Episode 5: Heartwarming Moments

Wednesday, 24th Of Spring 1976

I woke up from having a dream that I can't quite remember, took a bath, brushed my teeth, ate three rice ball for breakfast while watching the weather channel then I watched one Season 4 episode rerun of "M*A*S*H" before I walked off to Neighbor Town to buy some turnip seeds from Nina's mom. Business as usual.

"Here they are." I said, putting the three bags of turnip seeds near the cash register.

"Okay, three bags of turnip seeds. That'll be $5.63, Tony," Nina's mom said as she punched some buttons on the register.

"Okay." I pulled $5.63 out of my pocket and handed it to Nina's mom.

"Okay! Thank you Tony! Have a great day!" Nina's mom waved bye to me.

"Thank you!" I called back before walking out the door and shutting it. Just when I was about to head back to the ranch, I thought that it might be a good idea to visit Ellen and her parents, especially after the festival yesterday.

I found Ellen outside her owner's shop, pacing back and forth on the brick road, petting a little yellow chick in her hands. She used the palm of her right hand for the chick to stand on, and she is petting the chick's head with her left hand. She was whispering something to the chick, and I thought I heard my name, too. I don't know why, I just thought I did.

"How are things, Ellen?" I asked.

Ellen gasped because her back was turned on me and she didn't hear me coming. "Oh! Ah-ah-ah, Tony! How are you? I didn't hear you coming!" she said in surprise, her voice a little rattled from the surprise I unintentionally gave her.

"Forget it. It's all right. Who's your friend there?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, this is my pet, C-San. Uncle always lets me play with his livestock." Ellen said as she petted C-San on his head.

I smirked, admiring how cute C-San is as he turned his head left and right, chirping. "Is that so? And I also heard you whispering to him." I said.

Ellen's face turned a little red in embarrassment once I said that. "Oh, you did? Well, I always tell C-San my deepest secrets." Ellen said, looking up, down, left and right, and her eyes darting around nervously.

At that moment I got a hunch that Ellen has something to hide.

"Well, Tony, I'm sorry, but I got to go help my uncle with something see you later." Ellen headed off for the door of the livestock shop.

She opened the door. Before she went in, she looked back at me and said: "One more thing... Thank you for dancing with me. I really enjoyed it."

"Me too." I replied.

After she went inside, I couldn't help but smile. I got this feeling that Ellen is developing romantic feelings for me, but I can't be sure unless I have some kind of evidence to confirm my suspicions.

"Hmmm..." I rubbed my chin in thought over the possibilty.

I'm sure that Ellen doesn't just tell her animal friends her deepest secrets, she must keep a journal somewhere. Then I had an idea! I'll sneak into her room at the grocery store and check out her journal! "Bingo!" I grinned. I know Ellen will hate me for this if I get caught, but I really want to know what she thinks about me, because she won't tell me to my face. She doesn't have the courage to do that yet. So I headed on over to the grocery store.

As soon as I came in, Ellen's mom, who was sweeping the floor using a broom looked up at me.

"Ah, Tony! What a coincidence. Are you here for a meal today?" She asked me.

"No. Just browsing, that's all." I said.

As I started looking at the fruitcakes on sale, Ellen's mom said: "I saw you dancing with Ellen during the festival. You dance really good. Who taught you?" She asked me.

I cringed a little because no one taught me. "Uh... I relied on my instincts." I said. Its the truth. I did.

"Ah!" Ellen's mom smiled.

"That's all there is to it." I said with an honest shrug.

Ellen's mom nodded. "Right. So tell me something. Do you like her?"

That question made me freeze up. "Huh?!" I gasped.

"Be honest. do you like her?" She asked me again.

"I- um... You see... I... It..." I didn't know what to say, I was tongue tied.

"Don't stress yourself, forget it. I know you kids these days keep your feelings bottled up instead of letting them out. I'm not going to force you to admit it. One day you'll find the courage to let the whole world know your feelings!"

"...Yeah... Excuse me, where's your bathroom?"

"Down the hall, near our bedrooms." Ellen's mother replied and went back to sweeping the floor, while I browsed through the aisles until I found the door that leads to the bedrooms.

