Hi there. I realize that this idea isn't quite original, but I really wanted to write about it. If you'd please R&R, I'll try my best to keep the story line interesting.

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Future Times
Chapter One-Lillia's Departure

Twenty-one years ago, Joe thought, twenty-one years ago my father set foot on this farm to restore it back to the condition it was in when great- grandpa was alive. He scanned the field intently. It was in very good condition. The animals were grazing contently in the grass field surrounded by a neatly arranged fence. He tried to imagine his father setting the fence line. Each piece of lumber one by one being struck into the ground. How hard his father had worked to recover the farm. Then the memory hit him why he was standing alone.

Everyone was dressed in black standing down at the graveyard. The parson was speaking kind words and memories about Flower Bud Village's beloved Lillia. Her husband, good, old Basil was taking it pretty hard. Popuri was doing her best to comfort him, but he continued to stare at Lillia's grave in disbelief. Mint was crying into her father's shoulder uncontrollably. Joe just stood silently next to his parents. He thought it would be a bad impression if Mint saw him crying. Besides it was unmanly to cry...right? He wasn't so sure anymore.
After the funeral Jack told his son, Joe that they needed to talk. So Jack explained the whole mess of arrangements that were to be made.
"Joe," Jack began, "Basil decided that he just can't run the flower shop alone. He asked Popuri and Gray to move in and run it. Of course they accepted, and that means that no one will be there to run Green Ranch. So your mother and I decided to run it, but that still leaves the Harvest Farm to be taken care of. I was hoping you'd take care of it. You're almost nineteen and I think it would be good for you to have a place of your own." Joe thought on it a moment. It couldn't be too bad, could it? His father had done the same thing, and the farm had been in a much worse state than it was in now.
"Okay Dad," he answered. "I'll try it."

From that moment on the farm was his. Joe laughed, for it wasn't every day you were just given a farm to care for. He stepped inside the desolate farmhouse. It was strange not to see his mother's decorations or his father's knick-knacks cluttering up the house. He took a look around, and stared at what once was a busy home, his home. And even though it was the same old house he'd lived in all his life, it had a sense of newness to it. It was now his "new" home.
But after about two minutes of looking around, he became bored exploring his "new" home so he decided to go to town. But before he reached downtown, he ran into Kai and Karen's son, Riley, who was a bit younger than himself.
"Hi Joe," Riley greeted with one of his trademark grins. "Um tell me...is Mint alright?" Joe knew what he was talking about. Anyone would've. It didn't surprise him why he was asking either. Riley had always been sort of infatuated with Mint, and naturally he asked about her a lot. It did pain Joe to answer Riley, though...about Lillia. Even though he wasn't related to her by blood, he was by marriage, and she'd always been like a real grandma to him.
"Um, I'm not sure at the moment, Riley," Joe struggled with what to say next. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, Riley, but I've got to go." Joe skidded off and away from Riley's curiosity. He breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he was out of earshot. He approached the flower shop. It felt eerie to be around Lillia's beloved shop. Joe's uncle, Gray was hammering up a new sign that read "Popuri's Flower Shop." It was strange to see that, but everyone knew it would end up that way sooner or later. Joe cautiously entered the shop where he found Mint slumped up in a chair.
"Hi Mint," he greeted his cousin gently.
"Oh...hi Joe," she quietly replied. Something was definitely wrong. For one thing Mint never called him Joe, always Joey. And for another thing she just wasn't her usual, chipper self. Joe's concern clearly showed on his face. Mint was vulnerable enough to notice.
"Uh Mint."
"I know Joe...but grandpa keeps reminding me. I don't want to be sad, I really don't, but grandpa..." She was about to crumple, but Joe caught her in a tight embrace. Mint let the tears fall freely. She never hesitated to cry in front of Joe. She knew he understood. It was a cousin thing. Actually Joe was more like a brother than a cousin so it was a cousin-brother thing.
"Maybe you should stop spending so much time around Basil...and around this shop." At first he was afraid he'd said the wrong thing, but when he realized that she was captivated by his words, he knew that it was safe to continue. "You should get out and meet more people... Hey, why don't we go somewhere right now?" Mint's face brightened like a light. She got up from her chair, and soon she and her cousin were headed to Moon Mountain.

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Hi again. I really hope I can get some reviews. That's all I ask for. Thanks so much for taking time to read my story so far. Sorry my chapter is a little short.