Another You
A Harvest Moon Fanfic
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Farm
Wind rustled the new spring leaves as Zephan O'Brian stepped onto Whisler's Ranch for the first time. She wasn't impressed. It was obvious that the farm hadn't been cared for in years, the paint peeling and weeds creating a maze of the field. She was beginning to regret responding to the ad in the paper. The main house looked as if it had only been opened once or twice in the past five years at least. The chicken coup, which Zephan could only assume was the small building not farm from the house, was rotted in some places and it would need to be rebuilt. There looked to be remains of a doghouse by the mailbox but a tree had demolished half of it in a storm. The mailbox however was intact and looked fairly new though it still held the previous owner's name in shiny gold letters. The barn, which was hardly visible from behind the grass and weeds, was no longer the red colour it had once been but it was together and only needed a new coat of paint and sealant. It would have been a tremendous pain to rebuild that as well. The field was huge and covered more than half of the land but it was hard to tell where exactly the fertile soil started and where the lawn began. There was a jungle of weeds, a few small trees sticking out here and there in search of sunlight and rain. At least there weren't any huge boulders in the way from what Zephan could see. It was going to take a lot of work to get this place in shape enough to even figure out what could be done with the land. The challenge was a welcome change to the city girl however and the idea of turning a dump into someplace live able excited Zephan. She was about to explore the damage inside the house when a voice from behind stopped her in her tracks.
"Um…. Zephan was it?" A short balding man had come up behind her, masked by the dust that her taxi had kicked up. "I'm the Mayor here in Flower Bud Village." Zephan held back a giggle as his cartoon nose wiggled when he spoke. "I'm glad to see someone here for the farm, I was beginning to think that this place would just rot away. The previous owner had been living in an old folks home in the city for years now and this place was forgotten. When we got the call that he had passed and the property belonged to the village again well, we thought the land would go quickly. That was three years ago." The Mayor stopped to take a breathe before continuing with a new idea. "I have to be on my way, there's a wedding in town you see, and I need to be there to congratulate the newly weds. If you come into town on a Sunday afternoon I can give you a full tour then." The funny little man shook Zephan's hand as he apologized again, rushing off down the same dirt path that had brought her here.
The sun beat down on the young woman from the city making her wish she had brought a hat to fend off the heat. The 20-year old was tall for a woman though her frame was rather willowy. Plum red hair cascaded in curls down the side of Zephan's face and back, looking almost purple in the natural light. Her grey eyes surveyed the damages, her funds slipping away in her mind as she calculated the cost for repairs. Zephan had been a secretary and manager at a small grocery store in Twin Leaf City before deciding to move all the way out into the middle of nowhere for a run down farm. Still, she had left a lot of painful memories and emotions behind when she moved so this wreck was a breath of fresh for her healing heart.
Even if she had to cancel her plans to turn this ranch into a well off plot of land because of financial problems Zephan would welcome the experience. She was growing tired of living in the past, letting it rule over her emotions and actions. She would miss the bustle of rush hour crowds and the sounds of morning traffic waking her. As the wind made the leaves dance only the sounds of leaves and insects reached her delicate ears. As the breeze picked up it blew the sounds of cheers onto the decrepit farm. A shiver of loneliness rushed through Zephan like the cool breeze through the trees. She would need to get a dog or cat in the near future, to keep her company here on the out skirts of town. From what she had gathered on the drive into this place her plot of land was in a back corner of the town, beside the town square. If she squinted into the distance she could see the outline of another ranch, Green Ranch if she had read the sign correctly. Zephan's eyes glazed over as she tried to picture the land how it might be if it were clear of the debris and dead plant life but gave up when the wind pulled at her hair, sending it flying into her eyes and stinging her cheeks. With that distraction bringing her back to reality, Zephan took her leave from the sun and entered the dusty old house that would serve as her new home.
The inside of the small house was a pleasant surprise. Someone from the town had come in and tidied up not long before she had arrived. The furniture looked newer than the outside of the house, the Mayor must have had the village refurnish the place in the hopes that it would sell faster than it had. There was a television set that looked only to be a few years old and barely used though when Zephan turned it on she found there were only a few available channels. A small bed sat in the corner with plain sheets that were dull but thick to fend off the cool night air. A bookshelf loomed in the corner, only a few old fashioned hardcover books gracing its wooded perches. It had cast its shadow over a large box, full of tools that were to be used on the farm. Zephan would have to clear the land before she could even think about using these. A nightstand stood comfortably between the bed and the television, a lamp the only thing upon its stable surface. Inside the top drawer Zephan discovered a journal with only a few pages used, the last entry accompanied with a small amount of cash. 'To whomever takes my place…" was all the last line said. The old man who last lived here wanted his farm to thrive. He probably would have been very upset with the condition it was currently in. To the left there was the door to a small kitchen. It was clean like the rest of the house, furnished with the most basic of cutlery, pots and pans, and other useful tools. The refrigerator was empty of food, the only thing within its depths was an ice cube tray with only a few ice cubs left. The tablecloth hung limply off the worn out table, stained and frayed. There must have been four chairs once, but now there were only two still on their feet, a third sitting crookedly in a corner. It looked as if someone had planned to repair it once, but the project had been left not long after started, abandoned in a corner. Another run down door opened into the bathroom, a working toilet and sink sitting unused in the dim light. Behind a moth eaten screen there was a hidden hot tub which must have once been a delight to soak in but now it looked unappealing, covered in dust and dirt. An old clock chimed 5 o'clock, something she had overlooked as she had moved from the main room to the kitchen. Because the main room was so well cared for during the absence of an owner there wasn't anything that needed to be addressed immediately that night. With that in mind Zephan sighed internally, she would start work on cleaning up the bathroom that night and work on tackling the outside of the house tomorrow.
Zephan scrubbed and polished every surface in her bathroom for 5 hours that night. She had taken a look at the plumbing to see if everything was in order but found that she had no knowledge on what a working hot tub looked like. Tired and sore Zephan pulled herself into the unused bed. It cradled her weary bones with a gentleness that was unexpected. It reminded Zephan of the home she had left behind, wrapping her with the warmth of a new beginning. On the bedside table the old journal lay open, a new page staring at the ceiling holding delicate cursive on its lines. The pretty lettering held the days accounts with one ending phrase calling out to be read. "Today is the day that I turn the page to the start of a new chapter." The empty night air whispered her to sleep, singing the dreams of a new day.
[[Author's Note: Hello everyone, I have a few things I need to say for legal reasons. I don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters, Natsume does so please, don't sue me. This is just what I see happening in my head. Zephan however is my own character placed into the wonderful world of Flower Bud Village.
This is my first fanfic in like 4 years, I think the last one I wrote was like Card Captors but I don't remember, so please take that into account when reading this. On that note, I thank you all for reading this far and I hope that you enjoy this story I've invented, it's going to be much darker/more controversial than any of the Harvest Moon games. There are going to be lesbians and gays and bisexuals so if you guys are offended by that then I suggest you find a different story and refrain from flaming. Thanks for reading so far everyone