"Castanet, huh?" I whisper to myself, holding onto the rail on the old boat. The waters are hardly fit for sailing in, just as the boat captain, Pascal, had warned. I knew what I was getting into, though. I planned on moving here months in advance, working as a waitress, barista, secretary, and cashier, I saved money for the farm. I had just turned 22 last fall and I hungered for change. What better change is there than to move away from home, and buy a ranch, right? Moving to a new town, with nothing but the clothes on my back and the money in my pocket... how scary. The quaint town of castanet grew bigger and bigger on the horizon. What kind of people will I meet here? Will I be able to make a living? I've always had a way with animals, but no green thumb like my cousins do. The boat begins to slow as it approaches the pier.
"LAND HOOOOOO" Pascal shouts. I smile, thank him for the trip, and bid him good day.
Instantaneously, I step off the boat and I am greeted by a short, plump man, with white George Washington hair, the rosy cheeks of Santa Clause, a long stubby nose, and a warm smile.
"Welcome to Castanet, Molly!" he chirped excitedly, "Oh there is SO much to do and see and people to meet! You have a full day ahead of you! Have you had breakfast yet? You should stop by the Ocarina Inn! Thefireshaven'tbeenburninghotenoughtocook, but I'm sure they can whip you up something to eat!"
Laughing, I say, "Woah, hold your horses! I haven't gotten your name yet but somehow you seem to know mine. What do you mean the fires aren't burning hot enough?" This was interesting news. The person on the phone failed to mention wonky fires that don't cook food!
He squeaked and clasped his hands to his face, "I'm so sorry! I thought you remembered me, we spoke on the phone!" Oh. That explains it. "I'm Mayor Hamilton. Don't let the fires not burning hot detour you from staying here! Just because the soil quality is mediocre on a good day doesn't take away from the charming people!"
Oh my goddess. "So I can't grow crops, sir?" Not that I could grow them even if the soil quality was perfect, but I thought I would have a chance at least!
"W-well," he stuttered his cheeks turning pinker, "you can! The- that's enough chit-chat! You should go visit the townspeople! They're really lovely things!" he smiled brightly. "but there is a matter of money. I believe the agreed upon amount was 5000G? But no rush! You will have to stay at Ocarina Inn for a few days, until the house is built. It will take some talking to for Luke, Owen, and Dale up to the task of building it! And then there is the matter of gathering wood… I might have to ask Bo for help too.."
Boy selling property was not this mayor's strong point. I peek over my shoulder and see Pascal's ship sailing away into the distance. "Alright, I guess I'll go meet everyone then." I sighed, fishing out the crumpled bills in my pocket. I had a plan and I just have to follow it through, no turning back now. I hand Hamilton the money and he squeaked happily.
"Oh wonderful, wonderful! Welcome to Castanet Molly! I know everyone will love you, you're a part of our town already!" he claps his hands together. Boy, it's hard to get a word in with this man. "Lookie, lookie! It's Colleen and Dave! They own Ocarina Inn! They will show you the way from here!" I follow Hamilton down the pier pulling on the long sleeves of my yellow shirt.
"Hello, I'm Colleen, and this is my husband Dave!" The woman was thin and had short orange hair and purple eyes, she was very pretty for an older lady. Dave was stoic and wore a frown, his grey hair suited his face well. They were both aging gracefully.
"Hi, I'm Molly, nice to meet you!" I smile, and Colleen grins.
"Well this is where I say good bye, make sure you meet everyone in town!" Hamilton says and runs off. He's quick for a plump, old man.
Dave shook his head, and Colleen beckoned me to follow her. Up the steps on the pier, up the side walk, up more stairs, until we reach a cute pink building with wooden doors. "Castanet isn't what it used to be," Colleen says sadly, "Mayor Hamilton is working hard to draw people in, he hopes that with more people our spirits will pick up, and the island will thrive again. You seem pretty special Molly. Not many young people would take such a big risk and move to a failing island far away from home, and start over new."
"Well, I needed a change of scenery," I laugh, "even if Castanet is failing now, I'm sure it will be busy, and bustling again soon! I'll work hard so it will!" I flex my muscle and clasp it with my hand. Colleen laughs and says, "We'll work hard too. Let us know if we can do anything to help you out." She smiled sadly. She was such a sweet lady. Her husband didn't say much but he seemed nice. They were good people. It was that moment when I decided I was going to help bring this towns smile back, I would work hard, and figure out a way to get the fires burning, and fix the soil, and everything else that needed to be done. At that same moment my stomach decided to growl angrily, and threaten to dissolve itself. "Well it sounds like we better start by getting some food in your stomach; you'll need your energy if you plan on saving Harmonica Town!"

