Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon series.
Harvest Moon~Two Lives
Record 10: Paradox
The young man swept the drops of sweats from his forehead with his sleeves, and grinned meaninglessly to a feeder kit which hung quietly right in front of his face. He then put his hands on his hips, and smiled, this time more enjoyable it seemed. "This should do just fine," he said, and looked around. "Anything else?"
Shaking her head, the golden hair of the maiden dangled, seemed like shining strings, as the sunlight that crept from a ventilation window located some meters from the ground sprayed its rays on. Her blue eyes sparkled even more, for a second dazzled the young man enough to make him silent. But as he remembered of a certain figure that had been occupying his mind for a long time now, he blinked and widened his eyes as if being awoken from a dream, and chuckled nervously.
"Thanks for delivering the chicken foods, Rick. I think I can handle the rest," Claire, the blonde girl, mentioned. The young man of whose name had been said, shrugged before joining the girl onto walking out of the chicken wooden house. They chatted along with their steps, about little things such as how his sister, Popuri, got mad at him for throwing away a cup of pudding of her portion. He then stated that the mentioned pudding had been laid carelessly inside the fridge for days, he thought that it wouldn't be that good anymore; probably even out of its date. So he had consequently bought the exact brand and flavor one, and given it to his dear sister. She still grumbled, so he said, but he had told her to be careful and aware of the date the next time. That, of course, only brought him another grouses.
Claire stepped ahead and opened the door, letting the young man out first, and joined after. But as Rick could see the fields that stretched wide in front of him, he thought he caught movements from the rows of violet colored eggplants. He was sure, thus curling his eyebrows and walked toward the crops, while the girl chased him. Bending his body frontward, he searched through the leaves and fat vegetables. But he found nothing except the wet soil.
"Did you see it?" Rick asked, noticing that the girl he was with was looking anxiously at their surroundings before realizing Rick's question. She nervously shook and laughed, mentioning that it might have been mere imagination, what he had seen. As if voicing the same argue, a bark came out with a fluffy brown figure, which was approaching them with its tongue stuck out: Brownies. Upon seeing the farm's dog, Rick chuckled and petted it. "It was you, huh? I was exaggerating things, then," he said, tickling the dog. After a few rounds of tickling and petting things, he stood up and said his good-bye to Claire. She waved and watched as the young man disappeared at the intersection, and sighed in relief.
"That was close, budum," said Nappy, chuckling nervously, while Aqua, who stood next to him was still grumbling of how hard it had been to pull the sleeping Nappy before the red-head young man saw them. Claire winked at Brownies and raised a thumb. The little dog barked happily in reply.
It was another day within autumn, another day in which air was somewhat cool with a slight touch of dryness, and everything seemed like dyed in hazy silver color with sprays of fragrant yellow and red. While the sun seemed to be quite lazy to share its light the recent days, apparently and fortunately, it wasn't the same with those who had been swimming within the cool air.
Claire held her blushing cheeks for having thought of those lines above in her mind. Never knew that she had had a poetic soul, she later on thought that maybe it had been the effect for having watched a new drama serial on television from the beginning till the very end of the soap. It's only once per week, so she said in her mind, trying to deny the fact that she had loyally waited for its day, Tuesday, to come.
She answered a few questions from some certain Harvest Sprites related with their jobs, and instructed of what was best to do. The bright colored clothed sprites then departed to their fields. Claire herself took again her own watering can and joined other sprites on a class of green peppers; watering them at the same time did a quick check on the crops. The truth was that she didn't need to do that anymore, for the sprites had done that before. All that left for her to do was to water some sections they sometimes missed, and clean the field from wild weeds that sometimes grew amongst or near the crops. But she liked it, working with people, that was. Although according to what she had acknowledged she was sure she couldn't address the Harvest Sprites as people, she still thought of them as so. And just like what she had thought before, with those poetic words that even surprised her, she felt excited every day and never was there a day where she complaint about having to work. It wasn't like she ever complaint during the days with Jack, though. Just the feeling that everyone was doing his or her best kept her spirit up.
A small hand pulled her jeans. It was Chef. "It's almost lunch time, budum," he said, and Claire directly knew what he meant. She nodded and got into the house after putting back her watering can under the shade of a tree. Some moments after, she came out with a small basket of ripe apples swinging as she walked and waved at the sprites. Her clothes had been changed to those of cleaner ones, and her face had been washed; noted that although it was her will to cleanse her body before going to any public places, she would usually has not that much time to do so. Thus, she would pour a small amount of soft-fragrant perfume on her clothes. She was glad that Lillia had given it as her birthday present the last summer. She liked the scent: fresh and cool.
My birthday, those two words lingered in her mind, it made her stomach felt funny as if butterflies were dancing inside; she giggled as the memories came back to her. Since she couldn't remember her birthday, she and Jack had then set a date to celebrate her birthday; and that had been a week before summer ends. At that day when they had decided to set a date for her birthday, Jack joked that there should be a day for birthday; without it, she would never grow older, so he had said. And the present from him had been a day off; he had said that Claire should go around the town to collect her presents. And he had been right; Claire did get some from the villagers. And when she got home that day, the young man she had taken as her family in her mind had prepared a birthday cake with candles on it.
'Ja, Jack! We don't do things like this anymore!' She said, flattered, but hiding the truth that she was feeling joyful.
'Come on, it's just a cake,' Jack replied, his cheeks were somewhat glowing red for an instance, 'besides, my friends did this too, to me. Someone threw it onto my face afterwards, though.'
