Elpitha

[zinovia]

people on ff.net like it so far, so here it is.

in other news, I just finished the first chapter of my book! yay! the relevance to Elpitha? well when I was thinking of a name for my character in this fic, which would end up being the title of it, I used the name main character in my book. just his name, that is. the characters are completely separate/different. Elpitha is an actual greek (female) name that means "hope."

the main character in my book is named "Elpidas" which is not a name as far as I know.

[zinovia]

Elpitha: Chapter 1: Laundry Day

A/N: Here’s my attempt at a chapter fic. I prefer doing one-shots though. I guess I’ll see where this one goes. By the way, Elpitha means “hope” and is a Greek name, for those who are wondering.

An arm reached out to grab her as she ran. She brushed it away, stumbling a little as she quickened her pace. Her head was pounding in time with her heart. She didn’t know where to go, but she needed to get away. It was raining, pouring in fact. More attempts to stop her failed as she attempted to make her escape. Arms attempted to pull her into a hug, but she backed away. Who were these people? Why didn’t they let her go? They didn’t understand. They couldn’t.

It was pain unimaginable. It was infinite terror. Three wooden vessels making a six foot voyage into the unknown and her life was destroyed. There was nothing left for her in that place. She had to get away and quickly. Her head spun as she searched for an escape route. There was a building. Was that where she had come from in the first place? She couldn’t think. There was no time to think. She dashed into the building and ran straight up aisle. Three wooden vessels stopped her. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. It was a dream. It had to be a dream. It sunk in and she suddenly found it very difficult to stand on her own. Her hands were in her hair, and tears were in her eyes. She screamed and backed away, losing what was left of her balance. Strong arms lifted her. A soothing voice hushed her. It was a dream. It had to be a dream.

Elpitha sat up in bed. She took a deep, steadying breath, allowing the fresh morning air of the fall to ensnare her senses and bring her back to the present. It was another beautiful morning in Mineral Town. She stepped outside and took another deep breath. Fresh fall air, the poor man’s Prozac.

Elpitha stood on her porch, hand resting on the banister as she contemplated Mother Nature’s masterpiece. She saw a little chipmunk scurry out of its hole in her yard. A robin flew by with a worm in its mouth to its nest in a nearby tree. A bunny hopped shyly up to the front steps of her porch. Then, quite suddenly, a blue jay landed on her hand. Slowly and gently, Elpitha lifted her hand. The she quickly shook the bird off of her hand.

“What the hell?! Who am I? Freaking Cinderella?!” she exclaimed suddenly.

She shot a dirty look at the bunny, who had not come to her home empty handed. Quite the contrary, it had left little surprises for her all along her front walk. The chipmunk was digging up her flowers, and the robin’s offspring were going into a chorus of screeching that would make someone’s nails on a chalkboard sound like Beethoven’s Fifth.

“Disney, my lily white a...” she began, when she was stopped by a glare from her neighbor Saibara.

The old man stared her down as he waited for his grandson Gray to come to work that morning. Right on cue, Gray slouched around the corner, coming to a halt before his grandfather. Normally he barely gave Elpitha a sideways glance, but today he stood and stared, his cheeks tinged a slight pink. Elpitha suddenly remembered that she was still in her pajamas.

Perhaps “pajamas” was not really the word for it. Elpitha had been lazy about getting around to doing the laundry and had been forced to sleep in her underwear and bra the night before. Woopsies. With a quick glance downward she shot back in the house. Today was most definitely going to be a laundry day!

“Saibara sure looked shocked!” she thought sarcastically, “He probably saw something he doesn’t normally see at home.”

Saibara was an old bachelor and had been one for quite a while. His long white beard made up for his bald head in terms of hair. He was a little bit taller than Elpitha, although Elpitha was not all that tall herself. The only person Saibara saw at home was his grandson Gray when he came to work. The thought of Saibara’s dark eyes popping at the sight of Grey modeling her bra was enough to get a giggle out of Elpitha as she got dressed. A pair of faded blue jeans, old sneakers, and a T-shirt was sufficient for doing the laundry. She quickly roamed the house, collecting any clothing that needed to be washed which consisted of almost everything she owned. It would take her the whole day to get this done, but at least she would keep from flashing her neighbors in the future.

The sun was beginning to set as Elpitha joined her clothes in lying out in the grass to dry. She lay on her back, staring up at the clouds drifting away to be painted pink by the setting sun. Giggling woke Elpitha from her reverie. She lifted her head slightly to see a small girl in pigtails happily running towards the bank of the lake. She was wearing a red bathing suit and trampled all over Elpitha’s clean clothes to get to the lake. Elpitha put her head back down.

“Kids are so annoying. Glad I never was one. Don’t fall in and drown yourself now.” She thought sarcastically as she closed her eyes.

