I woke up to the sound of Apollo standing next to the bed, and growling at something out the window. When I Looked outside, I noticed someone, or something standing next to the mailbox, before quickly disappearing.
Apollo and I just looked at eachother, as if to say "You saw that too, right?" before I got out of bed, and went outside to check the mailbox. Sure enough, there was something inside. A letter from someone named M. Rasmodius. "That's... Quite a name." I said, before reading the letter.
My sources tell me you've been poking around inside the old community center.
Why don't you pay me a visit?
My chambers are west of the forest lake in the stone tower. I may have information concerning your... 'Rat problem'.
-M. Rasmodius, Wizard
"Whatever those things are, I know for sure that they ain't rats... But maybe this 'Wizard' guy can help me to figure out what exactly they are." I thought, grabbing my backpack, and notebook, and heading towards Cindersap Forest.
(Small time skip)
After quite a bit of walking, I eventually found a tower. "I hope this is the one Rasmodius was talking about... It's the only one I've come across so far." I said, before walking up the steps of the tower.
Just as I was about to knock on the door, it swung open, and a loud voice said "Come in."
And at that, I wanted to turn right around and leave, but I didn't come this far for nothing, so I fearfully stepped inside.
While looking around, I noticed that there was some sort of summoning circle, and a large cauldron in the middle of the room, filled with a smelly green liquid. "Ew..." I thought, plugging my nose, before a man with a purple beard, and wearing a black cowboy hat suddenly appeared in the room.
I jumped slightly, quickly unplugging my nose, before the man started speaking.
"I am Rasmodius... Seeker of the arcane truths, Mediary between physical and ethereal, master of the seven elementals, keeper of the sacred cha-... You get the point." He said, waving his hand in the air, before pausing, and walking closer to me.
"At least he knows when to stop talking about himself." I thought.
"And you... Willow. The one who's arrival I have long foreseen. Here. I'd like to show you something." He said, before walking over to the big summoning circle, and saying "Behold!" as one of those little apple creatures appeared on the circle, squirming, and "Peeping" as if it was scared of the wizard.
"You've seen one before, haven't you?" He asked, pointing to the creature, at which, I simply nodded, fearing what the man might do to the little apple.
"They call themselves the 'Junimos'... Mysterious spirits, these ones... For some reason, they refuse to speak with me..." The purple haired man said, before making the apple disappear.
"Maybe the Junimos refuse to speak to you because you force them to sit in your little summoning circle... And who knows what else you do to them?" I thought sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"I'm not sure why they've moved into the community center, but you have no reason to fear them." The wizard said with a shrug.
"I... Figured as much..." I thought, before taking out my notebook, and writing "I saw this weird glowing box with a golden scroll inside of it... Had no clue what it said though... Y'know anything about that?"
After pausing to look at the note for a bit, the man said "Hmmm? You found a golden scroll written in an unknown language? Most interesting..." to which I nodded.
"Stay here. I'm going to see for myself. I'll return shortly." The wizard said, before doing a little twirl, and suddenly disappearing.
"What the-?" I thought, looking around a bit, before the door to the tower suddenly opened, and the man entered. "WHAT THE-?!" I thought, covering my mouth and clinging to the chest part of my hoodie.
"This man's gonna give me a heart attack!" I thought, feeling my heart thumping hard in my chest.
"I found the note... The language is obscure, but I was able to decipher it." He said, before reading the note.
We, the Junimos, are happy to aid you. In return, we ask for gifts of the valley. If you are one with the forest then you will see the true nature of this scroll.
After reading, the wizard walked over to the big cauldron, and whispered "Hmm... 'One with the forest'... What do they mean?" before sniffing whatever was inside the large pot. "Ah-ha!" He said excitedly, before telling me to come closer to where he was standing.
Against my better judgment, I did what I was told.
"My cauldron is bubbling with ingredients from the forest. Baby fern, moss grub, caramel-top toadstool... Can you smell it?" he asked, to which I once again nodded, feeling like I wanted to puke.
"Here. Drink up. Let the essence of the forest permeate your body." The man said, handing me a small cup filled with the green liquid.
At first, I just stood there, holding the cup, and looking at the wizard as if he had grown a second head. "You want me to WHAT?!" I thought, before pausing for a bit to look at the nasty smelling drink, and once again, against my better judgment, I quickly drank it, before immediately feeling like I wanted to spit it back up.
