Harvest Moon - The Farm Story
By Sky Render

 This is an imaginitive fiction piece, using the story base set up by
Harvest Moon: Back to Nature as the backdrop.  Take heed: I'm very long-
winded, so the story flows a bit slowly at first.  Characters have a lot
more backstory, and a lot of stuff happens that never does in the game (but
that's pretty normal for imaginitive fiction).  Having knowledge of the
layout of Mineral Town will definitely add to the effect of this story.


~Prologue~

 When the letter arrived, I knew something was wrong.  My parents were
clearly upset, and my mother even broke out into tears.  I asked them what
was wrong, but that only caused my mother to weep even more.  My father
took me into the kitchen, and told me what the letter had said.  My
grandfather, Lauren, had died two days ago.  The letter informing us of his
death had only just arrived; grandpa had lived in a very backwater village,
where nobody even had a telephone.  His funeral was scheduled for two weeks
from the day that we got the letter.  My dad told me to get ready for the
trip, and then left the kitchen to console my mother.

 I had never really gotten to know grandpa Lauren very well, so his death
didn't have that great an impact on me.  I had met him all of three times
in my life, and I didn't even remember the first two.  The third time was a
vague yet distinct memory, when my family's vacation plans had fallen
through and I'd been sent to grandpa's farm for the summer.  I was all of 7
or 8 at the time, and to be honest, I was afraid to be going so far from
home, and from my parents.  But grandpa Lauren was kind to me, and took
good care of me.  I remember doing all sorts of things around the farm
during that vacation, stupid things that only a little kid would try.  I
must have avoided the village itself, though, for I didn't remember anybody
from town.  Well, I did know one person...

 Two days before my parents were coming to pick me up, I met her.  Having
tried (unsuccessfully) to ride a cow several times that day, I was pretty
tired, and had fallen asleep in a meadow on the peak of a very large hill.
I heard faint singing, but I must've thought it was part of whatever dream
I was having, because I didn't wake up until the girl shook me.  I didn't
remember the details of the conversation we had when I thought about it
later, but I remembered that she wanted to know more about the city where I
came from, and about me.  We talked for a long time in the meadow, and
after a while, she showed me the view at the top of the hill, where it
overlooked all of the valley.  I remember her telling me that she wanted to
see what was beyond the mountains some day, to see everything beyond the
valley's rim.  I also remember she taught me a song then, though the tune
was forgotten in the intervening years.  When I left two days later, she
visited me one last time and made me promise that I'd return.

 Now, 10 years later, the memories were returning to me.  I found myself
wondering if that girl had ever left the valley, if she was still in that
village.  I realized that we'd never even told each other our names.  As I
thought about it, a strange feeling crept over me.  I didn't understand why
then, but I suddenly wanted to take over my grandfather's old farm.  Except
for that one trip, I had lived my entire life in and around the city.  I
knew next to nothing about farming, and there was a lot to consider before
I could possibly take over the old pastures.  But the thought stuck in my
mind.  I wanted to live on my grandfather's farm, to take it over and run
it as well as he had.  I knew that this wasn't the time to discuss my idea
with my parents, though, so I set it aside.

 Two weeks later, we attended the funeral.  Much of the village (which I
learned then was called Mineral Town) turned up for the occasion, making me
realize just how important my grandfather had been to this little
community.  The ceremony was a haze of emotion and tears, but I remember
clearly that, as the proceedings concluded, it felt like a great weight had
been lifted off of everybody there.  There would be mourning, to be sure,
but it was as though everybody had finally said goodbye to my grandfather.
The trip home was silent, and my idea of taking over the farm suddenly
seemed insane.  How could I have ever hoped to equal such a great and noble
man?  It would be two years before I thought of it again.

 Those two years were not kind to me.  Fresh out of high school, I decided
to go into work instead of going to college.  This was a bad move, as the
job market was in a downturn, and I ended up drifting from dead-end job to
dead-end job.  My life had no security, no stability, and my day-to-day
life was lived in constant fear that I wouldn't be able to sustain myself.
My parents had made it clear that they would take me in again if I needed
it, but I wanted so badly to be independent that I refused to ask them for
help.  It wasn't until I was fired from my latest hopeless job that I
realized that I was at my lowest point ever.  I was flat broke, without a
job, my rent was overdue, and my prospects for getting a new job in time to
sate my landlord's anger at my tardiness of payment were slim.  In this, my
dark hour, the idea from two years ago returned.  As it occured to me, I
saw it as an escape, a solution to make my life better.

 I returned home, and talked it over with my parents.  They agreed that my
life was in shambles, but they were also skeptical about how well I could
run a farm.  I had my own doubts, but my options were limited, and becoming
a farmer would be easier on all of us than me going back to school or
finding a new dead-end job.  We discussed the matter for most of a night,
and the next morning, they told me that they had discussed it with the
mayor of Mineral Town (apparently, a phone had been installed in the last
two years), and had arranged to let me move in on New Year's Day.  That was
about a half a month away, so I spent that time with my parents, planning
and studying about farming.  When the time came, my parents took me out to
Mineral Town and bought me some basic farming supplies.  And so began my
farm story...


Chapter 1 - A New Beginning

 When I arrived at the farm, I was greeted by a curious little fellow who
introduced himself as Mayor Thomas.  "Welcome back to Mineral Town... er, I
don't believe I was told your name."  I looked down at him.  "Hm?  Oh, I'm
Gilbert.  Sorry, I guess this whole situation was rather unexpected, wasn't
it?"  Thomas laughed.  "Well, yes, but a little excitement is certainly a
welcome thing around here.  Now then, let's discuss the terms of you
staying on this farm..."  I nodded; I had expected that the villagers would
not simply let me take over the farm with no strings attached.  "It's not
all that difficult, really.  We just want you to become a part of our
village, and help us recover.  You see, since your grandfather died, this
whole area has been suffering greatly.  We relied on his farm so much for
our produce that, when he died, we were completely unprepared for the
sudden shortage of goods."

