Author's Note: Hello, readers, welcome to the first installment of my new Strawberry Shortcake fan fiction series. Before you begin reading, I would like to clarify a few things.
1. Disclaimer: I do not own the Strawberry Shortcake franchise. All rights go to their respectful owners.
2. This story takes place in the present version of Strawberry Shortcake, but instead, she and her friends are young adults.
3. I decided to make Princess Berrykin a human instead of a Berrykin simply because the story works out better that way. After all, she was a human in the original 1980s series.
4. This story is rated "Teen" due to some violence, but aside from that, there is not any inappropriate content in the story.
She rolled over in the soft green grass, the loose bits of sediment slipping between her toes. The cool breeze whispered in her ear and ruffled the locks in her long red hair. Flowers of every color decorated the open field with their array of hues, and large oak trees overhung the area, casting a great shadow before her. In front of her were her friends, who were taking in every bit of sunshine, filling her ears with their familiar laughter. She could tell they were content with life, and as was she; she was at peace, even. Life was sweet in Berry Bitty City, there was no doubt. Each day was unique in its own way with its own set of adventures. But that seemed a lifetime ago.
Strawberry Shortcake awoke only to find herself in her own bed. She squinted against the golden sunlight streaming through her curtains and scratched at her scalp. It had only been a dream, just a mere fantasy. She hated herself for falling for this trick again, for she awoke from this same dream every morning since the tragedy.
Berry Bitty City wasn't a land flowing with fresh water and honey-at least not anymore. In fact, most of the town had decayed and rotted, and not a single drop of water sprinkled the soil in two months. Because it was the middle of summer, the sweltering heat made for uncomfortable working conditions for the Berrykins, so Strawberry and her friends had to help them at the Berry Works everyday to complete the required tasks. Resources were scarce, so the town had to make do with the few resources that it had left. With the growing problems in Berry Bitty City, life there became nearly unbearable.
Strawberry slipped from beneath her bed covers, planting her two bare feet against the cool wooden floor. She walked towards her window and drew back the curtains, and fear sent a chill up the back of her spine.
The town was in an even worse state than it had been the day before: nearly the entire berry patch was a crispy brown and shriveling to pieces. The remaining life in the berries was gone; they crinkled from their lack of nourishment and fell off their stems to their death. A piece broke from Strawberry's heart whenever another berry lost its life: no berries meant no food, and if she and the others continued to live in these unfit conditions, they wouldn't be alive much longer themselves. On the other hand, the Berrykins were doing their best to harvest the remaining glimmerberries, but even those were becoming scarce. The juice in glimmerberries provided electricity for the whole town, so if they were to become extinct in their area, there would be no use in trying to save Berry Bitty City: no food, no water, and no power basically made for a dead town. Strawberry, her friends, and all of the other citizens would have to abandon it and look elsewhere to live.
Strawberry tried to pry the horrifying thoughts from her mind and stepped away from the window, remembering to draw the curtains first. Leaving them open only reminded her of the tragedies that plagued the town.
She completed her daily morning tasks before heading downstairs. When she reached the bottom step to her café, Custard and Pupcake bolted towards her, both of them whimpering.
"Aw, are you guys hungry? I'm sorry, I must have slept in longer than I'd intended. Here, let me make you some breakfast."
Custard and Pupcake eagerly followed their owner as she made her way to the cabinets. Strawberry opened one of the cupboards only to find one can of dog food and one can of cat food sitting amongst cobwebs.
"Well... it looks like we're almost out of food. I'll have to buy some more from Orange Blossom later today."
Strawberry removed the cans from the space, popped them open, and placed them on the floor for her pets. The puppy and kitty were hesitant before they decided to eat their meals.
Once they were settled, Strawberry was on the hunt for her own breakfast. The refrigerator was empty except for a drop of expired milk and a single egg that mocked her when she opened its carton. The loaf of bread that she tried to preserve from last week was molding in its pack on the corner of the counter.
Strawberry sighed to herself. Since the devastating drought hit Berry Bitty City, the town began to suffer economically as well. Although it was tourist season, tourists often avoided the town because of its unbecoming appearance. As a result, business became slow, and Strawberry and her friends started to experience a lack of income. The effects of the drought were so harsh that most days they didn't know from where their next meal was coming. They tried to limit the amount of items they purchased from one another in an attempt to save their money- however, their plan was hardly effective.
With resignation, Strawberry decided to skip breakfast for the third time that week. Even though her stomach objected, she tried to swallow the pang of hunger down as best she could, but she knew that nothing would suppress it more than a meal.
She exited her café and entered the afflicted town. When she checked her mailbox, she found yet another bill inside that charged an outrageous amount of money. Strawberry knew that Princess Berrykin was charging an excessive amount of cash for the benefit of the town, but she hoped that the princess would realize that her plan was hurting the town more than it was helping it.
Seeing that the clock was striking nine, she shoved the envelope back into her mailbox and hastily ran to the Berry Works.
Every weekday at nine o'clock, Strawberry and her friends were required to help the berrykins search for another source of water. Strawberry had heard another rumor that the berrykins were also searching for a fabled Preservation Soil, but considering that a soil that can repair the damages of dead plant life sounded highly unrealistic, she decided to not put her faith in something that probably didn't exist.
