Harvest Moon: Dusk Falling - Preface
By Catman
*Hey guys! So this is a little bit of a weird one. Let me know what you think, and if you guys kind of like the style I'll probably continue it! Heck, I'll probably continue it either way. Anyway, let me know!*
Jack has finally begun appreciating his life in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Although he misses the bright lights and excitement of Gem City, he's fallen in love with the slow pace of Forget-Me-Not, his perfect little family and his successful farm. But when a letter arrives from the Mayor of Mineral Town, he feels as though his time may be short.
Jack lowered his heavy sickle, panting heavily. He straightened up, allowed the cold night breeze to blow across his hot face. It was mid-spring, and the hay in the pasture was already getting out of hand. He had been working all day cutting them down to a respectable size, and still had to work into the night to get the job done. Now before him stood an eight-foot pile of light golden hay that needed to be transported to the silo, but that could be saved till the morning.
Instead, the young farmer leaned against the barrier of the pasture, his sickle lying on the ground, and looked up at the night sky. Every star glittered like a diamond in the light, winking down as if to send a message. This was the only reward he would get for cutting down the entire pasture – a beautiful night view. The moon looked especially large, hanging near the horizon above the ocean. Forget-Me-Not Valley truly was the most beautiful place on Earth; nowhere else, especially not the giant metropolis Gem City, had a night sky view that could compare to its.
The sound of a door creaking open reminded Jack of the time. A strip of light illuminated the ground just before his modest home across the farm. In the doorway stood his beautiful wife, Celia. Her long, brown hair waved around her pale, heart-shaped face, her bright eyes tired and half-open. She was wearing a green robe, which she clutched around herself to keep out the cool air.
"Honey!" she called in a cracked voice. "Are you coming to bed?"
Jack smiled to himself, lifting his sickle again. "Of course, sweetheart. Just let me put the tools away for the night, alright?" Celia nodded with a faint smile, and then retreated back into the house. The door closed behind her, cutting off the light. Jack looked up at the sky for another moment, cherishing the view, before he marched across the pasture towards the large barn.
The bright, fluorescent lights inside the barn didn't seem to disturb the sleep of the livestock, who all lay on the ground before their feeding buckets. He doubted that at this time of night, an earthquake could barely shake them awake. But still, as he passed by his old mare Daisy on his way to the tool shed, he could hear a tiny moo as she raised her head slightly, those glassy brown eyes of hers opening slightly.
"Shhh," Jack cooed, dropped to his knees slowly beside her. He ran his hand along her back tenderly. "Go back to sleep, Daisy. Come on. Nothing to worry about." Daisy mooed again quietly before resting her head. Lying before the feeding bucket next to her was her own calf, Bluebell, whom Jack had helped birth himself. Daisy had been his very first cow, and always had a special place in his heart.
Once he was confident that the large, black-and-white mare had dozed off once more, he continued towards the tool shed. After locking up his sickle with his other tools in the cabinet, he locked the doors of both the shed and the barn behind him for the night. He was just about to cross to his little home to sleep when he heard footsteps behind him. Upon turning around, he discovered it was only Takakura, his farming advisor who'd brought him to Forget-Me-Not Valley in the first place. He smiled.
The old man never seemed to change much. Every day he wore loose, torn slacks with white, worn-out sleeveless shirts, his dark, wrinkled skin distorting the tattoos on his arms. He had dark, thinning hair and thick eyebrows that covered his eyes. He carried a large, heavy black bag on his shoulder, and was making his way to the storage tower.
"Takakura, what're you doing up so late?" Jack asked, walking towards him.
Takakura nearly jumped as though he hadn't noticed Jack there; he rarely looked up to see where he was going. It always amused him to see the tough, gritty man surprised or shocked. In an instant, he regained him composure. "I made a trip to Mineral Town today," he explained, continuing towards the storage tower. "Thought I'd give myself a sleep-in tomorrow, you know?"
With his set of keys, he unlocked the storage tower. Before he entered, he stopped and dropped the bag to the ground. "Almost forgot," he grunted, bending down and unzipping a pocket. Jack frowned as the old man retrieved an envelope. "You got a letter from Town Hall," he said gruffly. Jack looked down at the return address. It was from none other than Mayor Norman of Mineral Town. "If it's jury duty, you can take your own horse up there every morning," Takakura added, closing the door behind him.
