Here's the 4th Chapter in this tale by Izzy.

Thanks for all of the reviews I received, especially SunshineGirlx3 who has been very enthusiastic towards my writing. I hope she carries on reading them!

This bit is a little gloomy but I felt that the story needed this part.

The next chapter is going to be very exciting…

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harvest Moon.

Mary sat shivering in her usually cozy library. It was cold today and Mary wished she had some company. No one had come for a least a week. Mary supposed it was because of Popuri's disappearance. No one dared even leave their homes except for the occasional shopping trip. It could have something to do with the Goddess too. She was missing just like Popuri. And Carter was going mental praying to her. He was playing his organ 24/7 and setting up a shrine to which he added more offerings each day in his back yard.

Gray was working. It seemed as if he always was. Now he did special requests for those who wanted things to put on Carter's Harvest Goddess shrine. Mary thought it was all nonsense. But she had put on some flowers and a necklace to be safe. Sometimes she'd go and visit Gray while he was working but she didn't like getting out of the house so much. The streets we always deserted and all the villagers were in their shops/ houses working. Mary wished that everyone would stop working and have a gathering – something to get their minds off the recent events, but is seemed that they were all too scared. Mary was a bit frightened herself… but not that much.

The Cow Festival had even been cancelled because nobody wished to be that close to the beach because Popuri and Rick had allegedly drowned here. Mary wasn't so sure about that but she dare not say it to anyone. Oh how she wished things were back to normal!

Karen lay in bed, her arms folded over her chest, as if to attempt to obliterate the pain in her heart. It didn't work. She was still too shocked even to have a good cry. She just lay there, occasionally eating or taking a sip of water, not moving, just staring off to somewhere no one could see. Her head did not feel overpowered as one would expect, in fact, the only thing that her mind could think of was Rick. She kept having dreams of him smiling and then waving to say 'goodbye' and falling over backwards into the water. He never came back out. The dream disturbed her greatly and all she could do was think about it.

Her mother and father hadn't even bothered to talk to her. They knew that even saying anything would hurt her. They just carried on with their business, leaving food for Karen by her bed and running the shop. Her mother, Sasha no longer went to her frequent meetings with the other women. Actually, none 

of them did. Jeff, who so often would go to the church and sit there peacefully, did not go anymore, in fear of Carter, who was acting very strange.

Karen's lovely green eyes that would always hold a sparkle were dull and completely unremarkable now; it seemed as if something had sucked all the magic and beauty out of them. Her hair lay limp at her sides and her mouth stayed shut. All forms of speech were lost amongst the grief she felt; there was no room for anything else. Not even her best friend Anne who would come each day, sit on the edge of her bed and talk to Karen, even though she didn't respond.

Elli should have been happy. A ring glistened on her thin finger, a ring which she had had for nearly half a season now, a ring which had been given to her by the Doctor. She adored it; it was a sign of his love and commitment to her. The wedding was to be held in winter -Elli's favorite month – under the cherry blossom trees by the path leading to the Goddess Pond. It had been the cause of much excitement for about a week… until Popuri went missing. If Elli brought up the ring in one of the few conversations she had with the Mineral Town residents, they would all smile and give more congratulations, but it was just not the same. She wished that the Doctor had presented her with the ring and they had been married before all of this. Then they could go through and deal with it as husband and wife, not as fiancées desperately trying to keep faith in life.

Elli's little brother Stu understood all that was going on for he was a smart boy, but that made it all the worse. He and her grandmother Ellen would sit huddled together on her rocking chair, hugging each other. Elli knew that Stu wanted every moment with her incase the town was not alright. It made her feel sad and alone. But she loved her family and was there for them and the Doctor was there for her. She hoped that everything would be fine. But, although she absolutely hated to say it, she wasn't so sure.

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Thanks for reading and please review!

-Izzy : )

The next chapter is the penultimate one (I think) so I won't reveal any summaries or anything, you'll have to wait and see!