Episode 2: If Only It Were Simple

Tuesday, 2nd of Spring, 1976

The next morning I woke up pretty early. There are not many windows in Grandpa's house, only two, one near my bed, next to the side table drawer near my bed, where I leave my journal on top of, and the other window is near the front door, but I had this feeling that I woke up around 6:48 a.m. or somewhere around that time. I showered, got dressed into my blue overalls, put on my boots, gloves, and my cap, and I ate a croissant for breakfast. I don't know how to cook very well, so I have to settle eating croissants and rice balls for now. I walked into the living room, which is not as spacious as the living room of the mayor's house, and I took notice of the television sitting on a desk in between two bookshelves. I could tell by looking at it that the TV is one of those color television sets, a 1971 Bang and Olufsen model 2600 single standard color television. As I recall, my Dad used to have the older model, the 3000, but he replaced it for the 1976 Magnavox console television set recently. I expected Grandpa to have one of those old black and white televisions, but I underestimated him, he has been keeping up to date with the technology changes of television for the most part. Still, there is a possibility this TV doesn't work anymore. I could only hope that it still works, because I can't afford a new television right now, let alone more oil lamps to light the rooms at night.

"Hmmm... I wonder if the TV works..." I wondered to myself as I reached over to to press the power button.

I turned on the TV and surprisingly, it works! I turned the channel to the weather forecast. I don't have time to watch soap operas or cartoons. I saw the weatherwoman standing near a zoomed in projected map of mostly Louisiana, the western half of Texas, and the bottom half of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Grandpa's farm and Neighbor Town is at the southwestern edge of Louisiana. And I noticed that the weatherwoman had a depressed look on her face when she announced tomorrow's weather forecast.

"Hello, and good morning. The weather forecast for tomorrow is that it will rain at midnight and will rain for the entire day. And in other news..." She said.

I turned off the television after that.

"Okay. Time to get to work, then." I said to myself as I headed for the door.

I yawned and stretched my body as soon as I stepped outside. I was about to head for the shed but I heard a dog barking nearby. I got curious and headed for the entrance to my ranch to see what's going on. A golden brown beagle with floppy ears came running towards me from the road in the direction of where Neighbor Town is with someone, a girl chasing him. The dog had good distance running from her, so she was too far away for me to identify clearly, and the dog stopped 2 inches in front of me. He looked up at me and wagged his tail.

"Hey, there. Where did you come from?" I asked the dog as I knelt down and patted his head.

Just then, I heard a girl shout: "Koro! Wait!"

I looked up and saw a girl the same age as me sprinting towards me. She has bright brown semi long hair, brown eyes, fair skin, a red skirt with checker patterns on it, a plain white shirt, a yellow polka dotted scarf loosely tied around her neck, brown colored classic Mary Jane shoes and looked very physically fit. She stopped 5 inches from me and Koro, panting hard from running such a long distance from town.

"Huff... Puff... Don't run so suddenly..." The girl scolded Koro after taking a few breaths.

Then she noticed me. We looked at each other blankly for a few seconds. "...Oh, you. You are the Mr. Rancher everybody is talking about." She said.

"Yeah. Wow... I just moved here and already I'm getting popular?" I asked in surprise.

"Well, excuse me... Will you keep please keep this dog for me? My house is a grocery store, so my mom doesn't allow me to keep this dog... So please!" She begged.

I gave it some thought. I eventually said yes, because I need a dog in my farm, anyway. "Sure. I'll keep him." I nodded.

"Thank you!" The girl smiled. "Um... His name is... Well, you can name him." The girl suggested.

"Me? Okay. Uhhh... Hmm..." I pulled off my cap and scratched my hair. "Hmm... I'll just leave it Koro, like how you've been calling him." I said. I didn't want to strain my brain into coming up with a new name.

The girl nodded in agreement. "Thank you very much!" She knelt down at Koro and rubbed his head. "You have a new house now, Koro. You've got to be a good boy for Mr. Rancher here. Take care."The girl stood up, turned around and began to leave.

I shook myself out of my trance of watching her leave and called out to her: "Hey! Please don't call me "Mr. Rancher" anymore. Call me Tony. Just Tony," I said.

