Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters. I am merely borrowing the characters for this story.

Claire's POV

Well… this was it. The real deal. And now I was wondering exactly why I had sold everything that meant something to me and moved here. My old life was no more. No one from my old life even wanted to talk to me anymore anyways; I hadn't exactly given them much warning. And now I was here. A clean start, somewhere where no one knows my name. It was literally coming true.

"So do you think you might stay here then Claire?" The mayor of this small town, Thomas, watched me nervously. Only moments ago he had laughed at my predicament and I had brought my hammer square on his forehead. Luckily, being a city girl I didn't do any serious damage.

"Yeah… I'll stay here… I can't really go back home now anyways." I looked over at the tiny shack I would be calling home and cringed inwardly, my apartment was about the same size but it actually had a kitchen and a real bathroom. I was going to have to learn to live without that I guess. That hot spring thing the mayor discussed sounded promising.

"Well, I'm very, very sorry that you weren't better prepared for this. I will do my very best to help and I'm sure the rest of the townsfolk will be more than willing to help too." He smiled happily. These people were so kind, no chance of getting mugged here. I don't even know why I packed my pepper spray.

"Great! I really appreciate your kindness." I smiled; he wasn't all that bad of a guy. I might actually be happy here in time. At least I was finally doing what I had been wanting to do for a long time, living the dream.

"Today there is a festival going on so I have to go prepare. You can just unpack and settle in today if you want. The villagers won't be expecting you anyways. I'll come by tomorrow to take you around town and introduce you to everyone if you would like."

I smiled again. "Sounds great! I'll see you tomorrow then." He tipped his head professionally and walked off. I looked around my debris-strewn field before heading into my house to unpack.

----- 3 Hours Later -----

It hadn't taken too long to unpack what little possessions I had brought with me. Everything was where it was supposed to be and now this little shack was starting to look like home. I sighed contentedly and stepped out into the sunlight. It was only noon so I figured I had enough time to go for a walk. I would've gone into town but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to meet anyone yet. Those people were probably welcoming in the shiny New Year with their families and wouldn't want some stranger girl butting in. Also, I knew the Mayor would be hurt if I started my tour without him.

So I set off in the other direction- into the woods. Nature is supposed to have a soothing effect on the soul… right?

I wandered along the path. This certainly was the life! Walking along in the peaceful woods, no one in sight except for the log cabin I had passed about an hour ago. The sun was rapidly setting and…

"I have absolutely no idea where I am." I sighed loudly and sank down on a tree stump. I probably should have thought to ask the Mayor for directions of some sort. He didn't really seem like an outdoorsy kind of guy though.

My hand wandered down to my feet and I pulled off my shoes. I had bought the cherry patterned flats- baby doll style I must add- a month before I ditched everything and came here. They were simply adorable with my white capris and red v-neck shirt. I had worn the entire ensemble to have a proper first impression on these impressionable townspeople but of course, when you wear relatively new flats without socks and then walk miles into the woods you tend to get blisters.

And I had them- big time. I rubbed casually at my feet and watched the sun set from my stump. Looks like I might be spending the night here. I wasn't going to look for a way back in the dark. I could only imagine the headlines in the local paper. 'Oblivious city girl mauled by wild dogs in woods- Why exactly she was in the woods in the first place is a mystery.'

"This is fabulous!" I threw my hands in the air. "Simply amazing! What a first day!" I ran my hands slowly through my hair in frustration. I was going to look like crap when the Mayor came by for my 'little tour' in the morning. I lowered my head into my arms and curled up on my stump. That was when I heard a low chuckle.

My head shot out from my arms and I squinted into the darkness. "Who's there?!" I heard the chuckle again, a deep throaty sounding chuckle- deffinately a man. I grabbed my hammer from my rucksack.

"I'm armed! Show yourself before I start blindly swinging this thing!" I raised the hammer behind my back threateningly.

"Alright little girl- calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." A large bearded man stepped out from the shadows, his hands held out, palms foreward. Normally I would have blindly started swinging if someone like this jumped out of the shadows in the city, but this guy seemed okay. He had a soothing voice and come on! This is the country! How many rapists live in the country?

"Excuse me sir, but I'm not a little girl. I'm nineteen for your information." He chuckled again.

"Sorry miss, you seem like a little girl to me. Nineteen is quite young you know." He offered me his hand. "You look lost."

I eyed the hand skeptically before putting my flats back on and taking it. "I am lost. Very lost." I wasn't going to turn this guy's help down. Who knows how long it would take for that Mayor to find me? This strange man here seemed like my only way out.

He pulled me up from the stump. "Follow me, little girl." He tugged on my hand gently and we set off down some forest path to God knows where.

A/N: So what do you think? It's only my first Harvest Moon fanfiction and I've been thinking about this plot for a long time. I already know how this whole story ends. It should be pretty obvious who the man in the woods is but for those of you who can't figure it out, you'll see in the next chapter. I know Claire is more of a city girl than usual but I figure, if she just came from the city she's not really going to know everything right away. Anyways, I hoped you liked it. I'll see if I can find time to get the next chapter out soon.