Episode 3: Progressive Farming

Thursday, 4th of Spring 1976

Starting off another beautiful morning, I ate a croissant for breakfast, then I checked the weather forecast on television. Fortunately, the weather will be sunny tomorrow, too, with a few cloudy skies.

"Waff waff!" Koro barked at me.

I turned around to face him after turning off the television.

"All right, all right, I know how much you want to get back outside." I said.

I picked him up and carried him out. I set Koro on the porch then I ran over to the turnips to check on them. I noticed that they're starting to sprout, thanks to the rain yesterday! It feels so good when nature works with you.

"Yes! Finally some progress!" I clapped my hands together in excitement.

I went in the tool shed to get the water can and ax, and watered the turnips, then I began chopping some wood outside my ranch. When I looked back at my ranch, I saw a broken fence that I missed.

"What? How did I miss that?" I wondered.

I ran back to the shed and grabbed the hammer and used it to break down the broken section of the fence and replace it with new wood. Then I went back to chopping more firewood. An hour after that, I expanded the far a little bit too, making the east end of the perimeter extend out to the top right edge of the wooden fences surrounding a pond near the tool shed. I worked all day. I didn't even take the time to visit anybody in town. During the evening, Derek came by to make sure that I needed to ship anything.

"Nothing today either, huh?" Derek asked me.

"At least not now. I got some turnips growing." I said, wiping sweat off my forehead.

"That's a little progress right there. Well, see ya tomorrow, all right?" Derek turned around and left. Then he suddenly turned around and walked back to me. "By the way..." His voice trailed off a bit.

"What?" I asked.

"Have you visited the carpenters in the forest?"

"No, I haven't. Why?" I asked.

"Because they can upgrade and expand your house... if you got enough money and wood to do it. You see that mountain over there?" Derek pointed straight at the mountain which was glowing bright because of the sun setting behind it.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"In the forest at the base of the mountain, a group of carpenters live there. If you got enough cash and wood, just go talk to them and ask them to upgrade and expand your house." Derek advised me.

"Okay, thanks, Derek." I smiled. at least I know I won't be sticking with this small old shack for long. "Well, take it easy, Tony, and good luck." Derek left my ranch and drove off in his truck. After he left, I decided to go visit the bar, even though I was feeling pretty tired.

As soon as I came in the bar, Eve noticed me right after she served Derek and Mike their drinks. "Hi. You look fine today." Eve said.

"Uh. Uh-huh." I nodded slowly.

I don't know what made me come in here even though I was feeling sleepy. I noticed Ellen's dad was here too. He was drinking like the drunk he is.

"*BURP*...Sooo...great! She's out, and I can relax as much as I want, yeah." He sighed with content and continued drinking more of his raspberry flavored wine. I sat down next to the livestock owner to try to get my bearings before I head back out.

"How are you doing, boy?" The livestock owner asked me.

"...Tired..." I replied as I slowly looked at him.

He nodded. "You know, cows give you more milk when you take good care of them with love..." He looked at me.

"...Are you listening to me?" He asked.

"Mmm-hmm..." I slowly nodded, trying not to fall asleep.

"See, the more cows like you, the more milk they'll give you, and eventually baby calves will be born." As he was talking my head thudded on the table and I fell asleep. "... Listen to me, boy!" The livestock owner suddenly shouted in my ear!

"Waah! Who-what-when-where?!" I jumped up so fast, I was wide awake and my eyes shot open!

Everyone in the bar was looking in my direction. "Uhhh... sorry. I'm leaving, now." I apologized and left.

I rubbed my ears as I left. That old man could have ruptured my eardrum! I ran back home and fell asleep before anything could happen like me falling asleep on the road or something.

Friday, 5th of Spring

This morning, I ate a bread roll for breakfast then I learned on the news channel that it will remain sunny tomorrow. As soon as I stepped outside, I had an idea to give Ellen a present. But what? Oh well, that will come later. I ran into my shed, came back out and watered the turnips, then I decided to go into that forest that Derek told me about. I left my ranch and headed into the back hill forest. The place looked pretty peaceful, that's for sure. I eventually met a man in blue clothing.

He said to me: "Hi, what's up? How's your work going?"

"Ah, slow right now, but going great." I replied.

"Well that's nice to hear, at least. If you need us to fix or upgrade your house, let our leader know." He said.

"Where can I find him?" I asked.

The carpenter turned around and pointed at the tree. "In that house that looks like a tree." He said.

My eyes widened in surprise. I've heard of tree houses, but house trees? "Thanks. well, I better be on my way." I said.

