Good Old Dreams-A Cliff/OC Story-CHAPTER SEVENIS UP

Chapter One-Old Friends and Memories

I looked out from the car I had rented to see the same small town I had grown up in and loved dearly. Yet who doesn’t live in Mineral Town most of their life and not love it? I had for years then after a trip to Flower Bud Village I realized where I belonged.

It was hard to leave Mineral Town because I had a met the love of my life there, Cliff. Then again what guy didn’t I like? That’s another thing about Mineral Town, all of the people there are easy to love. A person can buy a blue feather and ten years can pass with them still in the possession of it because they couldn’t find out who to give it to. Of course I don’t know which people are still left after ten years because everyone’s pretty much come and gone by that time. But that’s not my point.

“Cassidy, long time no see! How’s it going? Village life doing good for you?” That’s Elli, sweet girl but she gets annoying if you’re gone for a long time and you come back. That is if she likes you but like I said before everyone in Mineral Town likes each other, so if you find perky doctor’s assistants annoying then MOVE.

“Okay. How are you and the doc doing? Ever thought of married life?” This question always keeps her quiet. You can tell they want to get married but he’s like ‘Oh I love Elli but not in that way’ and she’s like ‘I want to make a good career before I even consider marrying Doc (or Trent as his original nametag said….not that I’d know)’.

“Well….the doc died a couple of years ago. I mean we got married and everything. Had a couple of kids even. He just…..he just……” Elli started to get real emotional. She was really in love with Trent and you could tell by how they looked at each other everyday.

“I understand. He just went on one of his trips and didn’t come back. Well how’s Cliff doing? Has he married Ann yet?” Looking back I have to admit I do like Elli, she’s annoying yet a good friend at the same time.

“Yes that’s exactly what happened. Cliff left not long after you did. He really loved you. Ann’s doing fine. We still keep in contact. She met some guy in Forget-Me-Not Valley that she liked a lot and left Mineral Town for him. His parents own a hotel too. Last time I heard, they’re doing good. Getting married soon. You have been gone for a long time. Hey,” Elli had a look on her face that meant she had an idea, “you can come stay with me, Stu, and the kids. Wait ‘til I tell Cliff, he’ll be so happy!” Elli’s eyes were about as bright as the moon of the Moon Festival by this point.

I walked into the small house next to the Clinic, that was new. Stu had grown up a lot in the last ten years I had seen him. His black hair shined in the light as Trent’s hair did. With great hair, attractive facial features, and an even more attractive personality Stu was every girl’s dream. Not mine of course, as I said earlier Cliff was and is. The two children were maybe ten and eight at the most. The older one, Trevor, was the spitting image of Trent but was more of a rebel. The younger one, Alec, looked more like Stu did at his age but was more like Trent.

“Cute kids, Elli. So when did you and Trent get married? Not long after I left?” I said putting my bags and my dog, Dallas, down and soon making myself at home.

“Yes. Funny as soon as you stopped asking me and Doc when we were going to get married, we did. So what have you been up to? You didn’t answer the question I asked you this afternoon.” Elli was starting to make me tense when she asked me that. Elli making me tense? I have been gone a long time.

“Oh nothing much. Moved to Flower Bud Village. Tried that lifestyle out. Loved it but I love Mineral Town more. I had a fiancé but I chickened out at the last minute. All my friends there had gotten married and were having kids. That made me feel so old and around that time I finally came to the realization that I’d never find another Cliff. So I came here.” My voice was deeper than usual because I hadn’t been in a Mineral Town house in so long that I had to get used to the unusual temperature.

“Oh. Hey you know that old house you used to live in, its still empty. I mean some other farmer named Jack lived there for a little while but the city offered him a job that he couldn’t refuse. About like you.” I sat down in the small sofa when Elli said this because it was so true. Now I couldn’t wait to go back to my old house.

“Thanks. If you don’t mind, I’ll go back there tomorrow. Gotta start my life back up so when Cliff does return we can get married or at least talk about it. Well its getting late, good night. Me and Dal will make a bed here on the couch.” It wasn’t that late but like I said before Elli can get pretty annoying and she was about to get that way again.

“G’Night. Also, as long as you’re in this house you’ll stay as long as you need to.” I agreed to Elli’s offer because I could always find ways to earn money even if I didn’t live at my own home. Fishing was one of them.

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The next morning I decided to go to the library. Sure it was Monday but I knew Mary would let me in because like I was with everyone else in Mineral Town, I was friends with her. I walked in there as I always did, looking around for signs of anything different because Mary was paranoid about those kinds of things.

“Hey, Cassidy, glad to see you back. Did you get my book? Cassidy?” She must’ve noticed me staring at her. She had that expectant parent look.

“So, did you marry Gray?” I finally said after staring at her for a few minutes. This was the first time I realized how old I was. Elli and Mary were my age and they were both either having kids or had kids.

“Yes I did. You must’ve noticed.” Mary said in her soft, mouse-like voice.

“Yeah I noticed. Congrats to you and Gray. I didn’t get the book. Ole’ Flower Bud Village ain’t too keen on stuff like that. I’ll be sure to get it though. Tell Gray I said hello. Wish I could stay longer but I have ten years of stuff to catch up on.” I lied but I was still trying to grasp how the mouse could be married by now yet I couldn’t. To make matters worse Cliff moved out of Mineral Town. Praying that Doug still had some contact with Cliff, I went to see him.

“Oh hi Cassidy, what’ll it be? Usual mess?” Doug said scrubbing a glass as if I had never left Mineral Town.

“Yeah sure. Have you heard anything from Cliff? I mean him and Ann were pretty close so I’d figure you’d have his address or something.” I said sipping a glass of wine. Still the same strong taste.

“Sorry, Cassidy, wish I could help you. He’s a traveling salesman now. So I suggest you get your life settled and when he comes you convince him to stay. If Cliff still loves you he’ll stay.” Doug’s voice seemed high with both hope and doubt. Then again mine would’ve probably had the same tone in it also if I had to say what he did. So I walked home. My real home. The home were I envisioned my kids being born.

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So many memories stained the walls of my old house. I came here when I wanted to get my own place. Cliff and I had many dates here because he had a fear of socializing with people. Sweet Cliff. As I looked through my bag I noticed many photos of Cliff and I. I was the loud one, he was the quiet one. So quiet. So depressed. I can still see his face the night I asked him why he was so depressed.

“Cliff, we’ve been dating for a while and I think its about time we get to know each other.” I said practically humming the words into his brownish hair.

“How?” Cliff was always a pro when it came to small talk.

“You know like family. I mean whatever happened to your family? I know you carry a picture around of some people. Were they your family?” I said trying to get Cliff to say something more than one word.

“Why do you want to know? Why don’t you tell me about your family?” Cliff’s face was so cold and still.