Walking into Ocarina Inn I see a bright orange head pop up from behind a counter. "Ohmygosh! Do we have a customer?!" a young girl in a pink waitress dress and white apron skips over to me. Her orange hair is braided into pig tails, and adorned with ribbons. "This is my daughter Maya," Colleen says proudly. "Maya, this is Molly. She's a new villager in town, and she will be staying at the Inn until her house is built. Would you show her to her room, while we make her breakfast? Is coffee and omelet rice okay with you, dear?" She turns to me. "Oh that sounds wonderful! Thanks!" Dale nods his head and walks off mumbling something about waking "them" up.
Maya grabs my wrist and opens a door and pulls me right, down the hall. "This is your room!" She bounds in and looks out the window. "You have a nice view of the Church Grounds from here. Some festivals and weddings take place there…not that there have been any weddings lately." I walk to the window and push aside the curtain to get a good view. "Wow, it's beautiful!" I say in awe. A huge church with stone and marble sat atop the hill. The stain glass glittering and twinkling in the spring morning sunlight, "Castanet is beautiful!" Maya continues. She walks over to a door and opens it revealing a bathroom, complete with a hot shower. "I can hear the goddess bells ringing now, oh the glory of hot water and soap!" I say happily. Maya giggles "You didn't fancy the boat ride, huh? Feel free to use the shower. I'm going to stay in here with you for a while. If I go back they'll make me help make breakfast, and Yolanda will lecture me on my cooking." She says sitting on the bed and pouting. I snicker, "okay then."
My sore muscles welcomed the hot water, being on a boat for a day and a half made me stiff from the rocky waters. I hear the television click on in the room and the weather report for the day was said with a cute jingle at the end. "Who should I meet today, Maya?" I call as I rinse the soap from my hair. "Hm.. Well there's Kathy, Chase, who is sooooo cute, but he's mine so don't get any ideas! Yolanda, Hayden, Calvin, oh musicians are so hot!.. and then there's the tailor shop, so Shelly, Candace, and Luna… The mayor's son Gill.. He's so mean, Molly!.. The fisherman Ozzie, and his son Paolo and Toby. Toby seems too lazy for my type. Then there's the infirmary.. That's just Irene and Jin. All Jin cares about is herbs though… Perry and Mira are probably on the church grounds…" She continued on for a long time about the names of people, and she gave me a very detailed explanation on the guys, which gave me time to dry off and get dressed. "Oh and there's Wizard, who lives at the top of the hill. His house has the big telescope on it." I towel dry my hair "Wizard?" Astounded at the fact that there was a 'wizard' in this day and age, much less that he'd be in this town. "Yeah! He's kind of creepy though. No one ever sees him leave his house. But sometimes he'll do crystal ball readings for the people in town. Most of the time when people ask he shoo's them away though… he doesn't like people." Interesting. I bite my lip and ponder the possibilities of what kind of person this "wizard" was. "Oh, don't get any ideas Molly! He's mean!" She sits closer to me and put her hand to her mouth and talked as though it were a secret. "I hear he turned the Witch into a toad! And I always see girls leaving his house crying! Luna mostly!" There was a knock at the door and a handsome man with unruly peach hair appeared at the door. "How long are you going to make us wait! Your food is getting cold!" Before I could blink Maya had jumped off the bed and taken the guy's hand in hers. "You did make something for me right?!" She said puffing out her cheeks and pouting. "Of course not! You know if you want food you have to make it! Yolanda and I don't have time to!" Maya pouted more. Man he was mean. And it was clear Maya had a huge crush on him. I stood off the bed and approached the man with an outstretched hand, "Hi, I'm Molly, I-" he cut me off before I could finish. "Chase. Now hurry and up and go eat. Do you know how hard it was to make an omelet?!" I smiled, "No are you that bad of a cook?" Maya giggled and chase crossed his arms and looked abash. "Of course not! You are looking at the best chef on Castanet!" I laughed and we all set off down the hall way.

~~~~~~~~~~
After meeting Yolanda, Kathy, Calvin, and Hayden stopped in and said hi. I decided to make my way to Flute Fields, on the opposite side of town. Kathy had been very helpful when I asked where I should go. It was a long and nice walk on the trails; I passed several beaches, the property where my house would be, a river, and some cute animals, until I had finally reached Flute Fields, and boy was it beautiful! Hills and green grass as far as my eyes could see. A bright silver blue head caught my attention. I walked down to the watermill and saw the white haired guy fishing with a little boy who wore a blue and red cap. "Hello there!" I called. Both turned around, "You must be the new girl Molly! I'm Toby and this is Paolo!" Toby gestured to Paolo. "Good luck on your farm! Let me know if you ever want to go fishing." Paolo cheered, obviously not wanting me to go, and talked about how great fishing was, keeping me there for ten minutes. He was a cute and smart 6 year-old. "I'll have to go fishing with you two one day. I had better be going today though. I still have to meet everyone else." Toby smiled and walked over to the watermill, opened the door, went inside, and returned with an old fishing pole. "No one was using this anyways, you can make better use of this than the watermill can." He handed it to me and I thanked him, "Awesome! I'll be sure to use it! Thanks a lot!" we both smiled and I went on my way.
