I don't own Harvest Moon or any mentioned rock bands
This story isn't set in any particular HM location. Instead, I'm using various characters and scenarios in a place simply called Starlight County. This is about Jack and his struggle to run a farm and family as well as deal with the tight-fisted rule of Count Jericho. So, without further adieu, here's my first installation of my first story.
The Farm, the Girl, the Hippie
Jack Harvest was a scrawny punk of sixteen years. A rough sixteen years it had been, with a crappy school, crappy grades, crappy friends and family, and, most of all, a crappy attitude that had formed from his struggles back in Cobain City. He was free back in his home country, the United States of the Confederation. After a revolution in the Western U.S., a war broke out, and the States dwindled into a sliver of land on the East Coast.
Now, the governor of his home state sentenced him to exile after he was caught harboring U.S. fugitives. "I sentence you to exile in the Axle Islands. It's a nice place off the coast of California, about the size of Alaska, a lot warmer though. It's an independent nation, you'll be under the rule of King Bonaparte. I hope you have a nice trip." That was the last words he had heard in the Confederation.
A man sitting in the driver seat looked back at the boy. "Have four seasons where you grew up?" The boy nodded. "Good, 'cause you'll get 'em all here too." He then sped ahead to the docks.
When they arrived, a big man with tattoos strung across every visible part of his body tied the boat to the dock and helped the two travelers out. "Welcome to Starlight County. I'm Slade, and I'll be the man who'll get you set up. First thing's first, any items besides clothing and things of sentimental value are to be taken back to your family. No food or money. Got anything like that?
"Nope," Jack replied honestly. The man just nodded.
"Good, now, I'll give you 750 Gold to start off with. Our currency here is Gold, the highest denomination, Silver, which is half the value of Gold, and Copper, that is a quarter the value of Gold. We've purchased you a snug little farm with a field, house, stable, toolshed, coop, barn, and mill. Other things can be built onto it if you wish. Your first year here you won't be allowed to leave Starlight County, Your second year, you can go anywhere within the limits of Axel Island. Your third, you can go anywhere you wish, except your home country. Understood?"
Jack nodded, but this was a bit much to take in. He supposed it would be an okay place to live. The man gave Jack his 750G and directions to the farm. Jack said goodbye to him and entered the town. The streets were cobblestone and there wasn't a car in sight. Quaint little houses lined the streets and people huddled in groups as they watched and whispered about the "criminal boy" who was now to live with them.
Jack turned onto a dirt road that lead into the farm. It was a beautiful sight, with a river running in an L shape. Jack smiled as he took it all in. This might not be so bad after all, he thought. The turned a to the right to see his house. He took a big step onto the porch and went into the house.
In the far right corner was a bed and a night stand. A little farther left was a TV, and even farther left was a desk with a notebook, pens and pencils, and a boombox. There was a window, a bookcase, a closet, chest, and a table sitting on a huge rug. Above the bookcase was a calendar. It was strange, it read "Spring" with thirty days. Jack was used to the typical Gregorian Calendar, but it seemed that Axel Island had its own calendar. It stated that today, Spring 1st, was New Years Day. Also on the bookshelf was a map of Starlight County. Jack wanted to look around some more, but he was tired and it was late. He just unpacked and hit the hay.
Jack woke up and looked at the clock. 5:24 it read. Jack slipped out of bed and got dressed. He planned on clearing the field of weeds today and exploring the town a bit. He flipped on the TV as he sat down to a bowl of Life cereal, his favorite. "Today the sun will be shining without a cloud in sight," announced the weatherman, "a good day to get out and enjoy the sunshine."
Jack turned the television off as the drank the milk from his bowl. He went out to the toolshed and got his sickle. He used it to clear the tall grass and just pulled the smaller weeds himself. By the time he was done it was 9:00 clock, so he followed his directions to the bar.
When he sat down to the bar, a redheaded man walked up to him. "What'll it be?" he asked casually.
Jack looked at the menu. "I'll have a...Shooting Star. Ooh, and chocolate cake to go along with it."
"And the icing?"
"Strawberry." The man walked into a room as a girl entered the bar. She seemed a bit younger than Jack, but still very beautiful. She had brown hair with blond highlights at the bangs. She had green eyes and a tan complexion. She was beautiful in every aspect. She sat down a seat away from Jack.
"A Shooting Star Doug, and chocolate cake, strawberry icing," she yelled toward the back room. Jack smiled. Wow, he thought, this chick knows what's good. Wonder if she likes rock?
"That's a Shooting Star and chocolate cake for the boy. Anything else?" inquired the barkeep.
"Yeah," said Jack, giving Doug a Gold piece, "put on some Zeppelin, if ya got any." The girl looked over at Jack as "Heartbreaker" began to play. Jack pretended not to notice as he cut off a bite of cake. She scooted over a seat.
"Hey," she said, "I thought I was the only one in town who liked rock."
"I guess you were wrong," Jack said, smiling, "so, what's your name?"
"Karen," she replied, "I'm the daughter of the dude who runs the winery."
"Oh, I'm Jack," Jack replied. Before he could say anything else, Karen's face lit up like a bulb.
