Episode 10 Amazing Winter Gifts
Sunday, 24th of Fall, 1976
The next morning, Ellen and I woke up. We were still in bed. Ellen turned to face me and kissed me on the forehead.
"Good morning... d...darling." Ellen stuttered when she said "darling."
Hearing her call me darling sent chills up my spine. I'm not talking about chills when you're nervous, I mean chills when you're happy or excited.
"Good morning... h-honey." I felt nervous calling her honey, so I can relate to her calling me darling for the first time.
"Let's be a happy couple together from now on," Ellen smiled.
"I agree," I replied.
We both climbed out of the bed, and we went to the bathroom to get ready to shower together. I was a little nervous about it for obvious reasons, because this will be my first time seeing Ellen naked. After taking off my shirt I told my wife that maybe it is a better idea if we showered individually, but she insisted that we shower together, because it would be better and faster than taking turns bathing. We are married, after all. Still, it didn't help that I couldn't calm my racing heart when I was in the shower with Ellen. Seeing the water run down her hair, making it long and wet and stretch down her back and making her skin shine like glitter made my heart race like crazy. I have to say, Ellen looks amazing with her hair wet and stretching down towards her shoulders. Later, Ellen started cooking breakfast, pancakes with scrambled eggs and toast. Ellen doesn't wear her usual clothes anymore, the white shirt, red skirt, and yellow rag around her neck. She simply wears a casual bright blue colored gown now.
I've never seen her wear clothes like that before, but Ellen said that she wants to adapt to the housewife style. She also said that she wants to let her hair grow out and reach down her back.
"Do you like pancakes, Tony?" Ellen asked as the pancake dough was being cooked on the bubbling grease in the skillet resting on top of the stove.
"Like them? I love them!" I smiled as I walked towards the television and turned it on.
I turned to the news channel. The weatherwoman said it'll be sunny tomorrow, so that's great! Want to know what's even greater? Having Ellen with me as my wife. Before I was married to her, I felt somewhat lonely here in the ranch. But now that I have her with me, I feel very, very cheerful now. A few minutes later, the pancakes were done cooking.
"Breakfast is ready!" Ellen called, putting the plates of pancakes on the table.
"Hold on! I want to bring Koro in." I said.
I walked towards the front door, twisted the doorknob and opened it.
"Koro! Here boy!" I whistled.
Koro immediately came running and jumped in the house. I walked over to the cabinet next to the refrigerator, opened it, grabbed a can of Alpo brand dog food, opened it using a can opener- not the mechanized kind you plug into a wall, and and filled Koro's bowl. Then I filled his water bowl. Me, Ellen and Koro ate breakfast at the same time. After we were done eating minutes later, Ellen washed the dishes, then came outside with me. Ellen took a deep breath and sighed.
"It's warm. Such a comfortable Sunday," she said.
"I know. So what are you going to do?" I asked Ellen as we stepped down the porch steps.
"I'm going to wash and hang the towels by the clothesline so that the sun can dry them." Ellen told me.
"Okay. I'm going to feed the chickens," I replied.
When I came back out the chicken house minutes later, I saw Ellen sitting down on a stool in front of the cow barn side, washing the towels we dried our bodies off with when we bathed in a bucket of soap filled water. Koro was sniffing the ground near the well, trying to look for something. I entered my tool shed to pick up my ax then I came back out and approached Ellen.
"Honey, I'm going out to the mountainside forest to chop some wood. I'll be back in the evening," I said.
"Okay, honey. Be careful." Ellen nodded.
"Always." I smiled and winked at her.
Before leaving, I also took my wheelbarrow.
I returned home at 5:00 p.m. because I knew that if I stayed out late, Ellen would get real worried, or in the worst case scenario, upset. I dumped the logs I collected in my wood shed and entered my house.
"Honey, I'm home!" I called.
"Welcome back, darling!" Ellen came to greet me with a warm embrace and a kiss to my lips.
"I brought some more firewood, that way we'll last the winter without freezing like popsicles," I said.
"That's wonderful. and here's your reward," Ellen gave me a fresh, warm potato pie!
"Wow! Potato pie! Love these!" I set the pie on the table, grabbed a fork and began gobbling it down.
Ellen smiled as she watched me eat happily.
"Thank you for your trouble, darling." She said.
I looked up at her, my lips caked with crumbs of the pie for a few seconds until I licked my lips.
"Thank you, darling. Being with you brought a lot more sunshine in my life." I said, speaking from my heart.
Ellen hugged me then we kissed. An hour later, me and Ellen laid together in our bed, writing in our journals. Once we were finished, we said our good nights before turning off the lamp light.
As soon as I closed my eyes, I heard Ellen say:
"Honey?"
I opened my eyes, seeing nothing but darkness, but feeling my wife's warm body next to me under the bed sheets.
"Yes darling? What's wrong?" I asked.
"I've been thinking about this for some time while you were gone, and..." Her voice trailed off there.
"And what?" I asked, brimming with curiosity over what is on my wife's mind.
"I want to have children, Tony. Do you want to have children?" She asked me.
I gasped softly. The idea of having a baby or two never crossed my mind, but having children is not what got me nervous, it is what Ellen and I must do to have children, know what I mean? Contrary to what my Mom and Dad told me when I was five years old, storks don't deliver babies to married couples who want babies, that's obviously not where babies come from.
"Uh... This is something I haven't put much thought into, darling."
Ellen nodded in the darkness, reaching out at me and gently stroking my cheek with the index finger of her left hand.
"I understand, darling. I know that is something that you haven't put much thought into," she said.
I nodded. "You're right, honey. This is not something I've put much thought into, but that doesn't mean I don't want it to happen. I admit, I am nervous, but not nervous enough to run away from it. Whatever new experiences come our way, I want to experience it side by side with you," I said, holding Ellen so close her warm body merged with mine.
Ellen smiled at me in the darkness, and even though we were staring face to face, I could not see her face.
