Chapter 2

To New Discoveries

I wanted to hope

Along with all of the other fools.

Those people that lived their lives

In such a disorganized way.

I saw them everywhere

And swiftly looked away.

The boat pulled into shore and docked itself in the tiny harbor. The island really was small, Molly noticed. She had no problem seeing the entire thing from only a couple of miles out. The early morning sun was casting a gentle haze over everything and in some places she could still see small amounts of fog clinging onto the ground.

Pascal was right. It was beautiful. Taking a swift glance around before getting off of the boat she noticed a lighthouse and a small beach to her left and what looked to be a small fishery right next to the dock. To her right was the entire town, houses stacked onto each other reminding her of Grecian style homes, but instead of all white these were painted all sorts of different colors.

Molly was met with a sea of pastels, but she knew that once the afternoon light hit the houses facades they would shine with bright blues, pinks and yellows. As she left the boat and made her first step onto the island a church bell rang in the distance, signaling that it was 10:00 am.

She smiled and accepted her luggage from Pascal thanking him and started to make her way towards town. But, it was no sooner than she had taken her first step that a bright light appeared in front of her face, temporarily blinding her. Molly gave out a gasp of fright and stumbled backwards. The light began to take shape and there, hovering three feet away, was a small fairy-looking creature in bright orange clothes. Molly gaped and blinked a couple of times.

"Hello! My name is Finn and it's really nice to finally meet you! I've seen you through your dreams, but it's always been kind of hazy and you could never see me, but you heard me a couple times before, right? Well anyways, I'm so glad you're finally here! Hey, hey, what's wrong, you don't look too well. Are you cold? Sea sick?"

He fluttered around, suddenly worried and started moving closer to her. Molly took a step back and held up her hands as if to swat him away. Molly was so surprised that she was barely taking in anything that he was saying.

"Hey, Molly? You know who I am right? Remember, the Harvest Goddess said that once you got here she'd send me to help you. I'm a Harvest Sprite!"

Molly swallowed nervously and looked around. No one was near her so she decided it was okay to talk to this thing without looking crazy. Even if she felt it.

"Um…you're a Harvest Sprite?" She asked tentatively.

Finn nodded enthusiastically.

"And…can other people see you?"

Finn shook his head. "Nope, just you and the Harvest Goddess. Well, and the other Harvest Sprites. And the Harvest King, but he's not around. Oh! And the Wizard. I forgot about him."

Molly held her head, feeling dizzy. It didn't help that he was talking so fast either. Finn, seeing this hesitantly moved closer.

"Molly? Are you okay?"

Molly laughed even though she didn't feel the situation was very humorous at all.

"It's just…a big shock."

Finn nodded knowingly. The Harvest Goddess had warned him she might act like this. He didn't see what the big deal was, there were Harvest Sprites in other parts of the world too! But, he guessed everyone didn't know that.

"Sorry. Can I do something to help?"

"No, just…just give me a second," Molly said, slowly shaking her head. She had to get it together, the Harvest Goddess did say he was going to meet her here but until now none of it had seemed real. Seeing Finn was like a slap in the face, a reality check. The island really was in need of her help and he was living proof. She sighed and cautiously moved towards him. Finn stayed still and cocked his head to the side, wondering what she was going to do.

"Is it…alright if I touch you or something? To make sure you're real?" Molly asked, feeling stupid. But, she had to do this to convince herself he was real and she wasn't just going crazy.

Finn shrugged and gave the okay.

She prodded his stomach and quickly withdrew her hand. He really was real!

Finn giggled. "Are you okay now?"

Molly laughed in disbelief. Harvest Sprites really did exist and so did magical Harvest Goddesses that needed her help.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

Finn smiled. "Good! Now we can go to see the Harvest Goddess!"

"Woah, woah, woah," Molly said, holding up her hands. "We're not doing anything until I talk to the Mayor and get settled in my house."

"But Molly, this is really important!"

"I know, but I still have my luggage, and I NEED to talk to the Mayor. I have a responsibility as a resident, you know? And anyways, I doubt this island is going to blow up if we wait a few more hours."

Finn threw his hands up in mild frustration, "Fine, I guess that's okay, but RIGHT after, okay?"

Molly just nodded, not paying much attention. She was already starting to think about what it was she needed to get done before the end of the day. She secured her backpack more firmly on her back and heaved up her luggage, heading, once again, towards town.

As she passed the fishery, a small boy stepped out of the front door holding what seemed to be a pail full of fish and almost ran into her.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I should have been more careful," said the little boy, setting the pail down and politely bowing his head. Molly quickly inclined her head back. What a well-mannered little boy, she thought.

"No, that's alright, I shouldn't have been in the way."

The little boy looked up from under his hat and cocked his head to the side.

"Wait, I haven't seen you around here before, are you the new farmer everyone's been talking about?"

Oh, so everyone really was talking about her. This made her a bit uncomfortable, she never really liked being in the spotlight, but it was understandable. This was such a small island after all, not many people were here to make up the community and one new addition was probably a big deal.

"Yes, I am. My name is Molly, and you are?" She asked, holding out her hand.