I held my stomach, and covered my mouth for a few seconds, before my vision started to turn green.
"W- what is happening?" I thought, feeling like my head was spinning, as I started to see trees floating around the room.
"Woaohohohoho... Don't do drugs, kids... This is one heck of a trip..." I thought, leaning against a wall, and sliding down to the floor.
"What the... Heck was in that green stuff...?" I thought, before my vision suddenly went black.
The next thing I knew, I was at home, laying on my porch.
"Uuuuugggghhhh... My head... What happened?" I mumbled, slowly sitting up, and rubbing my head.
My head started hurting much more when Apollo started barking, and licking my face.
"I'm... Happy to see you too, buddy... But can you not be so loud?" I whined, hugging the large dog to keep myself upright for a bit, before slowly standing up, trudging into the house, and flopping onto the bed. "I feel like death..." I mumbled into my pillow.
At this point, I had decided to just give up any plans I might have had, and crash for the rest of the day.
(The next day)
I was relieved to wake up to the sound of rain hitting the window. "I guess the plants are taken care of for today." I said, before pausing for a moment to think "Wait... I didn't water them yesterday... Or the day before... For crying out loud! They might be dead!" before jumping out of bed, and swinging the door open, only to be surprised to see that my plants weren't actually dead. "Wait... What?" I said as I noticed a small piece of paper sitting next to one of my crops. It was a little wet because of the rain, but luckily, I could still read it.
We noticed that you were having a rough day, and figured we could help you out a little.
-The Junimos
"Awww. Those little apple dudes made sure my crops didn't die while I was... On some kinda drug." I laughed, before pausing for a bit, and looking back at the note. "Wait... I could read that... That stuff that the wizard gave me actually worked?!" I yelled, slightly confused, but mostly happy. "I can understand Junimos now!" I said, jumping with joy.
"Okay, I can't tell anyone about this, or they might think I'm insane... Well, except for Sam, Abi, and Seb. They've seen the kind of weird stuff that lives around here, so they might not think I'm crazy." I thought, taking my phone out of my pocket.
(text chat)
🔇🇳🐝🤠: Yo, I can talk to apples now.
🎵He-Was-A-Skater-Boi🛹: What did Seb give you, and why isn't he sharing it with the rest of the class?
🦇The_Local_vampire🩸: hey! i didn't give them anything!
🪨Rock.Nibbler😋: Either way, what is the farmer smoking?
🔇🇳🐝🤠: I didn't smoke anything! I drank some green stuff that the wizard gave me, and now I can understand Junimos!
🪨Rock.Nibbler😋: The wizard? That old guy in the tower in Cindersap Forest?
🎵He-Was-A-Skater-Boi🛹: Junimos? Those little things from the Junimo kart game at the saloon?
🦇The_Local_vampire🩸: Hotel? Trivago.
🔇🇳🐝🤠: Ha!😆
🔇🇳🐝🤠: Anyway... Yeah, I can talk to Junimos now, thanks to the wizard.
🦇The_Local_vampire🩸: didn't even know junimos were real, honestly, but after the stuff we've seen... wouldn't be surprised.
🔇🇳🐝🤠: That's why I told you guys in the first place. I knew you wouldn't think I was crazy!
🔇🇳🐝🤠: But please don't tell anyone else.
🎵He-Was-A-Skater-Boi🛹: Got it, fam.
🪨Rock.Nibbler😋: Your secret's safe with us!
🔇🇳🐝🤠: Cool! Thanks, guys!
(End text chat)
"Well, that went better than I expected." I said, chuckling at the joke Sebastian made, before deciding to sneak over to the mines.
"Now, I kinda wanna see what that path was that Sam opened up, since I don't really have anything better to do." I thought.
(Small time skip)
When I got to the mines, I looked for the path to the right of the exit, and followed it.
To my surprise, there was someone there. They were rather short, and they wore a brown hood over their head. The only part of their face I could see were two glowing red eyes.
"Woah. Who's this little dude?" I thought, walking over to the person, and waving.
They just looked up at me, before saying something in a language that I couldn't understand.
"Oh, come on! First the Junimos, and now this dude?" I thought, before the little fella took out some random objects, put them onto a nearby table, pointed to them, and then at me.