“I don’t know. My family wasn’t known for their love of taking pictures. You have a photo of your family.”

“Some other time.” Cliff’s eyes were even colder than they were before. This was what I could remember of him.

Still I managed to get most my stuff settled before the sun went down. This was an excellent feeling. With my fishing rod intact I went over to the beach. I also took Dallas and his favorite ball and Frisbee for his entertainment.

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The ocean breeze blew on my face as I threw the line into the water. My father had taught me how to fish here. I taught Cliff how to fish here. We made a promise that we would teach our children how to fish and swim here. Children. Our children. A boy for Cliff and a girl for myself as we put it. Too bad bamboo isn’t common here then when Cliff comes back we could make a promise to each other with a bamboo boat. Cliff.

“Hey, ma’am, you in my dad’s spot.”, a young voice said over my shoulder. It sounded like Kai but it was younger.

“Kid, isn’t it a little bit late for you? Shouldn’t you be in bed right now?” I said to the kid. Cute little guy.

“Maybe.” the kid rolled his eyes like I remembered Stu doing years ago.

“Kid, where are your parents? I’m sure they wouldn’t like it too much if they saw you up so late.”

“In there.” the kid pointed at the shack that I had eaten at during the summer months. He was Kai’s son. Now that I begin to think about it he looked like Kai.

“Your mother familiar with chickens?”

“Why?”

“Just curious, kid.”

“Yes, her and my uncle work at the poultry shop up the road.”

“Thanks. Now go to bed before I call your parents.” If you had seen that kid run back to the shack, you would’ve thought that his butt was on fire or something. Real cute kid.

“Well its official, Dallas, we’re the only single people in Mineral Town. I mean of the single women and men.” I said bending down to scratch Dallas on the ears. I couldn’t help but laugh because I was thinking rather childishly. I was only thirty. Cliff was thirty-two.

Dallas smelled the air and began to bark. The smell was familiar. Cliff.

A/N: Italics mean flashbacks or thoughts

I really like it good job!

"MORE!"

Thank you. I'm working on Chapter Two right now. Flashbacks are going to be a big thing in this story. You know to wrap into a full circle. Also I'm going to include the whole 'Why did Cassidy move to Flower Bud Village' mystery.

Also is it just me or is it funny that someone like Cliff worked at a winery? I mean him being this clean-cut, all-my-socks-match kind of guy and him selling wine.

Ooooo mystery.
and it is preeeetttty funny that Cliff worked at a winery. lol.

It is. He goes to Church every morning then he goes to work at a winery. Hilarious.

that makes it even funnier!lol

A/N Same thing as before applies with the exception of Ann's letter

Chapter Two-Cliff

Cliff looked at me with his usual cold, half-dead expression. He hadn’t changed any since I last saw him ten years ago except for a few gray-hairs. He was as handsome as I remembered him.

“Ten years.” Cliff whispered. I could barely hear him.

“What, Cliff?”

“Its been ten years since you left me. Why did you leave me? I thought we were meant for each other.” he said with his voice still sounding ever so quiet.

“I wanted a change of scenery.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, Cliff. Why did you tell me that you’d leave if you didn’t find a job?”

“That’s different.” His voice was so quiet. So Cliff.

“How, Cliff?”

“I didn’t have any money. I didn’t have any family in Mineral Town. I didn’t have anyone to love in Mineral Town…..like you did.” It made sense to me now.

“Do you have anywhere to go?” I said trying to hint that he could move in with me.

“Doug will gladly welcome me back to the Inn. Where’s Ann?”

“Ann’s married now. She’s moved away. You can move in with me if you want to.”

“No, I’ll help Doug around the Inn and I can stay there. I did that for five years I can do it again.”

“Well if you need a place, my place is open.” I said trying to help Cliff.

Cliff paused for a second and whispered, “Thank you but I can keep my own.” It was hopeless to convince Cliff but what more could I do? Cliff was being Cliff. Sweet, sweet Cliff.

We both said good-bye and walked back to our places. It was only 10 pm, yet it felt so much later.

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The next morning I got a letter from Ann. It wasn’t anything to get excited over but it was pleasant to hear from my tomboy friend again. Here’s the letter:

Dear Cassidy,
I hope you still live at this address. If you don’t I’m sure Elli will remind me. Doesn’t she always remind everyone of something. Did she tell you about Rock? Probably did, but if she didn’t let me just say this-he is perfect. He’s so dumb but I love him. We just got married. How are you and Cliff doing? I hope you both are doing well.

Ann

Cliff. Why is it that people always ask about him? Were we that close? I guess it didn’t matter much now. I walked outside. The air smelled sweet and I began to think about Cliff again. Elli was a good friend maybe she would understand my problem.

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“So Cliff came back. Good for you.” Elli said, almost ignoring everything I had said before. She could not understand that although Cliff was back, he was not happy to see me. Then again neither could I yet I understood why.

“He said it had been 10 years since I left him. He thought I loved him then I ran off to Flower Bud Village. Cliff seemed pretty upset. When he said he needed a place to say I offered my place but Cliff said the Inn was better.”

“Try again today. Maybe having a good night’s sleep made him come to his senses.”

“Elli, what is the name of the medication that makes you so perky? I’d like some.” I finally said getting tired of Elli’s perkiness.

“C’Mon, go to him. Go to the Inn. Grab you some food. Do something.” Elli can really get on one’s nerves. Can anyone really be that perky? Whatever medication she’s on, I’d love a lifetime supply of it.

“Elli, if it’ll make you happy, I will.”

“Thank you. I hope you know that I’m only doing this because I think you and Cliff are meant for each other.” Elli smiled at me.

“Sure.” I mumbled under my breath as I went towards the large inn.

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The Inn was quiet and smelled of Doug’s breakfast menu. Doug stood behind the counter staring at the phone as if he was waiting for someone to call him. I knew who he was waiting for, Ann.

“Hey, Doug.” He looked at me with a startled expression on his face like people do when someone interrupts their train of thought. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”

“No, what can I get for you? Coffee? Tea? Water?”

“Close but no. I’m looking for Cliff. Is he still here?”

“Just missed him. Check either the Church or the Winery. Tell me what time it is and I’ll tell you where he should be to save you the mileage.” I told him the time, 11 am. “Okay Cassidy, check the winery. Still seriously want anything? Its on the house.”

“If you’ll accept a later time I accept your offer.”

“Sure. This afternoon? Come at 8 and I’ll give you one of my special dinner dishes.”

“Okay thanks Doug.”

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It was amazing how even the smell of wine could make me high as a kite. Duke greeted me with the signature smile he always greeted me with. Manna was probably off gossiping. Some things never change, do they?

“Hey Duke, where’s Cliff? I want to talk to him about last night. Elli or Manna’s probably told you about it.”

