Italics - Claire's thoughts
Claire strolled through the now familiar path that connected the whole of Mineral Town and walked into the first building on the right of the library. It was small and clearly not for business.
The house was cosy and had two beds residing at the right of the room. An old woman sat in the middle, rocking back and forth.
"Hello?" Claire smiled, before gasping in shock at the woman before her. "I-I'm sorry! I don't mean to disturb you!"
The old woman laughed softly, rocking peacefully back and forth in her chair. She gestured for Claire to come and talk to her, so Claire did as she was told, closing the door behind her with a light bang.
"Don't worry about it, dear. I'm happy that you decided to come and see me, although I don't think I've seen you before. Maybe I have, my old noggin isn't what it used to be." She croaked, her voice rough and seemingly sore.
"Ah, no you haven't met me ma'am. I've actually just moved here. To the farm, just south from here."
The elderly woman's face lit up, rocking at a slightly faster pace than before.
"Really? It's always nice to see youth around the town. My name's Ellen. I live here with my grandchildren, Elli and Stu."
Claire remembered Ann saying something about Elli but she couldn't think what.
"I see. It was nice meeting you, Ellen, but I'm, um, afraid I need to go and meet the rest of the village. Would it be okay if I…" Claire pointed towards the door, hinting that she needed to leave. Ellen nodded.
"Of course, dear. Be sure to stop by every once in a while. Oh, and…" She stopped rocking completely and smiled sadly. "Please can you make friends with Elli and Stu? I think they'd love to know you. They don't have many friends, mainly because Stu's too young and Elli gets too caught up in a work. I'd be happy to see them socialize with other people every once in a while."
Claire assured her she would and walked outside to the next building, which looked very similar. She went inside, revealing Thomas and a younger man.
"Hello Claire. I assume you must be meeting the townsfolk, hm?" Thomas raised an eyebrow. Claire nodded.
"Yeah, they're all so… lovely. In the city, nobody bothered to introduce themselves and I didn't have that many friends…" She sighed, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "But here, everyone knows everyone. It's so nice."
Thomas grinned cheerfully, his face lighting up.
"You think so? Mineral Town has never gotten many compliments, so you've really made my day. Thank you, Claire."
Claire didn't say anything, awkwardly smiling at the still beaming man.
"Well," He spoke, "I'll let you carry on meeting everyone. I'm guessing you have the supermarket, the clinic and the church left to visit? They're the last places on this side of town."
Claire nodded again.
"Well, I'll be seeing you Claire."
"Goodbye, and thank you Thomas."
The blonde girl left Thomas' and house and walked right, to be greeted by a large building. An old, wooden sign saying 'Supermarket' was plastered next to the store. Claire walked inside.
"Welcome." Announced a blonde girl, in a monotone voice. She stared at Claire in confusion. "I've never seen you around here. Are you a tourist?"
Claire shook her head nervously.
'She's so pretty. Pretty girls are the most judgemental. Oh Goddess, I haven't spoken yet, I bet she thinks I'm weird and she'll spread stuff about me and…'
"Hello?" The girl said again. Claire snapped out of her thoughts.
"Ah, n-no. My name's Claire. I actually, um, moved into the farm. I'm working there… I guess I'll be coming here a lot…" Claire stuttered, dreading coming back to the shop again.
"Oh, I've heard about you. My name's Karen. If you just started, then you must need a lot of things, right?" She asked.
'Is this a rhetorical question? In the last book I read the girl answered the rhetorical question and then she died… Hold on, if I answer this will she kill my social status?
Claire mentally kicked herself. She knew she was over thinking things, but she was being ridiculous. Just because she was pretty didn't mean she was bitchy. Claire was being silly.
"I… could use some help. I'm afraid I don't have much money right now." Claire laughed quietly. Karen placed her hand on her chin, before letting out a big gasp.
"Just wait one moment." She smiled, walking up to the counter, where a man and a woman were stood, observing Karen's actions.
"Dad," She began, leaning on the counter. "Can we give her one of our seeds? Pretty please?" She batted her eyelashes and stuck out her bottom lip.
"Oh, come on!" The man groaned. Karen closed her eyes with impatience, before opening them again and placing her hand on her hip, a scowl firmly placed on her lips.
"What ever happened to kindness to strangers?!"
The man winced, but the woman beside him placed her hand on his shoulder, comforting him.
"Why don't you show her some hospitality, Jeff, please…?" She asked. The man looked at the woman, then back at Karen. He hesitated, but nodded slowly.
"…Okay."
Karen clapped her hands, thanking her father.
"See?" The woman laughed. "There is a reason why I married you!"
