Hello again, this is the second chapter. It's much longer than the first one so here we go.

Chapter Two: A Farmer's arrival

Dear Diary,

I cannot express how stressful today was. It was so stressful that once I'm done writing this, I'm going to go to sleep and it's only seven o'clock at night. Today Father was more excited and happy than usual. The farm girl, who I wrote about, last, was due to arrive today. He woke me up extra early today (four o'clock in the goddess morning) just to remind me of her arrival. It's not like I could forget it, everyone on the island was talking about it. I had finished getting ready at 5 o'clock and came down stairs to see that father had already had breakfast ready, in fact, he was almost done his. He had made pancakes with apple slices on the side and had poured me some orange juice. I couldn't tell if he had the same drink as me, I could hardy tell if he had the same meal. His glass as empty already and there was no apple slices on his plate. The only thing left on his plate was a few bites left of pancakes. I sat down as Father gave me a teeth full (and food full) smile.

"Gill" He said as he poured a large amount of maple syrup on his bite sized pancakes "today's the day!"

"I know father, you told me at four o'clock" I had reminded him bitterly. Father just smiled again and finished his meal; I had never seen him eat so quickly. He usually at least waits for me to come down stairs to eat. He told me that he was going to head over to "On the Hook" and wait for her to arrive before he left. It was surprising on how fast he moved, considering that she would probably only arrive in the afternoon or later. I ate my meal slowly; I was in no rush to join my father. I still had my doubts about her. I didn't know much about the girl, I don't think my father really did either. That made me nervous. For all we knew, she could be a criminal. It was a doubtful thing, but still a possibility. Not only that but I still didn't approve of a girl running a farm on her own. At about six or so I went to the town hall to check up on Elli. She has worked for me for a few months now but I've never had her stay by herself.

Whenever I arrived, the brunette smiled widely at me. It was clear she was more cheery than usual.

"Good morning, Gill." She bowed in greeting, which I didn't return. "The new farmer going to arrive today isn't she?"

I nodded. "Yes, Father wants me to be one of the first people to meet her so I'm being forced to stay at the hook today." I informed her. "You will be able to look after the place?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" Elli nodded "But do you think it would be possible for me to go and see her when she arrives? I'm very curious what she's going to be like."

"Well, we're going to have to bring her here anyways." I said flatly. "She'll have to come here to pick where she wants to have her house and such."

"Oh, okay, great." Elli said smiling. "I'll see you guys later." And with that I left. I passed Simon and Barbra, the general store owners. They seemed more cheery as well. In fact, everyone I passed was in cloud nine. I didn't understand why though, it was just some girl who was probably going to leave soon anyways. But then again, we hadn't had a new resident in years.

When I arrived at the Hook, Father was talking to Ozzie, the owner of the fisher shop. Despite living on the island my whole life, and making many trips to On the Hook, I still can never get over the strong odour of fish. My face turned more quickly into a scowl, the further into the store I moved. By the time I reached the counter, where father and Ozzie were, I was sure that my face was in a complete scowl.

"Ah, hello Gill." Ozzie greeted me. "Are you eager to meet the new farmer yet?"

"Yeah" I lied. I wasn't even close to being eager. I might have been anxious but not eager. Of course, I wasn't about to tell the village about my distaste for the new farmer. I was sure if anyone knew, especially Kathy, the waiter from the bar, would sure make me regret it. Kathy may look harmless but last year she punched my arm because I said that I didn't understand what the fun of riding horses was. She gave me a bruise for weeks.

"When is she due to arrive, Mayor?" the tired voice of Ozzie's son, Toby asked. My eyes widened in surprise. I didn't know that Toby could wake up this early. "The water isn't looking too great for her to arrive."

I had almost forgotten about the weather report from yesterday as I looked out the window. The grey haired (even though he's 18) fisherman was right. I didn't know all that much about boats but I knew that it would almost have to be a miracle for the boat to arrive safely. The ocean was a deep blue, almost black colour and the waves looked ginormous. Pascal, the old sailor who is supposed to bring the farmer to the island, would have a hard time even getting close to the island.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Toby" My father said reassuringly. "Do you know if Pascal arrived at the main land yesterday?" He asked Ozzie. Ozzie nodded and said that he had called yesterday afternoon to say he made it. The rest of the morning went by slowly. Father and Ozzie kept talking about what they think the new farmer will be like. Toby had fallen asleep while watching the sea from the window. I had spent my time thinking of ways to discourage the farmer and make her leave, without it being too obvious.

Then at about, two o'clock in the afternoon Father informed us (and yelled) that he could see the boat. He ushered Ozzie and Toby outside (I hastily followed) to greet the boat. The boat, to my great surprise made it in one piece. The boat wasn't the biggest thing to ever swim the ocean.

Father was smiling broadly waiting for Pascal to introduce the new villager but what he got (and what everyone got) in surprise was a panicking Pascal holding a young female in his arms.

"She hit her head on the way here." Pascal had explained breathlessly. My stomach turned unpleasantly. The last thing Waffle Island needed was a new resident dying before she even made it on the island. Father turned to me and told me to go and get Jin, the town doctor and bring him to the Sundae Inn. I did as I was told and quickly made my way to the Meringue Clinic. Irene, Jin's grandmother, was at the counter giving me a questionable look. Before she could even ask me what I was doing there, I told her to go and get Jin. The elderly woman did as I told her and got the young doctor. I quickly explained to Jin what I was told and we made our way to the Inn. Ozzie and Toby were there at the entrance and told us that they placed the farmer upstairs on the right. We rushed upstairs to find Jake, the inn's owner and his wife, Colleen near the doorway with my Father and Pascal there as well. I couldn't even get a good look at the girl because everyone was in the way.

"Everyone needs to get out-of-the-way. Pascal, can you tell me what happened?" Jin asked the sailor. I rolled my eyes at the doctor; I had just told him what happened. Pascal repeated his story of the girl hitting her head again before Jin made us all leave the room so he could better examine the girl. Jake went back down stairs with his wife in tow as she kept muttering "poor thing". My father, Pascal and I went back to the city hall and sat down in my father's office to find out what Pascal learned about the girl.

Pascal told us that the girl's name was Akari, an odd name if you ask me. Father told me to jot all of this information down, for later. He then told us her birthday, which was the twenty-eighth of fall and she liked apples. I really didn't see the point of writing down her favourite food, but my father insisted so we could add it to the town documents. When all of that was finished, Pascal said he was tired and left to get some sleep. Father told me to do the same and I was about to reject but then I noticed the time, it was five o'clock already! Father told me that I should just stop by the Sundae Inn to grab a bite to eat while he went to take care of the documents. I agreed and went to the Inn, ordering myself a tomato sandwich. Maya was there, Jake and Colleen's daughter and she wouldn't stop pestering me. You would think she'd pester me about the new girl, like a normal person would, but she kept pestering me to share my sandwich! Honestly, Colleen needs to do something about her. Jake and Colleen kept going up to check up on the new girl, I mean, Akari. Just before I was about to leave, Jake asked me to go and check up on her since he had to do some book work and Colleen was lecturing Maya on her manners. I really didn't want to but I was curious about what Akari looked like. I never did get a good look at her. I went up the stairs quietly and tip toed over to her bed. Her hair was short and brown (a boring colour if you ask me) and she looked very scrawny. How in goddess is she going to run a farm? I'll probably be asking that question my whole life. She looked fine enough to me; she was sleeping like a baby. I decided to leave and I headed back home.

I suppose tomorrow Father will show her around town and he'll force me to come along. I still don't know how she's going to do it but I guess only time will tell.

-Gill