So I have this pile of games that are just yearning for me to continue. What to pick I ask myself. And then, it called out to me, like a neglected child that once stood tall as the son of a proud father before new and better children came into his life, dooming the offspring to an existence as ham on a shelf sandwich. The loyal game with a persistent memory would remain sitting by the window, waiting for the day I came back to it. The game?



Animal Crossing City Folk.

Like the hypnotic spell of the siren's song, Animal Crossing called out to me, begging me to revisit the town of my own creation. But I was afraid to put the disc in and turn it on. Surely it was a ghost town at this point. The weeds would be overgrown and the animal neighbors would be strangers to me, strangers to the kind deeds that I once fulfilled for another neighbor's behalf. And then there was the mortgage. The bells that I owed to Took for my two story shack would still be astronomical. Thank the heavens that late fees were not included as a part of this game.

It would be such an uphill battle, and I struggled to find the motivation to jump back into this "game" in which I would be so far behind in. What I needed was some sort of guardian angel to point me in the right direction. I was all sorts of lost and assistance was oh so necessary.

I said to myself, "What the hell" and decided to jump in with both feet. Upon booting up, Rover the gatekeeper reiterated what I already knew for way too long- it had been a while since I played.

I took a minute to regain my bearings. "The City" was different. I had changed (my guy now had bedhead). Things had changed around the town. All the neighbors were a strange blur of humanoid animals that I didn't recall meeting when I initially started my town. New fuckers I thought to myself. Yet, they knew about my absence. Gossipy ass animals. They were blunt, I prefer to think of them as rude.



I was in a terrible bind. I had to deal with these neighbors and my mortgage, but I did not want to be put to work as a gopher. I have a graduate level education damnit! Forget weeks of being at their servitude. I needed help. This would require outside help. I went on the internet, and looked for City Folk friends, people who would support me in my time of need, keep me motivated so that I could shape up and get to work fixing this town from criminal neglect.

And then it began. Leaving my gate open for visitors when I went to work and when I went to sleep, I allowed strangers on the internet to invade my town to do as they please, as long as they didn't chop down my trees and dig holes in my shit. They were friendly. The first left a note thanking me for my hospitality. The next did a fantastic thing and left behind a fossil for me to collect. My third visitor was the best. She invited me to her town, and it felt like stepping into a wonderland where all my virtual desires (in the Animal Crossing world of course) could be fulfilled. She had, in her time playing, amassed every single item that was available. And she offered everything up for grabs. Anything and everything I could take was mine. I took what I could and then she one upped the offer. She would fill up her pockets and come to my town to drop off some donations. This was a virtual Jesus Christ in the form of a cartoon girl with a button nose holding a golden axe.



After giving me Midna's helmet, Majora's mask, and Samus' mask, she gave me one final treat- the thing that would leave me forever grateful. Four million bells. Enough bells to pay off my mortgage. Enough bells to get an addition to the house. Enough bells for anything and everything I would ever need in the future. I was done working. I was done talking to the neighbors. I was done with that fuck Took. I was free.



And so now, I can finally play the game properly. I don't need to talk to these fucking neighbors ever again. I am just happy as hell to plant my fruit trees, go fishing, collect random shit on the beach, and design my city as the utopia I originally envisioned. The siren song of Animal Crossing called to me, but it took the help of an online stranger before I was truly able to answer it.

Fuck yeah! Animal Crossing kicks ass.