::*Dodges the duckies weilding hammers of Doom* *Notices the audience,
grabs her spare Carlos(*) and leaves him to deal with the Doom hammer-
weilding ducks* Oh, hello there! (Carlos: What the- AAAHHHH!!) I'm sorry
I took so darn long to even get STARTED on this.. I was too busy with my
barely-existent academic and social life.. (Ducks: Oh REALLY? What about
that extra 17 hours you logged into Tales of Phantasia..?? What about
those times you watched Metropolis in all three languages..?! Or the-) ^-
^; Eh-heh.. Enough about that. So let's see, I just introduced Cliff..
Now for (mwa ha ha haa) PASTOR CARTER! All hail the Carter. King of
strawberry milk. (*To let you know, Carlos is my human pet hamster I
constantly "abuse". ((In other words, I give him a lot of random bear hugs
and pet him like a hamster.)) ) Anyway, I took a few paragraphs to help
develop Rick's character n' I also squeezed in Grey! But anyway.::
Jack woke up to a full stomach. The last night at the inn impressed all who were there; both the red-handkercheifed one and the brown wanderer ate enough food to feed the rest of the village. Well, impressed wasn't really the word..
"BEGAAAAKK!" The sumo chicken of the respective name cried. Go away, Jack wished as he turned over, stomach pinning him down. "Cluck!" She cried again, "Cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck-BEGAAAAK!!" Suddenly Jack's eyes shot open as he suddenly heard the unmistakeable growls and barks of..
The dog.
Doning on his blue hat, large white shirt, and his casual blue overalls, Jack scrambled out of the small house as fast as he could. The Evil Orange One let go of the wrestling chicken and glared at the blue-and-white enemy; unmistakably the one who launched that stone missle into his chest. Begak hurried to get back onto her feet and ran away in her wet-with-drool- chicken manner back to her worried friends. The Fluffball of Doom didn't care. The Handkercheifed Enemy was lured out of its hiding place.
"What do YOU want?!" Jack yelled with all of the courage he could muster. "W-.. What is your PROBLEM anyway?! Y-You stupid dog!" The frosty, insane glare of the furry one silenced the poor farmer. Trying desperately to regain his wits for defence, Jack looked around him to recognize a rake leaning against his house's wall. The Orange Fury grew impatient; he lunged! Jack grabbed the rake as fast as he could and whipped it in defense at the demonic dog rushing at him. And it somehow worked!
The dog landed near the apple tree and laid there, defeated. Begak led the other chickens to the other corner of the pen; as far away as they could get from the thing. Jack tip-toed his way towards it, trying as hard as he could to make no sound in the dew-covered grass. The dog made no move, never twitched. It seemed dead. Jack, keeping as much distance as he could, carefully poked it a bit with his rake. It still made no move, but growled a bit. Apparently it was unconscious. With careful presicion, Jack scooped up the orange demon with the rake as best as he could and headed off towards the church for two reasons: 1) Maybe the dog actually was posessed, and 2) It was as far away from his farm as the village got.
He decided to go by the library rather than by the chicken farm since the dog seemed to like attacking helpless chickens and Ricks. At that time, just getting out of his house for the first time in what seemed like days, was Grey. Grey was a quite hard worker. He didn't like to talk that much, and his posture and movements said it all. (It was somewhat hard not to read these signs of his, such as running into a corner and hissing at people.) However, those he did open his feelings and heart to were a special few who he would trust his life to. However, it was hard even for him to stay silent with the sight of a farmer running with a dog at the end of his rake.
"Um.." He mumbled. Jack jumped a bit and slowed down to a stop and searched for the source of the noise. "What are.. What are you doing with that dog...?" After finding the voice's owner, Jack helpfully pointed to the orange fluffball.
"This STUPID dog keeps on attacking people and I'm on my way to the church to see if it's posessed or something!"
"O..kaaayy.." Grey acknowledged, wide-eyed and confused. Undetered, the capped-farmer ran the rest of his way to the church and knocked loudly on its doors.
"Hello?? Anyone there??" He asked. The doors, being rude as they were, gave no answer. However, there was soon a click and they swung open to reveal the pastor of the church.
