The Tale of Suteki Farm

by Myn Jade

This is the story of a girl named Jade, who decided to move off of her family's farm across the country to find a farm of her own. She comes to a mountain where there are two town with empty farms; Bluebell, and Konohana. Which village will she choose? The animal-raising Bluebell, or the crop-growing Konohana? Who will she become friends with? Who might she fall in love with?

A Tale of Two Towns

Spring 1

Hi! My name is Jade, and I'm a young girl looking for a farm to work on. As I drive my cart through a beautiful mountain, my horse gets startled by a small animal and crashes the cart, throwing me off a ledge. As I land back on the ground, I hit my head on a rock and pass out. A little while later, I wake up to find myself next two two strangers; one, an old man with a top hat and a cane (staff maybe?) with a horse shoe with wings on the top; the other, a fierce looking woman dressed all in red. They seem concerned at my condition, and as they see me wake, they get a bright look on their faces and rush closer to me. "My, my, you must've had quite a fall, young lass," says the old man. "Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" asks the woman, her face softening. "No, no," I say, as I stand, "I'm fine. But, where am I?" "You're at the mountain pass between the two villages here. Bluebell, and Konohana," says the old man matter-of-factly, "And my name is Rutger. I'm the mayor of Bluebell, the best town on this mountain! You must be the young woman looking for a farm to tend!" I nod my head, still feeling a little woozy, with a slight headache, "Yep! That's me!" I say with a smile. "What's your name?" asks the woman in red, the stern look back on her face. "It's Jade, miss. And who might you be?" I say, quite confused by the situation I've gotten myself into. "I'm Ina, and I'm the mayor of Konohana, the best village on this mountain!" she says, her eyes shooting daggers at Rutger. Rutger looks back at Ina, and glares her way.

I can feel the tension and the anger in the air, and I couldn't stand it any longer. "Hey! Soooooo…what village should I live in?" I say loudly, breaking them out of their angry stares, and making them look at me. "Well that's easy! You should live in Konohana! We grow the best crops you've ever seen!" says Ina, obviously very proud of her village's abilities. "That sounds great!" I say enthusiastically. "But wait!" says Rutger, jutting into the conversation, "Bluebell has the best livestock around! Amazing milk, straight from the cow! Oh, and the eggs! They're to die for!" As I listen to Rutger, I feel as though Konohana has more of what I want out of a farm, but as I'm about to tell Ina I want to go with her, she bursts in, yelling, "Who cares about your animals?! Tending to your crops, tilling the soil, planting the seeds! That's what real farming is!" Her sudden outburst startles me, but before I have time recover, Rutger pushes me aside and yells back, "What?! No, no, no! Raising an animal from young, seeing it grow up to help everyone around it. Spending time with another living creature and earning its affection is true farming!"

I can't stand their fighting anymore, and just seeing their anger is beginning to make me angry, I yell loudly "I wish to live in Konohana! Thank you!" The two mayors stop instantly, Ina with a triumphant look on her face, and Rutger with a look of pure disgust, directed at Ina. "I'm glad you made the right choice, Jade. I promise, you won't regret it!~" Ina says, with a sing-song tone in her voice. Rutger looks at me, a bit disappointed, and wishes me luck on my new farm in Konohana. Ina and I turn around, and walk away from Rutger, down the right path on the mountain. "So, Jade," says Ina, "What made you choose Konohana over Bluebell? You don't have to tell me, I would just like to know." I look up at her, with a smile on my face and respond kindly, "I love the feel of the soil moving underneath my hoe, and I love watching my crops grow. It makes me happy to think that I'm growing something, and doing something that could help others live better lives. I love feeling the sun on my back as I work the fields in the early morning."

As I tell these things to Ina, I close my eyes and smile to myself, remembering my family's farm, and what I left behind to come here. My trusty dog, Sam, the best companion anyone could have, my mother and father, who raised me to be a kind and selfless person, and most of all, my childhood friend, Jaymie, who I'm going to miss dearly. Me and him have been best friends as long as I can remember. We would help each other with our everyday chores around the house and on our family's fields, then we would run around the open plains, and sit under the tree by the river and talk until the sun set, and in the summer, we would go swimming in the river together, catching fish during the day, and at night we would catch fireflies and put them in jars, and on our way home, we would let them all out, and we would watch tons of fireflies circle up into the sky, then separate and go their own ways. And, honestly, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for Jaymie, but there's nothing I can do about it now. He's miles away now, and I can never go home to him, so I have to move on and make a new life for myself here, in Konohana, and possibly in Bluebell. Before I even realize it, we've arrived in Konohana.

Konohana is a traditional Japanese style village, with thatched roves, and bamboo fences. It is the beginning of Spring, so the cherry blossom trees are in full bloom, as they will be all 31 days of Spring, and there are petals constantly falling everywhere. I can see nine buildings in all from the top of this hill, the closest to us are a blacksmith's house, a small house with a mailbox next to it, and what I'm assuming is a shop to buy horses, judging by the horseshoe hanging over the door, and the stable with tons of horses connected to the building. Ina quickly moves down the path and stops in front of a large red box next to a collapsed tunnel. I look over at the tunnel, with a confused look on my face, but I quickly look back at Ina. She obviously noticed me looking at the tunnel, because the first thing she said was, "So, you see the tunnel then? That tunnel used to connect Bluebell and Konohana in the old days, but it collapsed a very long time ago, cutting the villages off from each other. Now the only way to get to Bluebell is to travel all the way around the mountain, which can take hours without a horse." I get a slight disappointed look on my face when I hear that. I was very excited to see what Bluebell was like, and meet the residents of that town. 'Oh well' I think to myself 'I guess some things can't be helped.' Ina then explains how the shipping box works, then shows me to my farm. There is a small barn to the right, just inside the farmland, and to the left is a large area of grass, where I'm assuming I will grow my crops. Ina shows me that she already has some crops ready for me to harvest, then tells me to get some sleep so I can get some work done tomorrow morning. As I look around my new farm, I think to myself, 'This will be good for me, I may miss the folks back home, but I'm going to make some good new friends, I think. I'd better get to bed, or else I'll be too tired to work the land in the morning.'

End of Spring 1