After quietly opening the door and closing it, I found myself in a small hallway with two doors, one to my left, and another to my right. One of these doors leads to Ellen's bedroom.

"Hmm... Behind door #1..." I slowly opened the door to the left.

I saw two beds in the room. That had to be Ellen's parents room. Then I opened the door to the right. In that room is one bed, a closet which was half open, revealing Ellen's usual clothes, white shirts and red skirts, confirming this is Ellen's room. Also, in the middle of the room is a big table with a birdcage on top of it. In that birdcage is a little blue colored bird, most likely Ellen's personal pet. It is asleep, luckily.

"Now I have to find the journal." I whispered to myself.

As I tiptoed across the room after softly closing the door, I noticed there is a little bedside dresser with a drawer knob in front.

"She must have the journal in there." I whispered.

I pulled the drawer open, revealing her diary.

"Bingo!" I whispered with a smile. I took the notebook, closed the drawer, and hid in Ellen's closet, in case she comes back. Fortunately sunlight is shining through the window, so I am able to get a little light with the closet door half closed. I began reading Ellen's entry on Tuesday 23rd, after the festival.

"Tuesday, 23rd of Spring. I can't believe it! It actually happened! Tony actually danced with me! Oh, wow! On the day of the festival, I had a feeling that he would be my dance partner, but I thought that it wouldn't happen! But it did! Ooh, I hope I dream about it tonight, because dancing with Tony... gave me feelings that I don't know how to describe. Tony is a very special person to me. I hope he continues to hang out with me, because I'm starting to see him as something much more than a friend. Well, only time will tell." is what is written in the journal.

"I knew it!" I said.

I crept out of the closet, put the diary back in the drawer, snuck out of Ellen's room, and back into the grocery room like nothing happened.

"Leaving back to the ranch, Tony?" Ellen's mom asked.

"Yeah. I spent too much time here already, and the job of a rancher is never done. Bye!" I said with a smile.

Knowing that Ellen is developing romantic feelings for me has really lifted up my spirits.

Back at my ranch a few hours later, I was planting turnip seeds in a cheerful manner, whistling happily while Koro watched me dig my right hand into the turnip seed bag, grabbing a handful of seeds, then dropping them down into the tilled soil. He walked over to the soil and sniffed at the seeds in curiosity for a few moments, then left, heading for the barn. After I used up all the turnip seeds, I walked on over to the nearest pond, filled up my water can, and skipped back to the planted turnip seeds, watering them, pouring streams of water down onto the tilled soil so that the seeds can have the nourishment they need. After watering them, I raised my arms up to the air and opened my mouth wide, like I wanted to shout for joy, only I didn't. Even though my arms ached from using my garden hoe to till the soil, I still felt good. After I did that, I walked over to Koro near the barn.

"Koro. do you have any idea why I'm happy?" I asked him. Koro quizzically tilted his head, panting. "Because I just found out that Ellen really likes me! Can you believe it! She's starting to love me!" I said to Koro like an excited little kid.

In response, Koro barked happily, going "Waff waff waff!" I don't know what "Waff waff" means in dog, but I bet it means "Congratulations, Tony!" I picked up Koro and held him so close to me his wet nose is touching my nose.

"Yes, Koro, if this pace continues, Ellen and I will be together for the rest of our lives! Aren't you happy about that?"

"Waff waff!"

A few hours later, Derek came by to see if I need anything shipped. I was standing outside the entrance of my ranch to greet him.

"Hey there, Tony. Gee, you're looking pretty happy today. Something good happen?" He asked me.

"A lot of good things." I replied, leaning on the wooden post of my fence.

"Well good. I hope things stay that way. Got anything for me, by the way?"

"Not today, Derek, sorry," I replied.

He nodded. "Take it easy, Tony," Derek turned and left, jumping in his truck and driving off. I went back into my house, ate toast with strawberry jam for dinner, and laid in my bed, writing in my diary until nightfall.

Thursday, 24th of Spring, 1976

Nothing interesting happened today. All I did was water my turnips, then went to visit Ellen's uncle and asked him for more advice about raising chickens and cows. Then for the rest of the day until nightfall chopping wood in the forest.

