Dear Diary (my first fanfic)

[Shannon]

Nami sat down, flopping on the fluffy white bed, and pulled a pen out of the left pocket on her white shorts. Reaching toward the little wooden desk, she pulled the drawer as it creaked open, and took out her blue and purple journal. She concentrated deeply on the page and started writing, slowly.

Dear Diary,
When something that’s going to change your life forever is right in front of you, you don’t notice it immediately. It takes time. When life did give me a change, I grabbed it by the handles and held on tight… Life is a pretty wild ride. It was for me.

Flashback: Ten Years Ago…

Birds were singing their morning song as the sun shot rays of light onto the fields. A sea of grass waved in the wind as he watched his cows graze, his horse Escenyl roll in a pool of dirt, and sheep lying lazily in the shade. He was wearing a white button down t-shirt, wrinkled a little on the sleeves. On his back was a brown rucksack, filled with artifacts from the mine, wild berries, and other things like animal medicine. His jeans were tucked into brown hiking boots, which were a little ruff around the edges. Stretching, he heard a loud bark behind him.

“ARF ARF!”

“Hey there little guy! Make sure you keep my animals behaved,” Jack said with a smile curling on the ends of his lips. Bending down, he ruffled Bandit’s fur and was greeted with a bucket of slobber. The brown and white spotted puppy jumped with glee.

“That’s my boy!” He stood up to his full height, rubbing his cheeks to remove the saliva that coated his face. Marveling the lightly cloudy sky, he walked to the animal field gate and opened it, shielding his eyes with his hands from the bright white sun. Having milked all the cows, sheared the sheep, and brushed the horse already, he looked toward the coop. His chickens were fed, and all the eggs were gathered. Proudly, he smiled to himself.

“Another day on the farm.” Jack beamed. “Hmm… What should I do next? …feed the cows… no… did that…buy seeds? Wait… I have 50 bags of watermelon seedlings already…” Murmuring, he wandered out into the village, letting his feet guide him. Forget-Me-Not Valley was a calm, peaceful place, unlike the city. He liked the feeling of it, how there was fresh air to breathe, clean beaches, a rushing crystal clear river, and trees sprouting everywhere.

He walked carelessly along a brown, gravelly path. The grass all around was bright green, and leaves swayed in the light breeze along with dancing flowers.

"Aha! I know what I'll do." Jack finally made the decision to look for herbs and mushrooms, bending over every now and then when he found a mugwort or any other kind of spice to eat along the river. Jogging up to the springs where an endless supply of mushrooms grew, he rounded the corner and his mouth dropped wide open. Instead of mushrooms there was a girl, sitting next to the water, running her fingers through it slowly. Although her back was turned towards him, her short, bright red hair and features attracted his attention. He stopped dead in his tracks, breathless. She was talking to herself, muttering something.

“… I’ve stayed here…so long…” she talked quietly, so that Jack could barely make out what she was saying. It was amazing he could even hear a few words. “I should… left… long time ago…”

She turned slightly so part of her face was visible. A crystal tear rolled down her cheek and splashed into the spring without a sound. Jack wanted to know what she was talking about… so he crept silently toward her and the water.

Step…step…step…step…

His brain was no longer in control. What the heck was he doing? He new he shouldn’t even be here in the first place.

Step…step…step…step…

Rubbing the tears off her shining sapphire eyes, the girl stood up, smoothing out her orange shirt, and rearranging her blue plaid over shirt. She still didn’t notice he was there, creeping up behind her…

Step…step…step…CRACK!

The girl whirled around and froze. Jack looked down at his feet to find a broken black twig underneath him. At first both of them were speechless, staring at each other with gaping mouths wide open. It seemed like minutes passed as they stood there, although it had only been a couple seconds. And then she spoke, feebly.

“Uh… umm… wow. You—I mean… did you see m—see that?” She was stunned, spluttering mixed words out of her mouth.

Jack didn’t know what to say. He moved his lips, but no words came out.

“I’m sorry…” Then she rushed past him, brushing his shoulder, with her head down. Jack didn’t want that girl to leave… he didn’t even know her name yet.






Well... that was only part of chapter 1 (chapter 1 is called Sapphire Eyes). I don't think it's that bad for my first fanfic... is it? That is how you write a fanfic right? xP

Anyways, I'm going to post the rest of what I've wrote soon for whoever actually wants to read it. ^^

[Shannon]

“Wait!” he called, running in her direction. He carefully grabbed both of her shoulders, turned her around, and held her there. “It’s okay…I won’t tell anyone.” His eyes met the girls’ shining blue ones. Then they stood there for a moment, looking at each other. Her face scrunched up in distrust.

