Celia sighed and wiped her brow with the back of her dirt-covered hand. She smiled at the field full of strawberries she had just planted.
"There. All finished." She said proudly.
She looked over her shoulder for Vesta. Not seeing her anywhere, she decided that her maternal employer must be in the store room. So, Celia got up off her knees, wiped her hands on her apron and went into the house to wash up. She opened the door to see Marlin, sitting at the table eating his lunch of a sandwich and a glass of milk. He smiled at Celia when she came in.
"You look like you've been working hard. Did you get those strawberries planted?"
Celia smiled broadly and nodded.
"Yep! Every last one." She said as she made her way over to the sink to wash her hands.
She sighed happily and she let the water run over her tired fingers.
"I can't wait until they bloom. Strawberry blossoms are so pretty." She said quietly.
"Not as pretty as other things." Marlin added, glancing at Celia out of the corner of his eye.
Celia blushed a little. She turned the water off and dried her hands on a towel.
"I'm going to town later. Do you need anything? Medicine or anything?" she asked, looking anywhere but at Marlin.
Marlin got up out of his chair and cleared his plate from the table.
"I'll go with you. You shouldn't go to town by yourself, you know. It's a long way." He said as he put his dish in the sink.
Celia's blush deepened.
"That's alright, Marlin. I can take care of myself. Besides, you shouldn't do a lot of walking in such fragile health." She replied, looking at him with worry.
Marlin's face fell and he ground his teeth.
"I'm not an invalid, Celia. A walk to town isn't going to hurt me." He snapped.
Celia jumped a little at his suddenly harsh tone. She bit her lip and looked at the floor.
"I-I'm sorry…..I only thought….."
Marlin cursed himself for upsetting her. He sighed and ran his fingers though his hair.
"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to bark at you like that." He said softly.
Celia looked up and gave him a little smile.
"I just don't want you to push yourself too hard. I don't want to you have any more coughing fits." She said genuinely.
Marlin smiled down at her. He reached over and gently brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. Celia's whole face reddened. Marlin chuckled softly.
"Be back before dark, okay? I worry about you being out there after dark."
Celia merely nodded, incapable of saying anything. Marlin stepped around her and went to the door.
"And tell Vesta before you leave. She might want you to pick up something up." He said as he left.
Celia went up to her room in the loft and changed as her heartbeat returned to normal. Marlin. He loved her so much. He was sweet and all, and Celia liked him, but she just didn't seem to like him near as much as he liked her. And then, there was the matter of the arrangement her parents had set up for her. In no more than two years, she was going to marry a man from the city. A man she had never met, as of yet. It frightened her. So much so that she often thought she just might marry Marlin to get out of it. But that would be wrong. Besides, she didn't want to marry to get out of a marriage. She wanted to marry someone that she truly loved with all her heart. That was Celia's dream.
After she had changed clothes, Celia grabbed a shawl and went out to the storeroom to find Vesta.
"Two tomato seeds, got it. Anything else, Takakura? " Vesta asked.
"Nope, that'll be it for now, thanks Vesta. I just want to get him started. I'm not even sure if he'll want to grow crops the first year. Honestly, I'd rather he raised animals. But, it's going to be his farm so, he can do whatever he wants. I just want to give him options." Takakura answered.
Vesta nodded. "I see. So, when is he coming?" she asked.
Takakura shrugged.
"I don't even know if he's going to come. I'm going tomorrow to see him. If he's up for it, we'll come right back." He explained.
Vesta laughed. 'You mean you don't even know if he's coming yet? And you're going to all this trouble to make sure he has everything! Oh, Takakura, you're a dreamer aren't you?" she joked as Celia came in.
Takakura mumbled something indistinct as Vesta handed him the seeds.
"Well, here's hoping he says 'yes'." She teased with a smile.
Takakura took the seeds, muttered a quick "Hello" to Celia, and left. Celia looked at Vesta, confused.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
Vesta smiled and shook her head.
"Takakura is going to see his old farm partner's son. He's going to see if the boy wants his father's property or not. Takakura's getting on in years and he can't maintain it anymore, so he thought he'd give the kid a chance to run the farm." She explained.
Vesta chortled.
"He's got his mind set on the boy coming, bless him." She added.
Celia's curiosity pricked. She cocked her head to the side.
"How old is the son?" she asked, her checks getting a bit pink.
She wasn't boy crazy or anything but she already knew all the men in the valley and none were interested in her but Marlin. Ever the romantic, Celia thought it might be nice if this boy turned out to like her.
Vesta gave her a sly smile.
"Look at you, miss. Fantasizing about a boy you haven't even met." She jeered.
Celia blushed deeply and looked at the floor.
"I'm just curious." She murmured.
Vesta chuckled and shrugged.
"Takakura didn't say." She replied.
Celia's heart sank just a bit.
"Oh." She commented.
Vesta folded her arms over her chest.
"So, why is it you came in here?"
Celia's head popped up as she suddenly remembered her purpose.
"Oh! I wanted to tell you that I'm going to the store soon. Do you need anything?"
Vesta thought for a moment.
"Two jugs of milk, some butter, and a bag of flour." She decided.
Celia smiled and nodded.
"Alright." She said happily.
Vesta gave her a warning look. "Don't you stay out past dark, you hear? It's dangerous for a young girl to be alone at dark." She warned.
Celia chuckled.
"I'm not so young anymore Vesta. I'm almost 26. But, I promise, I won't stay out late." She said and she turned to leave.
"Take care!" Vesta called after her.
Celia decided to take a walk up to the spring before she headed out. When she had first moved to the valley, Nina had told her a story about three little harvest sprites that lived in the valley.
"They live up near that old spring, tucked away in the big oak tree. They're awfully shy. They don't come out of their holes too often. In fact, you may live your entire life in the valley and never see them. But they're there alright, I know it."
From then on, whenever she could, Celia went up to the spring to visit the sprites and see if they would come out. Today, as she went up the path, she paused by Takakura's farm and looked at it. It was a fairly dismal looking place. The building's were old and there were no animals or plants to liven the place up. Yes, something was definitely missing. A spark. She wondered if the son of Takakura's friend would want anything to do with the farm. She hoped so. It was in desperate need of some life.
Celia came to the spring and stood amongst the flowers that grew there. She bent down and plucked a Goddess Drop and inhaled it's sweet scent. She sighed happily.
"I hope he comes." She murmured aloud.
"Who is it?" Nik asked.
"Be quiet!" Flak scolded.
"But we wanna know who's visiting!" Nak whined.
"Shh! Both of you!" Flak snapped.
"Oh, it's that farm girl!" Nik realized,
"Oh, she's so nice! " Nak commented
"I agree!" Nik concurred.
"BE QUIET!" Flak shushed.
The Sprites watched Celia from behind their tree as she tossed her flower into the spring.
"Hello? It's me again. I just dropped by before I went to town. I don't think I'll be back in time to come later." She called.
Nik sighed.
"She's so sweet. "
"She's so pretty." Nak added.
"Shush!" Flak insisted.
Celia looked around and sighed.
"Well, I suppose I'd better be off." She said finally.
With that she headed down the path toward town, where she would run into an unexpected surprise.