Claire laughed, she could imagine the young man's face covered in white creams and parts of the cake; she had seen how his face bathed in tomato flesh, anyway.
Through the layers of cool air, two small figures turned and waved at the blonde girl, who then did the same to them. Her feet shifted its movements into a small run to effective the time she got, either way just being as excited as the kids. She greeted the smiling Priest Carter who stood not so far from them, and walked with the children following the main street leading to the heart of the small town. May and Stu; Claire could notice that even though they dressed like usual, their feet were clean; no hints of mud from all of the playing things. She figured that Carter must had had asked them to wash it beforehand, for he must had know that they were about to leave to the clinic.
Some moments later.
"Wow," Jack said, examining the colorful shapes and lines on a sheet of paper that he was holding. "A strong-looking gorilla."
But Stu directly snatched it from his hand and protested while pointing at the gorilla or whatever or whoever it was supposedly meant with his small finger. "That's not a gorilla! I tried to draw yourself in a macho version!"
As his words absorbed in Jack's mind, the young man's eyebrows then twitched before returning into a more careful look at the drawing, trying to grasp any of his physical trait from the being drawn there, and nodded as if he understood although the fact was that he failed.
Claire just snorted seeing Jack tried to get his pardon; her hands working still on knitting a red shawl she had brought along. May, on the other hand, was reading a picture book about animals with her feet swinging quietly. Stacked on her left side were some other picture books with different titles. She had brought it along; those old books that had been told as her mother's when her mother was little. Upon finding an interesting picture, the little girl would lean closer to Claire and showed it to her. This time was a picture of a horse, which looked a lot like Claes, the farm's little horse.
May pulled back and leaned again on her chair, carefully opening the next page, keeping the pages smooth and clean. Her mind went from one thing to another, and then to another thing, until she found herself looking at Jack who was making fun of his face and Stu who was laughing hard just beside the bed. She looked again at the book sitting on her lap, before turning to face Claire clearly, and asked with a soft voice, "Why is Jack here? Is his illness that bad?"
The teenage girl stopped at that one question, and seemed to be thinking for a while. "Well, it doesn't always mean like that, to stay in a hospital or clinic. I think everyone's doing the best they can, and he was kept here so he can get whatever treatment he may need as he needs it."
May looked downwards, and Claire assumed that either she was processing, or her mind wouldn't accept what she just said. The thing was that Claire wouldn't be that unbelieving, actually, if May were not putting her words in her mind; for she, too, felt that something was a bit strange about Jack. Though Dr. Trent had said that he needed to give more attention to Jack's case, that was all; he didn't explain more about Jack's illness beside him having a heart attack.
"But," May moved her lips again, eyes still looking blankly at the book. "Jack has been healthy all this time…"
That little girl had a point, Claire knew. If May were some years older than she was now, maybe the blonde would not hesitate to talk about it more; about how she also felt that way, maybe Jack's daily activities and habits, just to try finding the root of his illness. But she wasn't, and Claire knew that it would be a bizarre to speak hard matters to the little girl. "I know," so she replied, and smiled wide to May. "Well, he's just a kind of person who'd push himself too hard when he put his mind into something. And things like this still can be fixed, so I guess we don't have to worry much. He'll be around the town again soon."
"Actually," May said, looking slightly upwards, as if some writings were floating there, just near the opened window. "I think I kind of know the way to cure Jack, though…"
Claire's eyes widened at this, her mouth almost hung open for she needed some milliseconds before she could react well. "May, are you sure?" she asked, a little bit of surprise still lingered in her tone; and leaned closer to the little girl. May nodded, although she looked rather unsure. She then put her index finger near her smooth lips, and stated that she herself doubted that what she would say would give that much effect on the farmer's health; her voice was getting softer and softer as she spoke. But Claire would hear anything. Be it turn into something important or not, she could decide it later.
May noticed Claire's eager look, and blinked a few times, murmuring her answer, "Popuri told me about it once, that there is a very effective medicine that can cure almost every illness… But, do you really want to know?"
Hearing the first sentence, Claire thought that it might have some connections with Popuri's father, who left years ago, so Manna said, to seek a rare flower in order to cure Lillia's weak body. No, it might even be the exact thing. But if she had to go for the flower, how long would it take until she gets it? Even if Jack knew, he would mostly forbid her; knowing just how it had been ages since the last time Lillia saw her husband. The trip must be hard, too, so she thought; a hint of doubt grew in her heart.
"Tell me about it." Whatever it would be, it wouldn't hurt just to know, Claire supposed.
May nodded slowly, and answered, "Kiss."
Claire blinked. "Wha-?"
"She told me that a kiss of one's most dearest person will cure any illness and pain," May explained bluntly, and looked at Claire, who currently dropped her shoulders as well as her head after hearing the answer. "Why is it, Claire? Is it wrong?"
"N, nothing… Ha ha…" Claire said, one of her eyebrows twitched a few times. For a second there she thought she would get to hear something more, well, helpful. To think about it again, that was pretty much like Popuri; that girl must have had said it with her usual dreamy yet sweet style. But either did she do it just to tease May or was she just expressing her thought, it was probably too much for a child like May. Just where did Popuri get acquaintance with that kind of thing, anyway?
Claire just scratched her cheek gently in her disbelief.
May's eyes were still looking at Claire's figure. After some quirky moments, she finally asked, "You don't want to do it?"