Behind the house tree, I saw a tent near a small pond, and a man sitting on a bench.

"Hi." I called out.

"Hi. Do you want to go fishing? I'll loan you my fishing rod." The man said.

"Sure. I got nothing better to do." I shrugged.

I took his rod, then I sat down on the wooden board on the edge of the pond and cast the fishing line. I waited for 7 minutes until the rod began to wiggle.

"Oh! I got a bite!" I cried out!

I yanked the rod out! And I caught... A red boot hanging on the hook.

"Is this some kind of joke?" I asked the man.

"Nothing is guaranteed. Keep trying." He replied.

I cast the line once more. An hour later, the rod wiggled!

"I really got something this time!" I smiled.

I yanked the rod hard! and I caught... An old sardine can, dangling on the end of my hook. I swear, someone is playing a joke on me- I mean, who catches an old sardine can with a fishing hook? Someone underwater put it on there.

"A sardine can? Really? I'm out of here." I said with disdain as I handed the guy back his rod and stomped off in frustration.

The man looked at the sardine can dangling on the end of the hook in confusion for a few seconds, then called to me: "People sometimes throw trash in lakes, you know! It wouldn't hurt to help clean our environment, know what I mean?"

I never responded to him, though I did hear him. As I walked back, I found a wild berry! I picked it up. It looks healthy to eat. I was going to eat it, but I decided not to. I had a better idea of what to do with it. I headed to Neighbor Town.

I started looking for Ellen. I found her leaving the livestock owner's shop.

"Hi, Ellen!" I called out.

"Oh, hi Tony. What brings you way out here?" She asked.

"Well, I'm sure you know that life in the ranch can be pretty busy, but I just came by to give you this..." I paused there for a moment and showed her the berries I got from the forest. "...To show you that I make free time for my friends." I concluded.

"Thank you. They look delicious." Ellen said with a soft smile as she accepted the berries. "By the way, Tony, do you like animals?" She asked. "Like them? I love them." I replied. "Really? I like animals, too." She said.

"That's nice. Well, I gotta go. See ya." I walked off.

"Thanks for the berries, Tony." Ellen waved bye.

I then decided to see how Nina and Maria are doing. Nina was taking care of her flowers, like usual.

"I see you like flowers very much." I said.

Nina didn't notice me until I said that. She stood up and turned around to me.

"Yes, I do. I love it in the spring when the flowers start to bloom." She said.

"That's cool. Well, I gotta go," I was about to talk to Nina, who was sweeping dust outside of the church, but I checked my watch and realized how late it is.

"Hi, Maria." I said anyway.

"Oh, good evening Tony. its getting late, we should head home." Maria said. "Yeah, I agree. It'll be nightfall by the time I get back to my ranch. Bye." I turned and left town as fast as I could.

Saturday, 6th of Spring

This morning, I ate a croissant for breakfast, then I turned on the T.V., and the weatherwoman said: "Good morning, everyone. This is the weather forecast for the towns in southern parts of Louisiana tomorrow. It'll be sunny and calm for the whole day tomorrow. There are chances for partially cloudy skies, but that has been yet to be confirmed."

I couldn't help smiling. Another sunny day! Clouds or not, a sunny day is always a good day. I walked out the door. As soon as I got outside, I decided to check on my turnips. They're ready to get shipped! Koro was standing next to the patches of turnips.

"Waff waff!" Koro barked at me.

"I know! I know they're ready. Stand back." I said.

I pulled out the six turnips one by one out of the ground, and then I dumped them all in the shipping box near the entrance gate to the ranch. After I put all the turnips in the shipping box, I picked up Koro and started dancing around with him.

"I did it! I did it! I'm going to make my first shipment!" I cried happily as I spun around with Koro.

Then I put him down and headed for the shed. I noticed that the grass near the shed is starting to grow.

"Yes!" I grinned and entered the shed.

I came out with my ax and hoe in my hands. I started to till more ground with the hoe in preparation to grow more vegetables. As I tilled the last patch of soil, I accidentally disturbed a mole!

"Oh! Whoops! Sorry, buddy." I apologized to the mole. It looked up at me and twitched its whiskers.

"I'll make it up to you." I picked up the mole and put it outside of my ranch and it dug back underground. I turned around.

"Hey, Koro, I'm going into the forest to chop some wood. I'll be back." I said.

I left my ranch with my ax and wheelbarrow. I entered the forest, looking for some tree stumps to chop down. I found a few to the left of the carpenter leader's house tree. I left my wheelbarrow next to the stump and began chopping it down with my ax. Three minutes later my wheelbarrow is half full of wood.

