Chapter Two: Cliff and Jack
The next morning, it just "happened" to be raining. Dawn got up at 6 o'clock, set the clock on SNOOZE, then woke up later at seven.
She got up a stretched, thinking, At least I don't need to water the plants, and then got changed.
When she set foot outside, the rain instantly beat down on her hard. She felt wet almost immediately.
Dawn grumbled for a couple of minutes, then noticed there was a doghouse in front of her house.
"I have a dog?" she said surprisingly. "But I don't want one!"
As she said this, a small golden puppy barked from inside and leaped out into her arms. Dawn couldn't help smiling as she patted the dog, and put him inside out of the rain. "Well, maybe I do."
Dawn exited again for the second time. She decided to check out the forest near this Moon Mountain place the Mayor had told her about.
She went past the vineyard, and across a bridge over a river into a clearing in the forest. There was a small pond next to a tent, a long, twisted path up the small mountain, a large river, and open space between it all. Dawn saw another bridge and crossed it.
She found the carpenter's cabin next to the river on the other side, and a large tree right next to a cliff. There was also a cave.
Dawn pocketed some wild berries she had found, and then ran into the cave for shelter from the rain.
Just as she did so, she ran right into someone!
Dawn fell backwards hard on her a$$. She rubbed her forehead, where she had been hit hard, and began to snarl, "Watch it—" when she noticed who she had bumped into.
He had brown hair, blue eyes, and was wearing strange clothes, but something about him made Dawn feel weak in the knees. He looked very embarrassed, and had a large bump on his forehead (which was probably what Dawn had just caused), and he awkwardly helped Dawn to her feet.
"Uh…Sorry," he said. Then he peered at her. "Who are you?"
"Oh. Um. I'm Dawn," she said. "I'm taking over the farm, and I'm pretty new here…"
"My name's Cliff," Cliff said, not smiling, but not frowning. "And I'm new here too. I arrived in this cave last night and learned from some little elfish people that I was nearing Flowerbud Village…Oh, man, I'm so hungry," he groaned.
Dawn pulled out the berries from her backpack. "Here, eat these," she said, offering them to him.
Cliff took them gratefully and gobbled them down so fast that made Dawn feel slightly nauseous. "Thanks," he said, grinning.
For some reason Dawn felt fluttery.
"Bye," she said, smiling back at him, and she turned around and left the cave.
Back into the rain, of course.
Dawn scowled. Well, guess I can't get warm, or go back there and embarrass myself by saying I had forgotten why I had gone in there.
Dawn hated embarrassment. Junior High flashbacks were too painful. (Teenage angst.)
Then Dawn went into the other place she hadn't been to yet, besides on the mountain: to the Goddess' pond.
Though Dawn had only been in Flowerbud Village (FBV) for a few days she had already heard rumors about the pond—mostly some crap about a Goddess that'll come if you throw in a vegetable. Dawn snorted with amusement at people's belief in such things.
Dawn looked at the small, pretty little area ("Where is that music coming from?") and then left, to hike up the path up the mountain in the first clearing.
When she got to the top of the hill, she saw many tree stumps and a sharp cliff on her left. She looked down and saw the river that sliced between this part of the mountain and the other part, and between the carpenter's place and the cave and the fisherman's place and the path.
Dawn also noticed a sign (which is not in the real game) that pointed down the other side of the hill, where you can never go. There was a very steep, narrow path down this side of the mountain, and Dawn hiked down it.
At the bottom was pure forest, except for a large farm.
So, this is it, Dawn thought. Joro Farm…
Dawn walked through the front gate. She saw that the farm was a big wreck, just like she had found her farm. And she saw a guy that had probably been just seconds before her sprint to the door of the house on the farm.
Dawn didn't get a good look at him, but he wore a backwards cap and overalls. She couldn't tell if he was a farmer or not.
Dawn thought for a minute, and decided to listen at the slightly-open window. The boy's face, though she saw no distinguishing characteristics, had seem anguished when he had sprinted by.
Dawn peeked at a window inside the house, and saw the boy and an old man. The old man was lying in bed, and the boy was at his side.
"What are you doing here, Jack, you're supposed to be at home. Nasty little varmint." The old man had a dry, crackly voice. (Like Eustace on Courage, the Cowardly Dog!
Jack, the boy, had his back to Dawn, and Dawn thought that the boy would be slightly hurt at the man's comment, but then Dawn noticed that the old man was smiling, as if he were glad to have some company.
