Animal Crossing Diaries: Entry #1 A New Beginning

    This just might work I mused to myself as I stepped off of the wooden dock onto a grass field, and headed towards the center of the island in search for Nook. I had just completed the twelve hour-long flight, moving me from my previous home to a deserted island, that has yet to be named, because of a whim and a particularly bad tarot reading. A questionable choice indeed, one could argue I might just be going insane with my old age. 

    "This is gonna be great!" I hear someone shout behind me. The voice was relatively masculine, and since I didn't believe it was Timmy, Tommy, or the two birds that were in charge of air fair that left one of my new neighbors. "Think about it Pashmina, my workouts are gonna be insane on this type of terrain. I am going to be the fittest bird out there just watch." Oh my, a jock, that should be interesting. 

    "Yep sounds great Sterling," the female goat, Pashmina apparently, responded as she sipped on a leftover juice box from the plane ride. "As for me, I'm ready to sleep until noon everyday and relax on a permanent vacation. I'll probably read some books or start a garden while I'm at it too. We may have different goals sterling, but this is definitely gonna be the best island ever!" They certainly were excited I thought as we finished the final leg of our trek from the airport to our, well, I guess you could call it a town hall, but in reality, it was more of a tent hall. 

    Nook had set up a green tent with his signature leaf symbol on it in a red cobblestone plaza. It was charming in a way, but also not. It made me wonder though. If Nook himself was living in a tent, were we also adopting a tent life. That would quickly change the tone of my new life on this island. 

   "Hello, hello" Nook welcomed us with a booming voice over a megaphone. Was it necessary? Probably not, but that didn't seem to be stopping him. "Welcome to your new home, the first course of business is to get introductions out of the way." Pashmina introduced herself first, a brown goat with blue horns and a colorful sweater she seemed quite nice. Sterling was next. I hadn't paid much attention to them on the plane and didn't even realize he was wearing a full knight's outfit until this moment. Was this actually real life? 

    "Hello, my name is Ferryn," I introduced myself. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you," I finished with a smile. Pashmina gave me a smile in return and Sterling waved. 

    "Yes, now that introductions are over we must name the island," Nook continued. "Usually I would have named it myself, but I figured since we would all be living here together it was only fair if we all decided upon the name together." I had a feeling this was code for he couldn't up with anything himself besides something like Nookland. "Ferryn, do you have any ideas?" Nook asked, looking at me expectantly? My eyes widened a bit as he put me on the spot. What qualifications did I have to name an island? I was a witch, my purpose was to research, cast spells, make potions, etc. not name things. 

    "Umm... I'm not sure" I murmured looking to the ground then up to Pashmina and Sterling whose eyes were trained on me. "What about you guys? Do you have any ideas for names for the island.? Worst case scenario I guess we could always call it Nookland I said with a laugh." Nook's eyes lit up at this suggestion, but it was clear from Pashmina and Sterling's faces that they were firmly opposed to my last resort suggestion. 

    "What about Gymland?" Sterling threw out there. "Oooo ooo or BroLandia or Castlevania or pumper or buff buddy land or...." his list of names continued to get more ridiculous all of the themes being related to knights or working out until Pashmina interjected.

    "We could do something more floral. We have natural flowers here and who doesn't love flowers after all? What about Flowerland or just flower or something?" Hmmm, I thought lifting a hand to my chin. Her ideas were better than Sterlings, and it wasn't like I had any of my own. But something just didn't feel right about Flowerland. It might work for someone else's deserted island, but not this one. This island was supposed to be a home to us all.  The name should reflect something all of us enjoyed. 

    Elysium. That's it. I had read about it while studying Hekate. A field of flowers where the blessed dead would live afterlife in Greek Mythology. I was sure a knight like Sterling could appreciate an island named after a place where only the righteous go after death. And Elysium was filled with flowers, which was clearly one of Pashmina's hobbies. Worst case scenario they don't like the suggestion right? "What about Elysium?" I interjected, interrupting a friendly argument about gardening versus exercising that I didn't realize was occurring between Pashmina and Sterling.

    "What?" Pashmina asked momentarily confused. 

    "For the name of our island. How does Elysium sound to everyone?" I asked again. I could see everyone mulling it over in their heads. Except for Timmy and Tommy that it is. The twins appeared to have given up caring about the naming of the island and had taken to chasing each other around the small square. It seemed like forever before anyone showed any signs of acceptance then it happened. Pashmina smiled, Sterling gave a firm nod of approval, Nook made the official announcement and it was done. Elysium was to be the name of our new home. My new home.