“She did.” Duke said with a laugh. “Cliff’s outside in the cellar. Glad to have you back.”

“Thank you. Will you grab me a bottle of wine? I should be back in a few minutes. Unless of course Cliff has come to his senses.”

“Sure thing. See ya.” Duke said as I walked out to the vineyard and into the cellar.

Cliff was there working on the wine. His innocent face was hidden by the hat that he had worn for years. It was funny how it was a raccoon cap that Cliff was wearing yet his personality was nothing like a raccoon’s.

“How’s the wine going, Cliff?” I asked trying to scare him because he got scared just by the drop of a feather.

“W-What? Oh its you. Hi. What are you doing here?”

“I just want to talk about last night.”

“What’s there to talk about? You left me ten years ago and you want me to get over as soon as possible so we can start back on that fantasy of yours. Well I have news for you. It isn’t going to be easy.” This was the most that had every come out of Cliff since we knew each other.

“Oh come on, Cliff. We loved each other…..I still love you.” Cliff’s eyes grew deep into a thought.

“Those people.” Cliff mumbled.

“What?”

“Those people in that picture you were talking about years ago. They were my mother and my sister. I still carry that picture around. All those years that I was a traveling salesman I would ask people if they knew my sister. They all said no. It was almost as if she fell off the face of the planet.” Cliff let out a sigh, “I miss her.”

“Cliff, is that why you were so upset when I left.” I said in a comforting voice.

“Yes.” Cliff suddenly looked up at me with his blue eyes as if he had finally lifted a boulder off his chest.

“I got an idea. Tonight I’m supposed to meet Doug at the Inn for some food at 8. You bring the wine and I’ll get permission from Doug. Does that sound good? We can try patching things up.”

“Sounds good.” Wow, was Cliff good at small talk. I walked back to the Inn, and Cliff went back to working.

“Hey Doug,” I said as I walked into the Inn, “do you mind if I bring Cliff over for that offer you made me?”

“Sure. You want me to add wine to that order?”

“No, Cliff’s bringing it because you know he works at the Winery. Thanks for asking though.” I went back home to get ready for this event. If all things went smooth Cliff and I could finally start picking up the pieces.

I'm stil liking it!keep on going cuz its so good!

Thanks. Am I using too much dialog? I always worry that I'm using too much dialog....I could go on forever.

Dialouge is a good thing; but you never want to use too much of it, at the risk of sounding too dry. I usually try to include an action with my dialouge, like this:


"I know you're hiding something."


"Why do you say that?" I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, trying to stay cool. How did he figure out my secret?

Chapter Three-Picking Up the Pieces


It was about 7:50 pm when I finally got myself and Dallas settled. Dallas would be staying with Elli and her kids so just in case I would stay gone a long time somebody could take Dallas out.

“Good bye, Dal, be a good boy for Elli, Trevor, and Alec. Guys, you do remember what I told you?” I said scratching Dallas’ head and looking over at Trevor and Alec. Stu was on a date with May, who had also grown a great deal since I left, and already planned on staying late. If Stu was there I would’ve had more faith in Dallas’ care even though I did trust Elli.

“Don’t worry. Dallas will be fine with us.” Alec said looking over at Trevor as if he was waiting for some form of guidance. Trevor just looked down at him and smiled.

“Okay, goodbye.” I said walking out the door, eager to get to the Inn.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cliff greeted me with a smile and a bottle of wine. Normally Cliff didn’t drink but when an event like this or one like the Starry Night Festival came up he was quick to have a few glasses.

“What took you so long?” Cliff joked. It was a joke we used years ago. When one of us was either early or a couple of minutes late the other would ask ‘What took you so long?’. Cliff had come up with it.

“Just had to check some stuff. Is that outfit new?” I noticed that Cliff had finally gotten out of his usual ‘Daniel Boone’ type outfit. It was a casual tux type thing.

“Oh….this thing. I uh……picked it up someplace. You uh know for uh special occasions.” Cliff said awkwardly. He reached into his coat pocket and picked something out of his pocket. In his hand was a small ring. Nothing spectacular but it was nice. Looked antique because of the rust on it but nevertheless it was beautiful.

“Cliff, where did you get this?” I said, stunned at the ring in front of me.

“It was my mother’s. She told me that if I ever met a girl that I really liked to give it to her. Now don’t think of this as an engagement or anything. Its more like a promise ring. A promise that we’ll never leave each other again and if we do we’ll keep in contact.” Cliff said holding my hand, showing me very much sincerity.

“Yes, sounds good to me. A promise ring. I like the sound of that.” I said. Doug stood behind the counter listening to every word we said.

“This reminds me of when Ann’s mother and I used to on dates. Oh don’t stop because I’m watching you.” Doug laughed scratching the back of his head after he saw we were looking at him.

Cliff and I continued to talk for a couple of more hours until Doug finally told us that he had to close the Inn, unless of course I wanted to spend the night. I agreed. At first I thought of going over to Elli’s house to pick up Dallas but then I figured that at midnight Elli and her kids probably wouldn’t want a visitor. That and I was sure by this time Dallas really didn’t care.

“Well good night. The rooms are up there. Don’t do anything crazy. And that’s pretty much all of my rules. See you two in the morning.” Doug said point to the stairs with a smile on his face. You could tell he was extremely happy for us.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________


Cliff and I sat in the small room looking at each other. I could imagine why Cliff would live here. A person could keep their feelings to themselves here. They didn’t have to worry about too much here. It got me to thinking about how attached a person can get to their own that sometimes when they leave it they feel they’re leaving themselves behind. In a hotel room you have nothing like that to worry about.

“So, Cliff tell me about your mother. What was she like? Did you have a father? I know that’s a really dumb question but I’m curious.” I said looking down at the ring Cliff gave me.

“I’ll tell you some other time. I try not to touch the subject because I get real emotional. You know what I mean?”

“Yes. Exactly. Hey, you want to finish that bottle of wine with me.”

“What habits did you pick up while you were away? You normally don’t like wine this much.”

“Okay. I’ll back off on the wine. See this bottle. Its going in the trash.” I said walking over to the trash can. I don’t know why I bought the bottle in the first place. I knew how Cliff felt about drugs and alcohol. The latter was pretty ironic because Cliff worked at a winery.

“Well its getting late. Both of us have jobs and we’ll have to get up early to do so. Good night.” I nodded in agreement and laid down in the bed beside Cliff’s.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________


The next morning after picking up Dallas, I realized I was low in food. So I went to the supermarket.

“Hey, got any new experimental items?” I asked as I walked in the market, already aware of what Jeff’s response would be.

“N-N-No. Yo-Yo-You know how I feel about experiments.” Jeff said in his usual meek, quiet tone.

“Just joking with you, Jeff. How’s everyone doing? Karen married that chicken dude yet?” I asked looking closely at the blue feather. One day that would be mine.