The girl stopped walking and turned around to look at me. "I'm sorry. Hi, I'm Ellen. Nice meeting you, Tony." Then she really left.

"Ellen..." I allowed the name to sink into my brain.

I don't know why, but why was I staring so intently at Ellen, even though I just met her? I remember Dad always telling me to treat girls with respect, and that when I find the right girl that I'll be with the rest of my life, I'll know. But how can I know? I've never experienced this kind of thing before! I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. I looked around the ranch. Weeds were everywhere! I can't make a garden with weeds everywhere! But first things first, I got a job to do, and those weeds aren't going to disappear by themselves.

"Hey, Koro. Stay here and guard the ranch. I'm going to the town to buy some seeds."

"Waff waff!" Koro barked in reply.

"That's a good boy. Wait here. Wait." I said, backing away form Koro to make sure he understood not to follow me.

As I walked on over to Neighbor Town, I looked up at the sky. The sky is still blue, but it won't stay that way long. Walking to town was good exercise, I recall, but on foot, it felt like it would take me an hour or two instead of a few minutes to get there. Riding in a truck took less time to get to town.

As soon as I reached Neighbor Town, I headed on over to the Flower Shop, the place where I first met Nina. Speaking of Nina, she was outside the shop, watering plants. And I have to say, her hair and dress match the colors of the trees and flowers around me. Its very alluring.

"Hi, Nina." I called.

"Hi, Tony! Hey, I have to tell you something." She said with that usual cheerful smile.

"Really? What is it?" I asked.

"Let me tell you the code for the flower in our shop. It is 'I like you a lot'!" After Nina told me that, I felt confused and uneasy. Is that a code, or a secret message for me...? I didn't know how to reply to that.

"...Um... *ahem*... Thanks for the code... Whatever it means." I said as I slowly entered the shop and closed the door.

Nina giggled at how flustered and uneasy I was. It made me vaguely wonder whether I am a comedian or not.

"Hello, Tony." Nina's mother, Liz, said to me when she spotted me approaching.

"Hi. you got any seeds to sell?" I asked.

"They're right over there," Liz pointed over at an open space on the counter to her left away from the cash register device. "The seeds in the gray bags are turnips. The ones in brown bags are potatoes. Potatoes take longer to grow." She said.

"Hmm..." I looked at the seed bags, then at their price tags. Ten dollars for two bags seems like a reasonable price to me. I decided to buy two turnip seed bag. I took both bags and brought them over to Liz.

"Two turnip bags? that will be $10.00." She said.

I dug into my pockets and pulled out $10. I had $300 but now I got $290.00, I could buy more bags, but I want to spend my money sparingly. My dad used to tell me "A penny saved is a penny earned, and once you save your money, spend it responsibly, don't waste it all on candy." After giving Liz the cash needed to buy the turnip seed bags, she punched a few buttons on her cash register, opened up the slot where she keeps the money, and then placed my $10 inside and closed up the slot.

"Thank you," Liz said with a warm smile that made me want to smile back, so I did, while I took the bag of turnip seeds and returned home.

The walk home was a bit tiresome for me on this day, On top of that, I needed to use the bathroom, so as soon as I returned to the ranch, I went in grandpa's old house and took a quick bathroom break before resuming my farm work. As I headed for the shed, I noticed how there were not only weeds everywhere in the fields west from the house and barn, but small stones, and tree stumps, likely the stumps of trees that my Grandpa has cut down for the past few years. I need to make some room before I plant anything. I entered the old shed. In the humid shed, light filtered in from the two windows allowing me to see that my gardening tools are on the desk, ready for me to use. I need to take care of the weeds, so I picked up the sickle, and then I picked up the ax to cut down the trees in the way. For the next few minutes, I was slicing and dicing weeds like crazy.

"Yah! Hiyah! Whah!" I shouted as I swung the sickle left and right, cutting down weeds as if they were monsters attacking me, and I'm the sword-wielding hero.

