Chapter VI: The Last Straw

Fawna gives up on farming and heads back to the city, but a strange new friend steps in to change her mind.

                Fawna dressed in her farmer outfit she had created the day before and splashed her face in the watering hole to get ready for the day. As she looked overhead, the sky was a cloudless blue revealing the blistering sun that beat down mercilessly on the earth, causing small sweat droplets to break out along Fawna's neck and face. She walked around her field which was still littered with stones and branches. During the night a few more weeds had popped up. Sighing, Fawna got on her hands and knees again and pulled up whatever leftovers she could locate. Throwing the small pile of weeds at Martini's feet, she put her hands on her hips. "Well? Are you hungry or not?" she demanded.

                "Neigh!" Martini snorted, dipping his long slender neck down to munch up the morning snack. Smiling in satisfaction, Fawna rubbed his forehead.

                "Well at least feeding you doesn't cost money," she said, suppressing a giggle. "That's something I'm a little short on right now," she admitted, thinking forlornly of all the splendour of the city and massive shopping malls where she could find any designer outfit she could possibly dream of. Once again, Fawna felt a muddy paw scratching against her leg. Frowning, she picked Mutt up by the scruff of the neck and scolded him. "Oh no you don't!" she said sternly. "I'm actually clean this morning and I would like to remain that way, thank you very much," she sniffed, before putting him down on the ground again.

                "Woof woof!" he panted, prancing around the watering can and pawing at it. At first Fawna thought a big hairy spider was in there, so she kicked it across the field, not wanting it anywhere near her but when Mutt growled at her and pointedly began pawing at the watering can again, while running back and forth between her tomato sprouts and the tool, Fawna frowned and suddenly put two and two together. With a groan, Fawna walked over to the empty watering can and picked it up.

                "I have to water them every day?" she whined. That was so much work! Mutt barked and bobbed his head up and down as his long droopy ears flopped into his eyes. Sighing, Fawna filled up the watering can and gave her seedlings a healthy dose of water. Patting Mutt on the head, she picked up an axe and began breaking up the branches in her field. She used the hammer to do the same thing with the stones. As she took the hammer to a larger stone, she found that no matter how hard she whacked it, it wouldn't break. Soon, her stamina and her patience were completely drained and she was smacking the stone over and over again with all her strength. "WHY... WON'T... THIS... STUPID... THING... BREAK?" she yelled angrily between high powered thumps.

                "You're using an iron hammer. You need a silver hammer to break that stone," a male voice called out. Turning around, Fawna saw a sulky-looking man with a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes standing there.

                "Who on earth are you?" she demanded huffily, blowing sticky hair out of her face from her sweat. The man didn't smile but just stood there staring at her for a moment before responding.

                "I'm Grey. My grandfather Saibara is the blacksmith in Mineral Town. I'm his apprentice. So... you're the new farmer, huh?" he said with a trace of a sarcastic grin. Fawna pouted.

                "Why is that so surprising to you?" she demanded, crossing her arms and trying to hold back tears. She was trying her best! Didn't that count for anything? Grey just shook his head, still grinning.

                "No reason," he lied. "See ya," he told her simply before turning to walk away from the farm, slouched over with his hands in his pockets. Throwing her hammer to the ground in frustration, Fawna stomped away.

                "Forget that," she muttered to herself, going to see Martini who was now trotting around aimlessly. "Okay, Barley said to brush you didn't he?" she murmured, looking around her tool shed for a brush. No such item existed in the shed. Stomping her foot angrily, Fawna walked back to the horse. "It looks like I'm going to have to visit the Farmer's Shop again," she sighed. Figuring she would get there faster if she rode, Fawna attempted to mount Martini, even though she had never so much as touched a horse before in her life back in the city. To her horror, Martini whinnied in protest and took off, bucking wildly with Fawna still clinging to his mane for dear life! Screaming her lungs out, Fawna closed her eyes tightly, hoping that she could hold on until Martini finally stopped. Well, Martini did stop, but he skidded to a dead halt from a full-out gallop in front of the Farmer's Shop. The sudden jolt sent Fawna flying off his back right into a mud puddle from a heavy rain a few days before. Before Fawna even opened her eyes, the cruel laughter of the villagers met her ears.

                "That horse is still a youngin'. Didn't you know you can't ride foals, missy?" the owner of the shop called to her from the window, chuckling at her disheartened and filthy state.

                "What a ditz..." one young woman giggled to her friend as they were passing by. "Imagine not knowing how to do something as simple as ride a horse..." Fawna's bottom lip trembled in humiliation and embarrassment, but this time she could not stem the fresh flow of salty tears that fiercely assaulted her burning cheeks. Who had she been trying to fool? Everyone was right about her all along. She was just a pretty air-head who belonged in bars singing for rich old men. To think otherwise had been foolish.

                "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT!" Fawna screamed, positively sobbing now as a crowd of jeering villagers looked on, pointing at her. She stood up, completely splattered in stinky mud and ran down the dusty main road out of SErenity Falls, crying her eyes out. The thought of Greg seeing her like this and her admitting that he had been right all along and begging him to take her back caused her stomach to convulse in protest, but that was all she had left. She would just go back to being his meaningless toy and singing in his bar. It was a sad life, but at least she was used it.

"Hey, wait!" a voice called out from behind her. Fawna felt a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, don't give up just yet. Are you really going to prove everyone right by running away?"