Harvest Moon
My Friends of Mineral Town
Part I
Chapter II
"...Jackie...Hey Jackie..."
I hear a little girl's voice, but I don't see anything. Where am I? Now I see something. I'm on Robert's farm. But, it's not run down. It's just as I remember it. I feel myself smile. It feel like home to me.
"Hey Jackie," I heard the girls voice behind me, so I quickly turn around.
"Stop calling me Jackie," a boy yelled as he chased a little girl with long hair.
I recognized the boy. It's me, from long ago. And the girl I was chasing, was the same girl I've seen many times in my dream.
"Aww, but I like calling you Jackie."
She laughed as my younger self chased her.
"I told you I hate that. Now stop."
I never could get it through to anyone, I hate the name Jackie. My mom called me that when I was little. Unfortunately, I could never get her to stop. I just chalk it up to it's mom, get over it. As I continue watching this scene from my youth, I know there was a name I called her that she hated as much as I hated Jackie. If I could just remember.
Suddenly, I heard a beeping echo across the farm. That's when everything started phasing out, being replaced with the darkened room of my small farmhouse.
Jack slowly woke from his slumber to an alarm clock on the nightstand by his bed. The time read 5:00 am. He shut it off and sat up. The sun was just starting to rise, creating a dull glow to the room. Jack stood and stretched. His first full day in Mineral Town was just beginning.
After having some coffee, he got dressed and headed outside to get to work pulling weeds. He figured he'd do that for a couple hours until the shops and stores opened for business.
By 8:00am Jack was pretty sore already. He'd just spent the last two and a half hours pulling weeds and cutting grass. He'd gotten a pretty good size section of the pasture cleared of weeds and rocks. It was a good thing he'd worked hard labor jobs in the city, or this would be a lot harder. Still, this was still hard work. He'll need to invest in power equipment if he's going to want to grow serious crops. All in good time.
Jack stood and stretched. He looked at the work he'd done and grinned. He decided to go get cleaned up. It was time to go meet more of the town folks.
He was on his way down the road toward town around 9:00am. He walked past the two roads that lead to the poultry farm and Inn. He reached a turn in the road and right in front of him was a house. It had a sign in front that read "Library" on it. He decided to check it out. He opened the door and peered inside. It wasn't the largest collection he'd ever seen, but it was an impressive collection none the less. He stepped in and closed the door. Before he could take two steps into the room, something, or someone bumped into him hard. He heard a girl yelp and then a thud.
"Excuse me," the girl said from the spot she landed. "I'm so sorry."
"I'm sorry," Jack replied. He extended his hand to her. "Here, let me help you."
"Thank you," she answered, accepting his hand.
She stood and dusted herself off. Jack looked at her. She had long black hair tied in a braid, deep brown eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. She wore a white blouse with a greenish blue sleeveless sweater shirt over it. Her knee length skirt color matched her sweater and she wore a pair of brown dress shoes with white socks.
She looked back at him. "I don't think I've seen you before."
"Yeah," Jack looked away for a moment. "Sorry. I'm new here. My name's Jack."
"Nice to meet you Jack," she bowed slightly. "I'm Mary. I run the library here in Mineral Town."
"Pleasure Mary," Jack returned her bow. "I'm sorry for bumping into you."
"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I was thinking."
"Must be important if you get that lost in thought."
"I'm writing a book and I've hit a wall."
"I see," Jack nodded. "I'm sure you'll find your way on your book. I know we just met, but I believe in you."
"Well," Mary blushed. "Thank you Jack."
Jack smiled at her reaction. He then looked at the books. He walked over to the shelf and scanned them. They were mostly farming and botany books, though there was a decent collection of other literature.
"My dad wrote many of the botany books," Mary said as she stepped up beside Jack. "You want to know anything about plants, you can find it here."
"Good to know," He glanced at his watch. It was almost 10. "I gotta go."
He turned and walked to the door.
"Alright Jack," Mary said as she went to her desk. "Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you again."
"I'm gonna need all the help I can getting my farm up and running. So, I'll be back. Count on it."