"I know, honey, but I don't want to force you into it if you don't feel ready. Good night, dear," she said then finally closed her eyes.
Monday, 25th of Fall, 1976
Me and Ellen woke up and climbed out of our bed.
"Yaaawn... I wonder what I should cook today...?" Ellen wondered aloud as she stretched her arms.
"I'm sure we'll think of something," I said as Ellen climbed out of the bed.
After we got done bathing together again, we entered the living room/kitchen. I walked up to the television and turned it on. I caught the weather woman just in time saying it'll be sunny tomorrow, no rain. Then I changed the channel to the action movies, catching the channel playing a rerun of The Bionic Woman season 2 episode 5. I am not familiar with the show, but I stuck to it because it looks interesting.
"Darling, how do you feel about eating strawberry oatmeal today?" Ellen called from looking into the pantry.
"I'm fine with it, honey," I said, my eyes glued to the T.V. as I watched a scene where Jaime Sommers, the main character of the show fighting a group of Fembots to get to a rogue scientist named Oscar who created a machine that controls the weather. Wouldn't it be nice if a machine like that actually existed? We wouldn't have to worry about hurricanes or tornadoes much. A few minutes later, me and Ellen were at the dinner table eating oatmeal, the television still on and playing the current Bionic Woman episode. Koro was next to the table, eating kibbles from his bowl.
"So what do you plan on doing today, honey?" Ellen asked me.
"Well, I gotta get my chickens eggs ready to be shipped, and I'll go to the forest to pick up sum mushrooms to be shipped too," I said before popping a spoon full of oatmeal into my mouth.
"As a matter of fact, I better get going," I said after I looked at my watch.
"Darling, take care of yourself," Ellen said after I stood up out of my chair and got ready to walk out the door.
She came up to me and we kissed lips to lips for 5 seconds.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine," I said.
I fed my chickens, but the sad thing is, they didn't lay any eggs!
"What?! Aww!" I moaned.
I must have put the eggs in the shipping box first and left thinking I already fed them! Well, I better keep feeding them so they can get back in the egg laying mood, and I need to clean up the poop they left strewn all over the floor too. After taking care of them, I left to the mountainside forest.
As soon as I entered the forest an hour away from my ranch, I began looking for mushrooms. I managed to find two healthy ones. When I passed by Luke's house tree, I found Ingo and Toby who were fishing at Warren's pond.
"Hey, happy man!" Ingo called out to me.
"Hahahaha! Hey!" I laughed and waved at him, understanding why he called me "happy man", then I came on over to chat with them.
"How are you feeling, Tony? You're a married man now!" Toby smiled.
"Yes, being married feels great," I said, moving my arms a bit, feeling pretty good about myself.
"Yep, and now that you're married, you have to work twice as hard." Toby said.
I frowned at him a little. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
Toby looked incredulous. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing. but if you come home late, she'll most likely get in a bad mood when you come home late. Whatever you do Tony, don't stay out too late, unless you want her to be upset at you," Toby warned me.
"Thanks for the warning. I'll remember that," I began to leave, hunting for more mushrooms.
"Good luck happy man!" Ingo called out to me.
I came back to the ranch at 4:59 p.m. and dumped all my mushrooms I collected into the shipping box and entered my house. Inside, Ellen was sitting at the dinner table, waiting for me.
"Hello, honey. I baked a surprise for you," Ellen said sweetly.
"Really? Is it another potato pie?" I asked.
Ellen lifted her left eyebrow, looking a bit put off by my question. "Uh, not really, but tastes just as sweet."
She placed the pie on the table and I realized by seeing the bright brown filling that she gave me a plate of apple pie.
"Ooh, wow! I love apple pies! I haven't eaten apple pies since I left my parents!" I smiled happily.
I gratefully took the plate, sat down next to Ellen and ate it up to my heart's content. Ellen smiled watching me eat. That's a sign to show that she loves to see me happy. After I was done eating, me and Ellen sat in front of the television and watched some romance movies. When night fell, we went in the bathroom and brushed our teeth before getting in our beds, writing in our diaries and drifting asleep.
Tuesday, 26th of Fall, 1976
Me and Ellen woke up, bathed, ate breakfast, and we stepped outside for some fresh air. When we stepped outside, Ellen said:
"Darling, please take Koro out for a walk sometimes," She suggested.
"Okay. I'll walk with him around the ranch after I feed the chickens," I said.
I went to the chicken house, fed all five of them, and came back out to get Koro.
"Hey, Koro. You want to go walking around the ranch?" I asked him.
Koro started panting and looking up at me excitedly. I took that as a "Yes".
"Come on then," I said.
Koro walked side by side with me. I walked with Koro around the ranch for two hours while Ellen washed and dried our bed sheets on the clothesline. In the evening, Derek showed up before me and Ellen could enter our house. He laughed heartily as he approached us.
"Well, well, well, how are the newlyweds doing?" Derek asked us with a cheerful smile.
"We're doing great, Derek," I smiled back.
"Well, I'm happy for you, Tony. Really, I am. you've matured into a responsible farmer faster that I ever imagined. Personally, I thought you would get married next year, or maybe the year after, but I never expected this year!" Derek said.
"Well, surprises happen, Mr. Derek," Ellen remarked in a friendly manner.
Derek chuckled and shook his head. "So, there's no shipping today?" He asked me.
"Nope. I forgot to feed the chickens a couple days ago," I said.
"Oh, that's too bad. Well, not every farmer is perfect. I'll see you around," Derek turned and left.
I looked at Ellen. "Derek and I are like brothers. We always joke around," I said as I opened the door and came in the house, then held the door open for Ellen to come inside like a true gentleman would.
"I see," Ellen smiled.
We watched television for a while, then at 6:00 we jumped in our bed, wrote in our diary and fell asleep.
