I don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters!!!
BTW, this chapter involves just wee bit of Popuri bashing! Just so all you Popuri fans know! ;-)
Chapter 7: The Diary
The next few days passed by quickly. Cliff and Ann spent most of the days together. Cliff was teaching her the basics of Christianity and Discipleship. They also spent time cleaning up the old church. Although, why they did that was unknown to even them…
Meanwhile, Jack spent his days working on his farm and his evenings were spent at various places. Karen, who just couldn't take having to stay at Ann's house all day long, would often come over to Jack's farm and watch as Jack worked. She'd help every once in a while, but she was still sore from the beating that her father gave her.
Jack rummaged through his grandfather's things. It was late at night and Jack couldn't sleep. Cliff, on the other hand, slept soundly. With the noise that Jack was making, it was amazing that Jack hadn't woken Cliff up already.
Jack opened the last cardboard box and peered inside. Inside was his grandfather's collection of books.
Jack sat back and sighed. Why am I doing this now? Jack wondered. Inside, he knew he already had an answer. So many mysteries… Like how he knew that I'd accept the farm… He hadn't seen me in years. How could he know me well enough to know that I'd do it? Jack thought about it for a little bit longer.
Finally, he gave up, and turned to another question that had been plaguing his mind. Why would Karen's grandmother entrust Grandpa with the wine recipe and not Karen herself? Was there something going on between those two?
Jack sighed and peered into the box again. His grandfather's library of books were mostly on farming and such. There were a few novels. Christian novels, Jack noted with disdain.
Finally, Jack got down to the last two books—a Bible (which earned a grimace from Jack) and a diary. His grandfather's diary.
Jack grabbed the diary and stuffed the rest of the books back into the box, making sure that the Bible was at the bottom.
Jack sat on his bed and opened the diary to its first page. A white piece of paper fell out. The paper was in direct contrast to the old, yellow pages of the diary.
He picked up the paper and opened it slowly, as if it held the answer to his very existence. It was a note… addressed to him.
Dear Jack,
Hello, Jack. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you or your father of my condition. Now, as I write this letter, using the final embers of my depleted strength, I regret that decision.
I sure that you have many questions, and I hope that this diary can be of some help in finding the answers.
Know this, my grandson; I left you the farm because I believe in you. I believe that you can do things with it that I never could have. You have more strength and endurance than I ever had! That is, if you are still the lively youth that I remember visiting my farm years ago. I sure hope so!
Jack, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to be there with you when your mother died. I truly am. That is yet another decision I made that I regret with all my soul.
Although you must have gone through so much and you may be going through even more in the future, never lose heart. Never look at the glass half-empty. Make sure to look at it half-full. Always. Rewards will come for being optimistic! I remember when I first started the farm. It was so hard and so discouraging. But, no matter what happened, I never stopped being hopeful. This hope fueled me on. It made me look at my hardships in a completely new way. I suggest you do the same.
Here is another thing that you must never lose: your faith. That is more important than anything else. Never lose your faith in God, Jack. For, even when it is impossible to look at things anyway but half-empty, He will give you the strength to plow forward.
Jack looked at that part of the letter for a few moments. Finally, he scoffed. "Too late for that, Gramps." Cliff stirred and Jack tensed. He relaxed once more when Cliff settled in one spot again and slept.
I love you, Jack, and I hope to see you again in Heaven. Good-bye and Godspeed on the farm.
Love always,
Grandpa
Jack stared at the note for a little bit longer until, after a few minutes, he folded it and placed it into the nightstand by his bed.
Jack reopened the diary and turned to its first page.
10/03/1948
This is it! I bought a farm today in the small town called Flowerbud village. Tomorrow I will be beginning my work. I spent all of today thanking God for the fact that he allowed me to pursue my dream; owning a farm!
Jack turned the page.
10/04/1948
Farming is a lot harder than I ever thought. My books could have never prepared me for the amount of work that is put into managing a farm. But, the whole day wasn't so bad. Today, I met a woman named Melissa Baker. We hit it off immediately. I can already see that we'll be great friends in the future. Although, I've noticed that part of me already hopes for more.
Jack sighed and closed the book. His lack of sleep caught up to him, and he decided to read the rest of the diary later.
CRACK! Jack smiled as the log split into four pieces, more or less even. He looked over to Cliff, who was helping Matt with an axe that had been broken recently. Actually the two, Matt and Cliff, were actually fishing instead of the work that they were supposed to be doing.