That question was pretty much like a shot to Claire, as she suddenly turned her head to face the little girl. "No, of course I won't! You see, May, although maybe—just maybe—that way may cure some people, I have to say that I completely doubt it will work on Jack. Maybe it's best to leave this matter to Doctor," she explained, and stopped as she noticed May's slightly disappointed look. "Not that I don't believe you, no! Er, I mean, Jack and I don't have that kind of relationship, so who knows what will happen to him if I were to, uh, to do it…"
"Well, want to give it a try, Claire?"
She stopped; her mouth was still making a slight gap for she hasn't completely finished her sentence, as that mild voice stole the whole attention in the room at once; including hers, of course.
Jack smiled lightly. Whether had he notice it or not, the two girls were looking at him with those blank expression drawn on their faces. May's was simply nothing but a confused one. She was just waiting for anyone's answer to Jack's question. Guessing that there would be none from the questioner himself, she then turned to see Stu, who was also just standing there; and thought that the boy might be thinking of the same thing like herself: about the awkward sudden silent which filled the room.
"What is it? Come here, I'll show you the way to do it right," said Jack again, for no answer was spoken; and as each words of him treaded freely in the air, before finally finding its place into Claire's ear—a quite quirky moment it was—the maiden felt her cheeks were risen, as well as the skin just down the border of her eyes, for some unknown reason. Yet inside she felt the mixings of urges to shout out a cry and a contrasting urge to hide her self someplace safe, again for the same friendly and familiar unknown reason she had. Though, finally, a part of the first urge slipped its way out and thus made her stand up in such way, that even May almost jumped when the lassie did.
"Y, you," Claire finally managed, while giving her best into looking at the man's ocher eyes, for her heart was beating so fast she was afraid it would last forever, somehow. "What are you, in front of these children, you… you…" yanked Claire with an awkward piece of anger and a slight spark of weird joy.
"Jack's unbelievably great in doing it, you know," Stu finally said cheerfully. Seemed that he and Jack had settled things about gorilla-something stuff down.
However, before her mind could release weird thoughts, her brain was given new information. From where Claire stood, she could see a shining, sharp but quite small knife, gripped loosely by Jack's right hand, and near of it were two apples of their farm. One of the love fruit was inside his palm, while some others sat neatly on one white plate just on the table beside the bed. Rabbits. White rabbits, with two red long ears, actually, were what seen by Claire, sitting on another plate.
Oh, so she thought dumbly, so he was just peeling apples, eh?
Claire laughed dryly at this.
"I guess she's not that interested in peeling it into rabbit shape, eh, Jack?" Stu asked, and Jack just shrugged innocently.
-x:o:x-
That man was closing his eyes. Breezing wind would sometimes slip itself inside through the thin rectangular gap the window made, making the papers that had been piled up on his desk fluttered softly. Sometimes cheerful voices from the room just across the corridor could be heard from his place, and it would remind him of that uneasy feeling before the storm; and he hated such. As a man of his profession, he wasn't allowed to make mistakes; he must do and decide things in the right order. Not a thing should bother his mind now that he had had taken the path which stumbles with many people's fate.
It's not your mistake.
That one sentence kept bugging his mind ever since it was spoken. He had tried to look over from the start for who knows how many times now, but the result was the same. None.
It was probably two days ago when Elli told him that Jack wanted to meet him privately. He, too, actually had something to say to that man at that time; though just thinking about it destroyed part of his pride. His responsibility, it was, so he had had to.
Two days ago.
"You wanted to meet me here, Elli said," he said, closing the door behind him and walked to the empty spot in front of the bed. Sprays of warm yet sad orange light from the window lit the room quietly. If only he was alone and had more time, he'd probably look out to the same scenery; maybe reminiscing past events in his life. In the same room of solitary, Jack was sitting, nodded at his statement. Half part of his face was darker somehow.
"And I guess you, too, may have something to say to me as well, no?" Jack replied. A thin smile played on his lips. "Maybe, regarding the test result? Doctor Trent."
Trent just stared. He sensed something obnoxious that he decided he wouldn't move closer than that distance. But before he even started, Jack had first. That farmer started with a strange one. "You may not believe to what I'm going to say, but at least you should know. So listen well. This is something I will not repeat. Something I can't tell anyone."
"What are you talking about?" His dark eyes were locked. Never had anyone see or hear him spoke with that manner. It was something just new, but not for Jack; he had actually predicted it.
But he listened. Sometimes he'd jerk his head a bit, upon some unexpected sentences of Jack's. He listened it all. The needle kept ticking forward, and Jack kept saying everything he had to say all this time. Cold tiny sweat rolled a drop down to Trent's cheek. His mind was suddenly full of illogical thoughts he had never heard. Some of them were the ideas he had not been interested on in his past times until now. But Jack's words seemed to interact and connect each other so unexpectedly, that it awed Trent even for a bit.
Trent opened his mouth. A confounded smirk was there. "Don't kid me, Jack."
"I told you before, you see?" Jack laughed dryly. He then took enough breath to continue. There was not much left to say after that much explanation before, though. "That's why, you couldn't find anything. You're right; nothing's wrong with me. It's not your mistake."
"Are you talking about— No, I never mention anything about the test result before," Trent stated coldly. He didn't recognize that young farmer anymore. It was as if he was looking at an alien faking Jack. What do old people address it again, Trent questioned in his mind. 'Doppelganger', eh?
