Summer - 21 - XXX1
The morning passes quietly enough, I suppose. When I head up to the mountains, though...
I stumble on a moment that felt...A little private. Not very private, but enough that I held back.
It's not eavesdropping, it's being conveniently-located!
Elli and Maria crouch by the low remains of a fire. Elli's face is red from the heat, and she moves to wipe the sweat off of her neck.
"Alright, they look almooost ready. I've got a few herbs from the surroundings and I think we can add some acid from one of these fruits..."
"The effort I put into cooking the fish...I know it's not exactly worth the fish's life...But I want the energy it put into living to be worth something special, even if that's not continuing living."
She says that with a determined smile. It's something startlingly beautiful on such a gentle, warm face. I get the impression...That expression, at once kind and iron-girm, will be burned into my mind for a long time.
Elli breaks the tension with a laugh.
"That sounds wierd, huh?"
"I-I think I understand..."
"It's like that with Fox, too. He brings me eggs sometimes... But those eggs are probably worth a lot to him, since he works hard to buy and raise his chickens. So even if he'll never taste it, I want what I make with those eggs to be a worthwhile payment..." A dreamy sky escapes herself.
"But that doesn't make it make anymore sense, huh?"
She's thinking about me?
Maria blushes.
"N-no...I think it does."
She thinks about me...
"It's ready."
"I'm sure it's delicious."
I try and sneak by and not interrupt their meal...
But she's thinking about me. It's like a sudden wave of happiness. And trouble.
"Yeah, I know about them...Since you brought this up last time."
"Oops. Well...I think it's OK to tell you...There's one buried on your farm. The lost fruit of the King's Tree..."
"King's Tree?"
"It's a story even to me. But that's what the goddess says they are."
"I see... I'll have to ask about that story when I've got some spare supplies to call her with."
He nods.
"Stories are important, especially to humans. You, too, are part...Of a larger story."
...That's....I feel like someone just walked over my grave.
I pass Elli's granny on the way through my business.
"Heya. What's on your mind today?"
"Oh, Hello, Fox. I was just thinking about time."
"Time?"
"It's like a rapid river: the closer to the sea it gets, the slower it flows..."
"I've heard time goes faster as you get older, though."
"That may be true to a point...To a young man like you, time surely moves faster than it did when you were a child...But time's really made by putting pressure. Elli's always so worried...That you're putting too much pressure on your time."
"Is she now?"
The old woman laughs.
"I've raised a meddlesome girl...But she means well. Watch out for her, dear."
She returns to her state of half-doze in the sun.
"Heya, Elli."
"Hello, Fox. Hey...Umm..." She fiddles with her apron.
"Your granny said you were worried about me." She looks a little relieved that I brought this up without scowling.
"Well...A bit. One of the carpenter's assistants came and said you've been logging...At midnight."
I do sort of do that.
"...Well... I don't actually know Dad's margin of success when it's not defined by seemingly-random academic, personal, skill-based, and professional goals...So I don't exactly know what 'reviving the farm' is. And so I'm thinking it's everything. So I want a better house and yard, too."
"Your dad's the one wanting you to revive the farm?"
I shake my head.
"He hates the whole idea."
She her face goes slack as the idea hits her, and then tight with frustration as she actually realizes what all that means.
"Then why does it matter to *you* what he thinks is success?"
"...Because if I don't show him I can revive this place in...About two years now... I go home with him and he owns my life. I mean, more than he already did."
"That's...That's crazy."
"I know, right?"
"Well, it's kind of crazy that you're going along with it, too. I mean, why gamble on your passion?"
"Because otherwise, I have no passion. Dad wouldn't let me *do* anything other than what he wanted until he did this. This two years..."
"It's life-or-death of your heart, huh?" Smiling at me softly, Elli nods.
I laugh.
"Something like that...I think you're right; you've got to do your best." That's...Who Elli is. She's someone who does her best to follow her own heart. And when you lay it out like that...I really end up admiring her.
"I don't plan on losing."
She looks at me with wide eyes, like she didn't expect that from me. Then she smiles and it's like I've come home from some long journey, and reached the place she wanted me to reach...
"I'll be rooting for you. Just...Please."
"Don't worry, I will. I can't leave people crying over me!"
That idea's a little novel, actually.
And the notion of it, the wierdness of having people to cry over me...
Well, it follows me through my day.
I sort of don't talk about my day when it's not people-related. There's not a lot to say...Today I shop a bit.
The rest is routine -- I go through it almost like a meditation.
I chase down the chickens and collect the eggs.
I give Lambo and Clarabella my love and some attention.
