Meeting.

~Chelsea~

As I woke up that morning to a knock on my door, I never in my life thought I'd fall in love. I opened the door and saw the most beautiful eye (seeing as though the other was covered by glossy silver hair) I'd ever seen. It was a deep, rich violet, and it was churning with hidden emotion.

"Uh, hi there. You're the new rancher Chelsea, right?" asked the man with beautiful eyes.

"Yeah. And you would be…?"

"Vaughn. I'm the animal transporter for your island now. I'll be bringing in animals from the city for you to buy. I'll see you around, I guess," he stammered coldly.

"Um, okay. B-bye, Vaughn."

He walked out of my house, and I decided that it was time for me to get to work. I walked outside after gathering my tools, and I was startled to see Taro waving at me.

"Oh, hello, Taro. I didn't see you there. Did you need anything, by chance?"
The old man laughed and replied, "No, I just thought I'd give you a gift for always working so hard. Granted, it's a tad old, but it's still in good shape. I found it when I was unpacking some boxes earlier today."

"Oh, a fishing rod? Cool! Are you sure you want to give it to me?" I asked, puzzled.

"I'm too old to use it anymore, but I'm sure you'll be able to get some use out of it. Do you want me to show you how to use it?" Taro questioned, a curious gleam in his eyes.

I suddenly remembered about my twin cows, Besse and Happie. "Oh, well, I'm sort of behind this morning, but I'll stop by after work. Is that all right?"

Taro seemed pleased that I was eager to get to work and said, "Sure, sure. I'll see you later then."

As I waved and entered my barn, I was greeted by two hungry moos. "Morning, girls. Sorry I'm late. I ran into Taro outside, and I met the animal transporter, as well. He was a very interesting person. Come here, Besse, I need to brush you."

Pleasantly mooing, I brushed and milked both of my prized cows, until I realized that I was out of fodder. "Oh, dear. I'm sorry, but I have to walk down to Miss Mirabelle's and get some more fodder for you. I'll be back soon."

I petted Besse and Happie one more time and hurried down the road. When I arrived at Mirabelle's, the door was open and Elliot was loading crates into the shop. I skipped lightly to a crate, and when I reached down to pick it up a cold voice behind me caught my attention.

"What are you doing?" Vaughn asked, stepping in front of me.

"I was going to help you load these crates into Miss Mirabelle's shop. Would you rather me not help?" I asked, fervently wishing I'd never even left my house this morning.

"Oh. Well try not to hurt yourself, and don't say I didn't warn you."

I picked up the crate in front of me and felt a little stab of pain. I shifted the crate and saw that it was actually a cage, and I had cut my hand on a stray wire. Vaughn saw my hesitant move and I continued on into the shop. I sat down the cage I was carrying and turned to get another. Vaughn looked at the way I was holding my hand and then at the cage, seeing the wire.

"Seeing as though you can't handle anything without hurting yourself, I'll get the rest."

I could only stare at him. When I got up the nerve to say something, I replied through my teeth, "Seeing as though you can't go a full day without being rude, I'll just buy my fodder and leave." I then turned around and walked up to the counter where Miss Mirabelle was and asked politely, "Could I get thirty pieces of fodder delivered to my silo, please?" I gave her 100 gold and told her, "Keep the change, my good friend." I gave Vaughn one last glare and stormed out of the small shop.

As I left, I swore that I heard Vaughn mumble, "Damn. Why did I have to go and do that?"

While I was walking, a sudden burst of pain from my hand reminded me that my hand was bleeding from the cut I'd gotten. So I decided to take a detour to Chen's shop.

"Hey, there, Chelsea. What can I do for you?" Chen asked, and I gestured to my cut hand and smiled.

"Do you have any bandages, Chen? I cut my hand on an animal cage."

"Yep, I sure do," he said, pulling a box out from under the counter, "How many do you need?"

I thought for a moment and replied, "I'll take three. One for now and two for later, just in case."

"Here you are, Chelsea, and don't worry about the gold. They're on the house. Without you, this island would be nothing compared to what it is now."

I smiled a big smile and thanked him. I then walked out into the bright sunshine of the afternoon and happily headed home. I stopped into the barn and saw that Besse and Happie were waiting patiently. "Here you are, my girls. Enjoy." I gave them a piece of fodder each and scratched behind their ears. I decided that the weather was perfect for fishing, and headed to the beach.