Warm, delicious coffee flowed into a brown paper cup. At Susan's request, a splash of pigeon milk was added, courtesy of Brewster.

"Coo. Thank you."

Susan payed him and waved goodbye. Everyone in this town loved coffee, and she was no exception. She felt that she should be the one giving the thanks. After all, Brewster had been the one to hire her, giving her her first real job since becoming mayor. A mayor (well, mayoress) and a barista. She sighed in satisfaction. She had made quite a living for herself in this small, obscure town that she had moved to. It was a wonderful, close-knit sort of community where everyone knew each resident by name. She hadn't quite been able to wrap her head around such a concept at first. After all, in all the fiction she had read, the utopia had turned out to be a coverup for either corruption or horror or both. Heck, she had half expected some lunatic to trap her in a lab and eat her liver, cackling insanely and making bad puns along the way. That hadn't happened so far, thankfully, though she did face her fair share of bad puns. She didn't understand what it was about catching a fish or a bug, but something compelled her to utter truly awful wordplay each time she did. Her neighbors put up with this and didn't question it, which was yet another reason she loved this town.

She made her way to the event plaza to see if that crooked fox was back. She had never gambled and didn't plan to, but something about a one-in-three chance of getting an authentic painting from him held a sort of adventurous vibe to it. She couldn't resist. . .even though her luck hadn't been so good so far. Still, she resolved herself to believe that twenty-eighth time's the charm and walked briskly to the plaza, sipping her coffee along the way.

What greeted her wasn't the usual green tent housing forgeries. No, what stood there that day was a much different, and perhaps much more peculiar, sight. A tall, fashionably dressed giraffe stood near the tree that she had planted at her inauguration ceremony about a month ago. She (or, perhaps he, for it was hard to tell) gave off an air of pretentiousness, something which Susan couldn't stand. Still, such an odd sight was worth investigating, so she initiated a conversation with her (or maybe him).

"Um. . .hello."

The giraffe turned to face her.

"Hello there. Are you a native of this little town?"

"Actually, yeah! I'm the mayor. And you are?"

The giraffe gasped in indignation, as if shocked that such an idiotic question could ever be asked by any intelligent life-form.

"Why, I am the one, the only, the fabulous Gracie!" She (he?) twirled a full three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn and struck a pose. Susan couldn't help but clap.

"Thank you, thank you, darling. Your praise is well placed, for I am the top fashion designer in the world. The best. I surpass all others. I have decided to grace this Podunk little town with my presence. See, I've given consideration to opening up a shop here, but only if the residents show a good sense of fashion."

This peaked Susan's interest. Though Gracie's words were pompous to say the least, it would be a good idea to further develop the shopping district, and Gracie seemed like just the woman (or man) for the task.

"Alright, then. How can I-"

"I'm glad you asked!" Gracie exclaimed, cutting off Susan's sentence, "all you must do is assemble an outfit that screams 'cute!' and present yourself to me before midnight. Simple, no? Judging by your current outfit, you best get on that right now. I'll be waiting."

With that, Susan made her way to the Abel Sister's store on main street. Gracie's words rang in her head. I don't see what's so wrong with my outfit. This shirt was a gift from Penelope! She brushed the thought aside. Gracie was clearly more educated in the realm of fashion than her friend, though she always dressed nicely. If she was to impress this conceited giraffe, she was going to have to think bigger and better than she usually did about clothes. Hopefully Mabel and Sabel would be able to help.

The scent of fabric filled her nostrils as she walked through the small clothing shop. It was quiet except for the rhythmic, rapid tic-tic-tic-tic of Sabel's sewing machine. Mabel greeted her warmly as she did each time she entered, but Sabel stayed silent, though she did look up briefly. Sabel had been much colder to Susan when she had first arrived, but had slowly begun to open up to her. She told her of her sister, Labelle, and how she had come back to them after working for a famous fashion designer. Come to think of it, she had mentioned Gracie in that particular conversation. Huh. Small world.

Susan made her way to the clothing section, searching for anything that might be considered "cute." Mabel was kind enough to let her try on each item of clothing, commenting on each one.

"Oh! That iconic look really suites you! Lovely! Lovely!"

Iconic? Something tells me that this won't do. With each piece, she was disappointed to be informed that it carried a different vibe than what she needed. She sighed in defeat, causing Mabel to express sympathy.

"Oh, don't worry about it so much. It doesn't matter if you buy anything. You look just fine, right Sabel?"

Sabel nodded faintly. Whilst the gesture was certainly a promising sign in the whole make-friends-with-Sabel agenda Susan secretly had going on, it wasn't going to help her current dilemma. She maid her way to the accessories section of the store, hoping to have more luck there.

She did, but not very much. Of all the items in the store, only one carried the so-called "cute" look that Gracie was hoping for. She purchased it, no questions asked. She ran home and rummaged through her closet, desperate to find something that might go with her new accessory.

