Author's Note/Disclaimer:
Akeno: Hi. I don't own Harvest Moon, or anything else that is protected by law that may appear in this fanfiction. On a brighter note, I have a mascot. His name is Inu-kun, also known as 'Jack's dog'.
Inu-kun: Yip.
Akeno: Ha ha, oh, you slay me, Inu-kun. Anyways, he's here to help me explain things and read the reviews. Actually, because he's incapable of human speech, he's really just here to be cute. And he's doing a great job!
Inu-kun: cocks head to one side
Akeno: Exactly. Now, to review my reviews! This one is from AriesGoddess. She writes: "Hehe this is good! I also think its prity funny like his sister saying it was farmer chic and throwing his alarm clock on the grownd and the dog was barking to it that was so funny! there was some others but I won't name them all because well du! You wrote it... you know its funny! Keep this story up it rocks!" Thanks, AriesGoddess! I'm glad you liked it! Keep reading, please!
Inu-kun: Yip.
Akeno: Anyway, stay tuned for more Friends of Mineral Town: The Beginning!
Tuesday: Day 2
I stirred from sleep the next morning irritable; but not as irritable as the morning before. I had set my watch's alarm for 6:00 AM, and it was softer than my grandfather's alarm. I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I stood up and began walking toward my dresser when I stepped in something wet. I looked down. There on the floor was a puddle. I looked at Inu-kun accusingly. "Did you do this?" I asked. He whimpered. I sighed, picked up my shirt from yesterday and began wiping off my foot when a sudden pain shot through my stomach.
I was hungry.
Of course, I hadn't eaten at all yesterday. I finished wiping off my foot and walked over to my rucksack. There was a bottle of honey. I opened it up and tried to pour it into my mouth. It took a few seconds to get there, but when it did, it was worth it. It was…sweet. Exceptionally sweet. Pure, fresh honey, straight from the bee's nest. I reminded myself to get more later today. I dressed, and let Inu-kun outside, making a mental note to housebreak him when I got the chance. I turned around and walked to the TV. Farm chores could wait. I was tired. I flipped on the tube and began channel surfing, only to find that Mineral Town only had four channels. Wonderful. I settled on what looked like the weather channel and listened to the forecast.
'-so those of you in FlowerBud Village, put on your coats, because it'll be windy today. In Mineral Town's weather forecast for today, it will be partly cloudy for the first half of the day. Around noon-time, rain is to be expected. Farmers remember to keep your livestock indoors, and there will be no need to water the crops today. As for Forget-Me-Not Valley, today will be cloudy, and rain showers are expected in the late afternoon tomor-'
I turned off the TV and sighed. I wouldn't have to water my crops today, which was good news. As for Forget-Me-Not Valley, I had completely forgotten about writing to John. I made yet another mental note to write to him once I got the chance, which was hopefully soon. Then, I went outside.
A Chinese man was out there. He was sitting underneath my tree. I frowned. I didn't remember hearing about a Chinese man living in Mineral Town. I called out to him. "Hey! You! What are you doing?" The Chinese man looked up and smiled.
"Ah, you must be Jack! I am Won. How are you this fine morning?" I looked around. The sky was filled with large, black rain clouds; hardly what I'd call nice. But I simply said, 'Yeah'.
"Please come visit my shop sometime. I am a traveling business man, so I have many items that the local shop does not have. My shop is at Zack's house on Mineral Beach. Good day, sir!" I watched him as he walked away and shook my head. He was very strange indeed. I went over to the bee's nest, pulled out my bottle of honey, now half full (I was very hungry), and began to fill it up. Then, I looked around. Today was Tuesday. I thought of what I should do, when my stomach gave another growl. Obviously the honey had not been enough. I tried to remember if there was a place that served food in Mineral Town. Thomas' tour of the town came back to me in pieces.
'And this is Doug's Inn. Poor Doug. His wife died years ago, leaving him to raise little Ann all by himself…she turned out to be quite a tomboy…Doug serves food during the day, and opens up the bar at night.'
Right. I pulled out my map and tried to figure how long it'd take me to get there. Not to long, and the inn opened at 8:00 AM, so I'd have a bit of a wait on my hands if I went right now. And waiting in front of an empty inn in the wee hours of the morning didn't really appeal to me.
I set out for the little thicket I had found yesterday. I thought Popurri might be there. Unfortunately, I got a little lost. When I finally did get there, Popurri wasn't there. Instead, a red-headed girl with a bow in her hair was there. I walked up and said, "Hi."