"Huh?" I thought, crouching down to the little guy's level, before trying to reach out and grab one of the objects, before the mystery person quickly slapped my hand. "OW! What was that about?!" I thought, rubbing my now wounded hand with my other one.
After an awkwardly long pause, I looked at the stuff on the table, then at the person, before slowly taking some money out of my pocket, pointing at the stuff, then at the money, to which the little guy happily nodded, and did little grabby hands.
"Ooooooohhh! So they want me to buy something!" I thought, looking at the pile of stuff.
"Hmmm... That scarecrow could be useful... Kinda funny that it looks exactly like the dude selling it. Do they really think they're that scary looking?" I thought, with a silent laugh, before pointing to the scarecrow, and handing them some money.
After buying the scarecrow, I waved at the little guy, then left the mines.
"Man, I wasn't planning on getting this today, but it's kinda cool that I did. Now I can protect my crops from crows!" I thought happily, making my way home, before sending a selfie of myself with my new scarecrow to the group chat for fun.
(text chat)
🎵He-Was-A-Skater-Boi🛹: Lol. Where'd you get the dwarf scarecrow?
🔇🇳🐝🤠: ???
🎵He-Was-A-Skater-Boi🛹: Your scarecrow. It looks like a dwarf.
🪨Rock.Nibbler😋: You don't know what a dwarf is, and yet you have... That?
🔇🇳🐝🤠: So THAT'S what that dude that I bought this from was?!
🪨Rock.Nibbler😋: YOU BOUGHT THAT FROM A DWARF?!
🔇🇳🐝🤠: Yeah. Cute little dude in the mines. In the area that Sam blew up with one of his cherry bombs.
🦇The_Local_vampire🩸: ?!
🎵He-Was-A-Skater-Boi🛹: Cool! I unknowingly dug up a dwarf!
🦇The_Local_vampire🩸: why is it that ever since the farmer moved in, we've been running into a lot more monsters and magical creatures than we ever did before they came here? and they've only been here for 1 season! not even a whole one, might I add!
🔇🇳🐝🤠: I'm just special like that.😉
🎵He-Was-A-Skater-Boi🛹: Was your life this exciting before you came here?
🔇🇳🐝🤠: No.❤️
🔇🇳🐝🤠: I had an office job that I got fired from pretty quickly.
🔇🇳🐝🤠: I'm pretty sure Seb already knows this story.
🎵He-Was-A-Skater-Boi🛹: Oof.
🦇The_Local_vampire🩸: as the person you spent most of your time venting to, after you got fired... yeah, i know...😥
🔇🇳🐝🤠: Sorry about that Sebby.😅
🦇The_Local_vampire🩸:👍
🔇🇳🐝🤠: Well, I have things to do, now that I have a new scarecrow. TTYL!
(End text chat)
(Four days later)
After selling some of my crops, and saving some for myself, I noticed that I needed some more seeds. "Great... Forced social interaction with people I hardly know..." I thought, rolling my eyes, before heading towards Pierre's.
"Hey! It's farmer willow!" The man said with a wave as I entered the store. I waved back before starting to look for seeds.
While searching, I happened to hear the door open. I didn't really care because I just assumed it was someone else going shopping, but I almost dropped my handful of seed packets when I saw who was at the door.
I had hoped that I'd never have to hear from this person again.
"I'd know that stupid little red bowtie, smug grin, and rediculous haircut anywhere." I thought, suddenly feeling like my day had been ruined.
"Morris..." I whispered sneeringly, before getting back to what I was doing.
It was kinda hard to pay attention when Morris was yelling to the customers to buy his joja coupons or something, but I ignored it, and went to pay for my seeds.
As I made eye contact with Pierre, I noticed that he looked kinda scared, as if Morris had threatened him in some way, which, in all honesty, I wouldn't have been surprised by in the slightest. I looked at him with a sorta "You good?" expression, to which he simply nodded, then looked back at Morris. As he did, I could swear that I felt eyes burning a hole in the back of my head... Even through my hood. "Hello, valued customer. Would you like a-" Morris started, before I turned to face him, staring daggers at him as I did so.
For a moment, he stood silent, seeming as if he didn't recognise me... But after a while, it seemed like something had clicked. "Oh... You..." He said in a disgusted tone, looking me up and down. "The mute that couldn't even last a few days working at Joja. It's a shame, really. You were a good employee... But you just had to screw something up." The man said smugly.
