I'm sorry for taking so long to post! But at long last, here is the first chapter. This is just for introductions. Enjoy!
Nirak: Thank you so much. I hope you like this one.
AliensRockMyWorld: Well, I kind of made up the heights, but they seem to work.
Kelley28: thanks!
Kasai-Mitsukai: thanks, I haven't played the game in a while, so it was a mistake. Thank you for the first review!
Chapter One: Beloved Townspeople
Dawn slowly crept into the valley, seeking out the nooks and crannies of the town and filling them with light. It reflected off of Vesta's late growing sweet potato leaves, and made the dew seem to dance. Yes, we are looking down on this peaceful village, because as author and reader, you and I have the power to do that. Why? Because I'm writing it here, and that's the way it is! It's called "Third Person Omniscient". Anyway, back to our dear characters.
The door opened, and a tall, tubby woman stepped out of the house, admiring the morning. Her carrot hair was still very frizzy from the sleep. Her head turned, and she spoke to another girl who was exiting the house.
"Celia, darlin' would you mind wakin' up Marlin? The boy is always sleepin' too late." Celia smiled and nodded, then made a face as the hefty woman walked away. She walked over to another building and stood at the door, obviously debating something. Suddenly, she let out a wild howl, and banged on the door. It flew open, and a black-haired man in purple pajamas jumped out, looking around for fire, murder, and blood; anything that would have merited such an awakening.
He cast an angry look over at the girl, who was giggling herself silly over the sight of him in pajamas, and stalks back into the building, slamming the door behind him. Celia adjusted her yellow bandanna and wandered over to the garden, laughter still spilling out.
About this time, Gustafa came out of his yurt, and stretched his arms. He smiled at the trees and unfolded a mat that was tucked under his arm. This was a yoga mat, for Gustafa always spent an hour each morning doing yoga, to "center himself". He normally started in mountain pose.
Marlin finally grumped out of his tiny house, and stomped over to the main building to partake of the breakfast, made by Celia. Vesta clapped him hard on the back, unaware of the pride-grinding he had just gone through.
Muffy had just woken up and changed into her tight red dress. She clumped down the stairs from her loft and started to open the blinds in the small bar. Griffin yawned sleepily and came out of the back room. Muffy saw him and smiles, showing her bright white teeth.
"Good morning, Griffin! Isn't the sky just as blue as you could wish for today?" As we can readily tell, Muffy is most certainly a morning bird. Griffin on the other hand, grunted noncommittally and poured himself some strong coffee. These two are very different, but somehow always seem to get along. If the rough bartender minded his blonde "daughter" being so peppy, he didn't comment. I personally believe that her zeal helped him to get up on the mornings.
Sweet chords floated down from the top of the hill beside Samantha's house. Occasionally a sour note would spoil the moment and the musician would bang on the piano irritably. Lumina had obviously woken up.
The girl had settled into her hard wooden piano seat, and began her morning practice hour. These hours were either pleasing or torturous to the townsfolk, depending on her mood. This morning her hair was combed neatly, her plaid sage and orange dress was straight, and her shoes were buckled. All three of these facts were good signs that she was in a decent mood.
Lumina might have been called bipolar, if the town's mothers hadn't pronounced her mood swings "perfectly normal". On the days that she was feeling sad, depressing elegies filled the air, bringing the entire village's spirit down. When she felt angry, staccato notes were plunked out. The terrible mornings when she was feeling emo, unbalanced and angsty, random measures from assorted tunes irritated everyone in the vicinity. Thankfully, practice was normal today.
Muffy sat down and listened to the pretty notes. They seemed to match the fairy-tale like sky outside. Griffin took down several dusty bottles from a shelf, and began rinsing them off in the sink. The young lady stood up once more and walked out the door, high heels tapping.
Her steps brought her to Vesta's farm, where Celia was weeding the carrot bed. She tapped the latter's shoulder, who jumped slightly, but smiled when she realized who it was.
"Hello, Muffy! Did you sleep well last night?" Celia grinned, looking very much guilty of something.
"Yes I did, thank you." She examined the farm girl's face. "Why do you look so guilty?" She asked, expecting a good story. Celia was only too happy to retell the story of Marlin and his pajamas. Muffy giggled daintily, while Celia accidentally pulled out carrots instead of weeds, she was laughing so hard. Marlin moved to another field, away from the girls, even though they were perfectly aware that he could hear. Muffy gives a final snicker and then stands up to go back to her belated bar. Celia waves good-bye, so as not to get dirt all over her friend's pretty dress by hugging her.
The late risers, namely Nami and Rock, were just now sleepily opening their eyes. Rock got out of bed, (not bothering to make the bed) and threw on his clothes. He proudly hung a shiny golden peace medallion on his neck, and then ran down the stairs, three at a time.
Nami had beaten him down and was sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee and looking surly. Rock wisely decided not to bother her and started to eat breakfast instead. Her short fiery hair was all mussed, indicating perturbation of the mind. Ruby bustled into the kitchen and spotted the two.
"Hello, my sleeping beauties!" She said in her quiet, slightly hoarse voice. Rock glanced up and shouted out a greeting. Nami raised her eyes suspiciously, and gave a half-hearted grunt. Ruby was used to such communication with the crabby redhead, and began to boil water.
