A Chaotic Experience

Chapter 7: Summer Shine

Summer 1st was finally here! Ewan let himself sleep in for an extra hour. He decided to simply wear his swimming trunks with his new, brown-colored T-shirt. Again, not needing to water any plants, he went straight to feeding his animals, brushing Speedy, and shipping Feathers' egg.

"Haha, Rosie, you're always so lazy during Summer." Ewan said to his cat, who was curled up on top of Ewan's blue towel. He was able to get her off and set her down next to her food.

"And shed a lot…" he groaned, looking at all the fur on his towel. Once he got it all off, Ewan put on his fiery-designed sandals and made his way towards the beach, considering it was now 11am.

"A little early, but I'm sure others will be there." Ewan declared, putting his open arm over his head from the heat. He had brought some sunglasses with him, so he put them on.

"Wow, perfect day to go to the beach and swim." he had on his typical red bandana, too.

At the beach, as Ewan said, a few people were already there. Raffi was sunbathing in her blue swirl-design bikini on her light blue towel. Kai was there, too, in his red swim trunks. Surprisingly, he didn't have on his bandana. Karen was there, her feet in the water, wearing a purple bikini. Lastly, Joe was there, wearing swim trunks that matched his 'patriotic' bandana, which he also didn't have on.

"Hey, everyone!" Ewan waved to everyone. His swim trunks were a blue color, too, but also had white and brown colors of different designs. They all waved at him and he spread out his blue towel close to everyone else's.

"So do you know what we do at this festival?" Joe asked Ewan, walking over now, but he shook his head a little.

"Well, really, it's just all of us here at the beach relaxing, all in all." Raffi decided to explain, turning to the two.

"But then we have a swimming race a few hours in, so I hope you're a good swimmer." the carpenter said with a little laugh.

"Oh, you'd be surprised." Ewan said with a nice smirk, moving some of his hair out of his eyes.

More and more people came by quickly. It was found out that the mayor would be coming at around the time they should start the swimming race.

"Nice outfit, Popuri." complimented Ewan, blushing bright red at Popuri's flowery bikini. Popuri blushed too.

"Hey you have a nice body--SWIM TRUNKS." this was probably the first time Popuri had actually made the verbal mistake. Ewan just smiled and laughed.

"Hey, you two! Come over and swim!" Ann called out, lifting her right arm into the air and waving. They both got off their towels and ran past the sand into the water, splashing everyone.

"Yeah, my hair thanks you for that." Karen groaned, trying to keep her hair dry. Elli smiled and laughed.

"I don't usually like to go out swimming, since I eat too many cakes and I think I'm fat." the baker said, blushing a little and turning away.

"Oh, stop, Elli. You look beautiful." Raffi said, "I'm the ugly one here."

"You two are both fine, can we just swim here!" Kai had to but in and yelled out. He sighed and then smiled, "Sorry." they all began to laugh, but agreed.

"Oh, I love this festival. Swimming is so much fun, and just being with friends is great, too." Ann said after she had went underwater and then back up.

"Hopefully I remember swimming and a lot more memories from summer." Ewan said to Popuri, who smiled back.

"I'm sure you will, don't worry." she reassured Ewan. Ewan smiled and nodded.

"Hey, let's practice our swimming before the contest!" Kai called out, waving to the others. They decided to go with this and began swimming laps on their own consent. Kai got a little competitive and would race the others, mostly Joe and Ewan.


"Okay everyone, come up here, please!" the mayor had finally gotten to the beach, dressed in his usual attire.

"Looks like the contest will be starting soon." Cliff said with a smile, going to the front. Thomas was in front of where everyone's towels were and no one bothered to dry off.

"Rick has given me the prize for first place, which is a secret. Second place gets a month's worth of lumber. Third place gets 1000G. Whoever would like to race, please line up at the shore!" Thomas said.

"Good luck, Ewan!" Popuri said with a smile, walking to the side. Ewan nodded and smiled. He, Cliff, Ann, Raffi, Joe, Kai, and Gray were all racing.

"Alright everyone, on your marks…" began Thomas with the countdown.

"Let's see how well you do." Gray taunted to Ewan, who glared back at him.

"Get set…" he continued, everyone prepared to swim to the floating object out at sea, which would be the finish point.

"GO!" they all raced off. It started out with Kai, then Gray, then Raffi, then Ewan, then Joe, then Ann, then Cliff.