Friday, 25th of Spring, 1976

After eating breakfast, and learning the weather forecast for tomorrow, I stepped outside to water my turnips, which have just sprouted. After watering them, I poured bacon and cheese flavored Purina dog food into Koro's food bowl and drew water from the well for Koro to drink while I'm gone for a while.

"You be good, okay, Koro?"

"Waff!"

"Great. Take care of yourself and the ranch." I waved bye to Koro as I left the ranch and ran down the road to Neighbor Town.

After crossing the bridge, I suddenly ran into Ellen.

"Tony!"

"Ellen! What a surprise!" I said. I didn't expect to meet Ellen like this.

"Hey, can you come with me for a second? I have something to show you." Ellen said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Come here and I'll show you." Ellen grabbed my by my left hand and dragged me on over to the grocery store, and into her room.

"I'd like you to meet my most favorite pet." She said as soon as I stepped in her room.

"Who is it?" I asked, confused.

I didn't see anyone in the room besides Ellen. Ellen walked on over to the table in the middle of the room and gestured me to come to where she is.

"Tony, I'd like you to meet my pet bird, P-Chan. Isn't she cute?" Ellen said to me, talking about the blue bird in the cage.

"Tweet-tweet-tweet!" P-Chan chirped.

(So that's the bird's name... P-Chan.) I said in my mind.

"She's pretty," I said to Ellen as I watched P-Chan nibble the bird seeds in a little container in the cage.

"A couple years ago, I found her in the forest. She was lying on the ground. She couldn't fly, because she injured her wings somehow. So I took her in as a pet," Ellen explained.

"Awww..." I said with a warm smile.

"What?" Ellen looked at me with a blank expression.

"You. You not only like animals, but also care for them. That's beautiful," I smiled.

"I have to! It wouldn't feel right if I didn't. Besides, I bet P-Chan is really grateful to me for taking care of her while her wings heal. Right, P-Chan?" Ellen asked as she stuck her finger in the cage and petted P-Chan's head.

Then P-chan started chirping so beautifully its almost as if P-Chan is singing. When P-chan was done chirping, I said: "Wow... Animals take a real shine to you. You have to teach me how you do that."

"Why? You get along with Koro just fine," Ellen giggled.

I shook my head. "No, I get along with Koro just fine, Its the wild animals I'm worried about, they sometimes run away from me, like this rabbit yesterday evening. When I tried to offer it a wild grape, it just ran off. What am I doing wrong?"

She giggled. "I'll teach you someday. but right now, you're fine just the way you are." The way Ellen said that, made me feel warm inside.

"Thank you... Those words mean a lot to me," I said.

For the next few hours, me and Ellen were talking and playing with P-Chan, I completely forgot about my work and ranch. By evening, I realized how late I am of tending my turnips!

"Oh, man! I had no idea I stayed here so long! Ellen, P-Chan, I'll see you later," I said and left.

Back at the ranch, I watered my turnips again, and busted more stones and chopped more wood outside of my ranch and expanded my ranch once again. By nightfall, I fell sound asleep.

Saturday, 26th of Spring

After watering the turnips, I took Koro with me to hang out with Ellen and P-Chan in Ellen's room. We had lots of fun, and this time I kept track of time. By noon, me and Koro left. I put Koro back at the ranch while I went off to the forest to chop more wood. By evening, I was about to leave the back hill forest until I decided to pay the carpenter leader a little visit. I knocked on the door of his house tree.

"Who is it?" He called from inside.

"It's Tony. I'm the new rancher. Have you heard of me?" I called back.

Seconds later, the door opened. A man with sharp sideburns and stylized beard and mustache opened the door. The hair on his head is almost receding, too.

"Yes. Everybody talks about you in Neighbor Town. They say you're a pretty dependable guy," he said.

I shrugged and tilted my head to the left briefly. "Well, I don't know about all that, but..."

"Don't be so humble. You're a hard worker, I can see that, and you don't overdo it. I like that. Come on in, have some coffee with me," He offered.

Inside, there are two bunk beds on each side of the room. In the middle of the room is a huge table with different tools and blueprints on it. The carpenter leader gave me a cup of coffee. I sat down in one of the chairs and took a sip of the coffee.

"Do you like sugar in your coffee?" He asked.

I nodded.

"How about cream?"

