A Chaotic Experience
Chapter 11: Autumn Saviors
It was very hard for Joe and Raffi to keep their new relationship to themselves, so word got out very quickly after the Fireworks Festival. Everyone was so happy about it and would always go up to them and go crazy about it. This just made Raffi blush and go crazy even more. Her and her boyfriend needed a nice secret spot soon.
"Ahahaha." Ewan chuckled heartily. Elli and Cliff were with him.
"What's so funny?" the baker wondered with a small smile.
"I just always thought the two of them wouldn't be together." muttered Ewan as he grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
"You probably should have moved in here earlier and you'd think the opposite." Elli added with a returning chuckle. Cliff crossed his arms and shook his head.
"Either way, they're together. And I think I should help them with their privacy." the vagabond muttered. He waved to the two and walked off. The Autumn had started the day before. The festivals that Ewan had recently heard about were the Cow Festival two days from now (4th), the Harvest Festival on the 12th, the Egg Festival on the 20th, and the Fall Horse Races on the 28th.
"I'll be able to enter Speedy into the horse race this season." Ewan declared proudly in front of Elli.
"Well good luck with that." she giggled, waving to Ewan and walking back to the bakery. Once Ewan had left, she stopped and then turned back, going into the direction of the hospital.
Ewan was busy with the new crops he had planted for the season. Eggplants and bell peppers would be grown this season. He was daydreaming a little bit about the Harvest Festival and dancing with Popuri and winning to be the Harvest King.
"Ewan." the typical cute voice during his daydreaming. Ewan opened his eyes and turned to Popuri, who was standing there with a warm smile.
"Hi, Popuri." he laughed a little nervously, putting away his watering can and waving to her. It was almost night time by now, the sun just barely up, "What are you doing here?" Ewan wondered.
"I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the Bar tonight. Just us two." Popuri suggested with a little nod. Ewan grinned and nodded his head vigorously.
"Let's go!" Ewan raced off with Popuri. As they got into the town and were walking to the Bar, Popuri shivered a little and turned to Ewan.
"Aren't you cold? You're just wearing your Spring clothes." she wondered, rubbing her arms a little bit. Ewan laughed a little.
"A bit cold, I don't get cold easily. But I do need some Autumn clothes…" Ewan muttered. A breeze blew and Ewan shivered. Popuri got a little closer.
"How's that?" Popuri asked him, and he looked away and blushed a little bit.
"Erm… you know. I'm fine." he stuttered a little bit. Once they finally got to the Bar, they drifted away a little bit from being so close and found a nice table to sit at. Karen and Kai were at some other table. After a while Karen was obviously drunk and couldn't control herself, kind of on the floor in the middle of the Bar, Kai running over next to her.
"Ummm…… stupid…… yawwwwn." sighed Karen, blushing bright red from all the wine. Ewan and Popuri were surprised that she hadn't thrown up or anything.
"Karen. Karen." Kai repeated, moving his hand in front of her face, "Are you okay?" he wondered, giving Karen a worried look. Karen slowly and finally got up to her feet and turned to Kai, eyes closed.
"What?" she breathed, "Stupid." Karen drunkenly walked away out of the Bar, leaving back a befuddled Kai.
"…I'll try hard, so……" muttered Kai. Ewan and Popuri could barely hear it.
"I hope that they won't lose business from the winery. It's definitely declined." sighed Popuri, "I've heard some talk from both of them about moving to the city." Ewan gasped a little bit.
"But they can't leave…" Ewan muttered a little sadly, "Then I have to help them… somehow…" his voice trailed off a little disappointedly.
Ewan and Raffi had decided to go out shopping for new Autumn clothing again. However, Popuri and Kai decided to join them. Kai wanted to get away from Karen fighting with her father and Popuri wanted to eat out in the city with her friends.
"So, what do you two want to do while we go shopping?" Raffi asked to Popuri and Kai. Kai turned to the seaside.
"I think I'll go down the pier and just look at all the boats and stuff." he decided. Kai waved and agreed to meet them back here later before he walked off.
