"The moon goes through many phases and displays several colors, but I find my favorite moon of all is the bright orange moon that comes just in time for the harvest."
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon.
"Jill" a soft voice called, "Jill."
She sprung up like a jack-in-a-box, opened her eyes quickly, but she shut them quickly again. The sky was bright and blue, the strong rays made orbs dance in her vision until her eyes adjusted. She pulled her legs under her and let her fingers curl into the soft blanket that was underneath her.
"Are you hungry?"
Jill's head snapped in the direction of the voice. A woman with brown hair, barely touching her shoulders was busy making a plate of egg salad and cucumber sandwiches. Jill reached over and grabbed the edge of the woman's brown vest. The woman looked down at her and smiled. Jill's eyes brimmed with tears as she choked out the word 'mommy'. The woman giggled before wiping her finger across Jill's cheek, catching the tears that threatened to fall from her face.
"Finally awake, my sleepy Pony?" Jill's father took off his hat, ran a hand through his spiky brown hair as he sat down next to his wife.
"You snored so loud I think you woke up the Harvest King." Jill's twin brother Jack plopped down beside his father, laughing to himself.
Jill found herself foolishly enveloped by the feeling of being home and smiled.
The gust of wind traveled by and bounced the tree branches. The cherry trees released a whirlwind of pink petals. Jill jumped to her feet and began twirling around in the sea of pink. As she twirled her mother starting singing a favorite lullaby.
Cherry Blossoms dance.
Their spring time ballet
Romancing the leaves by
Contrasting the greenery.
The tiny dancers
Moving on–
Gems lucky to be chanced upon.
Cherry Blossoms dance…
Jill felt confident and tried to spin on one foot, but in the middle of another twirl Jill was knocked to the ground as the wind sped up and drowned out her mother's song. She hurriedly got back on her feet and looked around for her family, but it was black. Night had suddenly surrounded her. She yelled their names, but the wind was brutal. It lashed at her cheeks, bringing tears from her eyes, and allowing no sound to escape her lips. Then everything stopped. She stood in pitch blackness, not able to see her own hands, but her voice had returned to her. She called out once more for her mother. A dim light ahead appeared. A beacon of hope in the darkness and she rushed towards it. Equally, the light seemed to be speeding towards her. Then the light split into two lights and a muffled sound joined with their approach. Jill stopped and waited, fear creeping up her spine as they came closer to her, the sound becoming clearer until she recognized it was a horn. A car's horn. Then she could see the car clearly; still approaching, still honking at her. It was almost upon her when she dropped to her knees, covered her ears, and screamed.
"Jill!" A voice called her. "Jill! Wake up, please."
Jill's eyes shot open. The room was dark, but she could feel his arms around her.
"Jack?" Her voice broken and trembling as she asked.
"Yea, it's me." He answered, tightening his grip around her.
Her eyes adjusted and she could see him. She took a look around the room. It wasn't unfamiliar to her, but at the same time she felt afraid.
"Where?" She mumbled to herself. Then it came back to her. Her eyes rolled back as she went limp into Jack's embrace. "Grandpa's house..."
"Yes." Jack answered. His eyes began to burn as tears brimmed his lower lids.
Jill shook as the memories returned. A spring picnic, a car ride home, a dark night, a car crash, and her parent's funeral. Her chest jumped as her breathing became rough, uneven and tears poured from her eyes. She buried her head and wailed into Jack's shoulder.
Jack rubbed her back as she cried. His own tears fell into his sister's hair. They felt so alone in the world... but they weren't. On the other side of their bedroom door their grandfather cried into his own hands, knowing well that time was the only remedy for their broken hearts.
Jill's night terrors were becoming less often, but it'd been a couple of months since they'd arrived in Mineral Town and they'd hardly wanted to venture off the farm. Not wanting to make any connections here. Still holding onto some hope that they'd return to their family and farm in Forget-Me-Not Valley. But this wasn't a nightmare they could wake up from and their grandfather had already begun to realize that he'd have to help the twins return to normal living.
Welcome to the world of Harvest Moon, and yeah this is a farming RPG. But I love this game so freaking much! It is crazy how much I love this. So, anyway, Jill is formally known as Pony in the series. She is the one of the first three girls to come out on Harvest Moon. If you couldn't tell I used Sara and the first Pete as their parents in this story. Jill is going to be seeing faces from all of the Harvest Moon games, so if you have a favorite, don't worry, it will show up eventually. But I have to start where my Harvest Moon game addiction started, Mineral Town.
If you can get through this first chapter then the rest of this story is going to be full of ups and downs. Such is life. The setting changes with the different towns that Jill visits. Mineral Town seems like more of a old western type of place so that was what I tried to write the journey here around.
On another note, once I get to other towns with Jill, I will post information below about what chapter starts the new towns, so if you desire you can skip ahead to another town you want to read. In most towns there will be two marriage candidates. I have Jill visit Mineral Town twice, but the candidates stay the same. In a couple of cases there will only be one candidate for marriage, but these are for the more exotic parts of the story. (hint,hint)
Finally, saving the Harvest Spirit comes later and there is going to be a nice twist to that quest that I'm sure you've not read before. However, that information won't come until after Jill finally makes it to Forget-Me-Not Valley.