Mineral Town was one of those few towns in which the livestock greatly outnumbered the people. Because of the small population of human life, big events and unusual happenings were few and far between. So what happened on the first of the season Spring was very unusual, indeed.

A girl. She was very plain in appearance; pale skin, navy eyes, normal height but slightly skinny. The only thing that looked really out of place was her long, pin-straight yellow hair. Of course this hair should not be such a shock to the people of Mineral Town, but it looked so unnatural paired with her fragile body.

Nobody could believe this was the new farmer. Farming was hard, long work, and this girl looked as if she would collapse as soon as she picks up so much as the watering can. Was this the girl with whom they would trust with most of the crops?
But the townspeople were kind, and it was their nature to be polite. Besides, if this was the new farmer, it would be best to stay on her good side.

oOoOo

"…and this is your house." The girl nodded and offered a small smile to a tall, thin man with a huge beak-shaped nose. "Now if you ever need help, don't hesitate to come ask," he continued. "Just ask for Harris."

She nodded. "Thank you," she told the local police officer. Her voice was quite soft and light, but there was a hint of determination in that voice. She tucked a lock of that odd yellow hair behind her left ear and gave one last smile and a tiny wave as she picked up her satchel and walked to her new house.

She looked around her property once, twice. "It's different," she mumbled to herself. "Different, but I need a change."

oOoOo

Meanwhile, Mineral Town was buzzing with excitement and filled with gossip, and most of it came from one woman.

"I heard she is mute," the woman chattered to whoever would listen. "I heard she had a terrible disease as a child and lost her ability to speak!" She clucked her tongue and shook her head. "Imagine not being able to speak! What a tragedy! How will she survive? What if she needs help, or has collapsed and can't scream for help?" She paused for a dramatic effect. "Personally I think we could have picked a better farmer. She looks as fragile as a newborn."

"No, no, that's not correct, Manna," chided another woman, this one with her golden hair up in a tight bun. "Harris told me that she said 'thank you' to him when he showed her around."

On and on it went. Finally the talking grew so loud that the mayor, a short, pudgy, fat man, had to scream and shriek to get their attention. When the gossiping voices slowed to a stop, the mayor straightened his tiny yellow tie and cleared his throat a few times. He looked around at the people expectantly. They stared expectantly back at him, waiting. Finally he spoke.

"You all are being far too chatty about it. I know it is very unusual and exciting to have a new face around here, but that does not mean we make up gossip and spout it off to anyone who you think is listening to you." A few townspeople glanced at Manna. "It is extremely rude of us to assume these awful things. I propose that we all go to her now, and introduce ourselves. It's the polite thing to do. Can you imagine how uncomfortable she is feeling right now?" A few heads bowed slightly, some in shame, some in laughter at the mayor's high-pitched voice. "So what are we waiting for?" the mayor's voice boomed, echoing across the Town Square, "Let's go be neighborly!"

As it turned out, most people were too nervous or too shy or too busy to go and say hello to the new girl. Even though it was a Sunday, the town was still busy. There was work to be done.

"We'll wait until she comes to town," one woman suggested. "She is bound to introduce herself sooner or later." Most of the town agreed.

And so, only Mayor Thomas and the shipper decided to introduce themselves to the girl. They both decided to do it the next day, leaving her the whole day today to rest. "It's for the best," they decided.

oOoOo

Early the next morning, the girl rolled over off the bed and onto the floor, landing with a loud THUMP! She awoke with a start, at first not remembering where she was. The floor was hard wood instead of the soft carpet she was used to, her head was by a nightstand that she had never seen before, the bed next to her was too small and covered with an itchy brown cover, and sunlight was streaming in a large, square window that was in the wrong spot. Then she remembered.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she stumbled around until she found her plain blue over-alls that she had ceremoniously tossed on a chair before going to sleep. She shed her sleep-shirt and tugged on a pink-and-white checkered shirt in its place, buttoning it, rolling up the sleeves, and pulling the over-alls on top of it.

She looked around for a fridge or a pantry, but finding neither, sat down at the table. To her surprise, a loaf of bread and a note was on the table in front of her. Curiously she picked up the note and read it as she ate the bread.

You can get fresh free bread and rice balls for breakfast every day until you've got a kitchen.

-Jeff, Sasha, and Karen: Supermarket staff

She blinked at the letter. Free food? Her day was off to a better start than she had expected.

Finishing up the rice ball, she slipped on and laced up her plain brown shoes and ran her hands through her hair a couple of times instead of brushing it. The hair remained straight as a pin. She hurriedly made her bed, already disliking it's placement against the east wall. Then she stepped outside.

"Gooood morning!" The pudgy mayor looked too cheerful for six A.M. "My name is Thomas, and I am the mayor of this beautiful village!"

The girl rubbed the sleep from her eyes, not sure how to react. The mayor assumed she was too overcome with happiness.

"Now, now," he chided, "getting all emotional won't help you with the farm work! Speaking of, that is why I came here this morning: to tell you eh-ver-ee-thing—" he annunciated every syllable of the word 'everything'—"you'll ever need to know about farming. Not that I know too much. . ." he muttered under his breath.

She just smiled lightly, politely.

"So," he began again, "this town really is quite small, although it might seem intimidating at first. Everyone is so kind—" when he said word 'so' sounded like he had been punched—"and we all live in close proximity. It's all friendly here!" He paused to smile.

She just stared.

Mayor Thomas gabbed on as though he had not seen her. "You'll get used to everything soon. I'm sure it's a bit different than what you are used to. . ." Here he pointedly observed her abnormally thin body and wondered if she was anorexic. "Anyway," he rushed on, "just go north and turn east and there's the Poultry Farm, where you'll . . . well, buy your poultry. Lillia, Rick, and Popuri live there, and they can help you. Now," he concluded, "is there anything else you'd like to know?"

And the girl just shook her head. "No, thank you."

The mayor gave her a kind smile and, with that, walked away.

"Phew," muttered the girl to herself. "Peace and quiet." But just as she was about to walk away, a tall, stocky man marched up to her, his tanned arms swinging. He reminded the girl of a bodybuilder, so she was shocked that he didn't act like one. He even had a good vocabulary and an accent that thankfully was not surfer-ish at all.

"Hello," he boomed. Of course his voice was loud. "My name is Zack, and I'm the one who pays you." Seeing the girl's confused face, he slowed his speech down a tad. "But then, you don't know what I'm talking about. Whenever you want to sell something, either that you have grown or found, you put it. . ." he walked over to a small, rectangular box looking very much like a fat, doorless mailbox, "here. We call this the shipment box. Every day at 5 P.M. sharp, I come and take all that is in here. Of course, in return I pay you," he said with a smile. "Anything you put in the box after 5 I will pick up the next day. Now. . . Some things you can sell you will have to work very hard for," he told her, his voice serious. "And you will get tired easily. Of course, it's nothing to worry about. . . unless your face turns blue."

At this the girl stood, not sure whether to giggle or stare. She did an odd combination of the two, which resulted in her sounding like a strangled animal. Zack the Shipper took this to be shock.

"Oh, no, please don't worry," he told her in what he thought was a reassuring voice. Just," and here his features contorted into a gruesome face, "DO NOT TURN BLUE!" Seemingly calmer now, he straightened his face up and looked down at her. "Other than that, you'll be just fine."

And he walked away, leaving the girl standing agape.