Angela stretched as she peeked out into the cold, dreary world outside her window. It was raining again, transforming the usually vibrant and warm-colored wonderland into a gloomy, dark, and sullen bother. Most folks on the island were currently grimacing at the bleak downpour, the day's chores suddenly becoming very unappealing. Angela, however, was genuinely grinning as she watched the droplets of water permeate the soil. More rain meant less work and the week's sporadic rain attacks had certainly been giving her much free time. Angela walked to her bookcase and perused the books her newfound neighbors had given to her. Fishing, farming, furniture… none of the subjects on her shelf seemed to inspire today's spontaneous adventure. Angela sighed and took a seat at her small dining table. She propped her head up between her hands, her face a clear descriptor of her mood.

"So bored…" she muttered. Angela closed her eyes and tried to figure out what exciting activity she could undertake for the day. The thought of simply goofing off with either Kathy or Luke was tempting, but trying to find them in this mud-inducing weather dampened that prospect. She could help Jin out at the clinic, but then the realization that today was Monday hit her like a ton of bricks. The Sundae Inn seemed like another viable choice, but the inn's utter lack of guests held no guarantees of a job. Angela groaned and thumped her head on the table. She quickly jerked her head back up, wincing.

"That hurt more than I thought it would," she said to herself as she rubbed her forehead. At least the table's sturdy, she thought. Suddenly, a grand notion suddenly struck her!

"I should help the mayor out at the town hall!" The idea was perfect! This way, she could settle what she felt was her debt to the mayor and get to know both the mayor and Elli better at the same time. Having finalized the day's activities, she grabbed her umbrella and ventured out into the moist world awaiting her outside her door.


The rain pattered endlessly as she approached her destination. Angela watched minute water droplets fall from the edge of her umbrella, thankful that it protected her from the chilly autumn rain…well, mostly. Each step onto the island's moist ground had kicked up rainwater and muck onto the bottom of her jean, a tragedy no umbrella could ever protect her from. This calamity was the furthest thing from her mind, though.

The mayor and Elli certainly appeared to be wonderfully cheerful and friendly people and Angela was looking forward to working with them both. Unfortunately, she had completely forgotten one important factor from her calculations. Gill Hamilton. The rain could never dampen her spirit, but the thought of working alongside that guy was certainly a damper to her plan.

Angela shuddered. She could feel her stomach doing somersaults like a hyper five-year-old. Was it the chilly fall wind that was making her feel this way? She paused in front of the large, towering double doors of the town hall. What Gill-inflicted hardship awaited her on the other side of these doors? She pushed the heavy doors open with hesitation and peeked around the corner, hoping to spot trouble before it found her.

"H-hello?" Angela murmured into the seemingly empty building. The sound of something clacking noisily was the only response. She mustered more courage and made a second attempt.

"Hello? Anyone here?" she said a tad louder. Elli looked up from her work momentarily to return the timid greeting.

"Hi, Angela! What brings you here this damp day?" Angela perked at the sound of the merry voice and skipped over to Elli's desk. She had half-expected the snarky voice of the mayor's son to acknowledge her, so Elli's greeting was extremely comforting. Still, her senses remained on high alert for the sudden and unwelcome appearance of that annoyingly arrogant guy.

"Nothing in particular," Angela said as she leaned on the counter and watched Elli's slender and lively fingers dance hurriedly on a typewriter. Its dull and rusting keyboard clicked noisily in protest of each letter summoned. The methodical movement of Elli's digit was almost hypnotizing and Angela gazed blankly at the process.

"You sure you don't need anything? Some coffee, maybe?" Elli teased lightly at the sleepy expression clouding Angela's usually lively eyes. Angela half-lidded peepers widened in acknowledgement, realizing Elli was talking to her.

"Um, I… "Angela rubbed her eyes, momentarily forgetting her purpose at the town hall. Elli chuckled and stood from her work to retrieve cups of the caffeinated beverage. Angela gratefully took the mug offered to her and took a swift swig of it without further thought. It was bitter. Very bitter. Her face contorted at its taste. She pushed the warm cup away from her, hoping Elli wouldn't notice her quiet rejection of the unsweetened drink. Elli, in contrast, took a long draught from her mug, not minding the lack of sugar or cream. She had grown quite accustomed to the strong taste over the many long, grueling, overnight shifts the years of town hall work had brought upon her. Angela cleared her throat once Elli had finished quenching her thirst.

"Actually, I was kind of wondering if there was anything I could help out with," She eyed Elli's face, in hope of a positive reaction.

"Certainly! Any help is appreciated on a short-handed day like this, especially with the Great Taskmaster gone for the day," Elli said and motioned for Angela to join her on the employee's side of the desk. Elli immediately put her to work by tasking Angie with the job of organizing the ledgers on the shelf. Angela saluted her temporary boss and quickly set to work.

As she sorted the books diligently, her mind was working at an explanation for the Hamilton's odd absence. Was it usually Elli working by herself in this tomb-like building? Her mouth forced her thoughts into words.