"Okay. Okay. Lessi here. Oh! This might work. . .I think. Possibly. Er, maybe this? No. Um. Let's see. Why on Earth did I keep this? Agh, come on!"

She spent a good thirty minutes piecing together an outfit. She sipped her coffee, which was still hot, surprisingly. She didn't bother to clean up the mess. She ran out the door as fast as she could and made her way back to the plaza to receive judgement.

The sight that her eyes were presented with wasn't pretty. Her little friend Penelope, it appeared, had also taken an interest in Gracie's fashion check and had come in her cutest outfit. Gracie was currently chewing her out, causing the mouse to sniffle and cry. Susan felt bad for her friend, but could she blame Gracie? Penelope should know better than to come to such a renown critic in her everyday attire. She had only herself to blame. The mouse ran off, her high-pitched sobs echoing off the trees. Wow. never knew Penelope was such a wuss. She shrugged and continued on to Gracie, sure that her ensemble would impress her (him).

It didn't.

"How can I put this gently. . .you have about as much fashion sense as a colorblind deer."

Snooty and racist? Wow. This is going to be tougher than I thought.

"I-I can do better, I promise! Just. . .let me go get something else."

The deer-bashing fashionista gave her a dismissive hoof wave, as if to say "Shoo!," so shoo she did. Perhaps one of my neighbors needs a favor. Yeah! That's usually a good way to get new clothes. Right on time, as if the events of her life had been scripted, one of her neighbors began to walk towards her. She smiled.

"Deirdre! Good to see you. Perfect timing. You look like you need a favor."

"As a matter of fact, I do! How'd you guess?"

"Well, there's this jingle, see, and lines suddenly app- never mind. What do you need, buddy?"

"I was just wondering if. . .well," Deirdre put her hooves behind her back and shifted from side to side a bit, "You'd get a fruit for me?"

"Um. . ." Susan did her best not to glance at the fruit tree that was right behind her friend. She marveled at how incredibly lazy her neighbors could be, but was thankful for such an easy task. "Sure."

"Oh, thank you, Sue! I knew I could count on you."

She waited for Deirdre to walk a good enough distance away, then shook the tree. Three cherries fell to the ground and she picked up all three, eating two of them herself. She carried the last one to her friend.

"Oh, thank you! I was sooo hungry. Here I go!"

After she had finished, she gave her thanks in the form of a rug.

"That's. . .that's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Um. . .got anything else?"

"Like what?"

"I was kind of hoping for some clothes."

"Sorry, fresh out! I sold all of them to Reese down at Retail. Thanks again!" She pulled out a fishing pole and headed for the river, leaving a disappointed Susan to stare angrily after her. She sighed and headed to Retail. Perhaps Reese would be agreeable and let her buy the clothes from her.

"Come on! Just hand them over!"

"I-I'm sorry, but store policy says-"

"Forget about store policy! This is a matter of life and death!"

The pink alpaca stared back at the crazed human with the most bewildered expression.

"The life and or death of my reputation with a possibly transvestite giraffe who wants to open up a shop here!"

"Ooohh. Well, why didn't you say that in the first place? No. Once I buy, I buy for keeps. Sorry, but that's just the way it goes. Right, Cyrus?"

The Cyrus in question was asleep at a woodworking desk.

"Oh. . .forget you and your. . .your store policies and. . .and your stupid apron!"

She stormed out of the shop, making sure to slam the door on the way out, leaving Reese to question why she let just anyone into her store. . .and also where she could buy a new apron.

"Come on, you have to have something!"

"All I have is the clothes that my mother sent with me when I moved here!" The small, nerdy hamster known as Graham was currently being held up in the air and shook.

"Then let me borrow those!"

"O-okay, okay! Just p-please put me d-down." Susan obliged. Graham took a few dizzy steps forwards, then backwards, then in some sort of drunk motion, then threw up on his couch. "Now look what you made me do-o-o." He whined as Susan left his house with a pile of clothes in tow.

"Tsk. Girl, did your mother dress you in that outfit? It's hideous."

Yet again, Susan was unable to appease the giraffe she so wanted the approval of. it wasn't just about a store anymore. It had become personal. She wanted this giraffe to like her. She was going to make her like her if it was the last thing she did! She ran to main-street. Her neighbors were useless. Reese had put an "out to shop" sign on the door of Retail. Her closet was a mess and had nothing that matched anything else. She took a sip of her coffee to calm her nerves, which was a hard task for the drink since her heart was pounding from the running. If anyone could help, it was the Abel Sisters. She was sure she could coax Sabel into making her a dress if she tried hard enough. She knew it might take some persuading, but she was up for what might be her biggest challenge yet.

"Of course I will. I'd be delighted to."

Huh. That was kinda anticlimactic. "You mean it, Miss Sabel?"