He gave her a wave before heading out the door. She waved back, but it was doubtful Jack saw it. Jack continued down the road, getting the lay of the land in the small town. The next house he came to was a duplex. As he walked past it, the left side door opened and the mayor stepped out along with a rather burly looking man. He was muscular with a scruffy mop of brown hair and a matching thick beard. He wore a white T-shirt and blue jeans with black work boots.
"Ahh Jack," Thomas spoke in his usual sheery voice. "Perfect timing. I got someone here I want you to meet."
Jack walked over to Thomas and the other man.
"Hello Jack," the man said, extending his hand to Jack. "The name's Gotz."
"Pleasure sir," Jack replied as he shook his hand.
"Gotz," Thomas spoke up. "Is Mineral Town's resident lumberjack and carpenter."
"Yes," gotz spoke in a loud voice. "Thomas here tells me you're looking to get some repairs done on Bob's old farm."
Jack nodded. "That's right. The barn and coop need some minor repair and I wanted to get some expansion work done on the house. I can't say I wanna spend my life living in that small of a house."
Gotz laughed. "I hear ya there kid. Can't say I would either. But, Ol'Bob liked it." He straightened up. "Sure kid. The work you want done won't be a problem. The barn and coop will take about a week each. The house, on the other hand, will take longer."
"How long we talking?" Jack asked.
"Hmm," Gotz brought his finger to his chin, in thought. "Well, I'd put it about six to eight months. So, before winter."
Jack nodded. It was longer than he thought.
"Why so long?" he asked.
"It's just me kid," Gotz got stern with Jack. "That's why."
"Fair enough sir," Jack put his hands up defensively. "So, exactly how much are your services gonna cost me?"
"Hmm," Gotz scratched his chin again. "I'll charge five thousand each for the barn and coop. And, I'd say forty-thousand for the house."
"Fifty thousand huh." Jack was kind of suprised. That was a lot less than he expected.
Getting the money wouldn't be an issue. He got a hundred thousand when his father died last year. He had about sixty-five grand left after school and housing expenses back in the city. Well, no one said things were going to happen quickly here. And he does have the funds to get this farm going. He can only hope he can work hard enough to make that money back.
"Deal," Jack extended his hand.
Gotz shook his hand, sealing the deal. "I'll bring over the contract to you this evening."
"Thank you sir," Jack nodded. "I appreciate it very much."
"I should be thanking you kid," Gotz laughed. "I've been itching for a new project for a while."
Jack grinned. "Glad I could help you there."
"Well," Thomas spoke up. "We best let you get back to whatever you were up to Jack."
"Thank you Thomas," Jack replied. "You were a great help. You saved me a lot of time bringing Gotz to me."
Thomas grinned. "I'm glad I could help you out Jack. Have a good day young man."
"You too sir," Jack bowed his head to Thomas. "Good day."
Thomas and Gotz nodded to Jack before they went back into the house, leaving Jack alone in the street. He was glad about his good fortune being able to meet the carpenter and arrange the repair work for the farm. He started walking toward the next building. He saw that it was the General Store, or the Supermarket. This was his main objective for this morning. He needed some food for his home. Also, he needed to aquire seeds so he could start growing some crops, if ever wanted to get the farm producing and making some money. Jack opened the door and was greeted by a girl.
"Oh," she said, smiling. "Welcome stranger."
Jack looked at her. She was a couple inches shorter than him. She had waist length brown hair with blonde bangs with piercing green eyes. She wore a white sleeveless shirt with a purple vest, jean shorts cutoff just above the knees, and tan work boots with white socks. Jack thought she was pretty too. Seemed to him there were a lot of stunning young women in this town. Although this one barely gave him a chance to speak.
"You're the new farmer aren't you?" she continued. "I'm Karen and this is my parent's store."
Jack nodded. He was amused by her enthusiasm.
"I'm Jack. It's a pleasure to meet you Karen."
Karen motioned for him to follow her to the counter.
"Mom. Dad," Karen spoke to the two behind the counter. "This is Jack. The new farmer we've heard about."