“Good. Yes they got married a few days ago. I think when Karen’s by his side he isn’t as paranoid.” Jeff smiled scratching his bald spot.

“That’s even greater. He is so paranoid.” I said knowing that Jeff wouldn’t respond because he wasn’t one to talk junk about someone. “Hey, I just need a few things.” I handed him my list and soon later it was filled.

My next stop was the library because Mary promised me that she’d give me an autographed copy of her new book. I’m not into the kind of books that Mary writes but how can you say no to someone like her? You can’t.

“Hey. I heard you got back together with Cliff. Congrats.” Mary smiled, putting the book she was reading down.

“I wouldn’t put it like that but we’re talking again. I think Cliff and I could have a future ahead of us.”

“That’s still something to celebrate. Gray’s happy to see you back. He said that back when you and he were kids, he had the biggest crush on you. Then Cliff came.”

“Tell him I return the feelings.” I said with a casual half-smile. “So where’s that book you promised me. I mean I know that you’re busy. No rush.”

“I am but here’s your book. Hope you like it.” Mary handed me the book and I went back home eager to read. Maybe now I could go through ten years of mail. I thought walking out of the library heading towards my house.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

In front of my house was May. At 18, she still believes in the Pumpkin Festival.

“Pumpkin Festival already? Its only the………15th day of Summer. Ain’t that a little bit early?” I said sarcastically.

“Cassidy, I’m not a kid anymore. You know that you stop believing in the Pumpkin Festival when you turn 10.………unless you’re Popouri. But that’s a different story. I mean who names their kid Popouri? It sounds like some kind of fancy, Frenchy food.”

“May, before we play ‘Make Fun of Popouri’, why are you here?”

“No reason. Just thought I’d visit. Fix up your house. You know the works.”

“You want money, don’t you?”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just in a perky, helpful mood.”

“Didn’t Barley tell you that drugs are bad?” I said referring to how her behavior was like Elli’s.

“Yes. I want money okay.”, she said losing her perky, Elli-ish behavior.

“Here’s 150G. Knock yourself out.” I handed her some gold. I knew she wouldn’t accept it but I didn’t care. She just looked at me harshly and walked back towards her house.

I was finally inside my house. I had bought some candles from Jeff and used them to ‘soothe’ my house if that was possible. See, a farmer’s house is never ‘soothing’. I mean who would consider the smell of cow poop, among other things, soothing? I remember the candles in Flower Bud, they could soothe a whole sweaty football team. Not saying I don’t like Mineral’s candles it’s just that after you buy some candles from another place you realize what the real deal candle is.

There was a knock on the door. It was Cliff. I almost yelled at because I figured that he was Stu or May wanting some more gold.

“Oh hi Cassidy. Did I come in at a wrong time?” Cliff said, trying not to overexcite himself.

“No. Just burning some candles.” I said sharing Cliff’s overexcited behavior.

“You know, Jeff can say he has the best candles but the best candles are in Flower Bud.” Cliff smiled, smelling each one of the candles as he walked by.

“Yes they are. Have you been to Flower Bud?” I was intrigued by how he knew about Flower Bud. I knew he was a traveling salesman and all but I never expected that he would come over to Flower Bud without my knowledge.

“For a couple of trips. Nothing major. Went to the Village Library, went to the Perch Inn a couple of times, and then I’d usually close up the trip by going over to the woods, you know that one with hill or mountain, and fish some there. I met this man named Ray. He was a big fisherman,” Cliff must’ve seen my eyes enlarge when he asked, “Did you know him?”

I paused and bit my tongue for a second when he said this. I wanted to say ‘Knew him? I was engaged to him.’ but I knew that would crush him. So instead I said, “We were close friends.”

“Oh that’s nice. He wasn’t like me was he?” Cliff said with a laugh. I tried to laugh too but how could I? I knew and loved Cliff for five years and I never proposed to him once but I had only knew Ray for a year when I proposed to him. I couldn’t say that to Cliff.

“No. He wasn’t. So, um, been to any other places?” I stumbled to get the words out.

“Forget-Me-Not Valley, Waffle Island, you know places like that. The world.” Cliff laughed and to somebody like Cliff, that was the world. “May I ask a favor from you?”

“Sure anything.”

“One day, years from now, you and I will travel the world. Leave Mineral Town behind and see all sorts of stuff. Unique instruments, unique people, unique everything. Will you do this with me?” He held my hand as he said all of these things.

“Sure but I don’t know why we need to travel to see unique people. We have enough unusual people here.” Cliff got a good laugh out of this. “So um, you want to have some fancy dinner or what? Or we can just wait ‘til the 24th and do it then. Start at 5 then at 8 go to the Fireworks Festival.”

“Fine. You bring the milk and the food, and I’ll bring myself.” Cliff laughed once again. I never knew he had such a good sense of humor.

“Okay. See you in nine days.” I said. Cliff agreed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________


The next nine days passed by extremely fast. Faster than I had hoped they would. Yet at the same time I was happy they went by as fast as they did.

The clock reached 5 and I was sure that Cliff would be late. Not like the ‘What took you so long?’ late that I mentioned earlier but like hours late.

“Hey, did you miss me?” Cliff jokingly asked. This time he wasn’t wearing the fancy outfit he had worn earlier. It was his usual ‘Daniel Boone’ outfit.

“Of course I did.” I laughed. We sat down on the newly furnished table. It was small but it was what I could afford on a farmer’s pay, or at least the pay of a farmer that does nothing.

“Nice table you got here.” You could tell Cliff was trying to be nice by the tone in his voice. I just smiled shoving some kind of food into my mouth.

The rest of the evening I watched Cliff and the clock. Cliff told me about his past travels and I told him about my time in Flower Bud, excluding my engagement to Ray.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

“So after Gustafa got done playing that song about apples I asked him ‘Hey, I’ve got a girlfriend back in Mineral Town, would you mind if you taught me how to play the guitar?’ and he said ‘Sure Cliff. Anything for your groovy chick back home.’ I swear he was the funniest man out there. I think-” Cliff said while holding a piece of bread in his hand.

“Would you mind that if after we get back from the festival you could play me a couple of songs?” I whispered, clearly knowing that I had interrupted what Cliff had said.

“Anything you want.” Cliff turned to the clock. “Well I guess we better start going to the beach, if we don’t want to be late.” Cliff smiled.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The beach smelled like cotton candy and other dishes from Kai’s Summer Shack. The sound of the water rushing to the shore was sweet music to everyone’s ears. You could hear kids playing. Sure it was just Popouri and Kai’s son, Kurt, Trevor, and Alec playing but it was enough to be joy to any of the people there.