I nodded again. He gave me a cup of sugar cubes and a packet of coffee cream. I put two cubes of sugar in my coffee and some cream in it and stirred a small spoon it, making my coffee turn into a bright brown color.

"So I heard that your father wanted you to take over that ranch because your grandfather passed away," the carpenter leader said while I took a careful sip of my coffee.

The coffee burned my tongue a bit before I replied, and I nodded at the carpenter before replying. "Yes. My grandfather is the original owner of that ranch. My dad said making it my own farm is a good way for me to make my own living," I said.

The carpenter smiled warmly at me. "Well, he's right. I mean, you're like a young adult cardinal. You're old enough to spread your wings and fly away. You can't expect your parents to keep feeding you earthworms every day."

"Well, I suppose you're right about that, sir."

"Please. Call me Luke."

"Okay... Luke," I nodded then took another sip.

Luke slowly brought his cup of coffee to his lips and took a couple steady sips.

"So how do you like your house in the ranch?" He asked me.

"It needs some upgrading, but I'm not complaining," I admitted.

"I see. Let me tell you something. Next summer, we're starting a campaign. If you can get me and my boys to upgrade your house before the end of next summer, we'll give you something interesting," Luke said.

I smiled. "Nice. well, thank you for inviting me to talk to you, Luke, but I really need to get back to the ranch. Thank you," I shook hands with him.

"Its my pleasure, Tony. If you need anything, let me know," Luke replied.

I left the house tree, and grabbed my wheelbarrow full of lumber and took it back to the ranch and threw it all into the wood shed. Now I have 340 pieces of wood. I got enough wood for Luke and his team of carpenters to upgrade my house! But I don't have enough to pay them for the job. Oh well. One step at a time.

Sunday, 27th of Spring, 1976

As soon as I woke up and ate a croissant, I watched the first episode of Charlie's Angels, then when the show ended, I changed the channel to the weather forecast, and the weatherwoman said that the skies will remain sunny tomorrow. I haven't seen it rain for days now. That's good for me, because I'm tired of wearing wet overalls! I need to take the time to buy more overalls that way I won't stress myself over washing and drying the only overalls I have. After turning off my television, I paced around the kitchen slowly, thinking over how to improve myself as a rancher. My house is too small to have a wife and children, so improvements need to be made, apparently. And to make more money, I need to have chickens, cows, sheep, any livestock I can possibly get. I headed for the front door and stepped out. As soon as I did, I caught a glimpse of Ellen entering my ranch! What's she doing here? I thought. Ellen ran up to me.

"Ellen? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Tony, I need you help." She said, nearly out of breath.

"Calm down, calm down. What's wrong?" I asked.

"My P-Chan is gone." Ellen said.

"What?!" I gasped.

"I don't know how or why, but she's gone. If you see her, please let me know. Promise me."

"I swear, I'll find you as soon as I find her," I said.

"Thank you. I'll be near the grocery store in town," Ellen said then she left.

After she left my ranch, I began watering the turnips as quickly as I could. Then I ran up to Koro.

"Koro, if you see a blue bird, bark for me. Okay?"

"Waff!"

"Good." Then I ran around my ranch, looking for P-Chan. The first place I checked was behind my house.

"P-Chan? P-Chan? Where are you? It's me, Tony! Where are you, P-Chan?" I called out.

I heard birds chirping in the distance, but none nearby where I am. All I found is grandpa's "secret garden" which has ten pink flowers in the flower bed which is outline by a small rectangular wall of bricks. There's a signpost near the flower bed that says "Do Not Tamper With Flowers". I searched top to bottom around the ranch, even in the empty cow barn, and the empty chicken house.

I checked my ranch thoroughly for 45 minutes, then I decided to head off into town and ask everybody if they have seen Ellen's P-Chan. I met up with Ellen again down the road to Neighbor Town together.

"Any luck?" She asked me.

I sighed and shook my head. "But I'm not giving up. I'll ask everybody in town have they seen her. Don't worry. I'm sure P-Chan is fine," I assured her.

"Thank you, Tony." Ellen said, a tear fell from her left eye.

As soon as we reached town, the first place I stopped by was the flower shop. Nina was watering flowers, as usual.

"Nina!" I called.