Jack stomped over to them. "What are you guys doing? Whatever happened to work?" Cliff looked at him. "Uh… Jack? Break started ten minutes ago." Jack turned a bright red. "Why didn't you tell me? You know that I broke my watch yesterday!" Cliff just shrugged and turned back to his fishing.
Jack heard the familiar sound of girls giggling and he spun around. Not so far behind him were three girls. Jack didn't recognize any of them.
One of them had bright pink hair that reminded Jack of the girls in the city who'd die their hair gaudy colors. She looked a little bit like Lillia; thin as a toothpick. She even had the strange, red eyes that Lillia had.
Another one, who was the plumpest of the three, had short, brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a very conservative dress, unlike the first girl, who was wearing a tight pink shirt and pants of the same color that showed off her figure.
The last had black hair and her dark eyes were hidden behind huge-rimmed glasses. She was wearing a plain blue dress that extended down to her ankles.
"Hi!" The pink-haired girl said in a high-pitched voice while waving at Jack. Jack just scratched the back of his neck and replied with a quiet, "Hello."
The same girl ran up to Jack and stopped about two meters from him. "I'm Popuri!" She said in the same loud, high-pitched, and possibly annoying voice. Before Jack could reply, the others girls spoke up. "I'm Elli," The brown-haired said, "and this is Maria." She said, indicating the black-haired one.
Jack looked at Maria, wondering why Elli had introduced her instead of Maria introducing herself. Maria was staring intently at the ground.
Jack smiled, "I'm Jack." Cliff walked up beside the aspiring farmer. Jack looked at Cliff, "Cliff, this is Popuri, Elli, and Maria." He said indicating the different girls as he named them off. "This is Cliff. He's new here too."
Maria looked up for just a second to glance at Cliff and her gaze was turned downward again. Elli was cordial to Cliff and shook his hand. Popuri, on the other hand, acted like she didn't even hear. Her gaze never left Jack's rippling—well, they weren't rippling, but they had the potential to be—muscles.
Joseph stepped out of the cabin and yelled, "Get back to work, you slackers!" before any further conversation could be started. Jack smiled at the girls, "Well, if you'll excuse us…" He walked back to the stump where he'd place the logs to chop. Cliff walked over to Matt and together they continued their work on the broken axe.
Jack brought the axe down on the log once again, but he barely did anything to the stubborn piece of wood. "What's up with this? Why won't it break?"
He tried to cut into it again with the axe, but the log just wouldn't break as the ones before it had. Jack grunted with frustration and raised the axe above his head again.
CLACK! The axe head flew off the handle and landed a few feet away in a familiar meadow. Jack cursed and trudged over to where the axe's blade had landed.
He looked at it in bewilderment. The blade wasn't nearly as wickedly sharp as it had been before. "No wonder it wasn't cutting!" Jack said quietly as he looked at the dulled blade. "But, how did it get dull? It was in great condition earlier…"
Jack began walking towards where he knew he could find a sharper axe, but not before peering back at the object of his nightmares: the meadow. For a split second, he could have sworn he saw two red eyes peering right back at him, but they disappeared just as fast as the had appeared. Nonetheless, Jack hurried back to the cabin and relative 'safety'.
"Jack!" Jack and Cliff stopped their trek home and spun around to face the owner of the high-pitched voice.
Popuri stopped in front of them, obviously out of breath. Finally, after she composed herself, she announced why she had stopped them. "Do you know about the Sowing Festival?" She asked. Jack thought about it for a moment. That name did sound familiar.
Oh yeah. That was in the newsletter… "Uh… I've heard about it, but I don't know what it's about." Jack replied. Popuri smiled, as if she lived for telling people about it. "Well, it starts tomorrow at nine o'clock and it's at the Square."
Jack waited for her to tell him exactly what it was. Popuri didn't continue. Jack sighed, "What exactly is it?" Popuri smiled flirtatiously. "I guess you are going to have to go if you want to find out!" She said equally as flirtatiously. Jack groaned inwardly. "Okay then. I'll just have to find out from Ann or Karen."
Popuri's eyes darkened. "You hang out with Karen?" Jack just nodded. "Why?" He asked. Popuri's eyes darkened further, "Jaaaack," She said drawing his name out. "Can't you see? She's a slut! She's probably just after your money or something!" Cliff's eyes showed anger and Jack saw that he was barely able to hold back. Jack was feeling about the same.
