Act I, Chapter IV

Lilly, Rey, August and April raise money raise money for a field trip to Happy Springs, in search for the legendary Hermit.

Act I “Peace and happiness awaits you.”

Chapter IV

 

              Lilly and Rey awoken to the smell of April’s cooking. She was making breakfast for them and had got up early to get it started. Granted, it was nothing like the banquet they had the day before, but Lilly and Rey don’t care either way. As long as its good breakfast. Lilly and Rey entered the kitchen and was welcomed by a “good morning”, April’s cooking and the friendly, yellow and orange stripes that cover the walls. They sat down at the circular table, sitting in the center of the kitchen. April sat the kid’s plate in front of them, before sitting down with her own. August had left early for Tranquility Town to purchase beds, but arrived soon to join in for breakfast, sitting next to April and Rey.

 

              “How did it go,” April asked.

              “Smoothly and as normal,” August replied. “The truck should arrive in due time.”

              “So, uh, since we live here now, I need to ask,” Rey said. “What exactly are going to do now?”

              “I was thinking, we should get to know each other more,” August answered. “We could go on a field trip together. There is a popular, urban legend in Serenity that rumors the existence of a man known only as the Hermit, who is supposed to live in a cottage at Happy Springs. He is supposed to possess all knowledge of Serenity. We could go to Happy Springs in search of the Hermit and his cottage.”

              “Do you really mean for us to find a myth?”

              “Not necessarily, but at least we could spend time together.”

              “That isn’t such a bad idea,” April said.

              “Yeah, I would love to meet the Hermit,” Lilly said enthusiastically.

              “First we need to raise joylings for the supplies to bring on the trip. We’ll all have to pitch in. Places in Tranquility Town and in the Fields are always needing help. We could accept tasks from the various proprietors. What do you guys say?”

              “Yeah, let’s do it!”

             

              So the family started out to raise money for their trip. The first stop was at the farm of Farmer Pete. Pete is a rather hefty man, wearing orange overalls, a blue undershirt and green blush. Pete raises a variety of crops at his farm, including wheat, maize, rice, carrots and potatoes and raises fruit orchards such as for apples, pears, peaches, oranges, lemons and limes. He also raises animals, such as cattle, pigs and sheep. He welcomed August, April and the children at his doormat. When they explained that they are raising money for their family trip, Pete set them to work, right away. August, April, Lilly and Rey were sent to the various fields at Pete’s farm, where they helped in various tasks, such as irrigating and gathering crops, attending to the fruits at the orchards and feeding the animals in the pastures.

 

              The cattle, pigs and sheep were not like normal animals. The cattle had orange spots, instead of black spots, the pigs were lime green and each sheep sported one of various colors. Just as the people of Serenity wear circles of blush on their cheeks, so too do the animals, only some of the animals have perky, protruding cheeks. Lilly had a fun time working with these strange, colorful animals. Rey took on a different disposition towards the animals, who was in no mood to work at some farm with bizarre, whimsical creatures.

 

              The next location that the family visited was at Fisherman Sam’s Fishery. It was located on the coast of Pleasant Bay, on the side of Leisure Fields, situated in a smaller bay protruding from the main coastline. Sam’s house was located very close to the bay, with a small pier being the only feature, separating the house from the waterside. Sam was sitting in his chair, on the pier, maintaining a wad of net that had gotten tangled. Sam wore turquoise overalls, a silver t-shirt, and orange, fishing fedora and gold blush. August approached Sam and explained to him their fundraiser goal.

 

              Sam decided to set the family to work, having them wade in the waters of his fishery. Sam raises a variety of fish in the fishery, including bass, catfish, carps, crappies, darters, goldfish, minnows, trout, perch and pikes. Like common fashion, even the fish each sport whimsical colors and patterns. Work at the fishery went just as well as the work done at Farmer Pete’s. Lilly, Rey, August and April flanked the shallow bay of the fishery and collected fish individually. By the time they were done, evening was closing in and they were fatigued from a hard day’s work.

 

              Sam invited the family into his home and treated them to seafood meals, before seeing them off. The four returned to the cottage, took baths and got some rest. The next day, the family headed for Tranquility Town. The family offered to contribute towards many places in the Northern District, first of which was Charisma Kara’s Grocery.

 

              August stocked shelves with various, common commodities, most of which were colorfully packaged. April checked out customers at one of the many cash registers set in the front of the stores. Lilly gleefully greeted customers coming in and out of the store and Rey was understandably unenthused with his bagging job. Kara promised not to keep the family long and payed them for their help.

 

              Things went just about as well at other establishments. McGregor’s Hamburger was the next stop, followed by Tulip’s Arts and Crafts and Tailor’s Tailors. Wacky Wanda’s Bakery was the most monumental stop on the Lilly, Rey, August and April fundraising journey. They spent the most time at the Bakery and made the most money there. There was also a lot more to do there, since the store had a small factory set up behind the kitchen, with its own assembly line. August was put on the assembly line, April was put in the kitchen and Lilly and Rey were put in the front to serve the guests.

 

              The family had finally raised the money they needed to go on their field trip to Happy Springs. After completing their work at Wanda’s Bakery, August bought sweets for everyone in celebration. The last place the family needed to go was the superstore, to gather travel supplies, so they went to the Glee-Mart located in the Eastern District. Afterwards, the family carried their purchases back home and went to sleep in anticipation for the next day.