"Tony! What's the matter?" She asked as she put the water can down on the ground.

"Big trouble. Ellen's pet bird, P-Chan flew off somewhere. Have you seen her?" I asked.

"P-Chan? A bird? What color is it?" Nina asked.

I frowned because I didn't clearly memorize the color of P-Chan's feathers. "Uh... I don't clearly remember. A light shade of blue, or cyan, if I remember correctly." I replied.

"Blue or cyan... Hmm... Nope. Sorry. Ask Maria. She might have seen it," Nina said.

"Thanks." I said and headed off for the church. Near the doors of the church the little boy who hangs out by the church is helping Maria sweep the dust off the concrete while Maria was watching him.

"Maria! Boy am I glad to see you," I called out to Maria, out of breath.

"Tony? What's wrong?"

"Ellen lost her pet bird, P-Chan. It is a little blue-cyan colored bird. Have you seen it?"

Maria furrowed her eyebrows. "A blue bird...? ...Sorry. I haven't," she finally shook her head slowly.

"You haven't neither? Darn it!" I muttered in frustration.

"Thanks anyway. I'm going to Ann's house," I said.

I quickly raced on over to Ann's house, taking the shortcut through the public square where the flower festival was held. Then I wan to Ann's house. As usual, Ann was tinkering with a funny looking machine while her dad was working on some kind of water sprinkler.

"Ann! Have you seen Ellen's bird fly by?" I asked.

"I haven't stepped outside in the last few minutes, so no. Sorry." Ann replied sympathetically.

I groaned in frustration. "See you later," I said and headed out the door.

There's only one more person I can ask. And that is Eve. She had just left the closed bar, locking the door and putting the keys into one of the pockets of her red dress.

"Eve! I'm glad I found you! Have you seen a blue bird?"

"A blue bird?"

"Yeah. It belongs to Ellen. Her name is P-Chan, and I want to know have you seen her fly off somewhere?" I asked giving Eve the puppy dog look.

Eve looked up at the sky in thought. "Hmmm... Maybe. Maybe I have, maybe I haven't but I'm not telling," she said with a mischievous smirk and wink.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Why? Why, oh, I'll tell you. I was expecting you to be my dance partner at the festival. But you went and picked Ellen instead." She said.

I felt defeated. Of all the people in this town, Eve is the only one who possibly knows P-Chan's whereabouts, but she won't tell me because I didn't dance with her.

"Don't tell me... Are you jealous?" I asked.

"No, I'm not jealous. But I want you to be honest with me. And believe me, being honest about your feelings for a girl to another girl isn't very easy," Eve smiled with mischief in her eyes, which made my skin tingle nervously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I frowned.

"Look, I'm not really mad that you danced with Ellen, but If you really want to know what I know about P-Chan, you have to be truthful to me."

"About what?"

"About who you like: Me or Ellen."

"What?!" I gasped in outrage.

"Tell me now, Tony. Which girl do you like the most, me or Ellen?" Eve demanded.

I felt defeated. I wanted to find P-Chan as much as Ellen does, but if I don't say anything to Eve, I'll never find P-Chan. If I lie, I'll find P-Chan, but Eve will want to hang out with me, causing making things very difficult for Ellen. I don't want that.

"Okay. Okay! You win. I like her. I liked her ever since I first met her on the second day of spring." I admitted.

Eve was shocked. "Wow... You really are sincere. Okay. I'll tell you where you're girlfriend's little P-Chan is. You know the back hill forest? I think I saw a blue bird fly off towards that location after I went shopping," she told me.

My eyelids lit up! "Thank you! Thank you, Eve! I could kiss you, but I'm not going to do that."

"I don't expect you to." Eve replied.

"Thanks a lot!" I ran to the grocery store, and asked Ellen's mom where is Ellen.

"She's in her room, crying about P-Chan." She told me.

"Well, go in her room and tell her that I believe I found out where P-Chan is. It's in the back hill forest, the place where the carpenters live and where the sulfur spring is." I said then ran off.

There's no time to lose! I raced to the forest as quickly as my legs could take me.

"Please be there. Please be there. Please be there." I muttered under my breath as I ran down the dirt road until the road breaks off into two directions, the left road leading to the forest, and the road ahead leading to my ranch in the distance.

