A Dream. A Hope. A Scar. A Mission
Chapter 3: So Impossible
The day after the horse races had started like any other day. I tended to the crops with Sparky and talked to Biff. But around 9AM, a bedraggled Cliff entered the yard. He fell onto his knees near my shipping crate with a glassy look on his eyes. My assumption from the day before was right. He hadn't eaten in days!
" Cliff! Hold On!" I yelled to him. I grabbed the nearest thing to me- an almost ripe potato- and ran over to Cliff.
" Here, eat this Cliff!" I said as I tried to cradle him from falling.
" Ugh, thanks Jack" Cliff muttered as he gobbled down the potato
"You can crash here for awhile. Don't worry about it" I said, trying to comfort him.
" Nah, I think I'm good." Cliff said, but I knew better
" At least stay for today and eat with me. Then I'll know you won't go and die or anything stupid like that" I reasoned.
For the rest of the day I kept to the routine. Cliff would occaisonaly help me, but he wasn't in the greatest shape at the moment. By nightfall Cliff was preparing to leave when he brought up a strange topic.
" Hey, have you heard about that Flower Festival thing going on the 23rd?" Cliff asked me. It sounded as if he didn't know exactly what he was talking about himself.
" Nah, whats that all about?" I asked.
" Its this thing where the 'King' guy from the last festival dances with a 'Queen' that the village votes on" Cliff informed me. " They have to dance together and all that rot. Get where I'm going with this?"
" Umm.. No. No I don't" I said, slightly baffled.
" We're going to vote for Karen! She hates this kind of stuff in public! And I know you saw the king. He's the old potion shop dealer! I figured it would be good for a laugh. You game?" Cliff had a maniacal look on his face.
I just smirked at the crazy idea. " I don't think it would be that hard, except finding other people to vote on it. I know Ann has a cousin that runs the tool shop and all, and then there's Harris the mail man. I'm just not seeing how enough people could vote on it though."
" We could always rig' it" Cliff suggested " Believe me Jack, she
deserves it."
" I never said she didn't Cliff. You just work your magic and I'll try to make this look as legit as possible."
" Sounds cool bro, check you later!" And with that Cliff was out the door.
I was wondering if Karen really deserved this, but it was all in fun. Besides, she made me look like an idiot yesterday. She probably has it coming anyways.
...
Over the next few days I tried to persuade as many people as possible. Ann's cousin, Rick, turned out to support it all the way. More then once did he visit his uncle's house when Karen was over with Ann and some not-nice feelings erupted. Harris the mail man was up for it too, which made me happy. He always stopped and talked to me when he dropped off the mail. The person I shouldn't have asked though was the vineyard worker named Kai. He got all defensive, saying that it was against 'Miss Karen's wishes'. I thought he was a little creepy, but there is some good in him.
This was really a good experience in the long run though. I finally got the ambition to get out of the house and meet some people. In fact, it was so good that I actually had some friends now. Sure, I knew the mayor and his wife and daughter Maria, Basil and Lillia, the shop keeps of the seed and flower store, and Jeff and Elli, the bakers at Granny's bakery. But now I had friends that were my own age. Tonight was especially important because it was the 22nd, the night before the flower festival. Cliff, Rick, and Harris were going to meet me just outside of town for a night at the Inn to celebrate our victory.
Just as we said so, we met outside of town and made our way towards the Inn. I waved to Granny sitting in her rocking chair as the sun slowly fell in the sky. It seemed they were just opening when we reached the Inn. We strolled in and sat at the nearest table and ordered a couple of rounds to sip while we talked about the master plan.
" 'Aight guys, everyone do their parts?" Cliff questioned over our drinks.
" You know I did" Rick said with a little smirk.
" You brought the letter right Harris?" Cliff sounded almost demanding
" Course I did" Harris said with some cheer in his voice.
" Jack, how many people did you get to vote for Karen?" Cliff commanded again.
" About 15, all and all" I replied
" Ok, cool. Karen should be showing up soon so we can get this thing going" Cliff announced.
" You invited her here?" I said in bewilderment.
" She works here Farmer John" Cliff said sarcastically.