 Thomas pointed out at the fields.  They were in pretty sorry shape.  "You
see that rocky waste?  That used to produce enough crops to feed everybody
in the village, and then some.  We need this farm back in working order,
Gilbert.  Our village cannot last much longer like this.  So, part of our
requirements also include you restoring this farm to at least a bit of what
it was when your grandpa ran it."  I whistled to myself.  "Quite a task
you've set me with there.  How long do I have?"  Thomas squinted, thinking
to himself.  "Well, we talked about it last night at the impromptu town
meeting, but the opinions were varied...  The most reasonable suggestion
that most of us agreed to was three years."  I nodded, a bit dejected.
Three years to rebuild fifty years' worth of work?  "Well, I'll do my best,
I guess," I said.  Thomas looked up at me and grinned.  "I'm sure you will,
Gilbert, I'm sure you will.  You have that same glint in your eyes that
your grandfather did, that look of determination.  I think it will serve
you well."  I nodded, hoping that the mayor was right.

 I took one last good look around the farm before I went inside the little
house that my grandfather had called home.  Though the field was quite a
bit worse for wear, the outbuildings were still all intact and in working
order.  I made a mental note to memorize the layout of the farm tomorrow,
and then proceeded inside to unpack my things.  By the time I was done, it
was almost midnight.  Realizing this, I put the object I was holding back
into its box, got into bed, and went to sleep.  There would be time to
unpack further in the morning.  My dreams were a strange mishmash of images
and illusions, all about the farm, and most about me failing miserably to
restore it.  When my alarm clock woke me up at 6AM, I didn't feel very
rested at all.

 As I groggily got out of bed, I heard a light knocking at the door.  "Who
in their right mind...?" I thought to myself, but was too sleepy to finish
the thought.  I walked up to the door, and opened it.  Mayor Thomas was
standing outside, beaming up at me.  "Good morning, Gilbert.  I came by to
see if you wanted any advice, or maybe a tour of the village."  I shook my
head.  "Um, couldn't this wait until later?  Like, maybe 10?"  Thomas gave
me a quizzical look, then laughed.  "Oh, I'm sorry!  I guess I'm so used to
people waking up with the sun around here that I'm not used to the idea of
somebody who works on a different schedule.  Alright, I'll come back around
10.  You'd best get used to waking up so early, by the way.  Farms take a
lot of time and energy, so you'd do well to make the most of both."  I
nodded sleepily, and bade the mayor a decidedly drowsy good morning.  A bit
of a pang of regret had just hit me that I'd taken up the farm, but I
quickly dismissed it.  What else was I going to do with my life?  I decided
to stop thinking about it and just settle for making breakfast.

 About half an hour later, I decided I was as ready as I was going to get
for my first day on the farm.  Shouldering my rucksack and grabbing my
grandfather's old solid steel hoe, I walked out onto the farm.  There was a
light mist in the air, which hung gently over the ground and sky, and gave
the whole farm the look of some sort of waking dream world.  "I guess a
sight like this almost makes waking up this early worth it," I mused to
myself.  My head was still foggy with traces of sleep, but I had a pretty
good idea in my head about what I was going to do.  Looking around, I took
mental note of what I would need to clear away, and what tools I'd need for
the task.  My mind set, I began the back-killing task of clearing up a
portion of the field near the house for planting.  Time seemed to vanish
while I worked, and by the time I was done, the sun had already risen quite
a bit higher in the sky.  The morning mist had burned off, leaving a crisp,
cerulean sky with a few light clouds.

 I took a look at my watch, and realized that it was almost 8.  "Wow, time
flies when you're plowing dirt," I muttered, and went back inside my house
to grab a quick snack.  I was rather surprised to hear knocking at my door
a few minutes after I'd gone inside.  Curious, I went to the door and
opened it.  "Good morning once more," Thomas said, smiling benignly.  I
smiled right back.  "Ah, hello.  You're back early."  Thomas nodded.  "I
know.  I had a feeling you would be awake before 10.  And it looks like I
was right."  I nodded, feeling a bit sheepish.  "Er, yeah.  I say the
damnedest things when I'm half-awake.  So, you came by earlier to offer
advice and a tour, right?"  Thomas nodded.  "But it looks like you already
know something about farming as it is.  I saw the nice job you did out in
the field."  I shrugged.  "Thanks, but it wasn't really that hard."  The
mayor nodded to himself.  "I suppose it wouldn't be, for somebody in your
family.  You have farming in your veins."  I wanted to ask the mayor what
he meant, but he was already moving on.

 "I will give you one bit of advice about planting, though: don't do more
than you can handle.  Your grandfather was a very strong man, even in his
declining years, but he wasn't always that way.  Your work will make you
stronger, but it will take time.  So don't overdo it, okay?"  I nodded,
feeling very silly.  "Good," Thomas continued, "Now, how about a tour of
the village?"  I nodded.  "I don't really know the area, so it'd be a good
idea."  Thomas grinned.  "Wonderful!  Alright, let's go."  The mayor showed
me around the village, and introduced me to several of the villagers along
the way.  Everybody seemed to have a look of apprehension on their faces
when they looked at me, and I couldn't blame them.  How could anybody share
the mayor's optimism that I could ever meet, let alone surpass, my
grandfather's farming ability?  After what seemed like hours (but was
actually only about half an hour), the mayor finally stopped and turned to
face me.  "Well, that concludes the tour.  I think you can handle it from
here.  If you want to know more about the area behind your farm, you should
go and talk to the woodcutter who lives at the base of Mother Hill."  With
that, the mayor left, and I was left standing in the middle of the town
square.

 "You the new guy?"  I turned towards the voice, and saw a young man in a
white uniform and blue cap.  "Yeah, name's Gilbert," I said casually.  The
man chuckled to himself.  "You look lost.  Not too surprising, though,
seeing as your tour guide was the mayor.  I'm Gray, by the way.  Nice to
meet you."  I nodded politely, and Gray continued.  "So, you're new here,
huh?  Actually, I'm pretty new here myself.  I'm hoping to become a
blacksmith, like my grandpa."  "I guess we have similar goals, then."  Gray
shrugged.  "Kind of, 'cept that my grandpa's still alive, and one hell of
a harsh taskmaster.  Let me tell you, you're lucky that you don't have
somebody breathing down your neck, making sure you're doing your job right
all the time."  I found myself agreeing with Gray, harsh though his tone
might have been.  "Well, it's been interesting, but I've got to get to work
now.  The old man's gonna scold me again for being late."  With that we
parted, and I proceeded back into town.

