A Year in the Life Of

I'm out of ideas at the moment for my other story, so I decided to try a Another Wonderful Life story.
I don't own Harvest Moon. Believe me, I'm not smart enough to come up with an idea like that.

Spring 1

I can't believe I'm still here, in ForgetMeNot Valley. (Who came up with that lame name, anyways!) I had arrived a few days ago for my father's funeral. I had planned to pack up his stuff, and give Takakura the house and the farm. I was on my way to say good-bye when he came out of his house. He asked me if I was planning on taking over the farm.

"What!" I exclaimed. "Are you nuts? Not only do I not know anything about farming, but I can't live here. I like living in the city. Besides, I'm a model. Models don't farm."

"I can show you anything you need to know," he said. "The townspeople are friendly and there is even another farm close by, so you can ask for help there also."

"I don't think so." I held up my hands. "Do you have any idea how much a manicure like this costs? My nails would be ruined in less than a week. Not only that, my clothes were not made for farming. This outfit," I motioned to my stylish pants and silk shirt, "is a Nancy Jordan original. It cost a fortune."

"Well, I'm sure we can find you something more suitable to wear," he replied.

"Isn't there someone else that could do it?" I said. I cringed, noticing my voice taking on a whiny tone.

Tak shook his head. "There's no one else. You're father left the farm to you. He was hoping that you take it over him. He wanted to keep it in the family. He told me to tell you that if you try if for a year and still don't like it, you may sell it."

Great. Now he was laying a guilt trip on me. I was very close to my dad, and even though I could not understand why he had given up his law practice to farm, I would do anything he needed me to. I sighed. He had left the farm for me. For him, I would give it one year. I know I'd hate it. I would just have to call my job and tell them what happened. Luckily, the girl that was taking my place for now, was good enough to take over for me permanently

"Okay. I'll do it for a year. But that's it!"

"Great!" He smiled at me. "I'll show you around the farm and introduce you to the townspeople."

"Thrilling," I muttered. I went back to my house to change my clothes. Dad had some overalls in the closet. I rolled the legs up and found a belt to use. I looked into the mirror and pulled my honey-blond hair into a ponytail. I took one long last look. This was probably the last time I'd look like I'd just stepped out of a fashion magazine. It wouldn't make any sense to wear makeup, since I'd sweat it all off anyways. I would have to get sunblock though. I hated the thought of what the sun could do to my face.

I found a baseball cap near the door, so put that on, to keep the sun off of my face. I met Tak outside by the barn.

"This is the barn," he said. He led me inside. There was a black and white cow eating out of a feedbox. "I got you a cow," he said, as if I could tell what it was. She was kind of cute.

"What's her name?" I asked.

"She doesn't have one. I thought you might like to name her."

I thought about that for a minute. "Julia," I said. That was the name of one of my friends in the city. I would have to call her to let her know what was going on.

"That's a nice name," Tak commented. "She gave birth about 10 days ago, so you can milk her twice a day for now."

"Wait, you mean I have to milk her?" This was getting worse. "I can't milk a cow. I don't know how!" Great. Now I was rhyming.

"Don't worry, I'll show you how," he assured me. He pointed to any area on the far wall. "That is where the fodder is stored. Just make sure her feedbox is full. There is some fodder in the holder now, but you need to grow some grass to get more."

He led from the barn, to the building next to it. That was the tool shed. There were a few tools in there, along with a milker for the cow. Across from the barn was the food storage shed.

"This is where you store crops you want to ship. You can also buy and sell animals here, or order items. Just write what you want in the log book and I'll take care of it."

Next to my house, was a field. Next to that was a chicken coop. I can tell you that I don't want chickens. They're noisy and I don't want one crowing at the crack of dawn, waking me up before I was ready. I glanced at the fields. There was a building next to them. "What is that for?" I asked, pointing to it.

"Oh, that's an old building. I want to put a chicken coop there, but I haven't had time to pull the building down." He pointed to the field behind my barn. "You'll need to fertilize that field before the grass will grow. You cut the grass to make fodder for the animals. Once it grows, you can leave the animals outside during nice days."

'What animals?' I thought. There weren't going to be any animals. Just one cow, and that was plenty. But, I just nodded my head anyway. "Where do I get the fertilizer?"

"Vesta's farm. You also get seeds from there. I will introduce you to her and she can help you get started with the proper seeds."

I glanced at my watch. We had only been out here for half an hour. It felt longer. "Can we do the town tour tomorrow?" I asked. "I'm tired and it's been a very busy past few days. I'll just work on unpacking right now."

He nodded. "Okay, if you need anything, just let me know." He walked back toward his house. I almost asked him if he knew someone who could clean house. I had had a housekeeper in the city. I didn't know a thing about cleaning. It wasn't necessary in my line of work. I can honestly say that I am not looking forward to the days ahead.

I am trying to make the character start out somewhat shallow and stuck-up. I named her after someone I grew up with in California, who was shallow and stuck-up.

I decided to make her a model, since some people think most models are shallow. I don't. I don't know anything about modeling, so I'm not sure if it's a job you can just quit. For the purpose of this story, it will be job you can just up and leave when you want to. If anyone has a better idea of what her former occupation should be, I am open to ideas.

Also, for disclaimer purposes, Nancy Jordan is a made up famous designer. I didn't want to use the name of a real designer. Please R&R!