Harvest Moon: For A Different Girl
I guess I'll continue. Heh. ^_^
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I woke up, my eyes bleary after the sleep. Boy, was I working hard! The past few days virtually all I'd done was rush to the mountain path to grab some bamboo shoots, said 'hi' to a girl I met there occasionally, and raced back, dumped the produce in the bin, waited for five, and…zzzzz.
Today I was going to actually start working the land. I'd weeded, chopped lumber and smashed small stones, made a fence around a section with the lumber I'd gathered yesterday, and today I was going to hoe the plots…and get the seeds.
I got dressed and walked outside the door, but…
Karen was on my doorstep!
"Hi, Ann!"
"Oh…hello, why are you here?"
Karen grinned, her jaded eyes glinting brightly. "Tomorrow is the Goddess festival."
Goddes festi- oh yeah, it was scribbled on my calendar in red ink, but I hadn't thought much of it.
"All the girls in the village go to Rose Square and perform a dance ritual to welcome Spring. You can also get escorted by a guy. Annnnnd…" She produced a satin pink dress. With a hoop skirt. "You have to wear this!"
She shoved it in my arms. "It's yours! Me, Elli, Mary and Popuri ordered the material. Nokura sewed it for you, and Popuri made you a headband."
"Gee, thanks Karen…" I grinned forcefully, accepting the flowery thing. "Un….do I HAVE to wear a skirt?"
"Uh….yes." Karen looked puzzled.
"…Oh. Well, see ya tomorrow, then, and thanks! Tell everyone else I said thanks too," I finished with fake enthusiasm, racing inside to put the dress away.
I heard Karen say, "See ya," and then the soft pat of her boots treading the Spring grass beneath them as she exited.
"Great, just great. A festival. Where I have to….wear a skirt. And meet boys." Ann shuddered and put the dress inside her posessions box, then walking outside to make the daily walk up the Mountain Pass.
"Hi," the girl said, sitting on a stump and brushing her pink hair away from her eyes. Another really cute girl. Like I had a chance with these boys here.
"You coming to the Goddess Festival..?"
"…Maybe."
"I don't have anyone to go with. Besides, I hate this village. I want to go somewhere else."
I was taken aback. "Why?"
"Well, it is boring here," the girl stated, rolling over onto her stomach so her locks of hair rolled with her. "My name's Popuri."
"I'm Ann."
"Popuri!"
An angry voice called out like a hawk from behind both of us. An angry, red-headed boy was racing up the Pass.
"You left the hen coop open!"
"Oh NO!" Popuri looked horrified. "The chickens are okay, right?"
"No, not right! That chicken with spots on its wings got eaten by a dog!"
I gulped, glad that I only owned a cat on this farm, so I couldn't be blamed for this.
"Pon?" Popuri's eyes filled. "Pon….Pon was killed?"
"Yes, and it's all because of your irresponsibilty!"
"But Rick, I'm sorry! I didn't want Pon to get hurt!"
"I don't care, it was your duty to close the coop and you didn't, so it's your fault, you stupid girl!"
"I HATE YOU RICK!"
Popuri ran off crying bitterly. I stared after her, my eyes bulging.
Rick sighed. "Maybe I yelled a little too much…but she's so dozy, you have to shout or else she'll just float around in no logical direction like a cloud."
"I'm sorry," I tried to console, rushing back to the farm, depositing the produce, quickly hoeing a few plots and rushing to the Supermarket.
"Hi again, Annie," Karen called out cheerily, placing a rice ball into a packet, sealing it and putting it on a shelf. "Working hard?"
"Ohhhh yeah," I puffed, leaning against the Cooking Corner shelf. I'd noticed that Popuri was sniffling in the corner. Karen followed my gaze and raised one eyebrow.
"She's always like this…she's a little bit of a crybaby. And rude. But she can be friendly…"
I nodded. I walked over to the seed counter and picked up a few potato seed bags.
"See you, Karen. Popuri," I called into the store as I exited.
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With the seeds sown and the produce collected, it was time for the big one.
The horrible one.
TALKING TO BOYS.
I retched and grabbed a few flowers (as an intention to make a friendly image) and set off to the one place I knew there was a boy- a boy I hated, but a boy nonetheless.
I opened the door to Mary's library, looking carefully around the entrance before advancing.
"Gray? Are you in here?"
"….." There was the silence of someone being there, but not really bothering to answer me. I walked over to him and presented him with a Moondrop flower.
"….Is this a bomb?" He looked at it quirkily and brushed me away.
"It's a gift, dork-head. Don't you know anything?"
"Ah, to receive a gift from someone who throws those sorts of insults at me…."
"Shut up, dopey. The only reason I came here was to talk to you, and I think I've talked ENOUGH. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-BYE." (Read the first chapter of LOTR)
I stormed out.
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Next was Rick.
I set up off on the road to the Poultry Farm and attacked him with my Moondrop sword.
"Why are you waving that flower at- oh, thanks Ann! It's pretty." He tucked it into his coveralls. "Did you want something?"
I took a deep breath. "Uhh, yeah. It's about the Goddess festiva-"
"GOOD GODDESS! I forgot to ask Karen to go with me! See ya, Annie-girl!" He raced off like a orange, bespectecaled bolt of lightning.
"O…kay," I murmured, put out. "Rick is a definite no-no. I pity Karen."
I walked over to the hotel, feeling pretty depressed. Most of these boys I didn't even like! I'd look pretty stupid going there without anyone…I opened the door, sat at a table in the café and buried my head in my hands.
"Ohayo, Annie-gal."
I looked up to see Nokura beaming at me.
"I'm glad someone's happy," I muttered darkly, as she poured us both a cup of Relaxed Tea and sat down.
"Why the long face, Ann? Somethin' buggin' ya?"
"Yeah…It's this Goddess festival. I've got no one to go with."
"Oh…" Nokura flushed red, which was an odd contrast to her aqua hair. "Well, uh…I just gotasked by Cliff…"
"Cliff? Who's he?"
"Oh, he's no one," Nokura spurted out quickly. "Just some travelling guy, nothing special, he just asked me and I was scared of going alone, so…"
"You like him, don't you," I grinned slyly at her, sipping my drink.
"Okay, okay. But don't feel too bad, I mean…There are three more guys you could ask, there's Gray-"
"I hate his guts."
"Or Rick-"
"He's crazy."
"The Doctor?"
"Well, I dunno."
I glugged the rest of my drink down, when someone came down the flight of stairs. A boy. His dark hair came over his forehead in bangs, and his eyes were dark, large and sad. His clothes were evidently made out of potato sacks. Heh.
I grabbed Nokura by the neck. "Who's that?"
She seemed to notice the lovehearts in my eyes. "Uhn, no one, he's, uh, he doesn't, ahhh…"
The boy walked over and blinked at me, he swivelled his head around to Nokura.
"So…what time should I come around? An hour before the festival?
Nokura slammed her head on the table. "Ex-nay on the estival-fay…"
The boy blinked again, looking very put out. Well, anyone would be if they were sharing an area with Nokura. "…Hello. I'm Cliff." He bowed his head and walked away.
I turned around. "Nokura?"
She'd plugged her ears and was screaming some gay-ass song from Pocahontas at the top of her lungs. Her mother, some pop-star wannabe with green hair in pigtails shook her head at her daughter.
"Well, uh… See ya," I grumbled, walking out. I was NOT asking the Doctor, because frankly I couldn't be bothered. Plus, there was only one guy in this stupid village I liked, and I couldn't even get the guts to talk to him! I flung myself on my bed as soon as I got in, falling almost instantly to sleep.
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