Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon, Karen, or any related characters or
events; to the best of my knowledge, they're all owned by Natsume. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is purely
coincidental. This story is based primarily on the plot of Harvest Moon 64.
Wine Red no Kokoro
by flame mage
Part 14: Reaping What You've Sown
**********
I left the festival early, before the dancing was done. I was tired of trying to throw myself into it and ignore the acid glares of the two guys.
I had just gotten down the steps when I heard footsteps. "Wait up, Karen!" Jack called.
I slowed down. "Hey, Jack."
"You looked good out there." He sounded a little hurt.
"Look...I'm really sorry. I just...I wanted to dance with you, but I just can't hurt Kai's feelings, y'know?" I said. "He's a friend of mine, and he's been through a lot."
"I know." We walked in silence for a little while. "There's something I wanted to ask you."
"Shoot."
He was looking at the sky. "What do people do here when they want to go out?"
I shrugged. "It's not like there's anywhere to go on a date. The closest we get is going up to the mountains or something. Mostly you just help the person do their chores and spend time with them. Hang out at festivals."
"Yeah?" He had a weird look on his face. "So...umm...what I want to say is...I like you. A lot." Was I grinning? I felt like I had this huge stupid grin on my face.
"Would you be my girlfriend?" he asked.
"Of course!" I laughed.
He smiled. "I'm glad." We were still walking, and somehow his fingers had slipped into mine without either of us noticing. "We have the rest of the day off. Do you want to go do something?" he asked.
I looked back up toward the square. "I don't really want to go back there." I held up the stamina juice. "I still have some of this left, though. It's a pretty warm day. We could go to the beach and have another picnic or something."
"I've got some vegetables, and I know there's bread and cheese in the cupboard," he said. "Do you like pizza?"
I gaped at him. "Are you kidding? I never get pizza. I think I've had it, like, once."
"Okay, here's what we can do. We'll go back to the farm, whip up a pizza, then head down to the beach, okay?"
"Sounds good," I said.
He showed me how to toss the bread, and we got the pizza done pretty fast. Then we took the quilt off his bed ("don't worry about it," he said. "I can wash it later") and went down to the beach. We spent the evening there, just talking and swimming, and I felt like we were five years old. I wanted that night to last forever.
But all good things must come to an end, so I left around nine to get back home. The next day was the beginning of harvest season.
Fall is an easy time for everyone but the vineyard workers. There are rarely any new animals being born at the ranch, and the animals that were born in the Spring are starting to need less care. Around here, the only crop that grows in Fall is eggplant, so Jack had an easy season too. Their fortunes, and those of the fishermen and the carpenter, are made during the Spring and Summer. Fall is when the final preparations for a barren winter are made. The mountains are crowded with people fighting over mushrooms and the last of the herbs to stock their freezers with or sell.
But I don't leave the vineyard much from the day after the Harvest Festival until the end of Fall, because that's the season we're out in the grapevines. The grapes have to be harvested, prepared, and then put in barrels to age.
That morning, we were out at six AM. For the first few hours, we talked a lot, but after that no one said anything much. Even on a cool Fall day, working in the vineyard is hot, tiring work, and when the sun comes, talking is too much effort, especially with a wooden barrel perched on your hip.
We took an hour for lunch break--usually some bread and a little cake for energy. Sometimes Ann or Cliff would bring some eggs or milk for us, and when Jack figured out the routine, he'd come by with eggplant or mushrooms from the mountains. Then we'd go back to work until sunset. When the sun went down, I dragged myself down to the the river to get the sweat and dust off myself. Then I went to the bar, where Duke had some dinner--more cake and usually some meat--waiting for me. In between waiting the tables, I had the stuff I needed to make stamina juice for the next day set up in the back. I worked until midnight, then went home and fell into bed for six hours of sleep before I had to get up and do it all again.
It sounds tough, and I'm not gonna lie: it is a brutal schedule. And don't think that we didn't complain--for weeks all Kai and I could do was moan about it all. But like anything else, I guess, we fell into the routine, and after that it wasn't quite as bad. And people were pretty helpful, too. Ann came for a few hours on Thursdays to help, usually dragging Cliff with her. Ann's a very active person, but she's strong, and she can focus when she needs to. Cliff already knew the work, and he did it without complaining, so he was a good person to help. Jack came by every day to deliver the things for lunch, and he usually stayed for an hour or two to help with the harvesting. I could feel the tension between him and Kai.
"Karen?" my dad asked sharply one day when Jack left.
"Yeah? What is it, Dad?" I asked without turning around. I could feel this coming.
"The old man's grandson, Jack...he's been hanging around here a lot lately." I saw Kai's back stiffen from where he was bent over working. He kept working, but the pace slowed almost imperceptibly. No way was I dumb enough to think he wasn't listening.