"So, where's the mayor anyways? He got rained in or…"

"Mayor Hamilton?" Elli interjected. Angela nodded her head in confirmation although the answer seemed obvious.

"Well, the mayor's put himself in charge of tending to his citizens, which is basically just going around town and checking on people. So, he's not usually in most days, and when he is, it's usually not that long," Elli said as she adjusted the paper she was typing on.

"Gill himself gets majority of the paperwork side done. Notwithstanding the help of his wonderful assistant, of course," she gestured to herself with a flourish.

"And where's Grumpy Pants run off to?" Angela eyed his neatly organized desk curiously. Elli smiled at the nickname Angie had bestowed upon her coworker/boss. It certainly seemed to fit him most days.

"He's away on business. Serious business," Elli's eyes appeared to laugh at the statement and a goofy grin was tugging at the corners of her lips, but her overall expression betrayed nothing humorous about Gill's temporary departure. If Elli had not been so busy forcing down her laughter, she would've certainly taken note of the wave of relief that washed over Angela's formerly anxious face. Silence reigned once more between the pair, only interrupted by an occasional inquiry from Angela concerning her work.

By the end of an hour, Angela found herself seated at Gill's desk with a large stack of cards and a small plastic bin in front of her. Elli placed yet another stack in front of the volunteer and began to explain Angie's next task.

"All right, so, every month, we send each resident a bio and preference form to fill out. They send them back in, we type them onto these cards, and replace the old ones with their updated ones," Elli patted the pile next to her with fondness. She handed Angie a small quantity of the cards to clarify.

"That's neat…" Angela said softly as she shuffled through the lesser heap.

"I know, right? The mayor came up with it so people could get to know their little crushes before they actually talk to them," Elli eagerly said.

"Anyway, all you need to do is take out the old cards and organize the new ones by gender, marital status, and last name. Sound easy enough?" Angela nodded her head in agreement, her action contradicting her feeling of unsurety.

Gender was certainly easy enough, but marital status? After accomplishing the gender bit, Angela attempted to do the next part herself, but was soon lost in confusion. She looked to Elli's busy figure in hope of assistance.

"Um, Elli, for the marital status part…"

"Oh! Let me do that part for you. I forgot you're still new here, so you don't about our citizens', er, rich histories," Elli rolled her chair over to Angela's temporary station and took over the job. Angela watched with interest as Elli sorted the pile at lightning speed.

Elli handed them back to her worker with a smile and returned to her antiquated typewriter. Angela glanced over each one as she placed it into the small bin.

Anissa, 26 years old, loves herbs and juices….

Kathy, 25 years old, loves pizza and cocktails…

Huh. Angela had never thought most of her newfound friends were older than her. Judging by their carefree attitudes and unhurried lifestyles, they all seemed to be in their very early 20s' to her.

She moved on to the bachelors. Gill's was the first one on the pile, but she tucked it under the rest for the mean time.

Jin, 31 years old, loves miso soup and herbs…

Angela inspected the card carefully again. Jin was 31 years old? He had seemed so much closer to her age in retrospect. Maybe the island's weather preserved the youthful faces of its eligible residents and then restored their faces to its natural state after marriage… But that theory was too far-fetched and ridiculous.

Luke, 21 years old, loves spinach and mayonnaise…

An odd combination of food, but it certainly fit the eccentric lumber-chopper. Angela especially took note of Luke's age. He was only one year older than her and the gap seemed perfect for a relationship…not that Angela was thinking of that.

Owen's card followed after, as did Toby's. The rest of the bio and preference cards belonged to the town's married population and continued to the single citizens. The high amount of unpaired cards felt odd to Angela, but she set aside her looming questions for another time.

The last card she held had apparently been hand-written rather than typed like the others. The neatly printed words read:

Gill Hamilton, 24 years old, loves gold and silver … tomatoes!

The words gold and silver had apparently been crossed out and the word "tomatoes" had been written above it in pink with likewise pink hearts surrounding it. Obviously, the mayor's son himself had written most of the card's other details, but the puce colored words appeared to be the handiwork of his coworker, Elli. Angela turned to the perpetrator, unsure what to do with the tampered card.

"Uh, Gill's card is—"

"It's fine, just put it with the rest," Elli responded, knowing the cause of Angela's hesitancy. Angela shrugged and did as she was told.

By 5 P.M., the two were wrapping up the day's work and making plans to head to the Sundae Inn for dinner. As they tidied up around the office, they chatted gaily about various subjects, ranging from the island's recent weather to the mayor's odd, yet somehow appropriate hairstyle. The topic had turned to Gill's unusual taste in clothing and the pair shared a hearty laugh at his expense.

"So…tomatoes?" Angela tried to inquire about it as subtly as she could. Even if she felt nothing but contempt for the man, and apology seemed to be in order for what had happened last week. Giving him a gift seemed like a decent idea. Giving him something he actually liked, perhaps even tomato-related, seemed like an especially good idea.

