Beep Beep Beep
Page groggily rolled over and silenced her alarm clock. It was 6:00 am and she had already made plans for the day. Page forced herself awake and sat up in her small, yet surprisingly comfortable, bed. Her bare feet felt cool on the floor as she searched for a pair of presentable jeans. After all, today, she was going into town today and she wanted to make a good first impression.
She settled on a pair of black jeans with a form-fitting red top and let her curly locks hang free just below her shoulders. Page grabbed her glasses from the nightstand, took one last look in the mirror, and headed out the door.
The young woman took a moment to survey her newly inherited farmland. She walked along the foremost edge of her fields pausing to inspect the patch of land she had finished clearing the day before.
"Yessss. No new weeds here!" Page quietly celebrated to herself.
With a final glance, she headed towards the entrance to her farm and was on her way to town.
Page's mission was to buy seeds for her first spring crops. She found herself unexpectedly both nervous and excited as she met the fork in the road. After all, today she was taking the first real steps on her journey to becoming a farmer. It was time to make her grandfather proud and prove those who doubted her, perhaps including herself at times, wrong. She took a deep breath and took a right at the fork.
As Page started down the cobblestone road and into town, she mentally recounted the brief tour Mayor Thomas had given her on the day she moved in.
"Ok, almost there. The shop should be right over here on the left." Page mumbled to herself.
She took a moment to take in her surroundings. The small town was delicately beautiful with little shops and buildings scattered about. Unlike in the city, Flowerbud Village was clean and slow-paced. Villagers strolled about, stopping to chat with each other with no visible sense of urgency.
Page smiled to herself as she felt her nervous anxiety melt away with each passing moment. She felt her muscles relax a bit as she let out a quiet sigh followed by a deep breath of fresh, unpolluted, mountain air. It was so vastly different than what she had experienced in the city. Page found herself longing to be a part of this newfound community as she continued on her journey to to the flower shop.
Flower Lilia- Open 9:00 am-5:00 pm. Closed Sundays.
Page approached the door to the flower shop and read the small, corresponding sign.
"Well, here goes nothing." Page silently encouraged herself as she straightened the straps of her rucksack.
She pushed open the door triggering a small ding which alerted the shopkeeper to her presence.
"Hello, there! Welcome to Flower Lilia. I was wondering when you'd stop by!"
The shopkeeper was a warm, middle aged, pink-haired woman with soft, strawberry colored eyes. She smiled at Page as she approached her from behind the counter.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Lilia. What can I help you with today?"
Page smiled back, pleased to meet such a kind, friendly new face.
"Nice to meet you, too! I'm Page. I was wondering if I could buy some seeds for my farm."
My farm. The words had always felt strange coming from the young woman's mouth, however this time she said it with confidence and a growing sense of pride.
"Certainly! Come with me and I'll show you what we have available for spring planting."
Page followed Lilia across the shop to a table with a variety of plant seeds on display.
"So, we have seeds for three different types of spring crops. Turnips grow the fastest, however they do sell for the lowest price. Then you have cabbage over here which takes the longest to grow, but sells for the highest price. Potatoes stand somewhere in the middle, taking a moderate amount of time to grow and selling for an average price. All of the seeds cost the same price at 200G. I know it's a lot of information to take in. What are you thinking?"
Page paused for a moment as she weighed her options internally. Although she ideally would have liked to grow crops selling for the highest price right away, she was currently short on cash and could use some quick money. Once she had a bit more gold under her belt, she could invest in more crops selling for a higher price which could turn into a steady income.
"I think I'll go with a pack of the turnip seeds, please." Page spoke, confident in her decision.
"Perfect! I'll ring you up right here at the counter."
Page fumbled through her rucksack and handed Lillia 200G.
"Here you are!" Lilia wrapped up a pack of turnip seeds and handed them to the young woman across the counter.
"Thank you so much, Lillia. I really appreciate all of your help today."
"Of course! I hope to be seeing much more of you. You have your work cut out on the old man's farm, but I think you have what it takes."
Lillia smiled warmly at Page unaware of just how much she needed to hear some kind words of encouragement in that moment.
"You will, I promise! I am going to do my absolute best. Thank you again." Page gave a friendly wave and turned to leave the shop.
"Oh, Page! One more thing before you go. My daughter, Popuri, is just outside the shop. If you have a moment why don't you introduce yourself? She's right around your age and is very friendly. Like I always say, it never hurts to have too many friends!"
Page's face lit up with excitement. If Popuri was anything like her mother, Page would be glad to call her a friend.
"That sounds perfect! I'll go do that now. I'll see you later Lillia!"
Lillia gave a nod and waved as Page exited the shop.
"Ah, to be young again!" Lillia giggled to herself.
If Page had any fear of locating which young woman was Popuri, they were squashed the minute she spotted her. Popuri shared the same long, flowing pink hair and strawberry eyes as Lillia with a smile to match. She wore a form-fitting black bodice and floor-length red skirt. Popuri was petite, yet womanly and carried herself as if she were floating, rather than walking, along the sidewalk. She seemed to be lost in her own world as she paced up and down the length of the flower shop. Page watched, mesmerized, as Popuri travelled back and fourth pausing to water, what appeared to be, little spaces and cracks between the cobblestone.
Popuri set her watering can aside as Page approached and flashed her a cheerful smile.
"Popuri?"