“What the…? What, are you trying to be Mr. Flirt now?” The fiery red headed girl looked him straight in the eye. Her cheeks flushed red in anger. She stared at him with the most resentful face imaginable and pulled away from his arms violently.

Jack was taken aback. He took a few steps toward her. “Wha—I’m just trying to—,”

“Well, stop trying!” she yelled furiously. Jack was stunned. He stayed there immobile, blocking her path for a long time while she pushed and shoved, trying to make her way trough him. Apparently, it bothered her way too much to know a farmer (who she had only seen in the bar a couple times since he moved in) had invaded her privacy. Ill-tempered, the girl whirled around and lowered herself onto the dirt path beside a dark green bush. Sitting down, she looked at him square in the eyes.

“You’re not going to let me leave, are you?” Picking a small yellow flower off the ground, she acted preoccupied plucking the pedals off, one by one.

He shook his head. “Not until you tell me your name.” The girl redirected her attention off of the flower and back on Jack. Her face reddened.

“…You really think I’d tell you?” the redhead said, glaring at him.

“And why not?” Jack flopped down beside her, unwilling to lose.

“It’s really not that important…”

“Oh, and what do you want me to call you? Miss Hard-head?”

“I could live with that.”

Jack grabbed her left arm and held on tight. “I’m not letting you leave until you tell me your name. That’s final.” He smiled, but talked with a serious tone.

Head down, Miss Hard-head picked up a handful of gravel with her free hand and clenched it in an angry fist. She definitely wasn’t smiling with Jack. “And I’m not telling you my name unless you want me to throw you into the river first.” About a minute of silence passed when Jack didn’t reply, and kept holding her down. She finally spoke.

“Fine…” Jack could tell she wasn’t the kind of girl who liked to lose. Being defeated bothered her greatly, as her eyebrows narrowed and she looked away from him in frustration. “It’s Nami. I live in the Inn, across from your farm. You know… the Inn with Tim and Ruby.” Then she looked into his eyes again, but they were calmer now, having given in to him. “Well, I’m pretty sure there aren’t any other Inns around here anyways.”

“Mine’s Jack.” He felt so stupid, admitting his name was Jack, while hers was Nami. His wasn’t unique or anything… it was just Jack. Plain, dumb Jack. Ugh! He felt his hand clench and squeeze something in embarrassment.

“Umm…” Nami put her hand on his. He didn’t notice it, but Jack was still holding on to her arm. “Could you… let go now?”

He let go quickly. “Oh, uh—sorry about that.”

“Yeah, well, don’t do it again.” Nami said, rubbing her shoulder bones. She walked away, down the trail through the green plants, trees and thick branches. Jack couldn’t stop staring at her, wondering what she was crying about, wanting to know why she was in such a bad mood…

Jack withdrew a deep breath, let it out slowly, and scuffed his boots on the ground. There was nothing else to do for the rest of the day, and was only 6:30 PM. The sun was only beginning to set beyond the horizon.

Jack ran after Nami. He wanted to say something, but couldn’t. “Well, do you want to, to—well, uh, never mind.” He sighed, keeping his secret inside himself. Jack had some sort of… desire to be with Nami. A desire to know what bothered her so much. Inviting her to talk with him alone was way too much.

“… What?” Nami asked.

“Forget it.”

She raised her eyebrows in question, calmly. Then her temper returned. “Don’t play dumb with me.” Her expression turned into its regular “bite me” face as she walked down the dusty dirt path towards the beach. He watched her as she left. She turned and looked at him before stopping at a bridge, where they met eyes. Jack’s blood ran to his cheeks as he walked past the bridge, but not too far past it.

His legs led him to the edge of the river, near the mouth that emptied into the sea. He could see the bridge from here, where Nami stood watching the sun lazily sink into the ocean, painting a yellow stripe across its waters. He slid off his boots, ripped off his shirt and dived into the rushing river carelessly. The water splashed his face and body as he entered a new underwater world, swimming around with a rainbow of fish. Around him were a mountain of pebbles and numerous underwater animals resting upon them. When his feet rested on the bottom, he tried to spring back up for air… but he couldn’t move. What was wrong? He knew his pants were heavy, but not heavy enough to weigh him down. He looked around, trying to think. He needed oxygen badly, and started stroking the water as hard and as fast as he could… then something ripped near his legs, and Jack realized that his pants were stuck onto a jagged boulder. Flailing madly, he twisted and yanked at his clothing, grabbing fluid with his hands, trying to breathe desperately. His head was beating like a drum.