Almost like magic the door opened and in stepped Karen. She shot one glance at our table and gave a look like "Ugh, why me?" After her denouncing glance she just walked back behind the counter and talked to the bar tender for awhile.
" Now this is where it all comes together" Cliff announced, sounding victorius.
Cliff and Rick walked up to Karen and started a conversation that sounded like the flower festival. I couldn't hear them very well, but Karen went behind the counter and pulled up a drink for each of them, then walked back to her post in the middle of the room while Cliff and Rick slugged away at the bar. Cliff shot Harris a look that told him to stand up and grab something out of his mail bag he always had with him. Harris handed the letter as it appeared to be to Karen and came and sat back down, looking nervously to Cliff and Rick. Cliff slugged down the last of his barley malt and slammed the mug on the bar. Then he and Rick rushed back over the table to take their seats, but only for a moment.
" Umm. we gotta' go guys" Cliff said in a nervous tone.
" Yeah, I wouldn't want to be around here when she opens that letter." Rick sounded nervous too.
I took from their experience and left with the three of them post- haste. We weren't more than twenty feet out of the Inn when we heard something along the lines of:
"AUGH!!!" in a voice that sounded almost like Karen.
" Ha ha! We did it guys!" Cliff celebrated, dancing up and down in the street.
" Nice trick you pulled there Cliff. Smooth move!" Rick seemed to be doing his own happy dance.
" What'd you guys think of how I delivered the letter? I thought it was pretty good. I told her: Don't take this too bad or anything!" Harris sounded happy, which was strange. His voice was usually dull and boring.
I just laughed to myself as we split our separate ways and went home.
...
The next day I was in a rush to do my chores so I could get to the square. Even if Karen wasn't going to be the 'Queen', it would be a pretty interesting day anyways.
When I got to the square everyone was there except the mayor's daughter Maria, Granny's Grandaughter Elli, Popuri, Ann, and Karen. I stood by Cliff and waited for the best gag I've seen in awhile. Cliff and I just kept nudging eachother in the ribs when the crowd stopped talking. The mayor gave a nice long speech about the relevance of this festival, but I really didn't care.
Once the mayor was done I saw Elli and Maria walk up the main stairs to the square with Popuri and Ann following suite behind them, and Karen stuck in the middle of them wearing the funniest dress made of flowers I had ever seen. She did not look happy though, that was for sure. Cliff and I broke out in laughter. Karen unfortunately saw us and gave sent a dark glare our way that could turn a black bear white with fear. But that fear subsided as the first dance began. Karen was coupled with the Potion Shop Master, which she obviously didn't agree with either.
I figured to ask Ann for a dance, or else this festival would be pretty boring. Before long the first dance was underway and I noticed that Ann wasn't the greatest dancer in the world. I didn't really mind, but it was there. Sort of like those pages in books that are curled over and, as hard as your try, you can't put them back in their original position.
After a few minutes the first dance was over and Ann's mind was obviously other places. She was such a scatter brain sometimes, but I found it humorous.
" Who's that over there Jack?" Ann asked as she pointed to Cliff.
" That's Cliff. He's a good guy. Why don't you do me a favor and ask him to dance?" I asked. I felt like being a little devious today. Cliff said he wasn't " the dancing type," so that was all the more reason to get Ann to dance with him.
" You don't have to ask me to do it" Ann said with a smirk on her face.
I amused myself with the sight. Ann first trotted over like always and asked Cliff to dance. Obviously he said no because Ann grabbed onto his wrist and started to pull him towards the dance area, but Cliff wouldn't budge. Finally Ann drug him into the dance area where he reluctantly started moving to the music.
I saw that Karen was standing alone by the fountain, so I figured I would do either something really funny or really stupid. I'm not sure which would be which in this case.
" Hey Karen" I began as I walked up to her. " Will you dance with me for this song?"
Karen just glared at me with a look that said " Do you think I'm stupid?" She just reared her foot back and the next thing I knew I was on the ground rubbing my shin for dear life.
" You could have been a little nicer about it!" I told Karen as she turned around and began to walk the other way.
She stopped, and not looking back told me " I don't really understand how, but this is your fault. Thanks Jack. Thanks for being impossible!" Karen sarcasticly shot at me. " You know, I needed that ankle!" I shouted back at her, but she didn't seem to care.
