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Homegrown - Completed 26th May
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Next: Chapter 2 - Singles and Salad
This was inspired by something HP brought up over here, so I thought I'd have a little go at a story based loosely on that idea. Please feel free to leave any tips on photo-taking or story telling (as long as they don't revolve around "Ths iz crp"!)

Homegrown - Chapter 1 - Seeds



Hi, I’m Beth Mossberg, and… well, this is a picture of me just after I moved in to a small house in a quiet country neighbourhood called Riverblossom Hills.

It was small, but it suited me fine. I settled down here because it seems like the perfect place for me to live a peaceful life, and live solely off the produce I can grow and catch in my own back yard. I got food poisoning A LOT at university from all the over-processed rubbish they served, and when my auntie got bowel cancer last year, well... I decided to take a positive step towards taking better care of myself.



Well, I thought, I may as well make a start and fertilize my little garden. I had a small plot for growing plants, and an orange tree. There were already some tomatoes planted, but I thought I may as well use the rest of the space. What I don’t eat I can sell, and as it looks like taking care of this place will be my full time job, any extra money would come in handy!



Once the tomatoes were planted, I headed towards the small pond in the back of my garden, thinking I’d try my hand at fishing. I'd never done it before, but I had to eat, and it can’t be that hard, right?



OW! Those little scaly buggers are strong! Thank goodness, I think I heard the doorbell. I left the fishing for later…



Cr*p, who’s this? She looked so smart, and I was… well, covered in soil and slightly bruised in a fishing accident.

“Hi, I’m Claudia, I live across the street. I noticed you moving in so I thought I’d come over and say hi. Is this a bad time?”

“Not at all,” I said, pulling weeds out of my hair, “Where did you say you lived?”



“That house, over there.” replied Claudia coolly, pointing out the biggest, most intimidating house on the street.

“Wow!” I breathed. “You must be loaded! Oh my God, I’m so sorry, that was so rude-”

“Don’t worry,” laughed Claudia, “It is a bit excessive. It’s my parent’s house, I’m just living there with my son until we find a place of our own.”



“Wow, you’re lucky your parents don’t mind having you around.”

“I think they like it more than I do, to be honest,” she said. “I mean, I could move out already if I really scraped some money together, but I think Mum likes having me and Jamie around. You‘re lucky to have your own space here.”

“What little space there is!” I joked.

“But you can really relax here,” she said, “Just have some time to yourself, garden, fish… I wish I had that.”

“Well you’re welcome to come over anytime” I said. “I was just fishing when you came over, do you want to join me?”

“I’d love to! Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Of course not!” I said, handed her a rod, and led her over to the pond.



I managed to catch a fish!

Claudia and I stood and fished in the sunshine for a while and chatted about our lives. She told me about her son, Jamie, who was nearly two. His daddy had died in a car accident just before Jamie was born, and Claudia was left with no option but to move back in with her parents until she could financially support herself. Her parents were very wealthy, but Claudia was very vague about what either of them did for a living.



She visibly relaxed as the afternoon drew later, and even caught a fish or two. I enjoyed her company, so I offered to cook her fish for us.

It’s so nice to be cooking fresh food after all the junk I ate at university!



Oops! Oh well, the recipe did say blackened catfish…



Bless her, if Claudia could tell the fish was burned, she wasn’t letting it show.

“You know, Beth, I think it’s amazing you’re starting out alone here. I’d be so lonely if I were you. Not to mention tending this garden alone!”



“It is a lot of work, but I’ll manage!” I smiled, but to tell the truth I was feeling quite tired after today. I supposed I’d get used to it.



After dinner, Claudia left to go take care of Jamie, and I got a strange phonecall.

“Hello, is that Miss Mossberg?”

“Speaking, who is this?” I didn’t remember giving my number to anyone except Claudia.

“My name is Aurora Goss, I run the local singles network. I heard you’d just moved in on your own, and thought you might like to join us for a night out?”

“Um… I’m actually a little tired..”

“Come on! There’s no time like the present to get out there and meet someone special!” she cried.

“Ok, ok, give me ten minutes to freshen up and I’ll meet you. Where are you going and how do I get there?” I sighed.

“Don’t worry about that, we’ll send a taxi to pick you up!” she chirped.



Ten minutes later and, sure enough, there was a taxi waiting outside my house, honking loud enough to wake the neighbours. I climbed in, looking back at my little house and wondering just what sort of neighbourhood I’d moved in to.

Ok guys, that's the first chapter done. Let me know what you think!

Click Next: Chapter 2 - Singles and Salad to continue...

 
Next: Chapter 2 - Singles and Salad
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