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“G’morning!” Daisy Mae said with a smile, greeting Püllü. They were regular customer of hers here on Vessamaa, so she spared no time getting into her sales pitch. “You here to start your Sunday off with some fresh turnips? I’ve got turnips a-plenty, fresh from Sow Joan’s Stalk Market. Wanna buy ‘em for 91 bells each?”
Püllü lit up at the low price. “I’ll buy some,” they said.
“Great!” Daisy Mae exclaimed, expecting nothing less from a loyal customer. “How many should I put you down for? They’re 91 Bells each, but we sell in bundles of 10.”
“Yeah, I’d like 4000 turnips,” Püllü nodded after thinking it over. A smart buyer, Daisy Mae thought, getting all the turnips they could carry, just as every other week.
“Alright, so 4000 turnips comes to…” She took a moment to do the math before continuing. “364,000 Bells. Does that sound OK to you?”
“Yeah, I’ll buy ‘em!”
“A-heeheehee! Come again!” Daisy Mae said with an excited giggle. Püllü brought out four big bags of Bells, totaling the agreed-upon 364,000 Bells. After receiving the payment, Daisy Mae handed Püllü their turnips, filling up their bag with them until there was no room for more.
“Turnips, turnips! Watch ‘em rise! Try to earn a nice surprise!” Daisy Mae sang as her customer wandered off, presumably to store their turnips until they could sell them at Nook’s Cranny. She decided to wander around Vessamaa again, taking in the sights. It had changed some since her last visit, with more flowers blooming and a few more garden benches here and there. In the distance she could hear the Dodo Airlines seaplane taking off, carrying someone to distant shores.
It wasn’t more than ten minutes until the seaplane returned to the Vessamaa airport. Daisy Mae was busy chatting with Raymond the cat, as he was the only other resident of Vessamaa aside from Püllü to take a keen interest in the Stalk Market, when she heard two pairs of footsteps approaching them. It was Püllü and one of their friends she’d never met before. Püllü was the first of them to talk to her.
“Hey again, Daisy Mae!”
“Back for more turnips, are we?” She smiled at Püllü and the newcomer. “They’re still 91 bells each, wanna buy some more?”
“Yes please, another 4000 for me,” Püllü said, surprising the little turnip seller. It wasn’t often someone bought two bags full of turnips, but it did happen.
“Alright, so 4000 turnips comes to 364,000 bells again. That still OK with you?”
“Very okay, thank you!” said Püllü, seeming excited to buy more turnips.
“A-heeheehee! Come again!” Daisy Mae giggled again while Püllü pulled another four bags of bells from their bag. She filled up his bag with turnips again, before turning to his friend. “G’morning! You here to start your Sunday off with some fresh turnips? I’m Daisy Mae, I visit here on Sunday mornings to sell turnips like my gram-gram used to! You familiar with the stalk market?”
“I’m Pëppu,” said Püllü’s friend, “I used to buy turnips from Sow Joan when I was living in a little town on the mainland, actually. It’s nice to meet you, Daisy Mae.”
“Oh, that’s just wonderful! Well, how many turnips should I put you down for? They’re 91 Bells each, but we sell in bundles of 10.”
“I’ll take 4000 too,” said Pëppu, clearly having thought this out while Daisy Mae was doing business with Püllü.
“4000 turnips comes to 364,000 bells. That sound OK to you?”
“Very okay.” Pëppu was already pulling out money from their bag to pay Daisy Mae for her turnips as she spoke.
“A-heeheehee! Come again!” Daisy Mae let out her signature giggle as she exchanged the goods with Pëppu, filling their bag up to the brim just like she’d just done with Püllü moments earlier. As the pair walked off toward the airport, the little turnip seller sang once again; “Turnips, turnips! Watch ‘em rise! Try to earn a nice surprise!” And with that, she wandered off along the island shores again, Raymond the cat having disappeared at some point during the business transactions. She heard the seaplane take off again, carrying Püllü and Pëppu off with their turnips.
To her surprise, a few minutes after the seaplane made its return to Vessamaa’s airport, Daisy Mae saw the two turnip buyers approaching her again. It was barely 9 o’clock in the morning, and she might be making her fourth and fifth sale of full bags again. And true enough, both Püllü and Pëppu purchased another 4000 turnips each, before hopping on the seaplane yet again. Daisy Mae’s gram-gram was going to be so happy with their profits this Sunday! Still, she couldn’t help but wonder where they were putting all the turnips. There weren’t any scattered on the ground on Vessamaa yet either, like some of her customers left them when they bought a lot of turnips at once. But once again, it wasn’t long until the duo of turnip-buyers returned to see Daisy Mae again. She didn’t even have to tell them how much the turnips would cost, they had the money ready as soon as they saw her, down to the last Bell.
This continued time and time again over the next two hours, Daisy Mae selling turnips, and the pair coming back for more. The eleventh (or was it twelfth?) time she saw the pair, she decided she just had to know what they were doing.
“I just have to ask, what in tarnation are y’all doing with more than forty thousand turnips each?” How do you have room to store them all?” She stared at her customers, the confusion built up over the course of her shift all coming to a head now.
“Oh, we’re not storing them,” Püllü said, “we’re selling them at Nook’s Cranny.”
“Timmy and Tommy have a policy of not buying turnips on Sundays, though. How are you selling them if they’re not buying?” Daisy Mae had more questions now than before, and the words kept coming. “And where are y’all taking the turnips on the plane? Is there a secret Turnip Wonderland I don’t know about?”
“I suppose you could call it that,” Pëppu piped up. “You’re right, the Nooklings don’t buy turnips on Sundays. That’s why it’s Thursday back on Puucee, that’s where I live, and they’re buying for 654 Bells a turnip.” Daisy Mae couldn’t believe her ears.
“You’re..? What? Thursday?” She couldn’t formulate a proper sentence in her disbelief.
“Well.. yeah.” Pëppu said. “Time travel. You just set the time to when they’re buying for a good price, and we can buy and sell as much as we want and turn big profits.” That was too much for poor little Daisy Mae. Time travel! She’d heard all sorts of things in her short time selling turnips, but that was on another level.
“I. uh. I think I need ta sit down for a while.” She didn’t even make it to a bench before fainting.
Daisy Mae woke up some time later to the smell of coffee, and a ceiling she didn’t quite recognise. She sat up and realised she was in the Roost in the Vessamaa museum. Her hat and bag were on a table next to her, and she’d been laid on a sofa in the corner. Seeing her awake, Brewster moved from his post behind the bar to check on her.
“Coo… Püllü told me what happened,” he said, and it came back to her.
“Oh goodness me,” she said, “yeah, that’s really.. Something, huh.” She still couldn’t believe Pëppu and Püllü were time travellers.
“Well.. here’s a biscuit and a cup of coffee. Extra pigeon milk.” Brewster set down a cup and a plate on the table her things were on, and went back to the bar. “Tell me if you need anything, coo..”
“Thank you, Brewster,” Daisy Mae smiled, and took a sip of the coffee. Brewster was a bird of few words, but he was like a nice older brother or uncle on the island, Daisy Mae thought.
A little while later, she was feeling well enough to be on her way home. She thanked Brewster again on the way out, said hi and bye to Blathers, and luckily didn’t run into Püllü on her way home. That would’ve put her poor nerves all out of sorts. All she wanted now was to be home with her granny Sow Joan again, eating bamboo shoot soup and listening to her stories.