"I'll probably just go do a little window-shopping of my own in some other stores." Popuri declared and walked off, waving to Raffi and Ewan before she did. They both looked at each other, Raffi giving Ewan her typical wink and raced him to the clothing store.
"I still can't get over how cute you and Joe are." Ewan said with a laugh once they entered the store.
"We haven't found any safe place from the others yet," Raffi said with a little laugh, too, "It's funny how people keep bothering us after so long." she blushed a little. Ewan nodded.
"It is a bit odd. Come on; let's go get some new clothes!" Ewan decided, Raffi nodding in agreement. They both split up again and went out to shop. They just wore their new outfits that they decided that they wanted after changing in a changing room and going to pay.
"Nice." complimented Raffi as they met at the front of the store. She had on blue jeans with nice white shoes, a white shirt with a lime green stripe and loose sleeves, and a white, pattern-coated bandana on her head.
"Well, it's not much different. I like what you're wearing, though." Ewan said with a little nod. He still had on his Spring outfit, but black and gold shoes. The additions were a tan jacket that he didn't have zipped up and a nice dark brown scarf. He jokingly put it over his mouth, "Hey, can you hear me?"
"Haha, Ewan, I can hear you fine." she giggled and they walked out and met up with Kai and Popuri.
"Ooh, nice outfits, guys." Kai said with a smile, Popuri nodding and smiling, too.
"So, where are we going for lunch?" Popuri wondered.
"We decided to go to a Chinese place." Raffi told them with a nice nod.
"I'm really dying for some fried rice and lemon chicken." Ewan muttered, holding his grumbling stomach. They all just laughed and walked down the street to the Chinese place. They decided to simply order out and find a nice picnic bench down by the beach.
"Mmm, tasty." Popuri muttered, taking a bite of Ewan's lemon chicken. He laughed a little and took another piece of chicken.
"Hey, you have your own." he told her, both of them chuckling a bit. Ewan set down his fork and fixed his necklace a little and then went back to eating his fried rice.
"I think we'd better get heading home now." Kai decided once they all finished eating and threw away their garbage.
"Yeah, I guess so." muttered Raffi a little sadly, "At least I get to see my Joe again, soon." she added with a cute smile.
Ewan had Ermintrude entered in the Cow Festival when Hall came to his house in the morning. Ewan and his cow were getting really close, so he was hopeful to win the festival.
"So you came, Ewan. The milk here is fresh from the morning. You can taste a little if you'd like." Thomas said. He was at Green Ranch now. Gourmet, Popuri, the Mayor, Harris, and Elli were at the table with milk. Ewan turned to the Gourmet judge.
"Hellooooo. I'm the Gourmet. Oh, tres bien. Nice smell… sweet… Mmm, this one's the best3." the fat, purple-wearing judge muttered with a silly smile.
"Hi, Popuri!" Ewan waved to the pink-haired girl and she flashed a smile in return.
"Hi! I definitely think Ermintrude's milk tastes the best." she said, with a nice nod. Ewan smiled and nodded, turning to Harris.
"Wow, that's delicious." the mailman breathed with a heavenly sigh as he sipped a cup of milk that sat at the end of the table on his end. Elli took a drink of the same milk.
"Hmm. The milk is all fresh and great tasting. It's a tough decision." decided Elli with a smile. She waved to Ewan, who waved back, and then turned to Karen and Ann, who were observing Ann's cow. Kent was watching from nearby, too.
"Gee, I hope I can enter a cow soon for everyone to look at." Kent muttered with a smile.
"Cows are such delicate creatures," explained Ann with a nice smile once Ewan arrived, "Their mood affects the taste and amount of milk they make."
"I'm not a milk drinker… I'll just choose a cute looking cow." Karen decided with a little shrug. Ewan chuckled and walked off to the next cow. He didn't know who owned this cow. Jeff and the Potion Shop Master were with this cow.
"I'm very picky about the milk that I put in tea." Jeff told Ewan.
"Hmm… they are all nice cows." the Potion Master muttered to himself. Ewan turned to the next cow, Gray's. Kai was watching it curiously.
