Harper was always a strange girl. It's no surprise, considering her parents are 'top secret' government agents probably hiding their 'top secret' files of extraterrestrials in some abandoned 'top secret' warehouse in the middle of nowhere. Actually, past tense. They're now gone. Taken by the top-secret aliens Harper has been searching for.

She knows this too well. Its memorized in her head, the fact that aliens do exist and that her parents were taken by them. Ignore the critics and the non-believers; they're just in denial. They just can't face the facts.

Harper then blinked rapidly as Eliza waved a hand over her eyes. "Hello, earth to Harper?" Harper grinned widely. "Still on earth."

Eliza rolled her eyes. "Sure. Anyways, come on, I still want that soda." Eliza led Harper into the familiar general store. The bell gave a little clink as they walked in. 

The wrinkly old man by the name of Mr. Oaks waved, smiling with crooked teeth. He already had a small glass bottle of pop, or 'carbonated sugar water' as her grandma calls it, in his hand. Harper strides forward and places a hand on the counter confidently.

"Mr. Oaks, Someday you need to tell me how your mind reading or vision seeing powers work!" Harper said, leaning forward. "I will need to use it once I finally encounter an alien!"

"You only ever get soda from this store, Harper." Mr. Oak replies, giving one soda to Harper and the other to Eliza. "I don't need to read your mind to figure out that you'll get soda this time too."

"Yes, I suppose so, but then how did you see we were coming?" 

"By looking through my store window," Mr. Oaks shrugged, but not before giving a slight wink. Harper scowled slightly but continues onto another topic nevertheless.

"Did I ever show you my newest video?" Harper stutters rather excitedly. "It's about the connection between dreams and alie-"

"We should go now, Harper," Eliza almost exasperatedly pulls Harper away from the counter. "See you later Mr. Oak."

"But this is one of my most honorable discoveries yet-!" The door closed before Mr. Oak could hear another word. He shook his head, tutting slightly, before continuing on his work. 

@Starseeker, that's good! And now I'm going back to first person...

Harvest~

"I cannot leave this manor." She says, gesturing to the walls around her. "I need you to scout out whatever this... thing is. But be wary." Allegro tells me. I nod and bow, sweeping out the door.

I float over to the west side of Fenford, where most of the houses lie. The sound of ghostly music returns, wrapping itself around everything. A boy sits in a hammock, just listening to music. The two girls I saw earlier are walking back home, still engaged in conversation. Another ghost, a small dog, appears out of nowhere and begins to walk by my side, eyes gleaming protctively. I ruffle its head, and a wave of emotion washes over me.

I missed something. Something big, and something important.

"Harvest!" A younger girl cries. "Haaarrvessst!"

And then I snap out of it. The memory is enough to make me want to tear back to the manor, to discussit with Allegro. But I grit my ghostly teeth and keep going. 

Then I remember- the Town Hall! It has every copy of the small two page newspaper, Times for a Dime, that has ever been printed, along with several historical artifacts and pictures.I hange direction and head over.

Eliza~

I walk with Harper out of the store.

“Why’d we leave?” she whines.

“Because,” I reply. “Mr. Oak has to get ready for the Fenford Festival. There’s a parade tonight, and we’re going.”

Harper groans. “Do we have to?”

I sigh and give a smile. “Pop’s has free milkshakes afterwards.”

She perks up. “Of course I want to go! After all, it was my idea.”

”Fine,” I reply.

Let’s rewind a bit. How did Harper and I become friends? Well, on the first day of our junior year in high school, I was the only one that believed Harper’s story about her parents. And she was the only one who actually cared about my well being when others found it amusing to push me physically and mentally down just to see me disappear. My small art shed in my backyard was usually our safe haven from her grandparents and from my parents who think I’m slightly a freak. My brother’s normal. I’m not. We also usually met at Pop’s, a small retro restaurant who’s owner and main chef was very kind, occasionally giving us a free milkshake for two. But Harper also likes me because she thinks I might be an alien or an Enhanced from Marvel. I usually laugh at that. 

“Is Oak gonna have a parade float or something?” Harper asks as we head back to the art shed. 

”No,” I reply. “He just needs to close early so no more customers come. The roads need to be clear.”

”Oh,” she responds. We walk in silence a bit before she breaks it. “The atmosphere...it’s almost as if everyone is bracing for impact.”

”You’re darn right!” a voice interrupts.

We look to the yard beside the sidewalk and see Theo swinging on his hammock. His head jerks up a bit. “Something’s coming, and nothing is going to be the same again! But aside from that gloom and doom, how are you all?”

”We’re doing very fine, thank you!” I reply.

Harper smiles. “You should go with us to Pop’s after the parade.”

He waves his hands in a bow. “Perhaps I shall.” 

~~~

Sorry, that wasn’t the best ending. :p I just can’t think of anything else right now. XD

Fenford on a normal day. 

Fenford with a normal day is an aboslutely freakish idea and never going to happen. Every day has something strange, never-seen-before. But if you had to use the statement "normal day" as related to the town of Fenford Pennsylvania, it would probably have Llillian somewhere. 

This unaverage day, she was walking down Principal Street in the early morning. No one stared, though this was a very rare occurence, especially when paired with the lazy animal's afro. She stopped to admire herself in a window, turning to leave only when the nearby flower cart owner stepped away to arrange the bouquets. It only took a few seconds for him to make sure they weren't wilting, but she was already sauntering down the road again, her new hairstyle adorned with a bright red zinnia. 

Suddenly she skidded to a stop, the flower swaying precariously. Delaney's Cafe... To realize her shock, you must understand the store was one of the highlights of the town, a place where you could buy glowing pickles, feather-light boxes of rocks, giant caterpillars, and rarely a sandwich. Unless you like peanut butter with luminescent marinated cucumbers and a sprinkle of "fairy dust". In short, it was an epitome of Fenford.  And now its shadowed, shuttered, windows glared tiredly out at the busy street. Delaney's Cafe, closed. 

Llillian quickly continued down the street, gaze fixed pointedly at the horizon. She didn't want to know what else had changed. Better to forget about it. Yet, she couldn't totally ignore the people that passed, their puzzled, slightly sad expressions that hid in their eyes, Even their light-hearted smiles erased it only for a second. She started trotting, a slight sense of hysteria growing with every dark window that slid past. Llillian didn't like this melancholy Fenford, and she's always ingored what she doesn't like. But you can't act like your home is invisible. The conondrum descended down, clouding her thoughts. Everything seemed to fade, sound became a gray buzz. Llillian might have sat down in the street and not budged till everything became normal again. Except for that soft voice that seemed earily loud in the pale blur of the world. 

Eliza? Llillian thought for a second. Yes, she liked that name. Instantly, the world regained color and she promply forgot about the problem. Wether or not Fenford was okay, it would probably survive. Eliza was walking down the street with the talkative girl, Harper. Llillian clopped up to them, head held high to show off her hair accesorry. They didn't notice her at first, their very depressing conversation apparently more interesting. It reminded her too much about the awful feeling she had just experienced, so instead admired her elegantly clipped hooves, fine with just walking alongside. 

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I don't really know what to write... The Festival is a pretty good idea. Anyway, just trying to get my overly dramatic character in the story.  

please don't die