One
"Oh!" I sigh in frustration. I throw my tools down and sit next to my crops in the shade they provide.
It's been a few months since I moved to Konohana, and is now the first official day of summer. I've been trying to force myself to enjoy growing crops… But I'd much rather be spending my time with my cow and chickens. However, the farms here in Konohana are centered around agriculture rather than animals.
I stand up, stretch, and glance at my watch: 11 a.m. I'd say that's close enough to lunchtime for me to take a break. First I'll stop by Kana's, then Dr. Ayame's, and then get lunch at Yun's Tea House.
As I'm leaving my farm I fumble through my bag to make sure I grabbed my wallet off the table. I always seem to be misplacing things… I was sure I put it in here this morning…
As I'm looking through my bag I suddenly bump into something hard causing me to lose my balance and fall backwards. I rub my forehead. "Oof… Watch where you're going…" I mumble to whatever I hit.
I look up expecting to see Kana or Hiro, but instead I see someone completely new. "Oh! Sorry!" he says and extends a hand out to help me up. I accept his hand and ask, "Are you new here?"
Now that I'm on my feet again I get a better look at him. He has light brown hair, green eyes, and he can't be more than an inch taller than me. I also notice his bag that seems to be very full of envelopes.
"Nope! Are you?" he asks.
"Not really… I moved here in spring, and I'm certain I've never seen you here before…" I say.
He laughs. "Well, I suppose not if you just moved here in spring. I went back home during spring, but I'm glad to be back in Konohana again," he says. I nod slowly.
"Anyways, I'm the mail carrier for both Konohana and Bluebell so I'm sure you'll be seeing me a lot from now on. I'm Dirk," he says.
"Oh, ok. I'm Lillian," I say.
He smiles. "Nice to meet you, Lillian,"
He looks down at his watch. "Oh! I can't be late delivering mail on my first day back! I'll see ya later!" he says, waves, and runs off towards Kana's house.
I give a small wave back and decide to skip visiting Kana for now. I would normally go see Kana first, since his house is directly on my way to Yun's Tea House, but I wouldn't want Dirk to think I'm following him… So I'll go see Hiro!
"Hiro~" I sing as I walk into the clinic. I peak my head around the corner of the clinic to see if he's with a patient, but all I see is Dr. Ayame sitting neatly at her desk. I offer her a quick wave and head upstairs to find Hiro.
I see Hiro completely engrossed in one of his medical books, as usual. I walk over and tap him on the shoulder. He jumps and drops the book he was reading. "Lillian! Don't sneak up on me like that…" he says frustrated. I quickly cover my mouth to hide my laughter.
"What are you doing today?" I ask him.
"Not much… It's Friday so…" he says.
"Oh good! Then you can eat lunch with me," I say.
Hiro smiles. "Ok, just let me grab-," he starts to say, but I quickly interrupt.
"No! No books today. If I don't get to stay home and read my novels all day then you don't get to bring your medical books to lunch," I say and drag him away from his bookshelf to Yun's.
"Hi Yun! Where's Ying?" I ask as Hiro and I enter Yun's shop.
Yun smiles, "Oh, she's with Rahi as usual."
I smile back, "Ah, should've known. Then will you give her this firefly for me? I found it in the mountains yesterday and thought she'd like it."
"Yes, of course," she answers.
I soon order my food and pick a shaded seat outside. Hiro follows and sits at the seat across from me.
"So… How's the clinic? And Dr. Ayame?" I ask him.
His eyes light up. "Oh wonderful! There was a traveler passing through that came in yesterday. He had fallen in the mountains and had this terrible injury that Dr. Ayame stitched up… It was a superb learning experience," he says.
I cringe at the thought of having to get stitches. They'd have to knock me out before I let anyone near me with a needle.
"How's the farm?" he asks.
I sigh, "Same as usual."
"Still struggling with your crops?" he asks.
I give him a warning look.
"Forget I asked," he says.
I watch Dirk run into the clinic. Normally I would assume that people running into the clinic would mean an emergency, but as he also ran into Kana's house the same way, I'm guessing he just runs a lot.
"So do you know this Dirk fellow?" I ask Hiro.
Hiro puts his spoon down and looks at me. "Yes, why?"
"Well… I mean… I just met him today and was wondering what he was like," I tell him.
"I don't know all that much about him, but he seems nice enough. He's usually very cheery. Keeps himself busy by delivering the mail for both Konohana and Bluebell," he says.
I nod once, twice, finish my food, and tell Hiro I have to go.
He looked like he had something else he wanted to tell me, but right now I need to go to Bluebell. I have to get fodder, chicken feed, and water my crops again and put Bessy, Strips, and Wings back in the barn before sunset.