I'm sorry if it seems a little messy. I might rewrite it later, but its this way for now!

Spring 3: What to do in Your Spare Time

Part 1

For some strange reason that Chase couldn't figure out, he woke up at 6 A.M on the dot. He tried to snuggle in his bed and sleep some more, but his mind wouldn't let him. He stayed awake in his bed for five minutes. Finally giving up, Chase got out of bed and almost opened his drawer when he realized that he was wearing his work clothes already. 'Oh yeah, that's right. I fell asleep right after I got home. I wonder if that's why.' He walked into the living room, but Lily didn't seem to be awake. Chase wanted to sit on the couch and wait for his sister to wake up and cook breakfast, but then he heard the cry of his cow, Remu. 'I guess I'll take care of the farm first,' he thought hesitantly. Opening the door, Chase felt the cool spring breeze embrace him. He shivered, and decided he should be constantly moving to keep warm. He ran into the barn located at the top right corner of the farm. Remu, being an old cow, was sitting in its pen, without even acknowledging Chase. While walking up to the cow, Chase took out his brush. 'Ok, just like Fred taught me.' First, Chase patted Remu, and Remu lifted its head. 'He wants to be patted more,' Chase realized. He continued patting the cow, and then began brushing its side.

"Maooo…" Remu moaned.

"Ha, ha. You like that, don't you Remu?" Chase asked the cow.

"Maooo…" the cow replied.

'This is actually kind of interesting. I think I might like to do this job.' When he was finished, Chase tried pushing Remu out of the barn and into the grassy field. But the cow sat in its spot. "Aw, c'mon Remu!" He leaned close to Remu's head. "There's some yummy grass outside! Plus, I hear you can see the other cows in Ring Farm from there!" That seemed to motivate the cow long enough for Chase to push him into the field. "There!" he shouted, closing the gate. "Now don't wander off, ok?"

"Maooo…!" Chase began walking back to the house when he saw the field right next to it.

'That's right. Kaitlyn gave me some seeds to plant. I think I should plant them.' So Chase walked near the soil of the field and took out his onion seeds from his rucksack. Noticing the squares, Chase thought that he should drop four seeds into each square. When he finished one bag, nine squares were sprinkled with onion seeds. 'Ok. Gotta water them now!' Chase walked to the other side of the house and found an old watering can in the tool box. He looked around for a water source, but none was in sight. 'How can I water my crops with no water?' He searched some more, and found a well right behind him. 'Aha! There you are!' After dipping the watering can into the well, he lifted it into the air. The weight was more than he expected, and he almost spilled the water! 'Whoa! This can is…suddenly heavy!' Taking one step at a time, he moved back to the field. Then he watered one square at a time, until all the ones with seeds in them were watered. Chase wiped his forehead and sighed. 'This can get tiring…' He put the watering can into his rucksack, which fit surprising well. Then Chase stood proudly at his handiwork. "Alright! I'm done! Farming isn't so tough!" he shouted. He checked his watch. It was 8:15 A.M. "What! Two hours passed!" Chase could've sworn that it was more like fifteen minutes. 'I guess farming feels shorter than it actually is.'

He leaned on the house and watched the sun already half-risen. 'In any case, I've got some free time now. Where should I go?' the sound of rushing water pierced his ears, and Chase remembered where he first promised to go explore. He looked for a pathway up, and sure enough, there was one that was near the barn. Chase began running up the path, but due to his earlier farm work, he didn't get very far. "This…" he said, breathless, "is tough…!" It took him 45 minutes to reach the top. And it would probably take him that long to go back down too. At the top of the hill was a clearing, filled with various berries, flowers, and wild animals. Squirrels ran by with nuts in their mouths. Some even had some herbs. Chase walked into the calm paradise, but the movement scared the animals. They hid in the trees, quietly watching Chase. "What? Where did everyone go?"

"Arf!" Chase jumped and scanned the area for the source of the sound. Coming out of the bushes, a small orange dog sneered at him. It had pointed ears and a small, busy tail. In any other case, it would appear to be quite cute. But here, it was baring its teeth at Chase, and barked at him again. "Arf!"

"Whoa! N-nice doggy…"Chase said nervously. He slowly back away from the terrifying dog.

"Arf, arf!" The dog ran after Chase.

