I woke up and immediately looked at the clock, already knowing I'd woken up late. 10 o'clock. I scowled and got up, stretching my back. I walked into the living room uncertainly, knowing that Phantom would be angry with me and that my animals were still outside from yesterday. At least I don't have to feed them, I thought, irritated at myself.
"I take it you don't get up this late every morning?" Chase said from the kitchen. I grunted and yawned in reply. "Breakfast is on the table." I was shocked at this, though I didn't really know why. He was an aspiring chef, right? Why wouldn't he make breakfast? I guess I never pictured him making it for me. I reminded myself that we were just friends and plopped down at the table, mumbling thanks to him. Chase whistled as he washed dishes from his own breakfast. A few minutes passed in silence before he glanced at me.
"Good morning to you too," he said grumpily, imitating what must've been the irritable mood I appeared to be in. I suppressed a chuckle. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Nice hair."
I blushed, knowing fully well what my hair looked like in the morning. Narrowing my eyes at him, I stood and went back into his room and changed quickly into my clothes, which I found had been washed, and combed through my hair with my fingers. I hurried out the door after thanking Chase and telling him I had to take care of my animals. He only looked a little put out, but I figured he was kidding with me. I tacked up Phantom and rode him the short distance to my house.
As suspected, my animals were still outside, and they made all sorts of noise as I approached. I apologized to Phantom and patted him, then let him out to graze some more. I took care of the animals and went to the falls, where I usually spent my time to think. I pulled out my fishing pole and cast it, watching the bobber go up and down where it landed, sending little ripples around it. I realized that it'd been awhile since I'd been here, even though it was literally right next to my house. It really was beautiful, with the small river that was fed by a waterfall, which ran from somewhere in the mountains up above me. The springs were a short hike from here and always left me feeling rejuvenated. I guessed I had built up some stamina since I'd moved here, though, like Chase had said, I didn't really take care of myself well. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't afford to buy lunch every day, and I didn't have enough produce or the real potential to get any on my still petite farm, to be polite. Not to mention my mediocre cooking skills.
No fish were biting, so I reeled my line in and headed back to my farm. I frowned looking over my small herd of animals grazing in the field. There was a single cow, a sheep, a goat, an ostrich, four chickens, a silkworm (in the chicken coop) and Phantom, who I knew I had only because my mother had given him to me. I bit my lip, thinking of her, but pushed the thoughts out of my mind and headed into town. I wandered about aimlessly, thinking how I could increase income without spending a lot of money. I already had an egg on the incubator, waiting for another chicken to hatch, and I was saving up for what the residents on the island innocently called 'miracle potion' for my cow, which was my single largest source of income, followed by my goat. I was snapped from my thoughts when I ran into someone.
"Oof!" I grunted, staggering backwards. I looked up to see Owen look over his shoulder inquisitively. He hadn't moved when I ran into him; but then, he was a foot taller than me and probably twice my weight. He turned around smiling at me, slinging his ginormous hammer over his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. I smiled sheepishly.
"Hey!" he said happily. "You alright?"
"Yeah," I replied. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." I looked around the hulk of a man in front of me and saw Calvin, Phoebe, and Julius standing behind him, all with hammers in their hands or nearby. They were chatting among themselves quietly while Chloe ran around chasing butterflies happily.
"We're all taking a trip into the mine," he explained. "Do you want to come?" I agreed before I really knew what I was doing, probably thinking this would get my mind off of things, and soon Julius was by my side, chatting away about fashion and the smithing he intended to do with the ore he found. We all made our way deep into the mine, taking a break every ten floors or so, watchful of pitfalls and other such dangers. Owen talked to everyone and no one in particular while Chloe chose rocks for him to smash, but he didn't care because Chloe seemed to be enjoying herself. Phoebe and Calvin talked quietly by themselves mostly, examining what they found closely but more involved in each other's company than in anything else. Julius continued talking my ear off, and I tried hard to pay attention but really the man talked way too much. Absently I hammered away at the rocks, collecting as many ores and wonderfulls I could find.
"We made it, we made it!" Chloe exclaimed, jumping up and down. She looked around in wonder at the Underground Lake. Julius had even stopped talking and looked around the lake. Owen walked over and placed his hammer on the ground as gently as if it'd been a small child, then cupped his hands in the water and took a drink. Soon enough, we all had joined him, not realizing how thirsty we were until then, though the water tasted like metals.
"It's hot," I pointed out, though it was obvious. In reply, Chloe ran into the lake, not caring that she was in her clothes, not even bothering to kick off her shoes beforehand. She splashed me and I laughed, following her in. Soon enough we were all playing in the lake, except Julius.
"I certainly can't ruin these clothes!" he protested.
"Well you should've thought about that before wearing them into a mine!" I said back. He glared at me and scowled, refusing to get in the water and standing far out of our reach. We paid no mind as we continued playing like children in the underground lake.
It wasn't until late that we emerged from the mine, our clothes dripping, making us resemble drowned rats. We headed to Ramsey's, where he invited us to stay for dinner, after scolding Owen for keeping Chloe out this late, and we left our ores and wonderfulls to be refined by Mira in the morning, but Julius left early, muttering something about beauty sleep. After eating some kind of fish for dinner I left as well, thanking Ramsey for dinner and everyone else for a great day.
It wasn't until I was walking out the door and passed the large pile of ores and such from the mine that I realized that, not only had this expedition relieved some of my stress, but it would be an awesome source of income tomorrow, after my treasures were refined. The thought made my smile widen and I headed home, whistling to myself and practically dancing down the path, reflecting on the amazing day I'd had.