DISCLAIMER: Actually, I own Harvest Moon and Natsume. I also have a bridge to sell you. On East Gull Island.
I hadn't played Tree of Tranquility in forever, and me and my friends were having a tournament to see who could get the farthest in a single weekend, from Friday at seven p.m. to Sunday at the same time. Winner took bragging rights.
But jeez, I hadn't played in nearly six months. I still remembered the controls, though. I put the game in the slot and selected it, eerie music playing.
Huh, that's funny, I thought. I always remembered the music as being so bright and cheery.
I loaded my old file, as we'd all agreed, taking note that it was Winter 13, and I had one rainbow complete- hey, I'd been focused on marriage, not the actual plot. Marriage to Owen, to be precise.
What the heck in the name of muffins? I thought. I knew for a fact you could only save in your house, not outside a sprite tree. But that was where my character was, and it was a Friday. Friday the thirteenth of Winter.
I watered the flower, which was entirely black and dying. As usual, Daren the Harvest Sprite, normally green, popped out, wearing all black, looking like some sort of zombie-vampire cross.
"My rainbow goes to SUPERNATURAL ISLAND," he told me. The eerie music had gotten eerier, and my character shivered slightly. "Would you like to go to SUPERNATURAL ISLAND?"
A No/Sure option appeared, and my first instinct was to select "No". I did, and Daren bared his teeth like a rabid dog.
"I can kill your animals, destroy your field, and steal your tools if you make me angry," he said. "I like when people go to my Island. It makes me angry when they don't want to go. Do you want to go to SUPERNATURAL ISLAND?" he asked again.
Again, the No/Sure options appeared, and this time, I selected "Sure".
"Great!" said Daren. "Then let's get going!"
He pushed me up the rainbow, and my character stumbled as she climbed it.
Bet no one else will have a story like this! I thought. This is kinda cool…
My chipmunk-squirrel was glitched, as was my black cat. I had no such cat, just a transparent one roaming around on East Gull Island.
My game has lots of glitches, actually. The only glitches I'd heard of that didn't seem to affect my game were the Calvin and Miranda glitches.
SUPERNATURAL ISLAND was a strange place- rather than the sun being in the sky, as it had been on the mainland, since it was only eleven a.m., there were two red moons in the black night sky instead.
My little chippy-squirrel was running around as usual, it's usual glitch at work- it had no tail, just a bloody stump instead. The transparent cat was here too, as well as something new- the Toucan Island dog, but black instead of white. It growled at the cat, then sprang.
Though I didn't press any buttons, my inventory opened up, the full-screen one. There was a "Sacred Sword" in my inventory, and my character equipped it. She charged towards the fight, and as she got close, she raised the sword like an experienced warrior. Just as she was about to bring it down on the dog, the cat and dog sprang apart.
"Phantom Cat:" came up first, like when a person spoke to you. Then, "No. This is my fight."
With that, I have no more words than that that cat beat the crap out of the dog. Screeching, shrieking, scratching at the dog, the cat was slowly turning not-so transparent.
Nearly before the fight had begun, it was over. The dog disappeared, and the cat turned to me.
"Phantom Cat: Remember what you have seen here" came up on the screen, and the eerie music stopped.
The screen blacked out, returning to the first screen. I loaded my game again, and I was standing in my house.
It was eleven a.m., on the thirteenth of Winter. It was a Saturday. I headed outside, going first to the graveyard, where I'd seen the black cat before it disappeared, and the transparent cat had started to hang around of East Gull Island.
The black cat was in its usual spot, up in the graveyard. To those people who are about to tell me that the black cat lives on Toucan Island, mine had hung out in the graveyard since my first rainbow was complete, Pascal came to my door and told me a cat had stowed away on his ship and introduced it to me. Later that night, I managed to domesticate the black cat. It didn't allow me to give it a name, it simply turned to me and spoke.
"My name is Phantom" appeared on the screen, and Phantom was my first pet.
Next I checked Daren's Sprite Tree. The flower was green again, and when I watered it, Daren asked if I wanted to go to East Gull Island, like he usually did. Daren looked normal, dressed in his usual green. I took his rainbow to East Gull Island, and the chipmunk was running around like normal, running up to me, tail gone as usual.
I headed back to the mainland, though On the Hook was closed. I needed to check Toucan Island for the dog, but I'd have to wait for now. Instead, I headed home, checking my inventory. The Sacred Sword was gone, and this was just getting weirder to me.
The next day, when I went outside, Hamilton was at my door.
"Hamilton: Gracie, we've been alerted we've been having some animal problems around here. Have you heard?"
My character nodded, and Hamilton went on.
"Then you'll be glad to know we've found out what was causing all this- the Sprites had a little bet going."
Now this was funny- I'd just been freaked out by a Harvest Sprite bet? I was cracking up, to be totally honest.
"Daren created SUPERNATURAL ISLAND after he lost. Good-bye, Gracie."
Um… Weird much? I thought to myself. Did that really just happen?
It was the last I heard of it, and the dog had returned to Toucan Island. Though I wasn't the only one of my friends with a serious glitch issue- Anna was being affected by a "Miranda glitch" as we dubbed it, on her used copy, and Haley couldn't court anyone except Luke.
So we all had a weird glitch story for Monday at lunch. But really?
Mine was creepiest.
A/N: This was based off of a true story, feel free to decide for yourself what did and didn't happen.
