Bells (Animal Crossing)

Lyrics

You arrive with nothing.
Just the clothes on your back and a name.
The island greets you.
And the debt begins.

His name is Tom Nook.
He’s a tanuki, a raccoon dog from the old stories.
But he’s not a trickster. Not really.
He’s a landlord. A developer.
He gives you a tent.
And a smile.
And an itemized bill for your own existence.
The first loan.
He says, pay it back whenever.
No rush.

And the currency is named for the sound it makes.
Bells.
A gentle ding from a shaken tree.
Bells.
The profit on a sea bass you just pulled from the surf.
Bells.
For a fossil, for a butterfly, for a piece of your day.
Cute, totalitarian, beautiful.
And you owe the raccoon.

So you work.
But the work feels like breathing.
You catch an Emperor butterfly on a hybrid flower.
You find the glowing spot near the cliffside.
You bury a bag of gold coins in the earth.
Hoping for a tree that fruits money.
A strange agriculture.
You sell your harvest to his nephews, Timmy and Tommy.
At Nook's Cranny.
And the loan for the house gets bigger.
Another room. A second floor. A basement.

And the currency is named for the sound it makes.
Bells.
A gentle ding from a shaken tree.
Bells.
The profit on a coelacanth you pulled from the rain.
Bells.
For a fossil, for a butterfly, for a piece of your life.
Cute, totalitarian, beautiful.
And you owe the raccoon.

March of 2020.
A world outside went quiet.
But here, the economy hummed.
A global phenomenon built on an interest-free loan from a smiling animal.
Katsuya Eguchi said, live at your own pace.
And he meant it.
There are no deadlines here.
No penalties.
Just the quiet, constant, ambient fact of what is owed.
The most gentle bondage ever simulated.

Another payment made.
The house is bigger now.
The island is yours.
Almost.
You still owe the raccoon.
You always owe the raccoon.