The girl turned around. She was pretty. "Hi! Are you Jack Hawthorne?" I was a bit put off by her straightforwardness, but I nodded. "I'm Ann. I bet you're wondering how I know who you are, right?" I nodded again. "Well…Popurri told me. We don't usually talk much, but today, she told me all about you. How you're taking on the farming life all by yourself, and how you just moved in from the big city…and how you're kind of cute. And you know I can't really disagree with her." She smiled. It was a very awkward situation for me, trying to figure out how to reply to that statement; so I didn't.
"Are you the same Ann who works at the Inn?" I asked. She nodded.
"Yup. It's a nice life. Pretty quiet, kind of slow. I get to see almost everyone everyday, though, so that's nice." An awkward silence settled between us, but before I could think of anything to say, she spoke again. "Hey! You can't have much food, so why don't I treat you to lunch?"
Lunch? I thought. I looked down at my watch to see it was already 11:00. It had taken longer to get to this little thicket than I had thought it would. "Um…sure. That'd be great." I looked up into the sky. The storm clouds were rolling in. I'd still have to come back to the forest to pick up some of the grass I needed for my daily shipment, but I thought I could beat the storm.
"Good," said Ann, "That's great. Why don't you go back to your farm first, though? I think you must have some dirty clothes from yesterday. And you could probably use a shower. We have a washer and a dryer at the inn, and hot and cold water upstairs. Whenever you feel like washing clothes or taking a bath, just come on by." She laughed and began walking out of the thicket, waving to me. Then, I heard her say to herself, "Looks like a storm's brewing. I'll have to find Karen to tell her not to come to the Hot Springs today…" I looked around. There was a hot spring in one corner of the thicket. So that was what the thicket was called. The Hot Springs.
About forty-five minutes later, I was in the shower of Doug's Inn. Ann had taken one whiff of my dirty clothes and declared she would 'deal with them', and Doug was working on the food that Ann had persuaded him to make. After I felt sufficiently clean, I stepped out and dried off with my tomato-print towel. I out on my last pair of clothes, and slid my hat on my head. Once I was downstairs, Ann had my clean clothes ready to take home, and Doug had a meal on the table.
"Come on, sit down, Jack!" Ann said. Doug nodded. I slid into a chair.
"Well don't just sit there, Jack, dig in! This food is fresh made by yours truly." Doug laughed and began attacking his food. Ann gave a little nibble, and then began attacking her food as well. I looked at my food. A burger and fries, with a large glass of water. Suddenly, hunger pains shot through my body again, and I ate my food as fast as I could. I went through seconds just as easily, and was just finishing polishing off my dessert when Doug said, "Slow down there, Jack!"
"Sorry, sir," I said after I had cleared my mouth with a gulp of water.
"Doug, not sir, Jack. And there was no harm done. A working man needs his food now, doesn't he?" He patted me on the back. "I like you. You should come by often now, you hear? I think Ann would like that too." He laughed and Ann blushed.
"Daddy! Don't tease me…" she sighed.
"I'm just joking, honey. But seriously Jack, come by any time. Just don't expect me to fix you a free meal every time!"
"Right, si- Doug." I nodded and picked up me clean clothes when I heard Ann gasp.
"Oh, no! I never got to tell Karen to not go to the Hot Springs! Zack still hasn't delivered their television yet…she wouldn't know its going to rain! She'll get caught out there!" I looked out the window. The sky was as dark as night, and it was only 1:50 PM. The lampposts had already turned on. I shook my head.
"Don't worry, Ann. I'll go drop off my stuff at my house and try to find Karen before it's too late." Ann smiled and whispered, 'Thanks', and as I ran out the door I heard Doug say, 'Now that is a decent fellow, yes sir.'
It was 2:15. I was en route to the Hot Springs after putting away my clothes and towel, shutting Inu-kun inside, and warning him that if he peed on anything, I'd leave him outside to sleep in his doghouse during the next storm.
I turned into the Hot Springs and there was, like Ann said there'd be, Karen, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the sky was black overhead. She was just staring out onto the lake. I walked up behind her. "Karen?"
She turned around and smiled. "Hi, Jack." She looked back out over the lake and sighed. "You know, when I was a little girl, I always thought I could meet the Harvest Goddess here. Carter said he knew how, but he never wanted to tell me." She smiled. "I'm much to old to believe that now, of course. She'd never be in this particular lake, would she?" She looked up at me, and it felt as if her big, beautiful eyes were peering into my soul. My knees shook a bit, but I steadied myself.
"Come on Karen. It's going to start raining soon." Just as I spoke those words, it began to drizzle. Karen sighed.