He didn’t think he could last much longer. Everything started turning white and lights started popping in his head… he was sure he was dying… until the fabric escaped from the grasp of the large rock, and he swam frantically upward. Finally breaking the surface, he gasped for air, choking. He could only manage floating, treading water was impossible in his state. Something was ringing in his head, his vision was white and blurry, and his head hurt tremendously. Opening his eyes, there was a man there with a pair of sunglasses, long hair, a large green hat with a yellow flower on it, a goatee, and a small guitar carried on his back. His nose shot out enough for a bird to stand on it. It was Gustafa, the towns’ hippie.

“Hey man, what happened down there? You were gone for a pretty long time. I thought you died or something dude.” He neared Jack. Everything was so blurry… was it really Gustafa? Heck, it could be Santa Claus by what he could see. He heard shuffling feet running towards them.

“You okay? Jack?” It was a woman’s voice… Jack tried to keep his consciousness as she spoke again.

“Do you need me to—Jack? Jack!” He felt himself sink into the water again as he let the flood of white overpower his mind. He couldn’t move or think at all… Far back in his head he heard a dive beside him… and then he lost all vision or hearing, and sunk deeper into the river. He closed his eyes as everything turned black.

[Herfefiny]

That was great! I loved it! This is a really good fan fiction! I hope you update it again soon! ;D

[Shannon]

^ Thanks! I ws hoping at least one person would like it

^^ I already have the next two chapters written. I don't know if I should post them yet though.

[TBustah!]

Yous should, it's really good. It isn't maudlin or overly sweet like most of the stuff on here.

[Shannon]

Ch. 2 – Salamander Stomachs. This chapter is important in the story, even if it is boring... you'll find out why later.




“His pulse is fine… I don’t see symptoms of any kind of sickness. He should be alright.”

Jack awoke to the sound of Doctor Hardy speaking. He started rubbing his head softly. To his surprise, the throbbing pain had subsided.

“Ah, see, here he is! Good as new!” The doctor grinned and scribbled furiously on his clipboard. He was wearing a white overcoat over his hunched back, with over 25 pockets, all holding various sharp objects. He had an electronic eye on the left side of his head, flashing red and beeping occasionally. A long jagged scar ran across his plated bald head and eyelid, making his appearance even more unbearable. Out of nowhere, Jack saw three white flashes of light obscure his vision. His head began to pulse and throb, but without any pain. After the flashing stopped, he looked around the room and saw that no one else cared, or even notice.

“…Did you guys not see that?” Jack was stunned. “There were flashes of light… three of them! Like the sun had appeared before my eyes and disappeared again.” Hardy seemed confused and looked as if Jack was a crazy person who belonged in the wack shack. “You DIDN’T see that?!”

“Um… maybe you should take some rest. You could stay for about a week if it seems that bad.”

“No! I’m just fine… I feel great.” Jack definitely didn’t want to stay in the clinic more than 24 hours, lying in a bed all day. Truthfully, he felt a little dizzy.

“Oh really? I’m guessing those raw salamander stomachs worked great then!” the doctor laughed.

Jack’s eyes spread open wide. “Salamander—what?!”

“Hahaha, just a little joke…” The doctor winked, and Jack sighed in relief. Thank the Lord. “But these pills you took should have worked.” Dr. Hardy shook a little container full of red and white tablets. “How’s your head?”

Jack looked around the room. He was lying in a bed, much like the ones in hospitals. He was no longer in drenched pants, but in a long, light blue shirt that was opened in the back and tied together with two strings. Wriggling around, he noticed he hadn’t any pants on, so he pulled the bed sheet farther up his stomach. The room was small and there were only two beds left unoccupied on his left, because Forget Valley wasn’t exactly a huge village. This was the only room the doctor had for his patients. Sniffing the air, strange aromas wafted from the open wooden cupboard beside him. Most likely, there were actually a couple of salamander stomachs hidden in there… Beside the cupboard stood Gustafa, and to his surprise, Nami was right beside him.

“Oh, uh, my head—it’s fine.” Jack lied. He knew those flashes of light weren’t normal… what were they? And why did they happen when Jack looked at Dr. Hardy?