Wednesday, 27th of Fall, 1976
As usual, me and Ellen showered together, ate breakfast, watched the weather forecast on television, learning that it'll rain tomorrow, I fed my chickens, walked Koro for a while, then went to the forest to pick some mushrooms for Derek to ship. Since there isn't much to do today, me and Ellen spent most of the noon and evening in our house, watching television. Koro was with us, too. At 6:30 p.m., we fell asleep.
Saturday, 30th of Fall, 1976
Me and Ellen woke up to the sound of heavy rainfall. We bathed, then got ready to eat breakfast.
"I want to cook scrambled eggs and pancakes. Could you please get some eggs, darling?" Ellen called me as she poured the pancake dough into the kettle.
I jumped up from watching t.v.
"No problem, I'll just go into town and buy some," I said as I started to head out the door.
"Honey, the shops are closed on Saturdays," Ellen said.
"Woof woof," Koro barked in agreement.
I paused at the door, my hand gripping the doorknob. I let go of it and turned around at Ellen.
"Well, in that case, I'll go to the chicken house," I said, feeling pretty stupid for not remembering it is Saturday.
I walked out the door. Koro looked up at Ellen and barked.
"Tony can be a little absent minded sometimes, but I still love him though," she told Koro as she flipped the pancake over on its other side using the spatula.
I stepped down the porch and ran for the chicken house, entered it, and pulled out some straws from the take out spout to feed my chickens. then I put three eggs into the shipping box. I carried the last two with me. I brought them back to the house and gave them to Ellen.
"Thank you, honey. I'll use this other egg to make a cake for you," Ellen smiled softly at me.
"Sounds good," I said.
I came back outside to fix some of the broken fence posts. After that, I came back in the house all wet and walked up to the fireplace to check on the fire and dry myself. I don't need to put any firewood in there anytime soon. Several minutes later, Ellen was done cooking pancakes and scrambled eggs. We sat at the dinner table and ate our food. Koro ate his share of food too, I made sure of that.
Here we are, one happy family eating breakfast in a deluxe house in a ranch. After we were done eating, Ellen took our dinner plates and took them to the sink to wash them. Me, I took one of the chairs and set it in front of one of our windows and watched the rain fall outside, looking out at the misty, rainy scenery. Soon Ellen pulled up a chair and sat down next to me, looking out the window.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She broke the silence.
I nodded. "Yeah..." Then I looked at her. "I was just daydreaming." I said then looked back out the window.
"What about?" She asked me. "About what we'll do as a family." I replied. "You mean like having kids and stuff like that?" Ellen asked me. "Yeah. I like the idea of becoming a dad, but having one of my own wasn't in my most fondest dreams... but I'm not saying I'm afraid to have a child of my own, but..." My voice trailed off because Ellen put a finger on my lips, gesturing me to stop talking excessively.
"Darling, don't be so nervous. Whatever happens to us as a couple, we can handle it. I'm sure of it. I never dreamed of having kids of my own either, but if it happens, I swear on my life that I will be a good mother," Ellen said, focusing at the rain out the window.
"Then I vow that I will be a good father..." I said with a confident soft smirk.
Ellen looked at me with a soft smile, and put her arms around my neck. "You know what I love about you, Tony?"
"What?"
"You are willing to accept any challenge that comes your way. That alone tells me I made the right choice becoming your wife." She leaned at me and kissed me.
Then I felt this raging urge to to kiss her all over her face. Then we started kissing lips to lips for about 2 minutes. We spent most of the day in the house since its raining, watching television. At night, we ate dinner. Ellen made another pumpkin pie for me. Then we brushed our teeth and went to bed.
Sunday, 1st of Winter, 1976
As usual, after showering, me and Ellen ate breakfast, this time bread rolls, boiled egg and sausage.
"Mmm, this is good stuff, honey," I said as I savored the flavor of boiled egg with sprinkles of salt and pepper in it.
"Good thing my Mom taught me how to cook," Ellen said as she ate a piece of sausage.
After eating, Ellen washed dishes while I watched the weather news.
"It's pretty cold now, here in Louisiana. The weather forecast for tomorrow is snow. Right now is a very good time to make a snow angel, ladies and gentlemen," the weather woman said, pointing at northwestern regions of the Louisiana continent map on the screen, partially covered by white clouds depicting snow clouds slowly moving east. By tomorrow, the snow clouds will be over Neighbor Town and Mineral Town. I gasped softly as the realization that it is now winter dawned over me. I ran to the window. Outside, I saw snow on the ground all over the place! And powdery snow is falling too!
"Ellen! Honey!" I called.
"What is it, darling?" Ellen came up to me, staring out the window by my side expecting to see something unusual.
"Winter! Its winter now!" I said happily.
"It sure is," Ellen smiled.
I ran to my bedroom and pulled on my warmest gloves.
"Oh man, I've been waiting so long for this season!" I smiled.
"Where are you going? There are no Sundays at ranch," Ellen said, not having a clue what was going on in my mind.
"I'm not going to church, dear. I'm going outside to make a snow angel. You want to come?" I asked her.
"Oh no, I can't," Ellen politely refused.
"Come on, honey! All you have to do is up on some warm gloves, put on a coat and come outside with me."
"Honey, I don't-" Ellen started to say but I gave her a pair of gloves, warm house shoes and a coat already.
"Just come with me!" I urged her.
I grabbed her by her left hand and pulled her with me to the front door.
"Koro, you can come too!" I said as I opened the door.
"Waff!" Koro followed me and Ellen out.
We stepped down the porch steps and ran out into the wide open field of my ranch. We ran across the snow, the snow made a *pluff, pluff, pluff* sound as we stepped in it.
"Tony! I'm about to fall!" Ellen cried after we moved past the chicken barn side.
She lost her footing and fell face down into the snow. I stopped running and turned around.
"Ellen? Are you okay, darling?" I asked her.
She slowly stood up, with a playfully upset expression on her face. She was frowning, but she was smiling.
