I apologize in advance if this intro is a bit wordy. Feel free to skip it.
I've been writing for a while but this is the first piece of fanfiction (or any sort of fiction) that I've decided to put online.
I think that Rick and his family deserve more attention. Essentially this story will examine Rick, Kai and Popuri and their individual faults. Each of their personalities will clash and there will be wonderful character development. Claire will be a silent character for the most part and a sort of buffer/peacemaker. I don't know how much Jack and Karen will affect the main plot but they'll be heavily involved in the side story.
I rated this as teen to be safe but there won't be anything overtly sexual and it's unlikely that there will be cursing.
Please don't be rude but I will take all comments to heart while writing so feel free to tell me what you think.
On the morning of Summer 1 Claire woke up immediately at 6am. Sunlight streamed through the window as she fixed up two omelettes, humming all the while. It wasn't until she had taken her first eggy bite that she realized what was amiss. She walked over to the bed to see that her husband had yet to even get dressed. Instead he lay motionless under the sheets. Fearing the worst from his uncharacteristically lazy behavior Claire climbed onto the bed and shook him.
"What is wrong with you? Leave me alone!" yelped the enraged chicken rancher as he got up. Claire was taken aback. Their marriage happened less than a season ago and she wasn't expecting the bickering to start quite so soon. She glared at him and returned to her breakfast. Rick soon joined her, looking dejected.
"I'm very sorry. I don't know what came over me."
Claire sighed and went to wash her dish.
"This… this is delicious! Are these Zelda's eggs?" asked Rick, referring to Claire's first prize winning hen. Claire turned and smiled while nodding. Everyone had the occasional bad morning, even ever dependable Rick. She skipped to the chest to retrieve the tools she'd need for the day and went back to the table, holding her map of the farm.
She rolled it out and pointed excitedly at the field which was covered in plots of wonderful summer crops. It was her most bold farming plan yet. Almost the entire field would be utilized and most exhilarating of all would be the 12 3x3 plots devoted to pineapples. The thought of the profit she'd make made her want to whistle a tune! When she motioned to her crop crown jewels Rick's face turned sour.
"I can't believe I forgot! I've had a month to prepare and I forgot. All the celebration and moving made me forget of the Scourge of the Summer!" he fumed as he ran out the door.
Claire walked out of her home with her heart feeling heavy. Looking out at the neighboring farm she saw that Jack was almost done with his seed sowing. He ran over red-faced and panting.
"Heard Rick leave a few minutes ago," he said while laughing. Claire rummaged through her rucksack until she retrieved her trusty hammer. "Hey, hey now!" he backed away and held up his gloved hands. "I mean no offence He's been mellowing out since you guys have been together. Y'know, giving more responsibilities to Popuri on the ranch and all that. I was surprised by the return of good ol' crazy haired, ranting and raving Rick. Looks like your womanly charms have no effect on his hatred for Kai, huh?"
Claire then swung with enough fury to destroy a decent sized rock but Jack, expecting such retribution quickly jumped out of the way. Regardless, they were separated by the small river that divided their respective farms. The tool hit the water with Claire's raw power and she became drenched as a result. Jack, who was far enough away to avoid the splash began laughing so hard that he fell over. Drawn out by all this commotion, Karen ran over and began to admonish her husband. Jack quickly got up and returned to his work.
"I'm so sorry about his immaturity. Would you like me to get a towel for you?" she asked. Claire shook her head and pointed at the sun, which she unhappily noticed was already pretty high in the sky, as if to say that her clothes and hair will dry quickly in the summer heat. Once Karen left, Claire sat under her apple tree and began to sort out her thoughts.
Jack was certainly not to blame although she knew she'd have to get even with him soon. He had been her rival ever since she had bought the run down farm on a whim after seeing the newspaper ad. Jack had been there for exactly a year at that point and definitely didn't offer any advice or help. He wasn't outright cruel by any means but he said point blank that he had been planning to buy the property as his operation was expanding so rapidly. It surely was depressing that first week to see her meager two turnip plots that she could barely keep up with while his garden and livestock flourished.
She laughed aloud at the distant memory. They were still rivals but it was much more positive nowadays. The pushed each other to do their best. When she thought of the infamous "harvest sprite wars" of the previous year… Well the harvest goddess has yet to remove the giant rock barricading the path next to the church.
No it was Rick who was the one who needed to be dealt with. Though try as she might, she couldn't think of a simple way to solve the problem of her husband's obnoxious behavior. She sighed and began her farm work.