"I hadn't noticed." Kept the sarcasm out of my voice that time.
"Why is he spending so much time around you?"
I shrugged. "He likes girls with a perpetual layer of dust covering their hair?"
"Karen!" Dad snapped sharply.
I wanted to explain that we were going out, but I didn't want to have to see the look on Kai's face. So I said nothing. Eventually Dad grunted and went back to work.
We were a week and a half in when things started moving again. Mom and Dad had gone inside, and Kai and I were putting everything away for tomorrow before going off to wash up.
"Karen..." Kai began, "I never see you anymore."
"You've been spending twelve hours a day with me for the past week and a half," I grumbled. It'd been a long day.
"Other than that," he said. "You haven't been at the vineyard much. As soon as your chores are done, you take off."
"What are you lecturing me for?" I snapped. "You're the one who has no work ethic at all."
"Yes..." He was focused on his work, scrubbing the barrel to clean it. "I've just been thinking a lot."
"About...?"
"Do...do you still want to go to the city?" he asked.
I shrugged. "I just don't know. Sometimes it's so frustrating...ask me that again when I taste the first of this wine."
He nodded and we kept working. It would be a long time before I thought about it again.
Fall twenty-fifth was Jack's birthday, and I remembered it at ten in the morning in the middle of harvesting. Damn! Well, I rationalized, I'd been working nonstop for weeks. I deserved a break, right? I took off before Dad could say anything and raced for the wine cellar. I knew I had a bottle or two of Scarlet Sonata, one of Grandma's old wines, on the rack somewhere. No need to worry about the year--every year was good when Grandma was making wine. I found a bottle, blew some of the dust off it, and went upstairs and out to the house to look throught my room.
I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I went through the chest of drawers until I found a charm bracelet and settled on it. Ann and I slept over at each other's houses a bunch, and when we had slumber parties, we usually made some popcorn and then came up with a craft or something. No TV, no Internet, no phone so we couldn't even prank-call Rick or someone, so we pretty much had to come up with things to do on our own. One time Ann had taken out some colored embroidery floss and some little charms and said that Ellen had told her how to make a good-luck charm bracelet. You wove the floss together, and on it you strung the charms, using different ones for the kind of luck you wanted. So if you wanted to find a boyfriend, you should put a lot of heart charms and little stars so he would ask you out on Starry Night. Stuff like that.
Ann put a lot of animals on hers--little chickens and cows and horses and sheep--so the farm would have good luck. I wanted to wish for the vineyard, but there weren't any grape charms or anything, so I strung a lot of suns and moons and stars on it to wish for good weather so the grapes wouldn't get waterlogged.
Farmers needed good weather, too, for the animals. I picked the bracelet up and set off for the farm.
Jack was just finishing up the eggplant-watering stage of farm work when I got there. He came over when he saw me. "Hey, Karen," he called.
"Happy birthday!" I cried, giving him a hug. "I brought you some presents!"
"Come on, you didn't have to do that..." he was blushing.
I took things out of my bag. "Here's some wine..." I said, and then my fingers found the bracelet. "...and a silly charm bracelet." I handed it to him. "They say it brings good luck. So...ummm...well, wear it!"
He grinned and slipped it onto his wrist. "Good luck, huh?"
I nodded. "It...should help with the weather. You know, so you can keep the animals outside..."
"Thanks a lot. I'm so glad to get a gift I can actually use!" He took a piece of cake from his bag and handed it to me. "Here, I meant to bring you that. Elli made me a birthday cake." I took it. Chocolate. Why'd it have to be chocolate cake? She was really going after him, wasn't she?
If he knew what I was thinking, and I doubted it, he didn't show it. "Maria brought me a painting, and Popuri came over with some potpourri for my room, and Cliff brought me some fish and the horn of some weird animal he found when he was adventuring or something like that, but this is the first gift that I really needed," he continued.
"Well...I gotta get back to work," I said. "Dad'll be mad that I took off."
"Here, I'll help," he offered, and we started back together.
My father stormed out. I staggered, my shaking fingers releasing the mug. The wine spilled onto the floor, running in a bloodred puddle and seeping into the wooden floorboards. I sank to my knees, the cool liquid running up against my skin. Laughter echoed in the empty bar, and I realized it was mine.
"Umm...stupid..." I whispered. A loud yawn broke out of my throat. I wanted to lie down on the floor and go to sleep.
Sleep. Warm, happy dreams with the ocean and no one yelling...
"Karen. Karen. Are you okay?" A brown hand waving in front of my face. "Karen? It's me, Kai."
"Whaaa-aat?" I dragged up to my feet. "Stupid."
"You're drunk," he murmured, like he couldn't believe it.
