In My Life- The chapter that took forever to write
Howdy there again, folks. Last time, nothing happened aside from Makoto moping and sleeping an awful lot. He also found the old man's diary, and doesn't know why twenty pages are missing. This time around, he enters Pixy Dust in the sheep festival. Hope you enjoy this one.
XxXxXxXx
For as long as Mineral Town was a farming community, the residents hosted festivals judging livestock from the surrounding areas. The events attracted many farmers from all around, but for the longest time, none of them could compete with the old man farming in Mineral Town. Still, they came and competed until the year he died, when Mayor Thomas and Barley Yodel cancelled the fall competition. But all the farmers still prepared for the next festivals, and despite the fiasco at the chicken sumo competition, they knew they had to show up at the cow and sheep festival to avoid ridicule.
They all did arrive, and luckily, they had a butt of their jokes living at Strawberry Fields.
"What kind of name is that?" one plaid-clad farmer piped up to the others around their table at the Inn. "Strawberry Fields! I saw that on a box of hippie cereal once!"
"Pfft… the Beatles. I've always been a Stones fan myself," the broad-chested one drawled with a nod. "Now, that Ogawa kid better be here this time or I'm gonna be mighty mad."
Makoto always seemed to have a tendency to walk into the room while featured as the topic of discussion, and that time proved no differently. As soon as they heard the door creak open, the farmers all laid their eyes to see Makoto walk with someone else into the Inn. Silence fell into the room as they made their way to a table in the corner near the staircase and sat.
"I don't remember ever seeing that kid around here," another farmer gruffed. "That might be him." Before anyone could object, he got up and strode over to Makoto's table. Makoto heard him coming right away, and looked up.
"Lemme introduce myself," the farmer said. "Jonathan Didion." He extended his callused hand, which Makoto took and gave a firm shake.
"Makoto Ogawa," he said, barely loud enough for the other farmers to hear. The farmer continued shaking his hand, despite the uneasiness that started to show on Makoto's face. The six or seven other farmers flocked and gathered around the table, leaving Makoto shooting a puzzled look at Elli and receiving a shrug in return.
"I knew it was him!" the nasal farmer proclaimed to the others.
"Funny," another one began. "I woulda thought he were Asianer-looking."
"I can't get over his haircut," another one commented. "Does he twist and shout and play guitar?"
"He's real skinny," the built one said. "How do you all suspect he does farm work anyway?"
"What farm work?" the nasal one answered. "Remember his hen at the chicken fest?" He shook his head. "Outta control!" He cocked his eyes at Makoto with a simper and said: "I bet he doesn't do anything!"
Makoto watched them, not at all looking how annoyed he felt. He noticed Elli watching him with a half-baffled, half-irritated expression.
"Stand up for yourself," she mouthed, her eyes focused endearingly on him, but Makoto shook his head.
"He's a rice farmer, right?" another continued.
"Or at least trying to be!" With that, the rest of them broke out in laughter as Makoto groaned and left the table. With that, Makoto motioned to Elli, and the two got up and left.
They didn't pay much attention when they chose a direction to walk in, and Makoto stayed quiet for the first minute or so. Finally, Elli laid a hand on Makoto's arm and said: "You should've said something, Makoto."
All that remained in what would have been a dirty look from Makoto was the acceptance reflected in his eyes.
"They're right," he told her. They found a bench in the town square and claimed it. "I hardly made anything this spring and screwed up in summer, and my chickens hate my guts. Now I'm wading around a bog that I blew too much money on while my crap-shack's falling apart." He sighed, and moaned: "I'm a loser." With that, he gave Elli a look reading "argue with that" as he slumped in his seat and folded his arms.
"Don't say that," Elli scolded, catching him with her cock-eyed glare. She turned towards him, taking his hand in hers and saying. "You came here and you took on Strawberry Fields by yourself, and you didn't know a thing about farming. You worked so hard to clean up that field your first few days, and people were amazed. You bounced out of that flood and ran with it, and that rice is growing in well. I know you're going to succeed…" She paused, her eyes drawing Makoto close. "Makoto, you're not a loser."
With a sigh, Makoto dropped his face into his palm.
"I don't believe in myself," he muttered. He shook his head. "I know you do, Elli. It's just… it's just…" He let out a heavy sigh. "If I can't get this right soon, I should just quit."