"Whatever, Popuri. I don't have any money." Before she could reply, Jack continued. "Listen, I have to go. Got important farming stuff to do." Jack began walking away, but Popuri grabbed his arm. "Jack, it's too late for farming. Let's go grab a bite to eat at the bakery, I'll pay!"
Jack shook loose from Popuri's grip. "Your right it is too late for farming, and I do think I'm going to have dinner, just… not with you. I hope you understand; I don't date girls that I don't know." Popuri's mouth dropped and Jack turned to walk away. Jack put an arm around Cliff, and he said, loudly enough for Popuri to hear too, "Let's go see if Karen and Ann are home. Maybe I can cook something up for you three."
Popuri seethed long after Jack had left. It just wasn't fair! Karen always got the guy! Not that she actually went out with any of them, but the guys always asked her out first! Popuri was always second! Always! I'll get you Karen. I guarantee it. Popuri thought as she stormed home to pout.
KNOCK! KNOCK! Jack rapped on the wooden door until it was opened by an annoyed Ann. "You know… I heard you the first time!" She snapped, not really angry.
Jack grinned sheepishly, "Sorry." Ann smiled and let them in.
Inside, Karen sat, watching the small television across from the couch, a bowl of popcorn in her hands.
Jack walked up to the couch, and stood behind Karen. "Hey, anything good on?" He asked. Karen, who didn't know he was there, jumped, spilling some popcorn. "Jack! You jerk! Don't do that!" She snapped and she began picking up the stray pieces of popcorn.
Jack grinned and walked over to the cabinets, and immediately began grabbing food items out of them.
"Jack! What are you doing?" Ann asked as Jack laid the food out on the counter. Jack grinned, "When I heard how bad of cooks you and Karen were, I just had to show you how it's done." Ann put her hands on her hips. "And you can cook?" Jack grinned wider. "Can I cook? Can I cook?! Of course I can cook! I learned how to cook from some renowned chefs! One of the many benefits of having a rich father."
"Mmm… Jack, you gotta come make us dinner more often! That was great!" Ann said satisfied with the meal the four had just eaten. Jack just laughed.
Ann got started on the dishes soon after, and Cliff decided to help, leaving Jack and Karen alone in awkward silence.
Finally, Jack broke the ice by saying, "So, what exactly is this Sowing Festival?" He wondered. Karen looked up at him, "You don't know what the Sowing Festival is?" Jack shook his head. Karen sighed, "I haven't gone to it in a long time. It may have changed a little bit, but I don't think so. So… I guess I'll tell you.
"The Sowing Festival is a festival that Flowerbud has every year. There's not much point to it though. As you may already know, it's at the village square.
"They start off by letting the King and one person of his choice—"
"Whoa, wait a minute. The King?" Karen rolled her eyes, "Don't you know anything?" Jack grinned, "Nope." Karen sighed, "This is going to take a while…"
Half an hour later, Karen finished explaining the multiple festivals to Jack. Jack was dumbfounded at how many festivals and holidays this little town had! "And that's not including the other holidays that the villagers personally celebrate." Jack was silent.
Cliff and Jack stood at the door preparing to leave. "So, am I going to see you two at the festival tomorrow?" Ann asked. The two guys nodded and Jack turned to Karen. "How about you? Are you going?" Karen shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe." Jack nodded and saying his farewells, left. Cliff was right behind him…
The village square was amazing! Jack, who hadn't ventured into the place before, was astounded at the beauty of the cherry blossoms and other plants and trees that surrounded the square.
In the middle of the square was a large hot-air balloon. The bulk of the crowd surrounded that. But that wasn't all that was there.
There were booths of multiple types lining the edge of the cobblestone square all around.
Some of the booths were food booths. Others were souvenir booths. And others were gaming booths where you could win anything from stuffed animals to beer.
Ann ran up to Jack and Cliff. "Hey! You guys made it!" Cliff walked up to her, but Jack held back, looking for a certain someone.
There was a light tap on his shoulder, "Looking for me?" Jack spun around ready to greet Karen. Instead, he found himself looking at Popuri.
"Popuri! I—uh… Actually…" Popuri giggled, "Of course you were looking for me! Who else would you be looking for?" Jack didn't reply; a decision he would soon regret…
"Okay! Let's play some games! How about this one?" Popuri said while dragging Jack across the square to stop at a strength-testing game. Jack sighed. Not wanting to hurt Popuri's feeling, he grabbed a hold of the nearby sledgehammer and walked up the operator of the booth.
"I wanna try this." He stated. The owner, an older man with graying hair, nodded, "That'll be 20 G." Jack pulled out the money and stepped up the game.
