Hey! This is Dia! This chapter will be about Claire and Cristina's start at farm life and maybe a little more interaction with the residents. So please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon.
A New Life
Chapter 4
Claire's POV
I asked Saibara if he could make some kind of lock for my door, but told me he couldn't. Well I guess we're just gonna have to live with it. Cristina went to the church for her daily lessons and I just planted some seeds. "What should I do now?" I asked myself. 'Oh yeah! Zack said I can ship items other than crops and produce! So maybe there's some things in the forest.' So I decided to go to the forest and forage for things, but I'd have to pass my farm to get there.
That's when I finally noticed that something was on my tree after three days. "Hey is this a beehive?" I asked no one in particular. "I could get honey from there and use for food or put it in the shipping bin!" I got some honey and decided that I would sell it, because I needed more money.
"Okay, that's that. Now I need to look for more items!" I headed off into the direction of the forest. When I got there, I walked up a hill. On top of the hill was a waterfall, hot springs, and a cave. I saw items on the ground like herbs and these other things someone called bamboo shoots.
I chose to check out the cave later. When I finished all my gathering it was about 3:30. Cristina was coming back at 4:00. So I decided to go visit the library, I would leave when they closed.
I opened the door to the library and saw Mary writing something. "What's that Mary?" I asked. Mary jumped in surprise and suddenly turned to me. I didn't mean to scare her. "I-It's a n-novel I'm writing." She stammered. Librarian writing a book, I guess that makes sense. "Really? I love to read! Can I read it when you're done?" Mary had a look of surprise on her face, and then it turned into a smile. "Of course Claire!"
I went to the bookshelf and got a book. I saw a nearby table and sat down to read. That's when I noticed that someone was sitting next to me. 'That boy looks familiar. Oh! That's the guy at the blacksmith, Gray!' I decided to start a friendly conversation. "Hello. How are you doing?" He looked up from his book and looked to me. "I'm fine. You're the new farmer right?" Wow! He talks more than I thought! "Yeah, I'm Claire."
He just nodded his head and opened his mouth to say something but closed it. "What? Were you about to say something?" I asked, getting curious. "Well yeah, I wanted to ask you about moving to a farm, why'd you do it?" He wanted to know that? "Well, the air in the countryside is better than the city's and my sister is sickly; I also wanted to see how owning a farm was like." He thought for a moment then replied. "I have a brother who works on a farm. So if you need any advice, I could call him and he'd help." Really? Gray was a nice person; I don't know why people see him as a jerk.
"Thank you so much! I really need the help! But wait, aren't Barley and Lillia here for that?" I asked. "Oh, well I didn't think of that…" He said thinking about something. I laughed and punched him playfully in the arm. "Thanks for the offer anyway! If it's something that Barley or Lillia doesn't know then I'll ask him!
After talking for about 20 minutes, Mary came to us and told us that the library was about to close. "Well bye Mary! I might come tomorrow if I have some free time." Mary nodded her head. "Bye Mary." Gray said. "See you two later." Mary said and then closed the door.
I turned to Gray. "See you later Gray. If I come to the library tomorrow I hope I see you there so the three of us can talk and stuff." He nodded his head. "Me too, see ya." He walked off in the direction of the Inn. I waved until he was out of sight. "That reminds me of when we left Victoria(chapter 1). I should write her a letter! But I have to go pick up Cristina first!" When I got Cristina, we said goodbye to Carter and walked home. I told her about writing Victoria a letter and she happily agreed.
When we finished the letter, it turned out like this.
Dear Victoria,
Cristina and I are doing okay. Cristina is getting much healthier living in the countryside. There are many great places here and many great people. We only have a horse right now Cristina named it Star. You should come visit us sometimes.
Love,
Claire & Cristina
"Well, I'll mail this tomorrow. We should get our rest." Cristina looked at me with a questioning look. "Claire, you know those festivals? Which one is next?" I walked over to the calendar and looked at it. "The next one is Spring Thanksgiving when boys give girls cookies, in return for the Winter Thanksgiving I think." I never really cared about romance that much. As long as I'm with Cristina, I'm fine.
