting construction to start on my new home, but instead I found it already completed. How is that possible? Either Mr. Nook has hundreds of silent workers that come in the night and I'm a really heavy sleeper, or there has to be some kind of magic at work here. I just don't know. In any case, my home is complete and I no longer have to sleep in that tent, but I will most definitely bring this up to Mr. Nook.

The cicadas are out in force now, the noisy little buggers. I always thought that they were a sign of the end of summer, but somehow, I think it'll become hotter before they disappear. I never did tell you about the trees, did I? It so happens that Everlast is abound with cherry trees, and they look lovely, though I doubt that I'll be eating any, never did care for the taste. Instead I purchased a fishing pole, which to my amazement, I find that I'm much better at fishing than I thought. A neighbor of mine, Aurora, said that she would teach me how to properly cook a sea bass, and with the abundance of them, I think I'll be eating well for some time.

The town had another visitor today, a bright red fox aptly named Redd. He had a tent set up at the town plaza, and had a variety of paintings and sculptures for sale. It felt like an old flea market, but everything seems so expensive to be going at the prices they were. Frankly, I find him a little suspicious because of this. Well, that and I don't know of anyone that calls someone else "Cuz", Isn't that saying almost twenty years old now? But, even as seedy as it seemed, I couldn't help myself but to buy a snow-scape painting, it reminded me of one Dad kept in the basement years ago.

Another animal moved into town today, and again, I have no idea how she was able to have her home built so fast. Some sort of housing magic. If I recall, she said her name was Flo, but really couldn't stop to talk, and with all the packed boxes lying around the house space, I can only gather why. I just hope I made a good first impression. I do find it a bit comforting that no one seems to find that I'm human strange at all, though I'm still getting used to everyone being an animal. I don't remember seeing very many back home, but it's not like they are any different as we are, though I don't know if calling them as "person" or "people" is the right term, and don't want to offend anyone by asking what it is. Think you might be able to find that out for me? I hope to hear from you soon.

                                                                              Your son,

     I want to start by saying that sleeping in a tent in the middle of summer was not one of my best ideas. I also want to add my instant regret that I did not purchase a bed to sleep on either. A tent floor is not very comfortable, is what I'm getting at. No worries though, as I made sure to get one as soon as it opened.

That's what my home looks like right now, along with my new fancy bed. I picked up a refrigerator as well, even though I have no electricity. It makes a great storage locker for my clothes at the moment, so at least they don't hang on the floor. The lantern was a gift from Isabelle, you remember me telling you about her right? That brings me to the second part of my morning. When I first went outside, I was startled to encounter a pelican wearing a uniform. Turns out he is mail carrier for the town, and had something to deliver to me. He had a letter addressed to me from someone claiming to be the real mayor, but wanted me to keep it a secret. Sketchy, I know, but I might go with it if I can't get out of this deal soon.

Speaking of which, I went to the town hall to meet up with Isabelle and get this mess dealt with,but instead somehow got roped into matters of "approval rating" and approving a new town flag. The approval rating was something I understood, but was a little dumbfounded over the idea of a town flag. From what I understand, each town has their own banner, one that is supposed to symbolize what the town symbolizes. Taking that in mind, she asked me to create one, and though I'm no artist, I gave it a shot. Turns out she liked it enough to immediately display it at town hall.

From there I spent my day collecting seashells from the beach and selling them for a minor profit, turns out that some of them are worth quite a few bells. Lucky for me, in almost no time I came up with the money for my first down payment for my house, and tomorrow we'll break ground and start getting it built. I'll send you some pictures when it's complete. I'll send you another letter soon.

                                                                                      Your son,