Author's note: My first Harvest Moon story. Tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore." He told her, avoiding her eyes.

"What?"

"I meant… I meant that I can't do this anymore! I want to end this!"

Her heart dropped to her stomach and shattered, her world had shrunk, and everything around her became a dull shade of gray. She stared at him, or more like, through him, since she couldn't actually focus on anything right now. Her jaw dropped open.

I can't believe this is happening.

"But… but w-why?" She asked. Her voice was trembling.

"I think it's time we stopped pretending."

What the hell was he blabbering about? "What?" She said for the second time.

"We all know that we're both cheating on each other. You with that guy who worked at the fast food, and me with Lizzy."

Fits of shocked coughs squirmed their way out of her throat. "That guy at the food chain… You actually thought I was cheating?"

He looked at her, confused. "You weren't?"

"I was ordering takeout, asshole."

Awkward silence crept between the two. He nervously cleared his throat like he had a bubonic plague coming. She folded her arms. "And you…" She said through gritted teeth.

"You were cheating on me? With my sister? For how long?"

"Actually, I was cheating on her," He said. "With you."

He should have expected what was coming after, she couldn't help it. Different emotions were invading her mind and she couldn't resist punching him into the next life. He deserved it, after all. After the damage, she walked away.

The streets looked so dark and uninviting all of a sudden. Some birthday this turned out to be, she muttered. Cold air sliced through her skin which made her shiver and hug herself. She looked pathetic, actually, wandering the streets aimlessly like a freaking mendicant, looking utterly dejected and humiliated.

Forget men, she decided. I am going to live my life an awesome, diehard single, and no one's going to stop me.

Her blue eyes gazed at the field of water and smelled the salty scent of the ocean air. Her blonde hair happily danced with the wind, her dark blue overalls soaking up the refreshing fragrance. The ship that Claire was on was almost arriving at Mineral Town, a small place that held its own world. It was isolated—just the way she had liked it.

She could see the little backwater town from the deck. No words could describe how Claire felt right now. She was going to live on a farm—a fresh, cozy and quiet farm full of animals and plants. She had finally pried herself loose from the dull dreary walls of her boring apartment back at the city. Excitement was probably the best word that would describe her feeling. Claire was going to live as a country bumpkin, tending to cute cows and chickens, planting crops and gazing at the luscious fields of the midsummer sun. She couldn't wait to get off this stinkin' ship, as she called it, and scoot on over to the paradise she was going to call her 'Sapphire Farm.' She got off at the pier, and onto the beach.

"Well then," A buff, brown-haired man who looked like he was in his mid-forties said to Claire. "I suppose I should give you directions to your would-be farm?"

"I'd appreciate it." She told him in reply, eager to see the bundle of happiness waiting for her.

She could almost see the animals, crops and fields. Her feet treaded to the path the man had told her to go, she even worked up a sweat in all her excitement.

No words could also describe the look of dismay on Claire's face when she saw what had waited for her. Her luggage had somehow escaped her grasp, and fell hard to the ground.

The luscious fields she had imagined were no more than dark brown sand filled with weeds, twigs and rocks, boulders, even. There were no signs of animals, not even human life. It seemed unlikely that crops were possible to grow healthily in the state the soil was in. Claire stood there, speechless, and with her mouth hanging open as she continued to be dumbfounded by the surprising, in a bad way, sight.

"You must be the lady who bought the farm."

She turned around to see a short and stout man, who was all dressed in red with a silly looking hat. He had this mustache that irritated her, but at this point, anything could irritate her right now. She wanted to kick the man's behind into the next world, and she would have done it, if not for the little white angel that sat on her right shoulder and told her it was bad to kick people that you've just met.

"What the hell… is this?" She gestured to the farm, if one could call it that.

The man was clearly uncomfortable, he squirmed. "I'm Thomas, the mayor of this town. I placed that ad years ago when the previous owner died. Apparently, no one was interested in buying a farm, but every now and then, some people, like you have, would call about it and would arrive with a disappointed look on their faces." He tilted his head up to look at her. "Like the one you have now."

"Are you kidding me?" She said through gritted teeth. "I quit my job for this, thinking that it would be the paradise I was looking for. I even told my landlord that his place was crap, and told him I thanked God I never had to spend a day in that rusty apartment again!" She had the sudden urge to look for a hammer and smack him with it.

"I'm sorry…" was all the mayor could say.

They stood there in awkward silence when Thomas' head perked up. It looked like he had an idea.

"I know! Why don't you run the farm instead? You know, raise it to its former glory. It has a nice house right over there." He pointed to the small cabin that stood on the far corner of the farm. Claire thought that it was kind of cute.

"You don't have a place to stay, don't you? And if you work hard, this old run down farm could be thriving with crops in due time."

The blonde eyed the stout man carefully, it was almost a glare. Claire wondered if this midget had a few screws loose. I mean, come on! Me? Run a farm? By myself? That was the most absurd idea she'd ever heard.

"It's better than nothing."

That was a good point, she thought. She couldn't go back to the city now, even if she wanted to. She had no place to stay, and no other source of income. Going back to her family was out of the question, because her she herself ran away from home, and had too much pride to return. The young farmer-to-be couldn't believe she was actually considering this idea. She came to Mineral Town to live a cozy life at the farm, not working her butt off in 'restoring it to its darn former glory.' But this was all she had, and she was a hard worker, anyway, so it would probably work out, one way or another.

Her eyes scanned the farm. Weeds, rocks, twigs, rocks, weeds, rocks, weeds, weeds.

"Fine," She huffed. "I'll do it."

The mayor practically jumped for joy. "You'll definitely love it here. The people are nice, and the days here are routine… which means no surprises."

Just the way she liked it, Claire sighed sadly.

"If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask me, miss… uh-"

"Claire."

"Miss Claire. Right."

Thomas explained a few things before he left. Like where the animals could be held, the stable, the pond. He even gave Claire a map of Mineral Town. When she was left alone with her thoughts, she let go of a heavy sigh.

"Great. I'm a city girl who knows absolutely nothing about farms, yet has to revive one from scratch."

Just when she was about done complaining, she heard a little 'yip' coming from below her. Her blue eyes fell down to her feet and found a little brown puppy tugging away at her jeans.

"Well, you're a cute little fella, aren't you?"

The puppy barked happily.

"You need a name…" She told him. "How about…Flea?"

The animal whelped. Claire guessed it didn't like the name.

"Well, that's what I'm calling you, anyway."

She picked up her bags and entered her new home.

I'm sorry if this was kind of short... and well, no Claire and Gray yet.