Harvest Moon Generations
First Generation
Chapter 4: Meeting the Town
Not much has happened my first season here, I cleaned my entire field though, well almost. I make it an everyday chore to scout the field and pull up any weed I find to keep the field from overgrowing again and I have gotten rid of all the tiny stones and branches that were covering it, and I tried smashing the boulders and stumps that were there only to find out that my tools did absolutely nothing to them. I need to 'Upgrade' them, or that's what my books said in my house. I must go find a certain ore and the blacksmith will make it stronger. Okay well the biggest and important thing that happened to me was meeting all the townsfolk that live here.
Well start when I met the local blacksmith, I had walked into his shop all I heard was yelling, "What?! Explain to me what's wrong with it! Come on!" a guy about my age with a blue cap, his back facing me, I could see his orange hair. Saibara yelled right back, "What's wrong with it?! The answer is inside of you! You have much to learn!" As the door closed behind me the guy turned around to me, his blue eyes full of rage, "What are you looking at?! If you have nothing-" "Gray! How dare you talk to a customer like that!" his hand slamming down on his desk, he looked like he could breathe fire. They both apologised to me and introduced themselves. Saibara, this old man with white long hair that's balding at the top with a Santa looking beard, seemed like a tough old guy but still kind in a way, and Gray giving a brief hello and apologized again and explained to me that Sabrina, his grandfather, was giving him a hard time and never approves of his work, "I'm ready to quit. I feel stupid, you know?" I looked at him and gave a small smile, "Look I know how you feel but it seems that you're serious about your work. So, I suggest keep training!" He looked surprised at my response and looked away, "…You're right. I'm such a wimp. Sorry for complaining so much, I guess I'm just in such a hurry to get to his level that I'm not really listening to what he's telling me. Thank, Claire." A small blush formed a crossed his face and we wished each other luck with starting our careers off and I bid a good day to the two of them.
Across the way, I met a nice family who runs a poultry farm, I had walked in on them while they were eating lunch of spa-boiled eggs. I apologised for interrupting but they didn't seem to mind, the son was first to introduce himself. "Hey, welcome. You're just in time for lunch!" He laughed, "I'm Rick, it's nice to meet you!" His light brown hair was down to his shoulders that were pulled off his face with a headband, bits of hair were sticking out of the top, his glasses were covering up half his face. "You're the new farm girl aren't you! I'm Popuri, and I can tell were going to be the best of friends!" she had long wavy pink hair that was pulled back in a headband as well her bright red eyes full of wonder and a bright smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you both as well, is Lillia here by any chance as well?" A woman who also had pink hair but it was pulled it back into a low hanging ponytail stood up from the table. "That would be me, dearie, I'm their mother. How can I help you?" I thanked her for the puppy and she was all smiles that I enjoyed my gift.
"Do you like eggs, Claire?" inquired Rick. "Yeah, I like them well enough, why?" he got out of his chair with a huge grin, grabbing an egg off the table as he starts to walk towards me, he was tall and handed me it, "Here, take it! Being new to all of this you'll need your strength!" Taking it out of his hand I thank him and his family for their generosity and as I turn to leave they all wish me luck with the farm. 'They all seem close' I think, munching on my egg walking back to my farm
Further down the path was a livestock farm, there lived an elderly gentleman named Barley who lived with his granddaughter May. He was completely bald with long caterpillar eyebrows, glasses that covered his face with a white snowy beard, he was hunched over while introduced himself and said that if I wanted to raise livestock, come to him. His granddaughter came jumping down the stairs and froze when she saw me. She had a cute red dress on, her hair was dark brown and put into two high side braids. I walked over to her and kneeled down to her level and introduced myself, she was a little shy at first then opened up and asked, "Can I call you big sister? Can I come play at your farm?" I felt my heart strings being pulled, "Yes you may call me that and only if you ask your grandfather if it's okay that day." She beamed up at me and started to drag me outside and we played for most of the day.
Walking into the plaza to explore the town more and I was going to walk straight across when I was bombarded by three ladies, all talking at once and asking me questions. My head was spinning from their voices, "Um…Hi, I'm Claire, I can't understand any of you." They took a step back and giggled, "Sorry Dear, we were just excited to meet you is all. I'm Sasha. My family runs the supermarket. Nice to meet you." She had light brown hair pulled back into a braided bun, she wore a white puffy sleeved shirt with a blue apron dress over it. "Hello, I'm Anna." A woman with short raven hair that was very fluffy and flipped with perfection spoke next, she had on a white elegant dress with mint green accents around it, "It is very lovely to meet you. Mayor Thomas has told us about you."