Walking back up to the field I passed a little cottage. I don't know what possessed me to do so, but I knocked on the door and a purple haired man appeared. Woah, he was hot! His fashion sense was a bit strange, though. "Hello." He peered down. "I'm sorry, I'm not interested in buying anything, I have to get to work." He sighed and put his hand to his forehead. I jumped, "Oh no I'm not selling anything, I'm Molly I just moved here!" I said with forced laughter. Did I look like a salesperson?! The purple haired man gasped, "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm Julius, I work in the accessory shop in the Garmon Mine District." He sighed and put his hands on his hips. He was very flamboyant, "it's not doing well. My boss died over a year ago…" he looked so sad, it didn't look right on his pretty face. Yes, pretty, he was very feminine. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked quietly. He pondered this and finally spoke, "If you see Mira, ask her is she's ready to come back yet." He closed his door and walked a little, "Well I'm going to work, see you around." He sauntered away. Well that was depressing; I'd have to go look for Mira later so he'll cheer up. I walked up a hill and towards Marimba farm. Hopefully the next people I meet aren't so sad. A little blonde boy and an old man with an orange cap were arguing, "I'm running away!" the little boy shouted. "Taylor, don't make me get your mom out here!" The boy ran past me and towards Fugue Forest. "That damned kid will never learn…" The old man said finally noticing me. "You must be the newcomer Molly. I'm Craig. My wife Ruth and my daughter Anissa are inside." He stalked off to Fugue Forest, in trail of his son. I popped inside and said hello to them, Ruth with the stern face gave me turnip, cabbage, and strawberry seeds. "Good luck growing them though" she said sarcastically as I left. Anissa was nice though, and very pretty, I gave her an herb I found. She was interested in plants and medicine. I left the farm with my bag growing fuller, walking to Horn Ranch and met Hanna, Cain, and Rene. They were nice enough, and Cain promised me a cow once my barn was built. It was 30 passed noon and the sky was getting cloudy so I decided it was best to head back to town. I passed my property and saw a few people putting up the structure to my house. It would be rude not to introduce myself, since they were nice enough to be building my house. "Hello!" I chirped. A guy with blue hair and a bandana turned to me, "Hi, Molly I'm Luke, I'm the best axe-man around!" he swung his axe trying to look impressive, "That's my dad Dale, and that's Owen." Owen had reddish brown hair and was a beefy man. "Hi, I'm Owe-" he blushed, "but I guess Luke already told you that. Do you like mining? I have an old hammer if you need one." Dale shook his head, "Boys we have to get this house finished, stop flirting!" I laughed and scratched the back of my head. "Thank you for building my house, I know its not easy work." Luke chortled, "It's easy for me! I can build anything! We'll have this house ready by tomorrow if I'm working on it!" Dale scoffed and shook his head at his son. I gave them some blueberries and raspberries that I had found on my walk, as I was leaving. "Thanks Molls, see you around!" Luke waved excitedly. Owen blushed and said bye quietly and returned to work.

Making my way back to town I fished and managed to catch a few crawfish and three catfish. I would give them to Chase and Yolanda so they could make dinner. The stone bridge was probably my favorite part of town. The view of harmonica town was beautiful from it, and you could see the Garmon Mine District, and if you looked far enough, Flute fields; gorgeous scenery in every direction. I took my time going over it, and as I was I met Simon. He was an older man with a large nose and blue hair that was graying. He was standing outside taking pictures of the sky, "it's not often I see such beautiful cloud formations!" We talked for twenty minutes about photography and all the pretty scenery here, then as I left he took me into his shop and gave me an old camera. It wasn't often he met someone who loved taking pictures.