Jack drove the hammer down, causing the piece to fly up, barely missing the bell. "Come on, Jack!" Popuri cried.
Jack shifted his grip on the hammer and drove it down again. The piece flew up and got just a little bit closer, but the bell still didn't ring.
Jack held his breath and drove the hammer down once more. BRING! The bell rang shrilly and Jack smiled.
The operator handed Jack a large stuffed bear and sent him on his way.
Jack decided against shoving the bear into Popuri, and settled for handing it to her gently instead.
It was a half-hour of torture until the main event started up.
The mayor stood on a small podium with a microphone in his hand. "Ahem. Excuse me." All talking stopped and everybody turned to face the dummy-sized mayor.
"As all of you know, Jack had won the title of King last year… but… because of unfortunate circumstances, he won't be able to make it this year.
"Because of this, the people in the Flowerbud Festival Committee have decided on a replacement…" There was a tense silence all around. "We have decided to give the honor to Charlie, the Potion Shop owner."
An elder man stepped up and turned to face the crowd. "Now, if you will please pick out a companion to accompany you in the balloon." The mayor requested.
Charlie looked straight at two children at the front of the crowd. "Stu? Would you like to go?" A black-haired child jumped up and down and ran to the man. Before he reached Charlie though, he turned to face the other child; a brown-haired boy.
"Is it okay, Kent?" Stu asked. Kent shrugged, "Go ahead. I don't like heights anyway." Stu nodded and ran into the balloon. Charlie followed him, shortly after.
Jack watched as the balloon lifted off the ground and into the cloudless sky.
"Now, if you'll all get a balloon from Lillia, we can get started." The mayor said before stepping down.
Jack walked over to Lillia, Popuri not far behind him. Lillia grinned like a maniac when she saw the two. "Aw… aren't you two so cute?" Jack groaned inwardly and Popuri giggled. "We're not—" Jack started, but he was cut off. "Yeah! Aren't we?" Popuri said with another giggle.
Jack rolled his eyes and made a personal note to get away from Popuri as soon as possible.
Jack practically wrenched the balloon from Lillia and began walking back to the crowd in hopes of losing Popuri in it. He had no such luck as Popuri stayed right behind him the entire way.
The mayor stepped back up onto the platform. He had a green balloon in his hand. "Okay! Let's let 'em fly!" He said into the microphone. On cue, a rainbow of balloons sailed into the sky to join the distant hot-air balloon…
In the flurry of balloons, Jack was able to get away from Popuri. He found Ann and Cliff after a few minutes. They were talking quietly on a bench across the square.
Jack ran over to them and sat next to them, interrupting their conversation. "Hey, guys." He said while on the lookout for the familiar pink-haired girl.
"Hey, Jack. Hey, listen; Karen wanted me to tell you that she couldn't make it today. She was a little bit tired." Jack sighed and nodded. "But it looks like you were having plenty of fun with Popuri." Cliff stated sarcastically. Jack stared at him, "Are you crazy?! She's been driving me nuts!"
Cliff and Ann laughed, and Jack groaned, wishing that he had just stayed home.
Five minutes later, Jack's nightmare got worse. The mayor stepped back onto the podium. "Okay, now begins the dancing! So… dance!" Folk music began seconds afterward and Jack groaned loudly as he saw Popuri emerge from the crowd.
"Come on, Cliff! Let's dance!" Ann said happily. Cliff shrugged and followed Ann out onto the dance floor.
"Traitors." Jack said quietly as Popuri got within a few feet from him. "Let's dance, Jack!"
Jack shook his head. "Too worn out from all the walking."
Popuri grabbed his hands and pulled him up. "Come on! Just one dance! Please?" Jack shook his head again, "I don't even know how to dance to this. Sorry, Popuri, I have to sit this one out."
Popuri wouldn't let up. "I'll teach you!"
She began pulling Jack toward the dance floor. Finally, Jack wrenched himself from her grasp. "What part of 'no ' don't you understand? I don't want to dance!" Jack snapped as he walked out the square leaving a frustrated Popuri in his dust.
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I'm sorry to all those Popuri fans out there! I know that she is often portrayed like this and that her part in my story isn't the most original! But… She is the easiest to portray her like that! I mean, what's with those red eyes and pink hair??? I think there's something seriously wrong with her!!! No offense to anybody who just happens to have pink hair or red eyes!!!
R&R please!!!
God Bless!
--Ben