Chapter 3, Meet Your Friends, Your Foes.
"Thank you Goddess!" Jack appreciated the fact that such a highly respected figure just offered him breakfast and helped him with his new life.
"Don't mention it! I really got to go now!" Another poof, she disappeared.
"Talk about a surprise," Jack mumbled as he stuffed his map back into his rucksack and headed back towards the town, munching the holy sandwiches he was given.
By the time Jack returned to his farm, it was already 10:30 am. Grabbing his small campus knapsack, he filled a bottle of water from the kitchen sink. He put his bottle of water in his bag, took his wallet, and headed towards town.
On his way, he passed by the Poultry Farm. He glanced over and saw a blonde, nerdy-looking man with Popuri. He seemed frustrated with her.
"Popuri, how many times do I have to tell you? You have to clean the chicken feeding bin every single day before you pour in the feed in the morning! What were you thinking? The chickens can get so very sick if you do not be careful! My! No wonder father doesn't trust you! I don't either!" The man shouted, pushing his glasses up so it stays on his nose.
"Rick, I'm sorry… I totally forgot." Popuri said, looking down onto the ground.
"Well, sorry doesn't cut it! You are talking about lives of animals here! We depend on them for their products and they depend on us to take care of them. Why do you think our farm is so successful? It is because of all the hard work Mom and Dad put into the farm. It is how well you treat your animals that give you the great resulting products. Jeez, Popuri!"
"RICK, I said I'm sorry!" Popuri burst into tears and ran down the street, bumping into Jack. Popuri gazed up with her watery eyes at Jack, she started sobbing.
"Popuri, it's okay. Don't worry about it. I'm sure next time you won't forget to do so. I know you try hard." Jack put his arm around Popuri, patting her on the back softly until the rhythm of her crying slowed down.
"Hey Jack. I'm Rick. I am so sorry you had to see that. Popuri is just being her childish immature self… she's always getting into trouble! I have told her many times before but she keeps forgetting. I'll go inside the chicken coop to take the chickens out now. I'll see you two later." Rick turned around, "Remember Popuri, CLEAN THE FEEDING BOX FIRST!"
"Oh…Oh…Okay Rick, sniff" Popuri wiped her tears away with her sleeve, "I will… I will… remember next time! Damn Rick, always yelling at me. Isn't he such a meanie, Jack?"
"Your brother just cares so much about you Popuri, that's why! If he didn't care about you, he wouldn't even tell you if you've done something wrong." Jack let go of Popuri, yet she still hung on tightly to his overalls.
"Thanks so much Jack!" Popuri hopped on one foot, gave Jack a hug, and skipped back to her house. "I'll see you later Jack. Thanks so much!"
Jack resumed his trip to the grocery store. The store wasn't gigantic but at a comfortable size. The windows were painted with pictures of bread and soup bowls. On top of the door was a sign that read, "Grocery Store, All Your Basic Needs!" Jack turned the doorknob and entered.
The grocery store was one-roomed. The floor was wooden and spotless. The walls were painting bright colors of yellow and orange. On the far right corner, a black haired man with a mustache believed to be the store owner, sat by the cashier. Two long side counters full of foods and goods stacked neatly. In the center of the room was a box full of seeds of all sorts.
"Hi, how may I help you? You must be Jack." A pretty-faced blonde girl with huge green eyes asked Jack. "My name is Karen."
"Nice to meet you Karen! I need a few things from here. First, I need some food for my fridge. Do you guys have any Campbell's Tomato Soup?" Jack glanced around the room.
"Sorry? What? We just have the basic grain products. We don't have much of those city brand products. If you want Tomato Soup, you can get some at the Inn. Anything else you want?"
"Oh alright then, I'll take a bag of bread then. If you can, throw in a jar of peanut butter, two bags of pasta, and some tomato paste. Oh yeah, also, do you have any Oero Ice cream Bars? That'll last me a week I hope!"
"What? First of all Jack, bread comes in long sticks. I presume if this is for the week, you'll need at least two sticks of bread. Peanut Butter, we do not have in stock since not many people buy it and Harris is allergic to it. Pasta does not come in bags either, it comes in bulk so take however much you need. If you are going to have pasta every night, take maybe a few kilograms to store in your house. It's spring, dried goods can be kept longer in the cupboards. Lastly, what the heck is an Oero? Ice cream, we only have in the summer. Is there anything you want, city boy?" Karen rolled her eyes and went down the two counters on the sides to get the groceries Jack wanted.
"Karen?"
"Yes?"
"Do you have any seeds?"
For several weeks, Jack worked hard on his farm and it has grown tremendously. Parts of the field started to look like an actual farm. The cucumbers grew beautifully and the turnips were almost ready to be harvested. Every morning, Jack hung out with both Ann and Popuri at the Harvest Goddess Spring. Some days he stayed behind to talk to the Goddess, other days, he walked Popuri and Ann home.
Pretty soon, a season went by. Jack was getting fairly used to the life as a farmer, and even made some profits.
Chickadee competed in the Chicken Festival at the beginning of the Summer and won. Doughnut grew up quickly as he ran faster. Second week into the summer, Bailey rewarded Jack with a pony of his own that was abandoned by a violent owner. Jack spent most of the first two weeks of the summer tending the animals and growing new crops on the fields. On the seventeenth of the Summer, Jack was invited to Ann's birthday party held at the Inn.
That morning, Jack woke up extra early and with the help of the Harvest Sprites, Chef and Hoggy, he was able to finish all his farm work by eight o'clock in the morning. The rest of the morning, he spent his time up on Mother's Hill, picking out beautiful blooming Pink Cat Flowers. In the afternoon, he made a trip to the Grocery Store to get the necklace he ordered over the phone for Ann a week ago wrapped. After that, he returned home, dressed himself in a nice blue clean work shirt with a black tie, a pair of navy jeans and to top it all off, a pair of black dress shoes. He never thought he cared so much about his appearance.
He knocked on the door of the Inn. Harris came and opened the door, he too, was dressed up. Eying at Jack, Harris greeted him coldly, "Hullo Jack, didn't know you were coming."
Ann rushed to the door as he heard Harris mention Jack, "Jack! I am so glad you came. I thought maybe you would be too busy with your farm work and all to even show up. I am sure glad you did show up! Come on in! Would you like something to drink?" Harris glared hard at Jack, making him feel awfully uncomfortable.
"Yeah.. Yeah… whatever… Ann, can you get me a cup of wine please? I am sure, Jack, would want a cup too. He is such a big man right? He sure can handle a bit of wine." Harris said, picking a fight with Jack.
"Jack doesn't like wine." Ann said.
"Well, maybe Jack is just a chicken. BUKA! BUKA!" Harris laughed out loud.
"Maybe I'll drink wine. I am no chicken." Jack said.
"Let's have a contest, who can drink more wine before passing out."
"Fine."
"Fine with me too."
"Don't… guys!" Before Ann could stop them, the two stormed off to the Inn counter and grabbed two bottles of wine.