I figured that was enough, so I just packed up my stuff and prepared to go home.
...
With the closing days of Spring I finished off my last load of crops for the season. This linned my pockets well enough that I was able to invest in a chicken, which I planned to use to make more chickens. I could feel the days getting warmer as of late, and I knew summer was going to start rolling around soon. The Spring crops couldn't hold up very well to the warmer temperture, which made it a little more difficult to get around doing my daily things. I planned on taking a trip up to Moon Mountain on the last day of Spring after my chores were done, which didn't take long with all the crops taken off.
The day in the mountains was quite enjoyable. I re-learned how to fish from Greg, which added a little flavor to my meals. I mingled with the carpenters and planned in the long term to get a kitchen and a bathroom added onto my house.
It was a peacful stroll back until I heard a familiar scream from someone I didn't want to hear scream. I didn't even want to see her face.
"AUGH!!! I can't believe you Dad! Just let me do what I want!" came the familiar scream of Karen. I climbed up the nearby rocky path to see a vineyard that was oddly familiar. A lot about Karen was oddly familiar, and that disturbed me. Karen just came storming off down the path, and I was in her way. I had to practically jump out of her way to save my life.
I looked down the road to see who her father was, and I didn't like the sight. A large, gruff man who could probably beat the tar out of me. He gave me a glance and walked back into his house.
I wasn't really sure now who I wanted to steer clear of more, Grey or Karen's Dad. Neither seemed very happy with me, so I just decided to stay away from both houses.
...
Author's Note: Yes, the title does make a refrence to Dashboard Confessional's album "A Mark. A Mission. A Brand. A Scar." Originally I was going to call it " The Ideal Harvest Moon 64 Fan Fiction," but I figured that was controversial. My chapters are all songs of some sort. Two of the bands I used song titles as chapters for are modern(one is dashboard confessional, as you pointed out.) The other four are from the 80s. I am really enjoying writing this for your information, and am very glad that you have reviewed it. I tried to throw in some dry humor to spice this story up a little. Just tell me what you think and everything will be cool.
Chapter 3: So Impossible
The day after the horse races had started like any other day. I tended to the crops with Sparky and talked to Biff. But around 9AM, a bedraggled Cliff entered the yard. He fell onto his knees near my shipping crate with a glassy look on his eyes. My assumption from the day before was right. He hadn't eaten in days!
" Cliff! Hold On!" I yelled to him. I grabbed the nearest thing to me- an almost ripe potato- and ran over to Cliff.
" Here, eat this Cliff!" I said as I tried to cradle him from falling.
" Ugh, thanks Jack" Cliff muttered as he gobbled down the potato
"You can crash here for awhile. Don't worry about it" I said, trying to comfort him.
" Nah, I think I'm good." Cliff said, but I knew better
" At least stay for today and eat with me. Then I'll know you won't go and die or anything stupid like that" I reasoned.
For the rest of the day I kept to the routine. Cliff would occaisonaly help me, but he wasn't in the greatest shape at the moment. By nightfall Cliff was preparing to leave when he brought up a strange topic.
" Hey, have you heard about that Flower Festival thing going on the 23rd?" Cliff asked me. It sounded as if he didn't know exactly what he was talking about himself.
" Nah, whats that all about?" I asked.
" Its this thing where the 'King' guy from the last festival dances with a 'Queen' that the village votes on" Cliff informed me. " They have to dance together and all that rot. Get where I'm going with this?"
" Umm.. No. No I don't" I said, slightly baffled.
" We're going to vote for Karen! She hates this kind of stuff in public! And I know you saw the king. He's the old potion shop dealer! I figured it would be good for a laugh. You game?" Cliff had a maniacal look on his face.
I just smirked at the crazy idea. " I don't think it would be that hard, except finding other people to vote on it. I know Ann has a cousin that runs the tool shop and all, and then there's Harris the mail man. I'm just not seeing how enough people could vote on it though."
" We could always rig' it" Cliff suggested " Believe me Jack, she
deserves it."
" I never said she didn't Cliff. You just work your magic and I'll try to make this look as legit as possible."
