A Tale of Turnips

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon, or the characters. Unfortunately. :(

A/N: This story pretty much sprang, fully grown, from my mind (like a certain greek goddess, but not as pretty or cool) while I was cooking dinner. No, I wasn't cooking turnips. In case anyone was curious :D

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Okay, I'll get on with the story now. It's my very first one here, so please be kind! :D

Claire grunted as she yanked the last turnip out of the ground with a very moist plop. She wiped her forehead, dropped it into the bag with the rest, and sighed. It had taken most of the day to harvest them all, since she hadn't had extra help from the harvest sprites to help with this or the animals as she usually did. They were planning for their big party later in the month, and she hadn't had the heart to ask them to put the preparations away and dig veggies out of the dirt or take care of sweaty animals with her.

At least she wouldn't have to worry about planting and watering the next crops, she mused as she wiped her hands on her overalls (leaving nice brown swishes on both hips). The supermarket was closed today, and she'd forgotten to buy seeds ahead of time. She usually didn't forget like that, but she'd been sick recently, and she decided that she could blame her lapse on that. This time, anyway. Then she happened to glance at her watch.

It was 4:50. She panicked, jerked up her bag of turnips and took off across her field. She'd been late delivering her very last bag of turnips last week, and she'd had to keep the stinky things in her room overnight. She had a very strange dream that night too, something about cows singing show tunes and vegetables that taunted her, and she was pretty sure it was the turnips' fault. In any case, she didn't want a repeat of that, so she ran as fast as she could to the shipping bin, praying she'd beat him there.

Luck was on her side, and she managed to drop her vegetation into the bin just as a familiar figure strode toward her land. She rarely got the chance to talk to him, so she waved as he approached.

"Hey, Zack! Sorry, but I've got more stinky turnips for you to haul off. I tried to bury most of them under the potatoes, though, so hopefully the smell won't kill you off, at least." she grinned.

Zack laughed, "If you think they smell bad, try living in the same house as Won. Some of the food he cooks can be.. very interesting. Turnips aren't that bad either, you know."

Claire grimaced and starting counting off on her fingers, "One, they smell like feet. Two, they sell cheap because no one wants them. Three, when left inside the house in a bag overnight they can make you dream about singing cows and malicious talking vegetables. Four, there is no way they can be all of the other points and actually taste good."

Zack blinked at her a moment, then laughed again, even louder than before. Claire realized just what she had said to a man she barely knew, and blushed nearly as red as the tomatoes she'd picked last year. By the Harvest Goddess, she'd only lived on her farm two years, and probably talked to the shipping man a handful of times, and.. now he probably thought she was a freak. A freak that got high on turnip fumes. For a moment she wondered if it'd be possible to have the harvest sprites do all her harvesting for her for the rest of her life.

When Zack had stopped laughing enough to be able to catch his breath, he grinned, "Singing cows and evil talking vegetables? Really? I never knew they had side effects like that.. I'll have to be careful where I store them from now on."

Claire, still pondering her new shipping schedule, distractedly said, "Yeah, they're pretty sneaky like that. That's why I've never eaten any of them. If just keeping them in the house makes me dream like that, eating them'd probably wig me out enough to do something crazy. Like dye my hair Popuri-Pink. It looks good on her, but on me it'd look like a cotton candy machine had had a fight with my hair, and won by a yard."

God. She'd forgotten that she tended to babble when she got embarrassed. Now she really wanted to die. It also didn't bode well for her potential love life if she couldn't even make decent conversation with the man who took care of her shipments every day. She hadn't been very social as of yet, since it had taken nearly all of her time to get the farm going, and she could just imagine the first impression the town would have of her after Zack told them all of this little conversation.

"You've never tried them? Don't let Barley hear you say that," Zack grinned. "Pickled turnips are one of his favorite foods. He even showed me how to make them a while back as payment for helping him with his animals a while back. They aren't that bad. Not my favorite, but not that bad."

Claire shuddered, "I'll take your word for it."

Zack smiled, "You know, the whole town's been curious about you. Well, at least the Big Three that roost in the square are.. I hear them talking when I pass through there to get your shipments. You don't really get out a lot, do you?"

Claire was honestly a bit surprised that he was still talking to her, and even more surprised that the townsfolk were wondering about her still. She'd thought that she'd become another thread in the quilt of the town by now, but apparently the novelty hadn't worn off yet.

Claire smiled, "No, I've been pretty busy this past year. This place was.. a bit of a mess. I managed to get a few chickens and a cow, and Sir Barkley and Lancelot are both growing up really well. Um, they're my dog and my horse.."

"That's good to hear.. nice names, by the way," Zack said. "It's just that they worry about you, over here by yourself. Hey, if you want, you can stop by me and Won's place, have dinner with us. We're just two bachelors, and we'd welcome the company. Might even make up some turnips for you. Never know, they could be your favorite food."

"Aw, thanks. That's really nice of you to offer. Did.. what did you call them.. the Big Three put you up to this?" Claire asked.

"Nah, but from what I heard they are planning something for you, so I'd keep my eyes and ears open if I were you. With the best of intentions, of course." Zack responded, a twinkle in his eyes.

Claire grinned, "Well, I guess I'll have to take you up on that sometime. I'll have to stop by the square, too. Maybe I can find out what they have in store for me."

"Maybe! Well, take care up here, and make sure you ship a lot tomorrow too!" Zack said as he waved farewell and headed off after picking up her shipment for the day.

Claire waved back, and as she watched him leave, she thought that maybe turnips weren't so bad after all. Even if they stunk like feet.

A/N: I don't hate turnips. Really! :D