"It was my brother who screwed it up... Not ME!" I thought, clenching my fists, as I felt tears in my eyes, but tried my hardest not to let them fall.
Before things could get any worse, I quickly paid for my seeds, and left the store, making sure to subtly hit Morris on the way out (Not hard enough to do damage... Just hard enough to tell him what I think of him).
He started yelling at me, but I wasn't listening. I just wanted to get as far away from him as I could. Though, I did look back for a second, only to see Pierre trying his hardest to hold back a laugh. "At least someone that isn't Morris is in a better mood." I thought, before sprinting towards the beach to do some fishing... Or at least attempt to fish while sitting on the dock and getting some peace and quiet.
As I got to the dock, I noticed a familiar looking shadow standing on the edge.
A part of me didn't want to bother him, because I knew he liked to be alone... And I just wanted to at least try to catch some fish... But another part of me was worried about just how close he was to the edge of that dock.
As I got closer, I could see that the toe of his shoes were actually off the dock.
As I looked at him, thinking of what to do, something in the back of my mind was just screaming at me to at least make sure he's okay... So that's what I did.
I walked over to the edge of the dock, making sure to make a little bit of noise so that he knew I was there, and I wouldn't accidentally make him fall off.
When I got to the edge, he looked at me, with an expression that I knew just a little too well.
His eyes looked like they had hardly any life left in them... The cloudy sky didn't really help that either.
And it was hard to notice at first, but after a while, I noticed that he was slowly swaying back and forth on his heels, as he looked back at the ocean.
At first, I thought that maybe it was just the old dock moving because of how hard the waves were hitting it, but... That wasn't the case.
After a while, he stopped, looked down at the water, and quietly asked "If I just disappeared would it really matter?" more towards himself than anyone in particular.
"Where in the name of Yoba did that come from?!" I thought, now very quickly finding out why Sebastian was standing at the dock in the first place.
"Sorry... Got stuck in a dark place for a sec... Usually, being out here helps with that, but... Well..." He paused to let out a sigh, before continuing.
"For some reason, staring off into the bleak horizon makes me feel... I dunno. Like it's worthwhile to keep pushing on, I guess."
"Jeez, I knew things were bad for him, but... I didn't think it was this bad..." I thought, looking at him, then at the ocean.
After a little while, he sat down, and motioned for me to do the same.
I quietly sighed, and thought "Well, at least he's less likely to fall off while sitting." before sitting down next to him, and continuing to look at the waves.
At this point, I had completely forgotten about fishing.
"I-... I know it's probably stupid to ask, but... Are you-... Are you okay?" I forced myself to whisper, knowing that it wasn't a good idea to take out my phone or notebook in this weather.
For a few seconds, Sebastian just looked at me, shock written all over his face, before he quietly chuckled, and said "Would you assume I was ever really 'okay'?"
After a bit of thinking, I just shrugged, not really knowing how to answer that, before quietly asking "Y- ya wanna t- talk about it?"
"There's not really much to talk about... My family life sucks, I'm stressed out about the flower dance tomorrow... Basically everyone in town acts like I don't even exist, other than Sam, Abi, and... Well...You."
"Flower dance? What's tha-... That is not important right now. That's what that is!" I thought, continuing to listen to what Seb had to say.
"I built a snowgoon one time, but Demetrius made me get rid of it... yet Maru's cute little snowman goes unharmed! Ridiculous." He mumbled, once again talking more to himself rather than me.
"Sorry, I- I'm rambling, aren't I?" He said, hugging his knees to his chest.
"If you... Need to ramble, go ahead. I- I ain't stopping ya. If there's anything you wanna say... I'm all ears." I whispered with a shrug.
After a short pause, Seb quietly said "I was thinking... people are like stones skipping over the water. Eventually we're going to sink."
"Boy, do I feel that sometimes... No... I can't be negative right now..." I thought, taking a small rock that I was going to use to build something, out of my backpack, and whispering "Yeah. It's unfortunately true... Some people do end up sinking... But... If you're lucky..." I paused, throwing the rock to my left, and to my surprise, watching it skip over the water, and land on the other side of the dock, close to Willy's shop.
"Ya might be able to keep your head above water until you can get out of it."I said, not noticing that I was now speaking above a whisper.
