On Horseback

Chapter 20: Absolutely Pink

It was strange waking up to the sound of rain. I opened my eyes on the morning of Spring 3rd, and gazed up at the ceiling. Nothing was different. The ceiling was still cream white and the ceiling fan was still up there. Perhaps I was just dreaming.

I quietly got changed, listening to the lullaby that was playing outdoors. The rain would definitely keep all the children sleeping in late today. Even though it was a Thursday, and a school day too, they'd all sleep in late.

Suddenly, I heard a scream from the shop. Realizing that I was half dressed, I quickly threw the rest of my clothes on as fast I could, and then opened my door and shouted, "Dad, what's wrong?!" To my surprise, I saw two figures standing in the doorway. Two very familiar figures. Two familiar faces. Gray and Popuri.

"Gray? Popuri? Why are you here? Weren't you going to remain in Silver Sapphire?" I questioned the couple.

My brother shook his head and Popuri answered, "After two weeks of living in that mansion, we received a contract. If we signed it, that meant we were to manage some big tower in the city. If we didn't sign it, we were to be kicked out of the mansion. We didn't sign it. Gray and I don't know anything about business. I mean, we're both, technically, country people."

My father gave Popuri a kiss on the cheek an hugged Gray. I kissed Gray and hugged Popuri. It was great to have the whole family socializing in the shop. This meant that Lillia was related to me now. Cool! I finally had a mother again!

Popuri and I decided that we were going to go to the bakery and catch up. It had easily been two seasons since the last time I'd seen her, so I predicted a long conversation over a breakfast platter and cake. Popuri promptly agreed and we made our way to the bakery.

Elli gasped when she saw Popuri. The two girls had been best friends since the first grade, and they were also hyped up about seeing each other again. Lillia was also at the bakery, something that the two of us didn't know, so Popuri was basically swarmed by people. I decided that I would just sit down and order the platter. There was no use getting between family and her best friend.

My sister in-law finally sat down with a thunk, and said, "Now, are we ordering the breakfast platter or something else? It doesn't matter to me, as long as it's not too expensive. You wouldn't believe all the cash that I spent in SS. Remarkable, actually."

When Elli (whom I was still not talking to) brought us our food, Popuri began telling me what she did in the city.

"Gray and I browsed the city the day that we arrived. There were no hotels or motels anywhere, which shocked us. Where were we supposed to stay? So, we keep walking around for a bit, and someone who looked just like you, Ann" -"Really?" I interrupted- "told us that there were vacancies at this place called the Pretty Boy Inn. When we got there, we discovered that the inn was extremely small! That was also shocking, but there was an empty room so we took it right away!

"For the majority of the days that we were in the city, we were looking around and just exploring. At the time we were no where near considering buying a house. We were actually hoping that our trip would end soon, as the city was...crowded. Too many people and too much to do. People always run all over you and they don't even say 'Thank you' or anything. That made the two of us really mad. But we let it slide all of the time. I wish we hadn't though.

"I forget the date, but there was a little corner stand that was selling tickets to win a mansion. The price was 800K. Once I saw that "K" following the numbers, I knew that the currency was different. Neither of us was carrying any "K" currency. I walked up to the man at the stand and asked if I could pay him in G. He said yes but it would cost me twice as much. 1600G. I shrugged and bought a ticket, and Gray called me stupid. He said that there was no way that I was gonna win and that I just wasted a whole lot of money.

"After the numbers on my ticket were called, Gray went insane and I was bouncing all over the town. Who the heck knew that I was gonna win? The mansion contract was under my name. A week later, Gray and I were wedded. I feel real crummy for getting married there, because no one from Flower Bud was there. Just a minister and two or three other people. I regret that, but at least we got married.

"Then, two weeks later, during an intimate moment between Gray and I -please don't laugh- we get a knock on our door. I quickly find some clothing and rush down asking, 'Yes? What do you need?' Part of the contract, apparently, was that we had to sign another contract that involved running a high-tech gizmo place with a bunch of gadgets that I don't even have to use. Looking back at the contract, I did not see it anywhere on it, about having to run such a place. 'An error in the making,' said the owner of the lottery retailer. With that, the two of us left the mansion, and now, thanks to us, the tower is closing. I am a happy girl!"

I nodded. Popuri seemed to have had a wonderful time in the city. Well, an okay time.

Elli came back over to the table and made an announcement. "We are getting something called Popuri Cake in tomorrow. Please drop by to try some. Especially you Popuri!" Popuri had her hands over her eyes. "Here's the bill. Have a good day unloading your gear, girlfriend."