"Yeah, well," I slurred, "we all have our faults." I slunk out.
Behind me I heard, "...I'll try hard, so..."
Wine Red no Kokoro
by flame mage
Part 14: Reaping What You've Sown
**********
I left the festival early, before the dancing was done. I was tired of trying to throw myself into it and ignore the acid glares of the two guys.
I had just gotten down the steps when I heard footsteps. "Wait up, Karen!" Jack called.
I slowed down. "Hey, Jack."
"You looked good out there." He sounded a little hurt.
"Look...I'm really sorry. I just...I wanted to dance with you, but I just can't hurt Kai's feelings, y'know?" I said. "He's a friend of mine, and he's been through a lot."
"I know." We walked in silence for a little while. "There's something I wanted to ask you."
"Shoot."
He was looking at the sky. "What do people do here when they want to go out?"
I shrugged. "It's not like there's anywhere to go on a date. The closest we get is going up to the mountains or something. Mostly you just help the person do their chores and spend time with them. Hang out at festivals."
"Yeah?" He had a weird look on his face. "So...umm...what I want to say is...I like you. A lot." Was I grinning? I felt like I had this huge stupid grin on my face.
"Would you be my girlfriend?" he asked.
"Of course!" I laughed.
He smiled. "I'm glad." We were still walking, and somehow his fingers had slipped into mine without either of us noticing. "We have the rest of the day off. Do you want to go do something?" he asked.
I looked back up toward the square. "I don't really want to go back there." I held up the stamina juice. "I still have some of this left, though. It's a pretty warm day. We could go to the beach and have another picnic or something."
"I've got some vegetables, and I know there's bread and cheese in the cupboard," he said. "Do you like pizza?"
I gaped at him. "Are you kidding? I never get pizza. I think I've had it, like, once."
"Okay, here's what we can do. We'll go back to the farm, whip up a pizza, then head down to the beach, okay?"
"Sounds good," I said.
He showed me how to toss the bread, and we got the pizza done pretty fast. Then we took the quilt off his bed ("don't worry about it," he said. "I can wash it later") and went down to the beach. We spent the evening there, just talking and swimming, and I felt like we were five years old. I wanted that night to last forever.
But all good things must come to an end, so I left around nine to get back home. The next day was the beginning of harvest season.
Fall is an easy time for everyone but the vineyard workers. There are rarely any new animals being born at the ranch, and the animals that were born in the Spring are starting to need less care. Around here, the only crop that grows in Fall is eggplant, so Jack had an easy season too. Their fortunes, and those of the fishermen and the carpenter, are made during the Spring and Summer. Fall is when the final preparations for a barren winter are made. The mountains are crowded with people fighting over mushrooms and the last of the herbs to stock their freezers with or sell.
But I don't leave the vineyard much from the day after the Harvest Festival until the end of Fall, because that's the season we're out in the grapevines. The grapes have to be harvested, prepared, and then put in barrels to age.
That morning, we were out at six AM. For the first few hours, we talked a lot, but after that no one said anything much. Even on a cool Fall day, working in the vineyard is hot, tiring work, and when the sun comes, talking is too much effort, especially with a wooden barrel perched on your hip.
We took an hour for lunch break--usually some bread and a little cake for energy. Sometimes Ann or Cliff would bring some eggs or milk for us, and when Jack figured out the routine, he'd come by with eggplant or mushrooms from the mountains. Then we'd go back to work until sunset. When the sun went down, I dragged myself down to the the river to get the sweat and dust off myself. Then I went to the bar, where Duke had some dinner--more cake and usually some meat--waiting for me. In between waiting the tables, I had the stuff I needed to make stamina juice for the next day set up in the back. I worked until midnight, then went home and fell into bed for six hours of sleep before I had to get up and do it all again.
It sounds tough, and I'm not gonna lie: it is a brutal schedule. And don't think that we didn't complain--for weeks all Kai and I could do was moan about it all. But like anything else, I guess, we fell into the routine, and after that it wasn't quite as bad. And people were pretty helpful, too. Ann came for a few hours on Thursdays to help, usually dragging Cliff with her. Ann's a very active person, but she's strong, and she can focus when she needs to. Cliff already knew the work, and he did it without complaining, so he was a good person to help. Jack came by every day to deliver the things for lunch, and he usually stayed for an hour or two to help with the harvesting. I could feel the tension between him and Kai.
"Karen?" my dad asked sharply one day when Jack left.
"Yeah? What is it, Dad?" I asked without turning around. I could feel this coming.
"The old man's grandson, Jack...he's been hanging around here a lot lately." I saw Kai's back stiffen from where he was bent over working. He kept working, but the pace slowed almost imperceptibly. No way was I dumb enough to think he wasn't listening.
"I hadn't noticed." Kept the sarcasm out of my voice that time.
