This entry followed something odd today but however, more than that later. When I woke up, a hearty knock thumped against my door. As I prised it open, rubbing one sleepy eye and a yawn, there was Marnie, the local Ranch owner who lived in Cindersap Forest, just south of Dustfield.

"Oh… M-Morning Marnie." I yawned.

"Gid Mornin' to you too, Robbie dear. How was your first week here in the Valley?" She asked.

"Not bad… I had a good start with the farm… what can I do for you?"

"Well, I came here because I found something… or someone, I'd like ya to meet." She hummed and moved aside to let me see the most peculiar thing to perch on my porch.

ARF!

"A dog?" I quizzed.

"I saw it wandering around your farm and I thought that I might bring it to your attention since it seems fond of exploring them land of yours. Though, since ya didn't bring anyone with you… I s'pose you can do with some company. Isn't that right, pet?" Marnie explained as she looked to the canine as it whined and tilted its head.

ARF! ARF!

"Huh… well I haven't considered owning a pet in my life." I spoke, rubbing my head in uncertainty.

"I believe that you should adopt it and give it a home here. It'd make your life on the farm ever more wonderful if you do.

Will you?" She asked.

I haven't really ever had an animal companion ever since I was born in Hummingbird but seeing how it was small and greyish, blinking its brows at me. This farm could do with some more life around here.

"Alright, welcome to the farm uh….

Mhmmm… ah!

Welcome to the farm… Pippin."

The dog barked in joy, seemingly able to understand the fact that it had actually just been accepted into my home.

"Well, ain't that sweet. You take good care of our new neighbour now, Pippin." She smiled and began to make her leave… only to stop to speak to me once more.

"Yer farm doesn't have to tend to vegtables and fruit, my dear. If you get Robin to build ya a Coop, or a Barn, you can buy some animals from me and have some animal products to sell. A lotta people would love to have a local source of eggs for their bakin' and you look the type who'd look after them.

Well, I better head on back to the Ranch to look to me girls back home. Goodbye, darlin'." She smiled and left me with the canine, who stretched and looked at me warmly.

"Well, I better go and tend to my crops, then go visit Pelican Town. Ya stay here till I get back." I spoke to the dog, who barked in response.

Though this day was about to get interesting.

As I ventured into town, this morning, I saw Lewis walking up the steps to the upper part and I followed him. There, he was standing in front of this depilated, run-down building, and sighed as I approached.

"A shame… to leave it like this…"

"Mornin' mayor, what's up?" I asked.

He glanced to me and looked back at the ruins.

"Mornin' Robbie. I suppose you want to know what I'm looking at."

Now, I have passed this a few times, but I never paid much attention to it, but now that I had a good look, it became more obvious that something went wrong.

"This was… or used to be, the town's Community Center. It was once the hive of our town. People used to come in and work the community kitchen, host readin' groups and the likes but, ever since Joja came to town… everyone just ignored it.

With people remainin' at home, watching tv and whatnot, the town forgot about it. Now… look at it… what an eyesore."

I frowned as he spoke. It reminded me too of the former farmhouse back home before it got crushed. Our family legacy run down by debt and ruin.

"Here, let's go inside…" Lewis spoke and walked up to the rusted old doors and unlocked it. He tried pushing the doors aside but he seemed to show a bit of difficulty.

"Ugh, the doors haven't been opened for a while. Do me a favour and help me." He asked and I gingerly walked up to help shove the wiltered doors aside and went in.

The interior didn't look as healthy neither; Parts of the windows have shattered, plants have started to seep in, portions of the wood have been jutted aside and much of the furniture have either been packed into boxes or covered in web. The place hasn't seen life for decades and the proof showed it.

"Ha… this reminds me of the good ol' days… but now that's all gone, Joja has been hounding me to sell it. A lotta people have been signing up on their membership plan to grant them discounts on their shopping in the JojaMart. As much as I'd love to see it sold… but something kept me from doing it.