He caught Elli's eyes again. That time, she wore festering anger on her face.
"You're much better than that, Makoto," she said, her words growing heavy. "If you just went through everything you just went through when almost everyone in this town was against you and plowed through it the way you did, you cannot tell me you're going to quit now. Farming takes a lot of patience, Makoto. Don't buckle under the pressure from other people. Anyone in your situation would have a hard time. Besides, you have two years to take your time and learn the ropes still." She paused, took his face in one hand, and said: "Stop putting yourself down and stop telling me you're going to quit, because that's not you, Makoto. That's you succumbing to pressure. And you don't break down like that. I know you."
Makoto sighed again, shifting his eyes away from her. Finally, he spoke.
"I'm not unbreakable," he said.
"And I know that," she said. "I think I know you better than anyone here."
"You don't seem to know me that well now," Makoto retorted.
Elli let her hand slip, letting the seconds pass in tens and twenties. All the while, Makoto didn't say anything, giving Elli time to practice not blowing up at him.
"I've got an idea," she finally told him in a forced manner. He looked back up at her. "We should go see how much that rice is going to be worth."
XxXxXxXx
The two crossed the dulled sand as the autumn breezes whipped them. The structures seemed to be swaying under the weak force of the wind, and the color of the Seaside Lounge waned in the cold. As Elli pulled her jacket tighter around herself, the two noticed a comfortable-looking Zack bound out of his cabin in his usual muscle shirt and torn jeans. He greeted them with a grin, and asked:
"What brings you two out here?"
"We were wondering how much Makoto's rice would net," Elli answered, accompanied by Makoto's nod. "Do you know?"
Stroking his stubbly chin with a hum, Zack thought about it for a moment and said:
"Actually, I don't know. The old man never grew rice." He turned, motioning with his broad hand for the two to follow. "But I can someone up who knows." With one swing of his shoulder, he pushed his door open and strode up to the phone. Makoto and Elli waited at the entrance as Zack dialed the number, but when he noticed them standing around, he waved a hand at his sofa and said: "Hey, take a seat!"
They sat down as Zack began speaking to someone named Fran Farmer or Farmer Fran. He waited through what very audibly sounded like a barrage of "how have you been and what are you up to"-type questions while Makoto and Elli noticed pictures of Lillia Brody pinned on the corkboard above the couch. They exchanged shrugs until they finally heard Zack mutter something about 'Makoto at Strawberry Fields' and ask about the price of rice.
Zack nodded, pulling a calculator off a nearby desk and punching in numbers.
"Alright," he said. "Thanks a lot. Bye, Fran." He paused. "His name? Forgot already? Oh, yeah… Makoto Ogawa." Another pause. "Uh-huh… O-g-a… yeah." He waited as she talked, doing his best to pass his groans off as intestinal distress or a cold or something. Finally, he told Fran he had to hang up.
"Wait! Are you busy this—?" were the words that rang in loudly through the earpiece.
He half-chucked the phone back on the receiver, but reached over to click it back into place.
"Got your result, Makoto," he said with a bit of an irritated sigh, turning to the two on the sofa. He strode over and handed the calculator to Makoto.
The boy took it, and for a moment, Zack and Elli wondered if he had a pulse. His mouth slowly succumbed to gravity as he stared at the liquid crystal numbers.
"What is it, Makoto?" Elli asked, leaning over to get a look. Makoto slowly brought the display into her view, and her mouth fell open. Then he stood up, cool as ever.
"Wow..." he uttered, turning to Elli. "I can't believe it…"
A side of Elli made an angry attempt to break through, succeeding in leaving her with a slight frown while it screamed out from somewhere in her mind: "Now he's happy!". But she suppressed it with a smile and received his hug.
"I-I can't believe it," Makoto repeated, breaking the hug and looking more than happy to speak to her. "Now I can fix my house, start expanding my flock, and be ready for spring with a load of seeds."
"That's… that's great," Elli managed to say. Makoto nodded as he bounced off the couch. She followed him as he headed for the door, and before he left he gave a "thanks a lot" to Zack. Zack replied with an "anytime" as he held the door open for them.
Elli just rolled her eyes at the much-too-oblivious Makoto.
