Chapter 1: The Beginning of a New Chapter
22-year-old Fern Freeman wakes up to the sound of "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. She had set it as her alarm the night before in order to start the day right.
She sits up and rubs her eyes, shutting off the alarm set for 6 am on her phone. She stretches and yawns, and then sits on her bed for a minute, enjoying the morning peace, before the excitement sinks in.
'Holy crap, today's the day! It's finally here!', she thinks to herself. Adrenaline throbs in her throat as she swings her legs off the bed, straightens her blankets a bit, and walks over into the bathroom to shower.
As she undresses to get in the shower, she catches sight of her bed head in the mirror and takes a moment to chuckle at herself.
Fern Freeman is 170 cm tall, and has waist-length silky red hair, emerald eyes, fair skin, dimples, and freckles. Although after all the outside work she's been doing, her skin is less fair and very freckled.
After she showers, she makes herself some scrambled eggs and toast in her tiny little kitchen. She eats, puts her dishes in the sink, and by 6:45 she walks over to the red door that separates her small apartment and her childhood dream.
At the door, she pauses, takes a deep breath, and opens it. She flips a light switch on the wall near the door, and looks with pride over the shelves, fridges, and freezers that she had stocked the day before.
Today is the grand opening of Freeman Market, the dream that Fern has saved her pennies for since she was a little girl.
The store doesn't open until 7, so she turns on the radio and spends 15 minutes sweeping the already spotless floor, arranging cans so their labels faced perfectly out, and sitting on the stool behind the counter.
Finally, the clock up on the wall says 7, so she dramatically strides up to the sign hanging on the door, and flips it.
"Open."
While Fern waits for her first customer, I'll explain to you the background of Freeman Market.
Freeman Market sits across the road from Bear Lake. Fern's grandparents bought a small camp on Bear Lake back in the 80's, and she has grown up swimming, running, and at times living there. When Fern was 12, the family decided it was time to tear down the old, condemnable camp that had been on the property when it was bought, and build something new. So they built a new house there, and it had 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen, with a big yard that gently slopes to the sandy lakefront.
Bear Lake isn't very big, and even people who live in the same county have never heard of it, so the people who live there are pretty close-knit.
Back to Freeman Market.
Fern decided to build her store there for a few reasons.
One: Bear Lake is kind of flat on one side, and that's where County Route 23 runs alongside it. She built Freeman Market on 23 across from the water so she could catch the business from lake residents and road traffic.
Two: There aren't any stores within 20 minutes of Bear Lake, and she grew up hearing all the complaints from anyone who had to drive to the store. This was a competitive advantage, but she also genuinely wanted to make people's lives better.
Three: There had once been a store a couple doors down from where Freeman Market stands, and it thrived for years, and only closed when its owner passed away. She sees this as proof that Freeman Market will thrive.
OK, now back to Fern.
'First customer! Stay calm, stay calm, stay f****** calm! Oh wait, it's only sweet Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, whew.'
Mr. and Mrs. Murphy are neighbors on the same side of the lake as her camp, so Fern knows them. They have a bunch of little grandchildren that visit the lake often.
"Good morning! Welcome to Freeman Market, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, how can I help you?", Fern chirps.
"Oh good morning Fern honey, we're just here to pick up some popsicles for the kids, they're coming to stay for the weekend," Mrs. Murphy replies sweetly.
Fern directs them to the wall of freezers, where they pick a few boxes of popsicles. She rings them up, they congratulate her on her beautiful store, and then they're gone.
Fern isn't idle for very long, though, because the people on the lake have been very excited for the new store to open.
The bell on the door rings, and in walks old Bub. He's a gruff man, but today he's in a good mood because he only had to go a little ways down the street to pick up beer and live bait to go fishing in his boat.
Fern notes that he must have gotten his fishing boat fixed, because last time she saw him he was furious that it wasn't running good.
Fern has many more customers that day, and towards closing time at 7, she hears the bell ring and looks up to see Aunt Marcy entering the shop.
"Fern! Your store is so beautiful, I'm so proud of you!"
"Aw, thanks Aunt Marcy. I'm proud of me too," Fern replies as she walks around the counter to give Aunt Marcy a hug.
They chat for a while, and Fern helps Aunt Marcy find the hamburgers, chips, and buns she's buying to cook for lunch tomorrow.
Aunt Marcy leaves at 7:05, so Fern locks the door and flips the sign behind her. She sweeps, restocks, and records the day's earnings before going into her apartment at the back of the store to eat dinner, shower, watch Netflix, and go to sleep.
As she lays in the dark, she smiles and prays that her store will have big profits and be passed on to her children, and her children's children, and her children's children's children, ...
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