I opened the door and entered the building. The floor was shining as if recently polished, and there was a weird type of bin to his right, saying something about ‘Recycling being good for the environment’. But ahead of me was a big counter, where a... pelican was smiling at me from behind. The pelican was dressed in a pink, frilly dress and looked very friendly... Too friendly.

I hesitated, before stepping forward to the counter, clearing my throat, “Uh-“ “Hello and welcome to Honevray!” the pelican cut off, before leaving the counter and grabbing my hand and shaking it with her hand. It felt... weird. “I am Pelly, the day clerk here at the town hall! But my sister, Phyllis works at night, she’s a real sweetheart! But, uh, who are you?”

She was acting... too friendly. “U-Um...” I stuttered, before saying, “Louis... I-I’m new here.” “Ah!” Pelly’s eyes widened, before frowning, “You’re the Louis? You’re the human moving in here? Wow... Usually they just visit and believe it’s a dream...” “Pardon?” I asked, not actually hearing what the pelican had said.

“Huh?” Pelly shook her head quickly, snapping out of her daze, “Oh! Nothing! Um... Well, first off, here is a map of Honevray. You’ll find a list of locations and residents on the sides, and where they live. We have our town split up in acres, which are what the black boxes are, see? And also, when a villager moves out or in, the map updates itself.” I looked at the map, and at the residents. Static, who lived in B2, Roald from B5, Cube from C2. I frowned at the names. What kind of names were they? Static? Roald was normal, sort of... Cube?! Those poor animals, having to live with the names. Continuing down, I saw Mitzi from C2, same as Cube, Rosie from C3, Purrl from C5... Kabuki from D1, Tank from D1 also, Bones from D3, Dora from D4, Nibbles from D4, Portia from D5, Wolfgang from E2, Goldie from F2 and Bob from F4. What an odd list of names. I then looked to the left of the map, where the locations were listed. Acre A1 had Nook’s Cranny... What the heck was Nook’s Cranny? A2 had the dump. Lovely, I had no intention of going there. A3 had the gate, which I had passed through to get here. The post office was in acre A5, the estate office in B3, C1 was the town hall. I looked up, noticing that I must now be in C1, that’s handy to know. Police station E1, Wishing Well E4, Museum E5, Able Sisters F1. Able Sisters? Again, I had no idea what that was. Finally, the Pierview Diner was at F5. But one thing was missing. Where the heck were the shops?!

I folded the map and began to put it in my pocket, before Pelly said, “Wait! Let me give you your backpack!” I frowned, accepting the... tiny blue bag from the clerk. It was tiny, I couldn’t even fit my arm through the strap. Pelly was quick to explain, “It goes on your belt. But, this is a new form of technology. Every item you receive in Honevray will have a small button on it somewhere that turns it into a leaf...” I stared at her, raising my eyebrows. She took the map from my hands, pressed something and it transferred into a leaf. She then said, “Put it in your bag, and it shrinks. When you want to take

something out, just think about the item, take it out. If furniture, just throw it on the floor in front of you, if clothing, just imagine yourself wearing it. If something like a map, just squeeze the leaf.” She squeezed the leaf, and it turned back to a map, “You try.” My mouth dropped open, before I examined the map for the button. I soon found it, pressing it and feeling it transform to a very smooth leaf that was very flexible, but impossible to break. I then squeezed it, before doing the same process and putting it in my bag. “Wow.” I commented.

Pelly laughed cheerfully, before saying, “Anyway, as for your house. Hm. I just need to finish the forms for you moving in, so why don’t you go and look at the four houses on your map for one you want?”

I frowned, taking the map back out and looking at it. Sure enough, there were four empty (grey) houses on the map with no occupants. There was a house in A4, B2, E3 and F3. A4 was right above a ledge, meaning the best view. It was also close to the gate, Nook’s Cranny and the dump. B2 was surrounded by trees, meaning peace and solitude. It was close to the estate office, and quite a few villager houses. E3 is closest to the most villagers, as well as the police station, wishing well and Museum. That would be the location where most the activity happens. Finally, F3 was right on the beach and close to the Able Sisters, pier and diner.

I’d always liked beaches; I’ve always wanted to live at the beach... I decided to check that one out first, and if it looked nice, I wouldn’t even bother looking at the others. I smiled to Pelly, who was now behind the counter doing paperwork, before leaving the town hall and back into the cool, winter air. I noticed it had begun to snow quite heavily, and I shivered, wishing I had thicker clothing.

Finding a house today, who would have thought?