27 Fall, Year 2
The Real Pilot, the Gay Farmer, and the Golden Pumpkin
I finally manage to stop by Harvey's on the last Saturday of fall, the day of the Spirit's Eve festival. It's another one I didn't go to last year, purely because I forgot, and this time I want to be sure to be around. There's hardly anything to do on the farm anymore, anyway. All my short-term crops have been harvested, the long-term ones have been watered, and if the last few cranberries and corn cobs aren't ready tomorrow, they'll get killed off by the first frost which has been predicted for tomorrow night.
The bees should be fine. I finally told my parents that someone from a village over has died and no one else wanted to take his bees – I've been told to give them a sugar syrup I can make myself, and I can just leave them alone for now, just checking on them once a week to see if they're alright. In winter when I go visit my parents I can go talk to the beekeeper my parents found and hopefully get some gear.
I also looked through the community center again and sure enough, another scroll has appeared, stuck to the old bulletin board. However, the beehive was a really valuable reward. It seems the rewards I get for the stuff I give the junimos might turn out to be a bit hit-and-miss, but if there's going to be more things that are actually useful or valuable to me... it might just be worth my effort. Some of the fish on the aquarium scroll are really easy to catch, and the bulletin board scroll contains several things that, again, I can just pick up off the ground. As a matter of fact I could probably complete half that scroll with stuff I have lying around at home right now. So... I might just do that, and see what comes out.
I got some heaters for the barn and the coop and installed them so the animals will be warm through the winter. I have designated islands for the animals, trees, grass and crops, and I just harvested the last grass – it's drying in the watery autumn sun, which, according to predictions, will last until tomorrow, so I'll be able to store that nice and dry in my two silos at the end of the day. That way my chickens, ducks, rabbits, cows, goats and pig will remain well-fed and happy and keep on producing their delicious goods.
I've been making sure the shutters to their buildings are always good and shut at night, ever since one of the chickens disappeared. On one of the first days where cold temperatures had been predicted at night, I wanted to close the shutters for the night to keep the warmth in, and this chicken had hidden under a bush and wouldn't come out. So I closed the shutters with her outside, thinking she'd be more willing to go back inside come morning. In the morning, she wasn't there, and all the other animals behaved strangely – jumping at any noise, not going into the tall grass, barely eating. They laid no eggs and gave no milk that day. The only conclusion I can reach is that something came in from the forest and killed my chicken, and the other animals heard. Or maybe they caught the scent of a predator when they went outside. So for the sake of safety, I never leave those shutters open anymore. It seems to be working; nothing has happened since.
My bank account has grown considerably since I got the goat and pig, and mayonnaise from the ducks turns out to be pretty lucrative as well. Never mind the quality of the milk has gotten better, I've gotten better at making cheese out of it too, and I'm experimenting with a lot of my artisanal goods, which also helps.
I understand why Marnie only bothers with animals. They're a farm's biggest and most constant source of income. She seems to have taken a shine to me, finally, now that she's seen that I take good care of the animals.
I walk into the clinic and up the stairs, as instructed, but when I get to the door, I hear Harvey's voice from inside. I stay where I am for a while – I wouldn't want to barge in when he's got someone else over. Strangely, I hear him speak a few sentences, and then there's silence. Well, not silence. There's a strange buzzing noise that never seems to stop. I put my ear to the door.
"This is Dr. H. at 52 North, 43.5 East, seeking aerial response... Anyone out there?" says Harvey.
Aerial response?
I crack the door open just a little bit to see – I know it's bad manners, but I need to know what's going on here.
Just as I find him sitting at what looks like a desk with a bunch of old electronics on it near the window, another voice croaks through the room:
"Copy... Dr. H. on the ground... This is Blackbird Fiver Fiver Zuzu. Anything to report?"
Harvey literally jumps in his chair, grabbing a pair of headphones on his head tightly to his ears.
"Someone's there?" He sounds completely taken aback, but also full of wonder. "Er, I mean... Standard ground report...Wind at 3 clicks, 36 degrees north of West. Ground temperature at 42 Kraggs." I don't understand the data he's giving, but I have the impression he's reading it from a note. He ends with "Dr. H. Out!"
Then he stays where he is for a moment, not moving, still with the headphones clutched to his head. After a few seconds he takes them off, gets up, walks a few paces. I notice him moving his right hand to his left wrist – feeling for his own pulse. I figure I won't interrupt him now – I am invited, after all – and open the door, knocking as I go.