"Do you want to get cookies Claire?" Cristina asked. I thought for moment. "It'd be nice if I got something, but if I didn't, it wouldn't matter because these people barely know me anyway." Cristina nodded and started to get in bed. "Goodnight, Claire."
"Goodnight." I wasn't tired though. I thought about how life would be like here if we stayed forever. I think I made two friends: Gray and Mary. They're both so nice to me, even though were strangers. I think this will become our new home.
The next day I got up early. I went outside and got more honey but this time I put it in the refrigerator. I brushed Star (Saibara gave me a brush for free) and watered the plants, they were starting to grow. After I did all of that I woke Cristina up and she went off to the church. I went to the cave and saw rocks everywhere. While we were talking at the library yesterday, Gray told me that there were ores and jewels inside these rocks. I planned to use them to get more money.
I came here at 10:00 and stopped at 12:00. I didn't want to spend my whole day in here so I stopped after two hours and managed to get a few ores. I put most of them in the shipping bin and stopped by the Blacksmith's to give some to Gray and Saibara. When I got in there, Saibara said that Gray went to the library. So I gave Saibara his ores and headed off to the library.
I was so caught up in getting there so I bumped into somebody. I was falling until that person I bumped into caught me. "Are you okay?" Someone asked. They let me go and I stood up straight. "Uh, yeah sorry for that." I was so embarrassed they probably thought I was clumsy. The person was laughing. "No problem." That's when I finally decided to actually look at this mystery person and I found out it was Cliff, the guy who stays at the Inn with Gray.
"Excuse me, but I have to get to the library." I told him. "Really? I have nothing to do so can I go with you?" He asked. I didn't mind him going with me, the more the merrier right? Plus I could make a new friend. "Sure!"
When we arrived there Mary was writing her novel and Gray was at a table reading a book. I went to Gray and gave him his ores which he gratefully took. Cliff got a book and sat down next to me. Mary decided to take a break and we all talked together until it was time to go. We all said our goodbyes. Mary went inside her house, Cliff and Gray went back to the Inn and I went to go get Cristina. It was about 5:00 so I decided that we could go visit the Inn. When we went in there, I saw Ann at the counter with Doug. Ann suddenly greeted us when she saw us. "Hi Claire! Cristina!"
"Hey Ann!" we both said in unison. I got some water for me and Cristina, and we talked to Ann. "I can't wait for the Spring Thanksgiving!" I gave Ann a questioning look. "Why are you so excited? Do you like someone?" Ann's face turned red. "U-um, k-kinda."
"Oh! Who is it?" I asked with a teasing smile on my face. "W-well, u-uh--,"
"Ann! I need your help!" Doug said. And I was just about to find out too. "Claire, today at church there were two new kids learning there." Cristina told me. "Oh really we—,"
"Claire, Cristina! How are you?" Rick came to us and sat down at our table. "Did you like the spa-boiled eggs?"
"Yeah! They were great. Thanks Rick!" I said. "You're welcome. So you come here now?" he asked.
"Not that much, I just chose to visit today." I looked at my watch and saw that it was 7:00. "Sorry Rick, but we have to go. It was nice talking to you though." Rick just nodded. "Oh it's all right. It was nice talking to you too." I went up to the counter and told Ann that we were leaving. She was sad at first, but when I told her we would come back she got back to her cheery self.
Cristina and I left the Inn and went back home. On our way home, Cristina told me about the kids that only came on Thursday and that she had a crush on one of them. When we got home, Cristina went right to sleep. I wonder what's in store for us in the future. I hope Cristina will be alright.
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So that's the fourth chapter! Not one of my best, but it's okay. I'll try to do my best and get better in the future. I'm planning some big events so make sure you keep on reading! Please review! Ciao!