A three-shot entry for CONTESTS! YAY! The theme this time is summer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or the title Faith Like Potatoes, it's the name of a movie that gave me this inspiration.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead just as I finished planting. It took a lot of work, especially in this summer heat, but hey, it's done.

"Max!" I called, "Max! Come here boy!"

A brown and white dog bounded towards the field that I was kneeling in, his tongue flapping in the wind.

I picked the dog up with ease, scratching behind his ear playfully. "Just wait Maxie-boy, we are going to have ourselves the greatest potatoes Mineral Town has ever seen!"

Max barked happily, cocking his head to the side.

I laughed lightly at his happy-go-lucky expression. I ruffled the top of his head, then set him down. I stood up, brushing the dirt off my denim overalls for a moment before I reached down to pick up my rucksack, hauling it over my shoulder.

"Be a good boy Max! I'll be in town for a bit so behave yourself!" I said to my dog as I started walking towards the entrance into town.

I walked down the cobble-stoned path, with small clouds of dust trailing behind my feet. That's not too unusual, but this summer has been the hottest so far in the past five years that I've been here. So I couldn't really tolerate any dust or whatever that might ruin my plants. More dust means the hotter and dryer the weather, which makes it tougher for my potatoes to grow. Also there hasn't been much of rain for the past several weeks.

I passed Saibara's shop, up to Aja's Winery, where I turned right. I headed towards Doug's Inn, and went inside.

I walked up to the counter, where Doug was serving other customers. I sat on the empty stool near the end.

"Hello Claire, what can I get you?" Doug asked pleasantly.

"Hmmm…" I rubbed my chin with my thumb for a few moments, thoughtful. "What's your special for today?"

"'Baked Corn Supreme', as always." He replied.

"Okay then, I'll go with that."

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Sure thing," I answered back. I began fiddling with a stray of my long blond hair. I twirled it around my slender index finger one direction, then the opposite direction.

"Heeeey Claire!" A cheerful voice cried, interrupting my fiddling.

I looked over my right shoulder and saw Popuri skipping lightly on her feet, over to where I was sitting. She leaned on the counter with her elbow, flipping her rosy hair over her shoulder, smiling hysterically. I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Popuri isn't exactly my favourite person.

"Hi."

"Guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat!" She rushed out.

I shrugged my shoulders in response.

Popuri bounced up and down, excited. "You'll never know what just happened!" She squealed.

"What?"

The pinkette held out her left hand in giddiness. I looked at it briefly. My eyes were drawn to a blue feather that faintly glowed from the sunlight streaming in from the windows. The dust motes swirling around it.

"What about it? It's just a plain old feather." I commented casually. Popuri can get excited over the littlest things.

She gawked at me as if I was the most clueless person in the world.

"It's not just any feather, it's a blue feather!" She said as a matter-of-fact.

"A blue feather, yaaaay…" I waved my index finger in a circular motion, emphasizing my sarcasm.

"Claire, it's a blue feather!" Popuri repeated herself.

"Your point?"

Popuri sighed. "It means I'm engaged! Kai proposed!"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "You people use a feather to propose? What happened to good old fashioned engagement rings?"

Doug reappeared from the kitchen. "Here you go." He said, placing the food in front of me. I began to eat.

Popuri stroked the feather lovingly. I had to stop myself again from rolling my eyes.

"It's an old tradition…" She murmured.

I continued to eat my baked corn. I hadn't much of a kitchen yet, so this is where I usually ate.

"So…how are things on your farm?" Popuri asked.

"It's fine," I said in-between bites.

"Must be hard, in this dreadful summer heat." she dramatized.

"It doesn't bother me much."

"I heard it's not going to rain until mid-fall." She commented.

I sipped some water. "Hmm."

"How are you going to make it?" Popuri continued, tucking her feather away.

"What do you mean?"

"She means, how are you going to make money or even eat for that matter if your crops don't grow?" Someone else explained.

I looked to see Gray sitting on a another stool down a ways.

I raised an eyebrow. "My potatoes will be fine."

"Pffft," He smirked. "How will you be even able to tell? You can't see the potatoes until you harvest them."

"I have faith," I said, smiling a little.

"Faith doesn't grow potatoes." Gray grumbled a little at my optimism, as he gulped down a drink.

"You never know."

"Oh God, now you're beginning to sound like Cliff." He complained, a little frustrated. Popuri rolled her eyes.

"There's nothing wrong with that." I said, defending my friend.

Popuri smirked a little. "Probably because you like him!"

I choked on a portion of my food. It took me a moment after I spat into a napkin. "W-what?! That's stupid, I don't like Cliff!"

Gray and Popuri laughed at my sudden red face.

I heard a loud creak from the staircase. "Y-you…you don't?" A voice commented faintly.

Oh crap.

"Cliff, that's not what I meant-" I tried to explain.

The young man held up his hand. "I know…d-don't bother. People hate my guts anyway…so, just…just don't…" He said quietly, he walked back up the stairs. Moments later I heard a door slam.

I groaned, slumping against the counter. "Thanks a lot guys." Popuri and Gray continued to laugh.

It's funny how much my mood changed in just one hour.

* * * A Little Later * * *

"Cliff!" I knocked on the door for what it felt like the hundredth time. "Cliff, please open the door!"

Silence.

"Cliff, you misheard me. I don't not like you, I do, we're friends, remember?" I sighed. "Popuri was just making a joke."

I pressed my ear to the door, still silence.

Frustrated, I walked back down stairs to the main floor. Popuri, and Gray were still laughing, a lot more quieter though, completely oblivious to anyone else's presence.

I went up to the counter and slammed my money by my unfinished plate. I walked out without another word.

Onwards to chapter two!