"Mark… it's time to get up."
I felt the gentle nudge of Chelsea's elbow tapping my arm as I started to open my eyes. I felt a little more tired than usual but I guess that's understandable since I was up most of the night thinking. I sat up and got out of bed along with Chelsea as the sound of Taro banging on the door with his cane filled the room. I grabbed my hat off its hanger and put it on as I opened the door.
"Good morning Taro." I greeted.
"Morning." He greeted back. "Time to get to work you two."
Geez, he's so straightforward.
Wasting no time, I began to follow him as he headed towards the field with Chelsea close behind
"Hm, looks like your crops are growing just as planned so far." Taro noted after observing the field for a moment.
Chelsea and I walked over to his side and stared out at the soil. A smile began to form on my face as I soon noticed that the mounds of dirt where we had planted seeds were beginning to sprout.
I don't know how long Chelsea and I gazed out at the field but it was long enough to irritate Taro to the point of yelling.
"What do you two think you're doing?" He howled.
I turned to face him nervously. "N-nothing, just checking out how our crops are turning out."
"Well if you want to keep staring at them you're going to have to water them or they're going to die!" He shouted angrily.
I would have asked him why he had to yell but I'm sure he had some kind of insult ready.
"Why do you two continue to stand there? Get to work!"
My fear of getting struck on the head with his cane again got the best of me, for good reason might I add, and I found myself scurrying over towards the house to fetch that watering can. I won't lie, I kind of felt bad leaving Chelsea alone with Taro while he's mad but hey, it's for only a moment. With the can in hand I ran out to the field and quickly attempted to water the first sprout only to watch as three small drops trickled onto it. Needless to say I was ready for Taro to flip his lid.
"Looks like you need to refill it." Taro instructed in a much calmer tone to my surprise.
I headed over to the river nearby and dipped the can in, letting it fill all the way up. Before returning back to the field I paused for a moment as I found myself listening to the calming sound of the river.
It is pretty peaceful here; maybe life here wouldn't be so bad.
I stood up and was about to turn around when I suddenly saw that mysterious figure out in the forest trees across the river again. Blinking a few times as I shook my head, I attempted to make sure that I wasn't seeing things but it seemed that whatever was out that had disappeared the into the shadows again. A sense of uneasiness came over me as I returned to Taro and Chelsea back by the field.
Taro raised his eyebrow once I stood before him. "Something wrong there Mark?"
"Yeah, you seem a tense." Chelsea added.
I shook my head. "I'm fine, just a little tired that's all."
Before they could say anything else I continued towards the field and began to water the crops. Once the tasked was finished I returned to Taro and Chelsea.
"So what now?" I asked. "The crops are watered for today and we already cleaned the field."
"I want to examine that building over there." Taro replied as he tilted his cane towards the far north corner of the field.
I turned and looked across the field to find that a large building sat at the other end of it.
Surprised I never noticed that before.
"Come along you two." Taro said, marching towards it.
Chelsea and I listened and followed closely behind him as we headed to the other side of the farm. Once we all stood in front of the building Taro gave the door a light tap with the end of his cane causing it to open with an eerie creaking sound. The three of us stepped onto the dirt covered floor inside and began to look around. There were two feeding troughs in the center of the room, a larger watering trough, minus the water, off to the side and a feed dispenser coming out of the wall to the right.
"Looks like this used to be the barn." Taro said before mumbling. "Now if only we had some animals here…"
"How nice." Chelsea exclaimed as she clasped her hands together. "All we need are some animals and we'll have a real farm! Wouldn't that be great Mark?"
"I guess that be pretty nice." I replied. It'd probably make our job even harder though honestly since my only experience in caretaking is an unfortunate amount of goldfish swimming around in the city's sewers now. Not to mention it'd require seeing more of Taro.
And that cane of his...
Suddenly, Elliot ran into the barn. He rested his hands on his knees as he took a few breaths for moment once he stood before us.
"What is it Elliot?" Taro asked.
"There… there are some new arrivals on the island grandpa." He answered between breaths as he stood back up.
Of course, the three of us were immediately shocked at his news.
"New arrivals?" Taro asked. His tone much calmer than he was probably feeling.
"Yeah, mom and Natalie are with them right now. They're at the beach." He replied.
Taro quickly began to walk out of the barn before turning back at us. "What are you three standing around for? Let's go! We have to meet them!"
Elliot wasted no time and immediently followed Taro but Chelsea and I remained in the barn for another moment.
"Oh isn't this exciting Mark? Someone's stumbled upon our island already." She said happily.
"Yeah, maybe they can help us." I replied.
The two of us began our walk to the beach and once we arrived we find Taro and his family standing in front of a man and a child with a boat containing a rather modest sized cabin next to the dock behind them, likely the new arrivals Elliot was talking about. They both appeared foreign with the man wearing a purple colored vest with a red belt and a white shirt underneath along with brown pants and a headband. The child was wearing a small open brown vest with a light green shirt underneath with darker colored pants and a brown headband just like the man beside him.
"What took you two slowpokes?" Taro asked, obviously referring to Chelsea and me.
"Nothing, I guess we're just slow walkers." I joked, taking a step back in case he tries to hit me for that.
He just stared at me angrily instead.
"Mark, Chelsea, you must me our new friends." Felicia said.
"Hello there." The man began. "My name is Chen and this here is my son Charlie."
"Nice to meet you Chen, Charlie." I greeted.
Chelsea gave a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you both."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both as well." Chen replied.
"So Chen, what brings you two out to this part of the ocean?" Taro questioned, asking what we were all probably wondering.