"Let's go. We can get to Gotz's house for shelter. We'll be drenched by the time we get there though," she said. I looked back out over the lake. Something that my late grandfather had told me was coming back to me. 'The Harvest Goddess loves things from the farm. A farmer who presents her with a great gift will be rewarded…' Things from the farm…I looked to Karen, who was waiting for me at the entrance to the Hot Springs.
"Um…Karen. Why don't you go on ahead? I'll catch up in a little bit." I hoped that she wouldn't ask why.
"Okay then." She didn't.
Once she was out of sight, I pulled out the bottle of honey I had gotten from the bees earlier that morning, and threw it into the lake. A shimmering shadow appeared on the surface, and a beautiful green-haired lady flew out.
"Why, hello Jack!" I looked at her, astounded. This was the Harvest Goddess? How old was she? She looked no older than Karen; and was just as pretty. And how did she know my name?
"Well, I'm actually several millennia old, though I'm glad someone as cute as you thinks I'm pretty. As for how I know your name…let's just say I know a lot of things." Okay. She could read my mind. That was a bit disturbing. But I wasn't here for idle talk, I needed…
"Help? Of course. What do you need?" I looked at her, shock still in my eyes. "Oh, alright, I'll stop reading your mind. But really, what do you need?" She seemed very cheerful for a Goddess.
"Um…I need you to slow the rain down. Just long enough for Karen and I to get to Gotz's house…if that's no problem," I hastily added.
"Well…alright. But just because I liked that offering." She winked and me and said in an ethereal voice, "Agreed. The rain shall stop; just long enough for Karen and Jack to get to Gotz's house. After that, the rain shall proceed with its natural course until it is finished." She smiled, whispered, "Come back soon!" and disappeared into the lake. As the rain slowed down, I saw Karen at the top of the hill. Uh-oh, I thought, what did she hear?
"Hurry up, Jack, the rain has stopped for a bit!" Obviously nothing at all.
As soon as we got to Gotz's house, the rain began again harder than ever, which would have been no problem…if Gotz would have let us in.
"Who's this?" He asked in a harsh, gruff voice.
"T-this is J-jack H-hawth-thorne, G-gotz," Karen said, while hugging herself.
"Mitch Hawthorne's son?" I winced at the mention of my father's name, but I nodded. "Ah…Mitch. He was a good man. Nice. Strong. Decent." I smiled inwardly. If Gotz knew my father nowadays, he wouldn't be so eager to reminisce, but being Mitch's son was actually useful for once. Apparently, Gotz decided that all Hawthorne men were decent and hard working and that included me, even if I was a city slicker. He let us inside and threw as both two towels. I frowned. I wasn't all that wet, and when I looked over at Karen, a pang of guilt shot through me. She had dried herself off and was using her towel like a blanket, but her teeth were still chattering. I walked up behind her.
"Take of your towel," I said. She obeyed, and I wrapped my dry towel around her. Then, I took her wet towel and wrapped it around her as well, so that the dry one was touching her body and the wet one was touching the dry one. She looked at me with a questioning look in her eyes, so I answered. "The dry towel will dry you off, and the two towels together will keep you warm." She blushed and managed a small thank you. Suddenly, Gotz grabbed me from behind.
"You're a smart man, Jack. And that was darn well decent, giving up your towel for Karen there. Tell me, how's old Don's shack keeping up for you?" Gotz and I talked for a while about the house. Then we talked about farm matters, and he said he'd be happy to fix up any farm building that needed fixing. After a few hours, the sun peeked out of the clouds. Gotz stood up.
"Well would you look at that. It's six-thirty in the evening. I'm sure Jeff will be worried sick about you, Karen. You should get going. You too, Jack." Karen gave back the towels and we both thanked Gotz for helping us.
"I should thank you too, Jack," Karen said, about halfway through the forest. I looked at her, a bit puzzled. "Without you, I'd have been drenched before I had made it to Gotz's house." She smiled at me. "I'm in your debt."
I shook my head. "No; it was the least I could do. You promised me some free seeds tomorrow, remember?" She laughed and shook her head.
"You really don't know how to act around women, do you Jack?"
"Nope," I said, shaking my head.
"Well, that's alright. You'll learn." She laughed. When we were at my house, I said goodbye and got ready to go inside. Suddenly she turned around.
"Thanks again, Jack," she said solemnly.
"Don't mention it, Karen." I smiled.
"See? I told you you'd learn." She stared at me with her big, shimmering eyes again, and I felt my insides do a back flip. Then, she turned and walked away. I shook my head and went inside. I saw a few puddles on the floor, and reminded myself to fix the roof; that is, until I saw the sheepish look on Inu-kun's face and the nervousness in his tail wag.
"Inu-kun!"