I sat down beside Cliff on the dock. Cliff’s blue eyes shined with excitement as he looked at the fireworks. Cliff had changed a lot in the past ten years, yet he still kept his good, innocent nature. I felt as if we would get married someday and go to this festival with our children. I smiled at the thought.

Soon Cliff started to get into the whole romantic mood of the Fireworks Festival, I did too. Our lips interlocked into a kiss. Even from a distance you could tell that we felt awkward about it. We did.

“Wow, those ten years must’ve flown by.” Kai said looking over our shoulders.

“They have.” Cliff and I said in unison. That night Cliff and I went hand-in-hand back to my house. He said that he didn’t want to go back to the Inn because it was so late when we finally got over the excitement of the kiss.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The morning sun crept through the window almost like a ghost. A ghost telling of the future. Cliff and I awoke to this ghost as we would every morning. Cliff had his own carefully-made bed on the floor because he wanted to keep his innocent nature until he got married. Even though I’m sure it’s the other kind of innocent that Cliff’s talking about. I don’t think Cliff will ever lose his good-boy innocence.

“Hey, Cliff, I’ve got a letter for you.” Doug said as he came into the house. Cliff’s eyes grew with great worry and his hands shook constantly as he began to open and read the letter.

“It’s from my sister.” Cliff said stunned.

“Cliff, I thought you always wanted to hear from your sister again.” I said remembering the earlier conversation.

“I am. It’s just that….that…..I’ve got to go.” Cliff said as he ran out of the door dropping the letter. After we were confident that Cliff was gone Doug and I began to read the letter.

Dearest Cliff,
I’m writing to you because I need you to come see me. Below is my address. Its not good.
Please come to see me. Its about my health.
Yours Truly,
Your Sister


“Poor kid. I feel sorry for him. He’s been through so much in his life.” Doug said frowning at the sheet of stationery. Normally I’d ask how he knew about Cliff’s life but I was too depressed to be nosey about the whole thing. That and I figured that Doug knew through Ann.

A few minutes later I decided to walk out and try and catch Cliff before he left. He was standing at the docks at the beach.

“Hey Cliff.” I yelled looking at him. He almost looked like he could fall over into the water.

“Hey, you don’t need to shout.” the man said as he saw the ferry come to the docks. “I’ll remember to write.” His voice was high in melancholy. I just nodded waiting for him to aboard the ship so I could go back to my house, unsure of what the days held for me.

Oh keep going!This chapter was exciting!!

"more, more!"

Chapter Four-Letters

Dear Cliff,
It has been a season since you went to see your sister. How are you and her doing? I’m doing fine. I’m writing this letter because everyone in town keeps on asking me when you’ll return. I tell them that I don’t know. If I did I’d be sure to tell them about it. Gray wants me to tell you hello and that if you ever need a man to talk to talk to him. Mary’s doing fine. I’m doing fine.

Write back soon,
Cassidy

--------

Dear Cassidy,
I’m glad that you’re doing fine. To tell you the truth, I don’t know when I’ll be coming back. Don’t worry I will come back. Even if I have to bring my sister with me. I also promise you that when I do come back we will have your dream wedding. Keep on updating me about everyone there.

Gotta Fly,
Cliff

-------

What’s up Cassidy,
Day by day I wonder when I’ll come back to you. On one side I looked at it as I’ll be with you soon, the other side I call myself selfish for thinking like that. You’re right. One day we will do that.

Sorry for the short letter,
Cliff

------
Dear Cliff,
It is Winter now and I’m sure you’re doing fine. I, myself, am not doing so good. There are going to be some more children in Mineral Town. Ann and Rock are coming over to Mineral Town to live. They are going to live in the Inn until they collect some more money. They have a kid. Anyway I’m going over to Forget-Me-Not Valley for awhile.

Don’t ever change,
Cassidy

---------
Hi Cassidy,
Funny how we know what the other’s thinking isn’t it? My sister has died and I was going to tell you to go to Forget-Me-Not Valley while I set up the funeral arrangements.

I’ll be home as soon as I can,
Cliff

A/N Sorry if the chapters kind of awful and short but the next chapter will be longer and better. This one's kind of like a 'bridge chapter' if you may describe it that way.

it was short but dont say it awful!its not!

woot hoot..awesome story hippie..

Chapter Five: Forget-Me-Not Valley


I didn’t realize I was in Forget-Me-Not Valley until my head almost collided with the chair in front of me. The man running the train shouted Forget-Me-Not Valley so loud that I’m surprised people outside didn’t hear it.

“Thank you, Sir.” I said walking out of the train grabbing the bags and walking Dallas down the steps.

Forget-Me-Not Valley air was so different than Mineral Town air. While there were churches, libraries, markets, etc. in Mineral Town, there was only an inn, a plant shop, and a bar in Forget-Me-Not. I enjoyed Forget-Me-Not.

“Hello, groovy sister. Cool dog, man.” this hippie came up to me and said.

“Oh, you must be Gustafa. Cliff told me about you.” I said reaching out my hand to the man.

“You must be Cassidy. Please to meet you.” Dallas looked up at him and wagged his tail. “And who’s this guy?”

“That’s Dallas.”

“Groovy man. Groovy.” These words were meant completely nothing to me as I saw a man about my age, maybe older, carry some crops to some woman that I assumed was either his wife or his boss. He reminded me so much of Cliff. Except this man was quieter.

“Hey, Gustafa, who’s that man over there?” I said to Gustafa pointing at the man.

“Oh that’s just Marlin. Real sour dude to me.” Gustafa said using his hippish tone.

“Is he married?” I don’t know why I was asking this because I had already promised Cliff that I’d marry him when he got back.

“No. Like I told you. He’s real sour.” This gave me an odd idea. I could see if I could loosen him up a little bit.

“Do you think I could you know talk to him? Not in a romantic way. Like a friendly kind of way.”

“Whatever you want to do. I’ll watch Dallas for you.” Gustafa smiled as I walked across the bridge to visit Marlin.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Marlin stood on the hill, acting almost as if he was looking for something. When he felt my hand tap on his shoulder he acted started. Then again I probably would’ve too.

“Hey, Marlin.” I said in a loud enough voice where he’d hear me and not have a heart attack at the same time.

“Hi.”, he said shyly, clearly showing his loner personality.

“My name’s Cassidy.”

“I heard.”, he said with his head down as if something was wrong.

“Hey, I’ll probably be here for a couple of weeks, you want to you know hang out?”

“Sure.”

“Does tomorrow night at 8 sound good?”

“Whatever.” Marlin said. Like Cliff, it seemed that he had a limited vocabulary. Or maybe he was just shy like Cliff was. I gave him the address, or what I hoped would be the address.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The inn was decorated with all sorts of objects. Most looked like they were from other countries. The smells were about like the objects, unique and foreign. It was just how Ann and Rock had described it.