"Yes? Is it something urgent? Something personal?" He asked with a pleasant smile, although a little miffed for being disturbed so early in the morning.
"Uhh.." Jack fell short of words, so the ever-so-helpful point to the dog had to suffice.
"..Yes, what is it about the dog...?" Jack just pointed some more. "..Is it dead? Does it need a burial..?"
"Well.. This dog was bothering me..." Silence.
"So you.." The pastor started, still confused.
"No! It isn't dead! He's unconscious." The pastor's smile was long gone and it now curved into a slight frown.
"..The dog just pestering you does not give you the right to hurt it like that.."
"No no!" Jack insisted, "I didn't just walk up and hit it 'cause it was barking or something! It ATTACKED me!" The pastor remained silent. "...It was messing up my fields a few days ago, so I avoided it, but then it tried to attack Rick.."
"..Uh.." The pastor brilliantly started, "..how did you know it was attacking?" Jack's tone fell flat to annoyed.
"His clothes were ripped and torn while the dog chased him. I don't think Rick would run home screaming from a small barking doggie."
"Sorry," the confused pastor said humbly, "continue please."
"Well, I threw a rock at it so that Rick would have time to get into his house.. And this morning it was attacking one of my chickens. I think it might be posessed or something." Jack slowly swung the dog-covered end of the rake to the poor pastor. The pastor said nothing, looking down at the motionless dog.
"...."
"Well, can't you at least check?" The dog's leg suddenly twitched. "Uh- oh..! Quick! Before it wakes up!"
"........"
"Trust me, you don't want to see this thing-" The dog sat up, shook its head, and suddenly jumped off of the rake and regained its bearings. "SHOOT!" Jack yelled, taking shelter behind the priest. Recognizing his enemy's voice, the Evil One quickly went into battle mode and fired a glare at the pastor for helping the blue-capped one. Fear shot down to the priest's heart like an icicle at a speed he had never felt before.
"QUICK!" He yelled, "INTO THE CHURCH!!" The two ran into the church and slammed its doors just as the dog started running at them. They heard a "Thunk!" against the doors and then a lot of barking and scratching.
"See??" Jack snapped.
"Well forgive ME for being skeptical! It isn't everyday I get asked to exorcise a dog, you know."
"Sorry." Jack sighed, looking down.
"Ah," the priest cooed, calming down, "it isn't your fault.. I shouldn't've been so skeptical." Despite the dog ramming and barking at the rude doors, the messily-clothed farmer, and the fact that it wasn't even 6:30 yet, the pastor smiled at Jack. "So I take it you're that new guy running the farm? I didn't catch you're name.."
"Uh.. I'm.. Jack." The handkercheifed youth replied, a bit confused at the sudden conversational change. "You're..?"
"I'm Pastor Carter. It's nice to meet you." He calmly locked the two doors and started lighting the candles at the front of the church near the podium. "Hmm, looks like today's going to be nice." Carter commented, looking out of the stained glass windows. "A lot of fog out right now, but it'll clear up.." Jack started to look about the church to familiarize himself with his surroundings. "I know it's early to ask," Carter started, catching Jack's attention, "but have any of the girls here caught your eye yet?"
"Uhh, not really.." Jack mumbled, still in awe of the stained glass' beauty.
"Ah, well, it's just a few days into your first year here.. I shouldn't expect much so soon, but then, I await your marriages.." The priest was kindly given a few confused looks. "I mean your generation. Five young girls, five young men.. I don't really expect there to be five couples at the end, but someone's going to get married.." he chuckled, "other wise my job's going to be so boring.." He happily sighed and continued his soliloquy as the befuddled farmer watched silently. "But then, it isn't like I can force anyone to marry.. It would be interesting to try, you know, like 'GET MARRIED! RIGHT NOW!' " The sudden volume made the confused farmer jump and the priest laugh. "Hee hee hee.. But then, it isn't like I would.. I don't want to. Happiness cannot be forced out of a person.." He returned to lighting candles. "Sorry, I just gave you a chunk of philosophy for breakfast there, didn't I?" Jack was too confused to answer. All he could think about was how the mayor's words now made sense.. 'a nice man.. a little odd though.' "..Speaking of which," he continued, turning towards the farmer, "have you even had anything to eat?"
