I deleted Skipping Across the Stones because I couldn't think of anything for it, but I'll repost it when I think of something :) I have a new story idea and the first chapter written, but I'm waiting to post it until Ruins is finished. As usual, it's VaughnXChelsea. It's called "Today Was a Fairytale". If you want more detail, go to my profile and look under the section marked "Upcoming Stories".

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.

Telling the Truth

I wasn't surprised to wake up and find myself in a hospital room. It seemed I was ending up here a lot lately... It must have been late in the day, because the sun was casting the room in a beautiful shade of gold.

There was no one else in the room. I was all alone. I wondered how I had gotten here... I was probably carried onto a boat or something that brought me to the city.

I looked around and found the nurse button again. I pressed it, and a voice started talking through the speaker again.

"Ah, so you're awake again." It said. It was the same nurse as last time. "I'll be right there with the doctor..." she hung up whatever she talked into.

I lay in bed waiting for her and the doctor. A few minutes later, they walked through the door again. They did NOT look happy.

"Chelsea, why did you leave the hospital?" the doctor asked.

I looked down at the blanket and began running my finger along the pattern.

"Chelsea, answer me."

I continued to trace the blanket pattern. "Um..." I muttered. "I went to find Vaughn..."

"So, you left after you JUST woke up from a COMA to go find someone who's DEAD?" the doctor asked through gritted teeth.

"He's not dead!" I said.

"How do you know?" the nurse asked.

"Because I found him," I said matter-of-factly. "He's alive and well, thank you very much."

The nurse glared at me angrily, and then turned to the doctor.

He sighed. "It was very dangerous for you to leave," he said. "You're not fit enough."

"I know," I murmured. "I won't do it again, I promise."

"Good," the doctor said. "But just to make sure, there will be someone outside your door at all times."

I was about to say something about the window, but decided not to.

"Ok," I muttered.

He gave me a check-up to make sure I was ok and then he and the nurse left. I was all alone.

It was getting late, and I was extremely tired. I rested my head against the soft pillow and fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was early morning. The sun was just rising above the horizon. It was still a little dark in the room, but I could see.

I looked around the room some more. The walls and ceiling were white, with a rough-looking blue carpet. Three chairs were lines against the wall for visitors, and there was another by the bed. A small table was beside the chair, and a vase of flowers was resting on it. A whole bunch of medical equipment filled the room, and a TV hung from the ceiling.

I reached up and pulled the TV down. Switching it on, I saw the News was on.

"Exactly two years ago today, a house collapsed on two young women who lived on Sunny Island, a small remote island in the middle of the ocean." The anchorwoman said to the camera. I sat up straighter. They were talking about the house collapse?

"Both women fell into a coma," she continued. "Local residents struggled to put out the fire that had started and save the women. One, Julia Wilkens, was left in critical state, having been buried beneath the rubble."

I stared in awe at the TV. We had been on the news? Cool! Maybe not the way I wanted to be on the news, but still, cool!

"Three days ago, Julia Wilkens woke up from her two-year coma." The woman said. "But the other, Chelsea Smith, remains unconscious."

Wait, what? I was awake! If I was in a coma, I wouldn't be watching the news!

Suddenly, someone rushed onscreen with a little piece of paper. The anchor woman nodded, and looked back at the screen.

"Ok," she said, reading the card. "It seems that just last night, Chelsea Smith woke up from her coma!" she continued reading the card. "It seems she began saying that a young man was also in the collapse, and then ran off to the island the next morning!"

Ok, freaky. How did they know I had left? Did the hospital call them? I did NOT appreciate them telling the whole city that I had run off in an attempt to find someone who was supposedly dead.

I think someone began talking to her through a small earpiece she was wearing because she pressed her hand to her ear.

"Ok," she said, and then hung up or something. "We're going to go live to the City Hospital, where both Ms. Wilkens and Ms. Smith are staying."

A small square appeared in the corner of the screen, and then enlarged. It showed an anchorman holding a microphone. He was standing in Julia's room. Well this was interesting. I was watching what was going on in the next room on the News.

"So, do you remember what exactly happened two years ago?" the man asked Julia, who was lying in bed.