"Or..." I once again paused, ripping a piece of paper out of my notebook, folding it into a little boat, taking another rock out of my backpack, placing it into the boat, then putting the boat into the water, before continuing. "You could find someone who could help you stay afloat." I said with a chuckle, knowing that I had just destroyed Seb's sad little metaphor, and replaced it with one that... Could definitely use some work... But I thought it was good enough at the time.
After a pause, Seb looked at me, then at the boat I made, and quietly laughed.
"Okay, first of all... That skip that you did was just a lucky shot." He paused, as I said with a chuckle "I've never skipped a rock a day in my life, so, yeah... I'd say it was. I was happy it made it too, otherwise my metaphor would not have worked out at all."
I then paused to let him continue.
"A.) ... That's actually really impressive... B.) Even if I did get help. What if I just end up pulling the other person down with me?" He said sarcastically, gesturing to the little boat that was now starting to sink, thanks to the weight of the rock.
"Oh... I- I didn't think that far ahead..." I whispered, as I watched the boat sink, and disappear into the ocean.
"I just... Made your whole 'every rock sinks' thing... So much worse... Didn't I?" I asked, biting my fingernail nervously.
"Nah, I get what you were saying." Sebastian said, pausing to whisper "Literally, because you actually spoke up for once." before continuing with a chuckle. "But maybe... Use something a little more buoyant than paper to prove your point."
"It was all I had that could float..." I whined quietly, covering my face with my hands.
"Heh. Well, luckily, I was still able to get the message you were trying to send..." Seb said, putting his hand on my shoulder, before continuing. "It's good to know that I have two or three paper boats to keep me afloat." He said with an awkward smile.
I just stared at him for a moment.
"Sam, Abi, and I?" I asked, to which Seb just nodded, the smile on his face getting slightly bigger as he did so.
"That's really cute. We're your little paper boats." I said, laughing quietly.
"Nah. It's... It's kinda stupid, but... Well, whatever floats your boat, I guess." Seb said with a shrug. "Also, this would imply that I'm your rock, and... I don't really know if that works." He continued.
"No, wait! It kinda does...! I mean, you kept me mostly sane, and... In a slightly better mood than usual, while I was living in the city, so... In a way... You were... My rock." I said, looking out at the sea, and realizing how stupid the words coming out of my mouth actually were.
When I glanced back at Sebastian, I noticed that his face had turned a light shade of pink.
"I-... Uh... Yeah, that was stupid..." I said, scratching the back of my neck.
"Forget I said that..." I mumbled, before things went silent.
The only things that could be heard were the waves and some seagulls... That is, until Sebastian started laughing quietly.
"What?" I asked, tilting my head.
"I was the only thing that made you happy in the city? Really?" The boy asked sarcastically.
"Well, when you live in a small apartment with two homophobic transphobic and very religious family members that don't really know much about you, nor really care to learn, and you know that if you try to tell them about the fact that you aren't straight, or cis, they'll just end up starting a fight... And you can't really talk to anyone else about it, because you don't really have any friends, other than maybe... One or two online friends that you hardly ever actually talk to, so you're stuck sitting alone, in your own head, hoping to someday get out, and live your own life, where no one will get mad at you for merely existing... Heh... Great. I started ranting about myself when I came here to help you... Well, uh... That wasn't the entire reason I came here, but... Ugh... You get my point." I said, slightly feeling like I wanted to toss myself into the ocean now.
"Wow, that was... A lot all at once..." Sebastian said, eyes wide, and looking slightly confused.
"I'm so sorry for trauma dumping on you like that. It just... Happens sometimes. I get too comfortable with people, and then I end up saying things that don't need to be said... I think that's the reason I only had two online friends... Heh..." I said, feeling more awkward the more I spoke.
"Heh. Good to know you feel comfortable around me at least." Seb said.
"Yeah, I guess that's true... Well, if you ever have anything else you need to vent about... Like I said before, I'm all ears." I said with a shrug.
"I think I've said all that needed to be said at the moment. Just stressed about family life, or just... Life in general, and... That stupid flower dance." Sebastian said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh! Speaking of that, What exactly... Is that?" I asked.
"Oh. I probably should have known that you wouldn't know what that is... The flower dance is just this thing where everyone gets together, and the older folk just stand around and watch the younger people do this stupid dance to some really boring music..." Seb said.
"Heh. Sounds like a blast... It's a shame that I don't really know how to dance." I said sarcastically.