"Uh.." Jack blinked, finally getting in touch with reality. "Well.. No, I didn't have the chance to.." He glanced back at the double doors to see if the dog was still there. Since there were a few mumbled growls, he decided to look elsewhere.
"Well then, let's change that, shall we?" The pastor cheerfully suggested, clapping his hands together.
That morning, the weather was just as the priest had predicted. The sun was out, the weather was a balmy 70 degrees, the birds were singing, the flowers were bursting out in colorful bunches, and all seemed to enjoy the natural light's warmth as though it gave a feeling of subtle content with it. And once again Rick was unable to enjoy such a wonderous day.
How long had it been since his father left, he wondered? There had been no sign of him in years, and the very flower he left in search of was rare and elusive.. said to grow once every decade. Every Spring painfully reminded him of where he was now; the flowers taunting him as the gift his long-gone father was desperately looking for, the children playing in the sunlight without worry- nay, unable to comprehend the feeling, the warmth harsh on his sickly mother of which only he could take care of (the doctor unable to do anything for the symptoms and Popuri so irrisponsable).. It seemed almost as though some higher diety wished to taunt him and laugh at his misery. He soon forced himself to shake the thought though. The thought of a divine being doing so much to laugh at a single mortal was foolish, if not selfish in some ways.
Rick could barely stand to look at his mother while she was so ill, but no one else could do anything to take care of her. Her life was in his hands.. And while he had to be the single thing keeping his mother alive, he also had to take care of finances, the chickens, Popuri, the house, the pen.. Carter himself said that Rick had gone through the amount of hardships that most people would experience in their entire lifetimes, but he was still so young, with the harder stages of growing to come. He hadn't really had time to look into starting his own life yet- he hadn't even really had time to get interested in a partner. Two birds flew by the window as Rick longingly stared out through it.
"Yeah, yeah," he sarcastically sighed to himself, "Poor Rick. Everyone feels sorry for Poor Old Rick." The orange-haired man turned back to the dining table he was cleaning off earlier. No matter how much I may 'suffer', he thought, no matter how much I may cry or wallow in self-pity, sorrow never paid for food, sorrow never stopped the world from revolving. Despite the fact that the thought was intended to cheer him up, he chocked and squinted to keep in the swelling tears. Unable to stop himself this time, he leaned against the window as he tried desperately but futiley to stop the tears. What was the point of crying? Why couldn't he stop? No one would care if he cried, why couldn't he stop..?
A duck lazily landed outside the church walls and waddled in a puddle that had yet to fully dry.
"So you met Rick.." Carter thought aloud to the now-full Jack. "I hope you two become good friends.. Er! Not that I'm trying to egg you on or anything!" The pastor's hands bunched up as he tried to prove his innocense as Jack nodded in understanding. "It's just that.. Well, most people find Rick.. hot tempered, I guess.. I don't know, I mean, he's a good man, but he's just hot-headed and stubborn. I honestly think he may not have a single friend here.. I wish I could, but I have too much I have to do here than to wander about town and maje conversation."
"So.. Not even any of the girls in town like him?" Jack asked both the priest and himself.
"I don't really think so.. I believe that Karen did show a bit of interest, but that seemed to fade a few weeks ago, so.."
"Well, do you think he likes any of them?"
"He was good friends with Karen earlier, but then his father left and he had to take on quite a bit of responsability- his mother being sick and his sister so young and all. As for his romantic intentions, I really don't know." Jack thought Rick's charecter over. He seemed so polite.. Quiet, but polite.. Sometimes almost as though he really wanted someone to talk to on a personal level. Suddenly Jack's eyes shot open with an epiphany.
"U-Uh..!" He stuttered, unable to really configure words, "Y-you don't think he's.. Um.. You know.. Not interested in women..?" The pastor gave an innocently confused look.
"Pardon? What do you mean?" The corners of his mouth were suddenly dunked down for a split second as the thought came through his mind. "Um.. I don't think so.. He might be.. Um.. Why..?"
"Well, I really don't get what people mean by Rick having a temper; he seems so nice to me and all and.. Er, well, I'm not really like that, and I just didn't want to hurt his feelings.." Insert awkward silence here.