The hedgehog/porcupine nodded her head and began to work on the fabric. It was green with tiny butterflies. Susan's favorite design. meanwhile, Mabel continued the conversation.

"You've been a regular customer of ours for quite some time now. It's the least we could do. I mean, if you hadn't bought all of our clothes that day last week, well, I don't know if we would have been able to ma-"

"Mabel!" The sound of Sabel shouting made the other two nearly jump through the roof. Sabel must have realized this and lowered her volume. "Mabel, don't you think that is a personal matter?"

"But she deserves to know, don't you think? I mean, wouldn't it be nice for her to know the magnitude of what she did?"

"What did I do?"

Sabel cleared her throat.

"W-well, you see. . .heh, times have been **** us lately. W-what with Labelle moving back in to live with us. We had to take out a loan to pay for the store renovation, plus an extra room for Labelle. Add to that extra food and other such things and, well, you get the picture. Last week, the bills were particularly high. We weren't sure we'd be able to pay." For the first time Susan had ever seen, Sabel flashed a smile. "But then you came in here. You said something about an island and having bells to burn. You bought everything in the store, remember?"

Susan nodded. That had been a heck of a day. Sabel continued.

"Well, that extra boost to our revenue helped us pay the bills for that month, plus we had plenty left over to spare. Why, I can't tell you the last time we had money in the bank. It's truly-"

"Sabel."

"Right. Sorry, Mabel. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is. . .thank you."

With that, the conversation ended and the peaceful quiet of the store returned.

It was nearing midnight by the time the dress was completed. It was a lovely, long-sleeved dress with just a small amount of lace. Sabel had really outdone herself this time.

"You look beautiful, Sue!"

"Stunning if I do say so myself."

Sabel reached under the counter and handed Susan a small hairpin.

"My grandmother gave this to me. I think it goes well with the colors of the dress. I hope it helps you with impressing Gracie." There was a brief flash of some emotion that Susan couldn't quite recognize in Sabel's eyes, but she didn't have tome to worry about that. She thanked them wholeheartedly and ran back for her last chance.

"Hmm. . .excellent work on the sleeves. Good contour. Great use of fabric choice. . ."

This is going perfectly! I should be on my way to a brand-new store now.

"However,"

Susan could practically hear the bombshell that that one word represented. No! What could i have possibly done wrong?

"Your shoes clash with this ensemble. Horrific, really. Even a frog could tell what a bad choice that is."

Nooo. Susan put her hand to her head and ran it through her hair. She had failed. There was no time to piece together something else.

"No matter. I shall be back to give you another chance."

Her head snapped up in surprise. "R-really?! You mean it?!"

Gracie nodded, then she smirked.

"A word of advice, though- next time, leave out that hideous hairpin. I was being generous with your assessment. It was very hard to ignore."

Her comment caught Susan off-gaurd, and it must have showed, for Gracie let out a laugh.

"Oh, I guess i shouldn't be so **** you. I mean, you have, what, one clothing outlet in this miserable rathole? Run by those peasant hedgehog. . .things? I'm surprised you even tried with such limited resources. Good on you! Very good!"

She clenched her teeth. How dare you speak so harshly about them?!

"With my fashions, you won't have to worry about them any longer. Last town we competed in, they had to leave. My prices are high, but my demand is higher. They didn't stand a chance. Heh, even my fashion show last week brought in more than they make in a year. Pathetic, really. Tragic."

Susan wanted to hate her (him), but she was too busy hating herself. All that she had done, her rotten behavior towards everyone all day played before her in her mind like an unending movie. She had gone to the ends of the Earth to impress this she-male. How, she questioned, had she managed to let her brain leak out of her head? I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. She shook her head. Gracie was still talking.

"Be waiting, sugar. I hope you will have managed to find a way past your limitations. I will save this town from it's ugly wardrobe. The name Gracie will be shouted from the rooftops!"

The only shouting that was done was by Gracie her(him)self. Warm, delicious coffee splashed all over the outfit the giraffe was currently wearing, even managing to reach up and soil the sunglasses atop Gracie's head. if Susan knew anything at all about fashion, it was that coffee stains and designer clothing didn't mix. Or, rather, they mixed a little too well.

"Well, I never! You rotten little child!"

"Yeah, well, why stop now? Get out. Don't come back."

"Oh, you can bet that I won't!" With a dramatic flip the head, the giraffe strutted off to find her car, muttering words that would probably best not be heard. Susan took the hairpin from her hair and looked at it. It had a heart shape and the letter S etched into it. She sighed. It was beautiful. It was just a shame Gracie hadn't been able to see it. It's a shame I wasn't able to see it, either. Well, she did now. She saw it with eyes wide open. This town was enough. It had always been enough. Tomorrow she would make things right with the residents. Even if it was sure to involve a good amount of apology- coffee buying.