The man looked at me and smiled. He was a rather well kept looking man with his slicked back black hair, a french looking moustache and his white button down shirt and red bowtie, and his black dress slacks and black dress shoes. The woman also gave me a warm smile. She was dressed in a blue dress with yellow trim, and she had a white long sleeve dress shirt on under the dress. She had long blonde haire she kept in a tight bun, and the same piercing green eyes that Karen had.
"Welcome sir," the man said. "I'm Jeff. Welcome to Mineral Town."
"Thank you," Jack answered. He looked from Jeff to the woman. "I saw you yesterday when I arrived. you were in the square."
"Yes," she said, nodding her head. "My name is Sasha. It's wonderful having you here."
"Pleasure ma'am," Jack replied.
"So Jack," Karen spoke up. "How has farm work been treating you? Has it been hard?"
"A little bit," Jack said. "But, I'm just getting started. It's usually hardest in the beginning."
"I see. Hey," Karen clapped her hands. "Maybe I can help you out a little bit."
Karen ran over to the bags of seeds on a nearby shelf. She returned with a small bag of seeds.
"Here," she said, handing Jack the bag. "It's not much, but take these."
"Now hold on," Jeff spoke up. "What are you doing Karen?"
"Oh calm down Dad," Karen snapped back. "It's just one bag. We can spare one."
"But," Jeff looked and sounded defeated.
"I can't," Jack said to Karen. "I can't take this."
"It's alright," Sasha chimed in. "We'll let you have this one bag on the house"
"Well," Jack said. "If you say it's alright."
Jeff huffed. Sasha and Karen gave him a stern glare and he seemed to cower away. I guess you can see who wears the pants in this family.
"Don't mind him," Karen said to me in a hushed voice. "He can be a stick in the mud sometimes."
Jack nodded. An interesting relationship with these people. Jack figured it wasn't his problem.
"Anyway," Karen spoke louder. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. Again, welcome to Mineral Town Jack."
"Thanks Karen," Jack replied.
Karen smiled before returning to whatever it is she does. Jack started buying food supplies for his house as well as a variety of seeds for planting. He had potatoes, turnips, and cucumber for spring planting. He also purchased some summer crop seeds so when the time came he could go right into his summer planting.
After paying for his goods, Jack was out of there, heading down the road. He reached a fork in the road and took a right. He walked past the Inn, headed toward home. A few minutes later, he decided to stop at the vineyard to purchase a couple bottles of the local wine.
Stepping inside, Jack is greeted by an older man. He had black hair with grey streaks. He wore black dress slacks with brown dress shoes, and a white dress shirt with a purple suit vest.
"Good morning sir," he said with a deep voice. "How can I help you?"
"I'm here to buy some wine," Jack answered.
He nodded. "Go see my wife. She can help you."
The man then went past Jack and out the door. He seemed to be a man of few words. Jack just shrugged and went to the counter. He was met by a woman who looked older than him, but not as old as the man did. She had a long blue dress with black trim, a black long sleeve shirt with yellow trim, a black apron, and a white neck scarf. She had jet black hair and deep, energetic eyes.
"Good morning young man," she said in a cheerful voice. "I've never seen you here before. Where do you come from? I think I remember hearing someone was coming here, but I didn't think you'd be so young and so cute."
Jack was a little suprised. This woman could talk. He had to keep himself from laughing out loud. He didn't want to offend her. She seemed like a kind woman.
"Hello ma'am," Jack got out before she spoke again.
"You don't need to be so formal. You can just call me Manna. And don't be put out by my husband, his name is Duke by the way, he can just be hard to talk to sometimes. But he really is a good man, even if he does tend to drink a lot. But he is good at his job, so everything with him isn't all bad."
It took all he had not to laugh. He was here to buy some wine, not hear this woman's life story. He figured it was time to stop the one woman commentary.
"Umm Manna," Jack spoke up. "Could I please buy two bottles of wine."
"Of course," Manna said with a giggle. "I'm sorry. I guess I do like to gossip. I've always been that way. By the way, what's your name young man?"
"I'm Jack. I'm the new owner of Moonlight Farm."