"Hi there! What can I help you with?" Popuri wasn't used to seeing new faces in town, especially ones her age, and was pleasantly surprised by the newcomer.
"Ah, hi. I just wanted to come introduce myself. I'm Page…I just bought some seeds from your mom and she suggested I come out and meet you! Well, it's, uh, nice to meet you." Page chuckled at her own awkwardness in the situation. She never was great at introductions.
"Oh, yes! I heard the old man's granddaughter was taking over the farm and, well, here you are. Welcome to Flowerbud! If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know. I'm here pretty much every day working on my herbs and helping around the shop or in the greenhouse."
"Herbs?" Page asked curiously.
"Yep! I noticed some clovers growing here in these grassy spaces and around town, but people keep stepping on them so they die pretty quickly. I'm trying to see what happens if I take care of them and allow them to grow. Who knows, maybe they can be useful in some sort of way! I know some people pick herbs and grasses in the mountains so, to me, it's worth a shot. Anyhow, it may sound silly, but it's my very own little experiment."
Ah, so that explains the sidewalk watering.
"Wow, Popuri that's actually pretty cool!"
"You really think so?" She asked with a whimsical look in her eye that Page couldn't help but find sort of adorable.
"Yeah, I really do! You'll have to keep me updated on your progress."
"It's a deal." Popuri offered her hand to Page and they shook on it.
"Yoohoo!" Un unfamiliar voice called from across the road.
"Hi, Elli!" Popuri yelled back. "I'm sending our new farmer over to meet you!"
"Sounds good!" Elli yelled back.
"Sorry for putting you on the spot like that, Page, but you absolutely must go and meet Elli! Her cakes and cookies are to die for. You'll thank me later." Popuri gave a playful wink.
"Well, I'm a sucker for dessert so I'm sure I will." Page patted her soft belly with a giggle. She never could pass up a good sweet treat. Sure, she wasn't thin, but she also wasn't afraid to enjoy the things she loved, food included.
"I'll see you around, Page. Happy planting!" Popuri grabbed her watering can and continued working on her "experiment".
"See ya!"
Page made her way across the path where she was met by another young woman also around her age. She had short brown hair, tucked behind an ear, and soft coffee colored eyes. Her blue dress reached the floor adorned with an apron and a black bow tie. Although her clothes were conservative, they still managed to show off the young woman's voluptuous, curvy figure.
"Well, hello there! I'm Elli. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Page. I've heard great things about your food!"
Elli smiled. "I think you should taste it for yourself! Come on in and I'll grab you some fresh cake."
Page followed eagerly as Elli led her inside the small bakery.
"Hey, Jeff grab me a piece of cake for our new town resident if you'd be so kind!"
"Sure, thing!" The young man was of medium height with jet black hair, a thin mustache and dark brown eyes. Page couldn't help but notice how he exuded a calm aura and she felt strangely relaxed in his presence. He smiled at her as he handed Elli the piece of cake.
"Thanks, Jeff! This is Page, you know, the one who's taking over the old man's farm." Elli passed Page a fork to go with her cake.
"Ah, of course! Nice to meet you, Page. I'm Jeff, the master of the bakery. Welcome to town and welcome to Flowerbud Bakery."
"Nice to meet you, and thank you both so much for the cake." Page took a bite. "Oh my goodness this is delicious! Popuri was right." The cake was light with a perfectly rich buttercream frosting and strawberries layered in between.
"Tehe, I'm so glad you like it. It's an old family recipe. I'll take you to meet granny once you're done! I'm sure she'd love to meet you." Elli giggled.
"Sounds great." Page managed to mutter between bites.
"You know, Page, we used to get many of our fresh baking supplies from your grandfather's farm. It would be great if you could do the same. Nothing's quite as delicious as food made with fresh ingredients. Having products shipped in from out of town has made it difficult for us to provide a wide selection due to the price of ingredients." Jeff shrugged. Page couldn't help but wonder if he was downplaying his dismay.
Page set her fork down on her empty plate. "Well, I would love to provide you guys with fresh ingredients again. I really will do my absolute best to restore the farm to the way it was. I must say, though, that cake was phenomenal regardless."
"Well, let's go tell granny, shall we?" Elli passed Page's empty plate across the counter to Jeff and opened a door leading to a small courtyard outside.
"Thanks again, Jeff!" Page called.
"Don't mentioned it!" He replied with a grin.
Page followed Elli outside where an elderly woman sat in a rocking chair smiling to herself. She set her knitting down when she realized the presence of her granddaughter and her guest.
"Grandma, this is Page the old man's granddaughter, taking over the farm."
"Oh, my! You sure do look like your grandpappy. So nice to meet you, dear. My name is Ellen. Pete and I were good friends for a long long time. I'm so sorry for your loss. Know that we here in Flowerbud miss him greatly." The old woman took Page's hand and gave it a gentle rub.
"Nice to meet you, Ellen. I only hope that I can make him proud from wherever he is." Page smiled sadly.
"Dear, the harvest goddess is watching over him, I'm sure of it. Perhaps it were she that sent you here to us. I do believe everything in this life happens for a reason. We just need to trust and have faith." Ellen smiled as a breeze rolled in ruffling her bonnet ever so slightly.
"So, have you given the farm a name? It's yours now after all." The old woman smiled knowingly up at Page.
"Yes…yes, I have." Page paused for a moment expecting to second guess herself, but this time the doubt never came.
"Sakura. My farm's name is Sakura Farm." The young farmer replied.