"Here you are." Karen handed Claire a bag of grass seeds. "These are on the house. Don't mention it. It takes a lot of work to start up a farm, I'm rooting for you. Oh, and those two people are my mom and dad, Jeff and Sasha."
Claire couldn't stop smiling.
"Thank you, Karen. I'll be sure to stop by again." Claire shyly said. Karen laughed and pulled Claire in for an unexpected hug.
"No problem. Her, promise me you will come back? I don't mean for the store, I mean for me!" Karen smiled, adjusting her jacket. "I don't have many friends, and you seem really cool. I don't get along with most of the other girls; it'd be awesome to actually get to know someone for once."
"S-Sure. I'd like that too." Claire replied, overwhelmed by Karen's affection. "I, um, have to go now but I'll see you tomorrow? Oh, and one more thing…" Claire walked over to the table of seeds in the middle of the store, eyeing each packet.
'Usually… the most expensive seeds sell for the most…' She thought, picking up the cucumber seeds. She studied the packet carefully, before putting them back down.
'However, these regrow and take quite a long time to grow, I need quick money fast.'
Claire glanced at the table again, picking up a pure white bag of turnip seeds. She put them down after reading their description.
'These take the least amount of time but… they cost the least. If I think about this logically, that means they sell for the least.'
She picked up a light brown bag containing potato seeds, with a price in the middle of the other two seeds.
'This better be a good decision.'
"I'll take three bags of potato seeds, please." Claire placed the bags she'd picked up over to the counter where Jeff and Sasha were stood.
"Sure. That'll be 450G please." Jeff answered. Claire slowly handed him the money, suddenly regretting her decision as she was left with 50G to get her through the day.
She waved goodbye to Karen and inched towards the clinic, slightly worried. She'd always been in and out of hospital as a child and the white corridors and horrific smell still haunted her.
She walked inside the modern building cautiously; the familiar medicinal stench made her want to pinch her nostrils in disgust, although the scent wasn't as strong in here as it was in her local hospital.
She walked towards a desk where a man in a white coat was sat, sorting papers warily as to not mix up files. Claire cleared her throat and he looked up, a serious gaze meeting hers.
"Huh? I haven't seen you yet, have I?"
"No, um, my name's Claire…" She shifted from one foot to the other, feeling uncomfortable as his black eyes stared at her, no emotion present on his face.
"Well, are you new to this town?" He asks immediately, as if he knew exactly what he was going to say.
"Well, I guess, uh…"
The man clearly understood that she was uncomfortable and decided to lead the conversation himself.
"Oh, you're the one who's taken over that farm. I heard about you from my patients."
Claire laughed awkwardly, not sure whether to be happy or scared that she was the talk of the town.
"I'm Doctor, and as you can tell, I'm a doctor." He looked back down, organizing is files again.
'Is he serious? His parents must have been set on his career…' Claire thought, trying not to let her expression give away what she was thinking.
"Before you ask, yes, that is my real name." He stated, not looking up.
'Poor guy…'
"Anyway, come to see me anytime you're feeling unwell." He looked back up, placing the papers down gently on his desk. "Everyone in this town is pretty healthy. There are many unhealthy people in the city, you know. It must be the nature."
"Y-Yeah. I come from the city; I had to visit the hospital every few weeks. I've had so much medicine I'm surprised it's not running through my bloodstream." She giggled. Doctor's face lit up with the talk of medicine, and he began talking enthusiastically.
"I'm studying every day. There is no end to the world of medicine. So many challenges. How about you? Farming must be hard. You're a female too, take care of yourself. Elli and I are here for you if you have any problems."
Claire knew that his intentions were good, but the sexist comment made her anxiety tone down and her attitude rise.
"Excuse me, but I can handle a farm just as well as a boy could. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm any weaker than you." She hissed, folding her arms.
"Really? Well if you're so strong, why don't you test out this medicine? It's a special tonic I got from another town. You can energize and recover fatigue at the same time." He smirked. "It's not as effective as the medicine I got here, so I don't sell it, but… I made some improvements, so it should work. It's bitter, though."
He pulled out a rich blue liquid and let Claire take a good look at it. Of course she wanted to prove a point, but… it looked so vile, so sickly. All in all, it looked disgusting.
"O…Okay." She whimpered, reluctantly holding out her hand.
Doctor's face lit up once more. He had a faint look of shock on his face, but quickly handed the drink over.
"Right! I knew you'd try it. Go ahead, bottoms up."
The fluid was thick and as it swished the blue stained the sides of the glass. It looked revolting, and had a slight slushy texture to it. Although Claire was near throwing up just looking at it, she gulped it down without a second thought.
