Chapter 18: Explanation

"Yes."

Everyone in the inn cheered. Everyone with the exception of Jack, whose eyes opened so wide he felt as if they were going to bug out of his head. There was hooting and hollering as Rick pulled Karen up from her seat to give her a kiss. Jack was quickly feeling the contents of his dinner rise up into his throat.

Ann started to pass by Jack. Even with all the celebration she still had work to do. She stopped suddenly when she saw Jack's face turn green. "Oh my goddess! Jack! Are you alright?"

"I'm going to be sick."

And he was, though not before Ann could drag him into the kitchen and get him to the garbage. He hurled until there was nothing left in his stomach and his throat burned. Ann looked concerned and Jack's only explanation was "I ate too fast".

He didn't want her to know the real reason why he had gotten sick that night.

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The next day was the Harvest Festival. Jack wasn't up for celebrating, but he had already told the mayor he was going to go, so he went. This festival was one in which everyone put things into a stew and everyone ate it together in celebration of the Fall harvest. Unfortunately for Jack, his harvest hadn't come yet.

So the only thing that he could bring was eggs. Nobody wanted raw eggs in their stew, and he didn't have a kitchen, so he went to the hot spring in order to boil the egg. Popuri had taught him how to boil the eggs this way when they first started to date. It was weird; this was the first time he had thought about Popuri in a while. He didn't even miss her anymore.

The festival was as typical as any one. The square was decorated and in the middle was a huge pot. Doug was stirring it and Ann was adding in seasoning. Jack handed the eggs over to Ann, who of course was smiling.

"How are you feeling today, Jack?"

"I could be better."

"I'm sorry to hear." She turned back to adding things to the stew. "Have some stew later, it might make you feel better."

After seeing that kinds of things that people were putting into it, he wasn't so sure he would even stick around to see how other people reacted to it.

Off to the side was Karen standing by herself. Jack tried to avoid her gaze as he took a seat on one of the benches on the opposite side. His efforts didn't help though. She walked over to him anyways. "Hey Jack."

"Where is Rick?" he huffed. He didn't want to think about it, but he was pretty upset by the events that had happened the past few days.

Karen frowned. "He's at home taking care of Lillia. I don't want to make a big scene here with all these people around. Will you take a walk with me around town before they serve the stew?"

Jack didn't answer, but he did get up to follow her out of the square and back into town. "Jack I just wanted to apologize for what happened."

"Why did you lead me on Karen? I thought we were friends. That hurt."

She sighed and watched the ground as they walked. "I just didn't have anywhere to turn. Lillia was sick and Rick was an emotional mess. The only person I could think of was you. I came here to talk to you. I didn't plan for that to happen. I lost control. I was weak, I'm sorry."

Jack looked away and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I felt something," he mumbled.

"What Jack?"

He looked back at her but didn't repeat what he had said. "Do you even love him?"

Jack's question shocked her for a moment, but then she recomposed herself and spoke again. "Of course I do! What makes you think that I don't?"

"You, you know…"

"It was a mistake Jack. Just a mistake."

He was crushed. She had just called what happened between them a mistake. While it was for a girl in her situation, he definitely felt something and didn't want to believe that she didn't feel it too.

"Rick and I had always planned on getting married. It was expected of us. We both decided it was the best time to do it now since Lillia…" her voice trailed off and she didn't finish her sentence.

They had just turned the corner and were walking by his farm. Jack stopped and shook his head. "I wish you both all the happiness in the world." He turned around and went back to his farm.

He never found out how good that stew turned out to be.

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Days passed and Jack barely ventured out to town. He didn't want to run into Karen. He was still very hurt by the fact that she had called their encounter a mistake. It hurt because he thought he was her friend, and now he felt used.

It was Fall 13th, the day of the Moon Viewing festival. It wasn't as formal as the other festivals. People got together with a date and went to view the moon in a special place. Jack didn't have anyone to go with.

Not that it stopped him from enjoying this festival. He needed anything to get his mind off of what had happened in the last few weeks and this was as good as anything. That night he found himself climbing the long walkway up Mother's Hill to the top. That would be the best view of the moon.

When he got to the top he found that he was not alone. There was the young librarian, sitting with her legs dangling over the summit. She was looking up to the sky. Jack followed her gaze and saw what she was starring at. The moon, in its fullest state, looked as huge and as bright as ever. It looked as if he could reach out and touch it.

Mary turned to see who had come up behind her. "Hello Jack. I see you've found my favorite moon viewing spot."

"Hey Mary, how come you aren't here with Gray?" Jack looked around to see if maybe the man was just not in his view, but he was no where to be found.

"His grandfather wouldn't let him come out of the house tonight."

"That really is unfair. This festival only comes once a year."

"It does, but a person can't always get what they want, now can they Jack?" Mary smiled a little. "You should sit down. It's fun to hang your feet over the ledge."

Jack sat down next to Mary. They were silent for a few moments before she began to speak. "Did you know that they call this the Harvest Moon?"

"No I didn't."

"It's called that because this is the time of season when farmers start to harvest their crops. The full moon always falls on the same day every Fall, so our founding fathers decided to make a festival of this day too in celebration of the moon and the Fall harvest."

"That is very interesting Mary. How do you know so much about the town's history?" Jack looked at her curiously. The shine of the moon reflected off her skin and she looked like she was illuminating. She looked differently here under the moon's light than she usually did under the dim light of the library.

"The people of this town used to write all their history down in books or journals. I have tons of books of the accounts of people who used to live here. I was thinking about making a book about the current history of Mineral Town. I'm not sure I could do it by myself, but I know nobody else is writing this stuff down and I feel like it would be a shame to see all our history completely disappear forever when we die."

"That's a really good idea Mary." Jack smiled. "I feel the same as you, I would hate to see this town's history disappear. I want my kids and my grandkids to know what we did here now together as a town. You should really do it."

"I think I will." Mary smiled too and nodded her head.

They both sat in silence for the rest of the Moon Viewing festival.

They didn't need talk; they had the company of the moon.