A splash and a scream made her snap them open once more. She turned her head quickly to see arms flailing and a set of pigtails barely managing to stay above the water’s surface.

“Holy crap! Did she read my mind? I didn’t mean it literally!” Elpitha thought as she jumped up.

She ran to the bank of the lake, wading into the water to where the girl was struggling. The child was terrified, and fought Elpitha, but Elpitha was not accustomed to being gentle in such situations. She grabbed the child roughly around the middle and dragged her out of the lake, dropping her among the clothing in the grass.

“May! Are you alright?! Are you hurt?!” Elpitha asked, grabbing May by the shoulder and giving her a small shake.

May’s only response was to burst into tears, her whole frame trembling in the effort. The child sat up and before Elpitha knew what was happening, had wrapped her arms around Elpitha’s middle. Elpitha wasn’t sure what to do exactly. She knew it was best to calm May down, but she didn’t know how. She gently pulled May into her lap and held her there while she contemplated what to say. It had to be something sympathetic that would make May feel safe and alleviate her fear.

“A blue jay crapped on my hand this morning.”

It looked like someone else was going to get the Nobel Prize for raising children that year. However, the line did its job. May stopped crying to look up at Elpitha with a puzzled expression. It was at this moment that Barley made his appearance.

“May! You shouldn’t run off like that! You had me worried sick.” Barley scolded as he approached them.

May got up and ran to her grandfather. He caught her up and she put her head on his shoulder.

“What happened?” Barley asked.

“She fell in. I pulled her out, though. She’s fine now, I think.” Elpitha said simply.

Barley instinctively clutched May closer. Then he freed up an arm to grab Elpitha’s hand and give it a hearty shake. His eyes were glistening with tears.

“Thank you so much for saving her! By the time I got here it probably would have been too late! How can I ever thank you enough?”

“It’s fine, really. There’s no need for that.” Elpitha replied nervously.

“No! I won’t hear of it!” Barley cried, taking up her hand once more. “I must do something for you in return. I have it! Come to the ranch tonight for dinner! I think I have something I can give you as a thank you. It can’t repay you for what you’ve done, but it’s something at least!”

Elpitha tried to wriggle out of the dinner invitation, but Barley refused to take “no” as an answer. At six o’clock Elpitha was strolling down the road to Barley’s ranch. The evening air gently lifted her hair as she slowly wandered to her destination, the song of the crickets filtering through her ears and making her glad that she had an excuse to be out to enjoy their serenade.

She knocked on the door, wondering just what kind of conversation she could possibly make with a five year old and a seventy year old who spend their days dealing with the business ends of cows and sheep. The door opened, but it wasn’t a kindly old man that met Elpitha’s eyes. A mildly surprised set of blue eyes and half raised eyebrows met them. A shock of spiky brown hair nearly brushed the top of the door frame as he stepped outside to see who had knocked on the door. Elpitha took a step back in shock.

Until next time…

[BorderWolf]

Great story so far, as I have said over on ff.net.

[moko]

ooh, i started to read this story on ff.net! i think that's what it's called.............

[Butterscotch]

I'm glad you're back, Zin! Great chapter! ^-^

[BorderWolf]

Yes it is Mel. I asked Zin to come back here and post the story. She is up to chapter 18 over on ff.net. I've told her that I liked one part of chapter 17. In a AIM I told her that there was one part of chapter 18 that I would of liked to comment on, but wasn't sure if I should. But someoneelse did comment.

[Firefly]

zinovia said:

people on ff.net like it so far, so here it is.

in other news, I just finished the first chapter of my book! yay! the relevance to Elpitha? well when I was thinking of a name for my character in this fic, which would end up being the title of it, I used the name main character in my book. just his name, that is. the characters are completely separate/different. Elpitha is an actual greek (female) name that means "hope."

the main character in my book is named "Elpidas" which is not a name as far as I know.

Cool ^^ I read that fanfic, and especially love it because I happen to be Greek myself...
And awesome job on the story! Its so cool!

[zinovia]

oh yeah? do you speak greek? when I use a greek name in my stories it's usually a hint to something, lol

i'm trying to figure out how often I'll post a chapter. I'm thinking once a week. I have 17 more already done and on ff.net, and another on the way. any suggestions?

[Firefly]

zinovia said:

oh yeah? do you speak greek? when I use a greek name in my stories it's usually a hint to something, lol

Yes, I do know some Greek, actually. I'm not as fluent as my mother or grandparents (they were born in Greece) but I know quite a bit. ^^
Also, one of my fanfics I've been writing (soon for be on ff.net) is about a Greek girl coming to Mineral Town.
Back on topic, I can't wait untill you post more chapters! Both here, and on ff.net.

[Candyapple]

*claps* good story so far. keep those chapters comeing!