I ran off into the forest. As soon as I got there, I began calling out to P-Chan.

"P-Chan! Where are you? Come on, P-Chan, it's me Tony! Ellen is worried sick about you!" I called out.

No answer. I could hear birds chirping in the forest, but I'm not sure if one of them is P-Chan. I passed by two redwood trees, then I called out for P-Chan again.

"P-Chan! Please let Ellen know you're okay!" I called out.

I passed by Luke's house tree, and I saw up ahead, on the wooden post of a fence surrounding the fishing pond, P-Chan was sitting there!

"Oh, my...!"

I couldn't believe it! P-Chan is okay, after all! I slowly walked up to P-Chan, being very careful not to scare her off.

"P-Chan?" I whispered.

"Tweet?" P-Chan chirped and craned her head towards my direction, looking directly at me.

"How are you doing, P-Chan? Remember me? Tony?"

P-Chan seemed to chirp back in reply after I said that.

"P-Chan, Ellen is worried sick about you. Come with me for a minute, okay?" I asked, holding out my right arm for P-Chan to rest on.

But she was hesitant. I then remembered how most animals except Koro run away from me. I then feared that P-Chan might do the same.

"P-Chan, please don't fly away. I just want to show Ellen that you're okay. Please, please don't fly away." I softly begged, my voice breaking up with grief at the thought of Ellen being sad that P-Chan flew off without a good-bye reunion or something like that.

P-Chan looked at my outstretched fingers. I guess she was thinking about it, and eventually, she flew up to me and rested on my index finger. I was wearing gloves, so good thing her little talons didn't scratch me. I smiled. As soon as Ellen came, her eyes were red from crying a lot.

"Here's P-Chan, Ellen. she's okay." I said.

"P-Chan! I'm so happy to see you're okay!" Ellen said.

She started to reach out for P-Chan on my right hand, but I held up my left hand to signal Ellen to stop.

"Ellen... Wait. I think I know why P-Chan flew off." I paused for a second for Ellen to give me her undivided attention.

"Ellen... I know how much you love animals, and I respect that, I admire that. But the problem is, you fail to realize that animals, wild or domesticated have desires of their own. Some might want to be with you all their life, and some might want to be with you for a while and later go out into the big, wide world. In P-Chan's case, she probably wants to go explore this amazing world we live in. She doesn't hate you, or anything like that. She just wants to be free, I think. But I know that no matter where she goes, she won't ever forget you. Do you understand, now?" I asked.

Ellen looked depressed, but she absorbed the words I threw at her. Something tells me what I told her is the whole truth because she looked like she is ready to start confessing something despite her sadness.

"...I...I'm sorry... I'm okay now. I was... always... cheered up and never thought of P-Chan's feelings. She's free now..." Ellen said slowly.

P-Chan flew to Ellen and rested on her right hand.

"...Good-bye, P-Chan... Take care... Thank you for everything you've done for me..." Ellen said, new tears falling from her eyes.

"Tweet-tweet-twee!" P-Chan chirped at Ellen.

Then she flew off from Ellen's hand and flapped up away to who knows where while me and Ellen watched her fly high in the early noon sky.

"Ellen... You've done the right thing." I sighed in relief, looking up at P-Chan flying in the blue sky, heading west.

Ellen nodded. She walked up next to me and wrapped her right arm around my shoulders.

"Thank you for looking for my bird, Tony."

Then she did the most unexpected thing I never thought she would do to me.

"Mmmmmwah."

She kissed my left cheek! I gasped softly as I felt her soft, smooth lips kiss my left cheek for 5 seconds. By the time I turned around to look at Ellen, she was already walking off. I didn't follow her, I just stood there in mild shock. I touched my left cheek with my left hand. Ooh, you have no idea how I felt...! I started blushing and I felt like I was going to faint.

"Ohhh, that felt good...!" I muttered to myself with a happy, bedazzled smile.

I thought I was going to melt from swooning over Ellen. I spent the whole day relaxing in the sulfur spring, thinking about Ellen. That night, I returned to my ranch, put on my pajamas and jumped in my bed and began writing in my journal. Obviously all I wrote about is Ellen. At the same time, in Ellen's bedroom, All she wrote about in her journal is me.