"Hey. What's got you all flustered?"
Now that I can get a look at him, I'm a little surprised – his face red, he's breathing quickly, almost like someone gave him a big fright. Knowing what caused it... well, I can't help but find it a little adorable.
"Evan!" He gives me a wide, bright smile. "I was just on my radio here..." He gestures at the bunch of electronics on the desk, "and I made contact with a real pilot!"
A real pilot, I thought. Like a kid at the Solstice Festival that received a real puppy!
"As a matter of fact... we can probably see him flying over right now!" Harvey goes on, and runs over to the window. "Come on, have a look... There he is!"
I go over, unable to keep a wide smile off my own face, and look. There, high overhead, looking like it's barely the length of my fingernail, goes a plane, leaving a white contrail in its wake. I really prefer to look at Harvey with that beautiful delighted expression on his face.
He turns toward me only when the plane has disappeared from view behind a tall tree. Then, he seems to remember his dignity or something like that, and drops his head a little as if ashamed.
"As a kid, my big dream was always to be a pilot," he admits. "But you have to have perfect eyes to be allowed to train..." he sadly taps the side of his glasses with one finger, "and on top of that I just had to have this crippling fear of heights. So that dream ended up fading away."
"Aw, man. I'm sorry," I hedge.
"Oh, that's okay. Don't feel bad for me." He gives me that little smile of his as if to prove that he's fine. "I've learned to accept my part in life. Not everyone gets to achieve their dreams... That's just the way the world works."
I don't really know what to say to that. As things are right now, it looks like I got mine, even though I never really knew I wanted it.
"Hey, let me show you my model airplanes," Harvey says, apparently determined to get our minds out of the gutter. "I just finished the new TR-Starbird deluxe set."
I don't know what that is, but I go over to his shelf with him and he tells me all about all the different model airplanes – their stats, how he got them, any problems he had while putting them together. None of it really means anything to me, but I let him talk – I've never seen him this happy or open. I'm glad I decided to drop in at the moment I did.
After the airplanes, Harvey offers to make tea. He has me sit down at the table and I watch him as he moves back and forth through his tiny kitchen.
"What tea do you like?" he asks.
"What have you got?"
"Well, here, just pick for yourself."
He sets an actual tea box in front of me, like the one my mom has at home but smaller. I pick a black tea with pineapple and coconut flavor.
"You like exotic fruits?"
"I really just kind of grabbed a few different boxes. I like just about any tea," he answers, pouring hot water from the electric kettle into two mugs. He brings them to the table, then pauses.
"Sugar? Er... milk?"
"Sugar, if you have it, please."
"Yeah, I do. You know, I can't understand those people who put milk in tea," he comments while he gets a small earthenware pot and a spoon.
"My mom likes that. But you have to have the right tea, it has to be high-quality black tea with nothing else in it, and very strong. According to her, at least. I prefer my tea... what she calls medium rare." I pull my tea bag out of my mug after only bobbing it in the water a few times and show him the deep red color, compared to my mother's regular pure black.
"My mother wouldn't come near tea," Harvey muses. "She said if she wanted to drink lake water, she'd get it from the lake and drink it cold."
"That sounds... rather... erm. Dangerous?" I don't want to insult his mother, either, but drinking lake water without so much as boiling it could be very, very dumb.
"She doesn't know or care much about life without modern conveniences. She wouldn't be caught dead on a camping ground."
"In that case, be sure to warn me if she ever comes to visit so I'll know to stay away. I don't think she'd like me."
"Don't worry, she doesn't."
It's proving unexpectedly hard to keep this conversation on safe ground. I figure I'd better start looking for a different subject, but Harvey beats me.
"Did you study, Evan?" he asks.
I eye him sideways. He seems to be trying to get personal. Not that I mind that very much – I like him and I'm glad he's opening up the possibility – but considering where the previous subject ended, I'm a bit worried of where he's going with this one.
"Might I ask where that question comes from?"
"You seem intelligent. You say you used to work in a cubicle, I hear from relatives in the city that that's the kind of job you do when you have a degree but no work experience. They say without a degree you don't get into an office, you end up serving at a restaurant or something."
"You have relatives in the city?" I had already reached the conclusion that he wasn't from Pelican Town, but I hadn't pegged him for a city rat.
"City on the other side of the country, not Zuzu. I came from the countryside, and I came back to the country after college because I know it's hard for people out here to get decent medical care. The hot-shot doctors who want to make money don't decide to come live out here."