" Sounds cool bro, check you later!" And with that Cliff was out the door.
I was wondering if Karen really deserved this, but it was all in fun. Besides, she made me look like an idiot yesterday. She probably has it coming anyways.
...
Over the next few days I tried to persuade as many people as possible. Ann's cousin, Rick, turned out to support it all the way. More then once did he visit his uncle's house when Karen was over with Ann and some not-nice feelings erupted. Harris the mail man was up for it too, which made me happy. He always stopped and talked to me when he dropped off the mail. The person I shouldn't have asked though was the vineyard worker named Kai. He got all defensive, saying that it was against 'Miss Karen's wishes'. I thought he was a little creepy, but there is some good in him.
This was really a good experience in the long run though. I finally got the ambition to get out of the house and meet some people. In fact, it was so good that I actually had some friends now. Sure, I knew the mayor and his wife and daughter Maria, Basil and Lillia, the shop keeps of the seed and flower store, and Jeff and Elli, the bakers at Granny's bakery. But now I had friends that were my own age. Tonight was especially important because it was the 22nd, the night before the flower festival. Cliff, Rick, and Harris were going to meet me just outside of town for a night at the Inn to celebrate our victory.
Just as we said so, we met outside of town and made our way towards the Inn. I waved to Granny sitting in her rocking chair as the sun slowly fell in the sky. It seemed they were just opening when we reached the Inn. We strolled in and sat at the nearest table and ordered a couple of rounds to sip while we talked about the master plan.
" 'Aight guys, everyone do their parts?" Cliff questioned over our drinks.
" You know I did" Rick said with a little smirk.
" You brought the letter right Harris?" Cliff sounded almost demanding
" Course I did" Harris said with some cheer in his voice.
" Jack, how many people did you get to vote for Karen?" Cliff commanded again.
" About 15, all and all" I replied
" Ok, cool. Karen should be showing up soon so we can get this thing going" Cliff announced.
" You invited her here?" I said in bewilderment.
" She works here Farmer John" Cliff said sarcastically.
Almost like magic the door opened and in stepped Karen. She shot one glance at our table and gave a look like "Ugh, why me?" After her denouncing glance she just walked back behind the counter and talked to the bar tender for awhile.
" Now this is where it all comes together" Cliff announced, sounding victorius.
Cliff and Rick walked up to Karen and started a conversation that sounded like the flower festival. I couldn't hear them very well, but Karen went behind the counter and pulled up a drink for each of them, then walked back to her post in the middle of the room while Cliff and Rick slugged away at the bar. Cliff shot Harris a look that told him to stand up and grab something out of his mail bag he always had with him. Harris handed the letter as it appeared to be to Karen and came and sat back down, looking nervously to Cliff and Rick. Cliff slugged down the last of his barley malt and slammed the mug on the bar. Then he and Rick rushed back over the table to take their seats, but only for a moment.
" Umm. we gotta' go guys" Cliff said in a nervous tone.
" Yeah, I wouldn't want to be around here when she opens that letter." Rick sounded nervous too.
I took from their experience and left with the three of them post- haste. We weren't more than twenty feet out of the Inn when we heard something along the lines of:
"AUGH!!!" in a voice that sounded almost like Karen.
" Ha ha! We did it guys!" Cliff celebrated, dancing up and down in the street.
" Nice trick you pulled there Cliff. Smooth move!" Rick seemed to be doing his own happy dance.
" What'd you guys think of how I delivered the letter? I thought it was pretty good. I told her: Don't take this too bad or anything!" Harris sounded happy, which was strange. His voice was usually dull and boring.
I just laughed to myself as we split our separate ways and went home.
...
The next day I was in a rush to do my chores so I could get to the square. Even if Karen wasn't going to be the 'Queen', it would be a pretty interesting day anyways.
When I got to the square everyone was there except the mayor's daughter Maria, Granny's Grandaughter Elli, Popuri, Ann, and Karen. I stood by Cliff and waited for the best gag I've seen in awhile. Cliff and I just kept nudging eachother in the ribs when the crowd stopped talking. The mayor gave a nice long speech about the relevance of this festival, but I really didn't care.