“Hey! You must be that girl Rock said was coming over here for a stay. I’m Tim. In the kitchen you’ll find my wife, Ruby. Best cook in the world and I should know because I’ve traveled the world.”, the plump man said.

“So that explains all of the objects.”

“Yes. I guess it does. Your room’s up here. Dinner’s in a couple of hours. If you need anything call us.” Tim said almost hurrying himself. A woman walked into the room. To this day after seeing Tim and Ruby I wonder, is Rock really related to them?

“Oh hi, dear. How’s Rock doing? He was never much for writing, was he Tim?”

“No.” Tim said in a deep voice.

“He’s doing fine. My boyfriend’s really good friends with his wife.” I looked up at the clock, completely unaware of how much time had passed, “Hey do you mind if I get settled before dinner starts?”

“Sure. I can imagine after traveling all the way from Mineral Town to Forget-Me-Not Valley you must be tired.” Ruby smiled and showed me where my room was, once again.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The room smelled as if it had just been cleaned. There were paintings all over the place. On one of the paintings a name caught my eye, Nami. It was a beautiful painting that highly resembled Gustafa’s yurt.

I looked around the small desk in the corner of the room for a sheet of paper and a pen so I could write to Cliff letting him know I’d made it to Forget-Me-Not Valley. After searching for a few minutes I finally found one. Here’s what I wrote:
Dear Cliff,
I have arrived in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Its everything you said it was. Yes I met Gustafa. He remembers you. Do you remember Marlin? I’ll be going on a date with him nothing romantic. Just a friendly date. I will be looking for your letter.

Cassidy

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning I sent out the letter. Tim was right, Ruby was a good cook. I looked at the waterfall. It was a lot better than MT’s waterfall. While I was standing there I began to think of Cliff. He must’ve seen this place a thousand times. It had a Cliff atmosphere.

“Hey, I hear you’re a farmer too.” A voice said from behind me. I turned to find a woman very much like myself except her hair was darker than mine and she was taller than me. “The name’s Claire. Yours?”

“Cassidy.” I mumbled, still startled by her sudden appearance.

“I live up that hill. You know the one with the barn and stuff. Also if you see a kid running around. That’s mine and Gustafa’s kid. But I don’t think he should be too much trouble. Well, if you need any farming help you know where I’m at now.” By the time she had finished saying what she had to say I had already regained by focus on the waterfall. I could almost hear Cliff’s voice. For a second it almost made me feel guilty for going out with Marlin.

“Cassidy, its just one date.” I had to tell myself. Still I felt guilt. I looked deeper into the waterfall. Before I knew it I was literally in the waterfall. I began to sink to the bottom, slowly losing consciousness. Soon I was laying on the bottom of the creek, completely unconscious.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Marlin stared down at the girl laying on the grass. He had taken her out of the water just minutes before and was ready to leave. His heroic deed of the day was done. Marlin laughed at the comment. He began to look deeper into the girl’s face. He’d seen her face before.

“Cassidy?” Marlin said, shaking the body slightly because he hated making any kind of contact with anybody.

“Yeah. What?”, the girl said startled. “Oh hi, Marlin. Did I miss our date?”

“Just barely. I came here because I thought you had ditched me. Then I saw you down there in the water. Did CPR and all the stuff and here you are right now. Didn’t your folks tell you that if you sleep in the waterfall you’re bound to drown.” The girl laughed at Marlin’s attempted humor.

“Well, we ought to go back to the Inn for our date.” The girl smiled trying to forget the afternoon’s incident. Marlin walked with her.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

As the night went by I found out that despite their behavioral similarities, Marlin and Cliff were completely different. While Cliff was raised in the city, Marlin was raised in Forget-Me-Not Valley and the only reason why he moved to the city was for some excitement until an illness caused him to move back to Forget-Me-Not Valley to live with Vesta.

I wanted to tell him that I had somebody back home waiting for me but there was something about him that I was also attracted to. I continued to play with my fork until Marlin began to look at me as if I was wasting my time.

“Hey, kid, you gonna say somethin’ else or what? ‘Cause I can always go back and farm. It doesn’t matter if I’m farming at 12 am or 12 pm as long as I’m farming, as Vesta would put it.” His voice showed a tone that he hadn’t shown that whole night until now.

“Oh sorry just tired from the trip I guess. You’ve traveled before, you know how it is.”

“Yup I guess I do. Well it is getting late so I better go.” With his head hung low, Marlin left the Inner Inn. We would continue to talk back and forth for a few weeks. Gradually Marlin began more talkative and less standoffish.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was a cool summer’s morning when I had gotten a letter from Cliff. The letter worried me because I figured Cliff was coming home and I didn’t know how to tell Marlin that I had someone waiting for me back home without breaking his heart. The truth was the I loved both men dearly…..as I had loved Ray back in Flower Bud Village. Still I opened the nicely decorated letter.
Dear Cassidy,
I have good news for you, I’m coming home. So you reserve your train ticket while I travel back home. I’m writing this on some train that’s supposed to take me back to Mineral Town. If the person conducting the train knows what they are doing, I should be back in Mineral Town by the time you get this letter. That’s fine anyway because while I was staying with my sister I managed to pick up a blue feather from one of the stores. I also learned something, never buy blue feathers from the city. It cost me 5000G for a feather. So when you come back home I want you to marry me.

Cliff
While most people would’ve been thrilled by this, I was shocked. At the most I expected him to say he wanted to move in with me. And that was at the very most. This was Cliff and Cliff wasn’t one for something as spontaneous as this. I put the letter in the box where I kept all the letters Cliff had written to me and I began to walk out towards Vesta’s farm to tell Marlin the news.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
“So what you’re telling me is you talked to me all this time knowing you had someone waiting for you back home? You even treated me with respect. Acted like we had a future together, all while you were dating that Cliff?” Marlin showed great rage as he talked to me. Then again I probably would’ve done the same thing.

“Yes I did Marlin. I never knew it would get as romantic as it did. When I dated you for that first time I figured that it would just be a friend-to-friend date, nothing like it was.” I said in my defense in case I would ever return to Forget-Me-Not Valley.

“Are going to tell him about this?” He asked with a slight revengeful look in his eyes, almost as if he wanted me to tell Cliff and me fall flat on my face.

“I don’t know.” I said. I knew I’d have to tell Cliff about Marlin. And I probably would’ve if Cliff hadn’t proposed.

“Well it’s your own loss. Now go and catch that train.” Marlin said angrily, acted like he did when I first met him. He said something else but I couldn’t hear it as I stepped into the train with my luggage and Dallas.

A/N:Yes I know I switched to first person but I thought that for that part it would do good

GOOD..this is certainly better than my fic..