 Thanks to the mayor's tour, I knew exactly where I needed to go.  Walking
past the local pub, I made my way to the heart of the village, where the
local supermarket was.  Entering the small shop, I realized that the term
"supermarket" was a bit of a misnomer.  "General store" was more like it,
given how little was for sale.  I heard the door open behind me, and
quickly stepped out of the path of the person who entered, a large man in
a purple jacket.  He walked over to the food section, and grabbed something
from the shelves.  I gave a casual glance at the price tag, and guessed
that this guy was a big spender; whatever item it was, it cost about ten
times as much as I currently had on hand.  "Hey, I'll take this!" the large
man said to the stoorkeeper, "Put it on my tab."  The storekeeper's face
turned a bit pale, which was understandable given the item's price.  "Oh,
one of those?  Um, alright..." he said timidly, and began searching under
the counter for something, probably a notebook full of I.O.U.'s.

 I decided that this was definitely not right, so I went and stood in front
of the door to block the man's exit.  He looked at me quizzically, perhaps
even amusedly; I was quite a bit smaller than him, and he could probably
bowl me over easily, yet here I was trying to bar his exit.  "You're the
new guy, the one who's taken over the Skywind farm.  Is something wrong?"
I took a deep breath, preparing myself for a serious shoutfest.  "It's not
right to take something and not pay for it, you know."  The man continued
to look at me with a bemused expression, then broke out laughing.  This did
not bode well, I thought to myself.  "It's fine, don't worry.  I buy on
credit here all the time!  Now, out of my way little man."  Just then, a
door opened in the back of the shop, and a woman's voice yelled, "Duke!"
The large man's expression turned to one of what could almost be described
as terror.  "Oh, Karen!" he said, and turned to face the newcomer.

 She had long brown hair, and wore a somewhat formal-looking vest and pants
combo.  She didn't look happy, either.  "You know you're supposed to pay
for things when you buy them," she said to Duke, her eyes narrow with
anger.  I got the feeling that this sort of confrontation was normal
between these two.  "Alright, alright.  You I can't escape..."  I almost
felt offended that he hadn't taken my own attempt to get him to pay
seriously, but then I realized that he probably knew this woman quite a bit
better than he knew me, and was more likely to not care about what I had to
say to him.  Duke gave the girl a rather large currency note (which I noted
was just a bit more than what the item had cost), and left the store.  "You
had better watch yourself around her, she's got the eyes of a hawk," he
muttered to me as he left.  The woman turned to face me, and I snapped to
attention.  "You tried to stop him, didn't you?  Thanks.  I guess you're
the new guy, then."  I nodded dumbly, wishing my lips would unfreeze.  She
smiled.  "Well, as Duke already mentioned, I'm Karen.  Nice to meet you."
I did my best to smile back.  "I have to help my mother with something, but
maybe we'll meet later."  I shrugged, and Karen laughed.  "Not the
talkative type, I see.  Well, take care of yourself."  And with that, she
went back into the back room of the store.

 "Hey," the store owner said to me.  I turned to face him.  "Um, thanks for
your help."  I nodded.  "No problem.  It's just not right to take advantage
of the goodwill of others like that.  I can tell that your shop's seen
better days."  The owner looked down, ashamed.  "Yeah, it has.  Ever since
your grandpa died, this whole area has gone to hell, but my shop got hit
the worst.  I was the reseller of his produce, and ever since he passed on,
my stock of goods has dwindled to virtually nothing."  I nodded.  "Well,
I'm taking over my grandfather's farm.  Maybe my efforts to restore it will
help restore your shop, too."  The owner looked up at me, and I saw that
his face seemed much brighter.  "That would be wonderful.  Oh yes, I didn't
introduce myself yet.  My name's Jeff.  You've already met my daughter
Karen, of course.  So, what can I help you with today?"  I thought to
myself for a moment.  "Er, well, do you have any seeds for sale?"  Jeff
chuckled.  "Yep.  Right in front of you."  I did a double-take, realizing
that the counter in the center of the store had several bags of seeds on
it.  "Oh," I muttered sheepishly, and walked up to them.

 I quickly realized that I had a problem.  "I don't know what to plant," I
said to Jeff.  He nodded.  "Yeah, I heard at the town meeting two days ago
that you'd never run a farm before.  Well, since it's so early in the
season, now's a good time to plant regrowing crops, like cucumbers.  They
take a while to grow, but you can keep harvesting them throughout the
season."  Jeff seemed to know what he was talking about, so I did some
quick calculations, and realized that I barely had enough for two bags of
cucumber seeds.  My finances really were sorry, but I hadn't realized just
how sorry until now.  I grabbed two bags, and purchased them.  "Thank you,"
Jeff said, "And I hope you can restore the farm to its former glory."  I
nodded, and left the store.  I couldn't think of anything else I needed to
do in the village at the moment, so I went back to the farm and proceeded
to plant and water the cucumber seeds I'd just bought.  Though I'd never
done this sort of work before, and I'd only read a bit about proper farming
techniques before I'd moved here, the whole process somehow felt far easier
than I'd expected it to.

 As I finished the job, I looked at my watch and saw that it was already
10.  I couldn't think of anything else to do on the farm just now, so I
decided to pay a visit to that woodcutter that the mayor had mentioned, and
walked across the bridge spanning the stream that led to the wooded area
behind my farm.  Instantly, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia.  This was an
area that I recognized from my time at my grandfather's farm, a place that
I'd spent a lot of time at.  I remembered there had been a log cabin near
this place, and I proceeded to where I remembered it being.  It was still
there, set in a clearing of trees.  This was probably where the woodcutter
lived, I reasoned, and knocked on the door.  "Can I help you?" a voice said
from behind me, causing me to jump.  "Gah, don't do that!" I yelled, and
turned to face the speaker.  He was a big fellow with scruffy hair, wearing
a simple t-shirt and jeans, and he was currently laughing.  "Sorry, sorry.
I don't recognize you, so I guess you must be new here."  I nodded.  "Yeah,
I'm Gilbert.  I'm taking over my grandfather's farm."

 A strange look came into Gotz' eyes.  "So, you're Gilbert.  I remember
when you were a little kid, and you came to this area."  My eyes widened.
"You do?"  He chuckled.  "Yep, I sure do.  I had to get you out of a tree
one day.  You were quite the adventurous type."  I blushed.  "I don't even
remember that...  But it doesn't surprise me.  I was young and stupid."
Gotz smiled.  "You've grown up well since then, though.  So, what did you
come knocking at my door for?"  I shrugged.  "Nothing much, really.  I was
just hping that you could tell me a bit about this area of the valley."
Gotz nodded.  "Alright.  This is Mother Hill, where lots of wild herbs and
plants grow.  I tend to the mountain, cleaning up litter and taking care of
the trees and plants out here.  I guess you could call me a forester.  The
mountain is dangerous during stormy weather, though, so be careful if you
plan to go climbing."  He pointed in the direction that I'd come from.
"You can also find the mineral springs up that way.  They're really potent,
but you'd best bring some sort of alarm clock with you if you plan to use
them, because you can fall asleep in there in no time.  Well, I have to get
to work now, but if you ever need any more advice or information, I'll be
here."  I thanked Gotz, and moved out of his way so he could enter his
house.