"Haha!" Kai laughed in between breaths. Gray being in second place was short-lived because he used his speed quickly and slowly descended behind Joe. Ewan carefully made his way past Raffi and was neck and neck with Kai at the end.

"You're almost there!" Karen called out to the two.

"Go, Ewan!" Popuri yelled. In the last moment, Ewan was able to swim barely past Kai and get into first. Kai and Raffi continued with 2nd and 3rd respectively with Gray in 4th, Joe in 5th, Ann in 6th, and Cliff in last.

"Maybe I shouldn't have had some food before eating…" Cliff mumbled when they all got back to the sand.

"…Well whatever." Gray muttered.

"Aha, how could I let Raffi beat me?" Joe wondered, scratching the back of his head. Raffi flicked his nose when he said that.

"Wow… only one spot away from getting last." Ann said, sounding shocked that she didn't get last place.

"I'm just glad I got third place." Raffi said with a smile. She took her prize of 1000G from the mayor.

"It was a close race, Ewan. Next year, we'll see how well you do." Kai said with a grin, accepting his lumber, which would go to the Vineyard later.

"Prize for first place is…" Thomas said dramatically, a curtain over the prize that was on a podium. He pulled it off and it was some odd, pig-shaped thing.

"Wha… what?" wondered Ewan a little disappointed.

"It's an Invincible Katori. Its mystical powers are said to protect your land during typhoons, so your farm won't be wrecked." explained the mayor. They all let out a few 'ooh's and 'ahh's.

"Yeah, Summer can sometime be a big typhoon season." Popuri told Ewan with a smile.

"We'll take this to your house now. Enjoy the rest of your festival, everyone!" and with that, Thomas took the Invincible Katori and left the beach area. Gray had already left after his rude remark after losing.

The Sea Festival

"Go!" they all raced to the end, some disheartened.

"What kind of prize is this!?" the young, red-bandana wearing boy wondered.

"Oh, that helps your farm, Ewan!" the pink-haired girl explained.

"But it's not my farm…" he answered.

"Maybe it will be someday, and we'll see you again after this year's over!" she told him.

"Yeah! Soon, I will own the Rancho Farm!"

Then…

Then?


Summer 2nd came around and Raffi came over quickly, knocking on Ewan's door.

"Come on; let's see your summer outfit!" Raffi banged the door. Ewan came out quite quickly, pulling off his new sunglasses. He had on a brown T-shirt, some nice, tan shorts, white shoes, and the same necklace and bandana.

"You like?" Ewan asked, setting his sunglasses in his pocket.

"Very nice," answered Raffi with her arms crossed. She had on a white tank top with a black belt around her caprees. She had a yellow headband in her hair, "and what about me?" Ewan smiled and nodded.

"You chose nicely, too." he nodded, Raffi nodding in return.

"What do you have planned today? Since it's Monday, I have today off." the doctor told Ewan, who nodded in showing that he understood.

"Well, I'm going to buy some seeds for the summer and start getting a saving for a cow." Ewan explained. Right now, he was planting the three Pink-Cat Mint seeds that he had gotten from the Flower Festival.

"Then what seeds are those for?" Raffi wondered, pointing to the seeds as he began to water them.

"They're Pink-Cat Mint Flower seeds." answered Ewan, deep in thought about Popuri now.

"Hey, those are Popuri's favorite gift, next to strawberries." Raffi said, grinning at Ewan. She knew that Ewan had already known.

"Really? I love strawberries, too. But I can't seem to grow them or get any seeds for them." muttered the farmer a little sadly.

"Why don't you ask Popuri when you go to get some seeds?" she suggested and Ewan nodded, "Well, I think I'm going to go visit Joe."

"Joe?" Ewan wondered, "Why Joe?" Raffi turned to Ewan and winked her left eye.

"No reason…" she then turned away from Ewan and began to blush, "No reason at all…" Raffi's face went normal color and she ran off, leaving a confused Ewan on his farm. He just shrugged and walked into town. Popuri was walking the plants near the sidewalk, but Ewan decided to go into the shop first.

"Oh, hello Ewan!" greeted Lilia. Basil smiled and lifted his right hand. Ewan waved to the two of them.

"Here for summer seeds… or to see my daughter?" wondered the botanist.

"Basil!" Lilia said in a startled tone, making Basil laugh and blush a little. Ewan, surprisingly, didn't blush, but smiled.