"Oh!" Carter finally broke the silence, happily sighing, "It seems the dog has gone off!" His words rang true; the scratching and barking had disappaited over the last fifteen minutes. "Well then, I have to be getting back to my pastor-ly duties. It was nice to meet you, Jack. I hope we can talk again sometime soon."
"Thanks, Carter, especially for the food!" Jack happily waved as he cautiously walked out the doors and onwards home.
Jack woke up to a full stomach. The last night at the inn impressed all who were there; both the red-handkercheifed one and the brown wanderer ate enough food to feed the rest of the village. Well, impressed wasn't really the word..
"BEGAAAAKK!" The sumo chicken of the respective name cried. Go away, Jack wished as he turned over, stomach pinning him down. "Cluck!" She cried again, "Cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck-BEGAAAAK!!" Suddenly Jack's eyes shot open as he suddenly heard the unmistakeable growls and barks of..
The dog.
Doning on his blue hat, large white shirt, and his casual blue overalls, Jack scrambled out of the small house as fast as he could. The Evil Orange One let go of the wrestling chicken and glared at the blue-and-white enemy; unmistakably the one who launched that stone missle into his chest. Begak hurried to get back onto her feet and ran away in her wet-with-drool- chicken manner back to her worried friends. The Fluffball of Doom didn't care. The Handkercheifed Enemy was lured out of its hiding place.
"What do YOU want?!" Jack yelled with all of the courage he could muster. "W-.. What is your PROBLEM anyway?! Y-You stupid dog!" The frosty, insane glare of the furry one silenced the poor farmer. Trying desperately to regain his wits for defence, Jack looked around him to recognize a rake leaning against his house's wall. The Orange Fury grew impatient; he lunged! Jack grabbed the rake as fast as he could and whipped it in defense at the demonic dog rushing at him. And it somehow worked!
The dog landed near the apple tree and laid there, defeated. Begak led the other chickens to the other corner of the pen; as far away as they could get from the thing. Jack tip-toed his way towards it, trying as hard as he could to make no sound in the dew-covered grass. The dog made no move, never twitched. It seemed dead. Jack, keeping as much distance as he could, carefully poked it a bit with his rake. It still made no move, but growled a bit. Apparently it was unconscious. With careful presicion, Jack scooped up the orange demon with the rake as best as he could and headed off towards the church for two reasons: 1) Maybe the dog actually was posessed, and 2) It was as far away from his farm as the village got.
He decided to go by the library rather than by the chicken farm since the dog seemed to like attacking helpless chickens and Ricks. At that time, just getting out of his house for the first time in what seemed like days, was Grey. Grey was a quite hard worker. He didn't like to talk that much, and his posture and movements said it all. (It was somewhat hard not to read these signs of his, such as running into a corner and hissing at people.) However, those he did open his feelings and heart to were a special few who he would trust his life to. However, it was hard even for him to stay silent with the sight of a farmer running with a dog at the end of his rake.
"Um.." He mumbled. Jack jumped a bit and slowed down to a stop and searched for the source of the noise. "What are.. What are you doing with that dog...?" After finding the voice's owner, Jack helpfully pointed to the orange fluffball.
"This STUPID dog keeps on attacking people and I'm on my way to the church to see if it's posessed or something!"
"O..kaaayy.." Grey acknowledged, wide-eyed and confused. Undetered, the capped-farmer ran the rest of his way to the church and knocked loudly on its doors.
"Hello?? Anyone there??" He asked. The doors, being rude as they were, gave no answer. However, there was soon a click and they swung open to reveal the pastor of the church.
"Yes? Is it something urgent? Something personal?" He asked with a pleasant smile, although a little miffed for being disturbed so early in the morning.
"Uhh.." Jack fell short of words, so the ever-so-helpful point to the dog had to suffice.
"..Yes, what is it about the dog...?" Jack just pointed some more. "..Is it dead? Does it need a burial..?"
"Well.. This dog was bothering me..." Silence.
"So you.." The pastor started, still confused.
"No! It isn't dead! He's unconscious." The pastor's smile was long gone and it now curved into a slight frown.
