Gamer to Farmer
A/N: I do not own Harvest Moon: Back To Nature or any of the other things referenced in this story. This is a story about a regular teenage guy, who loves playing video games. One day he gets magically transported to Mineral Town. To his surprise the game is about him! The story is written through a first person perspective. I hope everybody enjoys this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. Enjoy!
Speech and text are regular text, Thoughts are italicized.
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Chapter 1: Painful Past
"Hurry up, Brett. Just choose a game and let's go!" My mom's voice behind me causes me to jump. I don't like being disturbed when renting games, it upsets my decision process.
"I'm looking, OK! I don't want to get something that lasts me a couple of hours, like last time. And don't call me Brett, I prefer Tint." My response sounded harsh and I knew it. I'm not normally a rude person, but when I'm having a bad day, watch out.
Let me describe myself a bit. I'm a seventeen year old guy with short brown hair cut to military standards. I stand nearly six foot and am of regular build. I know that I am not one of the popular kids at school, but I know that I can trust on my friends. My eyes are a deep hazelnut, but you could never tell because of the tinted glasses that I always wore, which explained the nickname Tint. My eyes are really sensitive to light, probably because of many hours of lonely gaming in my basement. That's about everything of importance.
I turn back to the shelf lined with the small little CD cases. For some odd reason, I found myself drawn to a green cover. I looked carefully at the picture, my interest had clearly been captivated. Without warning, my mom jerks the case out of my hands and looks at the content rating. "Oh, you can't get this! It says there is 'Use of Alcohol." With that comment the game was deposited back on the shelf.
"What the hell!?! You let Neil get Grand Theft Auto, but you won't let me get this because of a little alcohol?" I stared in disbelief. Neil was my younger brother, just turned 12, and here he was going to play mass murderer.
"A little violence never hurts anybody. Plus, he sees stuff like that on TV and around him every day." My mother tried to explain in her way of reasoning.
"But you're an alcoholic." My brain screamed, but luckily the thought didn't turn to words. I did have a wild card left to convince her, "Even though it's only Thursday, it'll be a long weekend. Plus, it's a seven day rental. This will keep me out of your hair for a bit."
The next thing I knew, we were at home and the disc was spinning inside my Playstation. "Works every time," I smirked at the victory. That's when the power shut off. Here I was sitting in front of my TV staring dumbstruck at the black screen.
The next couple of hours were aggravating on the entire family. We usually get along when we don't have to be in contact with each other. I could hear yelling coming from the kitchen. Apparently my mom was helping Neil with his homework. "Brett! Come tell me I'm right!" My brother called.
"It's Tint." I grumbled as I stomped into the kitchen. I took one quick glance at the problem after hearing their explanations. "You're both wrong, the answer's 8." I stated and retreated outside.
We live out in the countryside, so it's always peaceful outside. I found myself climbing atop our shed to get a better look at the sunset. The final sliver of light reflected off of the roof of our neighbor. The beam of light struck me right between my glasses and my face. The light caused me to flinch and look away. The sight I saw took my breath away.
Cresting a hill not very far away, was a herd of horses, each galloping in a brilliant showcase of beauty and grace. For some odd reason, the screenshot from the game case flashed into my mind. I just sat and stared, my mind thinking about this game that I have never played before.
"The power's back on!" My mom's call snapped me back to reality. I jumped off the shed and rushed inside. I grabbed the remote for the TV and plopped down in front of it. "Sorry big guy. It's bed time." My dad said as he snatched the remote from my hand.
"What? The sun just set, it can't possibly be eleven yet." My dad held out his arm, stopping my protest at the sight of his watch. "This isn't fair. I don't even get to try my new game." I thought as I trudged into my room.
I found myself having trouble falling asleep. In the back corner of my mind I could feel something tugging away. It was this game. Never before had a game had me this addicted, especially one that I had yet to play. I rolled over and glanced at my bedside clock. The glowing red numbers flashed back 2:00.
I couldn't handle it any more, I had to play it. I hopped out of bed, slipping my housecoat on as I went. Stumbling through the dark, I managed to reach my door. Slowly, I turned the knob, praying that the door wouldn't make too much noise. I yet out a sigh of relief as the door opened without a sound.
Creeping along on tip-toe, I made my way into the living room. I felt my way across the room until my hand felt the cold screen of the TV. Moving my fingers along the edge, I finally found the power switch. A quick press and I flinch as the TV comes alive in a blast of static and noise. I quickly turn the volume down to nothing and sit quietly, hoping nobody was woken up. Once satisfied that nobody was disturbed, I switched on the power for the console, nervously awaiting this game.
It only seemed like minutes, but before I knew it, the glow of the rising sun warned me of my diminishing time to return to bed. All time had seemed to stop as I played Harvest Moon: Back To Nature. It truly had me captivated, in only a short time.
That day at school, I told everyone I knew about how amazing this game was. Nobody seemed to have even heard of it. I was asked to explain it in two words and I answered "Farming Simulation." This brought a chorus of laughter from my peers. I didn't understand it. Why did nobody seem to consider this as anything of interest?
The day dragged on for what seemed like forever. Each minute that passed meant one minute closer I was to getting to play Harvest Moon again. After an eternity, the final bell rung. "Hurry on home, Farmer Tint!" I heard a friend call mockingly to me as I boarded my bus. I didn't even as much as register his comment, I was bent on returning to my game.
