Chapter 2

With the seeds planted in the ground there's not much to do other than water them and wait for them to grow in a week hopefully. This left Alex with nothing more to do than fish or walk around town. Joe has to work so they can't hang out yet. She sat on the little wooden chair in the open area living room combined with her dining room watching television. Nothing seems to be on television in the early morning hours, quickly checking the weather again, another report of sunny weather for the next two weeks with some cloudy days; she decided to sit at the river and fish.

She sat on the edge of her garden, no one to bother her in the comfort of her own backyard. Alex quickly lost herself in the relaxing sound of the river flowing… so much so that when a fish tugged on the line, the pole almost fell in the water.

That night Alex counted the fish she had left over, she must have sold the majority of fish she caught. However she was happy with the fish she had left over. She took some of the rainbow trout and set it aside in a separate container in the fridge for Joe. She figured she'd make him lunch for tomorrow since she already made some salted rainbow trout.

Day four in mineral town comes to a close, it took four days but I nearly fell in the water while fishing. It's a good thing no one was around to see otherwise I would have felt very embarrassed. Hopefully my crops grow soon; I need to sell things other than fish and Fish will only last you so long before you get sick of it.

~Alexandra Harper Wednesday Day four year 1

Alex decided to sleep in the next day since waking up early hasn't provided any advantage whatsoever. Instead of waking up at eight in the morning, she planned on waking up at ten. However someone decided to knock on her door at six in the morning. A short sandy blonde haired man stood at her door with bright brown eyes.

"Good morning neighbor!" He smiled as Alex rubbed her eyes waiting for them to adjust to the bright sunlight.

"Good morning," She yawned.

"My name is Carl; I heard you were invited here just like I was. I'm really interested in the festivals here some of them cater to sweets which I specialize in making. I'm going to open a Café here someday but for now I'm starting at the bottom and working my way up."

"That's interesting, if you want to learn about the festival there's a channel on TV that broadcasts information or talk to the Mayor. They also are marked on the calendar so just buy one of those. I'm going to rest for an hour I'll see you later." She explained with another yawn.

"Oh did I wake you up? I'm so sorry." He apologized.

"It's okay I'll talk to you when I'm actually awake and decent." Alex laughed ending their conversation.

If people randomly show up to my house asking for things they can easily find out without my help, I think I might move to the mountains. Alex thought as she gravitated towards her bed, flopped face first into her pillow and quickly fell asleep.

When Alex woke up again she made herself some tea and a bagel for breakfast. She glanced over at her calendar; a yellow box caught her attention next to the plain white one. There's a festival tomorrow, it's the egg festival.

I don't have any chickens therefore participating in this event is rather pointless… She sighed out loud and realized I needed to buy breadfruit and eggs. I guess I'll have to donate one of the eggs for the festival, oh well one egg short for the week won't kill me.

Thankfully the eggs are just a few steps away from her house; the Blue Sky Ranch sells amazingly tasty eggs. Standing in the empty town square Alex was contemplating donating it or keeping it for herself. She looked inside the egg collection box, several egg holders have been filled already.

"I could keep this egg if I wanted too… but what if they only need one more egg and I'm the last person they need for a donation? I'd be ruining the entire festival and everyone would know!" She quickly put the egg in one of the open spots and hurried away from the collection box…

On the eight day of spring, the egg festival arrived and the turnips are ripe. The first source of income for Alex and the key to a friendship she stared at the turnips wondering how many she should save and how many should be sold.

I guess it'll amount to an even split if I save three, ship three and then save another three turnips for Joe over the next two days… if I see him at the egg festival that is…

To her surprise Joe was indeed at the egg festival, the entire village attends these festivals. Joe, Kurt, and Woody occupied a table towards the south entrance of the town square displaying various egg products except for sweets.

"Hey Joe," Alex ran up to him with a smile on her face, "I have a present for you!"

"Really, when did you get me a present? You didn't have to get me anything."

"Yes I did," she took the turnip out of her bag and handed it to him. "You're welcome." She smiled and his face lit up.

"The turnips are ready!" He hugged her. "Thank you very much I love turnips!"

"You're welcome. I like your display table, but I'm leaning more towards the sweets on Carl's table." She eyed up all the cakes sitting on the Moonlight Café's table they looked delicious and she wanted to eat them all.