 I noticed a path then that I hadn't seen before.  It looked like it led
back into town, so I decided to check it out.  As I crossed a stark wooden
bridge and entered the outskirts of the village, I heard some people
yelling about something nearby.  I wasn't normally one to eavesdrop, but I
couldn't help myself this time.  "...take more responsibility for your
actions!" a young man was yelling.  "Oh, I hate you, Rick!" a girl's voice
screamed, and loud footsteps began to approach.  I quickly stepped aside,
and watched as a girl with pink hair ran by.  Pink hair?  "Hey, what do you
think you're doing, eavesdropping like that?"  I jumped, looking over the
nearby fence.  A young man with light-brown hair wearing glasses was
standing there, looking decidedly angry.  "Sorry, I didn't mean to.  Who
was that?"  The man's face took on a look of sadness.  "Oh, that was my
sister, Popuri.  I got mad at her for leaving a hen out unprotected last
night and yelled at her.  Say, could you go and find her for me?  If I went
and looked for her, we'd just end up fighting again."  "Alright," I said,
still feeling a bit guilty for listening in.   "Thanks," the man said, "You
can probably find her at the hot springs.  Tell her that Rick said he's
sorry, okay?"  I nodded, and headed back into the woods.

 It wasn't hard to tell where Popuri was.  Her sobbing was loud enough that
I could hear it from the steps up to the hot springs.  I walked up and
tapped her gently on the shoulder.  She turned around to face me, her eyes
streaming with tears.  "I hate Rick," she said quietly, "I hate him so
much...  I know I screwed up, but he's so mean about it!"  I sighed.  This
was not going to be easy.  "What happened?" I asked her.  She shook her
head.  "It was one of our hens, Begak.  I forgot to bring it in last night,
and a wild dog came and...  Oh, it was terrible!"  Ah, I thought to myself,
so an animal died.  "Well, I'm sorry to hear that.  You must've really
liked that hen a lot."  Popuri nodded, and then burst into tears.  Way to
be smooth, stupid, I thought to myself.  I held her, trying as best I could
to console her.  I don't remember how long we stood there, her crying into
my shoulder, but it must've been several minutes.  Finally, she looked up
at me, her face still streaked with tears, and smiled weakly.  "Thank you
for staying with me.  I don't even know your name, but..."  I smiled back.
"I'm Gilbert," I said.  Her face brightened.  "Oh, you're the one who's
taken over the Skywind farm!  Well, I'll go appologize to Rick now.  Good-
bye."  I stepped aside and let her pass, and watched her walk away.

 My mind was still thinking about Popuri as I turned to look around the
area.  She seemed like a nice girl, certainly a lot more informal than
Karen had been.  Being near her had made me feel strange, but I wasn't
entirely sure why.  My thoughts came to an abrupt halt as my eyes came to a
small cave, hidden behind a nearby waterfall.  A memory returned from my
childhood, when I had explored that cave.  I decided to take a look now,
and see if it was still the way I remembered it.  The inside of the cave
was dark, but I found a small lantern hanging on one wall, and lit it.  The
flickering candlelight revealed that the cave was fairly small, with quite
a few more lanterns.  I realized that this cave was in fact a mine,
probably well dug out.  The ground of the cave looked rough, and I noticed
a few faint sparkles here and there.  Could it be that the mine still had
resources in it?  I grabbed my hoe (which had a pickaxe at one end), and
started digging at one of the shining spots.  I came up with a few small
pieces of gold, and a thought occurred to me.  I could make some money by
mining in here.  My mind set, I began to dig.

 Several hours passed, and I dug up a lot of little pieces of gold.  I also
found some big chunks of copper, but I decided to leave those where I found
them, since I figured I could get a lot more money from the gold.  I even
found a ladder leading deeper down into the mine, but I decided not to go
down there.  My back was already screaming from all of my mining, and I was
starting to feel hungry and tired.  Lugging my decidedly heavier rucksack
back onto my shoulders, I exited the mine and took a quick look at my
watch.  It was already 1PM.  "How long was I in there?" I asked myself.  I
realized then that I wasn't the only person on the hill.  A little girl and
an old man were staring at me.  "Um, hi," I said awkwardly.  The old man
walked up to me and extended his hand.  "My name is Barley.  I run the
local ranch.  And you must be Gilbert, Lauren's grandson."  I shook
Barley's outstretched hand, and nodded.  "Yes, I am.  Did you know him,
then?"  Barley chuckled.  "Of course I did.  Everybody in the village knew
Lauren, except for the really young ones like my granddaughter May here.
He and I were rivals at one time, but in the end, we ended up becoming good
friends."

 The little girl who Barley had identified as May stepped forward shyly.
"Um, hi.  Are you a nice person?"  I chuckled.  "I try to be."  May smiled,
and extended her hand.  Not knowing what else to do, I shook it, and she
started giggling.  "Now we're not strangers any more, right grandpa?"
Barley smiled, and gave me a "what-can-you-do" look, then frowned.  "You
look like you could use a break.  May and I were just about to have a late
lunch, would you care to join us?"  I nodded, and thanked him for his
hospitality.  As we ate, Barley told me a bit about Mineral Town and my
grandfather's ties to it.  As I had already suspected, grandpa was one of
the most respected members of the community, and had always taken time out
of his busy schedule to take care of his friends and family.  He had been
one of the six elders who had started this village, and had often been
nominated for mayor (though he always turned it down).  "If you want to
know more about your grandfather," Barley said as we finished up the meal,
"you should go talk to the other elders of town, Ellen, Saibara, and Greg.
I'm sure they'll all be glad to talk about our old, dearly departed
friend."  I thanked Barley for the meal, and returned to my farm.

