Chapter 2

Year 1, Spring 3, Thursday

Getting up wasn't easy. Well, I guess it was easy, but getting up on time wasn't. Note to self: Get an alarm clock.

I clambered out of bed, groggily, and fixed myself some rice balls, my favorite breakfast. Pulling on my clothes and, most importantly, my hat, I stepped outside, into the bright sunshine. My first day as a farmer. It sounds weird to call myself that, stepping out into the world as one thing one day and as something completely different the next. Does just proclaiming myself a farmer make me one? I guess not, but I'll prove myself one soon enough.

The first thing that caught my eye was an incredibly short man in red, with a top hat (red, same color. I guess the guy liked red.) and a brown mustache. He had a red nose and a small pair of glasses perched on that round nose. The man was balding, but had a ring of brown hair around the back of his head. His appearance was almost… cute, though that's an odd way of putting it. He beamed radiantly as a smiled and walked over to him, hand outstretched. He shook it with both hands.

"Nice to meet you," the flamboyant started, jovially. "I'm the mayor of Flower Bud Village, and I just came by to welcome you!"

I was a little shocked by his jovial attitude, that wasn't something I was used to. But that doesn't mean I wasn't pleased to see it. Before I could speak, he started up again.

"Now, I think the first thing to do would be to show you around the town and introduce you to all the people of the village. What do you think of that, my boy, er…?"

"Jack." I grinned at him and shook his hand back. "Yeah, that sounds great."

He smiled, sincerely. "Marvelous! Well, if you'll just follow me, I'll show you the way around the village and around it."

He turned and sort of wobbled like a plump penguin towards the road. It was actually kind of funny, and I held back a chuckle.

The farm was, er, is pretty close to Flower Bud Village. It was quaint and had an aura of beauty amongst it. The first place the mayor took me to was a small store that had 'Lillia's' inscribed above the door. The bell jingled as we came in, and I quickly realized I would probably be giving this place a lot of business.

I noticed a lot of bags and packs of seeds scattered along the shelves. Potatoes, corn, cabbages, eggplants, turnips, tomatoes, strawberries, all sorts of vegetables, not to mention the massive amounts of flowers scattered everywhere. The whole store had a very floral feel to it, and that feeling was summed up by the woman behind the counter, in a blue dress, a squinting smile and pink hair.

Vibrant pink hair in a sort of ponytail running down the back of her head. I stared for half a second. Was it died? A wig? You never really saw stuff like that in the city, except on the freaks, of course. But otherwise, this person looked normal. I assumed she was perfectly normal, at least. I also assumed that the person in front of me was Lillia; even her name was flower-like. She, like the mayor, also had a happy expression. I greeted her happily and shook her hand. She smiled.

"Hey there. My name's Jack, and I just moved into the farm my grandfather left behind. It's nice to meet you."

Her voice was sweet, like a rose. God, even her voice was like a flower. "Well, it's great to meet you, Jack. I'm Lillia, and I run this store, along with my husband, Basil, and my daughter Popuri."

A whole family of flower-people. Cute.

"You'll most likely meet Basil in a week or two, and Popuri's bound to be around town somewhere. I'm sure you'll be dropping by here often, seeing as we sell a whole bunch of vegetable seeds."

I gave another grin and thanked her. Before we left, I even bought a packet of cabbage seeds for 200g and pocketed them. A little voice at the back of my head rang out.

300g left.

I realized my self-reliance in financial affairs at that moment. Dad wouldn't be able to bail me out if I needed money. I was alone. Yet at the same time, this brought freedom. And that was definitely worth it.

The mayor bustled out of the flower/seed/vegetable/whatever shop with a cheery wave and led me all the way across the road, with was about 5 feet wide. Around a bush and on a small patch of grass was an old woman with two sewing needles in her hands, rolling back and forth on an old, wooden rocking chair. The minute she saw us, her wizened old face smiled and her eyes twinkled. Was it because of the mayor, or…

"Jack! Look at how much you've grown, you've gotten so big!"

Whoa.

"Well, I know you probably don't recognize me, but I've known you since you were so little. Last time I so you, you were just a sprout. It's good to see you taking up your grandfather's legacy, he was such a great man… Well, go on inside and introduce yourself, I'm sure Elli will want to meet you."

I was still a little surprised that a woman I had no recollection of recognized me immediately. But still, that just went to show how friendly the town was… and how great of a man my grandfather was, once again. I began to feel a little diminished in comparison to him. I waved back and gave a smile, a little weaker than my last one, and followed the mayor into the bakery.

I met an impeccably dressed man with a small mustache and black hair combed back. He looked to be in his early thirties, maybe late twenties. We exchanged the same pleasantries, but I learned his name was Jeff. If so, then where was that Elli that the old woman outside was talking about? I soon found out.