The last of the ladies looked like she couldn't sit still any longer, she had raven hair as well but in a short bob style with a black and yellow accent dress on and a white scarf around her neck, "You are Claire! I knew it as soon as I saw you! Thomas told us about you and that we were going to have a new neighbour. I was so excited to hear that. We haven't had anyone new in town in so long. Oh, sorry! My name is Manna. My husband Duke and I run the winery here in town. You should come and have a taste of some of the wine we make! Wait are you old enough to drink? You look like your old enough, it's fine either way, it'll be only a small taste! It's so very nice to meet you. There's not much around here, but everyone is very kind. You let us know if you need anything okay? Oh no, did I talk too much? I'm sorry!" She finally took a breath when she started to laugh as she grabbed my hands and was giving me the kindest smile I think I've ever seen. I chatted with the rest of them for a bit before I said good day and continued my day.
From the plaza, I could either go straight ahead or make a left, "Which way to go, which way to go." I walked straight ahead of me and came across a church, it was small but beautiful a graveyard was to the left of it. I pushed open the heavy doors and walked down the aisle, pews to either side of me and the walls were covered in stain glass windows. As I got to the end a man dressed in a robe spoke to me, "Hi, how are you? Are you new here? My name is Carter." He was very gentle when he spoke I smiled as I introduced myself. His face brightened up and motioned for me to come closer, keeping his voice in a hushed tone "I have a favour to ask of you, Claire. There is a young man named Cliff sitting in the pews behind you. Do you see him?" I looked to my side and saw him at the end of the pews staring at the windows looking sorrowful, he had brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail with his bangs hanging in his face, I nodded at Carter. "I was wondering if you could talk to him and make friends with him. He came to this town by himself, just like you. However, he doesn't try to make friends with people here. He seems to be shy and it seems he has difficulties opening up to people." I agreed to help him, I know what it's like being alone and having no one to talk to, even if it was just a simple hello.
He was overjoyed and I turned and walked over to him small butterflies in my stomach as I sat next to him, "Hello, I'm Claire." I gave him a nice smile. He looks over at me, "Ah…hi…" his voice was quiet, "Mmm…my name is Cliff…" we sat there for what felt like forever, when he spoke up, "Ah…Do I have something on my face...?" I shook my head, not really knowing what to say. His body was starting to tense up from us just sitting here when I said in a calm voice, "I don't bite you know, just take a deep breath and relax. I just moved in town and would like to get to know you a little better is all." He took a deep breath and gave me a small shaky smile, "Okay, I feel a bit better now. Thank you, Claire." After that we had a nice chat and after I said my goodbyes to the both Cliff and Carter and walked back down the aisle and out of the church.
Next door to the church was the Clinic and it would be a good plan to get a checkup from the doctor here in town. As I entered the facility I heard a sharp shriek followed by, "Stu! Don't play tricks on me like that!" "Don't get so mad, Elli! You don't want to get grey hair, do you?" "What!?" As I walked towards the voices more I saw a girl my age with brown hair styled in a pixie cut, she was in the nurses uniform and looking very flustered at a small boy with dark hair in a bowl cut who had a big grin. He looked towards me, ran over to me and hid behind my legs. "Hey! Where are, you going!" Her head whipping to meet my eyes, "Oh, Hello. You're the new farmer, aren't you? It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Elli, welcome to the Clinic." She gives me a warm smile and I introduce myself. "By the way…" her face becoming serious, "Do you realise there's someone hiding behind you?" The small boy grips my pant leg, "Don't get so mad, Elli! All I did was show you a bug!" poking his head out from behind me, she looks at him and sighs, "What am I going to do with you? Don't you know I hate bugs?" "I thought you maybe you would like that one!" He looks up at me with a big grin, "You understand me, right, Claire? You're still young at heart."
I look at him and give him a small smile, I might be young at heart but I remember my brother doing that to me as well, shoving bugs in my face, "No, not really. Sorry, little guy." His eyes start to fill up with tears as he grips the edge of his shorts, he turns and runs out the door crying and I felt like the biggest bully in the world, panicking thoughts in my head, 'Should have I lied? Good job Claire, making a great first impression.' I turn to look at his sister she smiles and puts her hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry about him. He's just not used to being scolded by other people. Maybe now he'll stop playing so many tricks on me!" "Are you sure?" I looked at her, worried. She laughed a bit, "Yes I'm sure." She brought me over to where the doctor was, his name is Trent, he was busy with some paperwork and told me to come back later and he'll do a full physical.