 As I crossed the bridge, I realized that my arm was hurting a bit.  I
looked at my sleeve, and realized that it was covered in blood.  "Oh crap,
when did that happen?" I muttered, and pulled it back.  I had a thin, red
slash across my arm, probably inflicted during my mining.  Not being too
keen on getting an infected wound, I hurried into town, and entered the
clinic.  "Hello," a pleasant voice greeted me as I walked in.  A very
conservatively dressed young woman was managing the reception area.  She
was smiling, but her face turned to a frown as she saw my shirt sleeve.
"Oh my, you've been wounded.  Does it hurt?"  I shook my head.  "It's just
a cut."  She smiled.  "Right.  And what kind of farmer would you be,
screaming like a little baby over something like that?  Come here, I'll
sterilize the wound."  I walked up, and she pulled back my sleeve.  I think
I heard her gasp, but I was probably hearing things.  She dabbed some
iodine on my cut, and then pulled my sleeve back down.  "There you go.  You
might want to get the doctor to take a look at it, too.  I'm just his
assistant, after all."  I shrugged, and walked over to the office portion
of the clinic.

 "Hm?  Who are you?"  The doctor was dressed in one of those coats you
always see doctors wearing on TV shows.  He gave me the distinct impression
that he was very serious about his work.  I straightened myself.  "I'm
Gilbert, the new guy in town."  The doctor nodded.  "Ah yes, the one taking
over the Skywind farm.  It looks like you've been injured already."  I
nodded.  "Your assistant already tended to it."  The doctor nodded back.
"Yes, I thought so.  Elli is always quick to lend a hand.  Well, let me
take a quick look at it."  He pulled back my sleeve, and gave the scratch a
once-over.  "It's not bad.  The iodine should help it heal.  Try to keep it
away from dirt and grime, and it should heal in a day or two."  I thanked
the doctor, and left the clinic.  I gave my watch a quick look, and saw
that it was almost 2.  Thinking back to what Barley had said, I decided to
go and find some of the other village elders.  I set off up the road,
towards the house that the mayor had identified as Ellen's during the tour
he had given me earlier.

 "Who is it?" a young boy asked as I knocked on the door.  "Don't be rude,
Stu," an older woman's voice said, "Come in."  I opened the door, and found
myself in a small house.  A little boy was standing near the door, looking
at me with a sneer, and sitting at the far end of the room was an old woman
in a rocking chair, a light smile on her face.  "Hello.  I don't believe
we've met, though you look familiar."  I nodded.  "I'm Gilbert.  I've come
to live in this village, and take over my grandfather's farm."  The old
woman nodded.  "Yes, of course.  You look a bit like your grandfather
Lauren.  I'm Ellen.  How can I help you?"  I smiled.  "Barley suggested
that I come and talk to you about my grandpa.  Would you mind?"  Ellen
nodded, her eyes closed.  "Yes, I think I would like that. Come, sit down
over here, and I'll tell you what I remember."  The little boy at the door
sighed, and left the house.  "Don't mind Stu," Ellen said, "He can't stand
it when I talk about the past.  Now then, what would you like to hear
about?"

 We talked for a long time about my grandfather and the farm.  She told me
stories about how he had helped the village grow into what it was, and how
he had courted her once.  "It never turned into anything serious, mind
you," Ellen said, "Even so, we both enjoyed it."  She told me more about
the rivalry between Barley and my grandpa, over a girl named Miriam.  In
the end, Barley had gotten Miriam, but my grandfather had fallen in love
with a different girl, who eventually married him.  "Your grandfather was
really quite the cassanova," Ellen commented, "He treated all of the women
of the village like princesses.  I think any of us would have married him,
but Anette was the lucky one he chose."  I had never met grandma Anette, so
I asked about her.  "She was a wonderful person, Gilbert.  Mineral Town
couldn't have been what it is today without your grandfather, but your
grandfather couldn't have made Mineral Town what it is today without
Anette.  The two of them worked together on many projects, and helped shape
the future of our little town.  When she died giving birth to your mother,
everybody in the village was devestated."

 This was news to me.  "My mother's birth killed my grandma?"  Ellen
nodded, tears in her eyes.  "I was there when it happened.  Your mother's
birth was complicated, and we were worried that neither would make it.  In
the end, though, your mother survived.  Your father took especially good
care of her.  I think your uncle was jealous of it."  My eyes widened.  "My
uncle?  You mean mom has a brother?"  Ellen smiled.  "I'm not surprised she
never mentioned him.  Those two were never very happy with each other.
Your mother always got the most attention, and your uncle hated it.  He was
constantly playing pranks on her, and getting in trouble for it.  When she
left this village, your uncle acted like he was the happiest man alive."  I
sighed.  "Sounds like a real jerk.  Does he still live here?"  Ellen
nodded.  "Yes, he does.  And he's not really as bad as he sounds.  He was
jealous of your mother, that's all.  He won't be jealous of you, I can
assure you that.  He hated working on the farm, though your grandfather
forced him to for much of his youth."

 There was a knock at the door, and I got up.  "Oh, don't feel like you
have to leave just because I have a visitor."  I smiled.  "Thank you for
your kindness, Ellen, but I really have to get going.  It's already almost
4, and I still have work to do."  Ellen sighed.  "Well, alright.  But take
care of yourself, Gilbert."  I nodded.  "I will, thank you."  I opened the
door, and was surprised to find mayor Thomas there.  He was equally
surprised to see me there.  "We meet again," he said, "Were you and Ellen
talking?"  I nodded.  "We were discussing my grandparents.  Well, if you
will excuse me..."  I made my way back through the village to my farm, and
started unloading the gold I'd been lugging around since I'd gone mining
into the shipping bin.  I heard footsteps as I finished, and looked up to
see a burly man in a tank-top coming down the path towards my farm.  He
almost looked angry, but I couldn't really tell due to the low light and
the distance.

 "So, you must be Gilbert," the man said.  I nodded, and he continued.
"I'm Zack, the buyer.  The mayor told me that you were taking over this
farm, and he wanted me to pick up any goods you plan to ship out, so I
decided to stop by."  I adjusted my rucksack, and looked him in the face.
He wasn't really angry, I realized, it was just the way his hairline lined
up with his scalp.  "Well, good timing.  I just finished putting my day's
harvest in the shipping bin."  Zack nodded.  "Good.  I'll come by every day
at 5PM to pick up whatever you're planning to ship out, so get everything
ready by then.  Oh, but I won't stop by on festival days.  I want holidays,
too!"  I smiled.  "I'll keep that in mind.  Anything I need to know about
shipping things out?"  Zack shrugged.  "Not really.  The shipping bins are
refrigerated, so you don't need to worry about anything going bad if I
can't come and pick them up due to a holiday."  Zack had pulled out the
gold nuggets I'd tossed in the bin.  "Pretty good haul here.  If you can
wait a second, I'll figure out how much I owe you and pay you on the spot."
I nodded, and waited patiently while he calculated.  "Alright, that comes
out to 1,150.  Here you go."  I took the bills, and thanked Zack.  "No
problem.  Keep up the good work!"