I finish up any watering that needs doing.
And I head to the bar.
...
Where Karen's on the ground, red-faced and probably very drunk.
"Miss Karen? Are you alright? Do you need walking home?"
She tries to bat his hand away, but ends up without the force for it...So her hand just curls into his.
"I'm fine. No one shaid I wasn't fine...Just fine...You nee *yawn* need to not lose, too... Doeshn't the world only move if you make it? Move the world...Ha."
She straightens and wobbles past me out the door.
"That's all you can do, I think."
"Yes...I just hope I can do it...If only for Miss Karen's sake, anyway."
I look at him for a moment. Kai's normally a pretty chill guy...But Karen's the one who always gets him worried. He's got it bad, doesn't he? If he worked up the nerve to ask her out...What would she say?
It's an uneasy feeling.
He leaves after her, and the rest of the patrons file in.
Gray, of all people, waves me over.
"...Don't...Don't let Ann do all the talking. She'll step over you."
"I thought you didn't want me talking to Ann."
He waves his hand. He's maybe -- well, I'm gonna guess he's just a little bit drunk. Not very, but he's loose-tongued.
...Well, looser.
"...Yeah, I could see that."
He nods. That appears to be the limits of his conversation.
I say hi to Zack, Cliff, Harris, and the Bartender, but it's nothing worth noting...
And...
I said I wouldn't hurt myself, and I don't intend to...But I do intend to finish up getting a big stock of lumber, and maybe seeing what to do with it.
In the moonlight, my axe seems to have gone all silvery. Or...I look at it closely. It feels lighter, but...Stonger, too. Like my watering can...
It seems my axe has grown in strength.
With it like this, I can clear a stump in two swings. I need to get my hammer and the like this way, too.
It ends the day on a nice, triumphant note for me.
Summer - 22 - XXX1
We've got a lot of lumber; I think I'll see about that upgrade. Or at least repairs.
Corn! Tomatoes! So much croppage!
Even with Argos to help, it takes a lot of time to get it all done.
And...I got a letter. It's got nice, crisp handwriting on plain paper, but...It smells a little bit like blackberries.
I step inside the kitchen, and for a second I'm not sure if I couldn't just leave my pies on the counter and have them bake just fine. Sometimes, it's enought to make me feel faint... I bet you're not prepared for the heat without AC, huh? Take care
- Elli
Yeah, actually...I mean, the city's pretty hot because of all the concrete, but... I generally tried to stay inside in the summer. I've got my hat to protect me from the sun a little, though...
So I'll probably be OK.
I go up to the carpenter's shack -- or what I'm guessing is the carpenter's shack, since the guys I think of as 'the carpenter's assistants' hang around there...
It's...Actually, it's a lot like my house. My grandpa had all the interior decorating skills of a guy living in the woods.
"So...What do you do here? Like, repairs, or..."
I turn to the old man in charge.
"We do extensions, mostly. I can post up a list of what your grandpa always thought could have been done, give it a look-over..."
"That sounds good."
You couldn't just...Tell me? With words?
The man smacks his pipe on his table and begins to write. Ok, probably not.
Holy...
That greenhouse is expensive...But it looks like I can afford a kitchen right now, so that's something.
Besides, I can sort of imagine Elli's face when she hears I'm getting my own kitchen...Ack! Ok, falling in like with 4 seperate girls, I can handle as an acceptable level of human idiocy.
Making major decisions based on that, I will not!
But I will get a kitchen.
"Yeah; I think it'll be useful."
"Give me the lumber and money then."
"...Alright."
I also buy some grass seeds...
And run into Elli there.
"Heya; sorry to hear about your heating problems."
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm glad you got the letter, though...I just...Was thinking of you."
She fiddles with her apron. She's really cute when she does that, which...Well, it makes my life more complicated.
I suppose I'll have to endure, too... I'm actually trying to get a kitchen added on to my house."
"Really? That's wonderful!" Her face rises like baking bread, that warm round beaming I was picturing. Even though I pictured it, I end up starting a bit, seeing her so happy for me.
"I'll have to make you a recipe book, for whatever you learn to make! Oh, and..."
I wave my hands in protest.
"There's no need to go through any trouble..."
"No, no! Nothing's really a home until it's got a kitchen. That's the way I see it. Think of it as a housewarming gift."
"Well, if you put it like that...Thanks, Elli. It's good to be home."
As I step outside, I wave to Harris.
"Hey, Harris...Why do I get so many letters from people who live just in town?"
He seems to give it some thought.
"Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but..."
"It's a connection you can't get speaking."
