Chapter 1
(Chelsea)
"Bye Marian! Bye dad! Don't fight while I'm gone." Chelsea called back as she placed her suitcase in the taxi.
She climbed in, her Dad and Stepmom waved goodbye to their only daughter, "Keep in touch, sweetheart!" Her father yelled back.
Chelsea waved goodbye to her family for what would be the last time.
"Goodbye home, hello Sunshine Islands..." She murmured to herself, she listened to Bon Jovi on the car radio till they came to a harbor. She climbed out and breathed in what she thought would be fresh sea air.
She instead got a noseful of rotting fish in a barrel, "Ugh! (Cough) Gross." Chelsea complained, squeezing her nose shut as she carried her suitcase on to the boat.
She found an empty seat near the railing as the wind whipped her mousy brown hair, threatening to whip her red bandana off her head. "Ahh, smooth sailing lying ahead today, eh miss?" A man who smelled of clams and sea silt said.
She hadn't even heard him approach, he had a pipe in his mouth and a twinkle in his eye.
"Oh, hello, I'm Chelsea." She said cheerfully, the man bowed his head, "I will be your captain this fine day, my name is Paschal."
They shared a delightful conversation of her reason for going to the islands, to practice her calling: farming. Then the sky turned dark as thunder rumbled.
The waves were choppy and Chelsea held her stomach, her face a sickly shade of green.
"Uh-oh, that's not good. Every time I sail this thing to the islands this crap happens."
Paschal muttered, pulling his hat closer to his head. Suddenly a flash of lightning ripped across the sky and smashed into the boat, making a huge hole, Chelsea shrieked in surprise.
The boat began sinking, water puddled around her boots.
Chelsea could see the shore ahead of her, just a few meters away.
"Well, here goes nothing." She held her nose and dived into the ocean.
Gasping for air she swam for her life to the sandy shores, her bandana floated a few feet ahead of her.
"NO!" She cried, she paddled over to the floating red hair accessory and clutched it to her chest.
She finally made it to the shore, coughing water out of her lungs. Her clothes were clinging to her body, "Well...I...made it...yay..." Chelsea managed to gasp out before she lost consciousness on the beach, the sky still dark with storm clouds.
"Is she awake?" A voice asked, it sounded so far away, so faint, "I don't know Felicia, I'll try again, HEY WAKE UP ALREADY!" The voice shouted, it pierced her eardrums.
"Kyaaah!" She yelped as she woke up, her forehead beaded with sweat. She surveyed the room she was in, a woman with curly pink hair in old fashioned clothes stared at her, eyes full of worry. There was an old man there too, bald and clutching a pitchfork, clothed in a farmers guise.
"Oh, thank heavens you're alive!" The woman with pink hair said, she handed Chelsea a bowl of corn soup. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she swallowed every drop. "You have such an appetite dear, oh how rude of me. I'm Felicia and this is my father, Taro." said the woman as she pointed to Taro.
The old man waved her off, "Yes, yes you've had your pleasantries. What's your name?" Taro asked Chelsea. "I-I'm Chelsea, I'm the new farmer...farming...OH MY GOD! I have to get to the Sunshine Islands, like right now! Thanks for your hospitality, but I have to go-" She said, her legs wobbled and she collapsed on the bed.
Taro chuckled, "My dear girl, you are on the Sunshine Islands. You're the one we've been waiting for."
Chelsea smiled happily, "But for now, why don't we show you around. Now as you can see, this is your new home." Taro said as he revealed the rest of the home. A small kitchen, A door made of oak, A large dining table and a few other pieces of furniture.
"Come on now. I'll show you outside." He continued as he opened the door and left, Chelsea managed to stand better, though Felicia had to hold her arm as they walked to the door.
Chelsea was greeted by sweet spring air and soft sunshine. The smell of rich earth was strong. She sighed, she was going to love it here.
"Now, if you'll come here, this is your field, where you can plow and plant to your heart's content. Just remember that plants wither in the next season or if not cared for enough." Taro said as he motioned Chelsea towards a wide open field of plowed land.
She squealed happily and raced into the field, already calculating where she would plant her first crops.
"Oh, you'll need these, a gift for a farmer starting out." Taro said as he handed her a plow, a watering can, some packs of seeds and a bag of G. Chelsea moaned inwardly as she remembered that she lost her belongings, except for a few pieces of clothing and her bandana.
She glanced down and saw that she was wearing new clothes, a pair of denim shorts, a yellow shirt and a short red jacket, her signature boots were on too. "I bought you some new clothes Chelsea, don't worry it's your style, I think." Felicia whispered in Chelsea's ear, she grinned gratefully at Felicia.
"Helllooo? Pay attention!" Taro snapped, as he walked to a big red building with white trim, "This is your barn, you can take care of animals here: Cows, sheep, horses, etc., etc." He said.
Chelsea grinned in anticipation of new animals, Taro showed her a well and a chicken coop. "Now, I need to go home, feel free to explore and say hi to the other residents, most of them are here, except for Vaughn, he only comes on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and sometimes Mondays and Tuesdays as well. But NEVER Fridays." Taro said, and Felicia and he left across the bridge that must've connected to the town.
Chelsea was so excited that she got to work, in one hour she had three rows of freshly planted turnips done. She had hardly broken a sweat. "Well, that was fun, time to go introduce myself to everyone." She said cheerfully as she brushed some dirt specks off her shorts.
The town was bigger than she thought, a carpenters that smelled like refined ore. A General store where she could buy seeds. An animal store and a few randomly spread out houses, a stretch of sea glistened in the sun. Another bridge led to a large stretch of forest and the bridge on the west led to another part of town.