"Just some crop seeds right now. Two corn and two tomato bags?" Ewan asked. Basil got the bags and Lilia added up the price, which was 1600G. A little expensive, but Ewan gave Lilia the money and went outside.

"Hi, Ewan!" she said when she saw Ewan walk over. He smiled and waved slightly to her.

"Why don't why go to the Rancho Farm and I can get these planted? I think I have a few questions for you, too." Ewan suggested.

"Sure, let's go." Popuri said and followed behind Ewan to his farm. After Ewan tilled the ground, unearthing something interesting that he put away, he began to set down the seeds and water them.

"So, my question would be about growing strawberries. I love them, and I don't think there would be any appropriate season to grow them in." Ewan told Popuri who nodded, pulling out her watering can and deciding to help water the seeds.

"Well, you'll need a greenhouse to grow strawberries," the flower girl said, "and greenhouses are very useful. They have a lot of space and you can grow crops from any season at any time. But they cost a lot, so you might want to start a saving 'account' for a greenhouse." Popuri finished.

"I'm about to buy a cow, though…" muttered Ewan a little sadly.

"Hey, buy the cow. Maybe you should get a greenhouse when you're ready to give up extra money from a month or so." she told Ewan with a smile and a nod, putting her watering can away when both of them were done.

"You gotta go now?" Ewan asked her, pulling out a cloth and dabbing the sweat off of his forehead.

"Oh, sure. It is a little late, anyway." Popuri noticed, "I'll see you later, Ewan!" she said in a bubbly way, smiling to him and then leaving. Ewan waved and said, 'bye'. Once gone, Ewan decided to go into his house, namely the kitchen, and rinsed off whatever he had unearthed. It was the red fruit that the salesman gave to him on the Flower Festival.

"A Power Berry…" Ewan muttered, taking a bite into it. Once he had eaten it, he checked off another place on the map hanging in his room. He had one hanging in his bedroom and kept one with him, too, but had a red 'X' on the Town Square and now on his fields.

"Eww… still a little taste of dirt." groaned the farmer. He rinsed out his mouth and had some water. However, it was still a good Power Berry as the dirt taste was only an aftertaste.


Tropical Fruit was the foraged fruit that could be found this season, which was a large, orange ball. It was very juice, but had a slightly tart taste. It shipped for the same amount as the Very Berry from last season.

"I wonder if Cliff is in the caves…" wondered Ewan as he made his way past Joe and Kurt's carpentry. He walked into the cave and saw a little red-dressed man walking and dancing about.

"Um… hello…?" Ewan asked to the figure that freaked him out. The tiny person stopped and turned to Ewan.

"Ello-hay." the little thing said a little nervously. At first, Ewan didn't know what this meant, but then remembered that this was Pig Latin.

"Ello-hay. An-cay ou-yay emember-ray ow-hay o-tay peak-say English-ay?" Ewan asked the little figure, but he shook his head.

"Us-ay prites-say used-ay o-tay peak-say it-ay." the sprite told Ewan, who nodded.

"Ell-way, aybe-may I-ay an-can elp-hay ou-yay earn-lay it-ay again-ay." the farmer said. The sprite smiled and nodded.

So Ewan decided to spend a good amount of time there helping the sprite and left at a good time.

"Maybe I'll do some good fishing at the beach, after I get my cow." he decided, going to the Green Ranch. He greeted Ann, who was doing her work with the animals with her brother, and then went into the main building to talk to Hall.

"Hey, Ewan. What are you here for today?" Ann and Gray's father asked him.

"Some more chicken feed and a cow. I'll need some fodder for that cow, too." Ewan said with a nod.

"Great. I'll even throw in a milker for your cow. Here's everything you need and we'll take the cow to your house now. That will be about 6500G." Hall said. Ewan paid and they both walked to the Rancho Farm with the adult cow.

"Okay, what should we name her?" wondered the rancher.

"How about… Ermintrude?" Ewan decided. Hall nodded and led the cow into the barn, already putting some fodder in her bin.

"There you go, keep good care of her." Hall told Ewan, who nodded before Hall left. Ewan smiled and milked his new cow, shipping the small milk that it gave. He then made his way back to the beach and sat on the dock to fish. One thing he caught was quite heavy and it was another Power Berry!

"Oh…" Ewan said with a smile. He dried it off. It had a good taste combination of salt from the sea and sweet sugar from the fruit. Once done, he shipped whatever fish he had caught and went to bed, the next day being Summer 4th.