 

              Lilly had enjoyed interacting with the various citizens of Serenity and serving them in various ways. She was an excellent employee, only in that she loved being around people. Rey was relieved to finally but all of that labor behind him. Not that he disvalued work, but that he disvalues being put in situations he didn’t ask for. Regardless of the children’s dispositions towards the last couple of days, they were eager to put them behind them and get ready for the next day. Lilly, of course, was excited about exploring another part of Serenity. Rey, though in opposition to this world, couldn’t help but be intrigued by the legend of the Hermit.

 

              The family awoke early the next day to eat breakfast and gather their gear. Lilly, Rey, August and April travelled southwest through Leisure Fields, along a minor orange road, approaching the hills of Happy Springs as they rise from the horizon. The road lead into a high valley and followed a path along various hilltops and valleys and crossed over violet, stone bridges set over the three rivers flowing through the valleys. The hills and valleys were covered by the same bright green grass as Leisure Fields, but accompanied by large blue veins of stone that stood exposed on the hill slopes. Trees also dotted the landscape of Happy Springs, in the same moderation as in the Fields.

 

              When the family arrived in Happy Springs, they deviated from the path they were exploring, to explore the rugged landscape more, liberally. After all, how else would they be able to find the Hermit’s cottage or any of the other features of Happy Springs? As they explored, the four witnessed various fauna and flora in the area. Songbirds perched on the hills and trees, rabbits roamed the valleys, and otters waded in the rivers. Each of these animals sported colors of yellow, green, blue, purple, red and orange, with secondary colors in their cheeks.

 

              Lilly, Rey, August and April searched far and wide for signs of the Hermit, but with yet no success. “This was a waste of time,” Rey hinted at, but August was determined not to let the trip end on a low note. It was when the family came around the bend of a valley is when they found proof of settlement in Happy Springs, a cottage sitting by a watermill next to the river and a small, sustenance farm. The problem was that the place seemed to have been abandoned long ago.

              The cottage was in shambles, probably from years of decay, but there were also black marks accompanying the vine overgrowth on the walls, a sign that the house must have been burned in a fire. The sustenance farm was also overgrown and looked more like a shabby garden. The cobblestone watermill sitting on the water’s edge seemed to have experience less damage than the cottage, but was still falling apart from the years of abandonment. The front door and fallen outwards from its hinges.

 

              Lilly, Rey, August and April entered through the front doorway to be met walls with various gaps, which is the walls that were still standing, with wallpaper burned too black to discern their original colors, but the patterns were still faintly visible. A decrepit arm chair sat by a small bookshelf in the front room, both in severe disrepair. No books were found on the bookshelf, but instead piles of grey ash.

 

              The family explored more of the cottage and found a small bedroom and a study. The study was especially interesting. A large, hardwood desk stands in front of what is left of a tall, stain glassed window on the other end of the study, from its entrance. Tall bookshelves line the walls, with piles of grey ash sitting on each level, like the bookshelf in the front room. These shelves actually held books, but most of them have been burned in the fire.

 

              Rey and April browsed through the books to find any that may be in any good shape. Lilly and August investigated the desk. August opens the one of the drawers in the desk to find two portraits glassed frames. August picked up the pictures and wipes off the dust and ash covering the glass. August and Lilly observed the two portraits.

 

One portrait is of an old, silver-haired man with green eyes behind square-framed glasses and brown blush with his wife at a suave party. The wife had black hair at shoulder length and white blush. The other portrait involved the old man and his wife, standing with their son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. The son had short, brown hair and wore orange blush. The wife had wavy blonde hair and had blue blush. The young daughter straight, brown hair in shoulder length and wore blue blush. The sign of a family’s presence at the cottage shocked Lilly and August, since there was only one, small bed found in the only bedroom in the cottage.

 

Rey and April found two books that were in better shape than the others, that is they weren’t burned entirely black or burned to a crisp. One of these books was either an encyclopedia volume or even an almanac, but Rey and April could figure it out for certain. The other was a notebook, where the owner had written down notes to himself/herself, but the pages are now too burned to even read.

 

“Do you think that this could have been the Hermit’s place,” Lilly asked August.

“Well, it may as well could have been, but we can’t be for certain,” August replied. “But now we know that someone, or maybe even a family, was definitely living here, in Happy Springs.”

“What on earth could have caused this place to go up in flames,” Rey asked.

“I don’t know. We rarely hear about fires in the lands of Serenity.”

“Well, it least we found something, interesting, right honey,” April added. “Let’s go home now.”

August paused for a moment. “Right. Let’s head back.”

 

Lilly, August and April stepped outside, leaving the study and the rest of the cottage behind. Rey had lingered behind long enough to snatch the books that he and April had found and put them into his travel pack. “Rey, let’s go,” Lilly hollered from outside. “I’m tired.” Rey quickly left the cottage, as to not keep the others waiting. Rey caught up with the rest of the family and they left the burned cottage behind. Lilly, Rey, August and April backtracked through Happy Springs and mad their way back to their home in Leisure Fields. After a hearty supper made and served by April, everyone got cleaned up and went to bed.

Reviews

[Jarod]

Gotta say, I feel really bad for Rey. The kid was just trying to steal her hat, and he ended up in another dimension where he didn't want to go and now that he is here, he can't leave.