Chapter Six-Wedding

The church had a happy feel as Cliff and I walked down the aisle. It had been 7 days since I had come home and Cliff formally proposed to me. Marlin still walked around through my thoughts but now I was married to Cliff. It had been a dream of Cliff’s to get married here and it was my dream too.

“Congrats Cliff.” Duke said as Cliff and I got closer to the church door.

“Thank you.” Cliff looked at Duke as if he were his own father, so this was something that was great to him.

“Name your first kid after me.” Duke smiled at both of us.

“We will.” Cliff and I said in unison. In reality Cliff and I never really discussed the subject other than that thing at the ocean. Still we walked back to our house, ready for whatever could hit us.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next few seasons seemed to pass by faster than both Cliff and I could’ve imagined. Elli had met a doctor that had come all the way from some place called Sawdust City or some crazy name like that, they’re dating now. I still haven’t heard anything from Marlin, I’m glad. Cliff’s working hard at the Winery and thinking of taking over for Carter at the Church. I think that would be a dream come true for Cliff. To finally work at a place doing something he truly enjoyed. These were some happy moments.

“Hey Cliff, are you awake?” I asked Cliff one night. It was late yet at the same time it wasn’t late, 10 pm.

“I am now, why?” Cliff’s voice was groggy and I could tell that he really didn’t want to talk about it much.

“I was just you know thinking about children. Remember that talk we had over at the ocean?”

“Yeah but that was decades ago now go to bed.” Cliff would probably be in a better mood in the morning. I’d talk about it then.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning I awoke to find Cliff running from the direction of the town with a huge smile that took up most of his face.

“What are you so excited about Cliff? Somebody spiked your water?” I joked with Cliff.

“Carter wants me to work along side him for a little bit. It’ll give me some training. Isn’t that great?” His face showed that he might have been offended by the ‘spiked water’ comment but his voice sounded bright and cheerful.

“That is. So does that mean that Carter will be retiring?” I asked. If Carter will ever retire is the question.

“No. Not right now. He did bring up how Flower Bud Village needed a Pastor. Carter said he has a friend there and he’ll try to get us there. Does that sound good?” Cliff’s face showed he knew that I’d probably say no. I would never say no to Cliff about something like this because I know how much it means to him.

“It sounds great. This will be the chance of a lifetime for both of us.” I managed to let out a stiff smile because going to Flower Bud would mean letting Cliff know about those ten years. “So um when do you think we’ll have to go to Flower Bud?”

“Wait a season or two…..Carter will let us know.” I nodded in agreement while getting my fishing rod ready to fish. It still had the message Ray engraved: Fishing’s Life and Life’s Fishing. Without fish there is no life. That was one his most intelligent messages. Of course Ray was an intelligent man anyway you just had to get in his correct field in order to notice it.

“Okay. Well I’m going to find a good fishing spot because both you and I know that those fish don’t ship themselves.” I smiled as Cliff and I went our separate ways. Tonight I’d talk to him about last night. Hopefully it won’t be as late as it was when I last told him.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
As I reeled the bass in I began to think more of Cliff’s plans to move to Flower Bud Village. Yes it was a beautiful place. The most beautiful of all places next to Forget-Me-Not Valley. But what if Cliff and I ran into Ray? Would Ray tell Cliff of how we were engaged? So close to being married that the dress I wore at mine and Cliff’s wedding was the same one that I had plan to wear at mine and Ray’s wedding.

“Get a hold of yourself. That’s your biggest flaw, you think too much. You always think of the worst that could happen and never the best.” I had to tell myself. After getting over that event I wrapped the bass up and began to fish once more. Hoping now I could catch a King. I smiled at the thought.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

I continued fishing until it started getting dark because of what Cliff would say if I came home really late at night. When I was single I’d stay up all night if that meant making some more G but Cliff’s really protective of me. He says that he doesn’t want to lose me. I both love and hate that about Cliff.

“Hey Cassidy. Have you caught that King yet?” Cliff asked me.

“No. Whenever I do I’ll tell you.” I said as I put a couple of fish on the frying pan. When I met Cliff he wasn’t to fond of fish but as I come to know him, began to like them. That was if you cooked them right.

“Well keep trying.” Cliff’s voice sounded hopeful as he knew that fishing meant to me as religion meant to him.

“While we’re on the discussion of each other’s career’s, how did your thing at the church go? Any idea of when we can move?”

“Good. As soon as he can get his friend to make travel arrangements for us. Carter says that I know as much about being a Pastor as he does. So I’ll let you know when we can start packing our bags,” Dallas looked up at Cliff, “and Dallas.” Cliff laughed. By this time the food was ready.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
After dinner I brought up the idea of children to Cliff again. This time he was more aware of the question and less aware of what time it was.

“Yeah. With us moving to Flower Bud Village it would be the perfect environment to raise children. Dallas could entertain them while you and I work.” Cliff’s face started to light up with excitement, the complete opposite of how he was the previous night.

“Actually I was thinking that when we move to Flower Bud we could get a place that was close enough to a fishing spot so I wouldn’t have to travel too far away to fish, and close enough to the Church so that you wouldn’t have to far to walk.” I said opposing Cliff’s idea.

“That sounds good.” Cliff smiled. As I looked into Cliff’s beautiful dark blue eyes I started thinking about how much Cliff had changed during the years that we had known each other. When I first met him he was this shy thing and I would look at him and think ‘Maybe I could have a future this guy’. Now here we are married, thinking of having children, and leaving Mineral Town.

A/N: I know its a short bad chapter but the next one will probably be longer.

good one!!!

Chapter Seven-Flower Bud

It was a cool Spring day when Cliff and I rode into Flower Bud Village. Now we were expecting our first child. This was a pleasant time for both Cliff and I. We had arranged for an area of land that was next to a good fishing spot and wasn’t that too far from the Church.

Dallas started to bark as the ‘Welcome To Flower Bud Village’ sign began to enlarge. The village hadn’t changed a bit since I left. The only thing different was the children running around. The children that were babies when I left were now teenagers. There were also a few new kids running around.

“You must be the new Pastor that Carter told me about.” Theodore said looking at Cliff and I. So Carter was friends with Theodore. Who would’ve ever guessed that?

“Yes I am.” Cliff’s voice was filled with awkwardness as he let out those three simple words.

“Okay here’s your house up this way. If you need help with anything, I’m on my Village Patrol route right now so just find me and I’ll have Bob help you.” Theodore said pointing towards the direction of the house. “Also I knew that you two were a family so I already arranged for Kurt, Joe, and Woody to upgrade it for you. Well that should be about it. Welcome to the Village.”

-----------
The next few days went by semi-calmly. Of course we had to have Bob help us with our things. Cliff and I also got to experience a fight between Joe, Kurt, and later Woody. Now what it was about exactly, Cliff and I are still trying to figure out. It was funny though.