"Oooh, you are so going to get it now," she said in a low, playfully threatening voice.
I braced myself! Ellen pounced on me and we fell down into the snow! She pounced on me so hard, my blue cap popped off my head! Ellen was on top of me now!
"Waff waff!" Koro barked.
"Take this!" Ellen shouted as she took a hand full of snow in her left glove and smashed it into my face.
"Ppfffth!" I spat the powdery snow away from my lips and pushed Ellen off of me.
She landed on the snow to my right, looking up at the gray sky with me. We saw little circles of snow falling down on us.
"Tony..."
"Yes?"
"Can you teach me how to make a snow angel?" She asked me.
I looked at her incredulously. "You mean you never done it before? It's easy, just move your arms and legs up and down. Watch me." I said.
Ellen looked over at me. She saw me making a snow angel lying on my back and moving my arms up and down constantly while opening and closing my legs like scissors, and followed my movements. Then we stood up and watched our masterpiece.
"You did pretty good, for a beginner," I remarked.
"Yeah. I did pretty good, didn't I? Whew, I'm getting a little cold. I'm going back in the house to warm up. What are you going to do, darling?" She asked me.
I picked up my cap off the snow covered ground.
"I'm going to go out walking for a while. I'm more used to being out in weather like this," I said.
"Okay, Tony. Just be careful, darling. Don't be gone too long," Ellen said.
We walked back over to the house. Ellen and Koro entered the house, while I left the ranch, heading out the gates and walking down the empty snow covered road.
As I walked down the empty, quiet road with my hands in my pockets I looked around at the scenery around me as I walked. I looked to my left and looked out at the wide open field of snow stretching as far as my eyes can see. I love the winter season. I love how the snow can make the whole environment look so amazingly beautiful, it feels like you've journeyed to some kind of fantasy world. I sighed. Memories of all the years I spent with my Dad getting into snowball fights started coming back to me. Almost an hour later, when I reached the part of the road that continues down to Neighbor Town far ahead, and the other road to the right leads to the mountainside forest, I found a young horse standing next to the bird statue! I frowned quizzically.
"Huh?" I slowly approached the horse.
He or she seemed lonely, scared and most of all, hungry. But for some reason, it didn't run away from me.
"It's okay, buddy. I won't hurt you," I told the horse as I slowly advanced towards it.
The horse neighed weakly and its body visibly shook, apparently cold under this weather.
"Hmm... I guess I'll take this calf back to my ranch," I said.
Whoever left this little thing behind is obviously not coming back.
"I better give you a name." I said.
I checked the horse out between its hind legs, and I figured out that the horse is indeed female.
"Okay. Now, I'll name you... Zara. How is that?" I asked the calf.
The calf neighed. I smiled.
"I knew you'd like it. Come with me. My ranch is this way," I guided my new horse back to my ranch.
When we returned, I took Zara to the stables. After I did, I walked to my silo and pulled out some fodder for Zara and came back to the stables. "Here you go, Zara. It's grass. Eat it. Go on," I said.
When I least expected it, Ellen came in the stables to see what I was doing. She must have seen me come in the ranch when she was looking out the window.
"Oh my!" Ellen gasped. "Where did you find this poor thing?"
"Out in the road between Neighbor Town and here, where that strange bird statue is close to the pathway into the forest," I explained to Ellen.
Ellen walked up to the Zara and petted her head.
"Who could have left you way out there with no food or water?" She asked sympathetically to Zara while rubbing her mane.
"I don't know. What matters is she's safe, and that she belongs to us now," I smiled at Ellen.
Ellen came up to me, hugged me and kissed me.
"Tony, you are my knight in shining armor," Ellen smiled.
I blushed. "Oh, honey, stop it!"
We walked back to the house. I went to the wood shed and picked up some firewood for the fireplace in the house. With the fire fed, me and Ellen watched television all noon.
Monday, 2nd of Winter, 1976
I was watching the weather channel while Ellen was cooking. Koro was playing with his little chew toy in our bedroom.
"It's getting colder day by day, but how are you doing? It'll be fair tomorrow," the weather woman said, then I turned off the television.
No interesting shows are showing in Mondays. Silence filled the house.
"It's so quiet. Just like time stopped or something," Ellen said as she stirred the pot of oatmeal.
I nodded as I still sat down on the couch front of the television.
"That's what I love about winter. it's beautiful, peaceful, quiet... it feels like we are alone around here," I said as I laid back on the couch, my hands on the back of my head.
"We are alone, darling," Ellen smiled as she sprinkled sliced blueberries into the pot and stirred them in.
"I suppose..." I sighed.
Just then Koro came up to me and dropped the chew toy on my face!
"Blech!" I shook my head to get the toy off my face.
"Waff waff!" Koro barked.
"No, I didn't forget about you, Koro," I said as I patted his head.
I stood up on my feet. "Honey, I'm going outside to feed the chickens. I'll be back," I said.
"Come back soon, darling. It is snowing harder than it was yesterday," Ellen said.
"Okay," I said and left outside.
Ellen wasn't kidding. I saw more snow falling than yesterday! I stepped down the porch, looking up at the gray skies pouring trillions of snowflakes down. I held my head up high and opened my mouth to taste the snowflakes. some landed in my mouth, and melted to cold water in seconds. I walked to the chicken farm.
*pluff... pluff...pluff* was the sound I constantly heard as my boots stepped into the deep snow. I looked back at my footprints as I walked. In the chicken house, the chickens started laying eggs again. I put two in the shipping box. I fed my chickens and carried the last three eggs back with me to the deluxe log house.
"Here are some eggs," I handed Ellen the three eggs.
"Thank you. Now I can bake a cake. Oh, uh, Tony, I think you better go fix some of the fences. Snow can damage fences too," Ellen said.
"What? Really? guess I better get out there then," I sighed.
Ellen nodded in agreement. "Not until you eat your breakfast," she added.
