Beach Filler Episode (OPEN)

[Isabelle]

Isabelle plowed through her workload with a whole new vigor, reducing the pile to nothing in what felt like an instant. Really, it took a few hours. After explaining her situation to the Nooks, they agreed to reschedule their meeting. Ol’ Tom was oldly understanding; maybe he had a romantic bone in him after all!

The dog put on her only swimsuit, a red bikini with ribbons, and went down to the beach, eager for her first ever date with the mayor!

It was a perfect day for it too, as if fate had brought them together. The sun was high in the sky, beaming down against her fur. She set down a beach towel and plopped herself down, just enjoying the glow of the early afternoon light.

“Isabelle!” Cried out a familiar voice, followed by the pats of small feet against the course beach sand.

Izzy immediately shot her head in that direction.

The mayor donned a purple swimsuit, a tube top bikini with pink lining. Her pink hair was bundled up in a ponytail, which flapped in the wind as she ran. Her wide brimming smile shoved around the freckles on her face.

Isabelle immediately shot to her feet and straightened herself out.

“Miss Mayor! You made it!” Cried out Isabelle, barely containing her excitement.

“Of course I’d make it!” Stated the mayor, taking Isabelle by the paw. Izzy only blushed at her companion’s forwardness. “I’ve been waiting for this day for too long!”

Izzy and the mayor would spend the day together. They’d run around, collecting seashells, splashing in the ocean, and even got a bit of fishing in. The hours blew away as if they were nothing, and eventually they were watching the sunset over the ocean, sitting on the beach towel that had been abandoned up until that point. As the sun dipped down into the earth, the pair leaned up against each other.

“This was the best day of my life, Miss Mayor!” Stated Isabelle, gleefully.

The mayor reached over, and placed a palm on Izzy’s cheek, causing her to reel back a bit in surprise.

“Miss… Mayor?” She asked, but as she said that second word, she was looking directly in her eyes. Het look was longing, warm, almost lustful in nature.

“Isabelle.” She said, her voice tapering off, a doofy smile on her face. She was so close, she could feel her warm breath against her fur.

The mayor drew her face forward, Isabelle began to feel her face heat up, but she did not dare pull away. She felt the mayor’s lips touch her’s.

Her first kiss. Their first kiss.

Isabelle shook awake. The bands of the beach chair bent to her weight as she wriggled in place, trying to make terms with reality. Like last time, she wasn’t sure if it was just a memory or a fantasy. If felt so real, but something felt off as well.

She tried to cling to the face the dream had presented to her. After all, this could be the face of the mayor this time and not some manifestation of her imagination. But as quickly as she tried to cling to it, she felt the memory of the mayor slip away. She could remember the details, she could remember kissing under the sunset, but the mayor was just an empty spot in her mind once more.

She shed a tear. Even her own mind didn’t want her to find the mayor.

It was around this time that she realized that Rosie was napping in her own beach chair nearby, quietly breathing as she laid strewn about. Some of her limbs were even hanging out of the edges of her seat, pressing against the sand. It was hardly a flattering position.

The dog had a thought though. She could remember Rosie living in her town, maybe the cat could tell her about the mayor! Just a simple description would help her tremendously!

She wasn’t eager to wake a cat from her nap, but she didn’t want to wait either. She prodded her feline companion until Rosie’s eyes opened.

She looked around dazed, wincing at the sun above. She moved her paws to rub the sand out of her eyes before turning her attention towards the dog next to her.

“Oh, Izzy!” She said, half awake. “I must have dozed off. Sorry about that!”

“Rosie, could you describe the mayor to me?” She asked, her paw together in a begging position. “Please?”

“The mayor? Why?”

It was at this point she realized she never explained her situation to the cat. She immediately felt dumb. Kind of jumped the gun there.

“Uh, when I came to the Omniverse, I lost some of my memories, and that apparently includes what the mayor looked like.”

“Oh.” Rosie said, as she pieced together earlier conversations. “Yeah, sure, let me get my head together.”

She took another moment stretching out her paws and rubbing her eyes before she turned towards her dog friend and laid out a description.

“He wore a top hat, glasses, and a small white beard.” Rosie began. “Oh yeah, and a cane!”

“Did he have white hair on his head, too?” Isabelle asked, trying to visualize her description.

“No, he was bald.”

“Wait, bald?”

“He had a really big shell, flat feet, dull dark eyes.”

“Wait wait wait,” Isabelle interrupted realizing the confusion, “you’re describing Tortimer.”

“Well, yeah, he was the mayor!” Rosie said, matter of factly.

“But what about the human that took office after him?” Izzy asked desperately.

“Human that took office? It was only ever Tortimer.” Rosie said, confused and still a bit dazed. “The only humans in our village were Yu and Ai, but they never held public office.”

Isabelle’s eyes glossed over. How was Rosie remembering things differently from her?

“Isabelle? Are you okay?” The feline asked, now kind of concerned.

The funny thing, Isabelle could remember the humans Ai and Yu, she remembered them in the village, but she could also remember the Mayor. She couldn’t understand. She knew the Mayor existed, she could remember all those days and nights serving under them, that can’t be fake. She didn’t understand.

She didn’t understand.

“Is there something I could help you with today?”

She suddenly felt the sensation of thousands of nails piercing her skull, driving their way through the brain. Isabelle screamed bloody murder as she grabbed her head and fell to the sand.

Rosie was the first one by her side.

“Izzy! What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

But Rosie’s words were muffled, her vision was blurred, the pain was excruciating.

“Izzy!”

Darkness.