XxXxXxXx
Back at the Inn that night, the farmers gathered around one of their radios to listen to the broadcast version of the Farmer Fran show. Ann and Doug served the oblivious men their dinners as they listened to Fran shout about the weather and the cow and sheep festival.
"Now it's time to talk about this week's featured farmer!" Fran exclaimed. "He runs a farm called Strawberry Fields down in good old Mineral Town—" The farmers all muddled about in a mess of confused looks, and they all thought they misheard. "—which also happens to be where my former classmate from the Bayside School of Agriculture lives. Anyway, I found out about this boy in the farmers database, and I learned he's only eighteen and has only been farming for two and a half seasons. So he took a risk and dove straight into growing rice. Luckily for him, he's on the right path and come the time of the harvest, he's going to be well on his way to success!"
Of course, as they stared helplessly at one another, the farmers spoke out about their hopes of still bringing down Makoto's morale. So from the time the sun rose they waited in the town square for him. He finally arrived as the last farmer and long after the townsfolk gathered. Heavy-looking circles hung from his eyes, and he greeted most everyone he passed with a yawn and a sleepy wave.
When he finally made his way to Barley and the little old man grinned and gave him a "finally", he looked down at his watch.
"Oh," he deadpanned. "I overslept."
"Damn straight," Barley told him, looking slightly annoyed. Makoto picked up on the fact he was being reprimanded and gave him a "sorry", but Barley just shrugged. He grabbed his microphone and hobbled to the enclosure of cow and sheep at the center of the square.
Makoto noticed Pixy Dust looking apprehensive and reached into the pen to stroke her head as Barley spoke. Pixy Dust returned it with an affection rub of her nuzzle. From the other side of the pen, he saw Elli wrestle a smile off her face as Stu said something, and he knew she told him to be quiet and pay attention.
"So everyone can have a look at the livestock, a few people at a time," Barley announced. "Remember, we'll be crowning a winning sheep and a winning cow, so pay attention to all the animals."
With that, he motioned to Zack, who reached around the fence and pulled the latch up. Zack pointed at a few people and waved them inside while others stood around and chatted. Makoto stood in his spot but stopped stroking Pixy Dust in time to see someone else move towards Elli. Makoto wondered what the Doctor kept saying to Elli; it took him a few seconds to squint and focus on his mouth to make out his inquiry "…go out with me this Friday?".
No one could deny suddenly seeing Makoto's right arm tense up and slowly clench into a powerful looking fist. But his legs felt like led weights as he remembered his attitude towards her. So he sucked a deep breath in and unclamped his hand, just in time to not look hostile at the sight of the farmers swarming him.
"What do you want?" Makoto asked, certainly sounding hostile enough, and watching them. But his eyes wandered in the direction of Elli and the Doctor. Elli had placed her two fingers to the side of her face like she always did when she thought over something. Makoto knew exactly what she thought of, not out of anything near confidence, when her eyes turned to him.
"'Ey, stop daydreamin', will ya?" the excitable farmer cracked. Makoto turned back to them to show he had their attention.
"I-I don't believe you…" Didion stammered. "I don't believe how lucky you got." He looked as if he wanted to say more, so Makoto waited. By this time, people began turning to watch the scene. "It's impossible how the old man left the farm to you." He looked as if about to ask more, but Makoto cut him short.
"Don't ask, 'cause I don't know why," he said.
"But from what I've been hearing, you haven't had any success before now," Didion continued. "And like I said, this was just dumb luck. Your chickens caused a huge panic at the last fest, you know."
Makoto shook his head with a "No, I didn't know.". More and more people turned to watch, turning attention away from the livestock and whoever didn't stand with the crowd.
"You should get rid of them if you can't handle them," the farmer told Makoto.
Makoto didn't want to nod, but he saw the truth in the statement. The villagers standing around, despite opinions of Makoto's skills as a farmer, shot around comments about Makoto's will to stand up for himself. But his mind stuck to the thoughts about the strings of days the hens refused to lay eggs.
"If you remember something about the old man," Barley said, stepping into the gathering of people. "He was terrified of chickens. He loved them, but he wouldn't go near one for a long time. He hired hands on the farm to handle the chicken coop, and only mixed their food." He paused, and sighed. "He tried coping with his fear, but he never got over it."
