Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon
A Handful of Carrot Seeds
Chapter 1
Atemu arrived at the farm just outside of Mineral Town. He hadn't returned here in such a long time, since he was little at least. He was on a mission; his elderly friend, the man who ran the farm when he had visited had stopped writing him letters as they had been doing for many years and he wanted to make sure he was all right. All he had brought with him was the clothes on his back, 500G and a handful of carrot seeds.
"Hey you, what are you doing here?" a voice shouted and Atemu turned around to see a stout man in red approaching him. "You're not supposed to be here!"
"I'm looking for someone who used to live here," Atemu explained gently, adjusting his cap slightly as he looked at the worn out fields, covered in weeds and stones and logs.
"The man who lived here died six months ago," the man said. "In his belongings when I found his will it said 'I leave this farm to Atemu' so I'm taking care of the farm until this Atemu person comes."
"Are you the mayor by any chance?" Atemu asked.
"Yes, I am. Would you be so kind as to give me your name?" the mayor asked.
"I'm Atemu," he
replied with a smile. "I'm the one the old man was talking about."
"Are you? Could you please explain how you met the man
who lived here?" the mayor asked and Atemu nodded.
"It's a bit of a story but I'll tell if you'll listen," Atemu said and this time the mayor nodded.
FLASH
"MAMA! PAPA!" Atemu cried out as he looked around. He couldn't find his parents anywhere and he was scared.
"Who's out there? Oh, are you lost son? Let me see; is that a phone number on your coat zipper? Well then, let's call your parents." Atemu looked up to see an elderly gentlemen smiling at him. He took the man's hand and he called Atemu's parents. When they arrived they were overjoyed.
"Oh Atemu, we were so worried about you!" His father exclaimed.
"He was worried he had lost you as well," the old man chuckled. "I'm glad I could help. What brings you out here?"
"We wanted to show our son the country this summer so we brought him out here," the mother explained.
"Well, that's a fine thing indeed. If you don't mind, you're welcome to stay here with me. I live alone and I wouldn't mind the company," the old man offered.
"Oh my, that's so nice of you," the mother said. "Hear that Atemu? Now you have a whole farm to play on!"
…
And play Atemu did. He milked cows, the old man helped him ride the horse he owned and chased chickens with sticks and even playing with the dog. He lay in the fields one day, staring up at the blue sky.
"HEY!" A loud voice startled him and he sat up to see a girl standing over him.
"What?" he asked.
"You were laying there so silently I though you were dead!" she exclaimed. "Come on, let's play!" He got up and followed after her, eager to have a friend to play with.
…
The end of summer came to fast.
"Say Atemu, would you mind exchanging addresses? I wonder if you'd mind writing an old man a letter once in a while," the old man said as Atemu prepared to leave. Atemu nodded and they exchanged their addresses.
"You're leaving already?" Atemu turned around to face his playmate. "That's too bad. Now I won't have anyone to play with!"
"Another reason to one day come back here, eh Atemu?" the old man asked with a smile. "So long then, be sure to write!"
FLASH
"So you two wrote back and forth all this time," the mayor said. "And then let me guess, he stopped writing six months ago and you began to get worried, right?"
"Yeah, we always kept up writing, almost once a week we each got a letter from the other," Atemu explained. "So anyways, did he really leave the farm to me?"
"Yes he did, do you want to take care of it? If not, I'm afraid I'll have to sell it," he said. "It's not helping the town right now…"
"I'll work here," Atemu said, "In fact, I'll get to work right now!"
"No, you better get some rest first. You just got here, didn't you?" the mayor asked and Atemu sheepishly nodded.
"Then you can start tomorrow. The old man left his tools in the box inside his house so you can use them to get you started," the mayor said and then began to walk away. "I'll come see you tomorrow and finish explaining everything." He left the farm and Atemu surveyed the scene. The fields needed to be cleaned up and seeds needed to be sown. He couldn't grow his carrots just yet so it looked like he needed to go into town tomorrow and buy some seeds. The puppy ran up to him and he scratched it behind the ears.
"Can I call you Seto?" Atemu asked and the puppy barked happily. He picked it up and it licked his face. He turned once again to face the fields. "I have my work cut out for me."
…
The mayor arrived the next morning as promised, explaining a few things and after he left a man named Zack came to tell him he would be picking up anything Atemu shipped. Once he left as well, Atemu got to work. The first thing he did was take the honey from the bees and put that to be shipped. He had to start getting money and fast, this wouldn't be a cheap restoration of this farm. He took his sickle and cut away a few of the weeds, chopped up the wood for use later with his ax and broke a few of the smaller stones with his hammer. He cleared away a small patch of land and began hoeing it. Now he needed to get some seeds.
