Okay, I do not own Harvest Moon. Harvest Moon is owned by Natsume. I do not own any of these characters. If I did, do you think I would be writing on fan fiction? I think not. I would probably be owning oodles of books and reading them for countless hours at a time. But then again, I do have school…. Anyway, I'm getting quite off topic. Let the story begin! :D

[--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------]

It was a bright, sunny, crisp morning, one that you could only find on the Island. A tender gush of spring air pushed its way around the forests of the tropical jungle, winding its way through tall vine-draped trees. This breeze found its way to a certain boy, a boy that was almost an adult, almost a man. It gently whisked away a fluffy white feather he was inspecting with tender fingers, and, to his dismay, carried it far, far away. So far, in fact, it wound past the forest, past a rushing river, and all the way to a property of a possibly budding farm.

The scene was almost dismal; the grass was a light shade of green, almost straw yellow, the wood of the buildings were unkempt and in dire need of care, and weeds were budding in the place of grass and crops in the pasture and field. There were four buildings, a chicken coop, a barn, a house, and a tool shed. All of the buildings were looking as if they had been abandoned for years. Greatly apparent it was that everything on this ranch needed work. Yes, lots and lots of work.

Just then, a young girl, no older than eighteen, walked upon the ranch scene. Upon her head a red bandanna was placed around silken brown locks, and she wore a yellow shirt that lasted halfway down her forearm, covered by a orange unbuttoned shirt. On her legs she sported blue jean shorts and crimson boots. Jaw slightly hanging open, one suitcase in hand, she glanced around, calculating the great repairs that would be needed for this ranch.

As if by fate, miraculous it was, our little fluffy white feather had just drifted its way to the ranch, or, more specifically, onto this teenage girl's head. Hearing the slight whisper of feather against the fabric of her bandana, she reached up a tender hand and took the feather into it. Smiling softly and admiring with azure eyes, she softly slipped the feather into her slightly damp pocket. You see, all of her clothes were slightly damp and salty from the seawater. After all, you would be too if you had just washed up on an island not more than four hours ago.

Suddenly, a short but strong old man came behind her, wearing blue jean overalls and a squinty-eyed old man face that the girl could hardly help but giggle at. She recognized the farmer from earlier, he was the man that found her washed up on the beach, suitcase in hand. His name was Taro, and he had introduced her to his daughter, Felicia, and his two grandchildren, Elliot and Natalie. They all had bright red hair, and although Felicia hardly ever opened her eyes fully, she assumed they were the same shade as her children's; a combination of brown and faint red, almost a maroon color. Since they were introducing themselves, the girl had told them her name. Chelsea. Apparently they had all washed up on the island as well.

Elliot seemed to be pessimistic and not quite confident, and his sister seemed to be the opposite, strong hearted, blunt, and sort of loud. It seemed that they were all washed up on the island with only a few abandoned buildings to occupy. However, they hadn't checked the whole island, just a small bit. Taro had told Chelsea to go ahead and scope out this part of land, and that he would meet up with her later. When the boy Elliot had said that the island was in shambles and it would be rough to live here, he sure wasn't kidding….

Taro walked up beside her, hoe in hand. The pair stood in silence for a moment, gazing in slight disbelief at the condition of the place. Taro and his family had found a home not too far off; but there's was at least repairable in maybe a day's time. This ranch would take at least a week to repair so crops and animals could be taken care of.

"…It looks like this place used to be a ranch," Taro observed, shattering the silence. He turned to Chelsea, furrowing his brow, "Why don't you be the new rancher?"

Chelsea was taken back, for how could she alone fix the damage done here?

"B-but…I mean…I was on the ship for a fresh start from the city on some rural area to start a small-scale farm, and at least that was a new place. But…this…I can't do it alone. I just can't," Chelsea sputtered, afraid of failure and astonished at how bratty she was sounding.

"You grow crops here, after you've weeded it out a bit and placed some fertilizer on the ground," Taro replied, indicating a large patch of once-tilled land. The soil was a bit darker than the surrounding area. "My family will figure out a way to sell and ship them out. If we work together, I think this island could really and truly prosper!"

Chelsea, now feeling slightly guilty, felt a new feeling…it was reassurance. Confidence. Now she felt as though she could start a farm. She could help the island prosper. Besides, who else would do it here? Certainly not the old man. Chelsea nodded, a smile playing on her lips, revealing her porcelain teeth.