[Entegy]

If she's up to Chapter 18 somewhere else, it shouldn't be a problem to get the others here. I'll do it myself if I have to.

[BorderWolf]

They are posted on fanfiction.net .

[zinovia]

Elpitha Chapter 2: An Old Friend and a New One

A/N: Here’s chapter 2! You’ll find out who is in the doorway this chapter, and perhaps a little more. To answer another question though (Krazie4Christ) Elpitha is just a character I made up. She lives where the vacant lot is in FoMT where you get the “town house.” I hope I didn’t make this one too long!

He was much taller than Elpitha, about a foot and a half taller in fact. His build was rather small for his height, and he was much paler than the typical sun-baked farmers that Elpitha was used to seeing around those parts. He looked down at her from the top of the steps before speaking.

“Hello.” He said simply.

His voice was on the deeper side. It didn’t take Elpitha long to recover from her initial shock.

“Barley, my how you’ve changed.” She said with a smirk.

“Oh! Elpitha, you’re here!” Barley cried, poking his head in the doorway suddenly.

Stepping outside, Barley patted the young man on the back.

“This is Jack! He just moved in around the corner from your house. Jack, this is Elpitha. You passed her house on the way here. Why don’t you two come in so we can get dinner started, and we can all get to know one another?”

Seated at a small table in Barley’s kitchen, Elpitha took notice of her surroundings. How strange was it that she had been in town for three years, and yet she had seen the inside of very few buildings? Barley’s home was very simple. A few sticks of furniture littered the kitchen. In the corner was a staircase leading up to the bedrooms. There was also a counter where Barley conducted his business during the day.

Barley and May faced each other while Jack sat across from Elpitha. As warm and comfortable as that kitchen was, Elpitha felt trapped. Barley had an annoying habit of trying to get the newcomers in town to know one another. She had spent many memorable days hiding from him during her first months in town. On one such occasion, Elpitha had found herself hiding behind the wine crates in Duke and Manna’s cellar for half a day. Manna will still eagerly tell anyone that she can trap long enough about the day her wine was so vibrant and full of life that she could actually hear the crates breathing. This time there was no way Elpitha could discreetly disappear, although she did keep eyeing underneath the table hopefully. Barley’s incessant attempts to keep the conversation going encouraged Jack to inquire more about Elpitha. She had yet to reveal much about herself to anyone in Mineral Town, and she wasn’t about to start.

“I want to do my best to build a successful farm.” Jack was saying. “My parents weren’t very happy with me moving all the way out here to take over some old man’s farm. I really wanted to do it though. I only met the man once when I was young, but the time I spent here really left its mark on me. How about you, Elpitha? What are your plans? How did you end up in this quiet little town?”

Elpitha repressed a groan. She looked up at Jack and thought for a bit before answering. She looked Jack in the face, although she didn’t quite meet his eyes. This was a usual habit for Elpitha. She didn’t often look a person in the eyes when she spoke to them, although she could if she forced herself. Now she found a nice spot on Jack’s nose to focus on as she answered him.

“I came here three years ago. It’s a peaceful little town and I don’t really have any plans.” She said.

“Wow. Well it is a nice place to settle down.” He said. “You must have made lots of friends here in three years!”

Elpitha shrugged.

“Was it tough settling down?” Jack asked.

“Not really. Gotz built my house in what used to be a vacant lot. I got odd jobs here and there to pay Gotz and to live off of. That’s about it.” Elpitha replied.

“It sounds like you had things under control. What made you move all the way out here?”

Elpitha looked down at her plate.

“No reason. I just wanted a change.”

“Well did your parents give you as much trouble as mine did? I mean, I don’t know how I managed to get away finally! Were yours very upset? I really feel like I’m going to have to do a great job on this farm to justify my leaving. So how about you? Any siblings?”

Elpitha continued to look at her plate. Her heart was pounding and a familiar image was forcing itself into her mind. She could not follow this path. Nervously running her fingers through her hair, she turned to May.

“You’re not eating! What’s the matter? Not hungry?” She asked.

“Oh, she’s just had a long day! We’re very thankful to you, though! May, don’t you want to say thank you to Elpitha for saving you? We have a hero in our midst, Jack!” Barley laughed.

“Really? What happened?” Jack asked.

“She saved May from drowning today. You were a bit careless, weren’t you May? You were lucky Elpitha was there.” Barley said reproachfully.

Elpitha had reached her limit. She glanced at the door.

“It wasn’t anything special. I couldn’t very well leave her there!”

“Well it’s nice to know I have a lifeguard living so nearby!” Jack laughed.

Elpitha stood up, nearly knocking over the table in the process.

