Animal Crossing: New Leaf ~ Berling

Chapter 7 - It's Still Windy

I awoke up early in the morning to the sound of the wind rustling through the trees outside. 

"Good morning, Mr. Mayor." Rod peered out of his bedroom. "I made ourselves some breakfast."

I took a look at the round kitchen table, there were some delicious-looking scrambled eggs and toast on a small plate.

"Oh, thanks... But did your already eat your meal?" I mumbled, I was still half asleep.

"Yes, I already did." Rod said shortly after. "Coffee?" He said suddenly.

"Er.. Yes please." I was still mumbling. 

I quickly ate my breakfast and then changed into my black suit. Being the person I am, I helped Rod wash the dishes. 

"Big day today Mr. Mayor? Rod spoke after he saw me ready to go. 

"Just call me Emilio..." It felt kind of weird being called 'Mr. Mayor' all the time, "And the thing is that I don't know..." I said awkwardly. 

"Oh?" Rod looked up, "Well you better be prepared for anything I guess." He said sheepishly. 

After a few more minutes I head for the door. "Well I better get going, thank you so much for letting me over for the night. I don't know what I would've done if you weren't to appear." 

"It's no problem Emilio, just make sure to visit sometime." Rod then shook my hand.

"I'll make sure I do, bye." I took one final glimpse of the interior of Rod's home. The door creaked as it was opened, and then as soon as it caught wind it flew off and hit the wall. Well then...

"S-sorry Rodney, it just --- "

"Don't worry, you've got to go." He said quickly "I'll see you soon, bye." He struggled to pull the door back in so that it could click. 

Rod sure is a nice guy, he didn't even frown when I almost broke his door. 

By the time I had left Rod's house it was 8 o'clock, and the chilly wind was still howling. Despite the cold, it was a beautiful November day. Before I went to Town Hall I decided to take a stroll around town, I wasn't in such a hurry anyways. I left Rod thinking that I was in a hurry... 

The whistle of the wind through the leaves was a harmonic tune to listen, I stopped for a moment to watch it.

---------------

When I opened the door to Town Hall, Isabelle was not in her desk.

"Isabelle?" I said quietly, my voice echoing through the office. "Isabelle?" I asked louder this time. A moment of silence passed by when finally Isabelle came out of the back room, she was carrying a heavy stack of documents. 

"Yes, Mayor, I'm right here!" She quickly said, panting. "You caught me organizing these papers." 

I smiled slightly, "You want some help with that?" But it was too late, Isabelle was already putting them down. She almost seemed to ignore my offer.

"Eh, no thank you..." Isabelle looked at me and smiled. She sat down on her comfy-looking chair. "You'd like to know about the progress of your town development permit, huh?" 

I laughed, "You must be a physic, haha." 

"Well great news, you'll get your permit tomorrow... But there's also a catch..." Isabelle paused to let me react.

"Huh? Is this about the town council people?" I gasped. I started to sweat again. I was scared that the residents and the council wouldn't approve me as mayor of Berling.

"No no..." Isabelle flustered. "You can only build one thing at the time..." 

She explained the rules of building things, and gave me a rather small list of things I could approve to build. Besides the sound if the strong wind outside, the office was awkwardly quiet.

I finally spoke out. "This is it?" I looked up at Isabelle.

"Well, for now, yes..." She said slowly. "B-but over time you'll get more recommendations from the Residents and Town Council.."

"Oh okay, " I let out a relief. "so the residents can recommend projects?"

"Yes." 

"That's actually a great idea" I spoke after a moment's silence. "The Residents can give feedback and tell me or the Town Council what they want to see in Berling."

I sat down on a nearby corner chair, thinking of how Berling could look in the near future.