Ah, the third chapter! This is where the real events kick in!
I'm enjoying writing this a lot, so I hope I have the motivation to continue past the fourth chapter! Next chapter will involve the (not so) mysterious third person's point of view, which will probably be blatantly obvious by the end of the chapter. In my opinion, this chapter is a bit too brief, because I wrote it when I was feeling rather ill and I had nothing better to do, so I may work on improving it at a later date.
Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this every chapter. I don't own Harvest Moon, obviously.
When I woke up, I looked at my watch, which was lying on my bedside table, and realized that Gray had long since gone to work. I sighed in relief, and got up, yawning and stretching my tired limbs. I wandered over to the bathroom, and decided to take a shower and freshen up.
After my shower, I heard a knock on my door.
"Cliff, are you awake?" said Ann from the other side of the door "I've brought you some toast,"
I made my way over to the door, and opened it, smiling, and I thanked Ann for the breakfast.
"You doing anything today?" she asked, leaning on the doorframe.
"Just going for a wander round town, I suppose," I replied, taking the toast and making my way out of the room. Ann moved out of the way as I locked the door.
"I've got to serve some customers, clean up a bit, then Popuri is coming round, so I'd best get a move on, I don't want to waste any more of your time!" she said cheerfully, skipping down the stairs.
I smiled, wondering how she could be so merry in the morning. I left the inn, eating my toast along the way. I walked around the town square, keeping an eye out for my diary, but unfortunately, I had no luck. I stood still, and racked my brains for where I went yesterday. I realized the only three places I could have lost it were the town square, the beach and the forest, as they were where I had spent most of my day yesterday. I wandered over to the beach, shuffling around in the sand, in case it had been buried. I still had no luck, and I sighed dejectedly, before making my way towards the forest. I looked behind Gotz's house, and I had a brief conversation with him as he walked past to open his shop for the day. I sat down on the grass, and started racking my brains again, as to where my diary could be, when I felt a presence behind me and a tap on my shoulder. I jumped up and span around, alarmed, and saw a short figure, dressed in black. I couldn't tell who it was because they had their face covered with a balaclava. I gulped. I had a bad feeling about this person.
"Are you looking for your diary?" they said, leaning towards me and talking in a thick, accented voice, right into my face. I crinkled my nose. Whoever this was, they sure had bad breath! I composed myself, before saying:
"Why, yes I am, did you find it?" I said politely, smiling, and trying to mask my fear.
"Yes I did, you little homo," said the person, narrowing their dark eyes at me. My eyes widened in shock. They've found out my secret!
"I b-beg your p-pardon?" I said, trying to act nonchalant, but this didn't faze the stranger.
"Don't try to weasel your way out of this, boy!" said the stranger, before pulling my diary out of his pocket and throwing it at me. I caught the little black book, although my hands were shaking badly.
"U-uh ... thank you" I stuttered, pocketing the diary.
"Oh-ho, I'm not finished with you yet, boyo!" said the stranger, grabbing hold of my arm, and to my horror, pulling out a large knife from behind his back. It was surreal – it all happened too fast. They plunged the knife into my side, and I screamed in pain, collapsing to the ground, grabbing the knife and pulling it out. The stranger laughed, before kicking me in the back of the head, and I slumped onto the floor. I heard their footsteps fading away. They must have gone. I heard a new pair of footsteps rush towards me, as my vision was fading.
"CLIFF!" the person, obviously female shrieked, rushing towards me, and bending down next to me, picking up the bloodstained knife.
All I saw before I blacked out was a flash of pink.
A/N. At last, the real events havw kicked in! Who is the attacker? Oho, all will be revealed in due course!