The brown haired young man just smiled, but his eyes seemed so dark and deep; as if stating that he meant it with his words earlier. And maybe he did. Jack looked quite different from his usual self, though the doctor had never judge people merely from their looks, but he can't help but to think that the young farmer had given off somewhat a different aura. Or, maybe he was just exaggerating it. He hoped so.
"I need you to keep this as a secret from everyone until the right time comes," Jack said.
"Why should I?"
Jack chuckled. "That's doctor Trent for you. All right, then," he said, and smirked. "Cooperate with me, and I'll show you the unimagined thing."
Trent was stunned. As though reading right through Trent's mind, the farmer looked pretty much satisfied. His smirk was still there, his eyes were luminous with strange orange glow—the same color as the alerting sky.
"How does 'interacting universes' sound for you, Doctor?"
As the time went on, two days had passed since then, and became today. Trent didn't really agree nor disagree with the compromise Jack had given, as he remembered he left Jack's room not so long after that talk. For him, what the farmer had told him that day was probably nothing more but something illogic, and obviously it wasn't a subject which interest him much. On the other hand, he could send that farmer out from the clinic anytime; he could just give Jack some medicines to prevent another attack and let him work though with exceptions on some hard works. Yet, he didn't; and that wasn't because Jack had asked him to do so. He knew that he must have missed something; it was just he still didn't know exactly what it was. Besides, it would be easier for both of them. If there would be another attack; he could take care of it quick that way.
No, maybe that wasn't true. It wasn't like that at all.
It might or might not be his stubbornness, for he wouldn't let anything slipped his notice while letting people to know that he did. He just wanted to learn more, and to keep an eye on Jack. Yes, so he thought; he felt that he just needed some more time until he could comprehend everything into his sense. There was definitely something he missed about Jack's condition.
But Jack's earlier words still rang in Trent's head. He knew that what the farmer had told was no more than a theory, and that no one had ever succeeded in proving it, but he also knew that there were possibilities. Ever since he became a doctor, some of that feeling had faded, and left him with a tiny naivety. A feeling, a thought he used to have when he was still young: that sometimes, everything are possible.
"I start thinking nonsense," Trent mumbled as he massaged his own forehead gently.
The curtain not so far from where the dark-haired man sat rustled swiftly, before a head poked in excitedly. It was that girl from the farm, Claire. Her face had that faint reddish glow; which the doctor assumed she got after some long time of laughing with Jack and the two children. The building was pretty much silent that day, that he could clearly hear them laughing their heart out; something he didn't want as usual daily things, for he preferred peaceful day and necessary noises.
The doctor turned his head a bit, just enough to see the blonde while she stated her reason of poking her head in—it was to ask whether she could spend the night in the clinic, accompanying Jack. Such a foolish question, he thought, thus sighed upon that request, and rejected it with a single no. He carefully chose his next words, before mentioning that he didn't want to change the essential function of the clinic into a private house, and also the responsibility Claire had on the farm; since that way no one would look after the farm for the night. It was actually a bit amusing for him to see the change of expression of the girl, so he continued by mentioning things about robbers and stray dogs. The girl then blinked and made a buzzing noise softly. As what he had predicted, she then agreed and thanked him, then left back to Jack's room. And at that time, after some long hours, the doctor finally smiled.
"I knew I should have brought some puzzles," sighed May during their walk to each homes. It was sometime near their usual time to go home after playing at the church. As someone eldest, Claire naturally decided to walk them home. At the current time, firstly they headed for Stu's home since it was the nearest. The next day would be Wednesday, and Elli could have joined; but she had told Stu to go back first and not wait for her, since she still had something to take care of. Stu had insisted, of course, but finally he moved along, for he remembered his granny had been alone at home. It seemed to Claire that he and May had realized something after they visited Jack; which was probably, Claire assumed, about cherishing things and important people.
"Don't think much," Stu stated to May's sentence. "He couldn't be that bored. He laughed a lot, and besides, he ate that much apples, remember? I bet that he's sleeping right now, like a lazy hamster. Ha ha ha!"
May firstly had this sullen face, but then she giggled too.
The sun was setting as the three continued their walk. The road was not as crowded as when they first departed; just some villagers, all-tired looking but also sparks of cheerful looks at the same time. Claire recalled that there were some other farms and ranches, but Jack's and Yodel's were the biggest. Well, Yodel's ranch was indeed the best in quality amongst the others, yet Jack's farm was literally the biggest in size. With that size of field, just having a total of two people working in developing it, and it did go well, Claire guessed, could be said as something miraculous. Claire wasn't exaggerating it; for even herself had been wondering how they could do all those works all by themselves, and still had some spare time to kill. It should be something pleasing, so she stopped thinking further about it.
Anyhow, some of the other farm owners built their houses in the town, and that was why on their way, the three would met some owners just got back from all-day of working. Along the street, some stores had started to close their business for the day, though some were still keeping on. They passed by a handicraft shop and that reminded the blonde girl of her shawls. So that was why she felt rather incomplete; she had forgotten to bring those along. Oh, well, she thought. Either way, she could just drop by again to take those back home. She had figured that the next day wouldn't busy her much, that maybe she could finish knitting the shawls. Jack was always inside his room, so he would most likely be safe from the breezing wind, but not Claire. Even so, she thought she should finish Jack's as well; that way she'd have no more postponed activities.