Breakfast was soon finished, Rock spilt milk on the floor and Nami left her mug on the table, causing Ruby to frown slightly at her retreating back. The platinum boy yawned again and left the Inn to go down to the bar. Maybe Muff would have some spice to add to this tasteless morning. Nami went upstairs again to stand on the back balcony. Let's follow Rock first.
He, shall we say, "be-bopped" down the main road until he reached the Blue Bar. Lumina was walking down the hill from her house to the same street. He waved at her, she blushed, and he celebrated inwardly. She had always been an easy one to flirt with. Muffy was washing glasses when he entered the bar. She turned and spotted him, her eyes shining with the gossip that she was bursting at the seams to tell.
Meanwhile, Nami had come out onto the porch, notebook in hand. She craned her head upwards, scribbled something, looked up again, and scribbled one more time. Guitar chords started "twanging", distracting her. She looked up, and her eyes found Gustafa sitting on a log, playing the instrument. Her eyes softened, gazing at the long-haired hippie with something that might have resembled…attraction? Wow, I bet you didn't expect that. Nami actually has a heart!
Muffy finished the tale, gratified to hear Rock's wild burst of laughter. She finished wiping down the glass that was in her hands, and reached for a bottle of clear liquid.
"I'm feeling inventive today, Rock. Care to try my newest concoction?" The boy thought for a second, and then nodded.
"Sure, babe. The last one you made was pretty good; just don't give me another black cherry pineapple mix!" Muffy tried to frown, but ended up giggling at herself.
"I'm going to make something terrible, just for you!" He groaned jokingly at the thought.
Lumina had arrived at the Inn, and ascended the stairs. She stepped out onto the deck where Nami was to be found, staring at the guitarist. Not sure what to do, she sat down behind the entranced girl. Nami eventually turned around to grab her notebook, and was faced with smirking Lumina.
"What's this? Nami, is staring at a man? Is that possible?" The younger girl was eying her amusedly. Nami glared daggers at her friend.
"Is that any of your business?" She asked coldly. Lumina smiled evilly.
"Of course it's not. That doesn't mean I can't ask!" Nami rolled her eyes, trying hard to veer her eyes away from the grove where Gustafa sat.
"Whatever." They sat for a few more minutes, until Lumina brought up the weather. They talked on random subjects, swapping angsty stories.
Later in the afternoon, Celia dusted her ragged apron off and walked into the main house. Vesta was talking on the phone with a customer buying seeds. The customer appeared to have made the large woman upset, and they were yelling at each other. Celia ducked one of her aunt's swinging fists, and turned the stove on. She looked in the refrigerator and found vegetables….and no meat.
"Where am I supposed to find meat?" She normally only bought it when Van was in town. After much debate, it was decided that steamed veggies would make up that night's meal. Vesta wouldn't mind, but Marlin would. Oh, well. Too bad for him.
Marlin was outside, looking up at the setting sun. Why does she still hate me? I've been nice ever since…what am I supposed to do? It was true; he had been very civil…99 of the time. All that he lacked was an apology, which of course never occurred to him. You see, my dear reader, Marlin had a little thing called "ego", making him believe that Celia was at fault. She was at fault, but so was Marlin. They are both stubborn little farmhands.
Night fell gracefully over the tiny village. Rock and Muffy both stayed up late into the night giggling and making stupid puns. I couldn't relate them if I tried, for some things are just too dumb. Muffy's newest drink was partly to blame for the giddiness, I must say. Rock finally danced home at 1:00, feeling that life was too interesting to bear. Muffy fell asleep almost instantly, a laugh still curving her lips into a smile.
Lumina left Nami when both of their stomachs were starting to growl. The latter was just finishing up a story that she had heard in her rare newspaper, about a huge scandal that had erupted in more densely populated areas of the world. Both of the two girls were highly intelligent, and understood these things better than the others would have. Muffy would have blinked furiously, trying to piece it together in her mind, while Celia would have frowned sadly at such ignorant people. But the exchange was that both Celia and Muffy were much more amiable.
True to Celia's prediction, Marlin picked around at the vegetables and did not eat much, even though the brunette had tried her best to season the vegetables well. They were savory and tasty, as well as being very squishy. Vesta ate heartily while booming out stories of the worst customers that she had ever encountered. Both Celia and Marlin just nodded at the pauses.
As they headed off to bed, Marlin stopped Celia and tried to gather his thoughts. Instead of speaking, he managed a squeaky grunt. The girl rolled her chocolate eyes, flouncing off to the house, leaving the poor boy still standing there, sweating profusely.
Gustafa finished playing his music for the day, feeling that nature was in harmony today. He opened the flap to his yurt and ducked inside. How he loved the beautiful town of Forget-Me-Not Valley.
And so the day ended for our townies. I would have loved to tell you that each person fell asleep with a smile on their faces, but it wouldn't be true. Griffin, Marlin, and Vesta snore terribly, and Lumina talks in her sleep. But still, it was a peaceful sleep, not one of them aware of what (actually who) would grace their peaceful valley with his presence, and steal most of their hearts.