Rilla: I don't own anything Harvest Moon; I just thought this silly plot up.
This Ain't a Dream.
It was cold and rainy as Jake Shaw stood outside the Inn, with his wife and child.
The last three years all lead up to this day, it had been in the back of his mind every day, since he moved to the small village four years ago to the day. He had come to town with a goal, to make and live a life here and he had. But even while he courted and married Popuri, thoughts of failure were frequent uninvited guests in his head. Even after their two children were born, doubts still lingered. Jake couldn't explain why, everything had been perfect, everything! Perfect until last fall, when they had a bad harvest and then his oldest, Kevin, came down with a fever and even though Jake & Popuri tried everything, he didn't make it to his third birthday. In the family's grief, Jake sold all their livestock; hope to reduce the stress on his wife.
And they would have made it out fine, with the profit from their green house, but alas it was struck down in a storm. The Farm's total income of that entire year was equal to that of his first two months running the farm. The village found it to be the Shaw's best interest, if they left all their sorrow in the past and moved on. Popuri and Cindy, if need be, would be taken care of until Jake found suitable lodgings for them.
Jake sat at the Inn with his wife and daughter, one last meal together before they left. Popuri had convinced him that she should go too, leaving 18-month-old Cindy under her aunt Karen and uncle Rick's watchful eyes, Lillia died a few weeks after Cindy's birth. He looked down at the menu, but found he couldn't read it, due to the stress and tears. Not that it mattered, he knew what he wanted A BLT with the L&T on the side, Kevin's favorite.
After their cheerless meal, the Shaws said their last few goodbyes. Before taking Cindy to his in-laws, Jake had to say goodbye to his friends at the Inn. Jake spoke to Ann first, but as the words came out, a sudden urge of importance pressed on his heart, he had to tell her something important.
"Ann,I..I" But as he spoke, the room seemed to spin and he blacked out.
"ANN!" Jake yelled as he awoke to darkness. Ann woke to Jake covering her face with kisses.
"Hugm? Jake, Dear whats wrong?" Ann Shaw asked her husband, waking up.
"Ann, I had the most terrifying dream ever! I was married to Popuri, my son died and I was kicked out of town for good!" He told her. "I couldn't even read!"
"You'll be ok Jake, I'm here." She said, wrapping her arms around him, and than laughed. "Do you remember three years ago? The night before the inspection and judgment, I had a dream too. You and Karen were married with two sets of twins, the town was giving you the boot, but Karen had big plans, She ended up teaching flamingo dancing and you were a stay at home dad! Ain't that a hoot!" They both had a good laugh and then he could help adding.
" Maybe it wasn't so much worry, as it was the carrots and peanut butter I had before I went to bed, I ate the strangest things when I was carrying Stacy, I didn't have any dreams with Jack or the others.
"Whatever it was," Jake said, kissing her hair. "They don't matter. They are just dreams, not real. You are real Ann."
And with that, they both drifted back to sleep, dreaming real dreams.
AN: Didn't mean to bash anyone, this just popped into my head one night and I got myself up and wrote it out.