"Yeah, maybe...Thanks, man."
I also sort of end up heading into the church for a moment of cool...Accidentally walking into class. All the village kids are hard at work...Or something looking enough like it for the parson.
"Ah, Mr. Fox...Would you mind helping me check up on everyone? I'm sure they won't mind the extra help."
I see Kent slide something under his little table/pew thing, from under his books. Oh, like heck they won't. They're kids.
"How's it going, Stu?"
"I'm drawing a flower today."
"...Is that what you're supposed to be doing?"
"I'm supposed to be drawing shapes, but a flower is made of shapes, so I'm drawing shapes in the shape of flowers...Don't tell Kent, OK?"
"I won't, I won't..."
"Well, maybe for next spring."
"That'd be great!"
"How about you, Kent? What are you supposed to be doing?"
"...Math. Say, Bro... Do you have to add stuff and subtract stuff a lot?"
"Well, not as much as I used to...But I need to make sure I have all the money I need for all my purchases, and know how much money I'll have left over, and if what I'm spending will be worth it...And as for more complex stuff, I don't do a lot of complicated math, but I'm glad I learned it."
Am I seriously being called on as a role model? What is wrong with this world?
"...Why?"
"I wanted to know if I needed math."
"Sorry. You do."
He sighs and actually tries to buckle down and do some math problems from his book.
"...But here's something to keep you going."
"Want me to teach you?"
"...Only if you write it out so I can say it's relevant to school."
"...Alright..."
With that done, I say hi to a few more people and head home, where the carpenter is waiting for me.
"Alright. It all looks..."
And I'm not at work for more than a minute before...
Kent's arrived, lugging a large, heavy shopping bag.
"He said I should thank you for the egg..."
"Well, thanks, Kent. So what is it?"
It was a miniature watermelon.
"Wow, that's nice! These are hard to get."
"Grandpa likes to pickle the rinds."
In the heat, the sweet juice is so nice...Yes, watermelon is a great summer treat.
"Glad you like it."
"See ya!"
Well, since I've got a day or two of grass for both...
I'm bringing the animals outside.
My life needs more cowbell.
And they're gonna enjoy some nice night air.
And I'm going to enjoy a drink.
Orrr....Not.
I immediately go scarlet and fluster about, spilling my water.
"Well. I. Uh. That is...I..."
Don't say another word until you have an answer. Don't say anything that'll break a heart. ...Will he tell Elli?
"...I'm...Not sure?"
Yeah, like that won't hurt someone. I didn't ask to meet people I really liked!
"...What should I do?"
...She likes me? Well, I may have just screwed that up...
I guess I should tread lightly, if she does. Let's be honest: I'm not a good sort of guy for a girl like that. My future's uncertain, and...I've never really tried the relationship thing before.
I go home and spend the rest of the night...
Clearing a crop patch. It's a little late in the season to be planting, but next season I want to move things down a bit, to more clearly define the grass and pasture space. I kind of want to find some paper and sketch out some plans sometime...
But that'll be a matter for later...
Summer - 22/23 - XXX1
The girl in my dreams grabs me by the hand. She sees my eyes narrow a little, but she keeps tugging.
She sits me down by the river and busies herself, a towel tied like an apron over her dress.
...It's a girly game, and I balk at it...At least at first.
Because ...And maybe because I urge my dreamself on -- I guess I missed a lot of chance to have a happy home life. It's my dad's fault, but...
Watching myself watch her, pressing her little cookies with the mud on her fingers, ruining a good towel...
In the dream, I can't bring myself to blame him. In the dream, I just want what I can get.
I end up eating the cookies.
She says, as I keel over...My stomach hurts a lot...I end up throwing up for a while...
And she gets her dad, a guy I can't even picture, to bring me home... She follows after, trailing her muddy apron. She looks...Really worried for me.
It's such a familiar worried face...
I ended up in bed for a while...
And the dream blends together like that.
Summer - 23 - xxx1
When I head outside, I see...
A morning greeting.
"Well, I was on swim team for a while because it's a sport where no one can hit you...Why?"
Why was I in a sport where no one can hit me being important? Because there was no way I was getting beaten up for Dad's dumb mission to do everything humanly possible at the cost of my school-age soul.
"Truth is, the sea festival is tommorow at the beach and we don't have enough participants."
"Yeah, sure."
"So please come tommorow."
"Yeah, alright."
I figured I could look at the tool shop today, in case there's something neat...
And Ann's there, too...Which actually brings a thought to mind...
"Hey, how did you end up running this place, Rick? The rest of your family seems like it's in a different world..."
Ann jumps in then.