"I don't either, but we've done this dance so many times that I basically have it burned into my memory by now." The black haired boy said.
"Oh? Would you be willing to teach me?" I asked jokingly.
For a moment, Sebastian looked surprised that I would even ask something like that, as his face turned a little more red. "Uh... I- um... It's getting kinda late, but... I mean... I..." He stuttered.
"Sebby, I'm kidding. I wouldn't ask you to teach me how to dance on such short notice." I said with a laugh, honestly expecting him to just say no, and end it there.
"Uh...Hehe... Yeah. Right... Um... Speaking of... Are you... Going to the flower dance tomorrow?" He asked, looking down at the water, stuffing his hands into his pockets, and partially hiding his face behind his hood.
"Well, since I'm part of the 'younger' crowd, what else would there be for me to do, other than dancing?" I asked, shrugging.
"Well, um... There's usually stuff there to eat before the dance, and... Well you could just watch it like all the old people." Seb said, still trying not to make eye contact with me.
"Ew. I don't wanna be reminded that I'm alone, and slowly aging... But if the dance is as embarrassing as you make it seem, I might actually watch." I said with a chuckle.
"Oh, thanks. You're just going to watch me looking stupid." Seb said sarcastically.
After a pause, I said with a laugh "It ain't just you. Sam, Abi, and all the other young folk are gonna look just as stupid."
Sebastian groaned, and said "I don't wanna look dumb in front of old farts again... And one slightly younger fart." before elbowing me.
"Hey! I'm only in my early twenties! I'm not old enough to be called an 'old fart' yet." I said, pushing him lightly.
After that, the two of us just sat there for a while, joking and laughing until it was time to go home. We were lucky that I got there when I did...
Otherwise, only one of us would have gone home safe that day.
(The next day)
"Guess who gets to watch a bunch of people make idiots of themselves today... That's right! Me!" I said happily, scratching Apollo behind his ears, before heading out of the house.
"Okay, so... The mayor said that the dance is taking place somewhere in Cindersap Forest... Hopefully it's not as hard to find as the Wizard's tower was." I said, running into the forest.
After a bit of searching, I came across a small bridge made of a few wooden planks, and stupidly decided to look down at the gap that the bridge was crossing.
"That is a... T- that is quite a drop..." I stuttered, hearing music on the other side.
"That's where the dance is taking place?! Everyone went over this dinky little bridge?!" I thought, absolutely shocked that this bridge could hold that many people... Including George.
"Okay, just... J-ust don't look down." I whispered, slowly crossing the bridge, feeling light headed, and feeling my knees going weak. "I hate heights so much." I whined quietly, before falling onto my hands and knees on the other side of the bridge.
"I have to do that again when I go home... Yoba have mercy on me... And everyone else..." I thought, slowly getting up, dusting myself off, and walking towards the flower dance.
"At least I don't have to dance..." I thought.
When I got to the area that the dance was taking place, Sam and Abi almost immediately waved me over.
"Hey, farmer! Wasn't sure if you were gonna show up." Abi said.
I just took out my notebook, and wrote "The bridge is a nightmare." with an awkward smile.
"Yeah, I know. Ya should have seen Alex trying to get George over that thing." Sam said, laughing.
"So, ya gonna dance with someone?" Abi asked, before I shook my head, and wrote "Nope. Just came here to watch."
"Ugh. Lucky. We're all stuck being forced to dance. Our parents make us do this every year." Abi said, rolling her eyes, and slouching slightly.
"Who are you guys dancing with?" I wrote, tilting my head.
"I usually dance with Penny." Sam said, as Sebastian and Abigail just pointed at each other.
"Ah." I thought, looking around a bit.
The place looked really pretty with all the flowers, so I figured I'd just walk around a bit before the dance. I waved at the trio, then went on my way.
As I walked, I heard Jas and Vincent arguing about something, and figured I'd see what was up.
"You can't be the flower queen! You're a boy!" Jas said angrily.
"But I wanna be the flower queen!" Vincent said, stomping a few times.
I quietly chuckled at the children's argument, before walking over to them.
"What's up, kiddos?" I wrote, crouching down to their level.
"Jas says I can't be the flower queen because I'm a boy..." Vincent said with a big pout.
"Aww..." I thought, before writing. "Vince, you can be whatever you wanna be. Your gender doesn't define you."