"Good morning!" A cheery voice greeted him and he turned around to see a man wearing fancy clothes.
"Hello," Atemu said politely.
"So you're the new guy, eh?" he asked. "My name is Duke, I run the local winery. So you're going to take care of this farm then?"
"That's what I'm going to try to do. I really have my work cut out for me," Atemu said. "But I've always worked hard so it's really no problem."
"Listen, I have an invitation for you. Come and drink with me tonight at the inn, my treat!" He beamed a smile and Atemu took a step back. Drinking? He had never been much on the drinking aspect, even if he was in his twenties.
"Um…sure, that sounds good!" he said, not wanting to insult Duke. He would have to make friends in this village if he ever wanted to really be profitable and perhaps find someone to marry.
"Good, good, I'll expect you around nine!" Duke said and walked off the farm. Atemu looked at Seto, who was lying by his feet.
"I don't know if that was the right thing to do. I don't do well with alcohol," he said and Seto whined.
…
Atemu noticed still it was only around 7:30 when he had cleared enough space to plant a few things, nothing would be open for at least another hour and a half, at least that's what the mayor told him, that most places opened at 9 and that some had specific days in which they'd be closed and the like. He decided to explore the mountain nearby. He went down the path and saw three crossroads. Taking the one to his left, he went up and arrived at what looked like a hot spring.
"What an interesting place," he noted as he felt the steam rising from the spring. He went up to the pond nearby and a flash of light blinded his eyes and before him he saw what looked like a green haired woman. "Who are you?"
"Me? Why, I'm the harvest goddess," she replied. "You must be the one taking over the farm now, am I correct?"
"Well, yeah, I am, but how do you know?" he asked.
"I'm a goddess, I know what's going on in the town I live with," she said dryly. "Anyways, I suppose then you shall be the one to save the town?"
"Save the town?" Atemu asked in surprise.
"The old man who used to live at the farm was wonderful. This town has always been suffering a little, but he always helped. He would give extra crops to the townspeople to make sure everyone had enough to eat and donate money and help when it was needed. His efforts to help increased after he spent a summer with a young boy, you I assume," she said and Atemu nodded, causing her to smile. "But age does factor in and he began to grow weaker and passed away in his sleep. Once he was gone the town began to suffer because Duke took the opportunity to flaunt his money around and claim he was helping others. Bribes, False donations, the like. The Mayor is in his pocket right now, he has countless debts to stores he doesn't plan on paying, and the people here don't have enough to eat…" Her eyes welled up with tears. "I could go on but I believe you get the picture."
"If you're a goddess why can't you do something about it?" Atemu asked.
"Few can see me. The old man could, he would drop an offering to me every Sunday and ask for me to bless his farm and make his crops grow. No one can really see me, although they do believe I am here," she said.
"Then how come I can see you?" Atemu asked.
She glared at him. "Because I want you to see me that's why!" she exclaimed. "I have a request of you as well…"
"Let me guess, you want me to save the town?" he asked dryly.
"Yes, and it's not a simple task I know, especially when you have to restore the farm to its former glory as well. I believe you are a good person Atemu. I hardly know you as of yet, but I can see your heart is pure. Please, help these people. They're all good people who just need a little assistance to get back on their feet," she said.
"Can I really forge out a life here?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow. "Will it really be possible for me to save them and live here peacefully? That's all I really want. I'll take care of the farm, become a farmer like my old friend and live a life here in peace. I want to get married and have a family Miss Goddess."
She smiled warmly at him. "What most men don't care for? You are a treasure Atemu, a pure treasure! You can achieve it if you wish for that. Everyone has their dreams you know."
"I guess," he said. "I'll do my best I suppose. I can't very well be a good farmer here without the support of the townspeople."
"Thank you," she whispered and began to disappear, "Be sure to make friend with the Harvest Sprites, their help will be invaluable!" Atemu had no idea what Harvest Sprites were but he filed the information in the back of his mind anyways. As he did that another thought came to his mind.
"Um wait!" he exclaimed and she materialized before him once more. "How bad is the town now?"
She looked down at the water, touching her face gently as she watched her reflection in the waves. "You'll see when you go into town."
"Not good, huh?" he asked and she nodded. "I got my work cut out for me. I guess I'll see you later then Harvest Goddess?"
"I wish you the best of luck!" she said and disappeared.