"Ahh," she clapped her hands once. "You're the young man Bob told us about a few years ago. He told us about a boy he'd befriended and was like the grandchild he never had. I'd envisioned a handsome young man, and I was right. I imagine you got girls trying to break down your door all the time."
Jack blushed. Truth be told, he had very little luck with women. it wasn't from a lack of trying either. They just were never interested in dating him. He had a few women friends, but no girlfriend. And at this point in his life, he wasn't really looking. If it happens, it happens. He'll cross that bridge if he ever comes to it.
Manna kept quiet as she sold Jack his two bottles of wine. He made his way toward the door. Before he could get out the door, Manna spoke up again.
"Goodbye Jack. Please don't be a stranger here. Come back and visit."
Jack waved to her before he went outside. He saw Manna's husband Duke tending to the vines. when he saw Jack, he waved to him before continuing his work.
Alone again, Jack decided to return to the farm to get a little more work done. Checking his watch, it was nearly one in the afternoon. It had already been a busy day, but he actually found himself excited to get back to work.
It was nearly five o'clock when Jack was finished with his work for the day. He had done some more weeding and had also begun plowing and preping the soil for planting. He'd enjoyed gardening growing up and now he gets to do it again, this time as his job. Many he grew up with thought this kind of work was beneath them. he'd been treated badly by many back in the city because of his love of gardening.
He stretched and started walking toward the house when he saw Gotz coming through the gate. Jack approached him and they shook hands.
"Busy day kid?" Gotz asked.
"Not too bad," Jack replied. "I assume you got some contracts for me this evening?"
He nodded. "You got it kid. I got it written in that it's fifty percent up front and the other fifty when the job is done."
They walked into the house and Gotz set the papers on the table while Jack got a coin purse out of his rucksack.
"So," Gotz continued. "It's twenty-five thousand right now."
Jak nodded and pulled some gold coins from his coin purse. Each coin was worth 100G. He set 25000G worth on the table and then signed the contract. Gotz grinned.
"Excellent kid. I'll start work on your barn tomorrow. Like I told you this morning, the barn and coop will take about a week each. I'll be sure to show you the plans I got for the redesign of this house. I think you'll like. I designed it to fit in with the design of the other buildings on this farm."
"I look forward to it Gotz."
Jack saw Gotz out before locking his door and sitting on his bed. Another long day finished. After a few minutes he decided to make himself a simple meal from the supplies he bought earlier that day. After supper, he turned the radio on to listen to some music. With the music playing, he decided to grab a pen and open his journal.
Journal Entry March 21 Second day of Spring
It was an eventful day today. Between this morning and the afternoon, I managed to get enough of my field weeded and plowed to begin planting in the morning. The best part of my day was meeting several of the locals.
I met Mary, the librarian and resident author. I've never met anyone as passionate about books as her. I think it's quite an endearing trait.
I then met the family that owns the General Store. They are quite the crew. Jeff seems pretty beat down as a man. I don't know what it is with him. His wife Sasha is a very strong willed woman. She knows what she wants in her life. She reminds me of my mother.
Then there's their daughter Karen. She's as strong willed as her mother and also a little bit care free. I personally think she's quite exotic and pretty. Very easy on the eyes. Any man who dates her should consider themselves lucky.
Mayor Thomas introduced me to the local carpenter, Gotz this morning. I was able to arrange construction work needed for this farm, for a lot less money than I thought it would be. The mayor saved me a lot of headache by breaking the ice for me.
I met the owners of the vineyard today. The man, Duke, was a man of few words. But, judging by the vibrant condition of the grape vines, he's a man of great skill. Then theres his wife, Manna. She's a beautiful, sweet woman. But my god, can that woman talk. I learned more about her in those few minutes than I learned about my best friend back home in a month. But still, I did enjoy talking to her. She seems to be very personable.
It was a most incredible day. With Gotz starting work on my barn tomorrow, and my field ready for planting, I'm looking forward to what my future here holds.
Jack closed his journal and sat it on the nightstand. He got ready for bed and set his alarm. He laid down and closed his eyes, letting sleep take him away after a busy day.
End of Part I Chapter II