Never Have I Ever…seen a harvest sprite
"They're real you know," Rod insists as the two of us sit by the river, soaking out feet in the water in the hopes of cooling down on a hot summer day.
When he first dragged me along, I thought that it would be nice to just relax and hang out like old times, but the more he talked on and on about his theories on the Harvest Goddess and her 'minions' the more I remember how talkative he is.
As I sigh and drag my feet back and forth, Rod looks over at me before a pout comes across his face. I can practically see his spikes droop like a puppy's ears as he sulks, "You're not listening to me, are you?"
"They're not real," I reply, causing him to perk up again before he scolds me, "Seriously, why are you talking to me about this? I don't care."
"Well you should!" Rod insists, "Because they're real. I would know."
"Oh really? And why would you know?"
Rod looks back and forth furtively before leaning in close. As I flinch a bit and lean away, he whispers, "This area…Rio comes here a lot, right?"
Looking away from him, I glance at our surroundings; Rio IS over here a lot, always wielding a hammer and running around the eight stumps that form a line in front of some trees. Of course, she likes to take naps over here too.
Rod must see the doubt on my face before he says, "One time she was holding that hammer and I hid in the trees over there to see what she was doing. I thought she was using this area to make stone material or something, but she was talking to thin air and then suddenly she hit one of the stumps and it sounded like a note. I kind of got lost in the sounds but then suddenly she was like shining and this voice said something I didn't understand and the next thing I knew she was holding blueprints for something!"
I'm sure at this point, my jaw could be dislocated at how far it's dropped, but I don't care.
This? THIS is his proof that the harvest sprites exist?
My face must be incredulous because Rod pouts again and opens his mouth to say more-at this point though, I'm done soaking my feet and listening to his blathering on about goddess knows what.
Standing up quickly, I turn to leave when Rod calls out, "Wait! Neil! Promise me you'll meet me here tomorrow?"
Don't look, I tell myself. Don't look or you'll have no choice but to say yes.
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
"Shhhh! She's coming!" Rod hisses at me, practically slapping me in his attempt to shut me up and keep me quiet. Somehow, I made the mistake of looking back yesterday and within five minutes had somehow promised Rod that I'd meet him in the same spot again for some spying.
So far, all we've done is hide in the trees for the past half hour. I'm mostly irritated that I agreed to even spy on my wife in the first place, but when Rio comes happily skipping towards the river area I can't help but smile to myself as I watch how cute it is when she nearly trips and squeaks as she catches her footing.
When I look over at Rod, he's looking at me with slightly disgusted eyes and shaking his head.
"Man, if Rio knew how creepy you looked when you secretly watch her…"
"Shut up," I slap him lightly, causing him to whine in pain. "I'm not creepy. You are, for even coming up with this idea."
Holding his face, Rod pouts again and looks back at where Rio is now rummaging in her sack before he mutters, "Okay, whatever, just watch her okay?"
He doesn't have to ask me twice; my eyes find Rio instantly. The color of her hair, the blue of her eyes, the way her lips move when she talks….talks to thin air?
Suddenly I focus, much more intent on what's going on as I realize Rod is right-she IS talking to thin air. There's no one there in the grove with her, but as she stands up and throws a hammer over her shoulder she shakes her head and says with a loud laugh, "You're so silly, Aaron!"
Together, Rod and I watch as Rio hits the nearest stump. Just like he said, music begins to fill the river area and I stare harder as Rio makes a face of concentration and then runs over to another stump, hitting it quickly.
Either Rod and I are both delusional, or Rio really is making music with stumps and talking to people that don't exist.
It's strange, and weird, I don't really understand it but…
Rod suddenly jumps on me, trying to get a better look when suddenly we come crashing out of the undergrowth. As we yell and tumble onto the grass the music suddenly stops. I'm trying to untangle my legs from Rod's when I hear Rio's voice say, "Neil?" and a pair of brown boots come into my vision.
Cursing under my breath, I throw Rod off of me and scramble to my feet before asking Rio, "What were you doing? Who were you talking to?"
On the ground, Rod wriggles around trying to get out from under my feet as he asks eagerly, "Was it a harvest sprite? They're real aren't they? Tell him, Rio, he doesn't believe me!"
My wife blinks at the both of us, shock completely written all over her face before she falls quiet. For a second I think she's going to cry when instead she bursts out laughing. As Rod and I watch, she clutches her sides and laughs even more before pointing at me and asking incredulously, "You don' t believe that harvest sprites are real? Of course they are Neil!"
Instantly I frown, confused so much that I can barely even manage a "Huh?" as Rio helps Rod to his feet and the two of them look at me and shake their heads.
Shaking a finger at me, Rio scolds, "Don't you believe in the Harvest Goddess, Neil?"
"Huh?"
For some reason, that seems to be the only sound that I can make, and Rio just shakes her head before saying, "You know, the Harvest Goddess? She has sprites, don't you know that?"
Shaking my head, I growl, "Come on, it's just a story, they don't REALLY exist."
At this, Rod grabs his chest and gasps before saying, "Neil! Don't say such blasphemous things!" while Rio just shakes her head at me with a smile on her face.
Leaning forward she puts a hand on her hip and says, "Really Neil, the sprites don't like it when people don't believe in them. They are real, Rod is right!"
I shake my head, refusing to let Rod have the satisfaction of being right about something so ridiculous. While I believe in them, the idea of them being as real as the people in town is hard to think about…
My silence earns me reproachful looks from both Rod and Rio.
Exchanging a look with Rod, she comes to one side and grabs my hand. Giving me an encouraging smile, she squeezes my hand and tells me, "Honestly Neil, if you want proof that they're real all you have to do is ask Hana and Dunhill…they can tell you. Come on, let's go!"
"Dunhill will tell us everything, and I mean EVERYTHING!" Rod exclaims.
As Rio drags me after her and Rod skips along happily behind, insisting he was right the entire time, I frown at the sky.
Somehow, I feel like this is my divine punishment for doubting the sprites' existence in the first place.
Next time I'll just accept the fact that some things can't be seen.
One thing that I don't understand entirely is how the whole harvest-sprite-harvest-goddess thing works in town. I mean, the other townspeople barely seem to mention them. In fact, I don't ever recall them being mentioned in the actual gameplay! It could be my faulty memory (which seems to get worse every year) but either way I think it's strange that no one else seems to say anything about it or mention it besides your character.
I'm sure the townspeople believe in the harvest sprites and stuff though. Anyways, for me I always wondered how Rio doesn't come off as kind of crazy; there's always someone walking around the river area, so surely someone's seen Rio hitting stumps and talking to what appears to be thin air. Considering that everyone except Rio can't see the sprites or the Goddess, I just feel like the whole thing is one of those 'seeing isn't believing' things XD
But that's just my take on it!
Anyways, thanks for all the reads and reviews as always :) Requests are still welcome, and I'll update again either tomorrow or the day after so be on the lookout for it! :) Until next time!