On this day I decided to go over the forest to fish because I knew Ray would be there, he was. His face was still has serious as it was the day I left. For a second he took a break from fishing and looked at me.

“Cassidy?” Ray said tilting his head at me, his voice was deeper than ever. With the exception of a few small gray hairs, Ray had aged better than I had over the past ten years.

“Yes its me. How are you doing?” I asked him. I was excited to see him.

“Fine. Maria and I got married a few years ago. What about you?”

“I’m doing pretty good. I married a guy that I had had a relationship years ago. He says that he’s met you before.” I said. I doubt he would remember Cliff though.

“Okay. Do you still have that fishing rod I gave you.” Ray seemed to ignore what I had said to him about Cliff.

“Yes. Best fishing rod ever.” As I said these words I saw Cliff coming into the forest. If you were in Cliff’s position, you would’ve thought Ray and I were flirting.

“Hi Cassidy. Who’s that fisherman over there?” Cliff’s voice had both a combination of anger and calmness in it.

“The name’s Ray. Cassidy and I weren’t flirting if that’s what you want to get at.” Ray said standing up for me. “We tried that game a long time ago and it didn’t work out.” Cliff’s face started to redden with anger.

“Cassidy, you knew this guy? Why didn’t you tell me when we brought that up?” Cliff was upset about this.

“I did. It was just that you and I were getting so far I didn’t want Ray to endanger that.” I said. I began to walk out of the forest in fear of getting too deep into this blow out.

“Really Cliff, it was nothing. Just a couple of friends getting to know each other again. Nothing major.” I finally said. This oddly seemed to calm Cliff down. “So I hope you and Ray can become friends or just get out of each other’s faces and move on.”

“Okay.” Both men said. They were shocked by how tough I could actually be if the chance was give.

“Well I have some things at the um church to attend to.” Cliff said.

“Yeah and I’ve got to fish some more.” Ray stuttered. I smiled as I continued to walk out of the forest to explore Flower Bud Village.

Memories floated throughout the village for me. Jamie was still the complete grouch he had been four years earlier. Alex was still at the clinic. The big question was if he had changed his clothes during the past four years. I laughed at the thought.

“Hey Cassidy, how are you doing?” Michael asked as I walked into his shop. I may have only bought a few things there during my whole ten year stay but I still enjoyed his and Louis’ company.

“Fine. You remember Cliff, that man that I told you about from Mineral Town?”

“Yeah.” Michael said even though it was obvious he didn’t know who I was talking about.

“We got married a few seasons ago.” I said as I heard an explosion coming from one of the back rooms. “Ann again?” I asked.

“Yes.” Michael sighed. He always worried about Ann when she’d do some of her crazy experiments. I did too. “Well nice talking to you. I’m going to see what Ann broke this time.” Michael rolled his eyes at the thought. I soon walked out of the Junk Shop to start my daily shipping.

---------------
The next season passed by quickly. Cliff became a very good pastor, he and Ray were slowly starting to like each other, overall I’d say its been a pretty good season. Cliff was excited about becoming a father. Like everything else that had occurred in the past four years with us, Cliff had everything he wanted. A family, a home, and the job of his dreams.

--------------
The man paced the small clinic. For this to be a clinic, it sure is small, he thought. He worried about the woman that was behind the curtain. This particular woman was his wife.

“Cliff, don’t worry about her so much. Women have been having children for years. I don’t see how your wife would be any different.” Doctor Alex said. His face didn’t look nothing of what you’d expect a doctor’s face to look like, yet at the same time his face looked as professional as a doctor’s face could be. Unless if you count Trent.

“Alex, its not that I don’t trust you and Martha its just that….” Cliff’s face began to fade, as Cliff’s face did when he had something on his mind. Alex put his hand on Cliff’s shoulder. As a doctor Alex saw all sorts of things. But that’s another story. Footsteps on tile were heard coming from behind the curtain, Martha.

“Martha, how’s my wife doing?” Cliff asked frantically, almost with a sense of demand.

“She’s doing fine. Congrats.” Martha smiled as she guided Cliff into the small isolated area.

It was a sight that thirty-six year old Cliff would never forget, his wife and his two children. This surprised Cliff too because he had figured that his wife was only having one kid. Of course she didn’t tell you Cliff. She would’ve never had a moment alone if you had known, Cliff thought. But that was something that didn’t matter to him now.

“Hey Cassidy, guess who’s here?” Cliff smiled as he stepped closer to the bed.

“Cliff?” Cassidy said, drowsy.

“Yes. You want me to write the people of Mineral Town about this?”

“Yes but don’t write to Elli about it, let her find out by someone else.”

“Okay I’m just going to write a letter to Duke because I’m sure with Manna being as nosy as she is, she’ll read the letter and the whole town will know.” Cassidy laughed at what Cliff said.

“Sure.”

“So what names should I put on the letter? I mean if you’ve thought of names.” Cliff asked, his awkward side showing with every word.

“No I haven’t picked out names. I waited for you to help me with that. And I promise I won’t name one of the children after any kind of fish.” Cassidy joked with Cliff.

“Good because Rainbow Trout Owens doesn’t sound too good.” Cliff laughed. “Well we can joke around later. So what are they? So we can break some ground here.”

“A boy and a girl.” Cassidy said. “I was thinking about the name Dylan for the boy.”

“Sounds good. Brooke was my mother’s name, so um h…how about that for the girl?” Cliff asked. Cassidy nodded.

“Hey, I’ve built cribs for the little ones.” Woody said as he entered the clinic, “Congrats.”

“Thank you.” Cliff said, not taking his eyes off the children. Cliff’s smile grew bigger by the minute.

“Okay, you can leave now Cliff. She and the babies will be fine in our care. Get some rest. She’ll be ready to leave in a few days.”

---------
The next few days flew by quickly for me, Cliff, and the twins. I enjoyed to sight of Cliff with the twins, he seemed so full of himself. Like he was finally at peace. This was a good sign. Ray and Maria came by a week later to congratulate Cliff and I. That day I also met Ray’s son, Carp, spitting image of Ray. I also got to read the letter Cliff wrote to Duke.
Dear Duke,
Cassidy and I welcomed our twins on Spring 10th. No, I didn’t name one after you like I promised but there’s always the next son. Dylan and Brooke are they’re names, so you can tell Manna that. Have her tell everyone or you can tell everyone, whichever you prefer.

We hope to come by to visit soon,
Cliff

----------
It was a simple letter. Nice but simple. Everyday I ask Woody if he wants me to pay for the cribs and he gives me the same answer every time ‘No. You don’t need to. Free of charge.’ Still I manage to give him a couple thousand G. He takes it but you can tell he doesn’t want to, he just does it to be polite. Yes we had the good life that Cliff and I had envisioned at the dock in Mineral Town years earlier. I smiled at the sleeping Cliff at the thought

i love it..do more..