"Nah-uh!" the excitable farmer piped up. "The old man wasn't scared of nothin'!" With that, Didion whipped him with a solid hand in the back of the head.
"Shut up, you knucklehead!" he snapped. "Who knew the old man better than Barley?" He turned to Barley. "If you say it, it must be true." He took a few steps to the side. "It doesn't make me lose any respect for the old man. He knew his limits." He extended his finger, pointing at Makoto. "But I have no respect for this one. He takes off from his farm and leaves other kids in charge. He hasn't produced much in two seasons. He only has one sheep." He stopped to catch his thoughts. "C'mon. He hasn't proved anything to us."
With that, Makoto stepped into the conversation.
"The cows and sheep are gone," he stated, looking in the other direction towards the pen. All at once gave him a shared incredulous expression before turning to see.
Over the next few minutes came a series of "gosh-dangits" and "din-darns", accompanied by plenty of accusations aimed at Barley and Mayor Thomas.
"We bring our livestock to your butt-crack town and THIS is what happens?" the excitable farmer shouted as he failed his arms. Mayor Thomas wore a nervous expression, mopping the sweat from his brow as Barley futilely fumbled for the right words to placate the farmers through their wave of shouts. As the clamor carried on, Makoto crossed around the pen and made his way to Elli, and luckily, the Doctor was well out of sight.
"I turned him down," Elli immediately told him. "Don't give me that look, Makoto. I saw you flip out when he asked me."
"Is that why you turned him down?" Makoto asked. "Because you looked half-ready to jump on it. If he's better, then go for him."
Elli cocked her eyes at him, looking angrier than usual.
"I'll keep your proposition in mind," she replied.
Makoto's face remained neutral, but he just stared without speaking. Finally, he said:
"I was on my way out, actually."
"Sure you were, Makoto."
"No, I was," Makoto half-lied. "I had an idea. I'm getting Ein."
Without another word, he turned and made his way to the road, but Elli followed.
"Why are you coming?" he asked, turning to her. He wanted to add a snide remark, but kept it to himself.
"Just show me your plan," she told him.
For a moment, Makoto fell silent. As they crossed onto the next road, he spoke again.
"You know, the rice really is coming in nicely," he said to her. "It'll only be a few more days until I can harvest it."
"Looks like you're getting the hang of it," Elli told him, with no hint of an "I-told-you-so" tone in her voice. When she realized she caught his gaze, she said. "I don't want to hear you putting yourself down is all."
"Thanks," Makoto said warmly. He let loose a small smile, and ended up sharing it with Elli. She still looked hurt to him behind her smile, but he had time.
XxXxXxXx
No one seemed to notice them gone. Without them, they one-by-one proposed ideas to Mayor Thomas and Barley for rounding up runaway cow and sheep.
"Okay, man!" the excitable farmer began. "I've got this plan, man, so listen up! You just gotta push and push and push until they move their butts! Got it?"
"Hmmm… yes!" Mayor Thomas nodded. "That sounds like a plan."
Barley sighed.
"No, I'm afraid that won't work, Mayor Thomas," he said. He turned a glance on the farmer. "But good try anyway." The excitable farmer kicked the dirt in frustration and moved back into his circle of other farmers, leaving Barley to groan before the next farmer stepped up.
"Well, I say," the dim one began. "We lift 'em up and walk 'em on over."
"Hmmm… yes!" Mayor Thomas nodded. "That sounds like a plan."
Barley shook his head.
"That's not very feasible," he said to Mayor Thomas. He dismissed the dim farmer with a "Good try, though.". Next in line was Duke.
"I bet they'd follow bait if you left it out for them," he said.
"Hmmm… yes!" Mayor Thomas exclaimed.
"No, Mayor," Barley said. "Duke's got a good idea, but it won't work. All they like to eat is right in your front yard."
Mayor Thomas's eyes widened as he jumped out of his seat and slammed both hands on the table.
"They're eating my gardenias?"
"I'm afraid they probably are," Barley replied, rubbing the back of his head.. "They'll eat until they've finished chomping everything unless we come up with a good plan." He gazed over at a lazy sheep dog in the pen as it groggily rolled onto its side.
"Unless we can wake up Didion's dog," Mayor Thomas suggested.
