Disclaimer: Harvest Moon and Natsume do not belong to me (to my misfortune). All I own is this story and Tom. (Sad, isn't it?)

The epic saga of Life on the Farm continues with day three...

I woke up this morning to a bright ray of sunshine blazing through a dusty windowpane. It would have been extremely lovely if there wasn't a head staring in the same window...

"Get your rear in gear and out of bed, sleepy head!" Jack yelled, apparently not aware that you can open the door and avoid the unnecessary trouble of screaming. But I know; I make Jack sound like a complete idiot. He really isn't, he just doesn't have much in the way of common sense.

So up I had to get, pajama pants and all. I walked over to the ancient mini sink attached to the wall of the shed and turned it on. It somehow got water from the well outside and pumped it in, but the only thing I realized it was good for at the moment was a good wake up splash. Very cold, that water was...

Then I started the trek to Jack's house to use the shower and shave, which took a grand total of about 10 minutes (all of the water seemed to be cold). Then I was ready to greet the day...

...and Takakura...

"Good morning." Tak said cheerfully, wide awake (he was obviously used to this morning routine). "I just came to remind you about the cow that you have in your barn at the moment. She's young, and recently given birth, so she'll give you milk for a while. You do, however, have to breed her to keep receiving milk. She doesn't just make it non-stop."

"So you're saying that cows lactate just like women do!" Jack seemed astonished. He didn't seem to grasp the fact that cows are mammals too.

"Just leave the animals to me, Tak. Jack has the muscle for farming, which

I obviously lack, so he can do the planting."

"Well Tom, the only other thing you need to know is that she eats twice a day from the bin in the barn, which is filled with fodder from the field. Just cut from the pasture if you need more. Oh, and the milker is on a shelf in the tool shed. If you gather any dairy products, such as the milk, that you want to sell, you can either sell it to the townspeople or leave it in that blue building over there in the cooler. I'll sell it for you at the market. See ya."

'Just great, I thought, I'm up at 5:30 in the morning now to take care of a cow. Oh well, it could be worse...' And with that thought, I went to go inspect my new charge.

I decided to name her Bessie, since that seemed to me to be a pretty decent name for the cow. She was a normal cow, black and white spots standard, to be milked twice a day. I could handle that. So I petted the young cow, nuzzled with her, fed her, and milked her. Not that difficult.

I took the milk I gathered and placed it in the cooler in the blue building, where I knew Jack wouldn't get at it to drink it. Speaking of which, the entire time that I had been caring for the cow, Jack had been carefully tilling the soil in a pattern where any type of root crop could grow and not become entangled. He was also working on an arrangement for the orchard he planned to raise, so he sent me off for seeds when he saw that I was done with my chore.

Vesta wasn't there at the present moment, and I didn't want to deal with Marlin, so I settled down on the edge of the stream nearby, drinking in the natural beauty of the fish and the bed. It really was breath-taking; the blue and green hues reflected off of the scales of the fish and the particles at the bottom of the water made it seem as if you were completely enveloped in a rainbow of colors so thick you could cut it with a knife. I decided then that there was plenty to write about in Forget-Me-Not.

I just had to know where to look.

A hand touched my shoulder, and I nearly fell into the river out of surprise. The very same hand grabbed my arm and held me steady as I regained my balance.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I was just going to ask you why you came to the farm and left just to wait here at the stream." It was Celia, of course. I had forgotten all about her living on the farm, or I would have asked her sooner.

I told her that I didn't notice anyone when I arrived, but that she could probably help me if she had the time. She said she would be more than delighted. I explained exactly what Jack was doing at the moment, and what kind of seeds he had sent me to retrieve. She seemed genuinely interested in the idea of what Jack was doing, so I invited her to come to the farm and take a look. She was so excited she nearly forgot to grab the money I tried to hand her for the seeds. After we had finished the transaction, off we went to what I called Freedom Farm.

Coming up, I realized it wasn't much to look at, but it was home. That's what mattered.

"Hey, Jack! I brought you a visitor!" This being said, I led Celia around to the patch of dirt that he was busy tilling at the moment.

"Wow. You really have put a lot of thought into these plant beds, haven't you? Are you going the plant these seeds in that form, or are you planning on buying some more?" Celia was genuinely interested. I was genuinely bored. Soon, Jack and Celia were deep in a conversation about the basic rules and responsibilities of agriculture, which I understood and ignored. I sat there for a few minutes, wondering if the conversation might end...

...minutes became an hour...

...became two hours... I swear my mind had gone numb from the sheer weariness of the chit-chat. Excusing myself, I took another look at my cud-munching charge and milked her once more. She was very generous this time, filling about 4 bottles to the brim with her ivory bounty. I stored these with the others, and went to go see Takakura, who had just come home from wherever he goes during the morning hours.

"Hey Tak. Where have you been? I swear you disappeared for at least 4 hours."

"Yeah, went to the next town over and took a look at the market. Not much there. Thanked Barley for the cow. But whatcha need kid?" He must have figured out I needed his help with something.

"Do you know where I might be able to buy a quill and some ink around here? My supplies are running low right now..."

"You can't really purchase any of that locally, but a man by the name of Van comes by with an assortment of odds and ends a couple of days out of the month. You might be able to persuade him to keep his eye out for some."

"Thanks Tak. By the way, there's some milk in the blue building for you to sell. I put it in the big cooler, though. I was afraid Jack would drink it if he noticed it."

"Heh, yeah, that's Jack for you. See ya around Tom." With that, our little exchange ended, and Takakura entered his house for some peace and quiet.

That was not such a bad idea, I thought. I looked at my watch and received a shock. It was 10:30! The sun had gone down hours ago, and Jack and Celia were still going strong. Oh well, I'll just have to interrupt their conversing long enough to give them the time. It shouldn't be that hard.

"Hey, farm-friends! I know you love the seeds and all, but it's time to give them a rest. Not to mention yourselves." Lovely...

"He has a point, Jack. It's gotten late, and I've kept you from getting any work done. You need to go rest. I'll come back tomorrow when it's light, if it's not too much trouble, and we can work on sowing those seeds."

Jack quickly assured Celia that is was no trouble at all, and walked to his house with a new spring in his step. I swear a smile crossed Celia's face as she left to grace her own abode with her presence. Those two have got to be the thickest pair, to fall for each other. Or maybe not. They do get along pretty well... Today wasn't such a bad day after all...

That was my last thought of the night, as I slowly entered the shed and prepared myself for bed. My mind went blank long before my head hit the pillow.