"Oh, hi there." he waved to Ewan, who waved back, "I don't know much about the taste of milk because I don't drink it so much…" Kai muttered. Ewan laughed and then turned around as he and Gray were now glaring daggers at each other.
"… My cow is going to win…" Gray muttered to Ewan and then turned back to his cow. Ewan turned away and went to Hall's cow. Rick was watching it, too.
"I'm checking the cow's coat. You can tell if they're brushed with love." Hall said.
"I'm just checking the milk." Rick said, busy with his judging. Ewan moved on to the last cow. Cliff and Maria were around this last cow.
"Hello. We're judging the cows now." Maria said.
"Yes, I see that," Ewan answered with a little laugh, "You'll be a good mayor when the time comes." he said and then turned to Cliff.
"Hmm, all these cows are good. They are calm and quiet like humans, and they have gentle faces." Cliff told Ewan.
"The results will now be declared!" Thomas called out. One cow was left on the area next to the Mayor as the group went into a big bunch with the Gourmet closest, "The winner is… the cow from Rancho Farm!" Ewan beamed and ran to Ermintrude.
"Second place is Hall's cow from Green Ranch. It was really close." Thomas explained. They all cheered.
"This place was Ann's cow from Green Ranch. Give it up, everyone!" the Mayor finished and everyone cheered once more. Ewan got even more congratulated as everyone was leaving and he was leading Ermintrude home. When he got home with his cow outside and brushing her, three girls walked onto his farm.
"Hi!" the youngest one called out. Ewan jumped back a little and smiled nervously.
"Hi…" he muttered. Ewan didn't remember them at first, but then remembered he saw this family at the Spring Horse Race. Harris also told him about this family at the Town Square during the fireworks.
"Yes, good to see you. Mind if my daughters and I take a picture with you and your winning cow? It would make us very happy." the mother asked Ewan.
"Uhh… yeah, sure." Ewan said with a smile and a nod. He brought Ermintrude to the front of the farm and the photographer took the picture. Ewan then began to remember…
The Cow Festival
Grandpa had won the Cow Festival this year. The young boy was so happy for him.
"Can I ride on the cow!?" he called out excitedly.
"No matter how many times you ask, that wouldn't be a good idea." the Grandpa said with a laugh.
"Aww…" a family came to the farm, hearing about the winning cow. They came to give her a ribbon and the cow wore it forever. Grandpa was beaming that day.
"That family really lifted my spirits." Grandpa told the young boy. Hearing this made the young boy really happy. He learned to milk a cow the first time that day.
Karen and her father's fighting continued onto the next day, the 5th.
"Miss Karen, please make up with your father. Really…" pleaded Kai a little sadly. They were outside between the house and the wine building. Karen got furious with this comment.
"Besides my leaving, father doesn't care about anything! He should be doing something to bring back this vineyard, right?" Karen asked Kai.
"Miss Karen…" the worker said a little nervously, a few sweat drops falling from his forehead. Karen simply turned away and started to walk back into her house.
"Men should try their hardest at their work!" she barked back at Kai and then walked inside. Kai looked down sadly and went back to the grapevines. Once inside, Karen leaned on the door and closed her eyes, sighing very heavily and then running into her room.
Ewan was out at the Sprite Cave. He was going to meet up with Cliff, but couldn't find him, so he went into the cave to meet up with the elves. He went into their little cave.
"Hello, Ewan!" the main elf greeted with a nice smile. Ewan smiled in return. The Door to Heaven wine fell out of his rucksack and another elf ran over to see it.
"That wine is from the vineyard!" the elf said and dragged the wine in front of Ewan so that they could all see.
"You should talk to the Goddess about that wine, Ewan." the main elf told Ewan.
"Okay, thanks. I'll do that." answered Ewan, who took the Door to Heaven wine back into his rucksack. After he decided to leave, he waved to the three elves and walked out of the Sprite Cave. He went back to his house to get a crop for the Harvest Goddess and made his way back to the Goddess Pond. He tossed in the turnip and waited for the Harvest Goddess to slowly float to the top above the water.
