The sun split through the curtains on Jack's windows and splashed over his worn face. He didn't want to get out of bed. Thoughts of the night before, his first meeting with Karen, made his sleep unstable. He constantly woke up with visions of her intense green eyes filled with emotion. Compared to the other girls of the town, Karen seemed bluntly honest and real. None of the other girls in the town were as in tune with the ups and downs of life, besides perhaps Elli, who'd lost her parents when she was younger. Karen, though, wouldn't paint the depravities of life with a silver lining, but then again she wouldn't get bogged down in their depression. Ann was always optimistic and Jack had never seen her less than beaming. He felt that people like her must have some sort of inner demon, or they wouldn't try to appear so happy.

Glancing at his wall clock, Jack realized it was seven o'clock. He wasn't worried about getting started with work late or feeling exhausted at the end of the day. His thoughts of Karen were comforting him, and though he was working on very little sleep, he was efficient and finished his chores faster than he had ever before. This early finish gave him time to explore the town and begin to converse with his neighbors. He changed out of his dirty clothes, and attempted to smooth down the cowlick in his hair. It was stubborn though and chose to remain pointing straight up out of his hat. He decided he would visit the shops in town.

Stepping back into the summer sunshine, and smelling the fresh air, he decided a nice walk to town would calm his aching muscles. Throwing on his knapsack again, he locked the door to his house and started out. Upon leaving the farm, he ran into Harris, the mailman.

"Harris! How are you?" he said in passing.

"Doing good, Jack. I just happen to have a letter here for you," he replied. Jack turned around, and curiously looked at it. He pulled it from Harris's hand and said his thanks. Harris went on to the Green Ranch, leaving Jack standing at the cross roads outside of town wondering about the unexpected letter. He examined the outside and found no return address. They probably don't even use return addresses here, thought Jack, and yet all his letters from the mayor about festivals were written on special paper. This was definitely not a letter from him. He sliced the envelope open, and out fell a small piece of paper, which eluded Jack's grasping hands and landed on the ground. He bent over to pick it up, slowly shaking the dirt off of it. When Jack was finally able to read it, he was astounded. The little piece of paper had a simple "Thanks…" written on it in scrawling cursive. There was no signature and no return address. It brought up questions in his mind because it could be from anybody. But who would be thanking him? Certainly it had to be either Ann or Karen, and out of those two Ann seemed to be the most courteous. Karen, he knew, had hated his presence at the beach last night, whereas Ann loved the horse ride. He took the letter back to his house, stuck it in the drawer on his night stand, and headed back out to town.

His first stop was Lillia's flower shop. He needed to purchase some more tomato seeds. He pushed open the door while admiring the flowers planted underneath the windows. When he looked into the room, he saw Lillia and her daughter Popuri standing together behind the desk, talking. Both of them had their pink hair pulled up; like mother, like daughter.

"Hello," he said, when they seemed to not notice his presence. They looked over surprised, and both chimed greetings. Lillia nudged Popuri and whispered something in her ear. He walked over to the seed counter, and then Popuri came and stood beside him.

"Can I help you with anything?" she said sweetly, her pink eyes beaming up at him.

"I'm just getting some more tomato seeds," he said.

"Would you like to try any corn seeds? They take longer to grow, but you can make more money off of them."

A nearly perfect sales pitch, Jack thought, but instead said, "No, I think I'm going to stick to tomatoes this year. It is my first summer after all."

"Oh, well that's okay," she said. "We also have Moondrop Flower seeds, if you would like to make your farm pretty." She batted her long eyelashes and smiled at him.

"Well, Popuri, I would but I don't have enough money to waste on flowers." He immediately realized he had worded that a little harsh. Her smile went to a frown, and her eyes grew almost two sizes larger. They were angry.

"Flowers are not a waste!" she started. "How dare you say such a thing!"

"Popuri, calm down," Lillia interjected.

"Flowers are beautiful and they are only around in the spring and summer. You should cherish them. They make life so much happier!" She crossed her arms and walked over to the flower seeds.

"I'm so sorry," Lillia said, taking Jack over to the cash register so he could pay for the tomato seeds. "I sometimes wonder if she likes flowers too much."

Jack was about to say it was no problem, when in from the other room came Basil, Popuri's father.

"How's my beautiful daughter doing, huh?" he asked excitedly, throwing his arms around her, and lifting her up in the air. She scrambled, out of his arms, complaining, and ran out of the store. Basil, hurt, looked around, and then saw Jack standing at the register.

"Well, hi Jack," he said as his face turned to red. Jack quickly finished paying for his seeds, and hurried out of the store.

Determined to avoid another lecture, he headed to the bakery. He was hungry for a midday snack. Weaving around the bushes, he politely said hello to Ellen, the old woman who owned the bakery and always commented on how he looked like his Grandpappy. He entered the door to see Elli and the Mayor's wife chatting. Jeff looked lonely behind the register, so Jack weaved around the ladies, and went to talk to him. His face brightened up at the sight of a costumer.

"Hi, Jack, what'll it be?" he asked.

"A cake would be great," Jack responded. Jeff spoke of the bakery's tea as he cut a slice of cake. He rambled on for almost five minutes, and as soon as he was done, Jack rushed out of the bakery. First he'd been lectured, and then almost had his ear talked off. Jeff was a nice guy, though. He at least didn't get mad if you slightly insulted tea.

Jack munched on his cake and decided he'd had enough of the town for the day. He stopped by the farm to get his fishing rod and then walked out to the mountains. He fished for a while at the fishing pond, making casual conversation with Greg, the fisherman, but then decided to head up to the Carpenter's house to see how far away he was from getting a house extension.

Finding that he'd need several hundred more dollars and pieces of wood, he left the house laughing at himself for even thinking he might be close. He didn't look up in time to see that he was about to run into someone, and thus bowled into them.

"Hey! Watch it!" said a female voice that was followed by a thud.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry!" Jack said, again without looking. He held out his hand, and then realized it was Karen he had knocked over. She stared at his hand for a moment, seemingly wondering if she should take her attacker's offer. She then cautiously slid her hand into his. He pulled her up, all the while being careful, for nothing seemed as profound to him as to have her hand in his.

When she was finally on her feet, she smiled, and began to say something. Then, as if she had remember something, she shook her head and said, "You ought to be more careful." She then stomped off.

"Karen! Come back, I'm sorry!" he said, his hand still relishing the memory of hers in it. He sat down by the river, then, and tossed a line in. He stayed there until nightfall trying to figure out that strange yet beautiful girl