"I'm Paolo, my dad runs the fishery here and my cousin Toby helps us out too," Paolo said, reaching up and gently shaking her hand in greeting.

"It's very nice to meet you Paolo. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, but right now I need to get my luggage to my home, so if you'll excuse me…" Molly trailed off, taking hold of her luggage again.

"Oh, right. Well, I'll see you again. Sometime you should come fishing with me and Toby!" he said, flashing her a smile.

She smiled in return. What a cute kid.

"Well, alright, but I've never been fishing so you guys will have to teach me, okay?"

"Of course! It's a promise!" Paolo exclaimed, picking up his pail and heading towards the back of the building.

Molly chuckled and turned back towards the town…what had she gotten herself into? Oh well, it'll be okay, she thought. She walked up the steps and started to make her way to the town hall which she recognized from the brochure she was sent before. Knocking before entering, she slowly opened the door and saw an obviously short man with a very strange haircut sitting behind the desk. In front of the desk was a man that couldn't be any more different. He was very tall and muscular with a full head of hair and a face that looked as if it was constantly smiling.

Both turned in her direction as she opened the door and the shorter one quickly bounced off of his chair and made his way over.

"Molly! I'm so glad you made it alright, did you have trouble finding the building?" He asked, shaking her hand vigorously.

"No, not at all," Molly said in return, her voice vibrating a little from the rapid movement of her entire arm. This must be the mayor, she thought, recognizing his voice from when they had spoken on the phone.

"Good, good. I'm Mayor Hamilton and this is Cain," the Mayor said motioning to the other man who stood towering behind him, "he's the owner of Horn Ranch and will be providing you with your animals. If you ever have any questions about animal care, he's the one to ask."

Cain smiled and said a short "How d'ya do?" bowing his head a bit.

Molly bowed back politely.

"Well! Let's gather up that baggage and get you settled in!" said the Mayor, clapping his hands and handing her luggage to Cain.

"Oh! I can carry that, you don't have to go through the trouble," said Molly, reaching for her bags.

"Don't worry, don't worry," said the Mayer, shooing her out the door, "Cain brought his wagon so we'll just ride over in that."

"Oh." A wagon? This really was a remote island, wasn't it? And she couldn't believe the Mayor was going to ride with them. How bizarre.

On the way to her farm, which was about a mile away, they engaged in small talk. She found out the Mayor had a son named Gill who was currently taking the last classes he needed to take before he could graduate at the same university that she went to – East Shore University. Molly racked her brain to try and remember if she had ever heard of a Gill in any of her classes, but couldn't. Although, it wasn't that surprising as he was going for business and communications and wouldn't have had any of the same classes, not even the general ones since he was a year older and would have been a year ahead when she enrolled.

She also found out that Cain had a wife and a daughter who both helped him out at the ranch. Renee, his daughter, was only a year younger than her and never went to university. Molly was glad to hear that there were others her age on the island. When she voiced this worry aloud both the Mayor and Cain assured her that there were plenty of "youngsters" on the island.

Soon they arrived at her farm and helped her move the luggage into the house which was already furnished with a bed, a tool box, a table and a small kitchen. It wasn't much, but for 5,000G it was basically a steal. And, I can always buy more furniture once I save up the money, she thought.

With lots of well-wishing and more cheerful shakings of her hand, the Mayor and Cain both left to leave her to her own devices, for which she was grateful. Now she needed to unpack and get situated before heading back into town where she would go to each store and introduce herself, at the Mayor's wishes. Although, she conceded, she would have anyways if he hadn't of mentioned it to her. But at least this way everyone was already expecting her.

She sighed and moved to sit down on her bed. She plopped down and was pleased to find her mattress very comfortable. Molly looked around her new house, all one room until she could upgrade. Open concept, she thought to herself, smiling. The floors were hardwood and actually, she thought looking closely, everything was pretty much wooden except for her kitchen counter. The wallpaper was just as monotonous, brown with a small floral pattern repeating throughout.

"What do you think of your new house, Molly?" said Finn, who had until now been keeping respectively quiet.

"It's…a house," she said, not really knowing how to respond. Finn nodded as if he knew what she was thinking.

She sniffed, some dust getting sucked into her nose as she breathed in the stale air. Sneezing, Molly walked over to the window and threw open the curtains, letting light illuminate the inside of her house. She opened the window with some difficulty and breathed in the crisp, fresh air. The air in the city never smelled as good as the air here did and Molly stood by the window for some time before opening the other windows and starting to clean.

Cleaning everything took quite a while, even with Finn helping, and it was already 1 o'clock before they finally finished. She changed out of her dirty clothes into something a bit more appropriate for first meetings and headed to town, locking her door as she went.

She took out the map she had received from the Mayor and memorized it on her walk to town. It took about fifteen minutes to reach town walking slowly and as she got closer she noticed a small beach right off of the path. She smiled happily, glad that there were so many beaches and especially glad that there was one that was a bit more private. The biggest one in town was used for festivals and she figured that there were people, tourists included, who used it a lot.

"Hey, Finn, are there other small beaches like that one?" she asked, pointing to her left.