Hey, using your imagination on the job is the quickest way to relieve yourself from boredom! Koro watched me intently as I worked, sitting down on the ground, and panting. Exerting yourself while the hot sun is beaming down on you can take a lot out of your endurance, you know. After I was done, I noticed that I took care of the weeds inside the ranch, but there are a lot more outside, too, even small and big stones. Then I focused my attention on the tree stump near the well and tool shed. I pulled out a rice ball from my pocket and ate it.

"Whew... If only it were so simple." I sighed.

I grabbed my ax and got started chopping the tree stump.

"Huh! Unf! Unf! Unf!" I grunted as I swung the ax down, slowly chopping the stump to pieces of lumber, then pulled it out to swing it down again several more times. Soon, the tree stump became nothing more than firewood. My arms and legs burned as if someone lit a match in my body. It is not a good feeling, and I felt beads of sweat run down my face. I've seen my dad do this kind of work before, but now that I am doing farm work by myself, I can't help wondering how does Dad find the strength to do what he does.

"Whew! How does Dad do it...?" I wondered aloud as I wiped my forehead with a towel. I felt fatigued, my arms are aching, and the hot springtime sun beaming its heat down on me and everything else didn't help improve my stamina at all.

I retrieved a wheelbarrow from the tool shed and broght it over to where I stacked all the chopped wood , then I put all the chopped wood in the wheelbarrow and took it to the lumber storage shed next to my house, where I can get wood as for the fireplace in my house, or to make new wooden fences and such. Then I ran back into the tool shed, and placed my sickle down for a hammer.

Then I returned back outside and bashed the little stones in my ranch to bits and pieces.

"Waff waff!" Koro barked, standing a few yards behind me.

"I'm fine, Koro. Just a little exhausted, that's all." I replied.

After that, I decided to expand my ranch a little bit. First I started to clear out the weeds that are beyond the fence in front of the tool shed by using the hoe. I remember my dad telling me once that a gardening hoe can be used for a bit more than tilling the soil to plant crops, it can also be used for weeding. If I'm going to plant crops, I'm gonna need to permanently get rid of these weeds, make sure they don't grow back, and the way to do that is using the hoe to cut foliage from the roots, and clearing the soil of old roots and crop residues. As for the wooden fence in front of the tool shed, I pulled the wooden posts out of the ground and removing the barbed wires tied around them. Even though I had gloves on, I had to be careful with the barbed wires. Then I took out my hammer and bashed a huge boulder into little pieces. It was no picnic, destroying a boulder takes a lot more effort and energy than a stone the size of a chihuahua dog, and my arms ached.

"Ow..." I rubbed my arms, and the aching slowly dulled into an annoying itching sensation.

But I still could keep going. Its late afternoon, now, and the sun is just now beginning to slowly settle down to the west. Derek came by to see if I need anything shipped. I heard his truck coming up to my ranch and waited for him to come to me.

"Hey, Tony! How's life treating you?" He asked.

"Right now... It bites." I replied in a sullen but honest tone.

"I see. is there no shipping today?" He asked.

"Nope. Not today. Cleaning up the place." I replied.

"Okay then, bye." Derek left the ranch, jumped in his pickup truck and drove off. I sighed and continued working. It took me all evening to clear out all the weeds and stones to set up new fences.

By the time I was setting up new fences, the sun had already fallen to the west, plunging the sky into darkness to see the stars above, and where I live, this part of Louisiana does not have a big population so there are no road lamps to light the area, I had to use a flashlight for light. I started out by connecting the fences with the lower left end of the pond near the tool shed, and I made the fences connect to the fence that surrounds the shipping box near the entrance of my ranch. During my work, everything was quiet, no crickets chirping, nothing like that. I looked up at the semi dark star filled sky. It'll be raining soon. it started thundering as soon as I looked up. Then I looked over at the well. I decided that I'll make my first garden in front of the well. I ran back into the shed, put down the hammer and grabbed the garden hoe and used the hoe to soften the soil to plant seeds in. Without the hot sun shining down on me, swinging the metal part of the hoe down towards the ground was much less strenuous without feeling the heat around you. Then I ran back into the shed, grabbed my bag of turnip seeds, came back outside and began planting them. I heard another thunder rumble. Koro whined.