"..The dog just pestering you does not give you the right to hurt it like that.."
"No no!" Jack insisted, "I didn't just walk up and hit it 'cause it was barking or something! It ATTACKED me!" The pastor remained silent. "...It was messing up my fields a few days ago, so I avoided it, but then it tried to attack Rick.."
"..Uh.." The pastor brilliantly started, "..how did you know it was attacking?" Jack's tone fell flat to annoyed.
"His clothes were ripped and torn while the dog chased him. I don't think Rick would run home screaming from a small barking doggie."
"Sorry," the confused pastor said humbly, "continue please."
"Well, I threw a rock at it so that Rick would have time to get into his house.. And this morning it was attacking one of my chickens. I think it might be posessed or something." Jack slowly swung the dog-covered end of the rake to the poor pastor. The pastor said nothing, looking down at the motionless dog.
"...."
"Well, can't you at least check?" The dog's leg suddenly twitched. "Uh- oh..! Quick! Before it wakes up!"
"........"
"Trust me, you don't want to see this thing-" The dog sat up, shook its head, and suddenly jumped off of the rake and regained its bearings. "SHOOT!" Jack yelled, taking shelter behind the priest. Recognizing his enemy's voice, the Evil One quickly went into battle mode and fired a glare at the pastor for helping the blue-capped one. Fear shot down to the priest's heart like an icicle at a speed he had never felt before.
"QUICK!" He yelled, "INTO THE CHURCH!!" The two ran into the church and slammed its doors just as the dog started running at them. They heard a "Thunk!" against the doors and then a lot of barking and scratching.
"See??" Jack snapped.
"Well forgive ME for being skeptical! It isn't everyday I get asked to exorcise a dog, you know."
"Sorry." Jack sighed, looking down.
"Ah," the priest cooed, calming down, "it isn't your fault.. I shouldn't've been so skeptical." Despite the dog ramming and barking at the rude doors, the messily-clothed farmer, and the fact that it wasn't even 6:30 yet, the pastor smiled at Jack. "So I take it you're that new guy running the farm? I didn't catch you're name.."
"Uh.. I'm.. Jack." The handkercheifed youth replied, a bit confused at the sudden conversational change. "You're..?"
"I'm Pastor Carter. It's nice to meet you." He calmly locked the two doors and started lighting the candles at the front of the church near the podium. "Hmm, looks like today's going to be nice." Carter commented, looking out of the stained glass windows. "A lot of fog out right now, but it'll clear up.." Jack started to look about the church to familiarize himself with his surroundings. "I know it's early to ask," Carter started, catching Jack's attention, "but have any of the girls here caught your eye yet?"
"Uhh, not really.." Jack mumbled, still in awe of the stained glass' beauty.
"Ah, well, it's just a few days into your first year here.. I shouldn't expect much so soon, but then, I await your marriages.." The priest was kindly given a few confused looks. "I mean your generation. Five young girls, five young men.. I don't really expect there to be five couples at the end, but someone's going to get married.." he chuckled, "other wise my job's going to be so boring.." He happily sighed and continued his soliloquy as the befuddled farmer watched silently. "But then, it isn't like I can force anyone to marry.. It would be interesting to try, you know, like 'GET MARRIED! RIGHT NOW!' " The sudden volume made the confused farmer jump and the priest laugh. "Hee hee hee.. But then, it isn't like I would.. I don't want to. Happiness cannot be forced out of a person.." He returned to lighting candles. "Sorry, I just gave you a chunk of philosophy for breakfast there, didn't I?" Jack was too confused to answer. All he could think about was how the mayor's words now made sense.. 'a nice man.. a little odd though.' "..Speaking of which," he continued, turning towards the farmer, "have you even had anything to eat?"
"Uh.." Jack blinked, finally getting in touch with reality. "Well.. No, I didn't have the chance to.." He glanced back at the double doors to see if the dog was still there. Since there were a few mumbled growls, he decided to look elsewhere.
"Well then, let's change that, shall we?" The pastor cheerfully suggested, clapping his hands together.
