A Chaotic Experience
Chapter 14: Love in… Fish and Eggs?
The campsite that the girls slept at the previous night was quickly cleared up.
"So, we know how much you like the Doctor now." Karen said with a funny grin on her face. Elli sighed a little bit.
"Karen, I really don't see why you have to take this so far." Elli said. Karen lifted her hands in a bit of a shrug.
"Because if Raffi and I could get our love out in the open with our men, you can do it too!" she answered, patting Elli's shoulder.
"Well, the guys TOLD you… didn't they? I don't want to just TELL him." Elli said a little quietly, "Besides, he would have told me by now if he liked me."
"You know, Elli…" Raffi butted in and began to explain to Elli, "I've known Joe for a longer time than we've all known Trent. And I've liked him for almost the whole time. You just need patience with men." she smiled and nodded.
"Thanks Raffi and Karen." the baker nodded and smiled at them.
"Anything for a fellow 'sister'!" Karen said with a smirk.
"Man, I WISH you were all my sisters. I hate having Gray as a brother." added Ann to the side, smiling at them and giggling a bit.
"But… um… we'd have to live on the ranch with you…" Maria said a little quietly.
"Is there a problem with that!?" Ann took this a little bit more offensively than she should have, making Maria jump and stutter a bit.
"N-No! No!" she gasped a bit. Maria flashed a worried smile at Ann. She didn't realize Maria's 'fear' to Ann's screams, and simply smiled back.
"Well finally you're awake, lazy bones." Raffi told Popuri as she yawned and woke up.
"Why did you guys take my tent when I was still sleeping?" wondered Popuri as she zipped up her sleeping bag and yawned once more.
"I was bored." Raffi lifted her hands in a shrug. The others smiled and laughed a bit.
"So, what will everyone be doing today?" wondered Maria a little curiously as they left the Goddess Pond and started walking towards town.
"I'm going to be with my lovely boyfriend, of course. Helping them plan to make the bridge to Moon Mountain again!" Raffi said with a smile.
"Wow, finally!" Karen said with a little gasp and then smiled, "Me and Kai will be picking grapes, with our newly booming vineyard." she explained.
"I'll probably pop by Ewan's place." Popuri said, "I don't have much else to do."
"I'll probably just be working at the ranch, as usual." answered Ann with a little smile.
"And I'll be at the Bakery." Elli finished, "What about you, Maria?" she asked.
"Oh, I'll just be at the Library again…" the shy librarian answered.
"Well maybe I'll pop by and say hello, maybe get a book." Elli said with a smile. Maria nodded and smiled back.
"Okay, good bye everyone!" Popuri waved and they all departed their separate ways.
It was another slow day at the library as Maria was working on her book.
"Oh no… I hate writer's block…" sighed Maria. She set down her pen that looked like a writing feather and stood up. She left her bottled water near another table and started drinking it.
"Hello, Maria." a male voice answered, walking into the library and waving.
"Oh, hello Trent…" Maria answered, running back to the reception desk. She set down her water bottle next to her book and pen, "Here for a book?" Trent nodded.
"I need Medicines of the South for work." the doctor answered. Maria nodded and grabbed her resource book and looked for the book.
"This way please…" the glasses-wearing girl put the book away under the reception desk and walked to a bookcase and went through a few books. Trent started doing the same.
"I've found it, thank you Maria." Trent answered, lifting the book and showing her the cover. Maria smiled and nodded as they went back to the main desk and wrote down his rental of the book.
"Any other books, Trent…?" asked Maria. Trent thought for a moment.
"Sure, why not? I think I'd like a nice book to borrow to read on my side time." Trent decided. Maria led him to a section of the library and walked to the entrance, where another person walked into the library.
"Good afternoon, Maria." it was the baker, Elli. She smiled sweetly at Maria and waved.
"Oh, hello Elli." Maria fixed her glasses into place and sat down at her reception desk, "Here to borrow a book?" she wondered.
"I might. I'm just going to browse and see if there's anything I'd like." Elli answered, her hands together on her dress. She closed her eyes and smiled again.
"You're so sweet, Elli…" Maria smiled as she said this comment, making Elli blush a little, "Go ahead." she lifted her arm to show a row of bookcases. Elli nodded and walked off. Maria lifted her pen back up and started writing again. Elli quickly realized Trent was there.
"Doctor, what are you doing here?" she wondered.
"I was getting a book for work, but now I'm just going to look for a book to read in my off-time." the doctor explained and then laughed a bit, "And you know you can just call me Trent."
"Right." Elli blushed a little and nodded. She turned to the doctor and smiled.
"What about you?" Trent wondered.
"I'm just here to see if there's any books that I just want to read." answered Elli, "So, doc-d- I mean, Trent…" she began to ask a new question.
"Yes?" he wondered.
"Well… do you like fishing?" wondered Elli. Trent blinked a little bit.
"Fishing? Well sure! I mean, I live right next to the pond and very close to the ocean. Fishing and reading are my favorite things to do on my off-time." Trent explained with a smile, "You like fishing?" Elli nodded.
"Yes, I really like fishing," she told him, "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to fish with me for a bit on a day." Elli suggested, making Trent smile.
"Sure, I'd love to!" Trent said, "How about Monday? On the 18th (in two days)." he suggested and Elli nodded.
"I'll meet you at the Clinic once you're ready to go fishing." Elli told Trent. Trent grabbed another book and nodded, starting to walk to the exit.
"I'll see you then!" he called out, getting the book checked with Maria and then waved to Elli once he started to walk off. Elli waved back and smiled. She finally found a book and checked it with Maria.
"So… you and Trent have a date?" Maria asked as she was getting the book written in her check-out book, "That sounds so romantic…" she sighed.