"B-Bad…" Claire whined, breathing heavily. She held her stomach and groaned. Although she felt kind of ill, she had to admit she felt pretty alive.
"It wasn't good?" Doctor questioned. Claire shook her head, pointing to her stomach. "But it worked, right?"
"I-I guess… I do feel pretty good but pretty bad at the same time, if you get me."
"Oh really? Well, how about one more!"
Claire frowned, already feeling rather sick.
"I'll… pass." She squeaked, remembering the horrific taste of the drink. Doctor laughed slightly, before resuming his usual expression.
"I'm kidding. Don't rely on medicine, okay?"
"Sure."
The room was silent for a moment, until Claire's stomach made on odd gurgling noise.
"That doesn't sound good." Doctor mumbled, pulling out a notepad. He scribbled on it and ripped it out, handing it to Claire. "Here, give this to Elli. It'll get you some Bodigizer. For free, of course. It's my fault, obviously."
Claire nodded, putting the piece of paper in her overall pocket. She turned to head out, but Doctor stopped her.
"It was fun to talk to you today, Claire."
Claire didn't know what to say. She smiled, and Doctor went back to his work.
She walked to the front desk, where a young girl was stood. She wore a blue dress with a yellow ribbon and a white apron. As Claire approached the girl, a small boy ran in front of her.
"I want to show you something nice, Elli!" He gabbled, a grin stuck on his face.
"What is it?" Elli asked.
"Here!" The boy smiled. Elli held out her hand, but instead was greeted by a large bug. She screamed and flung it on the floor, watching as it scuttled away.
"Stu! Don't play tricks on me like that."
"Don't get so mad, Elli. You don't want to get grey hair, do you?" Stu giggled.
"What?!"
Claire decided to stop the argument and walked in a bit more so Elli would notice her. As she stopped, Stu ran behind her and hid.
"Hey, where are you going?!" Elli shouted, until she realised Claire was stood there. "Hello. You're not from around here, are you?"
Claire shook her head.
"No. Um, my name's Claire. Nice to meet you." Claire nervously smiled, trying to distract Elli from Stu, who was still crouched behind her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You must be the new girl at the farm, right?"
Claire nodded.
"I've heard rumours about you! My name's Elli. I work here. By the way…"
She placed her hand on her hip, peering at Stu, who was sticking out enough for Elli to see.
"…Do you realise there's someone hiding behind you?"
Stu suddenly sprung out and charged at her.
"Don't get so mad Elli!"
She sighed, folding her arms.
"You're so much trouble! What shall I do with you?"
Claire chuckled. She'd always wished for such sibling rivalry, being an only child. She'd always been jealous of the kids who would argue with each other; mainly because her family were the only people she could communicate well with. She wasn't good at making friends, and usually sat alone.
"All I did was show you a bug." Stu whined. He huffed and turned away from Elli.
"Don't you know I hate bugs?"
"I thought you'd like that one."
Claire groaned. Little kids always had excuses.
"Don't play games with me, Stu."
Stu turned to Claire, looking up at her with puppy dog eyes.
"You understand me, right Claire? You're still young at heart."
'…Is he calling me old?'
"Uh… not really."
Stu's lip started to quiver, and his eyes filled with tears.
"…Waahhhh!" He wailed, flailing his arms around as he ran out of the clinic. Claire started to get worried. She'd never made a child cry before, especially in front of a relative.
"Don't worry about him, he's just not used to being scolded by other people." Elli reassured her. "Maybe now he'll stop playing so many pranks on me!"
"Having a little brother must be so interesting… You're lucky." Claire pined, wishing silently for a sibling of her own. "Hey, uh, I have to go. I'll be seeing you around, I guess…? Oh, and here." Claire handed her the paper that Doctor had given her.
Elli nodded.
"Of course. See you, Claire, and take this. The bodigizer you needed." She handed her the fluid and returned back to the counter. Claire quickly drank the medicine and instantly felt better.
With that, Claire left the building, feeling happier than ever. She finally felt like she'd made some real friends.
omfg update.
So hi. I'm back.
I'm sosososososososososososo sorry about the long wait. I've had a pretty rough time lately, and I'm not as happy as I was when I last updated .-.
But anyway, I'm here now so idk.
Thank you to Le Redhead Merchant andAnonymousgirl88 for following and reviewing, ily ^3^
And thank you to wildivy and Saint-Brooke-Lynn for following and Bataratacat for following and favouriting, ily2
and lmao, Claire will meet Cliff in the next chapter, yay
-long chapter is long-
so yh
review? Okay thanks.
-Cherry xx