"But daddy! I want to play with Eliza~!" a little Asian boy yelled as he rushed out of the general store, his face was streaked with tears. An older man who must've been the boys' dad followed him; the man face palmed and looked at his son with contempt. "Charlie, you have to finish inventory so we can open for business, then you can play with your little friend, ok?" "Hi!" Chelsea exclaimed cheerfully as she walked up to the Asian father and son.
"Oh, hello miss, you must be Chelsea. The new farmer we heard about, right?" The man asked and Chelsea nodded enthusiastically.
"I'm Chen, and this annoying pain in the neck is my son, Charlie. We run the General store as you can see." Chen said as he gave his son a final glare before nodding to Chelsea.
"Nice to meet ya lady! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a play date to get to. BYEDADDYHOPEYOUSELLALOTKBYE!" Charlie said as he raced off to the carpenters place.
"Bye son. Wait a minute! Charlie! Bring your little butt back here and finish the damn inventory! Nice meeting you Chelsea! CHARLIE!" Chen said as he ran off after Charlie.
"Ook, then...Animal shop next." Chelsea said as she walked a little uncertainly to the animal shop.
"What if they're even crazier, oh boy..." She opened the door and was greeted by the smell of fresh chicken feed and fodder. A plump woman behind the counter beamed a brilliant smile at her, "Hi there! You're a new face, you must be Chelsea. I'm Mirabelle, welcome to my animal shop." Mirabelle shouted to the back, "Julia! Come and meet the new farmer!" A slender girl wearing a true workers outfit and a bouncy blond ponytail ran inside through the back door.
A boy about her age walked behind her, he had pale orange hair and glasses, he smiled shyly at her and waved. The girl was Chelsea's age as well but somehow she was more mature, "Hi, I'm Julia." She smiled warmly. The boy pushed up his glasses, "I-I'm Elliot, p-p-pleased to meet you."
Julia pushed Elliot playfully, " Oh loosen up, will ya? You're as boring as Vaughn sometimes." Elliot blushed," Sorry, and hey, Vaughn's a big bully..."
"Hey, who's this Vaughn dude I keep hearing about?" Chelsea said, all eyes were on her and she instantly felt uncomfortable.
Mirabelle saved her thankfully, "Vaughn is the animal trader, when you buy an animal he brings it to your house. Though he mostly just wanders around town, he can be a little...well...antisocial. He hates nearly everyone, though he counts us as friends anyway. Sabrina used to be his friend, but she got married to Mark last year so she moved away."
"He's a jerk." Elliot said, he pouted which made his facial features look knockout adorable. "I say, he just needs a close friend, any volunteers?" Julia said, no one offered.
Chelsea felt bad for this Vaughn guy and spoke up, "I'll be his friend! How bad can he be, right?" Mirabelle clapped her on the shoulder, "Noble! I like that. Good luck, he comes tomorrow. I'll send him to meet you in person before I set him to work."
Julia and Elliot smiled encouragingly, I felt at home, "Oh, how old are y-you anyway, Chelsea?" Elliot asked. "I'm 16." She said. Julia cocked her head to one side in confusion, " What the... why is it that every teen is the same age here? That makes it: Denny, Lanna, I, Elliot, Natalie, Pierre, Shea, Sabrina, Mark, Will, Witch princess, Vaughn, and now you for being 16."
"Well, I have to go, now, bye." Chelsea said as she waved at them as she left the store. "Huh, more people in this town than I thought." She took a few more steps and crashed into a huge wall, or something. "OOF!" A glance up, "KYAHHH!" She screamed a huge guy with ripped muscles and a menacing sneer towered over her.
"Quit that annoying screaming, though I can't say you're the first. Anyway, I'm Gannon, the town carpenter." said the man with a snort.
"I-I'm Chelsea, nice to meet you, gotta run!" She said as she hurried away.
Later on that day she met the food critic Pierre, the fisherman Denny and singer Lanna. She entered a little cottage, inside was Taro, Felicia, and a girl in a green sweater, she had the same pale orange hair as Elliot.
"Oh, Good afternoon Chelsea! This is Natalie one of my children." Felicia said, motioning to the pale girl. "Hi...Hey did you see an annoying awkward guy? About yea tall? With glasses?" Natalie said as she positioned her hand a few inches below her head.
"Stop teasing your brother Elliot, Natalie! He does more work around here than you." Taro said irritably as he munched on a turnip.
Chelsea left after some mumbled goodbyes and made towards her home.
She made it to her door when she heard a tiny sound, "(Whine) (Whine)..." It was coming from the bush nearest her house.
She began pushing it away, her eyes shielded by her other hand, "Please don't be a rat. Please don't be a frickin rat!" Instead it was a small beagle puppy with pale brown fur. "Arf!" It barked, its tail wagged happily.
"Hi there, fella!" Chelsea said as she bent down and patted the small dog on the head, "Are you lost?" The dog looked at her sadly, she thought for a while. "Want to be my new pet?" "Woof! Woof!" The dog practically leaped into her arms, Chelsea laughed as she dodged a wet kiss from a long brillo pad tongue.
They went inside and she placed the dog on the floor.
"Hmm, you need a name... how about Pooches?" Chelsea asked the dog, the dog growled and shook his head. "Fifi?" The dog gave her a disgusted look, "Ok, Ok let me think...Hmm, how about Hachi? Short for Hachico." Hachi barked happily and jumped up and down.
Chelsea walked over to the fridge and opened it, a few jugs of milk, eggs and a few cans of minced meat was all that was in there.
She opened a can and fed it to Hachi, he ate it before she could blink. Yawning, she changed into her pjs' and crawled into her bed. Her new dog curled up by her pillow and licked her face before falling asleep. "Night, my sweet little Hachico. Tomorrow is another day." Chelsea murmured as she fell into a deep sleep. Little did she know that her world was going to change forever the next day.