"Oh, great!" I smiled.
Minutes later, I came outside. I ran to my tool shed to pick up my hammer. Oh, I don't think I mentioned this before, but, that surprise that Harvest Sprite mentioned before, he upgraded my garden hoe! The metal part that tills the soil is now golden just like my sickle blade! I came back outside and checked the perimeter of my ranch. Only two fence posts needs to be fixed. I ran back to my woodshed and grabbed two pieces of wood. I broke down the broken posts with my hammer and anchored the new ones down deeply into the snow. It wasn't easy.
Even through my gloves, my fingers were slowly yet definitely getting cold and numb. Soon I couldn't feel anything I touched.
"I can do it... I can do it..." I encouraged myself.
Eventually I did it. Then I went to the stables and fed Zara. She is looking pretty healthy now.
"How are you feeling, Zara?" I asked.
She neighed happily.
"That's a "yes", isn't it? Well, I'm glad to hear that," I smiled, rubbing Zara's smooth mane.
I left Zara some cool water and left the stables and came back to the deluxe log house.
I opened the door and stepped in.
"Whew! I am freezing!" I exclaimed, my teeth chattering.
"I thought you said you're used to weather like this," Ellen said, with her hands on her hips.
"Only for a few hours!" I retorted as I walked towards the fireplace.
I sat down in front of it to warm me up. Seconds later Ellen came to my side sat down on my lap, even though she wasn't cold at all.
"Huh? Darling, what are you doing? You're not cold at all," I said, confused.
"I'm using my body heat to help warm you, darling," Ellen smiled.
"Oh... well that's helpful. Thanks," I smiled.
"Hmm." Ellen smiled.
Me and Ellen looked at the crackling, burning wood in silence for a few seconds.
"I can't believe that I have to fix fences in winter too. I thought I could only do that in rain," I said.
"It snows a lot, so those fences are often broken," Ellen said.
She reached into her pocket and gave me a rice ball wrapped in plastic. My mouth started watering as soon as I laid eyes on it.
"Sweet!" I said.
I opened the plastic and ate the rice ball with one bite. Ellen smiled as she watched me devour the rice ball in on bite. Hours later, it is night and we were already asleep.
Tuesday, 3rd of Winter, 1976
As usual, Ellen was cooking breakfast and I was watching the weather news.
"Heads up, everyone, it will be snowing again tomorrow. Be sure to come out and build a snowman!" The weather woman said.
Afterwards, me and Ellen ate pancakes with scrambled eggs and hash browns. After we were done eating, I said: "Hey Ellen, I want to go to Neighbor Town and see how everyone is doing. Do you want to come with me?" I asked her.
"Maybe some other time. Go do whatever you want," Ellen smiled.
"Okay. Next time. Bye!" I left the house.
I fed the chickens and took care of the eggs before leaving.
When I got to town, it was a more different than I expected. All the trees in town are naked now, no leaves. That's not surprising, but it makes the town look different. And snow covered the place too. I walked into Liz's flower shop.
"Hi, Liz, Nina," I said.
"Hi, Tony," they both said at the same time.
"So how are you guys liking winter so far?" I asked them as I looked at the empty flowerpots around the room.
"It's fine," was all Liz said with a shrug.
"It's deserted in Winter, but we can't experience the joys of Spring without Winter," Nina added.
"You got a point, Nina," I agreed.
I sat down on a nearby chair.
"The seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter repeat in a never ending cycle," Liz said, picking up a small flowerpot and placing it with the other small pots at the northeast corner of the room.
"By the way, Tony, do you believe that there is a flower which blooms in Winter?" She asked me.
I frowned up. "In conditions like this? I don't know about that," I said skeptically.
Nina frowned up. "Ugh..." she grunted disdainfully, then she walked off.
I looked at Liz and gave her an expression like "What did I do?" Liz shrugged in a clueless manner.
"Well, I gotta go. see you guys later. Have a good Winter!" I called as I headed out the door.
"Bye, Tony!" Liz waved bye.
"Bye," Nina said, still upset that I don't believe there is a flower that can thrive in winter.
After leaving I went downtown to visit Michael and Ann. As I walked down the street, I looked to my left at the river. The river is frozen!
"Hm," was my only reaction from seeing the river frozen.
When I got to Michael and Ann's house, I knocked on the door, then opened it.
"Hello!" I called out.
Ann took a quick glance at me, then continued working on her machine.
"I'm surprised you walked over here. It looks cold outside. The air turns white when you breathe out, doesn't it?" Ann asked me.
"Yeah, it sure does," I nodded.
"Don't you freeze? I thought that you'd still be in your ranch," Ann remarked.
"I've been outside in my overalls several times before... When I still lived with my parents, so I'm used to it," I said.
I looked over at Michael. He seemed bored, sitting behind the counter next to the cash register. He was slumped over on the counter, drumming his fingers in a bored manner. I walked up to him.
"Hey, Michael. Are you okay?" I asked him.
"Am I okay? No, I'm not. I'm bored."
"Why is that?" I asked him.
"I don't like Winter because it feels kind of lonely," Michael whined.
I sighed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Winter may feel like a boring season, but once you learn how to make snow angels, a snowman, and learn to have snowball fights, it's not so bad," I said.
Michael looked at me as if I said something he should have thought of. "It's fun...?" He asked me almost in a whisper.
"Yeah! you want me to show you how fun it is? I'll come back some other time and show you. I gotta go."
"Okay. Be careful not to freeze, Tony."
"I won't," I replied before heading out the door.
After I was gone, Michael sighed and slumped back down on the counter.
"He has a good point, you know. People can find joy in the most boring season," Ann said, wiping her hands with a clean rag.
"Maybe... But I don't find winter interesting," Michael whined.
Next I visited Ellen's parents. As soon as I came in, Hank was nearby to greet me.
"How is life treating you, youngster?" He asked me.