I continued going up the hill in the forest. i found another stump and chopped it down.

"One more tree stump will do and that'll be it." I said to myself, wiping the sweat off my face with a towel.

I continued going up the hill until I saw a familiar face... Eve.

"Oh, what a coincidence to meet you here." She said.

"Really? You think? Well, I have to agree on that." I said, looking around and scratching my head in a shy, awkward manner.

"Tee-hee..." Eve giggled.

I looked confused, wondering if there is something on my face. "What? What's so funny?"

"You. You look kinda cute when you're clueless." Eve commented.

I blushed. "Oh... I see now. Well, I gotta go. Rancher work, you know?"

Eve nodded, looking a little too happy for my comfort. I don't know why she was acting that way, but I had this gut feeling that she was flirting with me a little bit. Not that I hated it or anything, it's just that before becoming a farmer, I never interacted with girls often, not even when I was in high school, I was too shy, what can I say? So Eve is the very first woman to flirt with me. I grabbed my wheelbarrow and walked off. I took one last glance back at Eve. She was watching me leave, just as I thought. Before left the forest, I picked more wild grapes as a gift for Ellen. I quickly stored all the wood i collected in the wood shed, then I immediately left my ranch to reach Neighbor Town before the noon ends.

I ran to the shop owned by Ellen's mother. When I got there, no one was in but Ellen's mom.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but where's Ellen?" I asked.

"She's out behind the livestock owner's shop. He's her uncle." Ellen's mom replied.

"What?! That grumpy guy?!" I gasped.

"...He bothered you, didn't he?" Ellen's mom asked with growing concern.

I slowly nodded, not saying a single word in reply. I didn't need to say anything anyway.

"That's how he always is, always stern. Don't let him get to you." Ellen's mom assured me.

"Thank you. I better go." I left the shop and headed on over to the livestock owner's shop.

I opened the door and entered. "Hi, mister. Remember me? Is Ellen here?" I asked him.

"Of course I remember you. I'm not senile, you know! She's out back. And don't EVER think I'm senile, you hear me?" The livestock owner shouted at me.

"Ahh! All right, all right! I'm sorry!" I jumped in shock, and walked out the back door. There was Ellen, with the cow calves and chickens.

"Tony! Hi!" Ellen smiled as soon as she saw me.

"Hey, Ellen. Heard you were out here and I decided to check on you." I said, making a small wave hi at Ellen.

"Well, thank you." She said.

"I got some more grapes for you." I gave them to her.

"Oh, thank you. They look delicious, as usual." Ellen smiled a warm smile.

I nodded in agreement, then I followed Ellen as she walked on over to another calf, knelt down and petted its head softly.

"That's a good girl. You are a really good girl, are you?" Ellen cooed at the calf.

The little calf mooed happily. I couldn't help smiling at that, Ellen is so good with animals. Then Ellen stopped petting the calf, stood up and then looked at me.

"I heard uncle yelling at you in there." She said.

"Yeah. I can't BELIEVE that he's your uncle! Of all people...!" I grumbled, stuffing my hands in my pockets.

"You've met him before?" Ellen asked me.

I sighed and grumbled. "Bumped heads is more like it," I corrected her with a wan smile.

All the chicks gathered around Ellen. She picked one of them up and stood up, looking at me square in the eyes.

"*Chirp-chirp. chirp-chirp*" the little chick chirped.

"Tony... That's just how my uncle always is. My uncle really likes you. Please make friends with him, okay?" Ellen pleaded to me softly.

She could see that I don't like him, or at least his personality. She wanted to let me know that he's a nice guy, just very rough around the edges.

"I'll try my best to." I shrugged, thinking back to the time when he nearly damaged my left eardrum.

"Really? I'm glad. Please excuse him for being meddlesome. I guess he gets that from my mother." Ellen said cracking a soft smile, while softly petting the chick with her left hand.

"Well, I gotta go. See ya later." I turned around, ran for the fence, jumped over it and ran off. Ellen watched me leave as she petted the little chick in her right hand.

Derek was at my ranch as soon as I got there.

"Good work, Tony. I'll bring by the cash tomorrow morning." Derek said as he loaded the bag of turnips into his truck.

"Keep up the good work!" Derek called out.

"Nice job, farmer Tony!" Mike said, as he gave me a high five, and jumped in the truck with Derek and the truck sped of down the road.

"Whew..." I sighed.

Then I went outside my ranch and began yanking out more weeds, cutting and cutting more logs. I got finished with the job around 6:38 p.m. I decided to go to Eve's bar and pay a visit again. Meanwhile, at the bar, Eve was serving Mike, Derek, and Ellen's uncle their drinks while Ellen's dad was drinking like crazy, ignoring his daughter.

