It took her most of the afternoon to plant the seeds she had just gotten, and after planting them she had to water them to get a good start on them growing. The entire time she was planting the name John always popped up in her mind as if he was some kind of curse.

"He's not going to show up, of course not." She reassured herself when she finished watering the last plant, she looked at her watch and noticed it was already five o'clock in the afternoon. She quickly put up her hoe and watering can in her tool box and walked outside to greet Zack.

"Do you have anything for me today, Claire?" He asked in a friendly voice, she shook her head in disappointment, but he had an understanding expression as he walked to her instead of to her bin. "Its your first week here, its going to take some time before you get some good produce in. I see that you've already started planting, that's good." He looked at all her hard work and congratulated her on it. She was glowing in pride by the time he left and the clock struck six.

There was one thing she never will understand about Mineral Town, and it's that night comes too fast. It's as if as soon as the clock hits six it's as dark as midnight and as silent too. She shivered from the cold and decided it was about time for her to turn in and get some well earned sleep. She didn't want to wake up late like this morning, she had to put her act together if she was going to be a good farmer.

hr

The morning was shining through her only window when she awoke at exactly six o'clock that morning. She smiled with pride when she looked at the time and instantly grabbed her watering can to water her turnips first thing in the morning. Speed was waiting for her outside when she stepped out and she went to pet him before he ran off once again to god knows where.

"First I'll water the plants, then I'll talk with people in town some more." She concluded to herself as she filled up her watering can and went to her field. It didn't take much time watering the plants and she was done in half an hour.

Before going in town she took a break by the tree close to the pond where she got her water; Zack told her that the tree was a good one to keep since it was an apple tree which could give her apples in the fall. She loved apples so she decided to keep the tree around and water it as well along with her plants. Speed stopped by to rest beside her before running off into the field once more. It was then that she decided to head into town before it became too late and everyone was busy.

Her destination: The Inn.

Shes never really been to an inn before, when she lived in the city all she could afford was a cheap dirty apartment as she worked half-time at some store. Now inns were different from hotels or motels, or at least in her opinion. Inns had a nicer atmosphere to them in her opinion, it was like a home away from home and not some random place you stay for the night. The people are usually nice and polite along with delicious cooking; usually owned by a family business.

Claire pondered on these thoughts as she walked into town, the countryside way, to the only Inn in town. She faintly wondered why there was an inn when no one really came to visit Mineral Town, and everyone living here should have a place to stay.

As she walked through Rose Square she noticed Gray looking at the Bulletin Board before turning away and walking in her direction. She tried to slip and hide from his view, but he spotted her before she could even try. "Hey!" He called out, his shy demeanor seemed exactly the same as before.

"Hey." Claire responded walking up to him and stopping in front of him. "Off to the blacksmith's?" She asked knowing he'd go there since he worked there.

"Yeah, grandpa always wants me over there so I can learn how to be a blacksmith when I plan on getting a career." He commented, sighing at the fact that he had to go into the family business when all he wanted to do was go back to the city; the one place where Claire wanted to escape from.

"At least you have something planned, I have no clue ' what I'm going to do." Claire chuckled, scratching the back of her head nervously. She liked the farm and all, but did she really want to be a farmer for the rest of her life?

"I guess..." He trailed off, looking at the time on his watch. "I better get going before I'm late. It was nice talking to you." He stated walking around her and heading in the direction she was just from.

She stood there for a moment thinking about the time and how Gray was in this exact spot two days before. "He must not live with his grandpa." She finally concluded moving on to head to the inn. She was anxious to meet the people who ran the place.

The walk wasn't long at all before she stopped in front of the inn doors. The sign next to it said it was open every day from 8 A.M. to 9 P.M. Closed on holidays.

"Here goes." She said with a goofy grin on her face as she opened one of the two doors to the Inn. The atmosphere was exactly how she expected; it felt like a home away from home. There were tables spread equally around the room with chairs at every single one of them, most were empty, but some residents from the town were sitting down and talking to each other. A girl with orange hair in a braid instantly ran towards the door when Claire fully walked in and closed the door. She looked happy and friendly, but definitely overly excited to see a new person in her inn.

"Hi!" She greeted, "I'm Ann!" Her voice was a bit high pitched, but only from the excitement in her voice. Claire could instantly tell that Ann was a very hyper person to be around.

"Hey," Claire responded attempting to sound just as excited, but failed in the process. "I'm new around here, my name is Claire."

"New? Do you need a place to stay because we're all out of rooms here." Ann replied instantly with a depressed look on her face. Claire looked completely confused that people actually stayed there.

