Welcome to Sunshine Acres: the home of a reclusive sorceress, her mischievous apprentice, and a shape-shifting beast.
Robin, a jaded doctor, finds himself at this peculiar sanctuary while on a quest to find his brother, Otto. Running out of money an...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Prologue
The old man standing before Robin let out an amused grunt. In the dusty old path before a gray, rundown, wooden barn, he re-read Robin's letter for the third time. His worn-out leather boots scratching against the loose dirt he shifted thoughtfully, before heaving a small sigh.
"Well, I'm sorry, son... I don't think my Sunshine Acres is the place yer looking for," the rancher grumbled, stroking his beard stubble. "Never heard of no man named Otto."
As the summer sun blazed above their heads, Robin wiped the sweat from his forehead. His entire body prickled with irritation at both the unrelenting heat, and yet another dead end.
The old man slowly held the letter back out to Robin, who took it back from the man's work-worn hands , cringing at the the dirtied state of his brothers letter. He did his best to subtly tap away the dirt the old rancher's hands had left behind, before returning the letter into its envelope, and placing it safety back into its assigned satchel pocket.
Robin closed the flap to his satchel, mentally chastising himself for expecting this wild goose chase for his brother to be successful. This rancher's farm was the tenth location in the Great Plains he had traveled to, and was the final"Sunshine Acres" on Robin's list. It seemed he had finally reached the end of his pointless journey.
Robin reached down and grabbed his leather travel bag before looking back up at the old man, preparing to thank him. However he stopped short at the sight of the rancher's narrowed eyes, suggesting the rancher had more to say.
The rancher before him carefully scrutinized Robin from beneath his dusty, wide-brimmed hat, rubbing the stubble on his jaw in contemplation. His jaw seemingly chewing on the extra questions he wanted to ask.
"Sunshine? Sunshine... Hah!'" The rancher finally mumbled as he shook his head. He muttered something else under his breath Robin couldn't catch, before heaving a big sigh and spitting in the dusty path beside him.
"Well, if you run out of places t' try," the man added with a chuckle. "you might head over to the town of Adel. There's a magic lady there who lived on some acres. I bought a ring from 'er once, and I think she called her place "Sunshine Acres", though it ain't official or nothing. You won't find it on yer maps."
At the old man's words, a new spark of hope ignited in Robin's chest. He fought to suppress an eager grin. He dropped his bag back onto the path and reached for the old mans dirtied hands, shaking them passionately as he thanked the man as earnestly as he could.
As soon as Robin let go of the ranchers hands, his stomach twisted, suddenly conscious of whatever dirt, or worse, manure, had made it's way from the rancher's hands and onto his. His skin felt like it was prickling at the sensation. Robin had to stop himself from rubbing his now grimy hands on his travel worn trousers, in attempt to rid himself of the feeling.
He kept his disgust in check as he carefully picked back up his bag as loosely as he could to reduce the transfer from his hands onto it's leather straps.
Despite Robin's best efforts of acting normal, the rancher seemed to pick up on Robin's internal struggle, and eyed him with a mix of suspicion and amusement.
Robin gave the man one last polite nod and turned to make his way back up the dusty path and back into town, but the rancher spoke again.
"I hope you find your brother, son,"
Robin turned and blinked against the sun, giving the old rancher one last look. "You'll find more than you are looking for at that Sunshine Acres," He said with a chuckle. "I'll tell you that much."
The old man chuckled once more and shook his head, giving Robin one last wave before returning to his work.
