Silent Sparks

Prologue

The small bell attached to the top of the diner's front door made a soft tinkling noise as a petite girl gently pushed against the handle that stretched across the glass door. As she entered the tiny establishment, the tall, brunette man working behind the counter slowly looked up from his book. As the girl strode across the cream colored tile floor toward him, a warm smile of recognition washed across his face. Upon reaching the counter, she casually leaned against it before returning his smile.

"Morning, Chelsea," he snapped his book closed and pushed it off to the side before speaking again, "The usual?" he asked the girl, pushing his slowly slipping glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

She nodded her head, "Yep. Thanks, Jake." She shifted her weight off of the counter and walked over to the table with the best view out the shop's window. She pulled out a wooden chair from underneath the table, making it moan as it's legs drug against the floor. She then sat down in her seat and stared out the window as waited for Jake to come with her beverage.

Outside, the busy Mineral City street was filled with dozens of people moving about engrossed in their daily routines. Although it only seemed like seconds, Jake appeared out of the back with her coffee in tow in only minutes. He carefully but quickly walked over to her table, placing her coffee in front of her then pulled out a second chair at the table to sit down across from her. She looked at him quizzically for a moment, "What's up?" she finally asked him, curiously.

He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, "Listen, a friend called me last night. He owns this fishing business on some island called the 'Island of Happiness', dumb name in my opinion but, to each his own I guess," he handed the small object over to her. "It's the number of the guy who owns the place. Denny told me he recently built a couple of ranches and has been trying to get the word around so that he can lease them," a smile tugged at his lips before he continued with his story. "So, I told him I had a friend who had been looking to start running a ranch of their own but wasn't having much luck finding a place, so he gave me the number," he explained. He leaned back in his chair while she unfolded the sheet and read the number written neatly across it, the name Mr. Pennington above it.

She looked up at Jake, a doubtful inkling in her mind that she was not going to like the answer to her next question, "How much?"

His smile faltered, "Well, uh, they cost 2,400G a month..."

"2,400G?! Jake, are you crazy?" she looked at him with widened eyes as she made frantic gestures in the air with her hands. "I can barely pay my rent of 800G for my shitty city apartment and still have enough left over to buy groceries! The only reason I even come here and buy coffee once every other day is because of you!" she jabbed an accusatory finger towards him.

"Jeez, Chelsea, lower your voice. I already know that but, it's just that," he sighed, "it already has a barn and a coop with a pasture. Also, it has a furnished one story house! That's a lot more than any of the other places you were looking at had. Like that one in Flowerbloom Village or wherever it was," he tried to convince her but he saw that she was going to be quite stubborn about this.

"It was Flowerbud Village, Jake," she crossed her arms as she leaned onto the back of her chair and let a frustrated huff pass through her lips.

"Yeah, whatever. But look, would you please at least call and talk to the guy before you make any final decisions on the subject?" he asked her hopefully, even though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer from the look on her face.

Her furrowed brows raised as she rolled her eyes at him then shrugged her shoulders, "I'll think about it," she growled. When she looked up she saw a bit of disappointment on his face and she flashed him an apologetic smile as she looked at him, "You know, I appreciate you thinking of me Jake; Really, I do."

His gaze shifted to the entrance as he heard the bell sound again, announcing another customer's arrival. "No problem, Chelsea," he said as he swiftly stood and then walked back to the front counter of the shop.

Chelsea finished her small cup of coffee then folded up the tiny paper and stuffed it into her jean's back pocket after she had stood. She caught Jake's eye and gave him a small wave before she pulled open the shop door and walked out onto the sidewalk. As she began to walk down the bustling city street towards her workplace, she thought about the paper stuffed in her pocket and pondered over whether she should call about the ranch or just forget about it all together.

That night as she arrived home to her tiny apartment, she kicked off her shoes and proceeded over to her couch to flop down onto the cheap polyester clad cushions. With her head resting comfortably on the back of the couch, she contemplated the number that lie in her back pocket. She stretched, pushing her mid-section into the air, as she tried to dig it out of her pocket without standing up. After a few moments, she was successful in her endeavor and unfolded the crumpled sheet of paper then scanned the contact number quickly. She reached her hand over to the small table beside her couch and grabbed the receiver, then dialed the number.

She raised the phone to her ear and after only a few rings she heard a voice, "Hello?" said what sounded to be an older man on the other end of the line.

"Yes, hi. I am calling about the ranches you have for lease," she said in as professional a sounding voice as she could muster.

"Ah, yes! You are interested?" he asked her happily.

She took a moment to consider what she wanted to say, if she really was interested or not. I should have thought about that before I called. "Yes, I am." she quickly replied. Her head fell into her palm as she thought about what she had just done. "But," her mind was racing with questions that she could possibly ask to get out of the slight mess she had just made, "I was wondering if I could come and have a look at the place before I make any final decisions?"

Yes, Chelsea, let's divert him from thinking you're interested with another question implying that you are indeed interested! Genius plan, bravo!

The man laughed heartily, "Of course! That would not be a problem at all," he ensured her.

"Oh, good," her shoulders dropped as she rolled her eyes at herself. Well, no turning back now, I guess. Might as well go have look at the place even though I'm sure that I can't afford it, she thought. "Now, um, how exactly would I get to the island? I live in Mineral City and haven't ever seen any ferries with that destination," she asked him inquisitively.

"That is correct, young lady. What you will need to do is find a man named Pascal on the Mineral docks. He lives in his boat, The Blue Bell, so you needn't worry about him not being there whenever you go. Just tell him I sent you and he will bring you over for a small fee of 50G. It's about a 6 hour trip but I assure you it will be worth it," he explained to her. She had grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and wrote all of the details down. Mineral Docks, Pascal, The Blue Bell, all right.

"Well, Friday is my day off so, would you mind if I came then?" she inquired.

"Not at all. The sooner the better, I say," he replied in a quite cheerful tone.

"Thank you. I will see you on Friday then, sir. Ah, my name is Chelsea Abbot, by the way," she informed him.

"Mine is Taro. Taro Pennington. Thank you very much for your call, Ms. Abbot. I look forward to seeing you Friday. Have a very good night," he said.

"You as well. Goodbye," Chelsea said hastily and removed the phone from her ear, ending the call just before her body flopped back onto the couch again.

"Goddess... I'm such a dunce," she whined.

Word Count (without A/N): 1,499

A/N: Hello, everyone! It is Whisparia and I am back with a new story! I have been working on this story line for awhile now and thought it was about time that I posted at least the prologue to see if you, the readers, are interested in seeing more of this story! Even though this prologue doesn't reveal anything that is going to happen later on in the story other than her going to the island, I do hope you like it. Please, leave me constructive criticism or just your thoughts in the reviews and enjoy. I have the next two chapters being revised at the moment and the rest of the story is carefully planned out... mostly. Well, I do hope you all have a wonderful day! Goodbye!

-Whispy