Disclaimer: Harvest Moon is owned by Natsume, not me.
Let me ask you a question: did I do anything wrong? We just wanted bigger and better things.
Before you can answer my question, you must, of course, know my story. Our story. But this is a question that has been bothering me for quite some time…
Joanna and I were thick as thieves growing up. Our parents had started their families a tad earlier than the rest of the Mineral Town residents, so for the first few years of our lives, we were the only children around. Then, as babies were born, they still weren't much fun for a few years. By necessity, we became best friends. We would hang out in the vineyard when Barley and his wife were too busy tending to the cows and sheep. I would join her in the barn when my parents were fighting about my father's drinking.
Our bond only strengthened as time went on, because as our age increased, so did our hardships. A couple of the village women went out to the mountain during a massive storm. The storm itself claimed the lives of Gotz's wife and daughter, and Joanna's mother and Ann's mother both fell ill. That autumn, they both passed away. It was a dark time in Mineral Town. In such a short span of time, we lost so many loved ones. Joanna was obviously heartbroken at the loss of her mother.
My father took advantage of Doug's depression. He began drinking more than usual, as the bartender was too stressed with the task of single-handedly raising his young daughter to worry about his patrons' alcohol consumption. This increased our fights at home. My mother constantly pleaded with my father to stop drinking, to stop purchasing on credit, to help out more around the house, to stop drinking our merchandise… The list could go on forever, just like my mother's rambling. He would choose one of two responses, depending on how aggravated my mother was. Most of the time, he would tell her to deal with it, or that she was overreacting, or shift the blame from himself by any means necessary. Sometimes, though, when my mother threatened leaving, he would promise to quit. However, that would only last for a couple of days, and the cycle would resume.
My mother's grip on her household and business seemed to be slipping, so she grabbed on to me to try to control something. This displeased me, of course, as I was a young teenager. We bickered often because where before I could wander about town playing with Joanna and picking flowers, being schooled by Ellen the midwife, doing nearly whatever I pleased, my mother forced me to pick up my father's slack. I see now she was trying to keep us afloat, teaching me responsibility, and all of those other things that good parents do, but I was a bratty teenage girl that felt extremely oppressed.
Another source of tension in our household was the fact that I hated the winery with a fiery passion. The fact that it bore my name disgusted me. The name was chosen soon after my birth, as my grandparents told my father that with a family to support now, he had to start a business like all of the other self-respecting men in the area. My mother told me in my youth that he chose my name because he was so proud of me and excited to be a father. That must have all ended in my infancy, because I had no recollection of him being the doting father. My father was always drinking, so he was either acting the imbecile or angrily ranting. I wanted nothing to do with the production of alcohol if it made people act like that and cause their families misery. We fought often, my father and I, because I would usually stand up for my mom, or he would drag me into their fights, then I would side with my mother. He saw this as "disrespect," as well as my refusal to be a part of the "family business."
So, whenever I could, I would join Joanna for a walk through the mountains or along the beach. We didn't want to go to our houses anymore. Her mother's death was difficult for both Joanna and Barley. Her father was aging, so Joanna also had increased responsibilities around the farm, as her mother could no longer help out. She felt her father was too involved in the care of the animals and she felt lonely. I could understand her feelings. In Mineral Town, everyone was too familiar with each other's lives. Everyone knew the problems that everyone else faced, but were too distracted with their own dysfunctions to try to help their neighbors. Gotz became a recluse after his family died. Rod had left town to "find a cure" for Lillia, who was chronically ill, and would probably never return. Ellen's daughter and son-in-law died, leaving her in charge of her two grandchildren, even though she could no longer walk. Sure, everyone cared about each other, but nobody really reached out to anyone.
Joanna talked of her big dreams, the big cities of the world, and the big wonders and joys they could bring us. I started to fall in love with her fantasies, because every day I spent at the winery made me a little sicker. I didn't want to spend my days making poison, cooped up with the same people for years, nothing ever changing. Mineral Town was so secluded, I was pretty sure we would have to resort to inbreeding in two or three generations. A few people would leave, and even fewer would move in. It was a shrinking population. Once in a while a newcomer would take over an abandoned business or start one of their own and put down roots. Sometimes the rich would stay for a summer, taking a local with them. But mostly, the descendants of resilient pioneers made up Mineral Town and the surrounding villages and islands. However, natural barriers made it difficult for us to interact even with the other fringe towns like Flowerbud Village and the Sunshine Islands. We had one telephone in the entire town, for Goddess's sake!