"But you didn't go back to the part of the countryside where you'd grown up?"
Harvey sighs heavily.
"I got into some... misunderstandings with a few people. My family aren't the easiest people to live with. So I chose a college as far from home as possible, and there I met Penny. She's the reason I visited Pelican Town for the first time. I kind of fell in love with it at first sight."
I clap him on the back, trying to be a bit gentle about it. I haven't seen the professional confidence come out anymore, not like I got to witness that one time on the last night of summer last year, and it's hard to remind myself of that when most of the time he behaves like... well, like he's weaker than I now know he is. Maybe it's a defense mechanism. If he had a rotten family, that can do all kinds of weird things to people.
"Yeah, man, family sucks sometimes. I did Social Studies. My folks weren't happy about that, either. They wanted a rocket scientist. Or a lawyer. I was actually interested in psychology, because I like to understand how people's minds work, why they do the things they do. But then... well, I kinda didn't want to spend the rest of my life listening to other people's problems day in and day out."
"You told Demetrius you like science, though. And you seem to know a good amount about living creatures."
I'm struck again by the fact that this man has a good memory. I should keep that in mind.
"I like the theory. Knowing how things work, why certain creatures have them, such things. But science, as a career, involves a whole lot of math. And that, my friend... is very much not my cup of cocoa." I raise my mug at the word game.
"I see." He chuckles. "You're an interesting guy. You arrived here looking like a sofa cushion, if you don't mind me saying, and everyone thought you were some good-for-nothing city sparrow that felt better than everyone here and thought you'd quickly solve all our problems. No one expected you to last long. Here you are little over a year later, fitter than Alex and making your own wine, and now you turn out to be intelligent as well. Make sure that the first woman who finds out is the one you're after, or you'll have them all fighting over you."
I laugh out loud – then realize that's probably not an appropriate reaction and cut myself off. This is getting really personal all of a sudden. What is this? Has Harvey suddenly decided we're BFF's now?
Again, I don't mind – but I had not expected this. The meek doctor just keeps on surprising me, and not only with just how capable he really is. Now, though, he's obviously curious about why I laughed so damn hard.
"Sorry, it's just... The thought of having all these women fighting over me. It's a little bit hilarious to me. You know, the guy who looked like a pasty cushion for most of his life. Who gets snubbed by the popular kids because of his clothes."
"Well, you don't look like a cushion anymore, and believe me, they've noticed. I'm not going to mention any names because that's confidential, but you've got one or two young ladies quite distracted. They invited you to their aerobics class for a reason," Harvey says meaningfully.
"Okay... look, I... don't really know how to start here," I say with an apologetic smile. "I really have very little of an idea of how people here are going to react to this, so I wouldn't want everyone to know tomorrow, if you catch my drift." If he wants to get all close and personal, he's welcome.
"It's safe with me," Harvey nods.
"I don't like women. As in, I mean, I can be friends with them, but... I'm not into women."
Harvey's eyes widen.
"Oh."
I may have made a mistake here.
"Right. Okay. Would you... like me to let them know?" Harvey offers. I take a relieved breath.
"I don't really know where to go with that. I've heard a few horror stories about country people and their conservative values. Considering statistics, I wouldn't expect that I'd be the only one in here, but if there's others, they also seem to be keeping it quiet."
"No, you're not... the only one. Some people keep quiet mostly because they believe their parents will react worse than I think they will. I've never really heard anyone voice negative opinions about such things around here. It surprised me, to be honest, because that wasn't unusual where I came from. I think you shouldn't generalize the idea of 'country people'... just as the people here were wrong to think you were a typical example of what they expect 'city people' to be like. At the very least I don't think the women who like you will mind that part, though they might be a bit disgruntled. They will probably tell the rest of the town, though."
"Yeah, better not tell them for now. But it's... nice to have a friend here who knows. Thanks for being a sport about it, I've had... worse reactions."
"Does your family know?"
"Oh, they're fine. I've got no problem with them. Lost a few friends, though, when they found out. You get those people who, when they hear you're gay, just immediately start assuming you're going to come after them." Might be a good idea to immediately let him know it didn't work like that.
"In my experience those tend to be the men who do the same thing with women. I've heard such distasteful claims as 'a hole is a hole'."
"Huh. Hadn't thought about it like that. I already figured I'm probably better off without those 'friends' anyway. Well..." I check my watch. It's nearly 10 pm. "Wouldn't they be ready yet out there?"
"Probably. Might as well go check."