As fate would have it, Popuri woke up with a bad cold that morning. Eagerly awaiting Kai's return she stayed up all night on the dock like a child on Christmas Eve despite knowing full well that the ferry would arrive at 8am. Accompanied with her favorite book of fairy tales and a few candles she lasted until 12am. Although it was technically summer and she did bring a blanket, Zack left his house in the morning to find her sniffling and shivering while she slept.
She woke up in her snug bed. She stayed cocooned like that for several minutes, letting her dreams continue on into her daydreams. Moving her arm to scratch her elbow she noticed that she was wearing her everyday dress. When she finally realized the date she jumped out and ran downstairs to find her mother already manning the register.
"Dear, you really ought to stay in bed. You aren't well."
In response, Popuri sneezed three times and reached for the doorknob.
"Now stop that right this instance," Lillia snapped. She got up from her chair and walked to the door. "What you did was dangerous. Why I shudder to think what would've happened if it wasn't Zack who found you and brought you back." Her hardened expression made Popuri feel worse than the words themselves. It was so rare for her mother to be anything but smiling. She really admired her mother's fortitude in the face of her illness. But the town was so small peaceful that she inwardly scoffed at the idea of anything more dangerous than a bee sting occurring.
As if reprimanding her daughter took too much out of her, Lillia returned to her chair. She sighed and resumed smiling.
"You remind me of my younger days. I would wait for days for my darling to return from his father's fishing expeditions…" Popuri smiled as she blew her nose. She loved hearing about her parent's courtship. It always sounded like something out of a fairy tale.
With that thought Popuri remembered her book.
"Mom, did Zack have my fairy tales with him when he came here?"
"No but you certainly gave him enough to carry with those candles and blanket, dear."
Popuri raced outside without another thought.
Rick was standing outside of Kai's restaurant. Having arrived a little before 8am he paced the dock for about two hours while waiting for the boat that carried the loathsome vagrant. Then he spent another hour knocking furiously on the door as Kai had obviously arrived early. However his anger fueled adrenaline eventually ran out and his hand ached horribly so he opted for scrutinizing the building.
"What a horrible eyesore. What kind of ruffian paints a nice Gotz-made house such an obnoxious white? Probably crawling with salmonella inside... I bet he doesn't even have proper tables and chairs for his poor, poor customers," he muttered.
It was at this point that Popuri arrived at the beach.
"Rick!" Popuri said as menacingly as she could with her stuffy nose.
"Popuri, you're going to tell me right now where Kai is!"
"Oh just be quiet!" and with that she ran to the dock.
Rick walked over and watched as his sister angrily thrashed at the ocean with her hands while sneezing and crying. All of his anger was replaced with sadness. The blubbering mess resembled a small child more than a capable adult.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"My fairy," she sneezed "tales. They're gone."
Rick sat beside Popuri and gave her a hug. He ended up getting snot on his clothes and hair but he barely noticed. He knew how important that book was to his sister. It was the last gift their father gave her before he left.
"Hey good looking," came a voice from behind her. Claire turned around to see a familiar purple bandana-ed face. Despite the horrible start to her day, she'd been working at a better pace than she had on Spring 1. Seeing Kai lifted her spirits a little further although it was accompanied with her anxiety about Rick. His charisma and sunny attitude was always refreshing.
"Wow the farm looks fantastic! Talk about beauty, brains, and brawn."
Claire smiled, sighed and then showed off her left hand on which was a blue feather ring.
"Whoa I mean no disrespect to the Missus!" He looked genuinely shocked although he continued with his banter. "Who's the lucky Mineral Townie?"
She gave him a look as if to say 'Who do you think, numbskull?'
"No, no, no say it ain't so! You mean to say that such a high-strung, overbearing, chauvinistic, small minded, poultry obsessed, turtleneck wearing, long haired loser tricked you into marrying him? I honestly thought you'd come to reason before such a tragedy occurred," he said loudly. She knew he was being over the top but that he wasn't too far off from his actual feelings. She put her hand up to stop him from continuing and went back to work.
"I actually saw the little bugger earlier today," he continued on. "Or, well I heard him. The ferry arrived early and I was going to surprise Popuri. But then the voice that I usually only hear in my worst nightmares… I ran into the woods to avoid him and now here I am. Though I guess I should leave if this is where the devil now resides."
Claire turned around to glare but he simply laughed. "Could you tell Popuri to meet me at the inn?" he seemed more serious now. "I really don't want to have to deal with him today."
Claire, her mood now very low indeed simply nodded. The problem wasn't just Rick.