Jovi looked at a sheet of paper in her hands, scanning the text with eyes the color of a neelam gem and nibbling on a few strands of her short, pale yellow hair.

The Exciting Ranch Plan! We're looking for ranchers! Would you like to work in Flower Bud Village? Buy property that you choose and live a warm and rewarding lifestyle!

The Mayor of Flower Bud Village

Jovi was seventeen years of age. For her entire life, she had lived the noisy, rushed, fast-food city lifestyle and she had had enough of honking taxi-cabs, rude people who cared only about themselves and what others thought of their appearance, and lack of scenery. As soon as Jovi had read the Exciting Ranch Plan, she knew that Flower Bud Village was where she belonged. She sold most of her possessions, including clothes, jewelry, movies, and video games, and packed what was left over in her little suitcase. She bid her mother and father farewell and caught a bus, her ticket reading "One Way to Flower Bud Village". As she clutched the plastic rings that a million people had touched hanging from the bus's ceiling, she wondered what kind of people she would meet in the village. Surely, they would be friendlier, made humble by their toil in the grassy fields. Maybe she would even find someone to settle down with. After all, seventeen was about around the age area where one should be preparing to create a family.

Jovi dozed off, and was awaken by the bus lurching to a stop outside of Honeycomb Town, one stop away from Flower Bud. She gathered her suitcase and made her way to the front of the bus as it pulled to a stop. The doors hissed open and Jovi hopped out onto the cobblestone path. Trees and grass and flowers were everywhere and she could see the tiny figures of bunnies, squirrels, and birds hopping through the foliage, filling the warm, sweet-scented air with musical animal sounds.

Behind her, the bus squealed and drove away. Jovi set a face of determination to do her best as she was out all on her own, pride of making it this far, worry of screwing up, and joy of being so free. She entered the town square and was surprised to see a short man with a very large mustache under his nose bounding towards her, his cheeks rosy.

"Welcome to Flower Bud Village! I expect you're the new farmer who came here on the Exciting Ranch Plan," he said, tipping his tall hat.

"That's me!" Jovi returned his ecstasy with a wide grin.

"I'm Theodore, the mayor of this lovely village. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

"I'll make sure to do that. Thanks," said the new rancher.

"Now, then, down to business," the mayor continued. "Where would you like to live? We have three pieces of land currently unoccupied; ocean side, town center, and river side. The ocean side is the largest and the town center is the smallest."

Jovi thought for a moment.

"Well, the river side would be the best for growing crops because of the silt deposited by the river and the ocean side would be best for raising animals due to its size. I think I will take the river side to start out with, and I'll purchase the ocean side later on, when I decide to take care of livestock," she concluded.

"Oh ho ho!" chuckled the mayor called Theodore. "A smart one, are we? Yes, I think you will get along just fine here. The river side it is, then!"

Jovi relished in the thought of her own property.

"Now then, you should speak to some of the villagers. They know all there is to know about ranching and can help you a lot. Here is a map." He gave her a folded piece of parchment. Opening it and pointing, he said, "And here is where your house is. It's used, so it has all the basics; a bed, a toolbox with some essential tools inside it, a refrigerator, and a television set. Outside, there's a shipping box where you put products you want to ship and a postbox and the lumber shed is behind the house."

Her head swimming with new data, Jovi said goodnight and thank you to the mayor of Flower Bud Village and followed the map to her new house. A smile spread across her face as she approached the house. Her house. The one she had all to herself and the one nobody but she could call theirs. Excited, she ran inside. Everything was there, as the mayor said, and more. She even found a diary on the side table by her bed. She had always wanted one, but life in the city was too dull and routine for a diary to be of any use. But now, she was on the adventure of her lifetime, shiny and fresh like a recently minted penny. Hopping onto the mattress, she opened the diary to the very first page and began writing with a pencil that she found in a special slot on the inside.

Dear Diary,

So the journey begins. I'm out on my own, so far loving it, and I'm excited to be able to do whatever I want, whenever I want to do it, and however I want to do it. I feel so independent. In all honesty, though, I miss my parents. I think I'll invite them to my new home when I get things growing and my ranch running. Boy, will they be surprised to see what I'll have accomplished. Me, the girl with her head in the clouds and her feet, bare, who spontaneously dropped out of school and left home to start a life in the country, making a living off dirt-encrusted vegetables and broken eggs, having done the unthinkable and the stuff of dreams, in spite of what all the odds were saying. Ha-ha, that sounds a lot more cliché now that it's on paper.

Jovi yawned halfway through, realizing all in one moment how exhausted she was. She decided to tie things up and go to bed.

Well, that's all for tonight. I'd better get some shut-eye. Or rather, I should hit the hay. Early to bed, early to rise. We'll see what tomorrow holds. Goodnight, Diary.

~Jovi

Setting the diary down, she rested her head on her pillow, closed her blue eyes, and fell fast asleep.