“Great, great!” He chuckled, “I think you should thank these two…” Hardy stepped aside and allowed Gustafa and Nami to get closer. Gustafa peered at him through his sunglasses and beamed, while Nami sat down on the bed carefully. “They saved your life. I would have never been able to help if they hadn’t of brought you here.” The doctor glided toward the door. “I better go do the paperwork… you’ve got a bill to pay, you know. But first I have to get that new medicine from Mineral Town in the storage closet.” He left them alone. Jack was about to burst with thanks; if it wasn’t for them, he’d be… gone. He shuddered, pushing the thought away.

“Yo man, how are you?” Gustafa asked. He was still smiling widely. “You sure gave me a scare!”

“I’m doing alright… a lot better then I would have been if you guys didn’t come along,” thanked Jack. That made Gustafa laugh.

“Yeah, well, it was nothing.” He chuckled again. Suddenly, someone started grunting and moaning downstairs. “Unngh… URGH… GAHHHH… ergh…” It was Hardy.

“HEY GUSTAFA!” called Dr. Hardy from the first floor, “CAN I GET YOUR HELP DOWN HERE?! THESE BOXES OF ELIXIR ARE PRETTY HEAVY!” He yelled, groaning, trying to pick up a crate. “What the heck are in these things?! Urrrrrrrgh… C’mon, MOVE!” A loud cracking noise was heard. “Oh … my BACK!” he screamed in pain, as Gustafa gasped and ran down the stairs immediately. Nami didn’t follow; she still sat quietly on Jack’s bed. He looked at her silently, making Nami turn away, staring through the window.

“So… you’re doing okay now?” Nami didn’t look at him directly in the eyes, though she was sitting right beside him. Her back was turned away from Jack as she stared through the glinting glass. The sun shot through the four-squared window and reflected off of bright red hair, and her azure eyes glimmered in the morning light.

“Yeah… yeah, I guess so,” shrugged Jack. All in all, he actually wasn’t feeling that great. The headache medicine was making him a little dizzy, like he had been drinking hard at the bar last night, and there was a bruise on his leg where he had scraped it on the rock. It was hard to move around without hurting his leg further.

Unexpectedly, Nami slipped off her shoes and socks, climbing all the way on the bed beside him. She pulled her knees to her chest and began talking.

“What’s life on the farm like?” she asked, while examining the yellow walls and tile floor. Her expression changed from uncaring into somewhat interested in what Jack had to say, even though she pretended not to care, staring at the wall.

“It’s… monotonous,” shrugged Jack, “and it’s not easy either. But there’s more to farming than just work.” When he said that, Nami looked at Jack questionably. He must have noticed, because he had answered the question running through her mind. “Well… The animals… they’re your responsibility, and you have to earn their trust if you ever want to get anything from them. Love is really important when it comes to farming… it doesn’t seem like it, but it is.”

Nami then stopped studying the cracks in the walls and looked at him. She saw someone different, not just a stubborn, annoying guy who nearly drowned last night. She saw him as a caring, thoughtful man…She shook her head from side to side a little bit, stretching out her legs and smoothing the wrinkles on her clean white jean-shorts, trying not to think of Jack that way. “So, you’re just an animal farmer then?”

“No, I have a lot of plants to water, like tomatoes, melons, and—oh my word… I forgot to water my plants yesterday!” Jack realized, slamming his fists on the bed. “And it doesn’t look like I’m in a good state for work today, either.” Jack ran his hand through his hair and shot up, sitting up straight, causing his bruised leg to burst with pain. “OUCH!”

Nami looked at him, frightened, and leaned closer over. “Whoa … you okay?”

“Ye—Yeah…” His leg was throbbing, and he winced.

“Okay… I guess you’re not working on the fields anytime soon.” She still seemed worried, examining his leg. “Well, you don’t need to water your plants today. Look outside.” She nodded her head towards the window. The skies were grey and little droplets of rain started splattering on the glass. He sighed in relief, as the pain in his leg slowly went away. Suddenly, a loud yell was heard downstairs.

“Dude, the doctor says you can leave as soon as you want!” Gustafa barged in, nearly crushing the door, carrying a stack of folded clothes. Jack realised they were his when Gustafa laid them on his lap—the same dull jeans, white button down shirt, rucksack, and brown hiking boots. Except now they were clean, and the hole where Jack had ripped his jeans was sowed together.

“Um, well… he said you can leave as soon as you want the next day,” sighed Gustafa.

“Oh… Thanks, I’ll see you two tomorrow then,” said Jack. He began to take off his shirt, reaching for the knot behind his back so he could put on the clothes set before him. Nami got off the bed and started lacing her shoes up.

