TAG’s new blog series, FORTNIGHTLY TALES, continues. This week’s piece by Rémi Le Gallo – Le Manach was inspired by Animal Crossing.
Rémi is visiting TAG from France where he studies, draws, writes and makes video games. Next time you pass by TAG, find him and ask him about games, he will be very happy to talk to you.
THE DIRT-COVERED SHOES
Dear Mom and Dad,
I apologize for not having written to you for so long; I have been really busy the last few days and I haven’t had the time to sit down and give you some news. But here I am, finally.
I can’t believe it’s already been a month since I came here! I feel like everything is new to me, I barely know anything about daily life here…and at the same time, this place seems so familiar I could almost think that I’ve been here for years. This is an odd but rather pleasant feeling. My neighbors have been very kind to me—they’ve helped me a lot to feel at home here.
Thanks to them, I haven’t been alone for a long time! I had barely moved in when a lady named Willow walked into my house with some biscuits. Then I met everyone and introduced myself; they seemed really interested and asked me lots of questions about my life, about you and the town…they’re pretty curious!
“How is it over there? Is it true that there are bridges that are the size of buildings? Does the metro really exist and it’s underground? How is it possible to drive underground? Do you really find dozens of types of cakes in bakeries? Do you have bakeries underground too?”
Sometimes they seem not to have ever been outside their village, but I can’t make fun of them since I do the exact same thing here. The other day, I learned that the strawberry isn’t a real fruit: it’s the seed-thingies that are the fruits, the red part is just here to bear them!
People aren’t the only thing that’s different from home, though. The whole place seems to be taken right from a picture book…the houses are small and cute, there’s a river coming from a waterfall, and they don’t even have restaurants! There’s just a café where I hang out with friends at the end of the day, after work. This quiet atmosphere is good—I could almost feel I’m in the countryside, in comparison to the town. No cars, no big buildings, not too many people…it’s refreshing!
But what you probably wonder the most isn’t if the sights are beautiful, although I’m sure that you liked what you just read; you surely want to ask me, “So, what do you do everyday, how do you live?” Well, believe it or not, but I’ve become an archeologist! I investigate wherever I can go, looking for clues in the ground; and when my observations lead me to a good spot, I dig and discover antique treasures and fossils of disappeared species! It’s always a thrill when your suppositions are proven right and you dig up some ancient clay figure, you know? And my job is useful: as they didn’t have an archeologist here, the Museum was nearly empty…the only thing they had was a mammoth tooth. I have brought them the complete skeleton! So the Museum is shaping up, slowly but surely. This wasn’t easy at first, but I’m starting to be a good archeologist and I can live without any problem with the money I make from this activity. By the way don’t worry, Mom, I eat well here, I’m making a handmade pizza for dinner…and I eat vegetables too, I promise! I’m going to put tomatoes on the pizza.
Tomorrow, Ozzie (he’s another one of my nice neighbors, and he has a funny face) will show me how to catch fish in the river. He told me there are trout here, I can’t wait to see them!
I hope everything is going well at home too. Are you alright? Has Grandma finally reconciled with Uncle Rob?
I miss you a bit, but I’m happy to be here too. Come see me one day, if you can!
Kisses!