"So, I'll be heading back. Bessie is counting on you, so make sure you take proper care of her."
"This is so kind of you! Tha-" the boy turned and started walking toward the exit of my farm, "-nk you so much…" And there I sat, watching him walk away, cow lead rope wrapped around my hand. He said his name is Neil. He told me about his shop and how he sells animals and animal care products, gave me a cow and a few tools, and left. And that was it. It was so… Cold. Was there a reason he was acting so cold? I wonder to myself. Was there a reason why he was trying to seem as unfriendly as possi—
"Moooo!" Bessie pleaded. I suddenly realized I had been absentmindedly standing there, staring off into the distance. And I now have a cow. A living, breathing cow that I must take care of.
"Shit," I muttered, grabbing my rucksack full of tools. I slung it over my shoulder and led Bessie over to the empty barn that had been here since I moved in.
It had been around a week since I first moved to Echo Farm. I needed a change of pace. The city was dull, dank, and lifeless. So my dad suggested I move out to Echo and take up things on the family land. Like father like daughter, he had said. It was a wreck when I got here, but after a few days things tidied up pretty well. Yet Echo isn't exactly the change of pace I had in mind. When I first arrived in Echo there were three residents—not including myself. Three. And who did this fresh-faced 18-year-old have to befriend? No one. Of course Dunhill, Emma, and Hana are wonderful people. But they're my parents' friends. Dunhill was best friends with my parents once upon a time, and I'm sure at least my dad knows Emma and Hana from his time in Echo. But either way, they're just… Harder to relate to. So I've preoccupied myself with turnip farming, foraging, and small talk. What a life, right?
But then here comes this cow—from out of nowhere. I just kind of stood there, confused, until I heard footsteps to my left and Neil appeared. And now Echo has a new resident. Err, not new. New to me, yes, not new to the town. But it's not the fact that there's a new-to-me resident that has me thinking, it's who the resident is. There's something about Neil, and I don't know what it is.
"His brown eyes seemed warm," I noted to Bessie as I released her from her guide. I set down my rucksack and begin to brush her. But in my mind, I'm studying Neil. Along with his brown eyes, Neil has longish, choppy, blond hair and a sharp jaw. But his facial features were soft aside from his stern glance, I noted to myself. He's probably around 6' tall, reasonably taller than my 5'7". And he's tan and muscular, which I assume is from working with his animals all day long. "Get ahold of yourself, he's kind of an asshole," I muttered under my breath. But it's hard not to think of him. He's so… Young. Compared to the other residents… He has to be in his early twenties. Close to my age, I think.
Bessie mooed again, snapping me back into reality. I realized that I had been brushing her in the same place over and over again for the entire time I had been standing there. I quickly brushed the rest of her back and put my brush away. Bessie mooed impatiently.
"What in the world are you moo-" shit. Bessie lowers her face into her feeding bin and snorts.
I sigh, tangling my fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck. "Fodder. I don't have any goddamn fodder." I glance down at my watch, 9:48am. Neil said his shop opens at 10:00am, but I don't know if he's open today since he just got back.
"Well, if push comes to shove, I can just buy some grass seed from Hanna, plant that in your pasture, and pray to Goddess I'm able to buy fodder tomorrow," I say, rubbing her ear. I pick my rucksack up and begin walking to town. Dunhill did say that Neil was only out of town dealing with a client, I muse, so I suppose he doesn't really have to prepare anything. But then, I've never run a shop, so I don't really know what it takes. But I've never farmed, either. At least in the city I knew what to expect. What in the hell am I doing here…? I look up and see Dunhill standing in the middle of the path.
"So how's the cow, Rachel?" Dunhill asked, hobbling his way over to me.
"Hungry and fodderless," I admit. "I think I'm going to go buy some grass seed from Hanna to plant in the empty pasture in front of the barn."
"Wonderful! I have faith you'll accomplish great things, Rachel!" Dunhill pats my back and continues down the path, toward my farm.
"Yes I, Rachel, the great turnip and dairy farmer, am here to save the world with my superb farming skills," I mutter to myself. I reach Hanna's General Store and look at my watch, 9:57am. I lean against the doorframe, facing west. I glance at the house next door, where Neil resides. I chuckle. Superb farmer. Hah. Let's see how I can achieve that in a profession I know next to nothing about with only some of my parents' friends and a decidedly unfriendly boy I can probably only think of befriending as consolation in this new life. A loud bell rings, and I look down at my watch again, 10:00am.