 I was feeling a bit thirsty, so I decided to go and pay the local pub a
visit.  I wasn't a drinking man, mind you (I wasn't even of legal age yet),
but I was sure that there would be other things to drink there.  As I
entered the pub, I practically ran face-first into somebody.  "Oh, excuse
me," a young woman's voice said, and I saw the backside of an orange-haired
girl as she walked past me.  "Hey, you're the new guy, right?"  I turned to
the voice, and saw that the bartender was talking to me.  I walked over to
him.  "Yeah, I'm Gilbert."  The bartender nodded.  "Name's Doug.  That girl
who just ran into you is my daughter, Ann."  I looked back over at her, and
saw that she was serving some late-night customers.  "She's cute," I said
absentmindedly.  Doug chuckled.  "You think so?  I'm glad to hear you say
that.  She's a bit of a tomboy for her age, nothing like her mother was."
Ann had come back to the bar at that point.  "What are you two talking
about?" she asked Doug.  He huffed.  "It's a private matter."  "Oh, dad!"
Ann said, exasperated, and turned to me.  "Hi, I'm Ann.  Nice to meet you."
I nodded, and she went back to her job.

 I got myself a glass of ice water, and sat down at a nearby table.  "Mind
if I sit here?"  I looked up, and saw a poorly-dressed young man with brown
hair standing over me.  "Not at all," I said, and motioned him to a nearby
seat.  He drew up the chair, and looked at me quizzically.  "You must be
that new guy they were talking about here a few days ago."  I nodded.  "I'm
Gilbert.  And you?"  The man shrugged.  "Cliff.  I'm staying at this pub's
inn.  I'm pretty new to the town myself.  I only arrived about two months
ago."  I smiled.  "I guess we're both pretty new here.  Throw in Gray, and
we're the Greenhorn Trio."  Cliff laughed.  "That's one way to put it."
His face fell.  "But you and Gray both have jobs.  I'm...  Well, to put it
nicely, I'm unemployed.  To be honest, I don't think there's any work I can
do in this village."  I shook my head.  "There's gotta be work for you here
somewhere.  You just haven't found it yet."  Cliff sighed.  "I hope you're
right.  My funds are really getting low.  I figure I can stay here maybe
for the rest of the year, but then I'll be flat broke."  I shook my head
again.  "Don't worry about it.  I had to live a lot like you are now for
almost two years, I know what it's like.  Something will come your way
eventually, though.  I'm sure of it."  Cliff smiled.  "Thanks.  Good luck
with your farm."  With that, he got up and went upstairs.

 I looked around the bar again, and saw that several people were coming in,
two of them arguing.  A smile crept over my face as I realized that it was
Karen and Duke.  Not interested in getting in the middle of one of their
bouts, I took my leave of the inn and headed back home.  It was already
6, and I figured there wasn't much left for me to do on the farm today.  I
watched a bit of TV, and by about 8, I found myself getting very tired.
I made myself a quick dinner, and then sat in bed and read a bit of a book
that I'd brought along with me when I'd moved.  By 9, I was fast asleep.
My long first day on the farm had ended, but there were many more days
still to come.


Chapter 2 - Settling In

 It wasn't my alarm clock that woke me the next morning.  Just before 6, I
was woken up by what sounded like mournful howling.  I got up and went
outside to find out what was making such a racket.  Sitting at my front
door, a little puppy was crying, obviously separated from its parents.
"You poor thing," I said, and carefully picked it up.  The puppy looked at
me with a hint of fear, but it seemed to calm down when it saw that I meant
it no harm.  I put it down gently on the floor, and sat down to look at it
closely.  I didn't see any wounds on it, so I guessed that it was probably
lost, possibly somebody else's dog.  I checked it for a collar or nametag,
but I couldn't find any.  Maybe it was a stray?  I grabbed two bowls,
filled one with some food, the other with water, and set them down in front
of the pup.  He immediately began lapping up water, and eating the food.
"You've been lost for a while, haven't you?" I asked it, but of course it
couldn't respond.

 Since I was already up, I decided to fix myself breakfast.  As I ate my
morning meal, I noticed something warm at my feet, and looked down to see
that the puppy had curled up at my feet.  I smiled, and decided to keep it.
"I'll call you Max," I told the little dog, and carefully got up so as to
not disturb his sleep.  By the time 6AM had rolled around, I was ready for
my day's work.  "Be a good dog while I'm away," I said to the puppy as I
left the house.  He was still curled up at my chair at the table, so I
guessed he'd be alright for now.  The morning was cool, the sky a light
grey in hue.  I started making a mental checklist of things to get done
that day, and got to work watering my crops.  Once I was done, I decided to
take a more thorough look at my farm's buildings, as I'd planned to do the
previous day.  The barn was still in good shape, though a bit small.  There
was a stable and a lumber shed near it, but both were empty.  On the other
side of the farm, near the stream, the chicken coop and water wheel were
both in working order.

 Satisfied that everything was still useable, I walked across the bridge to
the forested base of Mother Hill, and up to the hot springs.  I noticed
some bamboo shoots growing, so I picked them and placed them in my
rucksack, figuring that I could probably sell them later.  I also found a
strange blue herb, and put it in my pack, too.  Given the limited space of
my pack, this addition made it too full to add anything else, and I decided
that I'd have to buy a better rucksack soon.  As I walked down the stairs
leading away from the springs, I quickly walked back up, as Ann was coming
up the steps.  "Good morning, Gilbert," she said as she passed me and
walked up to look at the stream.  I muttered my own greetings back, and
turned to descend once more, but this time Popuri was coming up the steps.
"Oh, Gilbert!" she said, surprised.  "Good morning, Popuri.  I didn't
realize you came here in the mornings."  Popuri nodded.  "Yeah, me and Ann
both come here to wake up during weekdays.  It's so nice up here!  Why are
you up here, though?"  I shrugged.  "Just gathering stuff to sell, mostly."
Popuri smiled, and walked past me without saying anything.  I hurried back
to the farm, urgent to get my stomach unknotted.  Being near Popuri made
me terribly nervous, for some reason.