As she neared the entrance of the Berry Works, she saw that her friends were already there, toiling the cracked dirt with their tarnished shovels and wiping the sweat off their brows in the process. Immediately, she felt guilty because she always found herself arriving to work late while they were already slaving away.
"Good morning, everyone."
"Good morning," her friends called unanimously, continuing to dig the soil.
A distraught Princess Berrykin approached the girls: the usually vibrant tint of green in her wide eyes appeared abnormally grayed today. She looked unusually tired, as if she hadn't slept for nights, and seemed to stare into space.
"Princess, I apologize for being tardy...again. I can't seem to keep myself from over-sleeping these days," Strawberry explained as she picked up her shovel.
"I can't seem to get any sleep at all lately." Princess Berrykin gripped her scepter with both hands before adding, "Berrykin Phil didn't make it last night."
In horror, the girls spun around to face her. "What?"
"It's the drought - the heat is making the berrykins dehydrated, and if we don't find another source of water soon, I'm afraid the same will happen to you girls."
Though they didn't want to admit it, they knew that what the princess said was true. While they were able to endure the sweltering heat longer than the berrykins, the near one hundred degree temperatures still posed as a threat to their lives, especially since they were working eight to ten hours a day with hardly any shade. For the past few days, Raspberry Torte had complained of feeling light-headed, and Blueberry Muffin easily suffered from heat exhaustion due to her pale complexion. Strawberry was afraid that if she and her friends continued to work in these dangerous conditions, they would eventually end up like Berrykin Phil - dead.
"There is not much more that we can do," the princess continued. "If we are going to make it out of this alive, we need to start searching for a new home as soon as possible. The longer we stay here, the more susceptible we are to danger."
Strawberry opened her mouth to protest but decided against it, for she knew that Princess Berrykin was indeed correct. If the berry patch surrounding Berry Bitty City were to completely die out and collapse, they would be in plain sight for the world to see. Worse, if an intruder were to enter the town, he or she could potentially destroy the town and everyone living in it, and that was not something that they wanted to risk. Strawberry had heard reports of close calls of these individuals being around Acorn Acres, but fortunately they were only children. Generally, though, these people were dangerous.
"I understand why you're concerned, Princess, but we can't just give up. We've lived in Berry Bitty City for far too long for it to come to this," Strawberry finally said.
When the other girls remained silent, Lemon Meringue added, "I agree with Strawberry: we can't give up on saving our home. What if we use the extra juice to call Cherry and see if she can help?"
"We probably shouldn't. You know she's on tour now, and we shouldn't make her cancel the rest of it just to help us dig holes in the ground. Besides, we can't afford to waste any electricity for her to just turn us down. But I think Huck might be able to help; I know that it'll require the same amount of power to call him, but at least he'll most likely be able to come," Blueberry commented.
"Figures that you would suggest we contact him instead of Cherry if we were given one precious phone call." Orange Blossom thrust her shovel into the earth with such ferocity that Strawberry nearly jumped.
"I'm trying to be reasonable, for your information," Blueberry snapped back.
Cherry Jam and Huckleberry Pie were close friends of Strawberry and the others, but they often remained distant due to their busy schedules. Cherry was a famous pop singer, one of the most sought-after celebrities in the bitty world. When she met Strawberry and her friends five years back, she instantly felt welcomed by them and the rest of the citizens residing in Berry Bitty City and had taken it upon herself to take a break from the lime light to spend time with them. Recently, though, she was called back to the big city to expand her career by going on a world tour. She had left Berry Bitty City at the beginning of the year, just months before the depressing drought occurred, and that was the last the girls had seen of her.
On the other hand, Huckleberry Pie lived in the big city as well, but he ran a pet shelter. Initially intended to be solely a dog shelter, Huck's Home for Homeless Pets began to accommodate other species of animals when Berry Big City reached a record high of the area that was the most-populated with stray animals wandering the streets. At first the girls had to get used to him considering that he was the only guy in Berry Bitty City, but once they got to know him, he became one of their closest friends. He identified the most with Blueberry, and over the years the two of them had developed such a close friendship that they were practically inseparable. Whenever he had to return to his job in Berry Big City, they would conduct daily video chats with one another online. However, like Cherry, the girls hadn't seen him in the two months following the tragedy.
"I don't think calling Cherry or Huck here will make a bit of difference. I mean, who are we kidding? We've dug for weeks and we still haven't found anything. So having two more pairs of hands will magically find us another source of water?" Plum heaped a large mound of dirt onto a pile and wiped her sticky forehead.
"She has a point: is it even worth it? I mean, if we were going to find something we would have found it by now," Orange inquired.
"The best thing to do is to stay optimistic. We don't want to ruin our chances of finding a remedy for the town by having a negative outlook on the situation," Strawberry said as she stuck her shovel into the thick, cracked dirt.
"But I'm tired of doing this; I feel like we could be doing something worthwhile with our lives instead of just putting holes in the ground. Do you know how much I long to teach another dance class?"