"He takes after grandma. In all sorts of ways..."
"Hey!"
"Oh?"
"Rick's side of the family ended up holding onto them."
"I see..."
"I have lots of success...With explosives."
"But how many of them start out that way, huh?"
"Science is about the journey!"
It starts as a little chuckle...But by the end of it I'm laughing pretty hard.
"See? Fox gets it...All the same, I don't want you giving up, alright, Rick?"
"No, it'd be a shame, impromptu comedy routines aside."
Anyway, I look over his single ware: an ad for something.
And then suddenly we'll be in Animal Crossing...
Well I do like that...
But that's kind of expensive.
"...I'll think about it."
I also see if there's anything on the shelves...
"...If you say so, Rick."
"What's that mean?"
I'm cutting through the village when I run across...
A simple childhood scene, with Stu and May playing...Well, I'd guess house. Maybe I'm still thinking about my dream.
Elli walks in behind me, stopping next to me on the little bridge. She doesn't even think to talk...We just sort of end up watching this.
"It never works, kiddo."
Even if the kids don't here my mumbling, Elli does.
"When I was a kid, I played house all the time..."
"I didn't really end up playing a lot as a kid...Not that I remember clearly. But I played knights sometimes."
She laughs again.
"That's...Almost hard to picture. I can't see you fighting...You're not that sort of guy."
"Yeah, I'm a grudge-nurser..."
"Not at all...Maybe if I picture it as a streak of romanticism, slaying dragons and rescuing princesses...I can imagine that from you."
"Yeah, maybe...I'm into that sort of fantastic thing...And, anyway, nothing wrong with wanting to be a hero, right? But I guess in the end, play isn't destiny...Except maybe for you. Did you do any baking in your play?"[/color]
I turn the teasing on her a bit...But the nostalgia's a little sincere. It's because I like being a hero, maybe...That I ended up doing some of the stuff I do. I'm not a hero, but I'd like to be. Does that make sense?
She puffs herself up, her face trying to keep a serious pride and falling out of it like make-up coming off in the rain and revealing the soft, radiant skin beneath the clownish powder.
"You know, things like mud pies or cookies..." She looks at me, then, trying to tilt her head this way and that to see something... I don't know what she's looking for, but I try and keep my face level so she'll find it.
"Hey, have..."
Am I allowed to have a dream that's just a dream? Still, I don't think I can picture... It being anyone else, trailing after me in a muddy apron.
"Yeah, that dumb kid was me."
She turns and flushes scarlet, like a secret got exposed. Maybe...I was the only one she actually tried to feed them to?
"...real cookies. I guess I wanted to see if someone would eat something I made...But it kind of went wrong."
"Eh, kids will be kids, right?...Still, I think I like your real cookies much better...But they were all made with love, so in the end, I'll eat it all."
She blushes more and lifts her head.
"Anyway, my break's up..."
There are workmen crawling around...I never know what to do with workmen about, so I go back up the mountains for some extra gathering.
And off I go to the bar, where Karen's hard at work.
"What's up? Feeling better after the other night?"
"Oh, that....Thaaat was emberassing. I kinda wish no one saw me that drunk."
"Eh, who doesn't sometimes cross their ideal line? It's not something I can fault a person for if they don't make a habit of it."
"Yeah... <3 That's why I guess it's OK that you and Kai saw...Even if there's not many people in the world I'd really trust...Somehow, you end up seeing me being dumb or weepy or like a kid...And that ends up OK."
Trust...Yeah. That's the feeling between Karen and I. If I go on and on about my dad, I know she'd get it. If she says how frustrating her world is, I understand... Whoever we are, we accept that in each-other, without settling...
Is that love? Maybe it is. How would I know?
I end up drinking with Kai.
"Karen says she doesn't mind that you see her drunk...That must be a little odd, huh?"
It's certainly something I didn't picture someone saying to me.
"A bit...But I'm glad to be someone she can confide in. She speaks firmly,"
"...Even if I don't have the courage to do anything for her...Just understanding's good, right?"
"I think so."
It's with a thoughtful heart I return home.
The problem with having all my animals outside in a space like this is... I can't get past them on Argos sometimes. It's a bit of a bother, but space is precious-ish for time, too...
Anyway, I've got stones enough for a much larger animal pen, so let's take some out...
And in doing so, upgrade my hammer. Score!
I eat an herb so as to not worry Elli too much, and it's into bed with me... Swimming tommorow, huh? Sounds interesting.
Re: 64 Times the Harvesting: Let's Play Harvest Moon 64
Originally Posted by Herpestidae
Reply With Quote