"Naw. She won't wake up," Barley replied. He face fell with disapproval. "Didion doesn't realize when it's time to train a new sheep dog."
Upon hearing that, Jonathan Didion spun from the circle of farmers with all frustration pouring through his eyes, and stormed forth.
"Yeah, well you guys are the idiots for allowing all our cows and sheep to get loose!" he shouted. With that, he struck a finger in the direction of his dog. "We shouldn't need to get poor old Ladybird involved in chasing 'em down! This shouldn't even be happening!"
Barley looked like he struggled to keep his composure, and replied sternly:
"We'll find a way to get them all together soon. Don't worry."
But others grew anxious and upset, throwing their shouts at him too.
"My husband just told me they're eating everything in my garden!" Anna exclaimed, jabbing her finger at Barley. "You can't just sit here until our lawns are destroyed!"
"My gardenias!" Mayor Thomas shouted at Barley as he bore his teeth.
"It's gonna take forever to fix up our yards!" Sasha pointed out a tone more like level-headed admonishment than yelling.
"And you know how long my garden took to get right!" Anna continued.
Amongst all the shouting, Didion turned and surveyed the area. His face contorted into a slight scowl as he said: "Where's that Ogawa idiot? He should be here in this kind of crisis, you know." A few other farmers around him shrugged, and the dim one answered with an "I 'unno.".
Meanwhile, the shouts became a full-scale argument.
XxXxXxXx
Ein stared at Makoto with a cocked head as the boy got down on his knees to give him a good rub on the head. Out ahead, the sheep and cows grazed on the front yards along the road. Makoto and Elli knew they scored luck when the sheep and cows decided not to go far, but they also knew it would be impossible to push them back to the town square alone.
When Makoto was done petting Ein, he unclipped his leash, stood back up, and shoved it in his pocket. Then he reached into his cargo pocket and pulled out Ein's rubber ball. Ein yipped and bounced when he caught sight of the object, eagerly waiting for the first throw.
"See?" Makoto said. "He's nuts for this ball. Watch him run."
He reared up his arm and gave the ball a powerful chuck. They watched as Ein barked wildly on his pursuit of the whizzing object. The cows and sheep in the Faultys' yard muddled around, and a few started crossing into the next yard.
"Now's the part when we run after him," Makoto said to Elli. With that, they ran until they caught up with him. Makoto reached down and scooped up the ball, pulling up to chuck it again.
"He's a regular sheep dog," Elli said as they ran again. "Well, sort of."
The few stragglers that didn't move into the next yard with Ein followed a few others, and soon enough they all left the Faulty family yard. When Makoto noticed Ein couldn't find the ball right away, he stopped short to leave Ein to bark it up in the Mayor's yard. More cows and sheep crossed into the next yard by the time Ein finally found his ball. Before he could run back to Makoto and Elli, they met him in time for Makoto to wind up for another throw. With all his strength, he gave the ball another throw in the direction of the town square, and Ein took off in another dash.
Ein's barking caught the attention of the people in the town square not wrapped up in an argument. But when Makoto noticed a few sheep heading in another direction, he snatched Ein and set him barking after them.
"C'mon, Ein!" he yelled, clapping his hands and chasing the dog. Ein barked louder with Makoto chasing him and driving him behind the sheep. The few stray sheep headed for the town square as well, where Barley, Rick, and the farmers guided all of the animals into the pen.
After a quick count, Barley shut the door on the pen and made sure he locked it as Makoto and Elli made their way to the crowd.
"That's every one of them!" Barley announced as loud as he could. A few people let out sighs of relief while the argument dissipated into a few mutterings of "oh, okay then". But the farmers all exchanged shocked looks, complete with jaw drops and stifled insults.
Didion let his eyes wander to Makoto, who nodded as Barley gushed with praise. Then he gave a dirty look to the farmers, and finally turned his gaze back on Makoto.
"Whoa, now!" he exclaimed, shaking his head and stomping up to Makoto and throwing up his hands. "How in the hell did you know how to round up livestock?"
"Just used Ein here is all," Makoto said, motioning towards Ein with his head.
"But it's not even a sheepdog!" Didion shot back.
"Yeah, but he barks," Makoto said. The crowds were drawn around once again to watch. "I figured any kind of barking would scare the animals."
