My Secret Life in Denhaven’s Hidden Animal City

How did I find myself here, in Denhaven? It’s a good question. I definitely don’t belong in the underground city. All around me animals are rushing through the city. I can hear them in the passages outside my secret den going about their business – heading home from work, picking up a tin of meat for the kids, detouring through the park to enjoy the lush green spaces on the way to their high rise apartments. Normal life.

Three years. That’s how long I’ve been down here researching, observing, and trying to understand. It’s harder than you might think. There’s no way I could pass for a raccoon, or a bear, or even a strangely proportioned deer. Humans are human and it’s pretty hard to disguise it. Trust me, I’ve tried. In a city of animals, the nose knows.

I have friends, of course. I wouldn’t survive down here at all without some help from the locals. They bring me food and books and regional oddities. I pirate my internet connection. It took me over a year to realize I wasn’t connecting to the Denhaven network. The tablet I brought only received overworld data. Not very helpful. One of my benefactors noticed my frustration and offered to check the connection. How he laughed when he realized I’d brought my own tech. There were so many things I didn’t know.

I guess I thought it would be easy. Infiltrate the animal city, do some research, take notes, bring my findings home. Simple. But it’s a completely different world down here. There are days that I wonder if I’m crazy to stay. But sometimes, late at night, I can slip out and walk through the city, breathing in the animalia all around me. And I remember why I’m here.

I have collected so much information and it finally occurred to me that I should start archiving it somewhere. I don’t know if this will show up on the overworld web. Connecting through is tricky. These posts may be erratic, but I’ll do my best to report in as often as possible.

-JPS