"It's… not a date. It's a fishing experience." answered Elli a little sternly. Maria giggled a little and handed Elli back her book. Elli waved to Maria and walked out of the library.
"It's good to have people here borrowing books… but why do they come when I'm busy wanting to work on my book?" wondered Maria out loud. She smiled and giggled again a little and then went back to her writing.
Two days passed rather quickly. Things were starting to chill even more and people could tell the snow would hit pretty soon. Possibly even earlier than usual.
"Good morning, Trent." Elli was in front of the Clinic with her fishing rod in her hands which were in front of her on her dress.
"Morning, Elli." Trent waved and grabbed his fishing pole, "Wow, it's pretty cloudy today. I hope it doesn't rain."
"The weather is usually right and it just said it would be really cloudy." Elli said with a nod as she led Trent to the riverbed. They cast their lines into the river and waited for fish to bite.
"So how have you been?" Trent started up the conversation.
"Oh, pretty good. The Bakery has been pretty busy, which is always good." the baker said with a smile.
"Our Clinic has been pretty busy, too. Not with patients who have diseases, but just importing medicines and such." explained Trent with a nod. He thought that he had a bite on his line and pulled it in, but it still had the bait on it.
"Nice try, Trent." Elli said with a little laugh at his disappointment in not catching a fish.
"Well at least it SEEMED like I had a fish." he said. Elli laughed a bit.
"Trent, you are just TOO funny." she said and smiled at Trent. He just smiled a bit back.
"Do you think of this as a date, Elli?" Trent randomly brought up the subject. Elli curiously turned back to the doctor.
"Excuse me?" she wondered, blushing a little, "Well, I don't really… know…" Elli shrugged her shoulders and tried to focus on the water and the fish, but only looked at her blushing reflection and started turning a brighter color of red.
"Oh, my goodness!" Trent gasped at Elli, "Are you sick?" Elli quickly shook her head, making the doctor worry a little bit more, "Well… I do kind of see this as a date." he randomly continued his subject on the 'date' theory.
"Well… why do you think that?" wondered Elli, reeling in her line and turning to Trent, hiding her expression of shyness.
"Because I really like you…" Trent sighed a little as he said this, "And I have actually been wanting to tell you and everything, but work has kept me so busy and I haven't been able to do anything other than focus on work."
"So you've wanted to tell me all this time?" Elli asked with a blush. Trent nodded a little shyly and Elli smiled, "I would love to date you more." she said.
"So… you and I are now… a couple?" Trent was a little nervous and Elli nodded, "Great! I'll try to get away from work as much as I can!" he said.
"Alright, don't worry, I trust you!" said Elli with a little giggle. She held onto Trent's hands, which were on the ground and got closer to him. Trent blinked a little blankly and then realized, getting closer into a kiss.
Elli and Trent, like the previous two couples, were easily identified as a couple and people swarmed to them.
"Finally!" Karen said with a smile.
"You said it." Kai said and then laughed.
Two more days passed surprisingly quickly again and the 20th came by. The 20th was the Egg Festival. Popuri had already explained to newcomer Ewan about the festival and they all met at Town Square.
"Welcome to our annual fall Egg Festival!" Thomas announced as practically ALL the village was in town, "Let me explain the rules…" and from that, he just blabbed on and on.
"If you're going to ask me for my help in getting eggs, good luck, Ewan." Popuri whispered to the farmer.
"I laugh at that comment, Popuri. Because it is I who will win." taunted back Ewan to Popuri. She chuckled a little.
"We'll see about that, my friend." she said.
"The first egg is this one!" Thomas pulled out a light blue egg. Everyone started running around the town to find the right colored egg in the many 'egg wells'. A woman's laughter could be heard.
"I got the first egg!" she called out.
"Ann got the first egg right! The next egg is…?" Thomas began and pulled out a purple egg. Everyone continued to rush about the village.
"Found it." Ewan whispered to himself and sped towards the mayor, holding the right colored egg. He could tell Kai had the same egg and was racing him.
"Ewan has found the correct egg! The next egg is…" Thomas showed a yellow egg to everyone. They all sped off again. Popuri found it in a shot and handed Thomas the yellow egg.
"Looks like it's all against Ann, Ewan, and Popuri." Thomas announced.
"Good luck, Popuri." Ewan said with a smirk.
"You don't mean that." Popuri crossed her arms and chuckled a little.
"I only half-mean it." answered the farmer and chuckled back.
"This is the final egg! Pay attention, you three!" they all looked at the mayor and he pulled out a pink egg. They all ran off in their separate directions. In the end, Popuri had won.
"That's it! The game's over!" Thomas called out, "The winner this year is Popuri!" everyone applauded and cheered for her, making her smile at everyone and wave.
"Thank you everyone!" she called out and smiled at them.
"Your prize is this Power Berry!" Thomas handed Popuri the Power Berry. Ewan gasped a little bit and started feeling jealous. Everyone disbanded from the group and started going home.
"Um… Ewan?" Popuri walked up to him before he left.
"Yes, Popuri?" he wondered, turned back to her. She handed Ewan the Power Berry that she won.
"For some reason, I don't feel that this Power Berry should be mine," Popuri explained, "It's just giving off this energy that reminds me of you. And I think you should have it." she put it in Ewan's hands and closed them around the Power Berry.
"Are you sure?" wondered Ewan a little nervously. Popuri smiled proudly and nodded. Ewan gave Popuri a hug, "Thank you so much for this!"
"No problem! I'll see you tomorrow." she waved daintily and walked home. Ewan began to walk home and ate his Power Berry once he got inside. It tasted great and it had the feeling of friendship as he ate it.
"Good night, Rosie."