"Oh no, I run the farm out in the country, I'm walking around to make sure I meet everyone." She answered feeling awkward from the look Ann was giving her. Ann seemed confused in her own way.

"I thought the owner of the farm was going to be a boy?" Ann asked, but shaking off her confused manner and replaced it with a smile. "Oh well, nice to meet you and welcome to Mineral Town!" She grabbed Claire's hand and shook it rapidly before letting go and showing her around the cozy Inn. Claire then found out there were only two rooms in the Inn and they were owned by Cliff and Gray, the two boys she had already met.

'I knew he didn't live with his Grandpa, but to be living in an inn no wonder why he wants to go back to the city, to be back in a normal house.' Claire thought to herself and continued to follow Ann as she showed her everything in the Inn and even allowed her to sample some of their delicious food from her father Doug.

"This place is wonderful, I love it!" Claire concluded after the free lunch she was served and noticed the time was already one! "I better go! I have a farm I need to be looking after." She sighed and slipped out of the Inn before they wanted her to stay longer. She decided she would go back to her farm to make sure everything was in order before looking elsewhere.

As she was walking back to the countryside she could not help but hear a little girl crying coming from the Yodel Farm. Claire stopped in her tracks and walked in to see if she could help the poor girl stop crying. From the looks of the scene she was crying over a pony and her grandfather was attempting to stop her crying.

"We just can't keep him, May." The old man stated with a sigh, looking at the pony and back at the girl. "We have too many cows and horses to be taking another one in. We just need to find a place for him to stay for a year as we fix this place up."

"I don't want him to leave us!" May cried out, not liking what her grandfather was saying at all. She walked closer to the pony and hugged him tightly.

"Excuse me, is there any way I can help?" Claire asked awkwardly, walking forward towards the two residents of the farm. "I always hate to see little girls crying."

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, but who exactly are you?" The old man asked as May ran up to her and hugged her tightly.

"Take care of him take care of him, take care of him!" She chanted, hugging tighter and tighter.

"I'm Claire, I run the farm down the road, the Harvest Farm. I'm new, but I'm really trying to make this farm work." Claire introduced herself and bowed slightly. She then started patting May on the head, "I'm not sure if I can take care of a pony yet though."

"You're perfect, a newly born horse along with a newly starting farmer. Why not try to take care of this little guy, we don't have room for him and we're going through some money problems at the moment. It would be amazing if you can take him in." The old man stated, looking really concerned for his granddaughter. "I'm Barley, the owner of the Yodel Farm."

"Pleaseeee, pretty pleaseeee!" May whined in a cute manner and almost started crying again.

"Oh alright, I couldn't possibly say no to that face." Claire replied, smiling towards May and May smiled back with the cutest expression on her face.

"Thank you so much!" May shouted not able to contain her excitement. "Now you just need to give him an awesome name and we'll take him over to your stable."

"You two are very kind, I'll take good care of him." Claire said and attempted to think of a name for her new pony. Her dog's name was Speed so maybe she could keep up with a theme for her farm animals. "His name shall be Runner."

"Such a cute name!" May squealed and pranced around with a smile on her face. "I can't wait to hang out with you big sister!"

"Big sister?" Claire asked herself before she practically squealed. "I've never had a little sister before, you're the best!"

Barley laughed and smiled at the two girls' excitement and decided to use this time to walk Runner to her farm before it gets too late. "May, dear can you explain to Claire the things she needs to know on how to take care of Runner?"

"Sure thing grandpa!" May responded and saluted to him as he walked by them with Runner following closely afterwards. "First of all talk to the pony, he loves to be talked to and definitely brushed a lot, every day! Second keep him out of the rain and safely in the stable when its not sunny, and thirdly make sure to have him outside when it is sunny so he can be happy and carefree." May explained in her normal excited little voice. Claire giggled at her excitement and even felt happier to have taken the horse in her care.

"Where can I find a brush?" Claire asked to make sure she could follow all the instructions well and not mess up.

"The Black smith shop." May replied simply and smiled. "For 800G not too expensive, right? I would help but we're really low on money, also if you want to buy a sheep or cow we sell them here."

"You are a helpful little girl, May." Claire commented with a matching smile. "We're going to be great friends while I live here."

"And I can already tell you're going to like Gray." May grinned childishly and turned away to run towards her grandfather who had just got back from putting her new horse in her stables.

"Huh?" Claire blushed and looked at the fleeting little girl. "Do I?" She asked herself and excused herself from the Yodel Farm to head back to her farm before it got too late.