The only person that could comfort me when Joanna was busy was the mayor's son Harris. Harris was a wonderful young man. He left the village for a few years to go to a police academy in the city. I would pester him, begging for stories of "the city." He never told me which city he went to. I would ask, and he would respond, "Why does it matter?"
I told him that I wanted to know where exactly I could find all of these fascinating things he spoke of. There were stores that carried not only anything you needed, but everything you wanted, too. There was no mail-ordering through Zack the shipper. It was right at your fingertips. Everyone had phones that they carried around with them. The televisions had more than four channels! There were limitless opportunities! My small, closed, teenage brain couldn't understand why he would just leave and come back to Mineral Town! He frowned when I asked him.
"It's not all it's cracked up to be, Aja. Not everything in the city is good. Bigger doesn't always mean better. There's a dark side that you don't want any part of. Believe me. I went to the police academy. I studied the underworld for years. I thought I wanted to save the world, but during my time in the city, I realized that Mineral Town is a good place, with good people. So that's why I stay here. To protect the good people. In the city, there's evil everywhere. Aja, please don't leave. I saw too many times what happens when naïve girls like you go to the city with big dreams and high expectations. Their souls and bodies get crushed along with their dreams. Stay here, where it's safe."
For a while, I was angry at Harris for trying to stop me. Now I know why he warned me, and why I should have heeded it. But some guy, in his early twenties with a big stupid nose, who chickened out of the best opportunity he had, wasn't going to stop Joanna and I from escaping and making our dreams come true. He continued to listen to me, let me cry on his shoulder when I got in a particularly nasty argument. Harris was a perfect gentleman, but I took him for granted. It would be years before I would realize how much I hurt him, and in turn, myself. He was a true friend. He knew of our plans and told no one.
Joanna always watched the television, watching the beautiful starlets. She loved how gorgeous they were, how everyone admired them, and the grace with which they carried themselves. Sometimes, plays would be on, musicals, or movies. She was fascinated with all the different stories that one actress could be a part of. Her father always lectured her for "having her head in the clouds" and "wasting her time with frivolous dreams." He thought that entertainers weren't useful, and they weren't in Mineral Town, as everyone had to produce something beneficial to make sure that the town survived. But I thought that Joanna had some potential. Whenever we played games, Joanna always had to be someone different. She liked pretending to be other people. So Joanna wanted to become an actress in the big city.
At first, I wasn't sure what I was going to do once I left Mineral Town. So, I went to Basil's library and read books. Basil had spent much of his life traveling, but I wouldn't dare ask him about it as he would have told his wife, and she would have told my parents and the rest of the town. Secrets weren't safe in the hands of the housewives. The library had most of what you would expect: books on how to care for crops, raising farm animals, local wildlife, tools, ores and gems, the uses of all the plants that grew around town. But, I found a few gems, mostly in the fiction section. I read stories about women who were successful and independent. They didn't have to rely on anyone, and they could get what they wanted when they wanted it. Of course, they usually hooked up with an attractive co-worker, ex-boyfriends, and guys at bars that weren't so nice looking in the morning. But I ignored those parts. I was interested in their careers and how they got there. These women had what I wanted: independence, money, security, power, and no worries. I realized that I needed to go to college, and I would enter the dog-eat-dog world of business.
Joanna and I spent a day learning about different cities. In all of the novels we read, all of the movies we watched, we learned that when people want to achieve their dreams, they went to New York City. So that's what we decided to do.
One day, Joanna and I were talking on the beach about our impending getaway. We weren't afraid of anyone overhearing us because the Chicken Festival was going on in the Village Square, fifty yards away. However, we were shocked to realize that the fisherman that lived with Zack, Greg, was standing on the pier, sighing. He started talking, but did not turn to face us.
"I know how you feel, girls. This town doesn't have much, and the people don't even know I exist. I have a boat, you know. We could leave one day, and no one would know the difference."
We sat there and pondered the thought in silence for a good ten minutes. Joanna was the first to speak.
"Next Sunday at 10 o'clock."
"Night or morning?" Greg asked.
"Night. Everyone will be asleep or drunk," she replied.
And so we decided. I left my parents a note Sunday night explaining why I was leaving, and I met Greg and Joanna on the beach.
"Well, let's get a move on," Greg said, helping us into the boat.