"Bye-bye, Claire," May waved, while her dear grandfather just nodded politely behind her. Claire waved as a response, and walked back to the clinic. At this time of day, she figured she would have some time to buy flour for Chef and the others. Those little seven had helped her a lot since that day. She even dared to say that nowadays the work on the farm could finish some hours early than usual; she just hoped it wouldn't affect her mind to think that she could do everything to her own will. She didn't want to feel that she could use them.
Claire passed by a big clock just near the town's square, and was relieved to see that she had some more time before the clinic closed that day. Her steps fastened, though; as she remembered that there was Elli who was going to go back early. Usually, the clinic still opens even after the working hour, which also meant that Claire really didn't have to run all the way to make it before the closing hour. She guessed she should let the doctor and his assistant had their holiday on time; she remembered Dr. Trent looked quite tired when she peeked into his room earlier.
Some minutes of walking, she finally arrived back at the front door of the white building, and opened it like usual. She gazed around, and no one was there. Has she went home already, asked her in her mind. Claire shrugged and proceeded toward Jack's room. She turned the knob and a gap opened. For a moment there, she could see both Dr. Trent and Elli was standing near Jack's bed. Dr. Trent stood very close to it; his hands seemed busy pushing something which Claire figured as Jack's chest. Elli then noticed the door was opened, and quickly went to the door.
"I'm sorry; could you please wait for a while, Claire?" so she asked in such a haste manner. "S, sure," Claire answered, and closed the door slowly.
She stared at the closed door for a moment, and then sat on a nearest chair. What am I doing here, she thought foolishly. Her mind then went blank again as she stared meaninglessly at the white-colored wall across the room. Everything seemed to look slow for her. Her breathings and even her blinks of eyes were slower than usual. But she didn't want to think of anything. She just wanted to wait. That was why she stayed silent, and closed all of her senses.
.
-x:o:x-
.
The girl slowly regained her consciousness. A pale white bed sheet image came to her vision, along with soft voices. Being at the border between her sleep and conscious mind, she found herself looking up from her crossing arms. A small ball of light floated in the air, and made static fluctuated motions. Up, down, up, and down, very slowly. Just near the light sat a familiar person. He spoke very softly that the girl could only hear it faintly.
"… myself… when it comes…"
There were replies; a voice smaller and softer than the person's, which ridiculously heard as if it came from the ball of light. The girl questioned in her mind, though her head wasn't fully ready to process anything. Her eyes were pretty heavy; a part of her still longed for that nice sleep she had. Probably she just had to close her eyes again for now, and let her body and mind took their rest good. As when she was about to do it, the ball of light floated higher, flew through the slightly opened window, and disappeared from her vision.
The familiar person stared at where the light went in silent. The girl had lost a part of her will to continue her slumber, and she just looked at that person. "Jack," she said, finally. That person turned at her in a careful motion.
At first, her mind was distracted by the moonlight that danced into the room, illuminating some things and thus made it easier for her to recognize them. And the same moonlight revealed half of Jack's face as he gave a thin curve on his lips. But he didn't say anything. Not a word; she thought she was still in her dream after all. "What was… that light…?" she asked softly.
The young man didn't respond; he stayed still in his gestures, like a single doll. Claire blinked slowly, and gazed out to the window, before returning to hear Jack's answer. But none was spoken. Or, so she thought.
"Fireflies."
Claire turned at that very sentence, to the person she had been with for almost a year by now. That person had this look on his face that anyone who saw it would be silenced at once. It wasn't a cheerful gesture or a sad one. Was not either a weak one, nor was it a strong one. For her, it was merely a plain look, with a plain faint smile, and a rather plain gesture. Though had she never know what made her eyes locked in his. "It's weird to have them in this season, right?" So he said again, and averted his look to the blanket that covered his lap, then to the slightly opened window, as if that was the best scenery he ever had.
Moments ticked with a dull voice, letting the maiden drifted back, deep into her memories; to the time not so long from the present second. She didn't count how long she had waited before. All she remembered was only that clicking sound and footsteps, then some simple explanations from the doctor who looked pretty much stressed and tired. It was more or less about what had happened some time after she had left to escort the children back home; she wasn't fully listening to him. Another one. This time, Jack's heart did stop for a while. Miraculously, he was saved. Again.
That girl now found herself looking at the same direction as Jack. In her life, the times she had spent in that small town was the only thing that wasn't foggy. She had opened her eyes firstly in despair and scare. She was alone, and what was left to be her first impression of waking up had been the relief for no longer suffocating within that dark and deep sea. She was relieved she wasn't hearing anymore of that wild storm anymore.
Even so, she was there; alone, without past. A name she had mentioned as hers came from her faint memory, too. All she could recall from that memory was only a few sentences; it was simply a 'what is your name' question, and a voice inside her head which answered it softly.
'Claire.'
That was how she was 'Claire'.
And, as 'Claire', she lived her days up until now. New experiences and images had been written in her mind since that time, and she gained a personality. Who was her, actually? She wouldn't call herself as something stupid—though what she was going to think about now might sound stupid for some people. But if she mused about it deeply, she would have no other choice but to question herself.
If I regained my memory, I don't know if I would be able to continue my current life; I'd probably even be a completely different person, was what she thought in silent.
Been very deep in her thought, she blinked in surprise when she heard her name being called. "Thinking something?" Jack asked; at that time Claire had forgotten the previous weird attitude of his. A shake came out as the answer, and she giggled nervously.
