Second Chapter is up! Hope you enjoy Aurelia. She's a feisty one.
Peter's POV
"What a dump!" I said to myself, standing in front of my grandfather's farm in Leaf Valley.
It's true. I guess old grandpa couldn't keep up with it. It was garbage. I felt silly even parking my car next to it. My shiny, new 25,000 dollar car definitely looked out of place.
I ran my fingers through my hair, and sighed. What was I going to do?
I didn't have time to ponder long though, because two people, a man and a woman, came walking by.
"Do you live here?" I heard the woman's voice ask. I realized she was probably talking to me, and turned around. I nearly jumped. They had creped up right behind me!
The woman looked older than me, but not by much. She was slender, tall, and had pink hair. Pink Hair! And I mean bright, hot pink. She was accompanied by an older man, probably about 45 or so, who was dressed in a long robe, and had round thin glasses.
"Ya, I live here, you got a problem with that?" I responded rudely to the woman.
"No, but you seem to," the woman countered, narrowing her eyes.
I didn't like this girl at all. She had an attitude! "It's none of your freakin' business."
"Watch it, jackass!" The woman stepped forward a little, as if she was getting ready for a fight.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the man said, stepping in between us. "Aurelia, stop it. A grown woman like you should not be treating people like this. Respect your neighbour, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah," Aurelia muttered. Aurelia? What kind of name was that?
"Sorry, my good sir," the man said to me, "Please excuse Aurelia, she's in a rather rough mood."
I nodded to the man, and scowled at Aurelia.
"It's good to meet you. I'm Peter." I held out my hand.
"Ah, hello Peter, I am Chester, the new priest here. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to give us directions to the church."
"Uh, yeah, just go north, past the grocery store and the café, and you'll hit it."
"Thank you Peter. Come along now Aurelia."
Chester grabbed her arm, and pulled her along. She turned around once to look at me, giving me a dirty look. I gave her one right back.
What a psychopath.
Aurelia's POV
What a jackass. An insecure, weird, immature, insensitive jackass. I hate this town already.
When we arrived at the church and put away our belongings, Chester scolded me for being so rude. He said that if I wanted to stay under his roof, I had to shape up.
Huh. Sounds just like something a parent would say, eh? Too bad I don't have any parents. So I grudgingly agreed to treat Peter with "respect".
Chester knew I was in a bad mood, and though he knew nothing about women, he could see I needed some time. So he proposed that I go and meet the other villagers. Well, actually, proposed isn't the right word. He basically made me, and said it would be good for me. I just hope the other villagers are better than the asshole I met on the way here.
I went south first, and introduced myself to Wallace at the café. He was a nice old man. If I could've been related to him, I'd wish he was my grandfather. Who I really didn't like was Katie, his 16 year old daughter. She looked at me like I was a freak, and didn't stop giving me dirty looks until I said, "Hey kid! I'm almost twice your age. Show some respect!" She was taken aback, and looked pretty bummed out that she didn't the better of me.
After leaving the café, I went further south and introduced myself to Ronald, the owner of the grocery store. He seemed like a nice enough guy. Except that all he could talk about was fruits and vegetables, and what is healthier, and what foods clean out your intestines, and what foods help you poop better, and so on.
Needless to say, I moved on pretty quickly.
I wandered west, and came to what looked like the centre of the island. There was a sign that said "Plaza" and pointed towards a big cement brick area that was elevated a few feet. It had stairs leading up to it all around. Probably for festivals and stuff.
Around the Plaza, there were many pathways, each leading to another part of the village. I took the one that said "Flower/Item Shop". I've always liked flowers. Most people wouldn't think so judging by my personality, but I think they are one of the most beautiful things in life.
Once there, I introduced myself to Lyla, the owner of the flower shop. She was a bit of an eccentric woman. She had pink hair, like me, but it was a lighter rose pink. She said "tee-hee" after almost everything she said, had a smile that looked like it was plastered on her face, and she twirled around in circles at random times. I wondered if she was always like this, or if she was just a little high on LSD.
After the Flower Shop, I moved across the path to the Item Store. Nothing interesting happened there, really. Louis, the inventor who owned the place, was shy and didn't talk much. And when he did say something, it was just about a new invention he was working on.
And so I moved on. I went west and ended up at a farm, but it was in much better shape than Mr. Jackass's. Bob worked there, a buff, muscular guy with a lot of tattoos. He looked about 25 years old. After I introduced myself, I asked to see the horses. Horses have always been my favourite animal. I've had a passion for horseback riding ever since I can remember. Unfortunately, in my messed up life, I've only ridden a horse twice.
Bob must have sensed my love for the beautiful creatures, so he proposed a deal. He said that if I worked for him twice a week here at the farm, he would give me my own choice of one of the horses at the beginning of summer. He said the horse would stay at the farm, but I would be able to ride it, pet it, brush it, and visit it whenever I wanted to.
What awesome news, eh? My day was looking up. By this time, I had almost forgotten how much I wanted to punch Peter Jackass in the face.
And so I agreed to the deal. Tomorrow would be my first shift. The northern path from the farm led me back to the plaza. I took a quick look at the horse race track north of it, and the beach west of it. Other than that, I had only two more places to go. Clove Villa, and the Carpenter's.
I chose Clove Villa first, mostly because of my curiosity to find out what it was. A shop? Another farm? A forest? I dunno.
Turns out, it was a house. Sort of. Martha, a nurse lived there with nurse-in-training Gina. They were both pretty nice. Also in the house lived Dia, an orphan who was under the watch of Martha. She was 18 years old, but apparently very sick. Martha didn't get into details. The place also had a small hospital room, which I guessed was for if you got sick. It didn't really matter for me though. I have a strong immune system, and haven't been sick for over 5 years.
I walked to the Carpenter's next. It was getting darker now. From the sun, I guessed it was about 5 o'clock. I was glad this was my last stop, because I was getting tired.
At the Carpenter's, I met Woody, the head carpenter, and his two apprentices, Joe and Kurt. Joe, a preppy 19 year old, was really nice and friendly. I guessed he had a lot of friends. Kurt on the other hand was the silent type, but much more muscular and handsome. He didn't tell me his age, but I guessed about 22. Woody told me they were brothers.
Meeting the carpenters was also very helpful, because they showed me where the woods were, to get my own lumber. I knew it would make Ches happy, because lumber could be used to fix up the church.
It turns out that, if you go north from the Carpenter's, you pass Pike Mountain, the mines, and the Goddess Spring, and end up right back at Mallard Lake, where our church sits. What a coincidence. I walked back into the church to find Chester. He had some supper saved for me in the fridge, and was glad to hear about my day.
I turned in early, tired from all that walking. I could hardly sleep though, because I was too excited for tomorrow, when I would work for Bob. I loved the thought of just being around horses.
But what I hoped more than anything, was that I wouldn't run into Peter Jackass again tomorrow.
Good so far? I'm working on the third chapter right now. I hope to post soon. Thanks for reading! :D