"Oh, so you're the 'bad boy' everybody's been talking about," she said brightly, "so, whatcha get busted for?"
"Well, I've been in for about everything, except murder and rape and stuff like that, but I got sent here for hidin' some of my friends in the army."
"You're cake and drink," cut in Doug, "anything else I can get you?"
"Yeah," said Karen, handing him a Gold piece, "fire up the jukebox again. I'm in the mood for Creedence." The two continued to talk as the "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" filled the room.
When they finished their food and drink, they walked outside. Karen lit up a cigarette and Jack yelped a cry of happiness. "Thank you God!" he screamed, "Oh, I've been dyin' for a cigarette since I left Santa Barbara. Would you mind?"
"Not at all," replied Karen. Jack slowly drew from the smoke and let out a sigh.
"So," he said after savoring the puff, "in Cobain City, we don't find many young girls that smoke. How old are you anyway?"
"Fifteen," she said, and quickly added, "Your hometown is named after Kurt?"
"Yeah, and your island is named after Axl?"
"Spelled differently," Karen replied, with a bit of disappointment in her voice. The two continued to walk and talk until Karen's face became stone gray. "Oh my God," she said solemnly, "what time is it?" Jack looked at his watch.
"Two, why?"
"Crap, I'm missing Rick's date. I'm really sorry Jack, but I gotta go."
"Wait," said Jack, "who's Rick?"
"I gotta go," yelled Karen from down the road, "I'm sorry!"
Jack was crushed. There goes an absolute babe; running off to her boyfriend and out of my life, thought Jack. I hate to see her go...but GOD I LOVE to watch her leave. Jack returned to the farm where he decided to get started on the wood cutting. He had used all the grass as fodder that he stored in the silo. Now, he used his axe to cut bigger pieces of wood and just tossed the sticks in the river. It was strange, he thought he heard a guitar riff coming from the woods. He sat down and rested on a boulder in the field. He caught himself singing along.
"So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain? Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell? And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts? Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change? And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?" Sang Jack happily. He noticed the guitar had gotten louder. He looked up to see a man with a long brown beard and hair. He was clothed in green and had brown shoes, all of which seemed to be made of natural elements.
"How I wish, wish you were here," continued Jack, "We're just two lost souls swimmin' in a fish bowl, year after year. Running over the same old ground, what have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here."
The hippie finished up the riff, and, strangely, the wind blew right after he finished. "Greetings, stranger," the hippie said, "my name is Sky. I hear you come here because of a crime."
"In that, you would be correct," replied Jack, "I'm Jack." Sky's guitar was a beautifully crafted acoustic, no cutoffs. On one side of the strings the word ZoSo was visible and on the other side was the symbol from Journey's Captured album. Sky then sat down and began to play "Over the Hills and Far Away."
He looked at Jack. "Tell me the first few words to this song."
Jack cleared his throat and took a second to think, "Hey lady, you've got the love I need. Maybe, more than enough...wait a minute are you trying to make some kind of point or somethin'? You know about Karen."
"I know a lot about you Jack, just from seeing how you acted toward that girl. A joint?" Asked Sky.
Jack frowned, "Excuse me?"
"A joint," Sky repeated, "I know you like to smoke, so I thought you might want a joint." Jack shrugged and took one from Sky's hand. Within the next minute, Sky had poured some homemade wine into his earthernware cups, and the two men were getting high and drunk.
"She's beautiful, got these eyes," said Jack, "these eyes, they penetrate the soul." The two men rambled on the rest of the night and the next thing he knew, Jack woke up in the middle of his field. "Jesus, that was weird," thought Jack. He looked at his field to see not only had they finished chopping wood, but they had crushed the small stones and threw out the pebbles.
Jack went on to town to buy some seeds. He went by the winery and saw Karen standing by the fence. "Hey," she called, jumping over the gate and running over to him, "Sorry I ran off last night, but my friend, well, it's a long story. See there's this dude whose dad runs this really profitable ranch. By the time Rick inherits it, he'll be uber-rich or something. My parents have some sort of arranged marriage planned, but I can't stand the dude. So, I'm trying my damndest to find some other guy."
Jack breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought for sure you were taken." Karen frowned.
"What does that mean?" She asked, raising a brow. Jack smiled.
"Nothing, nothing. Well, I've got to get back to buying some seeds," said Jack.
"Wait a minute," said Karen, grabbing Jack by the arm, "I know you like me, and, you're a nice guy with good looks, good taste in music, and a place of your own. So, as long as my parents don't know..." Karen smiled, "How about Doug's place, this Saturday?"
Jack beamed, "Yeah, fine by me."
"Alright then," said Karen as she turned away, "Two okay?"
"Sure," said Jack, "Two's fine."
"'K then, bye," yelled back Karen.
"Right, sure, see ya," called Jack. He continued to walk toward the store, and for the first time since he had left Cobain City, he was happy.
So, what did you think? Of course, not everything is gonna be so sunshiny and happy. In the next chapter, Jack gets a little visit from the previously mentioned Count Jericho. But, anyway, I don't wanna spoil it. So, read and review, or I won't write.
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