It was a warm, midsummer day, in a small house in the suburbs of a small town whose name has faded into history. Two brothers rushed down the stairs into the living room. The younger brother s trying to keep hold of a duffel bag, nearly dropping it several times. The elder was trying not to laugh at his struggling sibling. As was the tradition, these two brothers would play Animal Crossing together on their Nintendo every day, taking turns at fishing, catching bugs, and chatting with the neighbors. It was always an enjoyable time that the brothers would have together. However, for a few days, that would not be the case. The boys' mother called out from across the house, "Sam! You ready to go?"
"Yes, ma! Just a minute!", a squeaky voice shouted back, "Me and Petey are saying bye to the neighbors!"
"Alright, but be quick. We don't wanna be late for camp!"
"Sure thing, ma!"
As their mother went back to the car, Pete brought the character around town, talking to each neighbor at least once. First was Cesar, the grumpy old gorilla who lived on the beach. Neither if the boys had liked him that much, but Pete had mentioned envy of his mustache on several occasions. Next was Savannah, a friendly zebra whom both boys enjoyed the company of. As the boys conversed with each neighbor, their mother grew impatient. After quite some time, she came back into the house, visibly disgruntled. "We're leaving, Sam! Get the lead out!" Neither Sam nor Pete responded.
"Now, Samuel!", she clamored. Sam, upset to be pulled from his game, pleaded, "Aww, but there's one more guy, ma!" Pete had reached the last neighbor, a frog named Ribbot. A super cool robot, he was Sam's favorite of them all.
"There was one more guy ten minutes ago! Let's go!" Pete started the conversation with the automaton, and was told about a topic he hadn't heard before.
"Aww, but ma--" Pete was unsure how to respond and gestured to get Sam's attention.
"Samuel Mitchell, you take you and your bags to the car right now!" As he read the words on the screen, he let out a gasp of shock. The 13th was only a couple days away, he wouldn't be back in time to do anything about it. Animal affairs were among Sam's responsibilities in the virtual town. Pete barely knew which buttons did which, he couldn't manage the town for that long.
"Okay, ma..." Once she brought out the secret weapon, the middle name, there was no point in attempting to stall any longer. As he hugged Pete goodbye, he whispered, "Don't let him move out, big brother." He then stumbled out of the house and into the car, with bags in tow, and drove off. Pete selected the option to keep Ribbot in town, to which the frog responded "Hmm, now I'm being pulled in different directions! I just don't know what do do now, toady!"
While at camp, Sam could only think of Ribbot. Ribbot was his best friend, his fishing buddy, the peanut butter to his jelly, the hide to his seek. He could barely stand to go to school without saying hi to him first, much less summer camp, much less ... He couldn't bear to think of it any longer, yet he knew the 13th was fast approaching. Could Pete convince him to stay? For a short couple of days, Pete would spend hours tirelessly working to keep Ribbot in town. Dozens of letters, presents, conversations and favors kept Pete so busy, he barely spoke with any of the other animals. In fact, he played for so long, the batteries of the controller dried up. There was no way to play any further, to turn the toad back into their little town. He used the last of the battery life to save and quit the game. Only time would tell where Ribbot would end up...
On the 15th, two days after the supposed move and three days since the controller's batteries had dried up, Sam had returned home. Pete was there at the door, and both boys darted into the living room, the elder brother remembering to grab the batteries their father bought that afternoon from the kitchen counter. Sam put the Animal Crossing disc into the Nintendo, and waited anxiously for the game to boot up. When their character first exited the house, Pete noticed that the mailbox had some letters in it. One from Savannah which contained a spiffy new shirt, two from Tom Nook's shop with furniture attached, and one from a... Ribbot. As Sam read the letter, a few tears trickled silently down his face. Pete was awestruck, sitting slack-jawed as he read along. The letter in question goes as follows:
Dear Sammy,
Sorry I didn't get to see you on my last day, but I
wanted to tell you that I'm embarking on a new
adventure! I sure hope you can remember all the
fun times we shared, because I sure will!
See you around, Ribbot