"A cake after me? Does this mean I have to name a flower after Elli?" Popuri joked around after Elli went back to the kitchen. I laughed and answered, "No, no, that's perfectly fine, unless you really are her best friend. Anyway, Elli seemed to have cut the prices 50G cheaper than usual. She really does give the best of prices to her best of friends. Why am I not surprised?"

"Why? What's the price?"

Holding up the bill, I said, "It's 600G!"

Popuri threw her arms up into the air and cried, "Holy jumpin' jellybeans! That is cheap! I should bring the entire village in here to eat sometime and see how Elli reacts to that." I laughed again, and gave Popuri another hug. I was happy that she was home.

Lillia and my sister in-law were going to the flower shop to get most of her belongings over to the Green Ranch. I was asked if Popuri could sleep in my room until the double-bed arrived. Then she would sleep with Gray, of course. I agreed that that would be fine.

Walking in the rain always felt so mysterious. I found it to be rather mysterious too. I stopped at the crossroad between the village, mountain, ranch and farm. I looked up into the sky to see lightning flashing. The quiet lullaby was transforming into a roaring symphony. I decided that I'd better sprint home, just to get out of the rain.

Sometimes I can get injured pretty easily. As I was running, I slipped on a puddle and landed on my left foot. "EEEEEKK!!!" I screeched into the rainy weather. Suddenly, I heard feet coming from Jack's farm. He must've heard my scream.

"Ann? Was that you?" I heard Jack call out.

"Yes! Oww! I'm over here!"

Jack noticed me and said, "Did you fall? Oh, dear. You must have slipped on that puddle. You'll be okay. Here, have a tissue and dry your eyes. Everything's gonna be all right. Everything's gonna be all right."

I took the tissue and wiped my eyes. The next thing I knew, I was being lifted into the air. "I'm gonna carry you home. Just be more careful when you're walking in the rain next time, okay?" I nodded at my friend, and wiped my eyes again. My father was gonna flip when he found out that I sprained my ankle. Actually, that's what I was just supposing it was. I was probably right, though.

When we got to my house, my father shook his head, as I figured he would. "Ann, you are the clumsiest person I've ever met. You have an excellent knack of getting yourself hurt. I caution you next time, as I'm sure you already did, right, Jack?"

The farmer nodded.

Suddenly, there was a light so bright that I could've sworn I was about to go blind. The next thing that was heard was thunder. Lightning before thunder. Loud thunder, too. A little too loud. The power in the house went out.

"Stay calm, everyone stay calm. There may only be four of us in the house, be we must not panic. Jack: Did you feed your animals and finish your chores for today?" my father asked the person who he supposedly did not like.

"Yes, I finished everything. If you're hinting me to stay here tonight, because you don't want me going back out into that outrageous storm, then I'm perfectly fine with that."

My father found the door to my room, and lit a few candles for me. I had to be carried over to my bed by Jack. We carefully examined my ankle and saw that there was a tiny scrape on it. It was sprained too, but that pain would soon go away.

"You look okay, Ann. Yeah, Ann will be fine," Jack told Dad.

"That's good. Now I can concentrate on Popuri finding her way over here, because she's sleeping on Ann's couch tonight and...Gray doesn't have a couch in his room and you're not going to want to sleep in my bed because it's falling apart. Hm, where could we put Jack, Ann?" my Dad explained and then questioned me.

Shrugging, I said, "I could give up my bed for the night. I'll sleep on the floor, it's not too much of a big deal."

However, Dad shook his head. "Not with that sprained ankle, honey. Um, I really hate to ask this of you, but would it be okay if you slept on the ground, Jack? I think that this is really rude, but we don't live in the biggest of houses."

Jack nodded. "I'm fine with that, as long as I have something to sleep on. This floor is harder than rock. Now it's my turn to say sorry and all, and if it's not too much trouble, could you please-"

My father put his hand up. "Yes, I understand."

Popuri did arrive safe and sound, but that wasn't until 10:30 that evening. She said that she was almost struck by lightning, but wasn't. God, was I ever relieved. Jack was on the floor on a bright green mattress that I used when I was at least seven-years-old. It was a real treat for him to sleep on something that I was no longer using. Well, not a treat, but still rather cool. The thing that I thought was the coolest was that there were five people sleeping in my house. There had never been that many except for the time that a bunch of tourists had to stay somewhere one night after arriving on ferry from Silver Sapphire.

But we locked them in the cellar!

I was thankful that Jack was there. If he wasn't, then who knows what could have happened. But there's one thing that I am sure of now: I did have feelings for him now. I used to find him indifferent, then as a friend, then flirtatious, then a crush. Then I didn't know if I only really liked him or loved him for a long time. But now I know...

...I love Jack.