I tried not to make a facial expression that won't offend him, but he smells like Eve's fruit alcohol drinks... Badly.
"Uh, life has been treating me good. I've experienced some things that make me happy, sad, and mad, but I'm managing," I replied.
Hank nodded. "Oh, well a lot of things can happen while you are alive. You just couldn't go through your life if you get depressed or mad at everything."
"Yeah, well-" before I could reply, Ellen's mom came up to me.
"Tony?"
"What?"
"You look a little heavier than the last time I saw you, don't you? Ellen is just like me, she is not only is a pretty girl, but also can cook very well," Ellen's mom said with a smile.
I agree that Ellen and her mother are good cooks, but she is a few feet taller and wider than Ellen.
"Hey, you carry your jokes too far," Ellen's dad said disdainfully.
"Oh, speaking of Ellen, I gotta get home," I said.
"That's right go home. She might have cooked a pumpkin pie for you by now," Ellen's mom said and started laughing.
"Ha ha ha ha," I mock laughed with Ellen's mom and walked out the door.
Saturday, 7th Of Winter
"Tony! Koro! Breakfast is ready!" Ellen called.
I was in the bedroom scratching Koro's belly until I heard Ellen call us.
"All right!" I said excitedly as I ran out the room.
"Bark bark!" Koro barked excitedly as he followed me.
Today we ate grits with butter and bacon, and orange juice.
"I haven't cooked grits in a while. I hope you like it." Ellen said to me after drinking some orange juice.
I've never eaten grits before, but it tastes similar to oatmeal, but it tastes much better with butter in it!
"I like it, darling!" I smiled.
Then I drunk some orange juice.
"I'm glad." Ellen said with a satisfied, cheerful smile.
Then we suddenly heard someone knocking on our front door. *Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!* was the sound we heard from our front door.
"What...? Who in the world could it be this early in the morning...?" Ellen asked me, looking at the front door in a with a confused frown.
"I'll check and see." I said.
I walked up to the front door and opened it. There, standing in front of me is Luke himself.
"Luke? What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"I'm sorry if I disturbed you and your wife, Tony, but can I borrow your hammer for a few hours?" He asked me.
"My hammer? Okay, I trust you," I nodded.
"Thank you. I'll put more power to it when I return it," Luke promised me.
He walked to my tool shed. I stepped outside, watching him go. Seconds later, he came back out with my hammer slung over his right shoulder.
"Thanks, Tony. You won't regret this," he said to me and left.
After he left, I decided to go feed my chickens and prepare their eggs for shipping since i'm standing out here. After I was done, I fed Zara as well and came back to my house. Ellen was done washing the dishes when I returned.
"How's Zara?" She asked me.
"She's doing okay. She looks more and more healthier each day," I said.
"I am so glad you found her when you did. Who could have abandoned such a beautiful horse calf like that?" Ellen asked me as I sat next to her in the living room couch.
I shrugged. "I don't know. Whoever it was, he's long gone now." After I said that, a thought popped in my head. "Ellen?"
"Yes, darling?"
"Did your uncle have a horse calf in the livestock shop?" I asked her.
"No, he only sells cows and chickens. You know that," Ellen said.
"Sorry. I just had a feeling that he might have left that horse for me to take in." I said.
"Nah. Uncle Reuben isn't very fond of horses. He had a bad experience with one," Ellen said.
"Really? What happened?" I wanted to know.
"Well, my Mom told me the story years ago, so I barely remember the details... I'll tell you when I remember it, sorry, honey," Ellen looked at me with a "I'm sorry" look on her face.
"Aww... I was looking forward to a morning story..." I whined.
Hours passed. It is now 3:49 p.m. and I was looking out the window close to the front door. Ellen came up next to me.
"Tony, what are you thinking about? You've been looking out that window for 10 minutes," Ellen said.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I said.
"Try me, darling," Ellen said.
"Would you believe me if I told you there are small men about 11 inches tall who live in our ranch?" I asked her.
"That's... strange... You saw them?" She asked me.
"Not just saw them. Interacted with them. They upgraded my sickle and garden hoe. And they say they're called Harvest Sprites." I said.
"Harvest Sprites? You actually saw Harvest Sprites?" Ellen asked me.
"Yeah. You heard of them?" I looked at Ellen in surprise.
"Only in folklore. I heard that they are small friendly people who appear to a select few of people who are very friendly, honest and compassionate. I also heard that if you befriend the Harvest Sprites, then one day you'll meet the Harvest Goddess herself," Ellen said.
I was drinking water when she was talking, but when she was done, I almost choked on the water, but I managed to swallow it.
"What? So you're saying that one day I'll personally meet the Harvest Goddess?" I asked Ellen in shock.
"I guess so." She shrugged. "It's hard to say that the stuff you read in mythology is real." Ellen added with a shrug.
"Yeah..." I slowly nodded.
Later that night, we fell asleep.
Sunday, 8th of Winter, 1976
Later that night, at 1:33 a.m. while we were asleep, I heard a deep rumbling. The rumbling got louder and louder every second!
"D...darling? What's that?" Ellen mumbled to me.
It took me a while to figure out what it is.
"It... It's a... EARTHQUAKE!" I yelled.
"Quick! we need to get somewhere safe!" Ellen exclaimed.
"Come on! Let's get under the dinner table!" I yelled.
Taking Ellen's hand, we ran out of the bedroom and into the living room. We dived under the dinner table. I was Koro near the television set, whimpering and panicking.
"Koro! Under here, boy! Come on!" I called out to him.
Koro quickly joined us. We huddled together under the table as the earthquake shook the ground for about 8 minutes and then everything calmed down. We slowly crawled out from under the table. Ellen held me close, her left arm wrapped under my right arm.
"Is it over?" Ellen asked me in a whisper.
"I think so." I whispered back.
I was holding Koro under my left arm since Ellen is holding my right arm. After answering her, I put him down. We headed back to the bedroom.
