[Here's tomorrow's forecast: A light rain throughout the day,possibly lasting until--]

[The educational channel--]

[Bzzzzzzttttt--]

Rose flips through the channels,looking very annoyed. "There's nothing to watch!"

[This month's festivals are as follows...]

"Oooh,here's something..."

[The sowing festival on the 8th,the horse races on the 17th,and the Flower Festival on the 23rd.That is all.]

Rose switches off the TV and chews the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. "Weird holidays..."

She gets up and walks outside,and the first thing she sees when she steps through the door is the field.

"Oh,yeah,that's exactly what I need to see at 6am." She mutters sarcastically.

It does look a little better now though.After Zack had left the night before,Rose had done a little 'Spring Cleaning'. There are less weeds now,and several of the rocks have been obliterated,too.Rose smirks. (Fine anger management device,that hammer...) She smashes another rock on sudden impulse,and whistles merrily as she exits the farm.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The flower shop hadn't been as hard to find as Rose had expected. As soon as she had entered the village area,she had seen Popuri watering some flowers on the store's window boxes. Rose now enters the shop.

It's a very cozy place. Several brightly-colored satchels filled with various types of seeds are tidily shelved on the left side of the room,and in the center there is a small,round table,decorated with a blue tablecloth and a vase of yellow flowers.Sitting on the table there is a small pad of paper,on which is written a few very informative notes on spring planting.After Rose skims the notes,she approaches the cashier,Popuri's mother,Lillia.

"Hello there!You must be Rose.Welcome to Flower Bud village." She smiles sweetly,and Rose can't help but smile sheepishly back.

Rose walks over to a particular section of seeds,and picks one of the satchels up.

"Those are turnip seeds." Says Lillia."While they don't sell for as much as the others,they grow quite a bit faster.The ones on the left of the turnips are potato and cabbage,and after that are the grass and flower seeds. Vegetable seeds are 200 gold a bag,grass 500,and flowers 100.Got that?"

Rose nods and quickly chooses which seeds to buy.She leaves the store carrying one each of every type of vegetable seed,waving to Popuri on the way back home.She's near the edge of the village,when she suddenly remembers what Zack had said about the calendars.She heads toward the library.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As soon as Rose steps foot inside the library,she is able to sense how old the building is.The air has a comfortably musty texture,and several of the floor boards creak quietly as Rose walks over them.She scans the sturdy wooden bookcases.On every shelf is a long row of slightly dusty books,all of which are neatly alphabetized.Rose starts looking at the many titles on the books' bindings,smiling lightly.

(It's very...pleasant...in here.) Rose thinks to herself.She dwells on this thought for a moment,trying to come up with a better fitting word to describe the library.

"Ah,w-welcome.You're the new girl,aren't you?" The quiet voice interrupts Rose's thoughts,and she spins around in surprise,looking in the direction of the voice's origin.

Rose's sharp green eyes now meet with the softened brown ones of another teenage girl.Her skin is pale,and her hair is long and dark. It takes Rose a few moments to even notice that the girl is wearing glasses.

"M-my name is Maria." The girl says, standing up from behind the library counter and walking towards Rose. The dress she is wearing is long,plain and blue.Maria holds out her hand,and Rose shakes it slowly.

"W-what is your name again?Rosa?" Maria straightens out a few of the wrinkles in the skirt of her dress,looking up at Rose nervously.

Rose blinks. "What?Oh,no,it's Rose.But how did you--"

"My father told me...Uhm,he's the Mayor." She smiles faintly, a touch of pride further straightening her frame.

Rose gawks at her,then plops down onto a nearby chair,her usual personality rushing back to her. "WHAT!?You look nothing alike!" She laughs,then smirks good-naturedly as a light blush spreads across Maria's face.

(Such a...pleasant...girl.)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Later that night,Rose lays back against her pillow,eyes clouded,looking very,very tired. Soon her eyelids fall closed,and she falls into a heavy sleep,thoughts of festivals and the townspeople swirling around in her head,transforming into dreams.

A small calendar now hangs on the wall.

~Continued in Chapter Four o_o~

Time for the Author to Babble Once Again!: Heeeey everyone. I hope this chapter was as good as the others. I did a good 2/3rds of it when it was really late...or...er...early O-o;;; Try 5am. I swear I'm going to change my nocturnal tendancies before I go to Washington State next week...Whitbey Island,or however you spell it.Beach.Online friends to meet IRL.Manga.Clean air.No more daily red or orange heat alerts...X-x Yay. Only for a week,of course.Oh well.Anyway,I probably wont be writing any chapters from the 20th to the 27th,if anybody cares...(Well,maybe on the 27th).

Erf,anyway,time for ficcy discussion!O.o If anyone's wondering about the romance portion of the plot,don't worry. It's coming ^.~ Plus,I'm going to try and get the fourth chapter written out (And posted,too!Yaaay O_o; ) before I leave Tuesday,but if not...meh.S'life.Get the hell used to it.=D

~Pheep @@