Cherry Hill [CHAPTER 1]

Instructions

Cherry Hill [CHAPTER 1] Petals on the wind On a cool spring day in mid april, atop a hill covered in trees sat a small village. The village wasn't home to many or sought by many other than one day of the year. That one day was the day of the kami which happened when the trees bloomed. What is the kami you say? Well, the most important thing about this story (besides the people in it) is the tree that stood in the very middle of the village. That tree is called the Kami it is the villages strength and source. The kami protected the village from famine and drought. Ever since they were kids the cherry blossom kids would learn about the kami from the village's priests and monks. They told stories of how before anyone could recall an old man on a long journey stumbled upon the kami as a sapling and raised it up into being what it is now. The old man died hundreds of years ago...but his grandchildren settled and built the village of cherry hill and now, the village is as happy as could be and soon the cherry blossom festival would happen and another great year of food would be promised. Koh woke up as the sun rose from behind the mountains. It was a cool day, one of the last before summer...Koh put on her jacket and went outside. The air was cool and she took a deep breath in. A Cherry blossom petal went down her throat and she coughed loudly probably waking up the rest of the village. Koh cursed under her breath and cleared her throat "Well at least that means the trees are blooming" she thought to herself. As much as everyone loves the cherry festival, Koh wasn't fond of it. The trees made her sneeze and made everyone else ignore her. All they wanted to see was the trees trees trees and Koh was almost sick of it. She looked up to see her friends running over to her. She saw Wonju, a small young girl running over with a flower in her hair while Jiyeon told her to slow down or she might trip on a root. Simon looked tired but smiled when he saw Koh walking at a steady pace (unlike wonju) Kim and Mei smiled both of them looked very cold despite the 3 layers of coats on them. Ishi waved Hika laughed as Bea sneezed when Mei shook a tree. The group was happy and as the sun rose everyone woke up and felt more energized. "Well I guess we should head over to gramps and get work started early." Bea said stretching. Gramps...or Master Yoshio was the oldest man in the entire village and he had hired the group to do all his housework and errands. The group collectively nodded and they started on their way to the big quiet mansion atop the highest point on the hill. Most of the group was used to the treacherous hike up the hill but Wonju still dragged her feet up the mountain until she was picked up and carried by Bea who told her all she was doing is slowing down everyone else. "The tree's are blooming already and there's still a week till the festival!" Jiyeon exclaimed. "Guys we have to win the cherry games this year we HAVE TO!!" Hika proclaimed. "yeah Hika's right." Mei said. "Last year we were so close to winning but the Blue team still beat us." "Screw the blue team!" Hika said as she broke a stick over her knee. "Yeah they always win!" Ishi sighed. "Well, this year all we need to do is win the memory match tournament that is what we did worst in anyways." Kim said. "Yeah...we did loose memory match really badly." Hika recalled, "who was our player for memory match again." The group looked around. "Simon......." Jiyeon smirked. "It's not my fault the duck looks the exact same as the chick I can't tell the difference!" Simon said defensively. Everyone laughed. "It's ok Simon we'll just get Bea to do it this year." Kim laughed. Simon sighed "fine then...put me on sack racing..." Simon said fixing his glasses. The group finally arrived at the Yoshio mansion and Bea rand the bell. The door opened and the small old man smiled. "Ah my favorite kids come in!" The group shuffled through the door Mei gasping at the trees and their early blooming. "The mansion looks so beautiful with all the petals and trees" she exclaimed. "I want to live here." Ishi sighed. Master Yoshio gave them each a task to complete before lunch. "Yay! I get to do the puzzle!" Kim squealed. "That's a task?" Bea said amused. "I got fetching the groceries!" Wonju said as she sped out the door and down to the market. "I got cleaning the floors!" Ishi said as she went to the shed to get the mop "I got the dusting!" Hika said. "I got feeding the chickens!" Jiyeon said. "I got washing the dishes!" Bea said. "I got...Darn it Laundry" Simon said with a huff. Koh looked at her task. "Mending shoes? I guess I can do that." Koh went inside the house to find master Yoshio doing the puzzle with Kim. Koh shook her head chuckling and went to the cellar to get all the shoes. The cellar was big and cold when Koh went down. There was a big pile of broken sandals and slippers and Koh went to find the sewing kit. (continue in notes and credits)