"Ohhh yesss... This is great! I love lunchbreaks! *Hic!*" He said before taking another drink.

"Oh come on. Dad. let's go home now." Ellen urged her dad.

By that time, I came in the building.

"Well, look who's back!" Mike called out.

"It's Mr. Tony!" Derek called out to me.

"Heeeey! Yes, I'm here." I said, waving my arms sarcastically like I'm happy everybody has noticed me. Eve walked up to me with a drink in her hands.

"Its my home made fruit juice. Do you want it?" Eve asked me.

I looked down at the drink, then at her. "...If it's fruit juice, I suppose one sip wouldn't hurt." I said.

I took the drink into my hands.

Eve giggled. "Tee hee... I'll kiss you if you can drink it." She said in a soft, alluring voice.

I have never, EVER been kissed before. I found the thought of being kissed by Eve a tempting reward to test out one of her new drinks an interesting reward. I don't know why Eve is so interested in me, and I'll probably never know. girls can be so complicated to understand, you know?

"...Don't bother." I said while shaking my head, then I drunk it...

"...Gaaaaaaagh!" I cried out after spitting up the liquid! The taste was terrible! So terrible I felt dizzy! "You said it was fruit juice!" I glared at Eve.

"Hey, I'm just kidding." She shrugged.

"Hey, Tony! Can you help me please?" Ellen called out to me.

I coughed for a few seconds, still trying to get the sour taste of Eve's drink out of my mouth as I rushed over to Ellen's side.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's my dad. He's sitting here drinking and he should be home by now. Can you help me get him back home?" Ellen asked me.

"But what can I do? He seems so contend sitting there drinking... Wait a minute. I got it!"

"Got what?" Ellen asked.

Without answering, I grabbed the bottle out of Ellen's dad's hands.

"Hey! *Hic!* Give me back my drink!" He said angrily.

"You have to come get it first!" I called out.

Ellen's dad lumbered towards me. "This i-is not finny! *Hic!" He shouted then hiccuped, wobbling towards me like a drunk penguin.

The bartender smiled. "Never get between a man and his drink." He said to Eve.

I lured Ellen's dad out of the bar, and Eve followed.

"You unlock the door to your house while I keep him busy!" I told Ellen.

She then used her house keys to open the grocery store and I led Ellen's dad in, leaving the bottle on the one of the tables inside.

Back outside, Ellen said: "Thanks, Tony. Very much." She said before entering the shop. I then ran back to my ranch, jumped in my bed, and fell asleep.

Sunday, 7th of Spring

As I was eating a croissant, I was watching television. The weatherwoman said that it'll start raining at midnight.

"Great. More April showers." I grumbled, remembering how hard it was for me to keep the fences repaired the last time it rained.

I left my house and headed for Liz's flower shop in town to buy some more seeds... But the door is locked.

"What the...? Oh! Today's Sunday!" I said, realizing that no business is open on Sunday.

On Sundays, everyone is gathered in one place. The church. But I have no time to hang around there. I'm a farmer. But it wouldn't hurt to visit the townspeople on a church day every once in a while, though. But I noticed that the old peddler is back in town today. I had an idea I headed off into the forest to chop some logs for the coming rainfall tonight. I also brought the peddler back in town some berries. She paid me $200, and now I got $970! Then I returned to the forest to chop more wood. By nightfall, 6:00 p.m., the wheelbarrow is full, and my arm muscles are aching. I arrived back home and stored the logs in the wood shed. I now got 168 pieces of wood stored in there. Perfect. I took Koro into my arms, took him into the house, got dressed into my pajamas and earned a well deserved rest.

Monday, 8th of Spring

As I was eating breakfast, I was watching the weather channel, and the weatherwoman said that it will continue raining even tomorrow. "Perfect! Just perfect! Well, Koro, I guess I better get outside and fix the fences." I told Koro.

Part of me wanted to watch some cartoon shows like I used to before I became a farmer, but my dad used to tell me "Business must always come first" whenever I wanted to skip over doing my homework to watch cartoons or play Pong with my mom on the Tele-Games machine. I feel the need to mention that my mother loves to play Pong in her spare time, and I am the only one person in my family that doesn't mind playing with her. My dad is more of a card player, and I hate card games. Anyway, I got dressed and walked out the door, into the vast shower of rain around me. I raced across the field to my tool shed and grabbed my hammer and then went back outside into the deluge, grabbed a few logs, put them into the wheelbarrow and I raced to parts of the fences that need to be fixed.