"Just something stupid and unimportant, why?"
Jack smirked. "No, I thought you slept with your eyes open. Too bad you didn't."
But the girl didn't have the chance to get Jack for his teases, for suddenly something tickled her nose and thus she sneezed. She then rubbed her cheeks, murmuring how the air had been quite cold lately, although winter should still be far. Hearing that, Jack pulled his blanket and was about to step down from the bed, to take some extra blanket for Claire. His actions caused him to be glared by Claire. So he stopped.
"What? I can still run if I want to," Jack stated; Claire just snorted. She then stood and walked to a certain cabinet, ignoring Jack's mumbling for treating him like an ill person. Because you are, silly, Claire thought while opening the thin wooden door. Her hands reached for few stacks of clothes and checked; it was not easy for the room was dark, furthermore the shadow fell right on the spot where Claire was checking, but after a while, she dared to say that she found no other blanket in that room, except the one Jack was using. She put both hands on her hips, thought for a while, and then closed the door and walked back to her chair.
The fuzzy half-knitted red shawl swayed when the girl took it, and hung faithfully from her hands. Her fingers ran from one end to another, and raised her eyebrows, as she knew it wasn't long enough to cover her neck right. She put it back to its previous place, and looked around, wondering if she'd find something useful in that time of place. As much as she hoped there was one, it turned out to be none.
Meanwhile, the young man pulled his blanket and searched for the opposite end, and stretched it again, thus making the rectangular shaped cloth stretched longer. Or, it seemed to be longer, with it only covered up to Jack's thigh; but then it made it long enough to reach Claire's place. Jack smiled proudly, and point at the side of the striped thin cloth near the girl. But, as he realized something, he stopped grinning and blinked nervously. Definitely Claire did realize the same thing, for she then spontaneously giggled. That was one thing Jack probably forgot as he was too excited in finding way to warm Claire—that was that even though the blanket did reach her place, she wouldn't have place to lay instead of the chair she was sitting on, and that made Jack's blanket as well as his effort useless. Well, she could still use it, but to cover her head. She, and Jack, doubted that there were any of normal people put blanket on their head instead of the body.
Claire laughed after stating that one reason. Jack laughed too; aside of being embarrassed, he seemed to enjoy laughing over his mistake more. Claire then playfully took the half-knitted shawl and acted as though she was about to finish it in a time; which Jack laughed at for that instance.
The night turned out slips away as they decided to talk and make each other laugh for the whole time. As if being forgotten, the cold air they previously shivered from faded into a warm atmosphere, and even managed to make tiny drops of sweat around their cheeks and backs. Having not much of interesting stories, Jack just listened to the girl as she spoke smoothly with such intonations and body movements; and commented on some parts of the story while giggling. Apparently he had missed those funny events in consequent of his absence from the farm life.
Some moments after, late at night.
Tired of talking for the whole time, Claire laid her head on the bed just near Jack's lap, letting her quite messy hair for Jack had tousled it a while back then. With not many talks and the poor-lit room made her a bit sleepy, though she tried to be awake for that time.
"Do you like this town, Jack?" The girl asked out of blue. The young man just nodded.
"I wonder what kind of person Gotz's wife was?" Claire questioned, while looking blankly at the wall across her. Jack snorted spontaneously. "Now, that wasn't very polite. What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing, I'm just curious. He doesn't have any photograph of his family in his house," Claire answered. She then yawned. "But, he could be hiding it somewhere. Could be, right?"
"Did you even need to ask?" Jack just smiled, and Claire hummed as a reply.
And then, silence.
"You never told me about Chef and the others," Claire stated, and curled her eyebrows as though being upset. She wasn't, of course. The young man giggled awkwardly to that, and said, "I thought it might be more interesting if you found out about them yourself… no?"
"Well, yes, though unfortunately my first meeting with them wasn't that very much pleasing," Claire murmured. She remembered it right; it was a day after Jack got into the clinic for his heart attack. They had come to offer help for her, in the stead of Jack.
"I was surprised when a bird suddenly flew into this room, carrying an apple leaf," The young man explained shortly, and then he stopped to think about something for a while. But the girl didn't want to wait as for her that was a comma. It might seem weird for people in that period to be talking about something extra terrestrial like this, and at the top of it, for a person like Jack to talk about it. Hence, she wouldn't miss the chance.
So, she asked more about the bird he talked about before, and his explanation only made her smile grew wider. It was only a normal bird, so he said, with ash-brown feathers and white big spot on its chest. It was really not more of any special bird, for he often saw birds of its kind around the farm and, he assumed, maybe all over the small town. That day, he had waken up when that small bird made its way in from the window, and let go of a single apple leaf on Jack's bed, before returning to stop at the window frame.
"It then started chirping," Jack continued, and nodded when Claire suddenly cut with her question of whether the bird sounded like it was talking to him. "Though, I didn't understand what it meant, but I guessed it was something in relation with those seven; I remember Chef said they befriended with the birds, sort of."
That was how he knew that Chef and the others had probably come to the farm. The girl grinned gleefully. "Unthinkable, isn't it? Who knows there were sprites in this town?"