The kids both looked up at me, before jas said 'It's just weird for a boy to be the queen. You never see queens or princesses in story books that are boys... It's the same thing for girl princes too." crossing her arms.
"Wasn't there a show or something about a woman that was a king, or... Something like that?" I thought before shrugging.
"Well, what if someone like me wanted to be the flower queen?" I wrote with an awkward smile.
"You can't be, because you're also a bo-... Wait, no... You're a... What are you again?" Jas asked, tilting her head.
"Um... A Non-bunny, or something... Right?" Vincent said with a shrug.
I had to try to hold back a laugh at the mispronunciation.
"You're close! It's 'Nonbinary'! Do you remember what that means?" I wrote, covering my mouth with my hand.
"It means you're not a boy, or a girl, right?" Jas said, looking at the ground, most likely feeling bad that she called me a boy earlier.
I nodded, and smiled. "That's right! So, would I be able to be the flower queen or king?" I wrote.
"Uh... Um... Maybe?" Jas said with a shrug.
"Your gender doesn't define you!" Vincent said, rather loudly, copying what I had told him earlier.
I suddenly felt a lot of eyes on me. I looked around awkwardly, noticing a few people looking at me and the kids. George was even glaring at me.
"Okay... This is uncomfortable..." I thought, looking back at the kids, and noticing that they had a similar look to what I had. Like myself, they looked like they had done something wrong, and were worried they were going to be punished.
After a pause, I quickly wrote "Vince, if you wanna be the flower queen, all power to ya!" then gave the kids a pat on the head before running back to where Sam, Seb, and Abi were, as everyone else went back to doing whatever it was they were doing.
"Did it get creepily silent around here a second ago, or was I just imagining things?" Sam asked as I got back to the group.
"Your little bro yelled something about gender not being a defining trait, then everyone went quiet. Weird, huh?" Abi said.
"Gotta love transphobia." Sebastian said sarcastically.
"Well, Vince has always wanted to be the flower queen." Sam said, looking as if he was thinking about something.
Just then, the mayor started telling people that if they were going to join the dance, then they should get to the center of the field, meaning that I was once again going to be alone.
"See ya after the dance!" Abi said, waving at me.
Once everyone got in place, the music started, and everyone started dancing, while I just sat in the corner of one of the fences, watching the dance.
To my surprise, Sebastian wasn't nearly as bad at dancing as he made me assume.
In fact, he and Abi danced quite well together, and so did everyone else.
As I sat there, I noticed the two kids, who were where all the older adults were, and they were trying to copy the dance.
The only difference was that the roles were reversed. Jas was doing the guy's part, and Vince was doing the girl's part.
"Hehehe... Maybe he really could be a flower queen." I thought, watching everyone dancing.
(Later that day)
When everyone started going home, the trio and I decided to stay behind and chat for a bit.
I ended up telling Sam about what his little brother was yelling about, which caused him to laugh when I wrote about the bit where George glared at me. "Heh. Yeah, he's... Kind of a homophobe." the blonde said.
"Kinda? If looks could kill, I'd probably be dead by now." I thought with an awkward smile.
At one point after that, Seb ended up mentioning his visit to the dock, and accidentally mentioned the fact that I talked to him.
"Wait. Like a full on conversation? Not on paper?" Abi asked, looking rather shocked.
"We've heard them talk before." Seb said with a sigh.
"Yeah, but not out loud! They've only ever whispered." Sam said, crossing his arms, seeming almost jealous that I've only ever talked 'out loud' to Sebastian.
"Big whoop, they only feel comfortable talking around me. They've known me longer than they've known you guys. Heck, you guys remember how I was when I first started talking to you. I was mostly quiet at first, but then ended up getting a little louder around Sam... Then later on, I did the same with Abi... These things take time." Sebastian said with a sigh.
"Great. The last thing we needed was another Sebastian." Abi said jokingly, to which Seb just glared at her.
"Again... If looks could kill..." I thought, nervously.
"Well, I'm heading home before my dad... Or Seb... Kills me." Abi said, before taking off towards Pierre's.
"Yeah, I might as well do the same. It's getting late." Sam said, stretching, then walking towards his home.
After a pause, Sebastian mumbled "Those two... I swear to Yoba."
"Quite a handful, huh?" I laughed.
"Yep... I have to deal with them almost every day..." Sebastian sighed.