I think I still have a longing attachment to this piece o' history though I reckon something of your calibre might see this building given a new lease of life. Which might be a bit of a hurdle to a new farmer like yourself but, I'm sure you'll find a way.

Then, out of the darkness, in the corner of my eye, I saw something shuffling. It made a squeak as I turned in shock.

"Lewis?"

"Hmmm?"

"I just saw something in here."

"Oh? Well, there might be a rat problem… old places tend to be home to wildlife nowadays." The elder answered, dismissing my obtuse claim.

Then another… and it definitely did not look like a rat. More of an apple, but with eyes and arms. Another audible squeak brought my attention and I pointed a finger in fear.

"There's another! Look! Look!"

Then, as Lewis looked in my direction, it had gone, much to my frustration.

"I know you're missing your home but don't let them get in the way of your new life. I'll leave this open for you so you can go and root out your 'rat problem'. Maybe, one day, I hope to see this place back to its original glory. See you around, Robbie." The mayor gruffed and left me with the 'inhabitants'.

As I was alone, as wind howled through the openings of the building and a lone windchime jingled quietly in the corner. Something was clearly amiss as I explored the dampened rooms then, around the corner, was a cone of light shining down on a mysterious tablet. Upon closer inspection, there was intangible lettering. Something that I hadn't seen before.

What is going on in this Valley? Is there something I should know.

I shook my head in denial and left the confines of the ruins and decided to head into the Mines to delve for more Iron and Copper, the latter of which to help me get started on upgrading my tools. I went a little deeper this time, uncovering more ladders for which to scale down the floors. I also managed to get myself more metal and reached a point where I heard this loud ding.

That sound, alongside some rusted metal grinding brought my attention to this elevator. It seems the previous owners have fitted this old thing to help navigate the different floors of this cavern. This'll save me a lot of work going up and down these mines… where, mind you, these rooms were not the same as last time. The mysteries of this place continues to yearn my interest.

Pocked filled with luscious Copper, and having found some Quartz, I decided to give one to Abigail, as she sat by the tree at the lakeside.

"Oh? A Quartz! How did you know I was hungry?" She asked when she handled the ice-white crystal precariously.

"Well, you seemed to have an acquired taste in them." I responded in confusion as she got up.

"It's nice of you to give me one anyway. Man, you really are brave going down those mines… I just miss the adrenaline… speaking off.

I read in the newspapers… are you really a pilot?" She asked.

That was something I could obviously tell but something I didn't feel ready to undertake.

"As of yet, yeah, I am." I responded.

"Oh! Because, I noticed a change in the Doctor's behaviour. When word got around that you were a pilot, he began to show a bit of nerve in the town meeting. Something tells me that he's a bit jealous of ya.

For me, quite frankly, I've always wondered how it feels to be up in the sky, to be free from everything on the ground, much like the birds. I went a bit deeper and looked at some old aviation magazines. Not like I'm obsessed with it or anything, just curious and boy do they look complicated… so perhaps I should leave that to the experts.

But… if you really are going up in the sky… could you do me a favour and lemme know? For once, I want a change in my routine and escape from my family." She asked.

It was a bit of a farfetched idea for her to ever consider this but it was something that I might think about when the time does come for Blue Betty to come home.

"W…We'll see Abigail… We'll see."

Excitedly, she clapped her hands together and gave this warming smile.

"Then I am looking forward to it. You really are a one in a million!" She gleefully spoke and I bid my farewells.

Oh boy will this turn out to be interesting.

Back in the farm, I finally decided on smelting my ore. Together, with the blueprints, provided by Clint, I worked hard on putting together my first few Smelters; Setting them down in the darkened cavern that was at my farm. Unlike the wanning chasms of the mines, this little alcove was small and ideal for my metal production.

