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Chapter One;

The Journey.

My day started off like any other, with doing the chorus around the house while my parents were at work. It was my day off from work and I really didn't have much planned.

Oh, I guess you all want to know who I am. My name is Cal and I'm twenty-one years old. I've been working at a local office building for the last three years, and everything's been going fine for the most part, if not almost completely boring.

I enjoy being around people and having conversations with them, even if its on a subject that I'm not interested in. It just helps me understand people better. The town I live in though is far to quiet for me. I want to move some place different, and have been saving my money up to do just that. Though I'm not sure how my parents will take it. Mom's pretty protective of me. Dad seems to think I won't do well on my own. I'm not entirely sure why they feel that way, but I know I need to move on.

I decided to have a lunch at around three-o-clock and made a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches. A pretty classic meal for lunch, though my parents would say its not healthy enough. However, today I just wanted something simple to eat and enjoy. Once I finished eating, I saw the mailman leaving and decided to check the mail. I went outside to the end of the driveway, and I noticed Thomas, our next door neighbor out mowing his lawn. I waved at him as he waved back, and then turned to the mailbox and opened it.

“Wow this thing is stuffed." I said to myself as I pulled out everything and began to head back into the house. I laid everything down on the counter and began to separate it into the different mail bins my parents had been using for years. “Bills, more bills, a letter from Grandma." I stopped and looked at the last letter that was addressed to me directly. “Hmm, I never get mail," I said aloud.

It looked like a pretty official letter. Had an official seal on the front, though looking it over in greater detail had me scratching my head. It was a paw print. The wording around it also stated that it was the official seal if Animal Village. I took it to my room and proceeded to open it.

Once I had it open there was a letter and a train ticket. I began to read the letter.

Dear Cal,

It is with great pleasure that I write this letter to you inviting you to come to Animal Village as our new mayor. It has been some time since our last mayor, as the process to pick a new mayor is a long and arduous task for me to handle alone as the assistant to the mayor.

But I'm sure you are excited to get started at you new position here in Animal Village. Anticipating your arrival in our small yet spacious village. I've enclosed a train ticket for you. Make sure you only bring your clothes with you. You'll have a home waiting for you once you get here.

Sincerely,

Isabelle

Mayor's Assistant.

I must have stared at this letter for a good hour or more. “Mayor" I thought to myself. I looked at the train ticket and noticed the date. I spoke aloud in surprise, “Three days from now?" Hardly enough time to settle things here. Not to mention this sounds to good to be true. I looked at the cost of the ticket. It was over a thousand dollars, and over six thousand miles away. This is when I figured it was likely a scan. No train in the world goes that far. I threw it on a small table in my room, a table where things get forgotten a lot of the time, and went about my day.

Fours days later I received another letter that was exactly the same except the dates on the train ticket we're for another three days. Again it still felt like a scam, but at this point they had spent two thousand dollars between two tickets. I decided to call the train station and ask if the ticket was genuine. After giving them the information they needed. They put me on hold as they looked it up. Ten minutes later they confirmed the ticket was genuine, but the distance confused them, and said they would further investigate it.

Another four days letter I received another letter and train ticket, this time the date was for 7 days later. I'd be lying if I didn't say that my curiosity was now sparked, and began to wonder if I shouldn't just follow through and at least see if this place was even real.

After a couple of hours spent deep in thought, I decided that I would take a week off from work, and leave a letter to my parents, who are never home, stating that I had taken a vacation and would return in a week or so.

I was nervous that day as I had finished packing my clothes into a suitcase, grabbed the train ticket and then called a cab to pick me up. When she arrived I told her where I was headed as she nodded and took off.

I was nervous about this, because I was doing something most people would say “You are asking for trouble." Or “It's a serial killer luring you into a trap." However, I wasn't thinking that, especially with the train station claiming that the ticket was genuine. This was someone willing to spend three-grand on me to get me somewhere. Either I was going to be a mayor, or I'd be meeting the love of my life. I was fine with either one happening at this point.

It took an hour to reach the station, and once we got there she pulled up to the curb to let me out. I walked around with her, as she opened the trunk for me, and let me grab my suitcase. I paid the fair and headed into the station as someone else called for her.

I went up to the ticket counter and handed the clerk my ticket. She looked at it and began to process it through the system. Once she was finished she handed the ticket back to and told me to hold on to it as the conductor would be asking for it during the trip. She then pointed me into the direction of platform twenty-five and told me I had about a twenty-minute wait before it would arrive. I thanked her and caught a small image on her name badge, a paw print. I half wonder if she was in on this whole thing, and it was the reason she didn't question the travel distance.

As I walked towards platform twenty-five, I happen to notice it was a good distance from the ticket counter, and in all honestly, of out of view of everyone else. For some reason this was slightly unnerving to me. I mean, while the area was well lighted, and I did see cameras watching me, I was alone in this area. The area itself was very clean, like it had never been used before. The benches and trash cans all looked brand new. All the signs said platform twenty-five, but nothing of the destination. No posters, no flyers, nothing.

After a few minutes of catching my breath and trying to relax I sat down on a nearby bench and waited. As I sat here with literally nothing to do, it felt like time was passing slowly. To me it felt like hours had passed by the time I heard a train pulling into to station.

Okay I knew something was up when I saw the train. It looked like it was out of the past. It looked brand new, kind of like how you picture the Orient Express. Old timey architecture beautifully crafted, with a good blending of wood and metal. The coloring of the wood was red, and made me think it was redwood, and the metal parts had been painted an evergreen color. I also noticed that it only had two cars not including the engine. Just a passenger car, and the caboose. Once it came to a stop and the door opened, what came out next made me stop cold in my tracks. Now I know this is going to sound really weird, but bear with me. We all know what and ape looks like. As big as a person and very muscular, right? Well, here I was staring at a monkey that was nearly as tall as me and in a conductor's shirt and hat, no pants. I mean, here I was staring at a bottomless male monkey walking over to me without a care in the world about their nakedness.

“Ticket please," he asked politely while holding out his hand? Paw? I wasn't sure.

I shook myself out of my staring, “Oh, uh, sure," I said. I reached into my front pants pocket to pull out my ticket and hand it over to him.

He looked it over and handed it back to me and spoke again, “All right Cal, everything appears to be in order. Once you've boarded we'll head out." He turned and walked back to the passenger car, as I stared at his naked backside.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and spoke once more to him. “Um, please forgive my staring, as I'm not use to, this." I finished with a little more emphasis.

He turned back to look at me, and spoke in that polite tone again. “It's all right, we get used to it after a while."

“With where I'm going, am I going to see more of this?" I asked.

He smiled a bit more broadly before he spoke, “You are going to be the only human in this village, and depending on your choices, it'll either be a grand adventure, or." He paused there for a moment and looked like he was deep in thought. “Or a very sad time. That, however, is completely up to you." he finished and boarded the train.

I stood there deep in thought while holding my suitcase. I was not expecting nor was I prepared for this. I looked back to where I had come from, and saw that a wall was now blocking my way back. It would seem as though I didn't have a choice, except to go forward. I took a deep breath and sighed rather loudly alone on that platform, and then proceeded to board the train to a village of half-naked humanlike animals. “What are you getting into Cal?" I thought to myself.