"Heh. Thanks for explaining the whole 'I can't talk to people I'm not comfortable with' situation... I don't usually know how to put it into writing." I said, scratching the back of my head.
"No problem... Uh... I was gonna ask if you'd want me to walk you home, since... It's on the way to my place from here, but..." He started, before pausing mid sentence.
"Well, if you're going the same way, then why not? It would be weird to say 'bye', and then basically end up following each other home." I laughed.
"Ugh, I hate that so much. I think it was kinda part of the reason I asked if I could walk with you."
"Hey, if it makes things less awkward for the both of us, I'm all for it." I said with a shrug, before starting to walk towards home.
After a bit of walking, I paused. "Oh no... I forgot about that..." I mumbled.
Sebastian, who was already halfway across the bridge, turned around to look at me. "You okay?" He asked, as I looked at him, then at his feet. "One wrong move, and-..." I whispered to myself fearfully.
Seb then followed where I was looking, before saying with a shrug "Yeah, this bridge sucks, doesn't it? But we kinda use it every year, and no one's died yet." before doing a little hop.
I looked on in fear as the old boards creaked underneath him. "Don't do that!" I said, before he laughed, and continued crossing the bridge. "See? It's totally safe." He said sarcastically, standing on the other side.
I once again began to feel light headed, as I slowly got closer to the bridge.
"Don't look down... Don't look down... Don't look down..." I thought, slowly putting my feet onto the boards.
My heart dropped as I felt my foot slip through a hole between the boards. "AH!" I yelped, as my arms started flailing, trying to grab for something... Anything...
But there was nothing to grab onto.
I slipped, fell, and saw my whole life flash before my eyes.
"Nonono! Not again!" Sebastian said, quickly reaching out to me, and grabbing the sleeve of my hoodie.
As I opened my eyes, I stupidly looked down, and noticed I was hanging over the edge of the cliff. My heart felt like it was trying to break out of my chest.
I then looked up, only to see Sebastian, sitting on the ground next to the cliff, and clinging to my arm like my life depended on it (And it did, by the way).
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Y- yeah... I think so... I'd be a lot better if I wasn't hanging for dear life though." I said jokingly, though fear was still very obvious in my voice.
As Sebastian tried to pull me up, I felt his hand slip a bit.
"Don't let go! For the love of Yoba, don't let go!" I cried, clinging to his hand.
"I won't... I'm not very strong, if you hadn't noticed." He said, sarcastically, continuing to try to pull me up.
As I got away from the edge of the cliff, I pulled Sebastian into a hug, and cried.
Finally letting out all the fear and worry I had while hanging from the cliff.
(Narrator's POV)
For a moment, Sebastian just sat there, unsure of what to do, before letting out a sigh, and hugged the farmer.
"It's okay... I got ya... You're safe now." He whispered, rubbing their back, as the farmer sat there, shaking, and crying on his shoulder.
For a while, the two just sat there, until Seb whispered "Maybe we should get you home."
The farmer nodded, before slowly letting go of their friend, and wiping their face with their sleeve.
As they walked towards the farm, the two held hands to make sure that nothing else would happen to them while walking through the dark forest, and eventually, they made it there safely.
"Looks like this is your stop. Ya sure you're doing okay?" Sebastian asked.
The farmer nodded, and said "I owe you one. You've saved me quite a few times now." with an awkward laugh.
"Hey, you stopped me from jumping off the dock, and getting egged. I think we're even." Seb laughed.
"You saved me after my little trip to the mines, saved me from falling off a cliff, and you were there for me while I was living in the city and my mental and emotional health were declining... And I say 'there' with big air quotes, because you weren't actually, but you get my point." Willow said, crossing their arms.
"You just really wanna owe me something, don't ya? Heh... See ya around, Wisp." Seb said jokingly, rolling his eyes as he started running home.
"Later, Seb...! Also, no! I just want us to be even for once!" The farmer said with a wave, before heading inside for the night. They heard Sebastian laughing at them before they closed the door, as he jokingly yelled "IF WE'RE PLAYING THAT GAME, I PAID FOR YOUR HOUSE UPGRADE! SO YOU'RE KINDA BEHIND ON WHAT YOU OWE ME!"
The farmer then closed the door, leaned against it, laughing to themselves a bit, as they thought "Touché, McCarthy. Seems like I owe you a bit more than I thought I did."