It’s been a busy few days. I’ve just turned my tent into a house, and after heavy construction the island of Straya already has its own Museum. We all gathered outside for a big celebration, with lots of clapping, laughing and party poppers. It was a wild two minutes and everyone had a great time, including all the other island residents. Both of them had gone to bed, but I was too full of adrenaline to sleep after all that hype. There wasn’t much in the Museum yet, but it was just going to be the start of a huge attraction that would bring people to the island from all around the world. It was just the first of many projects I’ve been discussing with Nook, and after a successful Museum opening we can move on to the next thing.
With today’s work done, I was winding down with some fishing. It’s a good activity to calm the senses. A cool ocean breeze washed over my face, while the soft splashes of waves soothed my ears. I was walking along the shore looking for my next fish, when something else caught my eye.
Hello…? Who’s this? A strong white glow emanated from this animal, I couldn’t tell what it was. A cat? Polar bear? Land squid? Was it even an animal? No… it was… a ghost!!!
A friendly ghost. In fact it was so friendly, that it was scared of me. It shattered into pieces and I had to calm it down. Don’t worry mate, this is a friendly island. Your name is Wisp, is it? My name’s Grub. Wisp politely asked me to collect the pieces of his soul that just escaped around the island.
I was happy to help, but the language of this request concerned me. What kind of life did this ghost have, to automatically assume I wanted some personal gain out of this? Did they live an entire lifetime without anybody helping them? Did they have friends or family? Did people take advantage of them? The very tone of this request made me sad, and the best response was to help with no strings attached. I wanted to show Wisp that there’s nothing to be afraid of here. I got out my net and was prepared to search the whole island to make this ghost whole again.
It didn’t take long to find the first spirit piece, it was just to the north of the beach. I wasn’t sure how it would react. Should I sneak up on it? Can it even see me or sense anything, or is it just a ball of energy? I ran at full speed and managed to catch it without much resistance.
I shoved it in my pocket and felt a chill shoot through my body. I hope it’ll be okay in there. Alright, 4 more to go. I continued circling the island and found another piece at the very northwest tip. It was fairly easy to catch as well, 3 more to go now. I backtracked around the river to a spot I had missed.
The next piece was hanging over the water… right above this fish, almost calling to it. Could the fish sense the spirit? I was extremely curious what kind of fish it was. Not much research has been done on the supernatural abilities of fish. It looked like it was consciously seeking out this spirit, slowly wiggling in the same spot, not willing to swim away. I had to decide whether to get the spirit or the fish. If I swung the net, the fish would be scared off. If I dared to go fishing now, the spirit might get away and Wisp would be disappointed forever. I couldn’t risk Wisp being sad just for my own research. Sometimes it’s better not to know things. For peace of mind, I’m going to guess it was a tire from a car that Wisp used to drive. Yes, that seems plausible. The supernatural fish research can continue another day.
Back to the job, I had only two more spirit pieces left to find now. After circling the island a bit I found both, relatively close to each other on the sand of the southern shore. That wasn’t too difficult, all 5 of them were in plain sight really. It was almost as if they wanted to be found. I returned to Wisp with the good news.
Wisp was so happy, and with all five spirit pieces he regained his full ghostly form. He was still adamant on giving me something, even though I tried to refuse. I finally gave in and accepted some wallpaper, I suppose it’s nice to have something to remember this encounter. I hope you can rest in piece now Wisp, but if you can’t then feel free to visit my island any time. I’m hoping to build a community that embraces all kinds of different people and animals, whether ghostly or solid. If anyone reading this ever sees a ghost in need, don’t be afraid of them. It’s not easy being a ghost. They are just lonely and need a bit of guidance. Now I’m going to guide myself to bed.
Good night everyone,
Grub from Straya.
Pietriots 