Author's note: Well, of course, I don't own any of the Harvest Moon characters. xP I think that if I did, I'd be doing more than writing fanfics. And yes, I've taken some creative licence (or something like that) when it comes to talking about the characters' pasts. And that's about it for my notes. Enjoy!
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Flower
Bud Village Sanatorium
Summer
3, 4:02 PM
An ambulance drove hurriedly down the muddy dirt road leading into the village. Rain poured mercilessly from the heavens, accompanied by ominous rumbles of thunder and bright bolts of occasional lightning. The bright, spinning lights atop the vehicle caught the attention of many eyes, eyes who were quite unaccustomed to seeing such sights in such a small, isolated village.
Gina looked up from her book when the flashes of red caught her eye. She was almost relieved to see it, in a morbid sort of way. For the entire day, she had been unsettled, as if something terrible was about to happen - or already had - and she felt as if she could take no more of this awful suspense.
She gazed out the window and was met with a startling sight. An ambulance, its white form splattered with mud and grime from the drenched village roads, had pulled up right outside the Sanatorium's doors. Gina, being on the upper floor, could hear the commotion down below as Martha and Alex rushed to greet the visitors. The paramedics, soaked through to their skins with rainwater, produced from the back of the ambulance a stretcher. This they carried inside with extreme caution, and Gina quickly realized why: the stretcher carried the form of a person, visible clearly from Gina's lofty window.
"Gina! Gina, for the Goddess' sake, come here!"
Martha's voice. Gina dropped the book - she'd have to apologize to Maria later for damaging it - and dashed down the steps to the first floor.
"What's wrong?" Gina gasped, nearly out of breath.
Martha and Alex remained silent, morbidly so, as the paramedics departed. Gina approached the bed on which the patient had been laid - cautiously, nervously, until she finally found the courage to look upon it. Adjusting her glasses on her petite nose, Gina's wide golden eyes slowly came back into focus.
She laid her eyes on the face of the raven-haired girl laying on the bed and her heart dropped like a stone.
"Oh, Goddess..."
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Moonlight
Beach
Summer
3, 4:10 PM
A solitary figure stood upon the rain-drenched sand of Moonlight Beach, seemingly unaware of the potential danger of the lightning that ripped through the skies above. The sea, choppy and dark, sent waves crashing upon the shore just inches away from the figure's feet.
Shivering both from the cold of the rain and from the sobs that shook her body, Maria shut her eyes tight and listened to the sound of the pouring rain and crashing waves. Her tears mixed with the rain as they flowed in streams down her reddened face. Maria had never felt so alone, so torn apart.
Earlier that afternoon, she had been caught up in an argument with her boyfriend Ray. It seemed that he was always off fishing and never had any time for her. When Ray told Maria that he was breaking a lunch date for a fishing trip to the island just off the coast, it was the last straw for Maria. Her pent-up rage broke free. Ray had told her that if she couldn't respect his values, he would have to leave her. She said that she was fed up with him always breaking dates for fishing - yet again - and that was that.
Ray was gone. He'd gone to the island anyway, barely sparing the break-up a thought. Maria had been waiting on the beach for hours, waiting for his return, and hoping that he would come back and tell her that he was sorry and he'd never fish again.
Now, as the sky grew darker by the minute and the storm worsened, Maria began to realize that it was only in her deepest fantasies that Ray would ever say that he was giving up fishing.
He's not coming back, Maria thought to herself, squeezing her eyes shut tightly, so why do I keep waiting?
"Maria," a voice from behind beckoned her. Maria didn't bother to turn around - she knew who the visitor was.
"Maria," Lyla repeated as she came to stand beside Maria. "You really should come inside. Your father's worried sick about you, and the storm's getting worse."
"There's no point," Maria sobbed. "Lyla, why does he have to be like that? Could I have chosen a worse person to fall for?"
Lyla laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You deserve better than him, Maria. Unless Ray can realize how much he's hurt you and that he needs to change, he isn't worth worrying over."
"Easy for you to say," Maria sniffled, turning her reddened brown eyes up to meet Lyla's. "You've never had a boyfriend. And even then... Louis is so caring. He would never hurt you like Ray hurt me."
Lyla blushed, but covered it up with a quick switch back to a serious expression. "Maria, at least come inside. We can talk about this where it's safe. Come on, your father's practically driving himself up the wall with worry."
Maria turned her eyes up to the ocean. "I - " Suddenly she stopped and simply stared ahead in shock.
Lyla noticed the unexpected stop in Maria's voice. "What's wrong? You look - oh, Goddess!"
Lyla, too, had seen what Maria had laid eyes on. Drifting towards them on the waves was a young man in torn clothing, clinging to a piece of driftwood for support in the unforgiving water.
"He's coming into the beach," Maria shouted as the figure in the water drew closer. "Lyla! You have to get the doctor! Please hurry, I don't know if..."
As the young man washed up on the beach, Lyla was off like a shot. "Stay there!" she shouted as she ran, leaving Maria standing in the rain.
Remembering information from the medical textbooks in the library - she'd read nearly everything on the shelves - Maria searched for a pulse with two fingers on the boy's neck and then his wrist. Yes! It was faint, but his heartbeat was present. Maria knelt beside him and listened to his breathing. It, too, was faint, but she could feel a touch of his warm breath on her cheek. The boy had matted brown hair and was dressed in the torn remains of what must have once been a casual outfit - jeans and a short-sleeved shirt.
Fifteen minutes passed. Maria finally heard the sound of Lyla's voice approaching. She and Alex appeared on the horizon just moments later. The pair of them carried a stretcher with them.
Alex was by Maria's side in a heartbeat. "No fractures," he pronounced after a quick examination. "Unconscious, though."
"Let's get him inside," Maria said, following behind Alex and Lyla as they carried the unconscious boy towards the Clinic.