"Yes, just as much as I long to start baking again, but I'm sure this will be worth it in the end. Raspberry, are you okay?"
Since the start of the conversation, Raspberry Torte had abandoned her position and had begun to lean against one of the dead berry stalks. She appeared a sickly yellow and pressed a hand against her forehead.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine. I'm just having another dizzy spell."
Plum tossed her shovel onto the ground. "This isn't worth it; we're practically making ourselves sick from working so hard."
Strawberry noticed that Plum had become very irritable since the six of them started working at the Berry Works and pondered on whether or not if it was another symptom of heat exhaustion. The way that she crinkled her eyebrows and how she angrily handled her shovel were foreign to her usually jocose personality.
"But we can't let down the princess," Strawberry whispered, her voice growing harsh.
"No, Strawberry, she is right: I have been working you all too hard. If we have not found another source of water by now, we most likely never will," Princess Berrykin inserted.
"You girls can take the rest of the day off. We are finished digging holes for now."
Strawberry stared at her in disbelief. "But...are you sure?"
"Yes; it is high time that we move to Plan B. Meet me in my office tomorrow morning at seven o'clock sharp, and do not be late." Princess Berrykin spun on her heel and walked away before the girls could ask her any further questions.
As night approached the quaint town of Berry Bitty City and darkness began to engulf its entirety, the girls decided to meet at Strawberry's marketplace for dinner. On most evenings during the past two months, dinner for the girls composed of whatever they could salvage from their refrigerators, and since Strawberry didn't have any food besides a few slices of moldy bread, she refrained from offering her friends anything to eat.
"So why do you think the princess wants us to meet her in her office tomorrow morning?" Blueberry asked as she unwrapped the clear packaging of her stale corn muffin.
"You don't think she's considering selling the town, do you?" Lemon cupped her hands over her eyes.
Orange leaned forward and placed her half-empty glass on the table. "Not with the state that this place is in. She's probably just going to strategize another plan to look for more resources. What do you think, Strawberry?"
"I honestly don't know what to expect. She could be planning to take down what's left of the town and start over, or she could be considering to sell it, like Lemon suggested."
The girls sat in silence a few moments longer before Raspberry added, "Well, I hope they have a funeral for poor Berrykin Phil. He didn't deserve to die."
For the rest of their time together, neither one of the girls spoke another word. Instead, they only sat and nibbled on what was left of their "meal" and passively thought of the day's events.
The night grew darker still, and before they realized the hour, the town's clock struck eight, which meant that the berrykins were about to cut off the electricity. They did so every night to conserve what little power Berry Bitty City had left, and when they did, everyone was required to go to the safety of their homes to keep away from whatever might be lurking in the shadows. One by one the lights shut off, and everything around the girls became pitch black except for the slight glow coming from the crescent moon.
In a panic, the girls jumped from their seats.
"Goodness, I didn't realize it was this late." Strawberry started gathering the glass plates off the table, nearly dropping them in the process.
"I should really be heading home now, so I'll see you tomorrow. 'Bye, y'all!" Plum turned around the corner, running towards the direction of her dance studio.
Within seconds, the rest of Strawberry's friends had disappeared before she even finished gathering her dishes. She went to the upstairs apartment in her marketplace and let her glass plates slip from her hands and crash onto the wooden floor, not caring that they broke as they smashed against the ground. She collapsed to her knees beneath the skylight; hot tears welled up in her eyes, which she tried to suppress but couldn't hold back. As she fought to keep them down, they only seemed to rise higher until at last they began to roll down her warm cheeks. She cried out in despair: never had she felt so frustrated, so alone. So helpless.
She felt her life falling apart piece by piece, and the more it crumbled, the worse she felt. Her home was in ruins, and there was nothing she could do to fix it, no matter how hard she tried. She and her friends were slowly becoming ill and malnourished, and with their condition, it was only a matter of time before they were in Berrykin Phil's state. Plus, she and her friends were nearly penniless, so even if they did find a remedy for their lost cause, they probably wouldn't have been able to afford it.
Worst of all, because she didn't have any family, Strawberry felt that she didn't have anyone to complain to about her problems. She never knew who her parents were or what had happened to them, and in addition, she'd never heard of her having any aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents. Day and night, she constantly wondered about her mother and father's whereabouts and had gone as far as questioning her own existence, but she could never find a sufficient, plausible answer to her question. Although her friends were like family to her, she could never convince herself to go to them for help: she knew that they had always depended on her, and if she suddenly came to them with her problems, she was afraid that they would lose the little remainder of hope that they had left. With her strong asset of tenacity, they always looked to her as their source of assurance during stressful situations. But if they knew that she secretly had less hope than they had concerning the situation with the drought, she was afraid that their lives would become truly chaotic.
Strawberry threw the broken pieces of glass against the blackness of the walls, the shards cutting the palms of her hands in the process. Small drops of blood oozed out the slits they had created, but she didn't care. She fell onto her bed into the solitude of night, hoping that the day ahead would be brighter than the last.
I'll post more chapters soon if I receive positive feedback on my story. If you want to read more of this series, please let me know - it encourages me
to keep writing it. Anyway, I hope you liked the first chapter! ~Bluevanilla79