Forget It
Chapter 1: Farming? What do you mean?

A brunette girl was half-awake when she tumbled out of bed. Her violet eyes scanned the wooden building she was in. "Huh? Where am I?"

A knock sounded from the door. The teen stumbled her way over to it and opened it to see a small man with a brilliant red hat and a large nose.

"Hello, I'm Mayor Thomas of Mineral Town. You must be the new farmer here. What's your name?"

The girl stared at her feet for a moment, thinking. "I'm… Jill, I think. I don't remember much."

"Well, I'll be picking up shipments from that wooden crate over there. You can chuck just about anything over there." Thomas started muttering under his breath. Jill leaned in a little closer and heard, "Should have picked scissors, dang it."

"Why didn't you pick scissors, then?" she inquired.

The mayor looked at her suspiciously. "I always choose rock. Shows my masculinity."

Jill had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. When she could finally control herself, she spotted a light brown puppy and a black kitten tumbling about in the dust. "Oh no!" She ran out and picked up the pair. "Now what am I going to do?"

"Name 'em and train 'em. Speaking of which, here's a dog ball. Good luck on your farm." Mayor Thomas tipped his hat to the girl and left abruptly.

"You're kidding me right?" Jill looked down at her two new pets and saw them staring back at her. "Well, puppy, you look like a muffin, so that's your name. Kitty… You'll be… Chocolate? No. Syrup? Yeah. Muffin and Syrup." She released the two into the grass and they immediately started chasing each other. "Stop it, you two." Obediently, Muffin sat and looked at her with large eyes.

"I'm going into town. I think I ought to check out what these people are like. You two can come, if you like." In response, Syrup leapt and twined herself around Jill's neck. Muffin shuffled over to a tree and fell asleep in the cool shade. "All right, then."

Jill walked along the cobblestone path. She saw several people walk by, the last of which was a woman with curly blond hair. "Excuse me, but I'm new around here. My name's Jill and I live on the farm."

The woman scanned the teen. "City slicker, eh? You won't last long, Jill. I'm Muffy, by the way."

"I don't really know where I'm from. I… I kinda forgot."

"Good luck, kid. You'll need it." Muffy dismissed Jill with a wave of her hand and continued on her path.

"What do you think, Syrup?" the brunette asked the kitten around her neck. "Is everyone around here like that?" The black kitty mewed at her.

A blond boy presently appeared. "Hey, you're kinda cute. What's your name?"

"I'm Jill." She could feel heat rise into her cheeks, just a little. This guy was pretty cute for this farming country!

"Rock. And yes, that is my real name." He winked at her. "See you around, cutie."

Jill put her hands to her cheeks, willing them to cool down as Rock walked away.

"What are you doing with my boyfriend?" A fairly short girl with short golden hair strutted up to her. Her appearance was not lacking in jewelry. Her ears each sported two large earrings, and she had bracelets galore.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't know, and I just wanted to introduce myself…" Jill pet Syrup anxiously.

"Oh. You're the new farmer. Should have known." The girl stuck her hand out. "I'm Lumina."

Jill clasped Lumina's hand firmly. "I'm Jill." They shook hands.

The other girl's gaze darted about. "Cute cat," she finally said.

Jill grinned. "Her name's Syrup."

"Syrup? That's cute. It fits her."

"Hey, can you tell me where there are some other people I could meet?"

"Yeah. Most people are at work, but Flora and Carter just work in a mine. Filthy thing. And Celia, Marlin, and Vesta all work the fields on the other side of the bridge." Lumina pointed to the farming fields surrounded by a wooden fence.

"Where is the mine?"

"Go past the windmills over there and turn left. Go straight until you almost go into a tent, then turn… I think left and keep going until you see a cave. I'd go with you, but I have better things to do."

Jill smiled and nodded. "Thank you very much, Lumina. I appreciate it."

The other girl was already on her way. She lifted a hand to acknowledge that she heard.

The brunette walked over to the bridge. It was wooden, like so many things in this town, and seemed very old and worn. She stepped on it, cautious. It creaked loudly. Startled, she jumped back and landed into the arms of an older man.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Jill bit her lip to keep from babbling.

"It's okay. You must be the new girl on Livicious Farm. I'm Takakura. I live on the farm, but I can't really help out much with the animals and crops."

"Livicious? That's a cool name. I'm Jill. And this is Syrup." Jill pointed to her kitten. "Anyways, I'm just going to meet people, seeing as how I'm new here."

"All right. Have a good day." Takakura left, going in the direction of the farm that Jill had come from.

"Okay, Syrup. Let's go meet some more people." Jill held herself high and walked across the rickety bridge, refusing to look down.

A girl with long brown hair looked up from watering crops. "Vesta, can I go meet her? I think it's the new girl."

"Sure, sure." A pudgy woman with insanely curly red hair replied. She was a bit distracted with her own watering.

The girl vaulted over the fence and skidded to a stop in front of Jill. "I'm Celia. What's your name?"

"Jill. Um… What do you do here?"

"Aunt Vesta's a farmer. She's got the best crops in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Marlin and I just help her out. What do you do here?"

"I guess I'm supposed to be a farmer, too. But I don't really know what I'm supposed to do."

"That's all right. You'll get the hang of it soon enough. Do you want to see Carter and Flora? Just go north of the windmills. You'll see their mine soon enough. I gotta get back to work. Nice meeting you!" Celia vaulted back over the fence and picked up her watering can to resume her job.

"She's a bit odd, to say the least," Jill muttered to Syrup, who mewed in agreement.

The brunette continued walking along the path, passing the windmills and going north. As Celia said, she spotted the mine quickly, and ran in there.

A woman with orange hair looked up from her work. "Hello."

"Hi, I'm Jill. You must be… Flora?"

The woman's violet eyes crinkled. "Yes. And that's Carter." She pointed to a man with unruly black hair. He kept running his hands through it, making it worse. "Carter?"

"Huh?" Carter turned around, his glasses skewed on his face. He straightened them and peered at Jill. "Who're you?" he asked gruffly.

"Jill. Nice to meet you." The teen looked at Carter with unabashed admiration. Here was someone like her, who didn't care for his appearance, only doing what he loved.

"Go ahead and start mining if you want. We got all sorts of artifacts just waiting to be found."

"Sounds wonderful, but maybe I'll do it tomorrow." Jill covered a yawn with her hand and then walked outside. To her surprise, the sun was already setting! The day had flown by.

"Let's go home, Syrup." The brunette ran towards her home, eager for the comfy bed that awaited her.