"Don't worry, Koro. Its just thunder. Means it'll rain in a few hours," I assured my worried dog.

After planting the seeds, I began to water them with the watering can. After watering them, I really started to feel exhausted now. But before going to bed, I decided to head on over to the bar in Neighbor Town to see what's going on, since it is only open at night. Walking down the road at night was a bit scary, I admit. My heart was pounding mildly, and I found myself looking at pitch black areas as if I expect someone or something to jump out at me. Part of me wondered if I would get attacked by a wolf or wild dog, so I carried my sickle and hammer with me just in case that might happen. I wish my dad bought me one of those three-wheeled 1970 Honda ATC90 motor bikes.

You can't imagine the relief I felt when I made it into town, away from the road surrounded by wilderness where the possibility of a predator of some kind might be stalking you. I knew that most of the shops are closed, but my destination is the bar. As soon as I stepped into the bar, the blonde woman in the red dress I met before suddenly greeted me.

"So, you've come to that haunted ranch, huh?" She asked me with a sly but seductive expression on her face.

"Haunted? Uh, I think you're mistaken about that." I quickly replied, but in a polite way.

"Tee hee... Anyway, good luck. I'm Eve. Nice to meet you." She shook my hand.

"I'm Tony." I replied.

She then pulled out a bottle of juice from her bag strapped around her waist and handed it to me.

"Here you are. This is from me." Eve said.

"Wow, thanks. I am pretty thirsty, though, so thanks again." I said.

I drunk it. MAN, IT HAD A SOUR TASTE TO IT, LIKE ALCOHOL! In fact, I think it was alcohol!

"Bwahhh! Huff...Huff..." I gasped and I teetered back and forth for a few seconds. That was the worst drink I've ever tasted, let me tell you!

Eve couldn't help giggling at the funny faces I was making while I was gagging in disgust.

"That's my berry flavored wine. The best thing to recover from fatigue is to relax." She said.

"True..." I said, opening my mouth and gagging from the sour drink. "But please warn me the next time you give me liquor, okay?" I left the bar and ran back home, because the thundering is getting even more intense. When I got back to the ranch, I picked up Koro, who was scared because of the thunder. "Come on, Koro. Let's get you in the house. It'll rain soon." I said. I took him in the house, then I got dressed into my pajamas, wrote in my journal about what happened today, then I fell asleep.

Wednesday, 3rd of Spring, 1976

I woke up, stood up in my bed and yawned while stretching my arms. I then noticed the sound of rain hitting the roof of the house. Koro was nudging his bowl around the floor, expecting to be fed soon.

"Oh, sorry, boy. I forgot that you're hungry. Here."

I stood up, walked over to the cabinet, opened it up and grabbed a can of dog food called "Cycle 3", used a can opener to open the can, then I let the meaty pellets slide out of the can and into Koro's bowl. Koro wasted no time dipping his head into the bowl and gobbling up the pellets. Watching Koro eat made me hungry, so I made myself a cheese croissant with strawberry jam in it and ate it for breakfast. I then turned on the TV to see what the weather forecast for tomorrow is. The weatherwoman said that the skies will still be sunny tomorrow, while the weather for the days after tomorrow are still pending. Perfect. A sunny day tomorrow, with winds up to 22 mph. I then I got dressed and stepped outside to check on my ranch, while Koro stayed to eat his food. I stepped outside my house, closing the door, taking in the cool air the rain produced and feeling cool rain drops pelt my cap and shoulders. While the cold rain fell around me and on me, I noticed that some of the fences are damaged!

"Great! That's just great!" I huffed angrily.

The fences looked sturdy, but I should have known- they're made out of old wood, from the stumps of trees, and the rain made some of the fences rot away! I ran to the tool shed, grabbed the hammer, and came back out in the rain to get rid of the busted up fence posts and replace them with new ones. It wasn't easy doing this kind of work out in the rain, but I love the rain. When I was younger and still lived with my parents, I used to watch the rain outside the window all the time as I ate rice balls as I watched rain drops slide down the glass surface. Now I'm working outside in the rain, getting all wet in the process. Maybe there's some kind of irony in there. I just hope that I don't catch a cold. That's the last thing I need right now.