“Don’t mention it. Well, I guess I’ll wait for you outside tomorrow morning.” Gustafa walked out the exit, leaving Nami and him alone once again while Jack fumbled with his shirt. He grunted and tried so hard to untie the clump behind him, but he just couldn’t do it.

“Urgh… get… off…” he yanked and pulled the knot, but it wouldn’t come undone. He looked up and saw Nami smirking at him.

“Here, you do it like this…” Sitting down beside him, she reached behind his back. After about 10 seconds, the knot was untied. “There… you can do the rest.”

Jack thanked her and smiled. Nami could feel blood rushing to her cheeks, and walked outside with Gustafa, disappearing from Jack’s view as he changed into a neat pair of pants and a fresh-smelling shirt.

[Shannon]

Ch. 3 – Frozen Tears. This may seem really weird. But it's important in the story, as I said before.


On the following night, Jack stared from his bed out the window. The shine of the sunset on the glass had disappeared, and the moon was full, gazing down at Forget-me-Not Valley. The stars floated above, twinkling in the distant sky, which was now misty black, holding the clouds that would soon start a downpour. It didn’t rain earlier; having been only a little drizzle teasing the thirsty plants, and the drizzling lasted only about 15 minutes. Jack looked at the alarm clock… It read 11:48 PM.

He turned over on his stomach, putting both his arms under the feathery pillow. The clinics’ beds were very, very soft and comfortable; it was like sleeping on a cloud… but Jack had a hard time getting to sleep anywhere else besides his own farm. Various unwanted thoughts passed through his mind as he shut his eyes tight, mentally pushing them away. But they kept coming back.

I wonder if the animals are doing alright without me…

I hope it doesn’t start to rain hard… I left my livestock outside…

But then again, I hope it rains… I need to water my plants…

Can Bandit find food by himself? I didn’t leave anything in his bowl…

I left my chickens in the coop… did I leave them enough bird feed?

The baby cow is probably starving now… I need to feed him mothers’ milk…

Why was Nami crying at the springs? I’m worried…

Why am I worried about Nami?!

Jack punched his pillow in frustration. He didn’t want to worry. He wanted to sleep. But the thoughts dug deeper into his mind, settling there.

What if that wacko scientist guy—Daryl—tries to do an experiment on my cows while I’m gone?…

What if Bandit ran away from home looking for me? Or ran away from Daryl?…

Some of my animals could be sick right now, and I’m not there to help them…

I wonder if Dr. Hardy is going to do any kind of surgery on me if I fall asleep…

Is he already planning that downstairs in his room?…

How… did he get his scar?…

After the last question dove through his mind, he fell into a deep, unforgettable sleep… And found himself on the top of a snow-covered mountain. A blizzard whirred around, obscuring his vision.


“No! Daddy! Help me!” a little girl cried. She had long, curly blonde hair, and it wrapped around her head in the whipping, snowy wind. Tears streamed from her eyes, although you could barely see them through the falling snow.

“Darlene! Hold on!” a young Dr. Hardy appeared. He actually had hair, and it was dirty blonde. There was no artificial eye, scar, or plate in his skull. He looked rather young, around his 20’s. Hardy was running towards the edge of a cliff… where the little girl, Darlene, was dangling from with one arm.

“Ahh! Help me!” she screamed, holding on to what she could with all her might. Darlene’s other arm flapped wildly around, trying to grab something while the wind pushed it back forcefully. Hardy finally reached the cliff, holding an outstretched arm towards her.

“Darlene! Grab on!”

“I can’t!” Her fingers were sliding off the icy boulder jutting out of the cliff. The doctor couldn’t reach her entirely.

“No! Honey, don’t let go! You remember how daddy showed you how to do pull ups on the monkey bars at the park? Well, do that NOW! Pull yourself up!” His eyes were dripping now, slipping off his cheeks. They hit the ground and became frozen.

“I’m trying, daddy!” Darlene yelled, trying to speak over the blizzard. Her voice was barely audible. “I can’t hold on! Daddy, please! Help me!” Her fingers began to slip faster. The doctors’ knees were almost slipping off of the cliff, too, as he reached farther down with his arm.

“Just a little farther! You can do it Darlene! Grab on! Just—Darlene! NO!” Darlene’s hands had lost their grip on the ice-coated cliff, and she fell through the endless blizzard that blurred the 1,207 foot view. She screamed bloody murder and got swallowed in the blizzard, fading from view, hurtling downwards. “DADDY!!!”