We finish our tea and go downstairs. Most of the villagers are looking out through the windows or standing in their doorways, waiting. A few minutes pass. Nothing seems to be going on, but I've been warned – no one is to set a foot outside of their house until Lewis gives the go-ahead. Supposedly it can be dangerous, though Harvey considers this a 'part of the game'.
"Alright," sounds the voice of Lewis, and he comes into view on the town square, coming from the direction of the park. "Everything's ready. Enjoy!"
Excitedly, people step outside. Both Vincent and Jas come running from the direction of Jodi's house, toward Pierre's little cart of one-night-only sales next to the clinic. It's immediately clear why; Pierre sells caramel apples and candy corn. The adults are more interested in some large tables in the square, which Gus is starting to carry big platters of food toward. I run over.
"Hey. Need some help?"
"Oh, thanks, this is a lot to carry... Here you go. Just put it on the tables somewhere, they'll find it."
He hands me a platter with crab cakes – I happened to be present when Willy lost control of some giant crabs, waiting for Gus to pick up his order. I helped gather them up. Gus has been selling crab cakes every since. Luckily they're so good that people just keep buying them. Harvey gets a blackberry cobbler pushed into his hands.
We help set up the tables and I allow myself the indiscretion of grabbing a slice of the cobbler already. In the meantime I look around. One thing I haven't been able to get a look at is a big cage on the side of the square with something moving inside – from afar, they look like monkeys or something, but very awkward ones. As I go closer, I can't believe my eyes.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"The cage is here every year, but it has something different in it every year. This seems to be... some kind of animatronic skeletons," Harvey says, squinting at them.
"The mayor says that that strange man from the tower over in the forest always sets up most of the... decorations for spirit's eve," says Leah, holding her own slice of pie. "They give me the chills, honestly."
"Yeah," I agree. "So what's there to do at Spirit's Eve?"
"Eat, mostly," Leah smiles, holding up her pie. "And there's the maze. Pierre has some special decorations for sale, too."
"Maze?"
"The park has been turned into a creepy hedge maze," she explains.
"Supposedly there's a prize hidden somewhere inside," Harvey adds.
"That sounds more like it. Who else is coming?"
"You're not worried about finding some of those inside, are you?" Harvey asks, thumbing over his shoulder at the skeletons. He looks like he definitely is.
"Nah. I crawl the mine for a living. More or less. Nothing in there is gonna be actually dangerous, is it?"
"Well, you're supposed to go in alone and not help anyone you meet inside. Takes the fun out of it, you know."
"So what if someone gets lost?"
"I think the mayor knows the way inside and checks every now and then."
"Huh. Fair enough. In that case, I'm going. See you when I get out."
I walk into the park and find myself surrounded by 9 feet tall hedges. I imagine some of the townsfolk might wonder how they got that to grow overnight, but I happen to know that 'strange man in the tower' just slightly better than everyone else seems to. I still recall the foul taste of that potion, the 'rats' in the old Community center, and a bear asking me for maple syrup... Besides, if not magic, what's in those ghosts I keep on running into in the mine?
I don't have my sword with me – I don't believe I'll need it. The first thing I come across in the maze is Maru, uncertain which side she came from. There's some animated hands sticking out of the ground at one point, a strange hut with chicken legs that reminds me of a fairytale I once read somewhere with a cauldron in front of it which billows a thick vapor – I stay away from it, just in case. I'm rather disappointed when a giant spider turns out to be no more than a lifeless decoration – the wizard could've animated that, no?
Strangely, every single passage I come across in the maze ends in a dead end. I go about it systematically, always going left first, and if I find a dead end, go back to the last split and take the next left. Sam has noticed the same thing.
I keep on investigating that last dead end, because I have the impression that I can see light coming from beyond the hedge, but no passage leads to it. There's a sign with a question mark on it, and the light behind it. I look closely at the sign, at a loss for what else to do – again, this whole thing was made with magic, I wouldn't be surprised if the key was in one of the decorations. But there's hundreds of things you could try and do with those animated hands, for example. I knock on the sign. Nothing happens. I try to pull it in different directions – and when I push it backward, it moves and I hear a click.
Two of the bushes that make up the hedge move aside. That's more like it.
I quickly step through, hoping I'll still be able to get back in later, and look around. This is the end of the maze, and I'm faced with the cliff that forms the border of the park. But to my right there's a hole in the cliff – one that was never there before – with a lantern on each side. That has to be it. I go inside.