As I hammered down and replaced the broken fences, my mind was thinking of one particular person... Ellen. I don't know why, but I can't take my mind off her. Its driving me nuts, and gives me warm, fuzzy feelings in my body. Then I decided. After I'm done working, I'm going back to Neighbor Town to find someone who can... Help me out by teaching me about romance and stuff. As soon as I was done working, I left my tools back in the shed and I ran to Neighbor Town as fast as my legs could take me.

(At times like this... I wish I had a car.) I said in my mind as I stomped through dozens of puddles and mud on the road, and my clothes gradually became wet, sticking to my skin.

Nearly two hours later, I stopped by the fortune teller's house as soon as I reached the town. This is my first time being here, as I don't believe in fortune telling, but today is a special case.

"Hi, mister." A little red-haired 9 year old girl greeted me.

"Hi. I don't know where to go for this, but I'm looking for someone who can teach me about... romantic relationships and stuff like that," I said while removing my wet cap off from my head and wringing some of the water out of it.

"Uh-oh... Another one. You better read the book that's written by Mrs. Fortune Teller, then. Its pretty hard to capture a girl's heart." She said.

I frowned up. "How would you know? You're a girl yourself."

"I know. I just know how you boys with aching hearts feel, that's all." The girl replied.

"Hmph." I nodded, frowning and feeling embarrassed. I walked up to Mrs. Fortune.

"Hello, young man. Here's a useful book I wrote about girls. I suggest you read it." She handed it to me.

"Thanks." I said.

I sat down on a nearby chair and read the book carefully. I learned from the book that its important to talk to a girl you like as often as possible, and give her presents that she likes, dance with her in festivals... Dancing... I'm no good at that. My face started turning red at the thought. And I also learned that the item for proposing is a blue feather. Its an item that can rarely be found by anyone except peddlers. Then I remembered that old woman I met yesterday. Maybe she'll come by with a blue feather someday. After reading the book, I gave it back to Mrs. Fortune and decided to pay a visit to the town's grocery store. As soon as I walked in, Ellen noticed me right away.

"Oh no. you are too soaked. you might catch a cold unless you dry yourself soon. I'll be back. Wait here, Tony." Ellen ran off to her room.

"Thanks." I said then suddenly sneezed. I sat down at one of the chairs.

"I see you've met my daughter, Ellen." The huge woman behind the cashier desk said.

"Sh...She's your daughter?" I asked.

The woman nodded. "Who's her father?" I asked.

Ellen's mother disdainfully pointed over at the drunk man drinking beer at the other end of the room. He smiled at me and hiccuped. I turned around back towards the woman.

"...Sorry I asked." I said.

"That good-for-nothing bum always drinks, drinks, drinks! He never proves himself to be a hard worker!" The woman said.

.

"T-that...*hic*... Is not true!" Ellen's dad retorted.

"It is true, and you know it!" Ellen's mom shot back.

Then Ellen returned with a huge towel and wrapped it around me. "Thanks, Ellen... You're so nice." I said.

Ellen's dad looked over at the nearest window and groaned in depression. "Ohh no, it started raining now... Gee, I was going to work. Well, I can do nothing but stay home today." He said, teetering back and forth and taking another drink.

"Hank, what are you saying? It doesn't matter if it rains to do our work here!" Ellen's mom retorted.

I sighed.

"That's how my Mom and Dad are." Ellen said, taking a seat next to me.

"I understand. My parents get along fairly well." I replied with a sneeze.

"So, where are you and your parents from?" Ellen asked me.

"Uh, my dad owns a ranch close by this town called Mineral Town." I said.

"Oh, I see." Ellen nodded slowly.

I stood up and began exploring the grocery store. I noticed two pots with a cork in the opening near the door that leads to the bedrooms. "What are in these pots, ma'am?" I asked Ellen's mother.

"Oh, that's my home made pickled vegetables in salted rice bran." She replied.

"Hmm, sounds good." I said. Then my stomach growled so loud, Ellen and her parents heard it.