With the first few of the glorious machines in place, I shoved the Copper pellets, followed by the nuggets of Coal, and they roared into life, giving off a hearty bellow as it melted down the raw metal into shaped bars. They were quite sophisticated machines, requiring very little maintenance and much of the smelting process was rather automated; All I needed to do was provide it with an ore and some fuel.

When it was done, the furnace stopped and out came a pristine shiny bar of purified Copper. The first of many and I gazed into it's reflective sheen with a smug smile. Now, if I can make four more of these ingots then I can have Clint work on my Watering Can first. Darn thing runs of water so quickly.

I repeated the process a few more times and acquired the materials to upgrade it. Then an idea came into my mind.

If the rain watered my crops earlier, then if I check the forecast for tomorrow and it's supposed to rain, then I could use the time to water my crops, then upgrade it at Clints so he can work on it as the clouds tend to the crops. It's quite logical, now that I think about it. I headed into the house and turned the TV on, changing the channel to the Weather Report, where this well-dressed man pointed a stick at the map of the local area, alongside some wisdom that denoted the state of today.

"Bring out your umbrellas for rain is meant to be coming tomorrow."

With these news, I promptly sprinted from the farm and straight into Clints, just before he closed up shop.

"Oh, Robbie! I was just about to close shop."

Now, running can do a bit on you so I was pretty much exhausted and panted loudly as I leaned into the counter and laid my Ingots on the surface, alongside my Watering Can and Gold.

"C…Can you…upgrade… my… ha… Watering Can… for me…?" I panted.

"Uhhh… sure… I'll get on it tomorrow… swing by, the day after, and it'll be waiting for you." The Blacksmith answered.

"T-Thanks…" I spoke and left the man to close up for the day.

Perhaps, I could get a drink from the local pub nearby. Heading over to the Stardrop Saloon, I was met with a warming atmosphere as some of the patrons catered to their drinks, some of which whom I hadn't met the likes of before. Such as this middle aged woman perched on the side of the bar with a hankering tankard of ale in her tubby fingers. She looked at me and spoke in this grouchy voice that made me think she was more man than woman.

"Oh… hey Robbie… ya must be new 'round here. The name's Pam and I used to run the local bus service before it got decommissioned. Joja has been claimin' that they'll fix the damn thing but there hasn't been a peep nor a change. Seems they've not been keepin' their word… but at least the grub's cheap." She introduced herself as she hollered to the barkeeper.

"Gus, gimme anotha' round."

I went over to some of the others, including this shady, loner who attended to his own drink in the corner, dressed in some of the JojaMart uniform, hinting that he was an attendant in the local store.

"Robbie huh? Well, do me a favour and leave me to my drink… I'm not much of a people person." He hissed at me, rather defensively. Quite rude too… guess there's always a bad egg amongst the dozen.

There were more lively people in here too, a sporty one by the name of Alex and a glistening blonde-haired boy and girl named Sam and Haley. The former sounding a bit more dim-witted than the others.

Finally, I ventured up to the counter as this bulbous man walked up with a warm smile and a twitch moustache.

"Good Evenin' Robbie, I'm Gus and I own the Saloon. If you're looking for a pick-me-up, then I got it right here. All the finest cuisine, the valley has to offer. I got a few dishes of the day for you try or some local drinks to sample." He spoke in a swish business owner way.

I ordered myself a simple lemonade, being not much of an alcoholic person. The fine, zangy burst of lemon was just what I needed to bring me out of my weary state.

"How's life in the valley. I 'erd that life back home didn't bode well with you." He asked.

"Yeah… I came here for a fresh start, away from it all." I answered simply.

"Well, you made the right choice… shipping ingredients from beyond these parts don't come cheap… if I can just get them locally, then I wouldn't have to shop far to produce my fine meals for my punters. If you catch my drift." He chortled.

"You could say that… for now but I'm sure you'll benefit from what the McSopwiths were best known for." I responded with a smile and left the bar.

"Well, you have a good evening… this valley's countin' on ya!" Gus went as I left the door and headed for home, ready to take on the next day.