 I quickly dumped the contents of my rucksack into the shipping bin, and
then made mental note of my plans for the day.  I hadn't visited some of
the shops and homes yesterday, and I was hoping to check them out today.
Most of those shops wouldn't be open for another hour or two, though, so I
had decided that I would work on clearing up the pastures a bit more.  The
task proved more difficult than I'd expected, as my grandfather's steel
tools, while sturdy, were nonetheless aging.  I dared not try to chop any
of the huge logs on the farm with it, for fear that I might break it, and
the hammer looked too weak to break the larger rocks on the farm.  Still, I
did what I could, and managed to clear up a pretty good-sized plot of land
near the front of the house.  Thinking ahead, I plowed out some more spots
for future crops, and then checked the time.  It was 10, which was perfect,
since that was when the majority of the shops in the village opened.

 I made my way to the blacksmith shop first, since it was closest.  Inside,
I could hear the clanging of metal on metal.  I carefully opened the door,
and made my presence known.  "Welcome," the old man running the forges said
gruffly, "If you need anything, just let me know."  I looked around, and
saw that Gray was pacing around the shop, looking miserable.  He looked up
and saw me.  "Oh, hey.  Did you need something?"  I shook my head, and
cringed when the old man yelled, "Grey!  Stop socializing and get back to
work!"  The old man turned and smiled a gruff smile.  "Gruff" described him
pretty well, since he had a very goat-like look to his face, mostly due to
his beard.  "Well then, what can I do for you?"  I coughed.  "Um, are you
Saibara, by any chance?"  The old man nodded.  "I'm Gilbert, Lauren's
grandson.  The one who's taking care of the Skywind farm."  Saibara nodded.
"Yes, I remember hearing about you.  What do you need?"  I coughed again.
"Er, well, I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about my grandfather,
actually."  Saibara shook his head.  "Not now, no.  I have work to do.
Come back on Thursday, and we'll talk then."  I nodded, feeling somewhat
relieved.  Saibara gave a definite impression of being a no-nonsense hard
worker.  "Alright, I'll come back then.  Thank you for your time."

 Leaving the blacksmith's shop, I continued into town, and visited the
local library.  There was nobody at the information desk, which confused me
a bit.  Then I saw that there was a young woman standing close to the desk,
writing something in a journal.  "When he got there, there were only weeds
left..." I heard her mutter.  "What are you writing?" I asked her.  She
jumped, and turned to face me, blushing.  "Oh!  I didn't hear you come in,
sorry.  This?  It's a story I've been working on.  Every time my mind
starts to wander, I come back to writing it.  I can't help it, really.
Well, anyway, what can I do for you?"  I shrugged.  "I'm not sure just yet,
so I'll just browse."  The young woman nodded.  "Alright.  If you need any
help, I'll be right here.  I'm Mary, by the way.  Nice to meet you."  I
nodded.  "I'm Gilbert.  Well, I'll be over here, then."  A quick glance
told me that the library was stocked mostly with locally written books, the
majority of them written by someone named Basil.  I found a few on produce
and livestock raising, and brought them up to the front desk.  "Can I check
these out?  I'm new to farming, and I need all the help I can get."  Mary
smiled.  "Well, we don't normally check out books written by my father, but
I trust you.  Just be sure you return them when you're done with them."  I
nodded, placed the books carefully in my rucksack, and then proceeded back
outside.

 The morning was still young, so I decided to visit the chicken farm.  I
already knew where it was; Rick and Popuri had been arguing there yesterday
morning.  When I got there, though, I realized that it was still closed.
Dejected, I decided to pay the local ranch a visit, figuring that I would
probably run into Barley that way.  And in a way, I was right.  As I walked
onto the ranch, I heard him and May talking.  "It doesn't look very happy,"
I heard Barley say.  "That's just because it's still a pony, right?" May
asked.  Barley sighed.  "Maybe, but it should be more spirited than this.
It's not even running around."  I decided to find out what they were
talking about, and walked into the main area of the ranch (which the sign
above the entrance told me was called Yodel Ranch).  Barley looked over at
me, and smiled.  "Oh, Gilbert.  Good timing.  You don't have a horse on
your farm, do you?  Oh, of course you don't.  Well, would you mind taking
care of this pony, then?  I'll pay you in some way."  I considered for a
few seconds.  "Alright, I guess I could do that."  Barley clapped his hands
together.  "Wonderful!  See, May?  Now the pony will be fine!"  May smiled
widely, and turned to face me.  "Thank you, Gilbert!  You can name him,
okay?"  I nodded, and thought for a moment.  "How about we call him
Colin?"  Barley shrugged.  "It's your decision.  Alright, I'll take him to
your farm.  You don't have to do much, just brush him and talk to him
every day.  Come on, Colin."  Barley led the pony towards my farm, and I
followed after him.

 At my stable, Barley showed me how to take care of the pony.  After he was
done, I decided to ask him about the puppy I'd found this morning.  "A
puppy?" Barley asked, confused, "I don't think anybody in this village has
a dog but us, and Hana-chan has never mated...  Perhaps he's a stray."  I
nodded, and mentioned that I'd suspected as much.  "Well, I'm sure you'll
take good care of him.  I'll get you a collar and nametag for him, free of
charge."  I thanked him, and asked him about a brush for the pony.  "I'm
afraid I can't help you there," Barley said, "I don't sell them.  Saibara,
the blacksmith, would be the person to ask about tools."  I nodded, and we
parted ways at the junction that led into town.  I went back to Saibara's
shop.  Saibara looked up and grunted when he saw me.  "Back already?  Is
there something you need?"  I nodded.  "Do you sell horse brushes?"
Saibara chuckled.  "Yep, I sure do.  800 apiece.  Want one?"  I cringed at
the price, but where else was I going to find one?  I bought the brush, and
hurried back to the farm.  I heard whimpering in the house, and realized
that I'd forgotten about Max.  I let him outside, and he was overjoyed to
see me.  I made my way to the stable, and brushed the pony.  He seemed
quite happy to receive such attention, and neighed softly to me.  "You're a
good horse, Colin.  I know you'll grow up strong and fast," I said to him.
I gave him one last pat on the face, then left the stable to get back to
work.