"Charlie and I are merchants you see. We had just decided to close up and sell our shop out in the city and were travelling around to find a new place to set up in. We got a little off course in the storm yesterday and wound up sailing here this morning since it was the closest island we could find." He explained.
"Yeah it was pretty rough out there yesterday but we made it here in one piece." Charlie added.
"My, that sounds like quite a journey." Felicia remarked.
"Yeah is your ship ok?" Elliot asked.
"Our ship is fine." Chen replied. "As I was saying with setting up my shop somewhere new this seems to be the perfect place to start a new business now that I look at it."
"Here? Are you serious?" Natalie asked, though I can't really tell if she's trying to come off as rude or not. "This place is deserted except for us."
"I can see that but I can also see the potential in this place." He explained.
"What do you mean?" Elliot asked.
"If I set up a shop here and get in touch with some of my business associates I'm sure that word of this island of yours will spread and more travelers and merchants will begin to show up." Chen explained.
"That would be wonderful." Chelsea exclaimed happily.
Taro paused for a moment. "Hm, you wouldn't happen to know anyone who would be interested in buying some of the things we harvest here would you?"
"Harvest?" Chen asked curiously.
"You see Chelsea and Mark here are our very own farmers." Taro told him. "Selling some of the crops they manage to produce with all their hard work would be a great way for us to earn some money."
"Yeah that'd be a great way for us to…" I began before pausing for a moment. "Wait, a way for all of us to make money off of me and Chelsea's hard work?"
"All I mean is that we could use any money you to make to fund repairs for this island." Taro explained.
"Yeah, don't be so greedy." Natalie snapped at me. How about you stop being so cold first?
"That sounds like a great idea." Chen remarked. "I'm sure I can find someone who will buy whatever you all can make."
"This is just great." Felicia said with a smile.
"Yeah but where are we going to stay?" Charlie asked.
"There are plenty of houses here." Taro replied as he turned around. "Let's go pick one out for you."
The seven of us followed Taro into town area and stopped in the middle of the road as he began to examine all the houses.
"How about this one?" He asked as he walked up to the one diagonally across from his own.
"It looks perfect." Chen answered as he walked up beside Taro.
Taro let out a quiet chuckle "I know a good house when I see one."
"But it's all boarded up." Charlie complained as he scurried up to the pair. "How are we supposed to get inside?"
Practically on cue Taro turned towards Chelsea, Elliot and I. "Chelsea, Elliot, Mark, you three know what to do."
Elliot seemed confused for a moment before his face lit up. "Oh yeah, come on guys, we'll get this thing open in no time."
I grumbled for a moment before joining Chelsea and Elliot in front of the door and the three of us once again start to remove the planks blocking the door.
"This is perfect, just perfect." Chen said as we finished removing the last plank. "Why don't you go and check out the inside Charlie?"
"Can do dad!" Charlie enthusiastically exclaimed before wandering inside.
"Now then, onto business matters." Chen said as he faced me and Chelsea. "You two are the farmers here correct?"
"Yeah that's us." Chelsea nodded.
"Since you two are farmers I'll be sure to stock up on seeds for you two when I return to town." He explained.
"Hm, anything you can do about getting us some animals?" I asked. "We also seem to have a small barn out in the back as well."
Chen paused and thought to himself for a moment. "Ah yes, I know a nice family of animal suppliers. I'll talk to them about considering starting a business here next time I see them."
"This is working out so well." Taro said. "Now with you here I'm sure this island we can make this island be a wonderful place to stay. We can't thank you enough Chen."
"It's always a pleasure to help out others but I also must thank you all as well for giving me and Charlie a new place to stay." Chen replies.
"Oh I'm sure we can all accomplish that in no time." Felicia said with her usual smile.
"Yeah, if we work together it'll be a piece of cake." Chelsea added.
"You all have so much enthusiasm. I haven't a doubt in my mind that you can do it." Chen began before pausing. "Why, I'd say it has already begun to rub off on me and I feel ready to head back to the city and start getting everything set up."
"You're ready to leave? So soon?" Felicia asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.
Chen only laughed. "Don't worry. I know my way back to the mainland from here. I should be able to arrive back before sunrise tomorrow." He paused yet again. "Though, I will need someone to look after Charlie for the rest of the day while I'm gone. While I have no problem including allowing him to work within my store the background workings are no place for a boy his age yet."
By pure coincidence that was when Charlie exited the house and rejoined us outside. "It's pretty nice in there dad. There are some shelves, a counter and even some beds for us."
Chen looked down at him and laughed happily as he got down on one knee. "Well then it looks like here's where we'll be staying huh. I'm sure we'll enjoy helping this island prosper from this location but before we can start any business here I have to return back to the city for a few things."
Charlie pouted and crossed his arms. "Lemme guess, I'm still not old enough to help you with that stuff, right?
Chen laughed yet again as he stood back up and placed his arms behind his back. "He's a wise boy." He said as he looked back at us.
"But it's not fair." Charlie whined.
"If you need someone to look after him Mark and I can." Chelsea offered.
What? Aren't I supposed to have a say in this?
"Thank you so much Chelsea." Chen replied with a smile. "It's nice to see that such kind generosity is common here."
"Well with that sorted I hope you have a safe trip back to the city." Felicia said.
"I'm sure that I will." Chen replied before focusing his attention on Charlie. "Be kind to Chelsea and Mark."
"Don't worry dad, I will." Charlie answered.
We all followed Chen back to the beach and waved goodbye as he set back off in the direction I could only assume the city lied in. If he could truly manage to secure us supplies and a means of making cash maybe we might be able to manage here and truly call this place home.