"Yeah, the guy loves them. I mean, you should've seen the lunches he brought to work when they were in season," Elli rolled her eyes at the fruit's former omnipresence in the town hall.

"Tomato juice, tomato, pasta, tomato stew, tomatoes everything!" Elli mockingly gagged at the list of tomato-centric dishes. Angela laughed at Elli's exaggerated gestures.

"He loves them so much, it's actually kind of sickening," Elli stated with sincerity, momentarily forgetting her position as Gill's employee, as well as his friend. Her disgust only lasted a moment before she realized the brevity of her statement.

"B-but don't tell him I said that!" Elli retracted. "If he finds out what I think of the stuff, I'd be drowning in paperwork and filing cabinets for months!"

"Don't worry. I won't tell him," Angela waved off Elli's worry,"but by the sound of it, I'm surprised his skin hasn't gone red from all the tomatoes he eats." The brunettes both burst out in jovial laughter at the truth of the joke. In half an hour, the pair was out of the doors and into the cold, soggy night.

"Thank you so much for the extra hand today! It feels great to finally get off early for once," Elli said, feeling genuine liberation from work as she locked the doors shut for the night.

"No problem. It's the least I could…do…" Angela's mind drifted from the conversation to a distant sound masked by the clatter of the rain on their umbrellas. She swiveled her head in search of the source's direction.

"Something wrong?" Elli glanced at her friend who had grown unusually quiet.

"I thought I heard something…" Angela squinted into the blanket of rain, wondering whether someone or something was hidden in its midst.

"It's probably the Chihuahua that hangs out here," Elli said, her relaxed tone failing to Angela's alertness.

"Mmm…I'm not too sure…" Angela said with her eyebrows furrowed intensely. She waved Elli off in departure.

"You go on ahead, Elli. I'll just meet you there," Angela said as she dashed off into the direction of the town square's large tree. She stopped in front of its sign, straining her ears to catch even a small dribble of the noise again. Her efforts were quickly rewarded by the sound of a high-pitched groan. The source of the noise was nearer than she thought! She spied its cause wriggling in discomfort at the base of the tree. Her burning desire overwhelmed any hesitation to approach the odd sight and she stooped down to inspect the noise-maker.

It was a little kid…or at least that what it looked like. The tiny humanoid pulled his carefully stitched hat further over his large head.

"This wet stuff is the wooooorst!" the creature wailed. Angela nearly fell backwards at this development. It talked. The weird, little, elf creature talked actual words. She rubbed her saucer-wide eyes to ensure this wasn't some dream or illusion. It was real. Unconsciously, she extended her umbrella towards the disgruntled creature in an effort to comfort it. The small being looked up in surprise from the sudden relief, its beady eyes meeting Angela's chocolate ones. After a few moments, Angela tried reaching out to touch the mysterious creature, but she would've never guessed its abrupt reaction.

"AAAUUUGH!" it screamed out at the top of its tiny lungs and began to fade away quickly, its' being replaced by a dainty flower. Angela had hardly found time to react before its tiny figure was gone entirely. She tried speaking to the flower to coax it back out, but her desperate pleas did nothing. Angela stood up, dizzy with heavy questions saturating her brain. What was that thing? Where did it go? How come Elli couldn't hear its cries too?

These were the thoughts that permeated Angie's mind as she walked into the Sundae Inn.

"It's about time you showed up, Ms. Angela," an aloof voice called out to her. She squeezed her eyes shut in disbelief.

No, it couldn't be…her stomach regained its queasy feeling at the thought of the voice's owner. Her body tensed up and her legs felt as heavy as lead. Every ounce of her person protested against his uninvited presence and refused to move any closer to him from where she was.

"Will I have to carry you again or are you going to join us here?" the voice said unabashedly. Angela's cheeks burned with fury. She flicked her eyes towards the middle of the restaurant, where Elli, the mayor, and Gill Hamilton were all seated. Gill patted the empty wooden seat next to him while Elli mouthed out an apology in the background.

"Won't you take a seat, Ms. Angela?"


Chapter 7 is done! :D Huzzah, mine kinsfolk!

"Chapter 7 is complete? Nay, thou liest! 'Tis only an illusion! We hath been promised its showing nought till next week!"

Ah, this is nary a dream or trick, dearest reader, but truth! Verily, the truth! Thus, may thine eyes feast happily upon it and thy minds meditate on its script! I have blessed thee with its showing and recompense I wish nought for besides thine opinions in the shape of a review! Whether thou didst spite it or care for it tenderly, I do desire to know! Pray tell, readers! Bestow upon me thy words of opinion for they are the oil of my lamp and the wind in my sails! uou

Enough of that gobbledygook. I've devised a tentative schedule for S&C, in which is updated weekly around the beginning of the week, notwithstanding bonus updates midweek. We'll see how it works out. :3c