It was hard work, I tell you! I can't stress that enough! But the good news is there were only two pieces of the fence that are broken, so, that's a lucky break for me. After repairing the wooden fences and the barbed wires that hold them together, I left my ranch, ran off into the back hill forest, and went in search of a new gift for Ellen. I don't plan on giving her berries all the time. I'm looking for something different. I searched and searched for nearly 50 minutes, my cap and overalls completely soaked, but I didn't care, I love being outside, especially in the rain, regardless of the risk of catching a cold.

"Hmm... Now where is it...?" I muttered to myself. I knew that I better hurry up in my search, I've been out here for too long. I walked past the house tree, and I found a flower, near the fishing pond! It had white petals, and raindrops that hit the petals rolled off and landed on the partially wet soil. I am no expert on flowers, I can't describe the species of the flower, all I can say is it had white petals.

"There it is!" I smiled. I ran up to it and picked it up. "Ellen will definitely like this." I said.

Actually, I hope that she does, because not every girl likes flowers. I remember when I was 14 years old, my dad told me that not all girls think alike. The key to win them over is to find out what they like. I barely knew what he was talking about back then. But now, this is the real deal, and I'm learning as I go. I left the forest with the flower in my hands and raced to the Neighbor Town grocery store. A very stupid thing for me to do, to run to a town that is nearly two hours away on foot- my entire body was completely soaked by the time I got to town- including my socks! Ellen and her parents noticed me come in as soon as I arrived.

"Tony! You know better to stay inside when it rains! What are you thinking?" Ellen scolded me.

"I just wanted to give you this..." I said, slowly holding up the daisy.

Ellen was at a loss of words when she saw the flower. "Oh... Thank you. it looks beautiful." She took it into her hands and smelled it. "It smells good, too." Ellen added.

"Now isn't that nice?" Ellen's mom commented.

"That's all I came by for. I gotta get back home and dry off. I'll see you later." I said and walked out the door.

After I left, Ellen still held the flower in her hand and staring at the closed door. She looked down at the flower, then at the door. Then at the flower again, then at the door again.

"Ellen...?" Ellen's mom called.

Ellen didn't reply.

"Ellen? Are you okay?" Ellen's mom called again.

"...Yeah, mom... I'm okay. I'm just in deep thought, that's all." Ellen said.

She walked off into her room and shut the door. Ellen's mom looked rather concerned about Ellen's reactions. I then decided to visit Ann and her dad. They saw me as soon as I walked in.

"Hi." I said.

"What's going on, Tony? You're looking a little wet." Ann's dad commented.

"Blame it on the rain. I had to do something." I replied.

"You know, fences are easy to break during rain and snow. Always make sure to make new fences after knocking the broken fences down." Ann's dad instructed me.

"Gotcha. Where's Ann?" I asked.

"She walked off into her room right after you came in." Ann's dad said.

Okay. I walked into the next room. There was Ann, tinkering with some strange machine. I never met a girl like Ann before. The girls at my school had no interest in fiddling with mechanical stuff. Ann is something different, an anomaly.

"Heh. If it isn't Tony." she smiled as soon as I walked in.

"Nice to see you too, Ann." I smiled back. I noticed near Ann's bed, there was a window with a perfect view of the livestock owner's house. Behind the house there is a shelter roof where he keeps animals safe from rain.

I saw the cows and chickens gathering safely under the roof as rain started falling harder. I stared out at the rain and sighed. Ann joined up with me.

"I hate rain. It feels depressing, like when it pours." Ann commented.

"I don't feel that way about it." I lightly shook my head, still looking out the window.

"Then how do you feel about it?" Ann asked.

"Well... Its kinda hard for me to explain in words. But when I watch rain fall from that beautiful gray sky, I feel relaxed for some reason..." I paused there for a few seconds then turned my head to the left to look at her. "But when I work out in the rain, I hate it." I admitted.

Ann smiled. "See? Deep down, you hate rain as much as I do."

I smiled and shook my head in disbelief. I left her room then left the house, waving bye. I raced across the road, trying to get back to the ranch before I catch a cold. But then I remembered something. I need more turnip seeds! I went to Nina's flower shop and bought two bags of turnip seeds this time. When I got back to the ranch, I began planting the seeds ASAP and let the rain water them. I jumped back into my house!

"Waff waff waff!" Koro barked.

"I am soaking wet, Koro. I'm surprised I'm not sick yet." I said. I undressed out of my overalls, put on my pajamas and jumped in my bed and began writing in my journal. After I was done, I fell asleep.

To Be Continued...