That morning, the weather was just as the priest had predicted. The sun was out, the weather was a balmy 70 degrees, the birds were singing, the flowers were bursting out in colorful bunches, and all seemed to enjoy the natural light's warmth as though it gave a feeling of subtle content with it. And once again Rick was unable to enjoy such a wonderous day.
How long had it been since his father left, he wondered? There had been no sign of him in years, and the very flower he left in search of was rare and elusive.. said to grow once every decade. Every Spring painfully reminded him of where he was now; the flowers taunting him as the gift his long-gone father was desperately looking for, the children playing in the sunlight without worry- nay, unable to comprehend the feeling, the warmth harsh on his sickly mother of which only he could take care of (the doctor unable to do anything for the symptoms and Popuri so irrisponsable).. It seemed almost as though some higher diety wished to taunt him and laugh at his misery. He soon forced himself to shake the thought though. The thought of a divine being doing so much to laugh at a single mortal was foolish, if not selfish in some ways.
Rick could barely stand to look at his mother while she was so ill, but no one else could do anything to take care of her. Her life was in his hands.. And while he had to be the single thing keeping his mother alive, he also had to take care of finances, the chickens, Popuri, the house, the pen.. Carter himself said that Rick had gone through the amount of hardships that most people would experience in their entire lifetimes, but he was still so young, with the harder stages of growing to come. He hadn't really had time to look into starting his own life yet- he hadn't even really had time to get interested in a partner. Two birds flew by the window as Rick longingly stared out through it.
"Yeah, yeah," he sarcastically sighed to himself, "Poor Rick. Everyone feels sorry for Poor Old Rick." The orange-haired man turned back to the dining table he was cleaning off earlier. No matter how much I may 'suffer', he thought, no matter how much I may cry or wallow in self-pity, sorrow never paid for food, sorrow never stopped the world from revolving. Despite the fact that the thought was intended to cheer him up, he chocked and squinted to keep in the swelling tears. Unable to stop himself this time, he leaned against the window as he tried desperately but futiley to stop the tears. What was the point of crying? Why couldn't he stop? No one would care if he cried, why couldn't he stop..?
A duck lazily landed outside the church walls and waddled in a puddle that had yet to fully dry.
"So you met Rick.." Carter thought aloud to the now-full Jack. "I hope you two become good friends.. Er! Not that I'm trying to egg you on or anything!" The pastor's hands bunched up as he tried to prove his innocense as Jack nodded in understanding. "It's just that.. Well, most people find Rick.. hot tempered, I guess.. I don't know, I mean, he's a good man, but he's just hot-headed and stubborn. I honestly think he may not have a single friend here.. I wish I could, but I have too much I have to do here than to wander about town and maje conversation."
"So.. Not even any of the girls in town like him?" Jack asked both the priest and himself.
"I don't really think so.. I believe that Karen did show a bit of interest, but that seemed to fade a few weeks ago, so.."
"Well, do you think he likes any of them?"
"He was good friends with Karen earlier, but then his father left and he had to take on quite a bit of responsability- his mother being sick and his sister so young and all. As for his romantic intentions, I really don't know." Jack thought Rick's charecter over. He seemed so polite.. Quiet, but polite.. Sometimes almost as though he really wanted someone to talk to on a personal level. Suddenly Jack's eyes shot open with an epiphany.
"U-Uh..!" He stuttered, unable to really configure words, "Y-you don't think he's.. Um.. You know.. Not interested in women..?" The pastor gave an innocently confused look.
"Pardon? What do you mean?" The corners of his mouth were suddenly dunked down for a split second as the thought came through his mind. "Um.. I don't think so.. He might be.. Um.. Why..?"
"Well, I really don't get what people mean by Rick having a temper; he seems so nice to me and all and.. Er, well, I'm not really like that, and I just didn't want to hurt his feelings.." Insert awkward silence here.
"Oh!" Carter finally broke the silence, happily sighing, "It seems the dog has gone off!" His words rang true; the scratching and barking had disappaited over the last fifteen minutes. "Well then, I have to be getting back to my pastor-ly duties. It was nice to meet you, Jack. I hope we can talk again sometime soon."
"Thanks, Carter, especially for the food!" Jack happily waved as he cautiously walked out the doors and onwards home.