"I know I'm going to need it…" Atemu muttered and went back to his farm for a moment, but not before gathering two flowers, all that he could carry right now. "This sounds like some really bad clichéd job, but oh well, a promise is a promise. I said I'll do my best and that's really all I can do. Now to see about getting some seeds, but what kind of seeds can I afford for just 500G? If I knew I had to save the town, I might've saved up just a little bit more!"
…
The town itself was in a horrible state. The only places that looked livable were the Winery where he figured Duke must live and the Mayor's house, which was near the top of the town. Boards were in a few windows and people walked by him, not saying much of anything. He sighed and headed up to the general store, he needed seeds and he needed them now. He wanted to meet the townspeople, sure, but first things first; he needed to get Quartz Farm working again.
He pushed open the door to the general store and walked inside. It was falling apart but fairly clean. He saw a girl with blond hair pacing in the back of the store and saw shelves lined with various goods, cooking ingredients, a bigger backpack he knew he'd need later on and the best thing of all, what he had been looking for, seeds! He ran forward and examined the table.
"Can I help you?" a voice asked and Atemu turned to see a man with black hair and pale skin. He looked a little sickly. "My name is Jeff, I own this store." He was also a little short and looked Japanese. Atemu's first thought was that this town had a lot of different cultures in it, almost like the big melting pot that was America…well, maybe not that much.
"Yeah, I'm looking for some seeds," Atemu said, glancing over the various bags. He was so new to this he couldn't make heads or tails of what any of it was, but he was resolved to learn all he could before long.
"So you're the one taking over Quartz Farm?" Jeff asked with interest. Atemu took note of a little nervous tone that had escaped Jeff's voice as he spoke.
"My name is Atemu, pleased to meet you," he said, offering his hand, which Jeff took and shook eagerly. His eyes had lit up with something that looked like hope. Maybe just talking to people today would be helpful; as Atemu pondered the possibility Jeff had selected a few seed bags from the pile.
"These are seed you can grow in spring, Turnips, Cucumbers and Potatoes," Jeff explained.
"Let's see, what can
I afford…um…?" He looked over the tables
again, wondering which was which.
"You're not going to buy on credit?"
Jeff asked, eyes widened at the thought of it. Atemu thought the simplest explanation should
be the easiest one to give him.
"Why should I? I've never done it before and I don't wish to make a habit of it now," Atemu explained and relief washed over Jeff's face. Atemu remembered the goddess saying Duke had debts he was never going to pay; he probably owed money to this store, but how much?
"The s…seeds are as follows, Turnips are 120G, Potatoes are 150G…" he stammered and Atemu stopped him. He already knew what he wanted and he didn't need to hear the price of the cucumbers just yet. He needed something quick to grow first, and the Turnips sounded like they would do just the trick!
"Then I'll take two bags of turnip seeds and one of potatoes," Atemu said, bringing out his money. Jeff walked over to the checkout counter with the bags requested and rung Atemu up.
"390G," he said and Atemu handed him the money. "Thank you so very much." Atemu thought Jeff was going to cry.
"Don't mention it," Atemu said and headed out with his seeds in hand.
"Wait a minute!" Atemu paused in his step and the blond haired girl he had seen earlier turned him around to face her. "So you're the new guy?"
"Yeah, I'm taking
over the farm," he said. "What's your name?"
"My name is Karen," she said,
tucking a small strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you so much for not
buying on credit. You don't realize what
it means to my family." Atemu looked at
her puzzled. "Never mind, just thanks."
"Okay then," Atemu said and pulled out a flower. "Here, to brighten you day a little more."
She took the flower and sniffed it. "Um well, thanks I guess." She walked back inside, clutching the yellow flower and Atemu watched for a moment before realizing he had to head back to the farm and plant the seeds. He wondered what she meant by 'thanks for not buying on credit'. He figured though, it probably had something to do with Duke.
…
Arriving back at the farm, he quickly sowed and watered the seeds, smiling as he saw his three plots of seeds. He'd have to water them everyday and treat them with care, but the first harvest he would have here would be worth it. It'd bring in more money for him to use to get more seeds, and little by little, he'd build up the farm and the town as well.
"It's not much but it's a start," he told Seto, who merely looked up at him and barked. "I think I better go gather some stuff from the mountain, I think the Mayor said that was shippable too. If I get a little more money I can get more seeds tomorrow and have some more growing."
…
He only collected a few things by the time he realized he had to get to the inn for his meeting with Duke. The day had already started out interesting, but the thought of alcohol churned his stomach, and not in a nice way. He wondered if he could make anyone else's day better when he went to the inn. After all, he had picked one other flower that day, and he resolved to give it to another girl.
TBC
