Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harvest Moon series.
AN: This is for the Village Square Contest, which is Lost and Found this time.
The snow was gently falling over Mineral Town as a young black haired girl headed for home. She had been playing house with Stu earlier, but it didn't take long for the young boy to get tired of it. He tried to suggest something else, but that was when the girl realized she had to get home, as it was getting a little late.
May sighed softly to herself as she walked, her footsteps crunching the snow underneath her feet. Why was Stu always so reluctant to play house or other games she suggested? She never understood why. As she was thinking to herself, she suddenly shivered. Her right hand was feeling cold.
The girl lifted her hand to her face, and to her surprise she noticed that her mitten wasn't on her hand. When May left home, Barley made sure that she was covered up with a winter coat, some earmuffs to cover her ears, a scarf, and two red mittens. Checking her other hand, she saw the mitten covering it. Her eyes widened as she looked around, especially the way she came, wondering if the mitten could have slipped off of her hand. But she didn't see it.
May paused for a moment and shivered again, only this time; it had nothing to do with how cold it was. She remembered how her grandfather had yelled at her the last time she lost something. Realizing what this could mean, she turned in her steps and ran for the church.
On the way, she didn't even bother looking for her mitten. Instead she continued to run through the snow, tears stinging her eyes as she went.
Carter smiled a little as he stood, getting up from his daily prayer. He always felt that he should pray to the Harvest Goddess every day. It didn't matter if the weather was sunny, raining, or even snowing like today. He felt that it was a way to express his gratitude for the harvests they have every year. Today he even thanked her for her guidance in finding a way to allow young Cliff to stay at the town. He was sure that it was thanks to her divine intervention that had gotten him a job at the Winery.
The priest looked around his room. It wasn't much, but then again, he never saw the need to demand too much. All he had was a simple bed and sheets, and a dresser where he kept his clothes and stuff. On the top of the dresser was some truffle seeds were kept.
As the priest started to leave his room, he thought he could hear the sounds of soft sobbing coming from the other side. The smile wilted when he heard it. Who could be crying? He opened the door and looked across the pews, trying to find the one he was hearing.
It didn't take him long to find May, sitting near the front of the pews. She was sniffling and her head was lowered. Carter gazed at the young one with sympathy and walked over to where she was sitting down.
"What is troubling you, my child?" the priest asked softly, looking over the crying girl.
May looked up and saw Carter standing there, her eyes were all red and puffy and tears streaked down her face.
"May? What's wrong?" Carter asked again. "I thought you were going home after you were done playing with Stu today."
The young girl nodded weakly. "I… I was…" she murmured quietly. "But… but…"
"But what?" the priest questioned in a gentle voice.
May wiped the tears from her eyes. "I… was on my way home when… I discovered that… o… one of my mittens was missing," she explained in a soft tone. "Grandpa… I'm sure that Grandpa would be mad at me."
Carter tilted his head to one side. "Why would he be angry at you?"
"Because… because the last time I lost something, he scolded me," the little girl explained, trying to hold her tears back.
"But don't you think he is going to be more worried about you?" Carter asked the black haired girl. "You are his granddaughter after all, and you should have been home by now. I'm sure that he is worried sick about you."
"But… what about my mitten?"
"Even if he does get mad at you for that, I'm sure he would be relieved to know that you are safe and sound," the priest told May. "But, I'll tell you what, May, how about we look for your mitten together."
May brightened a little when she heard Carter's suggestion. "O… Okay," she agreed, nodding her head.
Carter smiled at the young girl as she went to pick up her coat, earmuffs, scarf and her lone mitten. The man went to get his own coat with a hood, and some gloves to put over his hands. When both of them were ready, they headed out into the cold winter day.
By now, the sun was beginning to set, the rays trying to break through the clouds. Due to Carter's suggestion, they looked around the path that the little girl took to go home. Not that she had to take too many paths, but even a mitten could be lost in that period of time.