"Thanks for making an offering! What would you like?" the Goddess asked Ewan, who smiled.
"Can you fix the vineyard? They are really suffering, and I think only you can help them." he answered. The Goddess smiled.
"It's nice that you're thinking of others. I will do so and tell you when it works." the Goddess told Ewan and floated back down into the pond water.
"I hope she actually does help them." Ewan said a little nervously. He went home and once night fell, he went off to bed.
The 6th went by really quickly, at least for Ewan. Kai and Karen were being really distant from each other that day. Once Ewan went to bed, the Goddess visited his home.
"Ewan, Ewan, wake up. This is a message from the spirit of the grapes. The Kiefu Fairies have come. You'll be able to harvest wonderful grapes. Good work!" the Goddess told Ewan. She then vanished.
Ewan did get this message and was thinking about this all day, but didn't want to go to the vineyard to seem suspicious about helping. Kai or Karen would come.
Meanwhile, Kai was on the beach, watching the sunset as it came on. This was the 7th. He let out a little sigh; "I should probably be trying my best and working." he muttered and closed his eyes, looking down.
"Kai…" a calm voice called to him. He looked up confusedly and looked to the female at the end of the dock. Karen was there, smiling at him.
"Won't you come back to the Vineyard with me?" Karen asked Kai, who smiled and nodded.
"Yes, let's go back." Kai agreed. They slowly went back, smiling and laughing. Night carefully rolled by as they got to the Vineyard. Once they got there, they both gasped.
"Oh my goodness…" muttered Karen, "I'm going to tell Ewan." she quickly said with a smile, "I'll be right back, Kai." she rushed off.
"Maybe it takes a day for the wish to kick in…" Ewan's voice trailed off as he watched his crops, sitting on his shipping bin.
"Hi there." Karen called out in a sly voice, entering the farm with a beaming smile, "Hey, hey, come on! Come to our Vineyard! It's incredible!" she called out excitedly.
"What is it, Karen?" Ewan wondered. He thought he already knew, but didn't think that she would be THIS excited about the vineyard being fixed.
"You'll understand when you get there and see it with your own eyes. Come on!" she led Ewan to the Vineyard. Thousands of sparkle-like spheres were circling around the vineyard.
"Oh my gosh." breathed Ewan. Kai was next to Karen now, all astounded.
"See, isn't it amazing? The fairies are kissing the grapes!" Karen told Ewan.
"Yeah, it's beautiful. The Vineyard is going to return, we won't have to move." sighed Kai happily, his eyes watering a little bit. They all walked closer to the grapevines.
"Smell that? The grapes have turned incredibly sweet! I always thought it was an old fairy tale…" said Karen with a smile, "I didn't believe it… I think I finally understand why Grandma's wine was so good." Karen said. She then did one of her famous dances, blushing a little, as Kai was blushing at her.
"That's a great dance, Karen… congratulations, you two." Ewan said with a smile. As he began to walk away, he nudged Kai a little. Ewan nodded and smiled, walking away.
"Karen, that was a good dance." Kai said with a nice smile. Karen looked away and blushed a little bit.
"Um… thanks Kai…" Karen muttered. Kai walked over and took her hands, making Karen blush even more. This made Kai blush a tiny bit, but Karen was blushing worse.
"Karen… you are amazing. Everything is amazing about you. You are the most complex and incredible woman that I've met." Kai admitted to Karen, who blushed even more.
"Kai, I've always been hiding my true emotions by anger. I have made so many people feel bad… and I've just been running away from my true feelings," Karen explained, "but no more. I'm not hiding anymore." Kai smiled.
"That's good to know." he told Karen. Karen nodded and then they both got closer until they kissed as the Kiefu Fairies continued to dance around the grapevines.
Joe and Raffi had finally found a secret place to call their own. They were behind the giant tree in the Vineyard, watching the Kiefu Fairies. Soon, they eventually kissed as they usually did.
"I love you, Joe." Raffi sighed. Joe nodded and took her hand.
"I love you, Raffi." Joe answered strongly. Raffi sighed happily and closed her eyes, laying on Joe now.