"Ah!" Chase started running away, with the dog chasing him. They ran in a circle around a stump, over and over again. Finally, Chase jumped onto the stump, and the dog followed. "Stop following me!" Chase cried. He ran to the other side of the clearing, but the dog didn't follow. Chase took the chance and bent over to catch his breath. "Hah…hah…I'm so tired now…" They stared at each other's eyes, when finally the dog backed down and retreated back into the bushes. "Whew…" Chase turned around and continued on his journey to the cliff. Past the clearing was a river, and that river led down to the waterfall. Chase watched as the river continued down, but there didn't seem to be a way around it. He looked upstream, and found a wooden bridge elevated over the river. "That's the ticket." Chase crossed the bridge carefully, hearing creaks every so often. He gave a sigh of relief when his foot touched the other side. Then he followed the river downstream until he came to his destination: the cliff. He stood a good way away from the tip of the cliff, and looked out at the town. The only thing visible from where he stood was the other side of the lake. It sparkled in the morning sun, and a few ducks could be seen wading in the water. Curiosity got the best of Chase, and he walked up to the very tip of the cliff. From that point, Chase saw the whole town of Olfa, and all its beauty. The town was already up and about, moving left and right to do their daily chores. It was a sight to behold. Chase saw Oliver and Wendy moving boxes from the storage into the shop. They didn't seem to have any trouble at all carrying even the big boxes, about 50 pounds each. Looking further, there was Jay, fishing his troubles away, while Julie nagged him about having a nice evening with only the two of them. In the plaza, Jun was selling some apples to Fred, but Fred politely declined. Suddenly, Chase caught a glimpse of the mayor. He ran out of his house, and into the church. All in a single second. 'The mayor sure doesn't waste any time.' Up ahead was the inn, flower shop, and the photographer's house. That seemed to be the only place with no activity, which flared Chase's curiosity. Chase could even see the wood cutter's house from the cliff. It was a similar design to the mayor's house, but it was much bigger and had a chimney. Chase wanted to visit there as well, on a different time. Over at ring Farm and Quinst Mansion, two servants, a butler and a maid, were zipping back and forth from the two spots. Back in the field, Chase could make out Fred and Cali watering their fields of strawberries and other crops. 'They're more busy than I am, that's for sure.' Beyond there was just mountains, and Chase couldn't see any farther than that. 'Olfa town is a valley in the mountains, so it's given that I can only see the town from here.' Chase stood there admiring the view for ten more minutes before thinking that he should go back. So he made his way back to the bridge. This time, he was more confident that the bridge would hold him up, so he took no time to get to the middle of the bridge. But then he heard a familiar sound that made him freeze on the spot.

"Arf!" the orange dog from before barked.

"Oh no…" Chase whispered. The dog was on the bridge, and his mouth was over one of the sticks holding up the bridge. "Good doggy. Nice doggy. Don't break the bridge now…" The dog bit down hard and broke the stick. Instantly, the bridge started leaning to the right side. The dog moved over to the other stick supporting the bridge. If he broke that one, then the bridge would collapse. "Don't do it!" He commanded to the dog. "You can't just kill innocent life like that!" But it was too late. The orange dog closed its mouth, and the supports on one side were broken. The bridge lost its tension and fell to one side, dropping Chase into the river. "Ah!" he shouted as he plummeted into the water. He hit the surface hard, but he was able to put his head above the water after. The dog sneered at Chase again, but the ground underneath it began crumbling.

"Arf!" the dog barked again. The sound was the trigger, and the dog fell into the river with Chase. The dog struggled to stay afloat, and Chase could see it was drowning, fast.

'I can't let this dog die,' was his single thought. He desperately swam up the stream to where the dog was, but it was no to avail. The river was becoming faster the farther down they traveled. Suddenly, a rock caught Chase's eye, and he took hold of it. The weight of the water pushing down hit him instantly, but he held on. The dog was coming fast, giving Chase only one chance to catch him. One second passed, then another, and Chase grabbed out for the little dog. At first, he felt the flow of the water, but then the weight of the pushing hit him again. He realized that the dog was in his arms, but the added weight was too much for him to handle. 'I'll have the dog…stand on the rock. I'm sure someone will save him. As for me…' Chase didn't let his thoughts make him doubt anymore. Slowly but surely, he pulled the dog out of the water. "Just…sit. Sit on this rock, doggy. Someone will…" A splurge of water came into his mouth, and he almost choked on it. Chase coughed several times, each making his grip on the rock slip away. 'Gotta…make..it…!' The dog was nearly on the rock. Suddenly, a heavy push, almost like a fish, hit Chase, and he lost his grip. They made their quick descent down the river. 'Well…this is it!' Chase and the dog neared the end of the waterfall. But before they fell, Chase looked out at the town again. It was still as beautiful as ever, even from the waterfall. 'I've barely got to see this town. But, I guess that's life.' They both closed their eyes as they left the weight go away. Then gravity took over, and they plummeted down, towards the downpour of the waterfall.