The content of this story is adapted from the wonderful game Harvest Moon -- More friends of Mineral Town. Some things might seem really familiar, because the front portion of this story is an attempt to model after the actual happenings of the game.

Constructive criticism is welcome and very much appreciated.

Prelude

After preparing her morning brew of strong, black coffee, Jessica sat back in her comfy recliner and pulled out her newspapers. It was the same routine every weekday – wake up at 7am, grab the milk bottle from the doorstep, check the mailbox, shower, prepare coffee, read the newspapers, change and leave the house for work. Despite the lucrative business deals she had clinched in the past 3 years when she was in the gaming business, Jessica was never satisfied. After all, even though her career was soaring high, everything else –– her emotional and spiritual lives were rubbish.

Scanning the papers for the latest updates on her company's rivals' ploy to secure some business deals with computer companies, Jessica yawned and rubbed her eyes. All that coffee hadn't helped a single bit. Sighing, she got up from her comfortable position and went off into her room to change for work.

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'Bang!' went the door as Jessica slammed it behind her. Leaning heavily against the door, she recalled how she was blamed for the lousy financial state the company was in. Profits had fallen by 20 percent and apparently, she had caused it single handedly. Funny, she thought wryly, how when sale figures went up, Clinton and Ryson forgot that she was one of the partners of Windrider Co. and when things went wrong, her position was automatically reinstated.

Her laptop in place, she went over the sales figures which the guys had handed to her. Staring hard at the numbers in front of her, she grimaced. No wonder the guys were pissed. Sales for the latest games were… Wait a minute. She blinked twice and a frown creased her forehead. I don't remember going through the lists and seeing anything that couldn't even hit 50 percent of cost price in 1 month. She recalled how she just went through the database last week with her personal assistant and as far as she remembered, nothing that bad had captured her attention.

'Could it be….?'

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The next morning, Jessica repeated the exact same routine as the day before, and the day before, and all the days before, except Sundays. She hadn't had a good sleep the night before, what with ringing up her personal assistant in the dead of night to confirm her suspicions and tossing and turning in her queen sized bed, planning exactly what to say to the guys first thing in the morning. Somehow, she wasn't looking forward to that conversation. Flipping the newspapers absentmindedly, she kept thinking back on the day before and suddenly, she thrusted her half filled coffee mug into the air.

'I'M SO NOT GOING TO WORK TODAY!!'

The coffee sloshed out onto the newspapers. Her triumphant smile faded as she dashed off to the kitchen to grab the tablecloth, returning to frantically scrub the newspapers to absorb as much of the coffee as possible. When most of the damage was removed and the tablecloth rinsed, she lifted up her newspapers again…….to see a hole the size of about half the paper in 4 pages.

Great... What am I supposed to read now, the classified ads?

And a word caught her eye.

Farm…for sale. Large land area, fully furnished with 2 barns and a stable. Quaint farmhouse fully equipped. Lead life the farm way!! Now going at a highly discounted price. QUICK!! Call now to enquire!!

Living on a farm. That sounded appealing to Jessica. She recalled the days when she went over to her Grandpa Patrick's farmhouse for holidays. The mangy old barn which umm… didn't smell very appealing. The old fashioned farmhouse whose roof had been shingled and re-shingled many times. Her grandpa's old cow, Moo Moo, which had kicked her in the behind when Jessica had pulled her udder a tad too many times. But above all, she reminisced on how much fun, joy and laughter those times had brought her. All which eluded her since she became a part of Windrider Co.

And with that, she made up her mind.

'Um. Hi. I'm calling about the farm? Yes. It's still available? Oh great. Ooh...really? Sounds really appealing. Alright. No..it's enough. How much do I put down for deposit? Sure. When can I move in? I'll pack my bags immediately. I will be down in your office in an hour to sign the lease. Thank you... See you in a while.

And that was how Jessica left the city life she was tired of and moved many many kilometers to where her new home was awaiting her.