"That was pretty terrifying. I'm surprised nothing in the house got damaged," Ellen said.
After hearing her say that, my eyes turned to the turtle doll I won from the Egg Festival. I walked up to the table it laid on and picked it up.
"Ellen... I think the reason why we're okay is because of this thing," I said, looking at the doll.
"Really? What is it? *gasp!* That's a lucky charm! No wonder we're all right!" Ellen exclaimed once she saw the doll I was holding.
"Well, let's go to bed. When daylight comes, we'll check on the ranch." I said. We jumped in the bed.
As soon as we woke up, me and Ellen went straight to the living room and turned on the television and flipped to the weather forecast channel.
"...The earthquake last night registered 4 on the Richter scale, so The damage is not serious," the weather woman said, pointing at the southwestern map of Louisiana, showing that the earthquake was felt not just in Neighbor Town but also from Crowley to Lake Charles.
"Let's look around the ranch. There will be trouble if the fences are broken," Ellen said.
"Right." We stood up and returned to the bedroom.
We undressed out of our pajamas and I got into my overalls wearing two extra T-shirts and put on my blue cap, and Ellen got into her bright blue house dress. She also put on a coat. Then we stepped outside.
As soon as me and Ellen stepped out, we saw Luke running into our ranch.
"Hey, isn't that Luke?" Ellen pointed out.
I took a look. "It sure is. I wonder what happened," I said.
I ran up to Luke.
"Tony!" Luke called, panting heavily
"Luke! I'm glad you're okay! Is everything all right?"
"Yeah! How about you?"
"We're fine. How's Emmet, Ingo and Toby?"
"They're fine. I was scared by that earthquake this morning," Luke said, out of breath.
"Us too," Ellen said.
"After you fix up your ranch, you gotta come by the mountain," Luke suggested.
"What? Why?" I asked him.
"You know that huge rock that blocks the way to an unexplored part of the forest?" Luke asked me.
"Yeah, it's about 48 yards southwest near your place," I said.
"Yeah. Well, because of the earthquake, it's gone now, and I want you to be the first person to check it out," Luke said.
"Okay, I'm in," I agreed.
"Neat. See you later," Luke turned around and left.
Let's check the farm," Ellen said.
"Right," I said.
Me and Ellen looked around the ranch with caution. The chicken house, silo and cow house and my tool shed are undamaged, but most of my fences are damaged! Te wooden posts have been shaken completely out of place!
"Aww no! This is worse than rain and snow!" I moaned.
"This is unbelievable..." Ellen said, looking at the mess.
"It'll take me half of the day to finish it all!" I whined.
"Don't worry, darling, I believe in you. Know why? Because I'll bake your favorite pie if you do," Ellen said.
"Pumpkin pie! Alright! I'll do it!" I said adamantly.
Ellen giggled and walked back to the house.
I ran to my tool shed to get my hammer. Now, just like my sickle and garden hoe, my hammer has been upgraded! it looks more like a golden mallet now! I picked it up.
"Wow!" I smiled. "I can't wait to try this baby out!"
I stepped outside and started working. I took a few pieces of wood and put them in my wheelbarrow and began moving to the wooden fence posts that need fixing. When I used my new mallet on the broken fence posts, I couldn't believe how powerful the blow from my hammer is! *WHOMPF!* was the sound I heard when I smashed the broken posts down. I looked at my hammer in admiration.
"Whoa! Luke, you've outdone yourself once again!" I smiled.
But having a new hammer didn't make my job any easier. There were a LOT of wooden fences for me to fix. I got half of them done at 5:50 p.m.! My arms were so tired, and my hands numb form the cold air, I had to go back to the house and rest. I opened the door and came in, feeling very tired out.
"Oh! Tony! are you okay?" Ellen came up to me and took me in her arms before I collapsed.
Using all her strength, she carried me to the dinner table.
"Come on darling, eat your pumpkin pie. it'll make you feel better," Ellen urged me.
At least I had enough energy to lift a spoon. I cut a slice of pie and ate some. as soon as I ate the slice, I could feel the energy coming back to me.
I ate 3 more slices, and already I could feel the energy coming back to me.
"Are you feeling better, Tony?" Ellen asked me.
Thanks to my wife's pumpkin pie, I feel refreshed! I stood up out of my chair and faced Ellen.
"Honey, thank you! You knew that pumpkin pie would recharge me!" I smiled.
Ellen smiled. "I know what you like."
"There's something else I like..." I added.
"What is it?" Ellen asked.
I leaned in close nad kissed Ellen, our lips making wet smacking noises as we kissed. She was surprised at first but then she started getting into it, bringing her body into close contact with mine and wrapping her arms around my neck while I put my hands on her hips. I used to be shy about kissing Ellen but now, I don't feel that way anymore. That fear is all gone. I stopped kissing her and looked Ellen deep into her eyes.
"Thank you, honey," I said.
"Anything for my sweetheart," Ellen replied.
Monday, 9th of Winter, 1976
After eating breakfast, I checked the news channel to see what's going on.
"It's the Thanksgiving Festival tomorrow. Nice smells of of baking cakes fills the whole town. Sounds like it'll be fun," the woman on T.V. said.
"Honey, I'm going back outside," I said.
"Okay. don't overdo it like yesterday," Ellen warned me.
"I won't," I called back before leaving.
I went back outside to finish where I left off. But before I could get started, Mike, as usual, appeared, possibly to check on me after the earthquake and remind me of the festival.
"Tony..." Mike called.
"Let me guess... Thanksgiving Festival?" I asked him.
"Wow! How did you know? Mike gasped.
"I got a television set in the house, Mikey," I said.
"Oh. Well, I'm sure you didn't know this. The festival is for all the husbands and fathers who are working hard for their family, and the wives who bake cakes for them to show thanks," Mike said.