“I um, have to get going.” She said nervously. “It’s late and I have to get up early to ah, to see, I ah, have an appointment with the doctor to…”

She turned towards the door, but a tiny hand grabbed hers. Elpitha turned to see a pair of dark eyes staring up at her with an expression that would have melted permafrost. May gave her hand a tug.

“Are you leaving already? Please don’t go yet! I want you to stay!” She said with a shaky voice.

Elpitha sat down with a sigh. She had failed to make her escape and now she would have to live with her foolishness through the rest of the evening. She could have sworn that a twinkle appeared in Barley’s eyes and a small smirk played across his lips for a split second.

“Oh go milk a cow, you old meddler!” Elpitha thought crossly as she attempted to act as if the past minute never happened.

The rest of the dinner passed rather smoothly, although it seemed to last an eternity to Elpitha. As the evening was drawing to a close, and as Elpitha was raising her hopes that she would be able to escape soon, Barley reminded her of the promise that he had made.

“It’s getting late, so why don’t I get that gift I promised you!” He said happily.

Elpitha sighed. She didn’t want any gifts. The only thing she really wanted was to get out of there as soon as possible. However, Barley had already grabbed her hand and was dragging her into his barn. He led her into a corner where she saw a dog lying in a bed of straw. A closer inspection revealed five wriggling bundles of fur in the bed of straw as well.

“Last time I brought Hannah with me into town she…erm…met a friend! Nine weeks later, here we are! I’m taking them into town tomorrow to give away, but I thought maybe you would like one as a thank you.”

“A dog? I…I couldn’t…”

“Of course you can! I’m sure you could use some company after living by yourself for so long! Choose one! I insist!” Barley cried, giving Elpitha a shove towards the puppies.

Elpitha looked down at the squirming fur-balls doubtfully. What was she going to do with a dog? Which one should she take? Just as the thought of blindly grabbing at the bed of straw crossed her mind, one of the puppies wriggled its way out of the bed. Much to Elpitha’s surprise, it ran to her and began pawing at her legs. She hesitated for a moment before bending down and picking the puppy up. It was a white puppy with a few light brown spots. As soon as Elpitha picked it up, it wagged its tail happily before curling up in her arms to take a nap.

“It looks like one of the pups chose you!” Barley laughed.

“Yeah. I’ll take this one then.” Elpitha said, giving the puppy a small smile.

Jack was waiting for them with May in his lap as they entered the house once more.

“Hey! You got a puppy!” Jack said. “I just got one myself from a neighbor the day before moving here! Now he can have a friend! I noticed that there aren’t many dogs in this town.”

“Sure, I guess. I don’t want her to get lonely.” Elpitha said, stroking the puppy. “It’s getting late. I should go.”

“Why don’t you walk her home Jack? It’s on your way, after all!” Barley suggested.

Elpitha glared at Barley, and he smiled at her in return.

“Of course, that won’t be a problem at all!” Jack said with a smile of his own.

The cool night breeze gently pushed Elpitha and Jack towards their destination. Elpitha still cradled the puppy in her arms.

“So what are you gonna name her?” Jack asked.

Elpitha thoughtfully cuddled the puppy in her arms. She looked down at the warm little creature resting peacefully. For a moment she allowed her mind to drift. It traveled only for a short while before it found its destination, and Elpitha smiled. It was a small smile, as soft and warm as the puppy she cradled, and yet it was also just a little sad. Elpitha had stopped walking, and all at once she spoke.

“Mikri…” she said in a whisper that was barely audible.

“Mee…Kree?” Jack repeated in an effort to pronounce it the same way. “What does that mean?”

“Little one.” Elpitha said softly, the smile still on her lips.

She continued slowly down the path, and Jack followed. As Elpitha’s mind slowly found its way back, she glanced up to notice Jack looking at her thoughtfully. That was enough to snap her back to reality. She quickened her pace and they were soon at her front gate.

“Goodnight Elpitha.” Jack said, and Elpitha freed up a hand so that he could shake it. “I’m not sure why…but even though we just met, I don’t feel awkward with you. There was no need to break the ice at all. Strange!”

“Strange…” Elpitha repeated, as she backed down the path to her front steps. “Goodnight. Thanks. Thanks for walking me home!”

Before drifting off to sleep later on that night, Elpitha stared up at the ceiling. She was thinking, but something disturbed her thoughts. Mikri was crying and trying to wriggle out of the little bed Elpitha had made for her in a corner of the room. Elpitha sighed and got out of bed. She returned with the puppy in her arms, and content to be near her new master, the pup curled up next to Elpitha and fell asleep. Elpitha was able to rejoin her former thoughts. Slowly the peace and calm of the night began to work its magic, and Elpitha fell asleep with a single thought to ease her mind. He hadn’t recognized her…

Until next time…

[BorderWolf]

Great chapter Zin!

[Candyapple]

ooh... interesting! MORE! ;D