“DARLENE!!!” The doctor called after her. After watching her disappear forever, he started sobbing uncontrollably and buried his face in his hands. “It’s all my fault… all my fault!” Hardy lied in that position, crying his heart out as snow piled overtop of him. He never moved.


“HARDY!” Jack woke up, breathing fast, sitting straight up in his bed. His face was completely covered in sweat, and the sheets were damp with his perspiration. He found out that his eyes had been streaming with tears, as he wiped them away feverishly. His eyes burned, and his head throbbed with the same sensation as it had when he drowned in the river. The pain in his head was lighter and softer this time, but it still hurt.

Jack massaged his forehead and waited until his breathing became close to normal. He knew that wasn’t a dream. It couldn’t be. Everything just seemed too real…

“No,” Jack thought, “It might not be… sometimes dreams trick you into thinking they were real…” he rubbed his head harder, and closed his eyes tightly. The drumming in his head wasn’t going away as fast as it should. The dream was so vivid… he could feel the snow on his face, touch the ground with his feet, and feel the emotions the doctor was feeling. Not just that, but the place where he had seen the dream was an actual place he had been before… called Mt. MukuMuku. Not a single thing was out of date. No little detail was left out, including a rock, a stem, or… a cliff. Everything was perfectly real.

“It was just a nightmare… just a nightmare…” Jack murmured to himself. No matter how many times he said that, he couldn’t actually believe it. Suddenly, three bright white flashes appeared before his eyes, and then all the throbbing and pain stopped. Jack looked around the room frantically, but nothing moved or changed at all.

“Jack? What happened?!” a worried doctor plunged through the door, nearly braking it with his weight. “Did you get hurt? Did something brake?!”

Jack looked at him, trying to pull off a normal face. “No, nothing happened Hardy… I just had a nightmare.” He sighed. Just a nightmare? It definitely wasn’t a normal nightmare.

“Oh… okay. Well, call me if you need anything! Its still 4:30. You could get in some extra sleep,” said the doctor. With that, he grabbed the doorknob, turned it and opened the door.

“Hardy, Wait!” Jack called after him.

“What do you need?” Hardy asked.

“Well, I don’t really need anything… just an answer.”

The doctor raised one of his eyebrows curiously. “I’m listening.”

“Okay…” Jack looked down, concentrating on his dream. Various questions whizzed around in his head, but he only really needed an answer to one of them. “Doctor… How did you get that plate in your head?”

The doctor suddenly looked pale. The normally happy man now had bags under his eyes, which were closed in deep thought. His shoulders drooped, and everything seemed to freeze in time, except for the sun which was already rising, slowly. The doctor opened his eyes after about 30 seconds of waiting.

“…Frostbite. I had to get surgery after lying on a snowy mountain for too long.” Hardy wiped his eyes. It almost looked as if he was crying. ‘Just like in my dream...’ Jack thought. “Well…” the doctor sounded depressed now, “You might as well get to bed… don’t want to be tired the next morning…” he opened the door completely and left, barely making a sound except for the wooden stairs creaking underneath him. Soft weeping echoed from downstairs, as Jack stared at the door where Hardy had disappeared.

“So, it wasn’t just a nightmare…” Jack mumbled to himself. It wasn’t. He knew it wasn’t. All of this had happened before, at some place in time. He pulled the comforter back over him, which was drier now since he stopped sweating. Jack closed his eyes, falling into the fluffy bed. He tried not to think of the dream, and the doctor… and Darlene.

[Raika]

I like it! You use very nice details!

[Herfefiny]

How sad...
Those were really good chapters! I hope you write more soon!

[TBustah!]

Whoah. So Jack's, like, the Dead Zone guy now, huh?

I've had dreams like that before...

[Shannon]

^ I'm not giving anything away, but, yeah, he can see things that happened in the past.

thanks guys! ^^

[melody]

Wow, this is really good!

I love it!
I hope we can have more soon.

[Shannon]

Thanks! ^^


I wrote the next chapter. It's not really exciting, but.... read it if you want. I'm thinking about not writing any more of this fanfiction and starting a new one. I probably should.



Ch.4 – Terror-stricken.


Jack woke up and yawned widely. His arms reached toward the ceiling, and he pulled them back down again. After long-term stretching and yawning, he peered at the alarm clock. It was 8:50 AM.

“Well, look who’s up! Rise and shine!” Gustafa yelled happily. To Jacks’ surprise, he was at the doorway. “I brought you some more clothes so you can change, if you want to.” He told Jack. Not that Jack had a choice if he wanted to change or not… the clothes he wore last night were still a little damp with perspiration.

