Hello Forget-Me-Not Valley
Prelude to The Beginning
When the earth calls you must answer and when there is an opportunity for a better life you must take it without doubts. I was unsure of my fathers words when I first set out on my own, thinking they had no relevance to me. I had received no calls from the earth it seemed and the world went on as it always had. I wasn't unhappy, but now looking back I was aimless. I was unsure of my life's direction, phasing through different employment and towns, seeking said employment. Settling was never an option as the work was always changing with the seasons.
When Takakura found me I was in the city barely scraping by. The work I had relied on had enough hands and turned me away. This same situation seemed to repeat itself at the next few farms and stores on the way to the city. If I couldn't find work in the country I should in the city I thought determined to stave off any impending poverty. However the city was indifferent to my needs and seemed fully employed, unable to accept even one more able bodied man. Takakura approached me as I ate a small breakfast in the cheap inn that housed me. He was a close friend of my father's and knew him as a mentor, and in some instances as he would later tell me, like an older brother. He learned alot about working the land from my father during their time together in Forget-Me-Not Valley. He then told me about the land in the valley that my father had left behind. I was unaware that my father had such a claim during our life together. For most of my childhood we lived in a town called Mineral Town and my father worked with shipments and kept books for the local farms. We lived comfortably with our neighbors, working with them to thrive. Father would speak about the valley perhaps once a year on the anniversary of my mothers death since that is where they met and wed. I could tell that the memories pained him but still brought him joy, outweighing all the sadness. He hardly mentioned his life in the valley other than meeting and marrying my mother. They left the valley when they wed for a new life as my father was already a success. Takakura explained that upon my fathers departure he had left the land to Takakura to care for until the day his children would need it.
At that moment I could hear my father's words echoing in my mind. After laying him to rest I set out on my own, with a modest education and a basic understanding of local crops. I was determined to succeed as he had and start my life. Could it be that he sees my life, my struggles, my dreams. Could he be watching even now, extending a grace to his lost son, a destiny. I knew how to work the land from my years being surrounded by ranchers and farmhands and I would have had my own by now if not for my current lifestyle. From one town to the next, no connections and just a month's wages to make it to the next town, the next job. I was sure that my father never wanted me to feel so directionless, or failing to make ends meet. He must have thought I needed to decide what my own life would be like, how I would face adversity. Otherwise he would have pushed the land's existence on me sooner, applying pressure to insure I had a future. My fathers parting gift to me was priceless and simple. He gave me the opportunity to choose, at least it seems that way, a gift I feel I have exhausted. My choices thus far have battered my confidence and once again my father seemed to be offering a gift in the form of a choice. Answer the call of the earth, and claim your birthright or continue your wanderings alone. The choice was mine alone to make. Heeding to the latter half of my fathers words I took this as an opportunity, even as a last chance. I still had my doubts as to how I might fare as a landowner, raising crops and livestock alone as my experience was still limited. Simultaneously I certainly had no doubt that whatever new challenges I faced from this choice, I would try my best to overcome. I asked Takakura if I could accompany him back to Forget-Me-Not Valley to see my fathers land. He looked me in the eye, smiled, and said yes. We left for the valley that very moment.