Joe made a face, "I can't stand sweets, eggs were meant for fried foods and breakfast dishes."

"How do you not like sweets?"

"I don't know I just can't stand them." He shrugged his shoulders. He turned to Woody who was nibbling on some of their extra food samples, "Who is that really round guy with the big lips in the purple tuxedo?" He asked curiously.

"He's Gourmet, he's usually in town when a food related festivals arrive, and I believe he's some kind of food critic."

"Why doesn't he live here all year? It would be easier instead of traveling back and forth from his home to Mineral Town."

"I don't know maybe he likes to travel."

Joe turned his attention back to me, "How many turnips did you grow?"

"Nine of them, I have two others saved for tomorrow that's all I could set aside for you. I hope you're okay with that."

"No it's alright Alex, I'm happy with one turnip a day." He said with a smile that made me want to smile as well.

"If you're going to kiss her just do it and get it over with." Kurt mumbled I heard what he said but Joe didn't hear him. I decided the best thing to do was ignore him.

The egg festival was really fun, I had a great time hanging out with Joe and most of the villagers except Jamie who seems to dislike me but she praised Carl for his egg donation that saved the festival. They didn't have the Egg Festival last year because there weren't enough ranchers to donate eggs. I feel silly for worrying about donating an egg thinking the whole festival lied on my shoulders.

I had to go to the tool shop shortly after delivering a turnip to Joe, the owner Michael he has blue hair and a yellow M on his shirt. is really nice as well as his daughter Ann… they have an odd relationship, she's an inventor and was tinkering with some machine in the back of the shop but that caused it to blow up and Michael was annoyed because she didn't say hello to me. His wife passed away not too long ago and they're still dealing with that… I decided that I'd befriend them and I hope that will help their healing process. I also met a guy named Dr. Alex he thought it was funny his name is my nickname. Ann and I ventured over to the hospital when she hurt her hand while Michael was looking for the tool notebook to give to me. He's amazingly handsome; he has slightly messy black hair and the most mysterious brown eyes I've ever seen! I think I'm in love with him… Once he was done helping Ann, he randomly gave me a checkup even though I am perfectly healthy… I think I made a complete fool of myself while he was examining me; I kept tripping over my words and taking forever to respond… I'm pretty sure when he checked my blood pressure he noticed my heart rate's slow increase but he didn't comment on it. He simply smiled and said I'm perfectly healthy, He told me that shipping herbs found in the mountains will help him out with making medicine as well as Pontana Roots in the mine by using the hoe. He also warned me that if I do go mining for those roots that I shouldn't overdo it because it's very easy to succumb to fatigue and pass out. I think I'm going to head up to the mountain now and try to find some herbs.

~Alexandra Harper Monday, Day nine of spring Year 1

Alex spent most of the afternoon in the mountains collecting purple and green herbs. She stayed up there until her rucksack was nearly overflowing and headed back down to ship them off and spend some time fishing but she wanted to explore more places so she headed off towards the path behind the wood shop. Where Joe happens to be sitting around not working and looked incredibly bored.

"You have your fishing rod which means you're going fishing!" He smiled seeing Alex cured his boredom.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"My shift is pretty much over and we hardly had anything to do today. Wait right there I'll go get my fishing rod." He said and ran inside…

"Where are you heading off to?" I heard through the open window in the back of the shop.

"Fishing with Alex we're going to the lake so we won't be far. If you need me you know where to find me."

"Joe you're still working we have like an hour left."

Oh Joe, you need to finish your shift before you go fishing with me silly. Alex giggled to silently while eavesdropping on Joe and Kurt's conversation. He eventually said goodbye to his brother and left the shop.

"Okay I'm back, and I brought lots of bait with me." He announced looking innocent like he always does.

"You do know the window was open and I heard everything Kurt was telling you."

"Kurt has the time of our shift wrong… besides what's going to happen that's so important in the next hour of my life that requires me to be there…" He sighed and started walking towards the lake. Surrounded by a forest of tress this lake looks like it doesn't belong attached to Mineral town. It looks like it's a separate entity compared to all the other nature spots around town. There's a little island in the middle of the lake housing the entrance to a cave. I thought about swimming over to it, but I decided against it.