“So, what’s up? You look like you just saw a ghost or something,” said Gustafa, looking over Jack’s face with a slight frown in worry. Jack got off the bed and stood up, confused, until he confronted the giant mirror hanging on the wall. His face was white and pale, and his normally red cheeks had lost their color. He had dark eyes, with bags hanging under them. His reflection was dead.

“Oh…uh… I had a hard time getting to sleep,” mumbled Jack. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. Sleep didn’t exactly come gently last night.

“Sure, you look only a little tired,” said Gustafa with sarcasm in his voice, unwilling to take that for an answer. “No, seriously… You look horrible man! Maybe I should leave you alone for a bit so you can change, and stop lying to me.”

Was he that bad at lying? “Uh… yeah, right.” Gustafa smirked and left Jack alone. He walked toward the stairs and leaped down them quickly.

Jack took off his clothes, putting on less wet ones, being careful not to bend his leg so much to injure it. It was still bruised badly, and the cut ran deep in his skin. The shirt he put on was a teal blue; it had short sleeves, and a trail of buttons down the middle of it. His pants were light brown with pockets in the front and back, and they were long enough to tuck them in his dark brown hiking boots. After changing and putting his rucksack on his back, he traveled down the stairs, as they creaked with every little step he took.

Arriving at the end of the wooden stairway, he limped over to the doctor’s messy desk. Sheets of paper were sprawled out among the many pens, photographs, books, and juice bottles. Jack bent over ready to give him money, around 200 gold, but Hardy was turned around in his chair with his back facing Jack. He was leaning over a small photo, his finger tracing the edges softly. The doctor seemed lost in the picture, gazing into the captured world behind it.

Jack leaned over his shoulder, curiosity getting the better of him. When the photograph finally made its way into Jack’s view, he saw the colorful photo in Dr. Hardy’s big, strong hands. There was a little girl in it, about five years old. She wore a red flowery dress with white polka dots splattered randomly on it, and her hands were raised high up in the air holding a sign. It read ‘I LOVE YOU DADDY’ in messy handwriting. Her eyes were bright green and flashed with happiness within the photo. A bush of golden curly hair surrounded her face, like the endless sea around an island… It was Darlene. Jack felt a cold, dark feeling rush through him as he looked at the picture closer.

“AAH!” Jack fell over the desk, on top of Dr. Hardy, nearly knocking over everything. He leaned in a little too close, enveloped by the mysterious photograph.

“AAH!” screamed Hardy, as he leaped out of his seat right before Jack crashed into him. The surprised doctor backed away as fast as he could, keeping the picture as safe as possible. Jack hit the tiled floor, eyes wide open, stunned and clearly embarrassed. His cheek was on the cold, hard ground as he lied on his stomach, sprawled out upon the many papers, pencils and books he knocked over.

“What are you doing?!” asked the doctor, frightened.

“Err… um… Y-You seemed a little busy, so I-I was waiting until you were done looking at that picture before I bothered you,” stuttered Jack, making up a believable excuse. The doctor bought it, but with suspicion.

“Oh yeah?…well… I guess that’s okay…” mumbled Dr. Hardy, stuffing the picture into one of the many pockets on his white suit. Jack slowly got up from the awkward position, lifting himself up with his arms. After he was standing tall and brushed the dirt off of his body, he bent down on his hands and knees, picking up as many things on the ground as possible and setting them in piles on the doctor’s little desk.

“I’m really sorry… I didn’t mean to fall on you like that,” apologized Jack, blushing hard, as he gathered up the junk as fast and accurately as possible.

“Oh, it’s okay. I shouldn’t have been preoccupied anyways,” replied Hardy, pulling Jack up with both of his short arms. Jack stood about 1 foot taller than him, while the doctor remained hunchbacked. “Are you ready to pay?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah, here you go,” answered Jack, handing him the 200 gold in his pocket.

Dr. Hardy smiled, satisfied with the money he’d made. “Thanks a lot.”

“No problem! I’m the one who should be thanking you,” chuckled Jack, and the doctor laughed with him. He received his receipt and started to leave, opening the dull black door.

Walking through the doorway, he stood on a grey, wet wooden porch. The sky was letting the rain fall now, like a humongous bucket of water was being poured over the valley. There were chairs and benches sitting in random places on the porch, and a bird feeder was nailed into one of the five columns holding the roof up. Looking around curiously, Jack spotted Nami standing under the little roof sticking out of the house. Her arms were crossed and her expression was sour (as always).