"And what if the sheep are too scared to be judged properly now?" Didion huffed.
Elli was about to step in with her reply when Makoto held up a hand and stopped her.
"It's alright," he whispered. "I should defend myself." He turned from her, and said: "You shouldn't talk, Didion. You did nothing to get them back."
"And it's okay," Barley cut in. He looked at Makoto with a nod, and then turned to address everyone else. "They've already been judged." With that, he made his way to the podium and asked everyone to quiet down. "I'd like to announce the winners, now!" he said. "First, the winning cow is Vodka, Jack and Randy Lawrence's beautiful prize cow from the Hackettsburg Ranch!"
A skinny young man with Buddy Holly glasses came to people's attention when a burly old man whapped him on the back with a heaving, one-armed bear hug. No one in the square recognized the elated men from that day or the day before, but there were still enough "din-darns" and "dangnabbits" to go around from the farming crowd. Jonathan Didion let loose a loud huff as the applause died down while Barley prepared himself to announce the next winner.
"And the winning sheep is…" he began, letting his words trail off and drawing on the tension the crowd emanated. Makoto snuck a glance at the sheep in the pen and picked a sheep that looked to him to be the shoo-in for first place.
Until Barley exclaimed:
"Pixy Dust, from our very own Strawberry Fields!"
The surprise unhinged Makoto's jaw and the words left a buzzing feeling in his ears; he just barely heard give him with a "Congratulations!". All the while, the rest of the farmers turned their faces and dropped jaws in his direction.
"I won," Makoto uttered in a low voice. Didion let out a groan, and threw his arms out at his turned to Barley.
"Why him?" he demanded. "He can't even get anything right! How did he even win?" Barley just smiled.
"Well," he said. "The people saw all the sheep, checked the name of their favorite, and it turned out Pixy Dust got the most votes."
Didion looked about ready to boil over with anger, until someone caught him off guard.
"Ahh, lay off him already!" another voice piped up. Didion and Makoto turned to see Randy Lawrence standing in front of them. He turned to Makoto and said: "Listen, Makoto. You really surprised everyone here today. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks you're going to make something great of yourself and Strawberry Fields someday."
Makoto nodded at that, absorbing the words with a feeling of warmth in his chest. As Randy bid him farewell, he watched everyone else for a moment as they formed their clusters. Then he turned to the one by his side.
"I-I'm sorry," he stammered, meeting Elli's eyes. He motioned with his head in another direction, and the two began walking. The Mayor and Barley seemed to notice, because behind them rose up the Mayor's cries of "Where are you going? You still have to get your award!"
He watched him walk away with Elli, and soon let out a sigh.
"Fine," he muttered, mostly to himself. "Just come back later."
Elli and Makoto made it past the exit of the town square and leaned up on the fence. For a moment, Elli just looked up at Makoto, and brought her gaze away.
"Makoto…" she said. "I got the point you're sorry." She rubbed him on the arm. "You don't have to say anything else."
But he looked over and managed to ensnare her gaze. "I just want you to know something."
A chilling breeze took them by surprise, but Elli knew Makoto needed to build up to saying what he wanted to say. He sighed.
"It's that no matter what, I'm gonna work to turn that farm around. And I've got a reason for that."
She waited, drawn by his words and silence.
"It's you," he finally told her. For once, she looked like the one at a loss for words while his rang. They resonated in her ears for a long time, and they were almost as persistent as warmth she felt in her heart all night.
Later that evening, as he crossed the grounds with the bitter winds whipping him, Makoto thought long about his words to Elli. And it seemed the old man's greatness didn't matter when it came to shaping his own life and success. Makoto kept telling himself that he had a long way to go before judging himself, and still a little over two years left to revive the land. It seemed to be plenty of time to improve.
He crossed the fields alone, and within his body contained just enough optimism.
XxXxXxXx
I can't believe I
updated within the week. I hope this turned out alright. Thanks to everyone who read, of course! And as for shout-outs...
Storm Black- Yay, cookie! I wonder what you're thinking the secret is. Hmmm… I hope I'm doing a good job being elusive. Thanks for reading!
Lemurian 04- You'll find out. :) We'll all find out. Except me. I know. Or I hope I know what it is. No wait, I do. Thanks for reading!
Until next time, folks!