Chapter 3: The First Note and the Ugly Mutt

Author's Note: Not much to say this time, except that I've forgotten to say that I don't own Harvest Moon. XD This being a fanfiction, that should be blatantly obvious, but you never know.

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"...so that's what notes are." With this finish, Billy collapsed on the ground in a hard sleep.

"Okay. So I have to get a hundred of these things just to save a lawn ornament?"

"HARVEST GODDESS!" Jamie yelled at Jill from across the ranch.

"That's right! And you can have this too." Arthur handed Jill a little blue device.

"Gee, thanks! Uh... what is it?"

"It's a pedometer. It counts your steps!" Carlos explained.

"Okay. Sure. Can I go now?"

The sprites (except the sleeping Billy) shrugged. "Sure."

Jill turned to walk away. No sooner had she taken a step that there was a flash of light and a shiny rainbow blob appeared above her head. It had a note inside. Jill spun around and cried, "LUCKY!"

"Whoa! Is that my voice?" Jill coughed and patted her throat.

The Sprites looked at Jill with huge cheesy grins on their faces. "You've picked up a note!" exclaimed one of them. "This is how you get them!"

Jill ran around in circles swatting at the note. "IT'S NOT GOING AWAY!"

The words 'First Step Note' appeared in front of Jill's face. She screamed and toppled backwards, still frantically trying to push away the note. Jill rolled off of Jamie's property, becoming covered in mud as she did, the note still floating above her head.

Carlos sighed. "And I thought Jamie was terrible at this job."

Arthur agreed. "Yeah. So... what do you wanna do?"

"Um..." Carlos thought for a minute. "Hey! I know! Let's prank-call Theodore!"

"All right! Let's use Jamie's phone!"

"Yay!"

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Jill finally reached her house, slamming the door behind her and breathing a sigh of relief. She looked up - no more musical note. She was beginning to understand why Flower Bud didn't have too many people living in it...

Just then there was a knock on her door. Jill leapt up and grabbed her Iron Hammer from the tool box, her eyes flashing with rage. "Okay, stalker... show me what you've got."

She flung the door open, the hammer raised high above her head. Jill shut her eyes and got ready to bring it down...

"Good morning!"

Jill opened one eye. Standing in front of her was a cute-looking young woman with a short brown haircut and an apron. Standing beside the girl was a dog. Normally Jill would have liked the dog, but this was just about the ugliest dog she'd ever seen. It was generally dumb-looking (except for the bandanna around its neck - that was pure cuteness), with a two-sizes-too-big head and a general stupid expression.

"Hello," the girl said to her as Jill hid the hammer behind her back. "I'm Ellen and I'm from the Blue Sky Ranch!"

Suddenly Jill began to do a sort of dance. She had been trying to tell Ellen her name and where she'd come from, but her arms moved very strangely around as she explained.

"Hey! Narrator! Cool it on the details, okay? It's not my fault that I have to do this funny dance every time I explain something!"

Fine. Okay. Whatever.

"Hey, Jill," Ellen said. "This dog was born on our farm, but we don't have room for it. Could you take care of it?"

Jill nodded happily.

"Wait! No! I didn't want to nod! I'm being controlled against my will! NOOOOO!"

"Pick out a name for it, then," said Ellen cheerily.

"IT? The dog doesn't even have a gender? What kind of a messed-up world do I live in?"

Suddenly a giant keyboard appeared in front of Jill, forcing her to pick a name.

"Isn't that great, Ugly?" Ellen beamed, seeming completely unaware of the insulting name the dog had been given. "You'll be treated well!"

The dog barked happily and bounded inside the house. "Hey! No! NOT ON THE FLOOR, YOU STUPID MUTT!"

Ellen grinned. "Bye now," she said before making her way off of Jill's farm.

Jill's face twisted into a devilish expression as she opened the door to her tiny house. "Oh yes," she muttered, hands still on the hammer. "You'll be treated well all right."