While we walked around the lake decided where we were going to sit, Joe stopped dead in his tracks and I noticed a twinkle in his eyes. His mouth fell open in shock and he dropped his fishing pole. I turned to see who he was looking at; sitting across the lake was a brown haired man wearing a light blue shirt and a dark blue vest with grey pants and a gold belt to hold them in place.

"It's Ray, the guy from the fishing channel! I worship the ground he walks on!" Joe squealed but it sounded more like a squeak.

"So go say hi to him!"

"I can't feel my legs Alex!"

"Fine, I'll go say hi then." Alex sighed and headed over to Ray, he looked like all of his concentration was on the water and she hesitated to bother him. "Um, hi there." She whispered hoping he wouldn't hear her.

"Hello there," He replied his voice nearly knocked her off her feet, he's a beautiful baritone.

"I'm here with my friend Joe and he really wants to meet you but he can't seem to get his feet to move. So I said I'd come say hi for him."

Ray smiled but continued staring at the water. "Tell him that it's okay to talk to me, I won't bite."

"I'll go tell him." She said and hurried back over to Joe, "He said he won't bite and it's okay to go talk to him."

"I can't just go talk to him! I have to have something to say first! Should I wait until I've caught a fish so I can show it to him? Maybe that's a good conversation starter; do you think it's a good idea?"

"Well you won't know unless you go over there and talk to him." I grabbed his arm and began pulling him over to Ray.

He dug his feet in the ground, "I'm not ready to go talk to him yet Alex! He looks so focused on fishing I don't want to disturb him."

"It's alright; the fish weren't biting over there anyways." Ray said causing us both to jump. Joe's face turned bright red and he hid behind me. "Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine, he's just being Joe."

"Should I come back later?"

"No don't go!" Joe suddenly came to life, all signs of blushing disappeared and he had the widest smile I've ever seen on his face.

"I'm Joe! I'm here on an internship with my brother Kurt and I really love fishing, I watch your show every day and I wish I was as great of a fisherman as you are!" He said all in one breath causing Ray to laugh I had to look away or he would have seen the embarrassing smile on my face.

"Well you already know who I am so there's no need for an introduction." He held out his hand and Joe shook it repeatedly.

"It's really nice to meet you! I never thought we'd ever meet each other I've been saving up to travel to the various islands you've visited and voted best fishing spots."

"I'm glad I got to meet an enthusiastic fan. I'll be sitting here for a while so if you need me, I'll be over here." He said setting up his fishing pole in the spot he liked.

"I can't believe I got to talk to him! I got to shake his hand! Did you see it Alex?"

"Yes Joe I saw the whole thing, I was standing right next to you." I laughed.

"Can you pipe down over there you're scaring away the animals!" Someone asked sounding angry, Alex and Joe weren't sure who said it or where the voice came from.

"What was that?" Joe asked after a brief silence.

"That was Terry; he's over there in the woods." Ray explained and pointed diagonally from there they were standing. An old man sporting a white pointed beard and mustache walked out of the tree line. He looks like he should be a park ranger or a scout leader.

"You're so loud I can't observe any of the animals here they keep running away. Hush up will you?"

"We're sorry Terry, we'll be quiet." Alex apologized nervously.

"Good," he sighed and disappeared into the trees.

"He's always grumpy like that…" Ray sighed as he reeled in his line, he caught a silver carp. Joe admired him in awe completely overcome by his fan side.

"Well it's eight, I'm going to rest now I suggest you two head back to Mineral town you spent the whole day out here." Ray stood up and stretched then reeled his fishing line in from the water, concluding his day of fishing.

"Good bye Ray," Joe hugged his idol, Ray looked slightly confused and startled. He gave Joe a one armed hug and I had to pull him away from Ray when he wouldn't let go.

"Bye Joe, bye Alex." He gave us a small wave as we walked away.

For the next week Alex spent her days fishing with Joe and Ray as well as planting and selling crops and giving certain foods to people, Ellen likes breadfruit and Blue like's potatoes but not people, he doesn't see the point of giving him gifts if he hardly knows you.

"Well we can get to know each other this way, it's been working for Joe… I give him turnips and fish so we go fishing whenever he has free time and I give him turnips whenever I can."

"It still seems pointless, but thank you anyway." He sighed continuing to milk one of their cows.