Scratching softly on his cheek, Jack looked rather embarrassed and unsure of the story he had told, and looked at his blanket again. He never thought he would experience, don't bother telling anybody about it. He was just glad that his companion didn't say that one word of 'magical'. At that moment instantly, he tapped his palm hand onto covering his face, and stayed still in that pose for some seconds. Just hearing it embarrasses me, was what went in his mind. Luckily for him, Claire was busy drifting away with her mind, as she recalled each story she had once read in town's library, and wondered if she would get to meet a being called 'kappa' later on, if she tried hard enough. She normally wouldn't like supernatural things and stories, but then that she had found out about the sprites, she guessed she wouldn't mind if they weren't scary-looking. She stopped and was reminded of a certain moral. Even though they were scary, but if they got a kind heart, it shouldn't be a problem for her. But, she began doubting. After a while, she shook her head and set her heart.
"It seemed to me that there are still a lot of things I don't know of in this town. Even so, I think I will love this place more, as I find out more," so Claire spoke, as she smiled excitedly, and leaned her head back on the bed. Jack's look did change when she said that, though it didn't come to her notice at all. So there they were, with the girl spoke calmly, while the young man was just simply looking at the girl's shining pale blonde hair.
Ignoring Claire's story, Jack was thinking about something else in his mind. It's about time, so he said in his head. He averted his gaze for a while to nothingness beside him, knowing that by doing what he was about to do, he would spare himself from the burden which had been hanging around him all this time. It wouldn't be easy, so his mind said, as if to persuade him into stopping. But, he knew about it already; that was why he must. Yes, he should do it; not for his sake, but instead—
"Claire,"
The girl stopped as her sentence was cut, and turned to look at Jack. The young man's eyes were fixed to hers. "There is something important which I have to tell you."
So far, Claire didn't like how it goes; so instead of waiting patiently, she giggled in a very uneasy way and said, "What is it, suddenly."
No, she didn't like it at all. She sensed the change of the atmosphere, and for her who has known Jack for quite a long time, she could realize quickly that whatever Jack was about to say, it wouldn't be much pleasing. And if she could choose, most likely she'd chose not to listen more, for somehow she knew that something would definitely change after that latter sentence. And she hated it. It had come to her understandings, but only that time a strange thought appeared within her; that sometimes, she had to admit, she hated it when Jack kept something from her.
"What, is this also a secret of yours? You like keeping them all for yourself very much, don't you?" Claire added; a bitter taste came to her mouth, though her lips made a slight curve. It was this sudden spark of upset feeling which urged her to say so. Jack made a gap by his lips in surprise, and seemed about to say something, but he stopped and closed them tight again, and had that regretful look on his eyes. That didn't comfort Clare at all.
"All this time," she spoke again, and had that shivering tone; that same tone she had when Jack and Kai went back from their fight. "No matter how much I try to understand you, there is always this wall you made that stops me. Acting as though there is nothing wrong, what do you think I am? A child? I have my limits too!"
No, it's not like that. That voice inside her head said, hence surprised her, as she knew it was probably the voice of her heart. What—
"I," Jack said, and stopped. He breathed out, at the same time choosing his later words carefully. Or, he tried to, but nor the time or his urge let him to do so. He spoke of his mind again, "I just, I took it too long, and I know that my silence must have burdened you all this time—"
"You know? Then why are you still doing it?"
"Claire, please!"
"No, you shut up! I don't want to hear anything!" She exclaimed, putting both hands on her ears so she wouldn't hear him anymore. In fact, she didn't need to, for Jack really did stop talking. She didn't dare raise her face up to see Jack; something bigger engulfed her. Fear.
What am I doing?
That one question kept on repeating itself in her head, subtracting more and more weight to her heart. Fragments she thought she had hid securely deep in her self were revealed and mixed up; making it too cramped for her to be able to think of anything. She was lost in the mixture of her own sinful feelings; her fear, guilt, anger, sadness. A part of her self wanted her body to disappear into ashes and got blown by the wind somewhere. Something was gnawing her inside, and cried unclearly to her own self, as she knew she had lied. It was horrible.
No, she actually didn't really lie; what she had just spouted were only some parts of the real words, or sentence, which she wanted to tell him. But even then, she still couldn't figure it out; she knew that whatever she wanted to say is already kept within her and was then ready to be shown, but she just didn't know what and how to state it. Realizing this, she pushed her brain to process more and even more; only to find that 'thing' she wanted to share. What was the word? Or, was it not word, but action instead? What is it that I am going to tell him? Why can't I figure it out?
At that silent but quick moment of time, the door's knob was turned open, and someone peeked before stepping in. It was the doctor himself. None of the two farmers did pay much attention to him, but from his latter voice, anyone could figure he had just woken up from his sleep. "Claire, would you like to use Elli's room? I have to say my apologies first, for I fell asleep and when I woke up, it has become this late. The air's pretty much cold, so I figured that you could be freezing here, and—"
Finally, Trent stopped his smooth-spoken sentences and realized that those two people across him had this strange aura around them. None of them talked; he could see the girl pressing both hands to own's ears, while Jack sat on the bed, with his body slightly turned to the girl, his face was dark of shadow. Trent was speechless for a while. "Er, is something wrong?"
It took them some seconds of silence.
"No," Claire said all of a sudden, and stood. "Actually, you came right in time, doctor. I don't mind using Elli's room, thanks."
"Wait!" Jack turned at her and held her hand, as she was about to walk away. Claire quickly resisted, pulling her hand further, thus making Jack lost his grip. Heaving, she held that hand which was held by Jack, and stared at him angrily. She then ran to doctor's place, and joined him upstairs.
The door was closed, with a deep but low sound, and the room soon filled with amid silence again.