Next door to the clinic, separated by a tree and a bench was the general store of the town. As I walked through the door I was greeted by a girl with green eyes, long brown hair that went to her mid back and two blond bangs hanging in front of her face, she wore a white tank top and purple vest with shorts. "Welcome, you're the new farm girl, Claire, right? Mum was talking about you earlier, my name's Karen, it's nice to meet you." We had a firm handshake and I said hello back, "So, did you come to shop?" I nodded at her as I start to walk to look at the counters, ahead there was a counter island that was covered in seeds that I could try planting, to my right I saw a basket and a bigger backpack, and to my left was ingredients for cooking, 'Don't own a kitchen, so can't use this now'. "Take your tie now." She calls out to me. After looking around Karen walks over to me, "Hey Claire, if you're just starting out then you must need lots of things, right?" I looked at her with hope and whispered, "Yes…I'm still not sure what I need." She pats my back, "Just wait one second."
Walking over to the checkout counter her mother Sasha was putting things away as her dad was counting the money in the register. "Dad, can we give her one bag of seeds?" His hands shake a little and look up at his daughter looking a little sick, a shorter man with slicked back black hair a small moustache, dressed in a white shirt, black slacks, and a small bowtie, "Oh, come on…" Karen started to frown, "Whatever happened to kindness to strangers!" Sasha put a hand on her husband's shoulder, "Jeff, Honey, why don't you show her some hospitality…please?" she gave him puppy dog eyes. He looked from wife to daughter and caved in, "…ok." Karen smiled and walked to the island counter of seeds, "Thanks, Dad!" "I knew there was a reason I picked you!" Sasha kissed her husband's cheek and his whole face going red. "Here you are. This is on the house." Karen winked at me handing over some grass seeds, I thank her and put in in my bag. "Don't mention it. It takes a lot of work to start up a farm. I'm rooting for you." I thanked them again and told them I'll be back later in the season.
A little down the ways were two smaller houses, one was the mayors. I popped my head in to say hi and he asked me about the farm and if everything was going well. We chatted for a bit then I went to introduce myself to his neighbour, a sweet old lady whose legs barely work anymore, Ellen. She is the grandmother of Stu and Elli and was sitting outside in her rocking chair enjoying the spring day. Stu was showing her all the bugs he had caught and was telling her about his adventures in town. I told her that I would come by and tell her all about what I've been doing at the farm, and her face lights up. I said my goodbyes to the both and ruffled Stu's hair walking off.
The last house on the street or the first house depending on how you walk the road was different from the others, besides being a regular house, it had a tower connecting to it. As I walked into the tower part I heard a small voice mumbling and felt a body collide with mine. Another girl my age and a few inches shorter with glasses and short bangs a long raven hair in a loose braid at the end, she looked up at me flustered, "Oh! I'm sorry I didn't see you there. Um, are you a tourist?" I shook my head and introduced myself apologising as well. "Oh, you're your new girl at the farm! Nice to meet you, Claire. I'm Mary, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She gave me a small smile, "I'm sorry about before…when I get lost in thought, I don't notice anything." I give her a smile, "Can I help with anything?" She blushes and looks down at what she was holding, "I'm writing a novel. I just had a case of writer's block, that's all, but thank you." I nod and look around, it was a library and there were shelves covered in books and a staircase, probably leading to more books. "Um, come here anytime if you want to read anything. I bet I have lots of books you'd like!" A warm smile crossed her face and bid my goodbyes.
This morning I wanted to go and meet the inn keeper and winemaker, walking past the blacksmiths and then making the first right and I would have been there, though lucky for me it decided to start raining and not sprinkling rain. The heavens had opened and wanted to drown me kind of rain. I raced past the winery looking over and seeing a cute house with a side shed and vineyards with bare vines now. I ran into the Inn and was greeted with a towel over my head, "That came out of, nowhere didn't it?" A cheery voice came from the other side of the towel. I moved it to my shoulders and saw a red headed girl with a high tight braid and freckles covering her face a smile accompanying it, "Welcome! You must be Claire, right?" "Yeah, that's me, thanks for the towel by the way." I looked at her more, very petite and wearing overalls like me with a bright yellow shirt underneath. "I knew it! Nice to meet you. My name is Ann, and this is my father." She motioned to the man standing behind her, an older man with the same coloured hair and slicked back with a moustache, he was in slacks, a white shirt and a vest, "Hi. I'm Doug, welcome to my Inn and Bar." I greeted him and Ann brought me to a table, "Since you're new here and it's lunchtime you should stay and wait out the rain with some yummy food! Our treat an all! What do you think, Dad?" Smiling at her father, "Sure. Just make sure to come back often!" "Sounds great!" I said stomach starting to growl, all I had to really eat at home was bread and rice balls, actual food sounded amazing! "Great! Make her your special, Dad! He's a great cook!" As he was walking back into the kitchen calling back, "Just leave it to me! This'll be the best thing you ever ate!"