Once the mayor was done I saw Elli and Maria walk up the main stairs to the square with Popuri and Ann following suite behind them, and Karen stuck in the middle of them wearing the funniest dress made of flowers I had ever seen. She did not look happy though, that was for sure. Cliff and I broke out in laughter. Karen unfortunately saw us and gave sent a dark glare our way that could turn a black bear white with fear. But that fear subsided as the first dance began. Karen was coupled with the Potion Shop Master, which she obviously didn't agree with either.
I figured to ask Ann for a dance, or else this festival would be pretty boring. Before long the first dance was underway and I noticed that Ann wasn't the greatest dancer in the world. I didn't really mind, but it was there. Sort of like those pages in books that are curled over and, as hard as your try, you can't put them back in their original position.
After a few minutes the first dance was over and Ann's mind was obviously other places. She was such a scatter brain sometimes, but I found it humorous.
" Who's that over there Jack?" Ann asked as she pointed to Cliff.
" That's Cliff. He's a good guy. Why don't you do me a favor and ask him to dance?" I asked. I felt like being a little devious today. Cliff said he wasn't " the dancing type," so that was all the more reason to get Ann to dance with him.
" You don't have to ask me to do it" Ann said with a smirk on her face.
I amused myself with the sight. Ann first trotted over like always and asked Cliff to dance. Obviously he said no because Ann grabbed onto his wrist and started to pull him towards the dance area, but Cliff wouldn't budge. Finally Ann drug him into the dance area where he reluctantly started moving to the music.
I saw that Karen was standing alone by the fountain, so I figured I would do either something really funny or really stupid. I'm not sure which would be which in this case.
" Hey Karen" I began as I walked up to her. " Will you dance with me for this song?"
Karen just glared at me with a look that said " Do you think I'm stupid?" She just reared her foot back and the next thing I knew I was on the ground rubbing my shin for dear life.
" You could have been a little nicer about it!" I told Karen as she turned around and began to walk the other way.
She stopped, and not looking back told me " I don't really understand how, but this is your fault. Thanks Jack. Thanks for being impossible!" Karen sarcasticly shot at me. " You know, I needed that ankle!" I shouted back at her, but she didn't seem to care.
I figured that was enough, so I just packed up my stuff and prepared to go home.
...
With the closing days of Spring I finished off my last load of crops for the season. This linned my pockets well enough that I was able to invest in a chicken, which I planned to use to make more chickens. I could feel the days getting warmer as of late, and I knew summer was going to start rolling around soon. The Spring crops couldn't hold up very well to the warmer temperture, which made it a little more difficult to get around doing my daily things. I planned on taking a trip up to Moon Mountain on the last day of Spring after my chores were done, which didn't take long with all the crops taken off.
The day in the mountains was quite enjoyable. I re-learned how to fish from Greg, which added a little flavor to my meals. I mingled with the carpenters and planned in the long term to get a kitchen and a bathroom added onto my house.
It was a peacful stroll back until I heard a familiar scream from someone I didn't want to hear scream. I didn't even want to see her face.
"AUGH!!! I can't believe you Dad! Just let me do what I want!" came the familiar scream of Karen. I climbed up the nearby rocky path to see a vineyard that was oddly familiar. A lot about Karen was oddly familiar, and that disturbed me. Karen just came storming off down the path, and I was in her way. I had to practically jump out of her way to save my life.
I looked down the road to see who her father was, and I didn't like the sight. A large, gruff man who could probably beat the tar out of me. He gave me a glance and walked back into his house.
I wasn't really sure now who I wanted to steer clear of more, Grey or Karen's Dad. Neither seemed very happy with me, so I just decided to stay away from both houses.
...
Author's Note: Yes, the title does make a refrence to Dashboard Confessional's album "A Mark. A Mission. A Brand. A Scar." Originally I was going to call it " The Ideal Harvest Moon 64 Fan Fiction," but I figured that was controversial. My chapters are all songs of some sort. Two of the bands I used song titles as chapters for are modern(one is dashboard confessional, as you pointed out.) The other four are from the 80s. I am really enjoying writing this for your information, and am very glad that you have reviewed it. I tried to throw in some dry humor to spice this story up a little. Just tell me what you think and everything will be cool.