"Now that you say that, I'm curious to know what kind of cake Ellen will cook for me for being a good husband," I said.
"You should be curious," A familiar voice said.
Then, from behind Mike's truck outside the ranch gates came Matt.
"Matt?!" I exclaimed.
I was too surprised to see him here. He came up to me and Mike before answering.
"Because girls give cakes to people they like," Matt said.
I didn't say anything in response, I just sighed and rolled my head clockwise twice.
"Well, I hope you and your wife have a great thanksgiving celebration tomorrow," Matt said and returned to the truck.
"Well, that's all she wrote. Take it easy, Tony," Mike turned around and left.
After they left, I first fed my chickens and.. I realized I forgot to feed them yesterday because I was so focused on the fences.
"Shoot!" I grumbled.
Oh well, no use crying over spilled I took care of the remaining fences. At 12:05 p.m., the ranch is looking better now, but there are 3 more fence posts that need fixing, and I noticed that I'm all out of firewood. I took my ax and decided to go to the mountainside forest to get more wood, and most importantly, explore the uncharted area that was once blocked off by a huge unbreakable stone.
When I got to the forest, I headed west to a ledge that was once rendered impassible because of the huge stone, but now, the stone is gone, due to the earthquake.
"Hm. Time for an adventure," I said as I took my first steps into uncharted territory.
The deeper I went, the more thicker the trees got. The snow covered trees got so thick above me, they blocked out some of the sunlight. I looked around. Nothing but trees around me. No animals, no nothing.
"Where am I...? I hope I'm not lost," I mumbled to myself.
I walked forward for about almost two minutes, and that's when I finally saw something. I found these strange looking flowers all over the place. At first, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. Flowers? Alive in the winter? No, it can't be...
"Okay, I take back everything I said to Nina," I muttered to myself.
I moved on forward a few steps until I saw a set of wooden stairs going up to something.
"Hmm... I wonder what's up there," I said, rubbing my chin with my left hand and gripping my ax with my right. I headed up the stairs. The stairs didn't go high at all, only for like 6 feet up from the ground. And on top of the little hill, I found myself standing in front of a frozen pond. I examined it.
"Hmm... It's frozen... But why would these stairs lead up here and nowhere else...?" I wondered to myself, kneeling down and touching the frozen water with my right hand.
Then a flash of an idea came to me. When I used to play Dungeons & Dragons with my friends back in school, the Dungeon Master would usually hide special items or weapons in places that players wouldn't even consider looking. With that in mind, I assume that there could be something inside this frozen pond.
Question is, how will I break through the ice? I can't use my fists. The ice seems too thick to punch through. I was thinking about giving up, but then, I remembered the ax I carried in my hands. I then got the idea to throw my ax with as much force as I can down at the frozen pond so that the ax's sharp blade can break through.
"It's a crazy thought... But I'll do it," I said.
I gripped the ax's handle so that the sharp edges were facing the pond. I brought the ax up above my head, held it up there for 5 seconds... Then swung it down!
"YAAH!" I shouted.
The blade shattered through the ice! SMASH! I released my grip on the ax and shielded my eyes from the ice shards, accidentally letting my ax fall into the freezing water. I see now there was nothing unusual about that pond. No hidden passageway, and the ax fell too deep underwater for me to reach, and I cannot swim down there otherwise I will die of hypothermia.
"Aww... Now I lost my only ax..." I moaned sadly.
I was about to leave, but a ray of golden light shone down on the pond.
"What the...?" I gasped.
I looked up to see where the light is coming from. And, before I knew it, someone or something in the ray of light quickly descended down! I gasped in shock. The figure then floated above the spring in front of me. I was shocked beyond belief. The woman that was floating in front of me is beautiful beyond belief.
She had long, flowing green hair, and she wore a dress that is so clearly white, it sparkles. I stood there, motionless, my mouth wide open. In her arms she held an ax with a golden blade.
"Hi! How do you do?" She asked me cheerfully.
It took a while to find my voice. "...H...Hello... Who are you...?" I asked her.
"I'm the Harvest Goddess. Did you expect me to come out?" She asked me, opening her eyes to reveal her sparkling lime green colored irises.
"Uh, no. Actually, I was expecting to find a secret passage or item in this spring or something," I replied.
The Harvest Goddess giggled. She must be thinking I'm a comedian.
"By the way, I have a question. Is this gold ax the one you dropped?" She asked me, showing me an ax with the metal parts covered in a genuine plate of gold in her hands. I frowned.
"That ax? No, that's not mine. Mine didn't have a gold blade, ma'am," I said with all honesty.
The Harvest Goddess then had a happy, excited look on her face.
"Oh yes, I've finally found an honest person! I'll give you this golden ax as a reward for your honesty," The Harvest Goddess handed it to me.
I reluctantly took it into my hands. "...R-really? You don't have to do this, I really didn't want this, but... Thank you," I said humbly.
She shook her head. "No, you don't have to thank me. I'm so happy to have meet someone honest like you. Bye now. Keep up with your work," she started to ascended back up to wherever she came from, waving goodbye at me.
"Bye!" I called out to her, waving with my free hand.
After she was gone, I left the unexplored part of the forest and came back to familiar territory.
I then started looking for a tree stump to cut. I looked at the golden ax in my hands.
"All right. Let's see what this thing can do that my old one can't," I said.
I held the ax up over my head and swung it down at the stump! When I opened my eyes, I saw that my gold ax has literally cut the tree stump in half!
"Whoaaa... What the heck?!" I exclaimed, my eyes bugging out in shock.
What's even more surprising is I saw that my ax's blade grew two times bigger than the size it normally was! This isn't some ax with a simple gold plated blade, it is a magically enhanced farming ax! When I pulled the ax out from between the split tree stump, the ax's blade returned back to normal size. I stared at my new ax in shock.
"This... is the most weirdest day I've ever had," I said shaking my head in mild disbelief.
I came back home and finished my job before nightfall.