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-x:o:x-
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The blonde girl left early that morning. As soon as she awoken, she waited for Dr. Trent to woke up to send her gratitude and slight farewell. That man looked rather calm; did not he mention a thing about the awkward situation she and Jack had made the previous night. Even so, Claire also stated her apology if she and Jack had ever bothered him this whole time; which by that doctor, only answered with a toneless sentence of "don't think much of it".
Hours passed by quickly, and without her concerning, it was two PM already. No wonder her stomach was growling; if she remembered it well, she didn't have any breakfast that day.
She touched her jeans upon her belly, as if trying to mollify it. She then gazed blankly to the large farm that stretched out in front of her. All of the works in the farm had been finished all by herself. Well, she was lucky as yesterday was the seventh day of help from the sprites; was also the busiest day of the month, she guessed. That present day, however, still left her some small works to do.
Noticing slight movements on her lowest part of trousers, she bent down and found Brownies huffing, with its tail swinging cheerfully. She smiled thinly, and stroked its head gently. She stopped.
"Bark," barked the dog, before licking its master's hand.
Claire softly embraced that dog, and felt its furry back with her cheek. She closed her eyes. That moment, after all the works she had done, was the calmest moment in her day. She stroked that dog's back again softly, hoping that would heal her ill heart, and sobbed in silent.
"Claire, what are you doing?" came a hoarse and deep voice from behind her. She knew right away who it was. She stood and wiped her eyes, still holding the dog within her arms, and walked toward the house.
Standing there was Zack the buyer. He was holding a quite large box with a white paper on it; probably written there was her name and address. She let go of Brownies and received the box.
"That's the mixer you ordered," said Zack, grinning. Claire answered with a weak "thanks" and smiled.
"Figured you'd be here," he laughed. "You see, that lad Cliff didn't answer when I asked him about you. 'I don't know a girl named Claire,' he said! What a boy."
Claire wrinkled her eyebrows, and smiled in confusion. "He what? He doesn't know me?"
"Yeah, that's what he said," answered Zack. Claire just snorted in her ridicule, feeling that Cliff's response was quite strange. Zack continued, "Well, I myself questioned him the same, you know. Eh, don't think bad of him! You know, er… I think he might be just trying to pull a joke. Like, he's always so serious about everything, right? Maybe in this case he was trying to ease up a bit!"
Claire answered with a low "yeah" answer but Zack didn't seem to hear that, so he kept on talking.
Something moved, and her very edge of eyesight caught a glimpse of it, so she averted her look carefully to the direction where she noticed it, for she didn't want Zack to think that she didn't pay attention to him. When she had quite a good sight of the person there, suddenly a cold shiver went to her neck. Her eyes widened in terror; her lips made a slight gap.
"Well, I'd say he made it well up to now. He's got a job at the winery, I heard," stated Zack, who seemed to have reached the end of his story. "A man's gotta do everything like a man, you know! And his effort shows it all. Ha ha ha! Well, maybe."
The grin faded from his face, as he noticed the girl had a weird response: she was looking down to her feet, and she was breathing heavily. He curled his face in curiousness. "What's the matter? Is something wrong, girl?"
But she didn't answer. At that time, Brownies growled and barked like mad from afar; it didn't ran to where Claire was, it just stayed there, barking, as if it didn't dare to.
Glimpses of bad memories she thought she had stored away came back, attacking her. She was heaving.
There was someone standing before the farm's fence, with his big and broad body.
It was Zack.
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-x:o:x-
To be continued.
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Next on Two Lives:
"Come here, dear child," echoed the voice.
"She was acting weird," said the youngest man.
The dark-haired man had a sharp look, and asked coldly, "This 'interacting universes' you mentioned about. Will you be able to show it to me?"
"No! I've got to go!" That young farmer tried to get up, enduring his pain, with only his hands sustaining his dead-like body. His heart beat like crazy. "I have to stop her! There is something that I have to tell her myself!"
"I am not afraid of you!" The blonde girl had her pitchfork gripped firmly in her hands. She was ready for anything; for she knew it wasn't the time for her to fear. Another feeling empowered her. "Show yourself!"
Pieces of facts and events that once shattered slowly moves to form the answer. The girl, who is trying to fight her fear, and the man, who is striving for life. Both of them move together to seek their ideal world. The biggest truth will be learned, the key will be revealed.
"Two Lives Record 11: The World You Live In". Read and review please!
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-x:o:x-
Harvest N.G.
"Y, you," Claire finally managed, while giving her best into looking at the man's ocher eyes. "What are you, in front of these children, you… you…" yanked Claire with an awkward piece of anger and a slight spark of weird joy.
"Jack's unbelievably great in doing it, you know," Stu finally said, his face was showing the same expression as though he had just witnessed something very strange.
Jack was holding onto a sewing needle with a yellow string. On his lap were small and beautiful dresses, with ribbons and all those frills, probably fit for dolls and such. There were also some cute accessories spread near him. Seeing that, May glee from her seat and swung her small feet. "Jack made them? Wow!"
"Don't say it like that, Stu! You make it sounds like I'm a weirdo," Jack protested. Never did anyone realize since when, but there was a flower ornament on his head already. "Right, Claire?"
"I," Claire's expression was blank. "I don't know what to say…"
End of N.G.
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Author's Note:
The next Record might not have preview and/or Harvest N.G. due to the story it will tell. Thanks for reading this far!
~Incross