Springfields The Power of Hope

ABOUT SPRINGFIELDS Springfields was a very old, quiet, and sometimes mysterious village. As Legend has it, the first settlers in Springfields were four travelling merchants who came across a natural spring with a field at each corner and decided it would be a good stop-off point whenever they were travelling between the south and the north of the country, and so settled there. The focal point was the fountain, which was fed from a natural spring. The village shops were placed in two half-circles on both sides of the fountain. The circle around the fountain was a lovely community space, with benches for people to sit and enjoy the beautiful sound of the cascading water. There were houses set back behind the shops. The whole area had been surrounded by trees, some of which had been cut down to make way for modern development. Beyond the trees were four fields, which were now big farms. At the top of the village between Mason and Armstrong House was a small hill with a monument on top, which nobody had climbed for some time. Only two of the large houses were still owned by the descendants of the original families: The Mason House and the farm which was built in the bottom left field, Dowell farm. The other two farms had changed hands several times, however the one built in the bottom right field, Headley House, had been the hardest farm to let or sell, as crops failed very easily there and nobody could explain why. The village was self-sufficient, having all the facilities needed to sustain a community of less than 100 people. Anything the people of the village couldn’t, or didn’t produce themselves, was ordered at the grocery store, which in turn ordered it from either the factory or the larger town shops, and once a month it was delivered by someone passing through, or someone from the village would go and collect it. It was a simple way of life and no one in the village would have it any other way. There had been some visitors from time to time who came in the hope that the village would allow them to stay, but had finally decided it wasn’t for them. The village decided who stayed and who went, and although no one knew how, they just knew it was so. Mr Drew, the butcher, had once decided to buy in some cheap meat from a neighbouring town, instead of locally. He put it on the counter and within an hour it had all spoiled. He didn’t sell one chop, and so lost his money. The Haberdasher’s once decided to get a shop assistant from outside of the village, saying it was easier and cheaper than training one of the locals. In the first week, the girl got so ill she had to go home. So many other things had happened that no one even thought about hiring or buying from outside, if it was available in the village. It was an unwritten rule. The Power in Springfields is about to be unveiled..........