Jack snorted with laughter, and then continued towards his house. He slit open the envelope with his thump and pulled out the letter. It was written on thick, expensive paper; it had been written by hand with dark ink. He could barely make out the swooping cursive letters that it had been written in, especially not in the dark of night. Absent-mindedly he pushed open the door to his home, which was just as dark.
As he was crossing to the kitchen to turn on a light, the blankets of the bed in the corner shuffled. "Come on, Jack," the tired, cracked voice of Celia moaned quietly. "Come to bed now. You've done enough work for today."
"Just a minute, okay sweetheart?" Jack muttered. He closed the door to the kitchen behind him and turned on the light, which flickered for a few seconds before illuminating the humble eating area. It had sturdy wooden walls and polished floors with a large green rug lying below the wooden dinner table. A few small flowers that Jack and Celia's son, Brian, had collected were drooping out of a precious vase that Celia had brought from her home. The cabinet in the corner was full of china and crystal that she had inherited; it looked odd next to the grubby, standard kitchen appliances and chipped counters next to it. The refrigerator was constantly humming, just trying to stay alive.
Jack sat down at the table and flattened out the letter. It was written very formally, with lots of large words and elegantly strung-together sentences. Had Jack not been educated properly, he probably wouldn't have understood the basics of it… and how shocking it truly was. When he set it down, he felt as though all the blood had left his body. The letter dropped to the table without him even noticing it.
After a few moments of pure shock, he re-read it. It couldn't possibly be true. After six years, they would have noticed something sooner! He read it again and again, trying to prove himself wrong. But it said what it said: Rocky Farm, the little piece of heaven that he owned all to himself in picturesque Forget-Me-Not Valley, was being taken from him.
The door to the kitchen opened. Jack didn't turn around, continuing to read the letter over and over again. Midway through, a small, pale hand rested on his shoulder while the other one took the letter from him. Jack waited while Celia, still groggy with sleep and exhaustion, read the letter. It took longer than it took him, but when her hand left his shoulder he took it as a sign that she understood what it meant.
"But… that's impossible," she said wearily.
Jack stayed silent for a moment. Celia slowly made her way around the table and dropped into the chair opposite of him. He took in his young wife's face. Her warm brown eyes looked sleepy, but they were wide open in shock. Her pink lips were slightly ajar, trying to piece it all together. She was beautiful, even when she was confused. The green robe had fluttered open slightly, revealing her thin, youthful shape and just a bit of cleavage. Even though she had given birth just three years ago she looked the same as she did when they had met.
Her eyes met his. "They can't take the farm from you!" she said with as much intensity as she could muster while still being quiet. Brian was asleep in the next room, and if he woke up he wouldn't fall asleep for hours. Celia looked over at the door in the corner warily, before turning to face Jack again. "Your father and Takakura bought this farm seven years ago!"
Jack's eyes were wide. "Never once did I ever see any legal documentation," he said quietly. "I just assumed Takakura had it. I mean, I thought they bought the land…"
"It's all just a misunderstanding," Celia deducted, shaking her head slightly. "In the morning we'll speak with Takakura and ask to see proof that they paid for this land. They just can't take it away from us," she repeated, her mouth ajar. "They can't do that."
Jack frowned. "I don't know, Celia. If they can prove that my dad didn't actually buy the farm then maybe they can."
"But he had to have! Nobody just finds spare land and builds on it without permission," she justified. "And Takakura's an honest man."
The two sat in silence for a few more moments. Jack's heart was beating loudly. Perhaps it was his own exhaustion that was enhancing his worry over the situation. He had thought about this before. Not once, when Takakura decided to give the farm to Jack, did he ever have to sign any documents claiming the land was his.
Celia stood up. "Come on, we're worrying too much about this. Let's go to sleep, alright? We can talk it over in the morning." She took his hand, and he stood up slowly, pushing in his chair behind him. He followed her to bed, closing the kitchen door behind him, leaving the letter and the envelope open on the table.
Thanks for reading! :3