"Why is he spending so much time around you?"
I shrugged. "He likes girls with a perpetual layer of dust covering their hair?"
"Karen!" Dad snapped sharply.
I wanted to explain that we were going out, but I didn't want to have to see the look on Kai's face. So I said nothing. Eventually Dad grunted and went back to work.
We were a week and a half in when things started moving again. Mom and Dad had gone inside, and Kai and I were putting everything away for tomorrow before going off to wash up.
"Karen..." Kai began, "I never see you anymore."
"You've been spending twelve hours a day with me for the past week and a half," I grumbled. It'd been a long day.
"Other than that," he said. "You haven't been at the vineyard much. As soon as your chores are done, you take off."
"What are you lecturing me for?" I snapped. "You're the one who has no work ethic at all."
"Yes..." He was focused on his work, scrubbing the barrel to clean it. "I've just been thinking a lot."
"About...?"
"Do...do you still want to go to the city?" he asked.
I shrugged. "I just don't know. Sometimes it's so frustrating...ask me that again when I taste the first of this wine."
He nodded and we kept working. It would be a long time before I thought about it again.
Fall twenty-fifth was Jack's birthday, and I remembered it at ten in the morning in the middle of harvesting. Damn! Well, I rationalized, I'd been working nonstop for weeks. I deserved a break, right? I took off before Dad could say anything and raced for the wine cellar. I knew I had a bottle or two of Scarlet Sonata, one of Grandma's old wines, on the rack somewhere. No need to worry about the year--every year was good when Grandma was making wine. I found a bottle, blew some of the dust off it, and went upstairs and out to the house to look throught my room.
I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I went through the chest of drawers until I found a charm bracelet and settled on it. Ann and I slept over at each other's houses a bunch, and when we had slumber parties, we usually made some popcorn and then came up with a craft or something. No TV, no Internet, no phone so we couldn't even prank-call Rick or someone, so we pretty much had to come up with things to do on our own. One time Ann had taken out some colored embroidery floss and some little charms and said that Ellen had told her how to make a good-luck charm bracelet. You wove the floss together, and on it you strung the charms, using different ones for the kind of luck you wanted. So if you wanted to find a boyfriend, you should put a lot of heart charms and little stars so he would ask you out on Starry Night. Stuff like that.
Ann put a lot of animals on hers--little chickens and cows and horses and sheep--so the farm would have good luck. I wanted to wish for the vineyard, but there weren't any grape charms or anything, so I strung a lot of suns and moons and stars on it to wish for good weather so the grapes wouldn't get waterlogged.
Farmers needed good weather, too, for the animals. I picked the bracelet up and set off for the farm.
Jack was just finishing up the eggplant-watering stage of farm work when I got there. He came over when he saw me. "Hey, Karen," he called.
"Happy birthday!" I cried, giving him a hug. "I brought you some presents!"
"Come on, you didn't have to do that..." he was blushing.
I took things out of my bag. "Here's some wine..." I said, and then my fingers found the bracelet. "...and a silly charm bracelet." I handed it to him. "They say it brings good luck. So...ummm...well, wear it!"
He grinned and slipped it onto his wrist. "Good luck, huh?"
I nodded. "It...should help with the weather. You know, so you can keep the animals outside..."
"Thanks a lot. I'm so glad to get a gift I can actually use!" He took a piece of cake from his bag and handed it to me. "Here, I meant to bring you that. Elli made me a birthday cake." I took it. Chocolate. Why'd it have to be chocolate cake? She was really going after him, wasn't she?
If he knew what I was thinking, and I doubted it, he didn't show it. "Maria brought me a painting, and Popuri came over with some potpourri for my room, and Cliff brought me some fish and the horn of some weird animal he found when he was adventuring or something like that, but this is the first gift that I really needed," he continued.
"Well...I gotta get back to work," I said. "Dad'll be mad that I took off."
"Here, I'll help," he offered, and we started back together.
My father stormed out. I staggered, my shaking fingers releasing the mug. The wine spilled onto the floor, running in a bloodred puddle and seeping into the wooden floorboards. I sank to my knees, the cool liquid running up against my skin. Laughter echoed in the empty bar, and I realized it was mine.
"Umm...stupid..." I whispered. A loud yawn broke out of my throat. I wanted to lie down on the floor and go to sleep.
Sleep. Warm, happy dreams with the ocean and no one yelling...
"Karen. Karen. Are you okay?" A brown hand waving in front of my face. "Karen? It's me, Kai."
"Whaaa-aat?" I dragged up to my feet. "Stupid."
"You're drunk," he murmured, like he couldn't believe it.
"Yeah, well," I slurred, "we all have our faults." I slunk out.
Behind me I heard, "...I'll try hard, so..."