Harvest Moon: Magical Memories
The sun blazed a path across the world, making the sky appear as the it were on fire and scorching all that lie below. It was on this particularly hot day that Luna, throwing in a Moonstone just the day previously, waited under a Mora tree until six. Then she stood, the hot sticky stillness of the air making everything move slower, even time it seemed, so that when she finally made it to the festival's gates, it was only five forty. Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes of waiting on the hot beach, the sand soaking up every inch of rays the sun threw down.
Twenty minutes later, and who walked onto the beach but no one other than Kurt. He clung to the edge of the festival, looking instead at the sand or the shells than the sweating people's faces. Following Kurt was Joe, then Jamie, then a few other less-than-eager citizens, all looking like they had just gone swimming, so drenched in sweat and drowning in their own thirst.
Twilight fell quickly.
"Kurt! Luna! You haven't put in your flowers yet!" Everyone was leaving and quick to do so it seemed, tired from the day's work. Kurt, not wanting to be in the crowd, had hung back until he was left holding a drooping flower, less than magical in its limpness. He grimaced but nodded, walking toward the shoreline. Yet still he hesitated, glancing nervously at Luna, who was walking straight for him.
"Kurt..." Everyone had left. "What are you thanking your ancestors for?" He still held on to his flowers. Shrugging, he replied in a low voice,
"Everything I guess." Luna sat down in the sand, motioning for him to do so.
"Talk with me?"
"I don't like talking..." At this he gently knelt, placing his flower on the rolling ocean's waves, then walking off, leaving Luna sitting on the beach, all alone.
"I don't remember my ancestors. But whom ever you were..." she placed the flower next to Kurt's, which hadn't gone out to the ocean but instead lolled about the shoreline, "thank you." The two flowers sat together, occasionally getting hit by the curling waters.
It was morning when the clouds rolled in. They were dark clouds, but welcome in the sun-soaked village. Everywhere shadows grew and everywhere things began to cool. A slight wind had picked up, not strong enough to move away the clouds but enough to bring a chill to all the animals.
Firefly Festival Luna crossed out on the calendar, looking for the next holiday marked. Fireworks Festival "I wish that'd come sooner. I wonder what you do... is it like a date? What should I wear?" She lay on her bed now, petting Skruskru behind his drooping ears, humming quietly. "I've always liked fireworks, although I can't recall when I've last seen them." She turned over and glanced at the clock. Noon. Lunchtime. The sun would be the strongest if it were showing its face, the day would be half-over if it hadn't just started. Luna hadn't left her house. There was nothing to tend to, nothing to water, no one to talk to. She had simply hid herself away, tucked inside a small house and lived out the day like a hermit. Finally deciding it was about time she moved, she decided to trudge to the mountains and collect items for meager money.
It was the day she decided to climb to the top. The day she set her fingers onto the rough stone. The day she decided once and for all, she'd conquer the mountain. She took a deep breath and pulled herself up, looking for the next stone that would be her guide upward. Rock by rock, she gained height. The ground pulled away from her and the sky looked closer, almost as though she could reach up and tear the clouds down so as to wrap herself in their puffy darkness.
The wind picked up. She clung to the side, tears forming on her lashes as her strength waned. Small rocks scittered downward. Yet she held fast and, with another deep breath, placed her hand on the next rock.
If I fell, there'd be no one to catch me.She shoved the thought away much too late. I have to go back down! Yet she could see the ridge. A little further and her fingers would be wrapped around the edge of the mountain and the world would belong to her. A little further and...
a rock shifted beneath her foot. With a dull clunk, the entire rock that was her foothold fell away, clinking and flinging itself downward. Her foot flew wildly in the air as she tried to find anything to place it on. Straight, solid rock. No footing. She slid. Sliding downward, pain shooting through her backside, she screamed. A bloodcurdling, howling scream. One that lit through the entire body, a shriek so sharp it could've cracked the mountain in half.
A mile away, a bit down the mountain, small animals perked up their ears. They were listening to something that human ears couldn't perceive at such a distance. Their tails twitched and they sat, on edge, listening to the sound. Then, with a final thud, all the animals ran, fleeting away and disappearing into the bushes.
Luna lay on the ground. The clouds grew thick and thunder boomed in the distance, an empty threat.
Luna lay on the ground.
Time clicked on, noon passed and soon, it was a new type of noon. A dark, brooding noon.
Midnight.
And Luna lay on the ground.