There's no light, but I happen to have found a pretty little ring in the mines that glows when I put it on. I hardly ever take it off anymore because it's so useful, though I have to put it on my pinky because of its size. I make my way through the low tunnel without trouble, and come out into the open air again to find myself once more surrounded by hedges. I see a thick vapor billowing up from behind the one on my left that leads me to suspect the hut with the chicken legs is on the other side.
In the center of this space between the hedges sits something that looks like an old-fashioned pirate treasure chest. I open it to find my big prize inside.
It's one of my very own pumpkins which I sold to Pierre, spray-painted gold. I chuckle. Of course, if they're going to give one of these away every year, it can't be made of real gold. Well, at least you could make a 'golden' jack-o-lantern out of it. And soup from the insides. It's a good prize.
Pumpkin under the arm, I head back through the tunnel and out of the maze. People stare at me. I'm a little bit sorry for them – I don't know if the setup for the maze is the same each year, but I hope I'm not the only one of them who's ever found that secret passage. Maybe I have ended up with some advantageous knowledge they don't have.
Leah is standing over to the side of one table with Elliott by now, and the both of them go wide-eyed as I approach.
"You found it?" Leah asks, stumped.
"What a delightful turn of events," Elliott smiles.
"I'm... kind of hoping it's not too inappropriate, everyone's staring," I say, keeping my voice low and my head lower.
"Inappropriate," Elliott repeats, very amused. "It's been years since anyone found the golden pumpkin, and you just trudge into that maze and find it on your first try. It's beyond inappropriate. It's positively a scandal."
"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better. Leah... do you want it? I'm sure it'll make some good soup."
"Soup? Are you..." Leah shakes her head, but she smiles too, now. "You're such a city guy, Evan. You don't turn the golden pumpkin into soup."
"Then what do I do with it? It's just one of my own pumpkins that I grew, but spray-painted."
"No way."
"No, I'm serious. Look, here." I show her the stem. "These notches. I had trouble clipping the stem because it was so thick. I grew this pumpkin, I'm sure of it."
Both Leah and Elliott now stare at me like I'm crazy.
"We were always told it was special," Leah mumbles.
"A special golden pumpkin, hauled over the sea from a faraway land, inedible but potentially magical, and certainly too valuable to eat," Elliott says in a sing-song voice.
"So what, you just... set it on a shelf somewhere and let it rot?"
"You're supposed to bury it somewhere in a secret spot after a week or so. It should bring good luck."
"I guess the pumpkin seeds would have a chance to grow that way, but putting that spray-paint in the ground? I'm sorry, I know I'm coming across as a barbarian here, but that just can't be healthy for the soil. Anyway... Am I allowed to give it away? You know, to someone who would actually appreciate it?"
"Just so you'd know," Elliot says conspiratorially, "That pumpkin you're holding over there is about as big of a gift as a Mermaid's Pendant."
I pause for a moment, trying to find a way to react to this that isn't even more ignorant.
"I'm sorry, I have no clue what that is," I admit, giving up.
"A Mermaid's pendant? Well, I guess you wouldn't know about those in the city. It is said, if you have your heart set on a special someone, and you visit the beach on a rainy or stormy day, you will be visited by the ghost of an old mariner who is not allowed to rest because he fell in love with a mermaid, but then married a human woman. He will give you a rare and special artifact: a pendant given to him by his love from the sea as a symbol of her love... He will instruct you to give it to your beloved, desperate as if his life depended on it..." Elliott explains, with an air of mystery.
"It's basically a marriage proposal, Evan," Leah clarifies. "The Mermaid's Pendant is a thing people here give each other to propose marriage."
"And giving this pumpkin to somebody would be the same thing?"
"Well, not entirely. But it's a very big gift. Only those people who care about you a lot would even want to accept it. I'm afraid I'm out on that count," she adds apologetically.
"I swear to you that it will become soup if someone doesn't take it."
"You're not talking about the pumpkin, are you?" a voice from behind me speaks up. I turn around to find Harvey.
"I kind of am, yeah. Call me a barbarian, but I think it's not a good idea to bury this. Would you take it?"
"Me?" He looks so surprised I'd almost think he's scared.
"Told you," says Leah. I drop the matter.
"Okay, I have a compromise. I'll get the paint off and then bury it, okay? And then I guess I'll just have a harvest of magical pumpkins next fall."
"That certainly sounds better than soup," Harvey comments, bending over to look closely at the pumpkin. "You really believe this is paint?"