Wow. It's been…what, 11 months since the last chapter? I apologize, everyone—I guess I just sort of forgot about this story. Also, I acquired "Another Wonderful Life" and realized a lot of the ages are way off from what they are in this story. So, uh, oops. SORRY, EVERYONE
Chapter V: A Meeting of the Minds
I didn't even realize it had been winter for nearly a month until I stepped outside one afternoon to find snow on the ground. Even more surprising was that, after talking briefly with a strange jogging man named Wally, it had apparently been snowing rather heavily for the past three days. I hadn't been outside in nearly a week.
On impulse, I found myself walking over to the farm near the Fountain Spring, looking for the cows.
They weren't out, although it didn't surprise me much. It didn't make much sense to leave your cow outside in the snow.
I continued past the farm up to the Fountain Spring, looking across the river. Flora was at the bank, washing her hair. Seeing her like this sent a mixture of warmth and dizziness through me, and I felt sweat bead on my forehead despite the cold.
She looked up, saw me, and waved. I ran into a tree.
By the time I found my glasses again, Flora had crossed the bridge and was coming up the path to where I was. Before I could escape, or even hide, she called my name and walked up to me.
"Hi, Daryl! I haven't seen you in a while!" She said, still in the process of tying her hair back. I grew nervous as I always did when speaking to, but I managed to respond.
"Y-yeah, well…I've been…doing experiments, and such."
Flora smiled. "You do a lot of experiments."
"…Well, being a scientist, I—"
"You should go outside more and get some fresh air! You're practically transparent." She adjusted her glasses. "You should come over and do some digging with Mr. Carter and I when it gets a bit warmer."
"…I-I suppose I could find some time…" I murmured, wondering briefly how I would ever be able to work with Carter for more than two seconds.
She reached out to touch my arm, causing me to start rather violently. She drew her hand back. I considered telling her that it was nothing against her; I just couldn't stand to be touched.
"Well, I look forward to it." She said finally. "See you."
"Y-yes, see you."
She began to turn to leave, then stopped and said something so surprising I almost thought I was hearing things.
"Hey, do you want to get dinner sometime? Like, tomorrow?"
I had to fight every instinct in my body to not run away.
"I, er, well, I suppose I could postpone my research…" I stammered in the most even voice I could manage. Flora looked relieved.
"That's great. We can discuss our different findings in our research. Bring your papers, if you want."
She left, leaving me standing there kneading my hands together and wondering what I had gotten myself into.