"Sort of," Julia said into the microphone. "My friend, Chelsea Smith, came over to my house saying she had found my aunt's old house. I don't really remember what happened after that, but we ended up in the house and it just collapsed."

"Do you believe Ms. Smith's impression that a young man was also in the house when it collapsed?" he asked her.

"Well, the man is actually my cousin, Vaughn. It was his mother's house that collapsed," Julia said. "I don't believe he was in the collapse, because he works in the city for most of the week, so he would be at his job when it collapsed. But strange thing is, Vaughn never came back to the island. Most of us think he's... dead."

The man nodded. "Interesting. Now, what do you think caused the house to collapse?"

"Well," Julia started. "It was a very old house. It had been empty for years. She moved out after she met my uncle. I think it was just age that caused it to collapse."

"What did your aunt say about the house collapsing?" the man asked.

Julia got really quiet. "Um... you see, my aunt's dead," she said softly. "She died in a car crash along with my uncle and cousin, Jonathon, leaving Vaughn all alone. He came to live with us."

"Oh," the man said. "I'm terribly sorry. Thank you for your time, Ms. Wilkens."

"You're welcome," Julia said, and the man left.

Once he was out in the hallway, the man started speaking again. "Now we're going in to visit Ms. Smith,"

I jammed my finger against the power button on the TV and pushed it away.

The door opened, and in walked the man, a camera guy, a lighting guy, and a boom operator. The doctor and nurse were with them also. The doctor came over and began talking to me, saying that this nice young man was with the news channel and was here to interview me.

"Here we are in the room of the lovely Ms. Chelsea Smith," the anchor man said, and walked over to my bedside. He was followed by the team of men who accompanied him.

"Hello, Ms. Smith," he said, flashing me a huge smile.

"Hi," I said quietly.

"So, I hear you recently woke up from your coma," he said, still smiling.

"Yesterday," I told him.

He nodded. "And you also believe that a young man, Vaughn, was also involved in the collapse," he said. "Even though his cousin said he was in the city at the time and is now, most likely, dead."

"He's not dead," I said sternly. "I left the hospital on my two nights ago to find him. I just knew he had been in the house when it collapsed. But when I returned to the island, the house had been cleared away and a new one built. A few minutes later, I found myself in the jungle, trapped in a net."

The man looked at the camera and raised an eyebrow, as if saying I was crazy.

"It's true!" I said. "Then, I found out that Vaughn was living with the natives who live on the island. One of them, Shea, had found him buried beneath the rubble and tooken him home, where Vaughn started to live with them. He was there for two years before I found him. Everyone thought he was dead since he hadn't returned from the city. I'm surprised nobody found him before me."

The man stared at me. "So you're saying that his young man, Vaughn, had been trapped under the ruins of the collapsed house, and was found by NATIVES who took him in?"

I nodded. "I convinced him to leave the jungle and go back to his old life," I said. "A resident of the island, Lanna, saw us and went screaming to Vaughn's aunt and Julia's mother, Mirabelle. Vaughn and I followed her and ended up at Mirabelle's Animal Shop, where I eventually passed out. When I woke up, I was back here in the hospital."

The man continued to stare at me. "Where is this man, Vaughn, now?" he asked.

"He's most likely at home, where he belongs." I said.

"Well, no one can really believe he's alive until we actually see him," the man said.

"Fine," I said. "I'll get him to come, because he really truly is alive."

"Ok then," the man said. "I'll be back in a week, and I hope Vaughn will be there to join us."

"He will," I said, and the man and his crew left.

Me: Hello, and welcome to Ruins Talk Show! Apparently, ~ told his friend ^ about this show and ^ came over to be on it.

^: ^^^^^!

Me: So, ^, do you like the story?

^: ^^^, ^^^^ ^^^^.

Me: Cool. So ~ told you about this show?

^: ^^^!

Me: What exactly did ~ say?

^: ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^.

Me: Nice. Will you tell any of your friends about it?

^: ^^ ^^^^^^! ^'^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ % ^^^ #.

Me: Hear that, reader? You can expect % or # as quests in the future!

^: ^^^!

Me: That's all our time for now! Bye! And don't forget to review!