Before the bus even stopped at my house, I was standing at the doors waiting for them to open. Once they did open, I must have set the world record for the hundred meter dash. I climbed the steps and bolted through the door. My backpack went sliding across the tile floor as I made my way to the TV. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the shattered disk laying on the ground in front of me. A near rolled out of the corner of my eye as I looked on the black shards that contained the magic of Mineral Town.
"What happened!" I called to my mom, who was standing in the doorway watching my reaction.
"I got a call from one of your teachers today. A Mr. Davis, if I recall correctly. He informed me that you appeared to be very distracted by something. So I called all of your friends to find out what was wrong with you. Each and every one of them said that you were obsessed by that evil game, which I told you never to rent. So I decided to break it." She explained.
I was speechless. This was exactly the kind of thing that my mother always did to me. She always had to wreck everything that was even remotely good. I racked my brain trying to come up with some response, but couldn't find one to properly express my anger at her and the world. I stormed off to my room making sure to slam every door along the way.
I never was able to find the game again. I spent every spare minute searching pawn shops and rental stores all over my town. Finding nothing, I moved my search to Edmonton, which wasn't far from my home town of Wetaskiwin. Even the import stores didn't have any knowledge of the game. The Internet was my next stop, but came up with similar results. Nobody was willing to ship the game to where I was. Plus, it's nearly impossible to buy anything online without a credit card.
My parents became extremely concerned about my behavior. My grades were falling drastically from nineties to barely passing. They were convinced that I had been placed under some curse by the black disc. Then my marks took the final plunge below the passing grade.
I found that my room quickly got a makeover. They tore down the Japanese posters of Harvest Moon that I had found at a garage sale. All the furniture was moved out, giving room for the carpenters to install soft padded walls. A solitary light bulb illuminated the ultra white room. A big metal door with a glass window was put in to hold me in. I even got a fancy new white straight-jacket.
Maybe that wasn't exactly what happened, but it was close. I was submitted to a psychologist for severe anti-depression counseling. I finally had a chance to get back at my parents for their inhuman treatment of me. I won't go into details, but let's just say that after a few sessions, I was seeing a new shrink and so was my old one.
Approximately five months after the incident, my parents agreed that I was cured. I knew that if I didn't say anything about the game they would let me resume my life. The school year was nearly finished, meaning that I had a practically impossible chance of passing this year. Mentally, I added another strike against my parents.
Since I quit therapy, I've tried my hardest to avoid talking to my parents whenever possible. They had broken my trust and would not easily be forgiven. Every one told me that I was over-reacting to the situation. Some understood me, knowing it was only an obsession.
One of these people was my best friend, Mage. Mage was a fellow gamer, probably the best female gamer in the province. Mage wasn't her real name of course, I won't reveal her actual name out of respect for her. She chose this nickname because of her love of Final Fantasy, especially the magic users. I never really understood why.
Well, over that summer break a lot of things happened. Barely a week in, Mage fell ill and had to go to the hospital. She was diagnosed with cancer and the news hit me hard. Here was my best friend, told that she wouldn't make it through the summer. I visited her every day at the hospital, making sure to bring a bundle of flowers with me each visit.
Before long, I had set up camp in the chair beside her bed. All strength was fleeing her body. She was barely able to lift her head off the pillow. The doctor confided in me, saying she was in her last week. Here was another good thing being taken from me.
She spent most of the time sleeping, but every time she awoke, she saw my face. I had grown to love her during the time I spent with her over these past few days. On the final day, she whispered for me to open up the drawer beside her bed. I did as she asked and lost my breath at what I saw.
I reached in and pulled out the CD case that I saw. It hadn't even entered my mind over the past bit. I looked over at her and saw the smile on her lips. "Thank you." We both whispered as I leaned closer. Her lips parted to meet mine as we had our first and only kiss. When our lips parted, she gave one last smile before closing her eyes for her final rest.
"Nurse!" I called out in a barely audible sob. Tears rolled down my cheeks and slipped away into the air. I just sat there and cried, clutching her gift to me.
The funeral was a week later. I hadn't stopped crying since that day. I was too upset to do anything. My parents decided it was best if I didn't go to the funeral. For once I agreed with them. It would only cause me more pain.
My parents tried everything to console me, but nothing really helped. They moved the TV and Playstation into my room and encouraged me to play Harvest Moon as much as I wanted. It was quite a quite a while before I worked up the courage to open the case and place the little disc into the disc tray. Right before I shut the tray, a single tear dropped from my eyes and landed on the disc.
I hit the start button and a bright flash filled my room. I closed my eyes to shield them. I felt like I was falling through the air. Then the falling stopped. "Tint, you OK?" a friendly voice asked me.
My eyes flickered open. I had fallen on a wood surface. I looked to one side and saw the ocean. A hand appeared in front of my face and I took hold of it. Whoever was the source of the voice pulled me to my feet.
I looked over the man who had helped me. I knew him from somewhere, but where. Then it hit me, it was Mayor Thomas from the Harvest Moon game! "Welcome to Mineral Town."
A/N: Thanks for taking the time for reading this fic. I know it doesn't have much to do with the actual game, but it just serves as character background. As for if it's true or not, I'll leave that up to you.