“Morning!” Jack greeted her with a smile. She definitely didn’t look like a morning person.

“Eh… Morning.” Nami didn’t smile, but yawned widely. After closing her eyes tightly and opening them again as an attempt to wake up, she spoke.
“Well, you’re ready. I guess we should head back to your farm,” Nami said, turning away from Jack to see the village through the wall of rain, which was now pouring heavily. Everything had changed in such little time. What was once a bright, sunny morning was now a dreary, gray afternoon.

“Guess so…” Jack limped over to where Nami was standing. He needed to get home fast so he could get his animals inside. “Do you have an umbrella?”

“Nope.” She looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “I guess we’ll just have to sprint through the rain, huh?”

“I don’t think I’ll do a lot of sprinting,” he laughed, looking down at his scraped and bruised leg. It still throbbed, but not as badly. Nami smiled with him, for once.

“Oh, right. We can stop by the Inn on the way to your farm and grab an umbrella… no, never mind, here comes Gustafa.” Gustafa was now standing at the door beside them, slamming it shut. He had two umbrellas in his hands.

“The doctor only had two of ‘em… is that alright? You two can share,” said Gustafa, pushing an orange umbrella in Jack’s arms.

“Well, unless you mind… I can give you this one, and I can walk with Jack,” Gustafa told Nami. She refused, shaking her head once, pushing the other umbrella back into his hands.

“No, its okay, I’ll be with Jack. I live closer to his farm anyways.” She looked in Jack’s eyes, searching for approval. He nodded, surprised that Nami wanted to walk with him, and popped the umbrella open. Jack held it above their heads, and took a few steps out of the porch with Nami as lightning flashed across the village. She flinched and got closer to Jack… and he laughed at her. Nami reddened in embarrassment and anger, backing away again… until the thunder came 5 seconds after that. They walked closer together as their feet splashed in the muddy puddles, and so did Gustafa’s as they separated and traveled in different directions. Gustafa’s loud steps faded slowly.

As they were walking quietly and peacefully, a large lightning bolt shot from the sky, followed by a loud crash of thunder that made the ground vibrate. Nami grabbed Jack’s arm, startled. Jack blushed, but Nami didn’t let go.

The umbrella wasn’t very big, and Nami held on to his arm the whole time to keep out of the rain (but mainly because she was afraid of thunderstorms.) This made Jack uncomfortable, but Nami seemed just fine with it. Either that, or she was just too frightened to care. He could hear the sound of rain beating on plastic as they treaded along in awkward silence. After a little while of walking, Jack eased and completely forgot that Nami was holding him.

“So you’re a traveler?” Jack had to speak a little louder over the thunder that boomed across the valley. Nami winced and squeezed his arm tighter.

“Y-yeah. I’ve been almost everywhere,” answered Nami. Jack looked at her questionably.

“What kinds of places?” Jack was interested in this girl called Nami, who seemed uncaring about Jack. She was so…mysterious. He wanted to get to know her.

“Oh, places like Mineral Town, and Flower Bud Village… they’re all so different.”

“Where are you going next?” questioned Jack. Nami started to get annoyed with the things he was asking.

“Well, I haven’t been traveling lately. I haven’t left Forget Valley in 2 years.”

“Why not?” Jack asked.

Nami looked at the ground as her feet collided with the cloudy puddles, sending a spray of water everywhere each time she took a step. His question seemed to impact her greatly, as she got lost in thought as if she had entered another world. Her emotions quickly disappeared as she covered up her face with a frown.

“Why do you want to know?” she counterattacked to his question, looking away. “It’s not like you care any more than anyone else.” Before Jack could reply, she began talking again, trying to change the subject.

“Oh, well, this is your farm, isn’t it?” Jack didn’t even notice where he stood, having Nami unexpectedly turn on him like that. In front of him was a wooden door, leading into his cottage house. Suddenly an enormously loud crash was heard from inside, followed by breaking glass… and it wasn’t thunder this time.

Nami jumped and her eyes widened. “What the… what was that?!” she gasped. Jack was also terror-stricken. He could feel the hair on his neck standing up.

“I don’t know…” He answered, wrenching the door open. Jack dropped the umbrella, terrified, at what he saw laying on the floor.

[Herfefiny]

That was a GREAT chapter Shannon! I really loved it, and you're a great writer! You should definately keep writing this story, because I think it's fantastic! It's really your choice, but I think you should keep writing it...

[violet]

That was really good!!!
I don't think that you should stop.