"It's almost 4…" A soft voice emerged from a blue haired girl that caught my eye outside the tailors shop. "Hi… I'm Candace… i-I work in So-sonata tailoring.." She was a cute girl who wore her long hair in two loose braids, and she was obviously very shy. "Hi, I'm Molly." She smiled as an elderly lady and pink haired girl walked outside. "Who is this, Candace?!" the pink haired girl started. "M-molly." The older woman walked up to me, "Excuse Luna, she's just happy to be back home, it's not often we meet new people. My name is Shelly. If you ever need to expand your rucksack, come see me." Luna eyed me up and down, "We can also make you clothes, in case you ever get tired of wearing that." I looked down at my orange and yellow outfit. "Okay, thanks." I said not sure if she was being rude or just making an offer. "Well, it was nice meeting you Molly," the old woman said adjusting her pink bandana because of the wind, "Stop by our shop anytime. We have to go to the fish market so we can find something for dinner, before it rains," we all looked at the giant thunderheads that were forming in the sky, "Hopefully Ozzie managed to catch some tuna." The three women walked off towards the pier. They were a cute family, I'd be sure to visit them sometime.
I stalked up the cobblestone street towards the church. It really was a beautiful church, I wasn't religious but I could appreciate its beauty. A great big Pyrenees and a black cat greeted me at the entrance, anything fluffy and cute I loved, so I stopped and played with them and gave them some common mushrooms I had found earlier, they didn't seem to mind it. "You're so pretty" I said to the great white dog patting its head.
I walked inside the church and I almost bumped into a sad middle aged lady, "Oh, I'm sorry!" I yipped, jumping out of her way. She looked at me sadly. "I haven't seen you before." I adjusted the hem of my skirt, "I'm Molly, I just moved here today." She blinked slowly, like a cat. "Oh. I'm Mira." Mira... Mira… Wasn't that the lady Julius was looking for? "Do you know someone named Julius?" I asked aloud, "he wanted me to ask if you "were ready to come back yet", he says the accessory shop isn't doing well. The first sign of life I had seen in the lady had appeared, she jumped and covered her mouth. "I had no Idea he wasn't doing well! After my husband died, Julius said he would take care of the shop. I need to go help him!" she ran passed me and left the church. I sat in one of the pews and admired the stain glass and mosaics. I opened a book sitting on the pew next to me. "You just met Mira?" A boy asked, he was dressed in priest clothing and he had short blue hair. "I'm Perry. I live at the churc-" Thunder clapped overhead cutting him off. "You'd better leave before the storm starts, the church closes soon." He said quietly, taking the book and disappeared through a door in the back of the building. Well that was kind of rude. I stood up, my knees creaking, and walked to the entrance of the church. I was exhausted from all the exploring I did today. Stepping outside I gazed up into the sky seeing the clouds flash angrily. Damn. I should have listened to the weather report this morning. SMACK. Something large had flown into my leg making me trip, and scrape my knee on the concrete. "Ouch!" I yelped, and a yellow glowing ball of light whirred around me, "Molly! The harvest Goddess needs your help!" cradling my knee in my hands I look up and see a little pixie floating around in distress, "The harvest goddess! The harvest Goddess!" he cried. "What's the harvest goddess?" I asked the pixie, completely ignoring the fact that sprites shouldn't be real. "She brought you here! Your destiny! You have to save Castanet!" it started to rain, which the adorable pixie did not like. He flew into my pocket and said, "Hurry get me somewhere dry!" I stood up and hobbled as fast as I could to the nearest house. A giant telescope peered up at the sky through the roof. I knocked on the door and no one answered, "Hello! It's raining, please let me in!" no answer. I turned the door knob, which surprisingly opened the door. I guess people don't have to worry about locking their houses here. I stepped inside and the smell of coffee wafted through the cluttered house. Books in strange languages lined the walls. "Hello?" I tried again, and again there was no answer. The pixie peeked out of my pocket, "this is wizard's house! He can help us!" he shook the water out of his green hair. I remembered Maya's words earlier "he's so mean!... he turned witch into a frog… girls leave his house crying.." I wasn't so sure I wanted to meet Wizard. The sprite flew around the house exploring, "I can't find him anywhere!" he cried. I went and sat in a reclining chair, not wanting to intrude more and sit on the couch, "What's your name?" I asked the fairy. He sat down in my lap and looked up at me, "I'm Finn! I'm supposed to help you on your quest to save Castanet! The harvest Goddess needs your help!" the smell of coffee comforted me and I placed my head on the arm rest on the chair, curling up into a ball. "Why me, Finn?" I asked softly. He climbed up the arm of the chair to look at me, "because you're special! You have magic in your blood, that's why you can see me! You're pure at heart, and you want to help people! Oh Molly, say you will! Please, please?! The harvest goddess and the fate of Castanet rest on your answer!" I felt my eyes drooping and Finn kept watching me expectantly. "Okay, Finn. I will help you save the Harvest Goddess and Catanet. This is my home now after all." Finn squeaked excitedly and crawled into my hair to take a nap. "We have to wait the storm out here," he said, "We have to wait for wizards return." My eyes closed and my mind fell into darkness.