They searched the path on the way to the church. When they didn't see anything red, they headed toward the village square. Usually Sasha, Manna and Anna would be here to gossip, but because of the snow they stayed home. Once they got there, they split up in order to cover more ground.
Both of them were unsuccessful in their search, although Carter did notice a faint outline where someone had fallen in the snow. He didn't know who it was, but it was a good thing that whoever it was had gotten back up again.
The two continued their search, but it didn't matter where they went, they couldn't find May's lost mitten. The little girl looked sad again, and couldn't seem to hide her worry very well.
"I'll go with you, May," Carter told the little girl. "I'll explain everything to your grandfather."
"Thank you," May said softly. She did look a little better, but it looked like she was still scared that she was going to get scolded for it.
As they walked on the snow on the way to Barley's ranch, Carter noticed a tear forming in the corner of the little girl's eye. He had to come up with something to try to make the girl feel better before they got back to her home. After thinking about it for a few seconds, a thought occurred to him.
"You know, I lost one of my mittens before."
"You did?" May asked, looking up to the man's face.
Carter turned his gaze down to the little girl and smiled at her. "Of course, I'm sure everyone has lost something at one point or another. I've lost my mittens before, but I have also lost many other things. I'm sure that even your grandfather has lost some things of his own."
"Really?" the black haired girl questioned.
"Oh, I'm sure he did," the priest said. "I'm sure he has lost many things. You just don't know about them."
"I see," May said softly.
"However, the things we lose, whether they are mittens or something else, can be easily replaced," the priest went on. "However, I'm sure that among things that could be lost, you would be last thing that Barley would want to lose."
May fell silent after that, and Carter didn't know what else to tell the girl. He could only hope that Barley did not scold the girl for losing something like a mitten. He knew the old man well, and was pretty sure that he missed May dearly right now. And he did lose someone a while ago, and he was sure that he did not want to go through that pain ever again.
Finally, they came to a stop in front of the ranch. May looked a little nervous, so Carter stepped up and knocked on the door. It didn't take long before the door opened.
"Hello there, Carter," Barley greeted, looking really worried.
"Hello, Barley," Carter replied. "Sorry to bother you, but May came to the church a while ago." He looked down at the little girl, noticing that she was peeking out from behind him.
"There you are!" Barley exclaimed as he looked at the little girl. He looked relieved to see the girl. "Why did you go to the church instead of coming home?"
"She lost one of her mittens," the priest explained for the girl. "She was worried that you would be really mad at her, so she came to the church."
The old man nodded slowly. "I see. What makes you think I would be mad?" he asked, looking at the little girl.
Before the other man could answer, May spoke up from behind the priest. "It's because the last time, you scolded me when I lost something."
Barley knew what she was talking about and sighed a little. "Yeah, but you lost my medal, something that I worked hard to get. I told you not to play with it, and you disobeyed me. I suppose I could have handled that better, but I was so mad because it was so important to me, and the fact that you disobeyed me."
May walked out from behind Carter and over to her grandpa. "So… so you're not mad?"
The old man bent down to the little girl and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm a little mad that you didn't come to me when you lost your mitten," the old man explained. "But, I'm just glad that you are home, safe and sound."
The priest smiled at the two, happy at the way things turned out. He gave a silent prayer to the Harvest Goddess for the outcome.
Back at the church, Carter was busy polishing the statue of the Harvest Goddess when he heard the sound of the doors opening. Wondering who it could be, he turned around and noticed a familiar blonde haired girl coming closer.
"Oh, hello Claire."
"Hello," Claire greeted back. "Could you hold on to something for me?" The young lady reached a hand into her coat pocket, and took out a small, red mitten.
The priest eyed the mitten and a small smile crossed his face. "Where did you find that?"
"At the square," the blue eyed girl answered. "Cliff fainted again and I noticed this mitten beside him. I noticed it was too small to fit his hand. I figured you might know what to do with it."
"I believe I do," the priest agreed with a warm smile as he accepted the small mitten from Claire's outstretched hand. "Thank you very much, Claire."