Shelly's World
Chapter 2: Mineral Village
"How do you know? How do you know this'll be better than India? The place looks way too active!" Shelly's father said.
"Calm down, Dad, trust me, we'll love it here. C'mon, let's go explore the rest of this village!" Shelly exclaimed. She motioned her father forward, and they walked along the pathway. During their walk, a plump man with curly brown hair and red uniform came up to them. He took a bow.
"Greetings, fellow travelers, and welcome to Mineral Village! I'm the town mayor, Mayor Thomas!" He held out his hand. Shelly's dad held his hand out too. The mayor grinned delightfully.
"Well! It looks like we have another comedian in town!" The Mayor said, cracking up. "Seriously, though."
"Seriously what?" Shelly's father said.
"Never mind that! Just tell us what we have to do now!" Shelly said impatiently.
"Um... well, let me take you to your grandpa's farm, and then we'll be set!" the mayor said. Shelly gave him a weird look.
"My grandfather would never work on a stupid smelly farm! And do you think I look like the type of person who likes to pick up animal shit? I think not!" Shelly screamed. An awkward silence arose the village.
"Oh, alright, then. Just make your way toward the inn, then. Walk straight until you see a path that leads to your right. You'll spot it immediately after that."
"Whatever," Shelly mumbled. She followed the Mayor's directions until she spotted a large building with the words, "Doug's Inn" written at the top. She walked in; not knowing her father was not behind her.
"Well! It's about time our new farmer came by! But... I wasn't expecting a little girl," a man with fiery red hair said. She was sure it was Doug.
"I'm not a little girl, smart one. I'm sixteen years old and am fully capable of doing things on my own. And this is the LAST time I'm going to tell anyone: I AM NOT WORKING ON THE DAMN FARM!"
Everyone was startled.
"Gee, girl's got an attitude," Doug mumbled, "but they always are so gorgeous. Too bad, though."
"Oh, Dad, quit it! I'm sure she's just really tired from her flight!" A redheaded girl piped up. She walked over to Shelly.
"Would you care to stay at our inn? We make wonderful foods cooked to a perfection, and we make sure our customers get what they need!" the girl said.
Shelly sighed. "Sure, I'll stay." The redhead girl smiled and led her upstairs.
"You'll be sleeping at that bed right there," the girl pointed, "next to our other customer, Cliff! Don't flirt with him too much, though." The girl grinned at Shelly, and then left. A few seconds later, she popped back in.
"Oh, I've forgotten to introduce myself! My name is Ann!" she said.
"And I'm Shelly; it's a pleasure to meet you," Shelly replied. She and Ann shook hands.
"Well, I've got to go back to work now, I'll talk later!" Ann said and walked out the door.
"Now what do I do?" Shelly thought. She sat, and she sat, and she sat. Twenty minutes later, she heard a voice, along with another one. She listened, for entertainment.
"Hello, Cliff, and welcome back!" A high pitched voice said. Immediately, Shelly could tell the voice belonged to Ann.
"Hi, Ann. Err… Th-thanks," Cliff said.
"I have GOT to meet this Cliff guy," Shelly thought to herself, "because he sounds HOT!"
"Would you like to go back to your room?" Ann asked nicely.
"Okay... s-sure," Cliff replied.
"Oh! And before you go, I need to tell you something."
"What?"
"You're not alone anymore!"
"What do you mean I'm not alone anymore?"
"Well, apparently, a plane landed down on the old man's farm. A girl, whose name is Shelly, happened to be on the plane by accident. She's upstairs now, if you want to go meet her. She's pretty, too."
"Okay, thanks, Ann. I'll be going upstairs right now."
Shelly heard the footsteps. She eagerly waited for him to step in. Finally, the door opened. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw his glistening hazel eyes, and his chocolate brown hair.
"Holy shit! He's as hot as he sounds! No wonder why Ann told me not to flirt with him too much!" Shelly thought to herself.
"Hey, nice to meet you, Shelly, Ann told me all about you," Cliff said shyly.
"She told me all about you, too," Shelly nervously said back.
A lull went in between the conversation.
"So, um... do you like going to church?" Cliff asked.
"Yes, I go there whenever I can," Shelly said.
"Really? So do I! What a coincidence!" Cliff said.
"Maybe we can both go together tomorrow!"
"Yeah! That'd be cool!"
Another lull.
"Say, does it ever get d-" Shelly started to stay. All of a sudden, the church bells rang, and it immediately became nighttime.
"-Ark?" Shelly finished.
Cliff laughed out loud. "Yes, it gets dark at exactly 6:00 PM every day."
"I find that rather peculiar."
"So do I. It always makes me hungry for some reason. I'm gonna head down and get some dinner. You wanna come with me?"
"Sure! That'd be great!" The two walked down the steps and down to the bottom.
~*~*~
"Hello, Cliff and Crabby! What'll it be today?" Doug asked, with a hint of laughter. Shelly glared at him.
"C'mon, kid, take a joke. You know I was kiddin', right?" Doug said.
"I'm not a kid, OLD MAN. Your jokes are harmful, and not funny," Shelly said, getting teary eyed, "especially since my name is SHELLY, and CRABS live in shells!" Her voice cracked a little bit, as she buried her face in her hands and ran upstairs. Cliff looked at Doug for a while, shook his head, and then walked upstairs too. He opened the door slowly, as he walked in to find Shelly lying on the bed face down on the bed.
"Hey, Shelly, you okay?" Cliff asked.
"No," Shelly squeaked.
"Doug's like that, you know, he likes to tease people. I don't think he meant it in a mean way."
"It sure sounded mean to me."
Cliff sighed, and put his hand on her back. "I know, but you just have to remember that he was only joking."
"Jokes only go so far," Shelly said, calming down.
"I think we should change the subject," Cliff said.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Um... well, how do you like it here so far?"
"It's okay."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I like it, but some people here are not to my liking."
"Like Doug?"
"But of course."
"How old are you?"
"I'm sixteen, and you?"
"I'm sixteen as well."
"What a coincidence!"
When Shelly and Cliff were having their conversation, Shelly noticed how much they had in common. She also realized they weren't having any more lulls either. She was starting to get suspicious about something, but then, a lull went in the conversation.
"Go figure," Shelly thought. She grinned to herself, while she looked up and saw Cliff looking straight into her eyes with a smile. Shelly smiled back at him, not knowing what to expect. When Cliff started to lean closer to her and began to shut his eyes, though, she sat there with the most shocked expression as he drew closer and closer in contact to her lips...