"Eat something when you have to. Our cakes are the best to get more energy." Ellen's mom said.

I sat back down. "I'd love to try one of your cakes." I admitted.

"Here, try this one. It costs $500." Ellen's mom offered me the cake on the desk.

"$500? Ooh, I wish, but all I got is $100." I replied sadly.

"Nonsense, Tony! You need your energy. You can try one today for free. This one is on the house." Ellen's mom said.

"Really? Thanks!" I said. I took the cake, set it down on the table and began eating it as Ellen watched me.

"So, Tony, what have you been doing lately at the ranch? Have you planted anything yet?" Ellen asked me.

"Today? Yeah, On the day you gave me Koro. I just planted some turnip seeds. They should be fine since its raining today." I said before sticking a fork of cake into my mouth.

"That's good. Well, whenever you want more cake, come visit us. You're always welcome here." Ellen said with a warm smile.

"Gee, thanks, Ellen. At first I thought my days of being a farmer would be terrible, but now, I'm starting to see that things aren't as bad as I originally thought they would be." I said.

Ellen said nothing, she just gave me a smile. Ellen's mom smiled too. Her dad was still drinking behind me.

"Well, I gotta get back to the ranch. I'll see you later, Ellen." I said.

"Good-bye, Tony." Ellen said.

"Good-bye ma'am. Good-bye, sir." I said to her parents and left the door.

"Tony is such a nice, polite boy." Ellen's mom told Ellen while she cleaned a glass cup with a blue rag.

"Yeah. He is very nice, isn't he?" Ellen agreed.

"So, Ellen, what do you think?"

"About what, Mom?"

"About him."

Ellen then started blushing. "M-Mom...! I just met him!"

Ellen's mom chuckled. "I know, but you were so generous to him as soon as he came in. Too generous." She smiled.

"T-that doesn't mean anything! I'm supposed to be nice!" Ellen blushed and ran into her room.

Ellen's mom shook her head in disbelief, chuckling. "She likes him, but not enough to admit it."

As soon as I got back to the ranch, I decided to find a place to grow some grass. I need some livestock. I checked my wristwatch. It's 4:58 p.m. I went in the shed and took the bag of grass seeds, and the hoe, and went out in front of the shed and used the hoe to dig a few patches on the ground to plan some grass. Then I sprinkled the grass seeds on the wet soil. As soon as I did that, Derek arrived. "Oh, still nothing to ship?" He asked me.

"Nope. I just planted some turnips." I replied. "Okay then. Take it easy, Tony." Derek left. After plating the grass seeds, I put up the tools in the shed. As soon as I stepped outside the shed, I saw two pieces of the wooden fence rot away before my eyes! "Aaaaarrggh!" I growled in frustration! Why isn't the wood durable around here?! I ran back to the firewood shed, took a few pieces of wood and came back to the rotting fences, and used my wooden sledgehammer to break them down and replace them with the new pieces of wood. After that, I saw more parts of the wooden fence rotting! "Arrrgh! Give me a break here!" I snarled. A few hours later, I got all the fences repaired. i am tired and soaking wet, and its already dark out.

I walked back into my house. Koro was drinking some water from his water bowl. "Hey boy. I bet you had a better day than I did. I said as I got undressed out of my wet overalls and put on my pajamas. I jumped in my bed and wrote in my journal about what happened today. When I was writing about Ellen and her parents, I didn't feel angry and frustrated anymore. Its an odd feeling I don't know how to explain. I don't know much about romance and love, but when I was writing about Ellen, I just suddenly felt... Relaxed and content. anyway, when I was done writing, I placed my diary on my desk next to my bed. "Good night, Koro." I said and fell asleep. Later on that night, Koro was barking like crazy. I have no idea why. "Ugghhh... Koro... Go back to sleep..." I said as I tossed and turned in my bed. Eventually Koro stopped barking. Little did I know that the reason why Koro was barking is because some wolves entered my ranch from a broken fence that I missed, looking for some cows and chickens to eat. But they didn't stay long. I hope tomorrow will be better than today.

To Be Continued...