"If we can make this island prosperous, maybe more people will come and live here! We can rebuild this deserted island into a wonderful place to live! Of course…you can live in that house over there", Taro continued, pointing towards the shabby building with a red roof. "See? First day on the island, and you've already got a home!" Chelsea wasn't sure if he was serious or teasing.

"Right. If you're going to be a rancher, you've got to give your ranch a name," Taro claimed. "So, what would you like to name your ranch?", he inquired.

Chelsea thought for a moment, because she had to pick the suitable name. In this whole island, my ranch will be a safe place, a beautiful oasis. Should I name it Oasis Ranch? No, this island may be bad, but it's sure not an desert. How about…she thought.

"Haven Ranch!" she exclaimed, finishing her thoughts with speech. Taro nodded with approval.

"Haven Ranch, yes, that's a great name!" He looked to the sky, a glazed dreamy look in his eyes. "You know, I was quite the rancher back in my day. Many, many years ago I started out not much older than you are. My father died and I took over the ranch he owned but forgot about. I'll give you some pointers later." Taro got his head out of the clouds, sighed, and looked at Chelsea seriously. "Well, it's been quite a day! You must be exhausted. Go get some rest."

With that, he walked away, down the trodden path. As anybody would, Chelsea started to think that the day's socializing was long over. Sure enough, however, another exciting event took place. Right before her, glistening sparkles appeared out of the air, glistening and gleaming in the sunlight. Out of thin air popped a strange little elf creature, no taller than to Chelsea's knee. It had light green hair and wore a yellow jacket. The moment it looked up at Chelsea, it ran away.

"Wah?" Chelsea muttered, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes. She dropped her suitcase on the dusty pathway, lightly slapping her face to make sure what she was seeing was real. Sure enough, when she opened her eyes, off the little sprite creature was running. Deciding to run after it, Chelsea quickly caught up.

"Wow! You're great at hide and seek! I'm a Harvest Sprite, and my family and I live on this Island. Good luck with farm work, and be careful not to tire yourself out. Work hard!", the little creature piped, disappearing once more in a cloud of shimmering sparkles.

I must be really tired Chelsea mused. Hey, you would be thinking the very same thing if little 'Harvest Sprites' came to you and made you chase them.

She walked back to the beaten pathway, picked up her suitcase, and walked into her house. The home only had the basics, but on the inside, it was pretty nice. It just needed some dusting and washing. It had a window, a calendar, a wicker trashcan, a record player, and a table. Luckily, Chelsea brought blankets for what was supposed to be her new bed in the new farm on another island, so she tucked them onto the bed in her house. Peeling off her damp clothes, she went towards the bathroom after wrapping herself in a towel she had also brung. Perhaps it was pure luck the contents of her suitcase were not dampened while she was thrown into the water.

There was no hot water, but Chelsea didn't mind. She put on fresh, warm pajamas and pulled out a diary from her suitcase, as well as a pen. Nestling into her bed and wrapping herself in covers, she began to write.

Spring, day 1

Dear Diary,

This is my first time writing in here, obviously. I have a lot to tell. My name is Chelsea, I have blue eyes and brown hair. I'm a pretty calm and collected person, but I can be a spazz at

Today I washed up on this deserted island. Everything is run down and dirty, but Taro, an older man that is going to live here with his family, says that if we work hard, the island will prosper as a community. I agreed to become the rancher. I hope I do well, because I will work hard.

I have the feeling that I will miss my family a lot pretty soon, but that's to be expected. I'm eighteen now, I shouldn't depend on my parents. I wonder how they all are doing? Maybe I'll write them a letter.

Tomorrow I'll try and clean up the ranch a bit, you know, yank out the weeds and rearrange things. It shouldn't be too hard.

Thanks for listening,

-Chelsea

Stretching out her arms toward the ceiling, Chelsea placed the diary onto the wooden floor beside the bed. She snapped her fingers as if remembering something important, and padded over to her damp shorts, which were lying on the floor. Reaching into the pocket with tender care, she pulled out the soft feather, no bigger than her index finger. It was a little wet, but it would dry out in a few minutes. Chelsea picked up her diary from the floor, placed the feather on the first page, and closed the little blue book. Running her soft hand over the cover of the diary, Chelsea smiled warmly, wondering what those pages would be filled with.

Once more she placed the book on the floor, crawled into her bed, yanked the covers up to her chin, curled up in a ball, and closed her eyes to enter the hazy world we call sleep, dreams of hard work, crops, animals, and prosperity swirling around her unconscious.