As I waited for Doug to finish cooking my meal few more people came into the bar for lunch. One by one, as they start to walk in Ann, would run and get them a towel to dry off, the first to walk in had black slicked back hair with some streaks of grey poking through, wearing a white shirt and purple vest. He walked over to me and with a loud voice, "Who are you, haven't seen you around before. My names Duke. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Ah, Manna's husband, I introduced myself and after he yelled for Doug and walked into the back of the kitchen. Seems like they're close friends. After him was a guy with brown hair and looked like he was headed to the mountains, he dropped his backpack off at the entrance and introduced himself, "I'm Basil, good to meet you. This town is beautiful, and the people are nice, so I bet you'll like it here. I study the flora in this area and write many books about what I find. So, stop by the library if you want to learn what's around here." He went to go sit down at a table and Ann took his order, 'Okay, so I'm guessing he's Mary's dad.'
The last two who walked in were quite the pair, one was a smaller man who looked like he could be the postman of the town the other was a big and burly guy who was a good head taller than the postman. "Hello there! You must be Claire." The smaller of the two men said a gentle smile on his face, "My name is Harris. I'm the constable of this town. It's very peaceful here, so just enjoy your new life here! This here is my friend, Gotz." I said hello to them both and Harris nudged Gotz in the ribs, "I'm Gotz. I'm a carpenter. I live in the mountains behind your farm. Let me know if you want to remodel your house. You pay me, I build." He was a very straight forward kind of man.
After all those introductions, Doug came out with a big sandwich, a slice of pie and a glass of juice, "Here you are. Eat it while it's hot!" As I took one bite of the sandwich I was overjoyed from the taste and texture and ate it as fast but not like a madman as I could. The pie was so flaky and sweet and melted in my mouth it was the best feeling ever, and washing it all down with the juice was amazing. "How does it taste?" he asked Ann piping in, "Do you like it, Claire?" I looked at them both and gave them a huge smile, "It was amazing! That was the best meal I have ever eaten! I can't even explain how I'm feeling on how this all tasted, just know you have a fan, Doug!" He laughed loud and full of heart, "In that case, feel free to have seconds!" I took him up on that offer and saved it for dinner that night. "You're the best Dad!" Ann giving him a big hug. He squeezed her back, "Of course! Did you doubt me for a second?" After helping wash my dishes, even though he offered me a free meal I needed to do something in return to pay him back somewhat, I said my goodbyes, the rain now just a mist, "Come back anytime, a working person has to eat a lot. Watching you shovel all that food in was a real hoot! I've decided I like you, Claire!" He laughed and Ann gave me a quick hug, "Come back anytime, I'm always working!" Doug ruffled his daughter's hair, "Yeah, anytime you want to come over is fine. I can tell Ann would want to be friends with you!" She blushed and started swatting his hands away, "If you say it like that then she won't be my friend!" Walking off with a full stomach I felt like the rain wouldn't be too bothersome anymore.
One of the mornings I had awoken to a knock at my door, I opened to a man with a colourful striped hat and some dark sunglasses covering most of his face, his dark hair braided in a small long braid. "God day!" he began "I'm Won by name, a wandering salesman from the East. How do you do." I looked at him and rubbed some sleep out of my eyes, arms sore, "Fine, how can I help you?" He gave me a big grin, "I have lots of rare seeds! You would be very glad to buy them. I stay at Zack's place, so come any time to look! I have to go make my rounds but I will be waiting for you!" and with that, he turned and walked off. When I have some more gold I'd have to go and look what he had.
The one thing I still can't believe after going around and meeting everyone was how friendly and accepting they all were. This town was nothing but full of kindhearted people, and knowing that I will get to live here is an amazing feeling. This was nothing like the city, where no one would glance twice at you as opposed to this place where everyone helps each other. I think moving here was a good choice.