"Grandpa…" Jack began.
"Grandpa me nothin' you oughta be goin' home now! You don't need to visit poor, old me. Nobody ever does, anyway." The grandfather coughed, and then Dawn saw what a serious condition the man had. He was extremely weak; his cough sounded weak, starving almost, and she could now hear that his breathing was very ragged.
"Grandpa," Jack continued, "I came because I wanted to know…If there was something I could do…"
The grandpa smiled, his eyes closed. He was silent for a long time. Then he spoke in a whisper, "I'm glad you came for me. Nobody has for a long time."
He was silent again; his breathing grew uneven. He took in a deep breath, and whispered raggedly, so that Dawn practically had to stick her head inside, "I wanted to tell you something, Jack…I want…I want you to…"
The grandpa suddenly seized up, and his breathing stopped completely, as if he were holding his breath. Then he exhaled, and relaxed, and closed his eyes.
"…Grandpa?" Jack said. "What—did you say, Grandpa?…Grandpa?"
The old man did not reply. He seemed to have had a serious illness. Just like Dawn's grandfather. And now he was gone.
Dawn continued to watch, forcedly reminded of her last moments with her grandfather as well. Jack's back was shaking; Dawn could tell he was trying not to cry.
Suddenly Jack stood up. Dawn ducked beneath the window and ran back to the front gate in the rain. But before she got there—
"Hey!"
Dawn spun around, and saw Jack walking up to her.
Dawn finally saw his face completely. He had brown hair, which was sticking out of his hat in a weird way, and emotional brown eyes, which right now seemed lost and lonely.
"Were you sent by the Mayor?" Jack asked.
"Um…no, actually, I wasn't," Dawn said quietly.
"I saw you looking through the window," Jack said hotly, and suddenly. "That wasn't—very…" Jack couldn't help looking down and rubbing his eyes. Dawn felt she needed to comfort him, since he looked so lost and scared, and unprotected, like a child.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Dawn said, and she had a quiver in her voice. "My grandpa…recently passed away. As a matter of fact…" Dawn managed a weak smile, even though memories of her grandfather were flashing in her mind, "I'm your grandfather's new 'rival' like they say. Er…I was…" Dawn felt awkward talking about this subject.
Jack frantically wiped his eyes again, and he no longer looked sad or lost. In fact, he seemed determined, almost happy. "I'm going to take over Joro Farm," he said. His eyes were shining; Jack made Dawn weak in the knees, like Cliff had done.
The rain seemed to dampen her mood, though. "I…guess you should tell—"
Then suddenly the gate opened. Guess who, of all people, walked in…The Mayor. He walked straight over to Jack and Dawn.
"Why, hello," the mayor said to Dawn. "What a surprise to see you here. And hello, Jack. How is—"
"He's dead," Jack cut him off.
"Oh, my," the Mayor said, but Dawn could tell that the Mayor wasn't exactly saddened at all. "I wonder what will happ—"
"I wanna take over Joro Farm."
"Um…very well, Jack. We'll get the Shipper notified. He will speak with you concerning shipping. And I assume you know the town already? Good. Good-bye." And the Mayor left suddenly.
Dawn and Jack were silent for a minute, glancing anywhere but at each other. Then finally Dawn said, "You know, you may have a rough start off in the town, with everybody disliking you already because of your grandfather."
"Yeah, I know," Jack said, sighing. "I don't know why they'd judge me from him."
They were silent again. Then Dawn said, "I'd better go, huh?"
As she opened the gate, Jack called, "Hey, what's your name?"
Dawn turned around. "Oh, yeah…I'm Dawn." Then she left.
Dawn ran home quickly. She was freezing.
When she got home, she rummaged through her small itsy-bitsy kitchen for some Hot Chocolate mix, and found a package. She boiled some water quickly and made the hot cocoa, and took off all her clothes and put on dry pajama's, even though it was around three o'clock in the afternoon. She was freezing cold, and wrapped herself in a blanket. She passed the rest of the day away, reading a book, and also thinking, So, Cliff and Jack…They're both so cute, sensitive, emotional…and yet one's a homeless freak and the other's my rival. God, I'm attracted to the wrong kinds of people. Dawn sipped her cocoa and went to bed early.
Author's Notes – I know it seems like I'm doing one day per chapter, but its only gonna be that way for like 4 chapters, okay? Then it'll go differently. ^.^;; Hope you like everything else…