Two doors swung open in the back and a figure wearing an azure dress and a white apron came out, with a platter filled with cakes. It was a girl with brown eyes and cinnamon brown hair in a bob around her head. Her mouth was small and curved up in a smile, and she looked about my age. I figured, at this moment, that this was Elli. She was a little plump, and a pretty girl, too.

She was another bright figure. "Hi." she said. "I'm Elli, and I guess you're the grandson of the Old Man."

Old Man? Is that what they referred to him as? I introduced myself and she went on about the bakery.

"We use my Granny's recipes, she's the one you probably saw outside, and the Bakery Master here and I cook the cakes. You should try some sometime, they're delicious."

She beamed at the man behind the counter, and the mayor and I left to continue our tour around the town.

"There's the church over there, you should talk to the Pastor sometime, we hold prayer on Sundays and he teaches the children Monday through Friday. Oh, and there's Popuri, Lillia's daughter!"

Another pink-haired girl (I swear, that has to be died or something.) stood outside the Florist, watering a garden of flowers. She was cheery and bright, even more so than Elli, and she wore a red, brown and white dress and a green headband holding her pink hair back. The girl, Popuri, the mayor called her (though for half a second I thought Lillia's daughter was literally a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices that is usually kept in a jar and used for scent) stood with a watering can and seemed to glide across the ground, sprinkling the flowers that I had begun it inexplicably associate with her family with water. She looked up and waved, and I waved back, but apparently the mayor was too busy to stop and talk, so we pressed on.

"This is the bar, open from six to midnight, every day except Sunday. It's nice to relax sometimes, but don't hang out there too much," the miniscule man chuckled. "And these stairs lead up to the Village Square, where most of the Festivals are held." (I had no idea what Festivals were, and promised myself I'd ask that later.)

The bar was a wonderful white and brown building with a small porch and a few barrels out in the front. It looked like something ripped out of a Western movie. It looked like a nice place to spend some time in, and I doubt there's a very high drinking age here; I'm twenty-one anyway, so it's not like it matters. A brick wall was right up against the side of the bar, and two stairs lead up it with a small garden of flowers between them, and the Village Square was up those stairs, according to the mayor.

The mayor led me across the street to a small brown building with two doors in the front.

"That's the tool shop and that's the craftsman's shop. To be honest, they don't sell much, but you should drop by from time to time."

We didn't go inside either, and instead the mayor continued the tour towards a more residential area. He gestured to the library and we went inside. It really didn't have a lot of books, and there were only two people in there, a man dressed in a mailman's uniform and a small girl with long, straight black hair and glasses. She looked to be about my age, like Elli and Popuri, and was rather shy, apparently. She hid behind a nook, but the mayor introduced us.

"Ah, and here is my lovely daughter Maria! She works here at the library. Maria, this is Jack, he's working at the farm now."

I waved and tried to keep up with the cheery spirit of the town with a "Hi!", but I didn't get much response. She mumbled 'hello' back, but I don't think it was out of purposeful rudeness. I turned to the mailman and introduced myself, and he, in turn, stood up from his chair, smiled and said, "Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Harris, the postman in this town. Good luck with the farm, I'll see you around."

We left, and there really wasn't much else to see in the town, save for a few houses and the Potion shop (I really don't even know what he meant by 'potions'; would they turn me into a toad?) and so the mayor led me back to the crossroads.

"Now, off to the left there is the Green Ranch, it's closed on Thursdays, so your should stop by tomorrow. Up that way is the vineyard, Karen, Gotz, Sasha and Kai live up there, you should see Karen especially, you might like her," he gave me what he probably hoped was a mischievous wink, "and over that way is Moon Mountain, where the carpenters live. Well then, Jack, you probably have a lot of work to do, so I'll see you later sometime. G'bye now!"

With a quick handshake, the penguin-man wobbled back towards the village, and I went back to the farm.

I decided to examine the house. It had one room, with table, a box in the corner, a television, a calendar, a bed, and a small nightstand with a book on it. I checked the box first, and found some farming tools in it, which I'd definitely need later. The TV had four channels, a weather channel, a channel with the events of Flower Bud Village on it, an 'educational' channel that had some farming tips on it, and, my personal favorite, glorious channel number 4, the static network. I'd definitely be spending a lot of time watching that one.

Still, I liked it. It was simple, quiet, true and honest. It was as if I lived in a world with no deceptions now. The last thing I checked was the nightstand, on which lay the journal that I'm writing in write now (pardon the pun). The most astonishing thing of all was in the inside cover of this book were five words that inspired confidence and awe in my grandfather for the hundredth time.

For you, Jack. Good luck.