"Yeah, there's another one that's closer to the farm actually. But other than that, the only other beach is in town. Why, do you like beaches?"

"Yeah, but the beach where I lived before was always really crowded so I didn't go that often. But, I'm glad that I can here, beaches are nice." Molly said.

Finn agreed and started talking about wanting to go and make lots of sand castles this summer. Soon they were in town and before they got too far, Molly stopped Finn and asked him if he could stay quiet while she made her introductions.

"But Molly, no one can hear me."

"I know," she said, "but you'll distract me if you keep talking so loudly."

"Well…okay, I guess. I promise I won't say a word!" Finn said, pretending to zip up his lips.

"You don't have be mute, just talk quietly please," Molly said, making an apologetic expression. She felt bad asking someone to do this but if he commented on everything while she was trying to talk to the villagers she wouldn't be able to keep the conversations straight.

They slowly made their way throughout town stopping at Simon's Photos, Sonata Tailoring and the Brass Bar where she had some juice and listened to Kathy and her father Hayden talk about the island. From what they said, as well as Simon and Shelly and Candace, the island was in really bad shape. The same sentiments were repeated as she visited the Fishery, the Ocarina Inn and the Choral Clinic.

Now Molly was really starting to get worried. The wind wasn't strong, neither was the water. The land wasn't fertile, something was wrong with the fire and everything was affecting everyone's feelings as well. She didn't think everyone looked depressed but there was a definite tinge of sadness in their features.

She tried knocking at the Wizard's place but figured he wasn't in because no one answered, so she made her way up to the church instead. As she reached the top step she found herself needing to stop to take it all in. The courtyard was beautiful with the church as its main feature. It stood out magnificently against the blue sky, piercing the light.

It was a simple white with gorgeous glass-stained windows shining in the afternoon sun. Molly used to go to church when she was smaller but it wasn't nearly as great as this one, just a small brick building beyond the city's limits.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said a voice to her left. Molly started and lost her footing, falling backwards. Before she was even aware of what was happening, she felt a hand shoot around her waist and roughly pull her upright again.

"Geez, how clumsy are you? You could've died, stupid."

Molly blinked and looked up into the face of a guy who looked to be around her age with strawberry blonde hair, leaning more towards the strawberry shade. She would have thought he looked bored if his eyebrows hadn't been angled downwards in an angry fashion.

"Hey, are you alright?" he said, his eyebrows turning up in mild concern now. Molly came to her senses and suddenly blushed, realizing that he was still holding her around the waist.

Noticing this, he let go and took a step backwards, unfazed even though Molly was positive her face was getting redder by the second.

"Y-yeah, sorry. Thanks for…catching me," she said, trying to make her blush go away.

He shrugged. "No problem. I guess it was my fault anyways…sorry for startling you."

Molly relaxed, her face color returning to normal. "It's okay; I just didn't know there was anyone around."

"Right," said the man, putting his hand on his waist. Molly would've thought this was a weird thing for a man to do if he hadn't looked so natural doing it. "So…who are you?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, my name is Molly and I'm – "

" – the new farmer?" he finished for her.

"Um, yes, that's right," she said back.

He looked at her for a few seconds before introducing himself.

"I'm Chase. I work at the Brass Bar," he said. Molly nodded and they stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds before she motioned towards the church.

"Well, I'm going to go, I still need to see to the church so…" she said, slowly moving away.

"Okay. Bye." He said and started walking down the stairs.

"…Bye," Molly said. He kept walking and didn't look back again. As soon as he was safely out of earshot she turned to Finn.

"He was kind of rude, wasn't he?"

Finn shrugged. "I think he's always like that."

"Huh," was all she said and she walked into the church to meet Perry.

After another short conversation, which included the degenerating condition of the island, Molly started to make her way back to her house. It was starting to get dark and as they walked Finn and she discussed the people that she had met that day. In general she liked everyone and thought that it would be nice if she could befriend them all.

"You've been here longer than I have, so what do you think? Is everyone really nice?" she asked Finn.

"Actually, I haven't been here that long. Only about a month or two."

"What?" Molly asked, confused. "I thought that you and the other Harvest Sprites have been around for almost as long as the Goddess."

"Well, I'm the sixth Harvest Sprite and the youngest; I was born when the Harvest Goddess found you since I'm really only around to help in the search for the bells…" Finn said, dejectedly.

Molly, noticing that this was a touchy subject, decided to change it. "What are the bells?"

"The bells are the instruments through which the Sprites play their songs to give life to the island."

"Oh, I see," said Molly even though she didn't have any idea what he meant by that.

"Yup! It's our job to find the bells so the Harvest Sprites can ring them and play their songs," said Finn, talking quicker as he got more excited.

"That doesn't sound too difficult," said Molly, brightening a bit. If all she had to do was find some bells then that shouldn't be too hard, right?

"Yeah, we can do it!" Finn said, doing a somersault in mid-air.

Molly laughed and complimented him on his gymnastic skills, feeling considerably happier as she entered her house compared to when she had left it. It was with a light heart that Molly settled into bed after eating some dinner, unaware of what the task of the bells really meant and just how hard it would be to accomplish it.