After the incident with Blue, Alex headed down to the Wood shop because she needed help putting stakes down around her backyard. When she approached the dark Tudor styled building she froze… how embarrassing would it be to ask for help over a simple task… She'd never hear the end of it from Kurt… she wouldn't be able to face them after dealing with such an embarrassment. Heading back to her house she decided to struggle with the stakes by herself.

She lifted one out of the woodshed successfully. Her confidence continued building when she lifted a second and a third one. By the time she got to steak number four, her arms weren't so happy about the heavy lifting and she didn't get very far. She tried to push it over so she could roll it but that was another project within itself.

"Why must these stakes weigh a ton?" She asked out loud but no one was around to answer. "Even if I get this stupid thing on its side then I have to worry about standing it back up once I get it where I want it." She leaned against the side of her house wondering how to solve her dilemma. Scanning her backyard she noticed a nice sized boulder…

Alex ran into her house and found her rope normally used for walking animals around, but since she doesn't have a barn she figured out a way to put the rope to use. She moved the boulder over to the empty gap in the fence of steaks and returned to the wood shed. She managed to push the fourth stake down and rolled it over to the boulder then tied the rope around it. Using the rock as leverage she managed to stand the steak up slightly but it was vertical enough that she could push it up the rest of the way.

"I'm a genius." She said to herself and continued putting up stakes.

It took nearly an hour but finally she only had one more stake to set up. Feeling very proud of herself she dragged the last stake over to the rock and attempted to pull it up on the rock but it put up a fight. Alex reset the stake up in the right position and tried pulling the stake rolled over the rock and right on to her foot.

"It's been nearly five days since I told you to be careful and here you are with an injured foot." Dr. Alex sighed while he set up the x-ray machine.

"I didn't mean to injure my foot… I was doing fine by myself and then the last stake just didn't want to cooperate." She admitted slightly embarrassed… at least Kurt isn't here to make fun of her about it.

"Doesn't Bob live next door to you?"

"Yes, what does that have to do with anything?"

"You could have asked him to help move the stakes." He said simply and Alex fell silent. Of course she could have asked Bob, he would have been glad to help.

"It's not broken but that doesn't mean you should go back to working on that fence. It's a mild fracture but it should heal soon if you avoid stressing it out." He pointed to the injured area of her foot. He wrapped up her entire foot as well as her ankle in A.C.E wrap then gave her instructions on how to take care of her injury so it doesn't get worse.

"Take the wrap off when you ice it otherwise it won't be very effective. Try to avoid wetting it and avoid walking far distances."

"Well I walked here by myself and I'm alive."

"Well I'll walk you home then." He said helping her off of the chair.

"But don't you have to stay here?"

"You're not walking home by yourself." He repeated placing her arm over his shoulders. "I'll carry you if I have to…" He grabbed a pair of crutches with this free arm.

"Boy you're persistent."

"It's my job." He smiled as they left his office.

"Remember to use these and stay off that foot or it won't heal." He helped her sit down on her bed, "Do you have any other pillows to elevate your foot with?" He asked.

"I only have one pillow, I can't sleep with two."

"Hmmm…" He looked around the house but there wasn't much to his disposal. "I'll be right back." He announced and was out of her house in the blink of an eye.

Jennie sat by the side of her bed looking at her injured foot.

"I'm an idiot, I should have asked Bob for help when he came by to collect the stuff inside the shipping box. I thought I could set up the fence by myself but I was wrong." She sighed and stared up at the wooden beams of the ceiling.

"I'm back now," Dr. Alex returned with a pillow.

"Where did you~"

"Ellen donated it; she said you could keep it since she makes plenty of these in her spare time." He lifted her foot up and placed the little pillow where her foot was. "There you're all set now."

"You really didn't have to walk me home I could have hobbled back here with those crutches." Alex felt bad she made him leave his job and escort her back to her house.

"If I didn't want to help you, I would have sent you back with your crutches. When I say take it easy I mean it."

Well I fractured my foot today, I feel so stupid for doing so, I could have asked Bob but I completely overlooked that option. I should have just asked Joe for help, I could have lied about it while I was at the Wood Shop but no I chose to leave and do it myself… I'm pretty sure Doctor Alex is annoyed with me. I was happy to see him again and feel those little butterflies in my stomach but he wasn't happy that I was there because of an injury that could have been easily prevented. I guess I'll be out of commission for a few days…

~Alexandra Harper Day 14 of spring year 1