Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon, I'm just borrowing the characters.

The Fifth of Fall

Chapter 1:

She awoke to the sounds of the city with a yawn like she did every day, and like everyday it took ten minutes after her alarm went off for her to crawl out of bed. Trudging in the general direction of the bathroom, the petite redhead yawned and stretched her arms, flipping the light switch as she passed it.

The first thing she saw was hair, hair that was all over the place. With a grimace and a groan she grabbed the brush on the counter and made her way to the shower, brushing her hair, or at least trying to, as she did. The water running, she quickly and silently stripped down and stepped in. As the water ran over her she felt rejuvenated and ready to face whatever fate would throw at her. If she had known then what would happen that day, she would've just ignored her alarm clock for another ten minutes

"Ann! Hurry up!" It was her mom yelling for her. Yes, she Ann was twenty years old and she stilled lived with her mother. Getting out of the shower and wrapping a towel around her body and hair, Ann rushed into her room throwing on the closest clothes she could find. Dashing out the room, the same brush from before running through her hair, elastic in her other hand; she stomped down the stairs to be greeted by the image of her mom.

Her mom was grinning from head to toe and it worried her.

"What?" She asked it coming out muffled due to the elastic band now hanging precariously out of her mouth. Geena just chuckled and gave her daughter a view over. She had apparently decided to wear a plain, not to mention baggy, black tee and a pair of well worn jeans that day, and knowing her daughter she was probably going to wear a pair of sandals despite the cold fall weather.

"Oh nothing," she said with a shake of her head. "I'm just admiring your wonderful choice of attire." Ann rolled her eyes.

"I'm in a rush, mom. I'll have to change into my uniform when I get to work anyway so I don't see what the big deal is." She watched as her mom sighed and looked up to some higher being.

"Where did I go wrong? When did my daughter become such a fashion victim?" Pushing her way past her mother, Ann entered the kitchen only to walk out a few minutes later with a breakfast bar in hand.

"Are you done?" She asked. "If so I'm ready to go now." Geena laughed at her daughter's frustration and went to grab her coat. Ann joined her and slipped her own jean jacket on.

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As Geena pulled up to the curb outside of the small café she gave her reluctant daughter a kiss on the cheek before letting her out of the old sedan. Her thoughts on her mother's bizarre, not to mention embarrassing, action Ann waved goodbye as she entered the building.

Geena watched in silence as her daughter disappeared from view within the crowded building before driving away. Inside Ann had greeted her coworkers and had quietly slipped into the staff room. Taking her uniform out from her bag she changed in the washroom and when done entered the fray, or in other words the kitchen.

"About time you got here, Missy." Yelled Hank, the main cook, when he saw Ann walk in with a grin plastered on her face. Ann stuck her tongue out at the older man and went to her station. She had been working at the café for over a year now, she had gotten the job due to her excellent cooking skills. A skill that often was a mystery to her, after all her mother was a terrible cook.

Getting into the calm and relaxed zone she usually was in when she cooked, Ann just let things happen. It was just like any other day really. She cooked for a seven hour shift and her work environment was excellent. She was happy with her life so far. Sure she didn't have a big time city job, and she hadn't even thought much about getting a higher degree in learning plus, and this was big for her mother, she didn't have a boyfriend but really she was fine with that. So in a way life was great and nothing could change that.

"Ann, you can take your lunch now." Hank broke through her thoughts and Ann looked up at the clock. It was already 1pm, she took a second look but sure enough the thing read the same. Getting out of the kitchen she first washed her hands and then took off her kitchen wear. Looking somewhat normal even though she was still in uniform, she exited the building and headed to the local deli for a sub.

It was a typical autumn day, cold but yet the sun still shone brightly in the sky. It was days like this that she enjoyed. Pulling her jacket closer to her for warmth she sat down on one of the many benches and ate her sub by herself, watching as the people passed by. It was a favorite hobby of hers actually, people watching. She enjoyed seeing all the different people who walked by her, enjoyed guessing what they were thinking, what they did for a living, or where they were going.

Just as she just finished guessing that a mother and her daughter were heading to the park, a familiar face entered the crowd. It was Hank, or at least she thought it was him, if it was she had never before seen him look so upset and worried. Getting up she rushed over to him. When he saw her, Hank stopped and bent over to catch his breath.

"God, Hank what's wrong? Is it that busy in the kitchen?" She asked with a worried frown. Hank shook his head; Ann was getting worried and was starting to get a bad feeling about this weird behavior of Hank's.

"Ann," he began, taking a big breath of air. "It's your mom…" Her eyes widened and she didn't hear anything after that. It was like someone had muted the world. She saw Hank's mouth move but no sound was coming from it. Everything was slowing down around her.

Suddenly she clutched her head and she felt tears leak from her eyes. She felt angry. Why was she crying? She never cried, not once in her laugh could she remember ever crying. And look at her now, crying like a baby. She thought she felt Hank's arms wrap around her but she wasn't sure. Nothing seemed right anymore and that's when everything went black.

When she came to everything at first seemed white. White walls, white floors, everything was white but slowly the color came back and Ann realized she was back at the café.

"How are you feeling?" Asked a male voice near her ear, it was a familiar voice but she couldn't quite place it yet. She tried turning to the voice but found she was tightly wrapped in a blanket.

"I think I'm ok," She muttered. Her head felt heavy yet light at the same time. "What happened?" She asked, unsure if she really wanted an answer or not.

"You fainted, Ann." Stated the voice sternly, she noticed. She tried yet again to turn to face the voice. Succeeding this time she saw the worry etched over Hank's face. She smiled softly.

"Hi, Hank," She whispered before turning back to look up at the ceiling. "What happened to my mom, Hank?" She asked, asking the question that plagued her. It was the only thing she could remember, something had happened to her mother. What though was the question that really mattered to her at that moment.

Hank was quiet for a while. Ann continued to stare at the ceiling; it had to be bad if Hank didn't want to tell her.

"She died Ann." He finally said his voice was laced with sadness. "There was a car accident. It was really bad, she died on impact."

She kept her head high and held back tears that threatened to fall. Hank sensed her discomfort and got up from where he was on the ground. Patting her reassuringly on the shoulder he left her alone in the room.

Ann lay there wrapped in the blanket, a still figure. It still didn't process in her mind that her mother was dead. It couldn't be real, no. It was just a joke, a sick joke, or maybe it was a nightmare that she was going to wake up from at any moment.

So she just lay there, telling herself this until she finally felt well enough to go to what used to be her mother's and her apartment which was now only hers.