Chapter 1

A young man tucked a blue cap in his pocket as he walked into the courtroom with the six other people he served with on Grand Jury duty. They were to see the judge who would swear them out from their service.

The judge stood up, "Thank you for helping on getting cases ready for court. Even if you are no longer going to be under oath to keep secret about the details of the cases you have heard, I ask that you still keep quiet about them. Will you do this?"

"Yes," said the seven Grand Jurors.

"Thank you. I hope that I will see some of you when you are eligible for jury duty again. So, you are now hereby dismissed."

As the seven people were leaving the room, one spoke up.

"That was a quick dismissal," said a blonde haired girl.

"Yeah, those were interesting cases we heard," said the young man as he put his blue cap back on.

The blonde haired girl nodded her head, "True, but towards the end of the service it looked like you were a bit distracted about something.

A small frown crossed the young man's face, "I'm just worried about a friend, I haven't heard from him since fall.

"Someone you knew from school?"

"No, an old family friend. He's 76 years old."

"Is he from around here? You could have called him."

"No, he lives out in the countryside. My parents felt I should see more of the world. So we went to a small town on an island. I wandered away from my parents and ended up at this farm. The owner was that old man, and he was kind enough to reunite me with my parents. He even invited us to stay at his farm for a few days. When we were leaving he told us that he never had time for a family and asked if he could write to me. My parents thought that would be a nice thing to do and ok' d it. So he and I have been writing to each other over the years."

"Didn't you at least go visit him during summer vacation from school?"

The young man shook his head, "No, my parents took me to see other places."

The blonde haired girl nodded her head, "I see, so you're going to go visit him?"

"Yes, I just hope he is still alive."

"If this town is on an island, is there a ferry to take you there?"

"Yes, I just hope that it goes there due to tomorrow is New Year's Eve."

The blonde haired girl clicked her fingers, "That's right, some ferries don't run on holidays. If it isn't running what will you do?"

"My father has a friend with a fishing boat. I'll ask if he could take me there."

"Well, I would like to know how this turns out, so let me give you my address," said the blonde haired girl. She quickly wrote down her address on a piece of paper and handed it to the young man. "Since there might not be an Internet connection on the island, I gave you my street address. Please keep in touch."

The young man smiled, "Thanks, Claire, I will. For better or worse."

"You're welcome, Jack. When you were telling about your friend, it looked like you were trying to remember something."

"There is, but I can't quite fully remember what it is."

"Promise me when you do remember it that you'll tell me."

"I promise, Claire."

"What is the name of that town?"

"The town's name is Mineral Town."

Claire eyes widened, "MINERAL TOWN?"

"Yes, have you been there?"

Claire shook her head, "No. It's just the day before Starry Night Festival, I had this weird dream that I bought a farm that was for sale. The name of the town in my dream was Mineral Town."

"Wow, was it a nice farm?"

Claire shook her head, "No, the ad the company that was selling the farm lied about the condition, the farm was very run down. while I was looking at the field of the farm, the mayor showed up and talked with me. He found it funny that the ad lied about the condition of the farm. Then like some of those animes, I pulled a hammer out of thin air and started to hit the mayor with it."

"Wow, that is a strange dream."

"Yeah, it is. Well I better get going, my boyfriend Pete said he would treat me out to dinner."

A concerned look crossed Jack's face, "Then will it be ok for me toy write you?"

"Yes, he has a few pen pals, some are girls, so I have no problem with that. So he shouldn't be offended if I get a letter from a boy."

"Ok, take care, Claire."

"I will, you take care as well," said Claire as she walked away with a wave of her hand.

Jack watched her go with a smile on her face. *This Pete is one lucky guy to have her for a girlfriend. If he stupidly pushes her away, then he is an idiot.*

Jack left the courthouse to go to his apartment to get ready for his trip to Mineral Town.