 Of course, I didn't really have any work left to do, I realized.  Taking a
look at my watch, I saw that it was about 11, and decided to try visiting
the chicken farm again.  This time, they were open, and as I entered their
little home, I realized what a nice little place they had.  Sure, it wasn't
the biggest place around, but it had a very pleasant feel to it.  A fire
burned gently in the fireplace off to the side, where I could see Rick
sitting on their sofa, pondering something.  "Hello," a woman said, and I
looked over to see a woman with pink hair.  Pink, again?  It wasn't Popuri,
though.  "Welcome to Chicken Lil's," the woman said, "I'm Lillia.  You must
be the new fellow in town."  I nodded, and decided to ask the question that
was nagging me.  "Why is your hair pink, anyway?"  Lillia chuckled.  "I
can't tell you that.  It's a family secret.  Anyway, would you like to
purchase something?"  I shrugged, and took a look at the list of what they
had.  A sinking feeling hit me when I realized that I couldn't even afford
a chicken.  "Uh, not today," I muttered, and turned to leave.  "Is somebody
here?" I heard a voice ask, and turned back around to see Popuri coming
down the stairs.

 My throat tightened, and I suddenly felt like my entire body had been
paralyzed.  Damn it, I thought to myself, why can't I stop being so
uncomfortable around her?  Popuri saw me, and laughed childishly.  "Oh,
it's Gilbert!  What's up, something you need?"  I shook my head, trying to
get my throat to stop seizing up.  She gave me a quizzical look, and then
got a look of understanding on her face.  I wasn't sure if that was good or
bad, but I was willing to bet it was bad.  "Can I talk to you for a minute,
Gilbert?  Outside?"  I nodded dumbly, and we stepped outside.  I was
thankful to be out in the open air again, though still very nervous.  "You
seem tense," Popuri said, sounding concerned.  I nodded, smacking myself
internally for acting so stupidly.  Popuri smiled, and took my hand.  "You
don't need to be.  I'm not gonna hurt you."  I chuckled weakly, but her
words seemed to help.  "I'm not afraid of that.  I'm more afraid that I
might hurt you."  Popuri looked at me curiously.  "Why?  Do you hit girls?"
I shook my head, resisting the urge to laugh.  She really took things
literally, I could tell.  "No, I mean I'm afraid I might hurt you
emotionally."  "Oh," Popuri said, blushing slightly.

 She sighed, and looked up at the sky.  "What's it like, in the city?" she
asked me.  I felt like I'd been asked that before, but I figured it was
probably just an illusion.  "Well, it's a lot more crowded.  The air's not
as clean, and you usually don't get to know your neighbors very well.  The
only animals are house pets, and it's really noisy a lot of the time."
Popuri sighed again.  "But, it's something different, right?  I mean,
different from here.  I've lived here my whole life, you know.  I've wanted
to see the world, since I was young, but I've never had the chance.  When
my father left to search for medicine for my mother, I begged him to take
me along, but he wouldn't."  She looked at me, her eyes brimmed with tears.
"I... I miss him.  I haven't seen him in two years."  I sighed, wishing I
could say something to make her feel better.  "Maybe you could go and look
for him?" I asked.  Popuri shook her head.  "How?  I don't even know where
he is, and even if I did, how would I get there?  We don't have a car, and
the ferry is no longer running.  No, I'm just dreaming."  I shook my head.
"Everybody's ideas start out that way.  It's whether you do something about
them that makes the difference.  This town was probably somebody's dream,
and think of how much trouble it must've been to build.  And yet, here it
is.  Don't give up so easily, Popuri."  She smiled, and gave me a light
kiss on the cheek.  "Thank you, Gilbert.  I need to go back inside and help
my mom out.  I won't forget what you said, though."  With that, she got up,
and went back inside.

 I got up, feeling decidedly much more at ease than I had been before.  I
finally realized what I was feeling when I was around Popuri, too.  There
was no doubt about it, I was in love with her.  "Don't give up on your
dreams, huh?" I muttered to myself, pondering my own advice.  "I wonder, am
I doing that?  Or am I just here to buy time?"  I shook my head.  Something
was different, now.  Before, my heart wasn't in this, but now, I really
wanted to make something of the farm.  I wanted to make it something that
grandpa Lauren would've been proud of.  Something that Popuri would be
proud of.  I stood up, and headed back home, ideas and plans pouring
through my head.  I knew what I would do.  I would sit down and plan out my
farm's future, and then work to make it real.  But first, I reasoned as my
stomach growled, I'd have a quick lunch.

 After lunch, I took a quick trip down to the library, drew up a chair to
one of the tables, and started planning.  I worked for hours, writing up
ideas and scrapping the ones that weren't feasible, and eventually, I had a
solid plan that I knew could work.  "Um, we're closing soon," Mary said,
and I looked up.  "Oh, sorry.  What time is it, anyway?"  Mary chuckled.
"Lost track of the time, huh?  It's almost 4."  I got up, gathered my
things, and returned to my farm.  I didn't have much to do, so I decided to
clear up some more of my field.  As I was getting ready to quit, I saw that
Zack was at the shipping bin.  "Not much today, huh?  Well, it will be a
while before those cucumbers ripen, I suppose."  I nodded, and decided to
bring up my plans with Zack.  He listened patiently as I explained them,
his arms crossed.  As I finished, he shrugged.  "I don't really know much
about farming, but it sounds like it'd work.  You'd have to put in some
serious over-time to pull that off, though."  I nodded.  "Yeah, I know.
But the village is depending on me, right?  I think it's worth it."  Zack
shrugged.  "Yeah, maybe.  Do what you want, Gilbert.  Me, I'd rather have
as little as possible to do with this place."  He left then, before I could
ask him what he meant.

 I considered doing some mining, but then remembered the scratch on my arm,
and decided not to risk getting it dirty.  I figured that a quick bath in
the hot springs would probably hit the spot, though, so I made my way up to
the base of Mother Hill, and into the hot springs.  I quickly discovered
what Gotz had told me yesterday was true, as the springs' vapor began to
make me feel drowsy.  My head became light, and I felt myself drifting off
into a strange dream.  "What's it like, in the city?" I heard a little girl
ask.  "It's everything this place isn't," I heard a little boy respond.
The girl giggled.  "It sounds fun.  I want to visit the city some day, and
see for myself."  "I'll take you there, some day," I heard the boy's voice
respond.  "Promise?" the girl asked.  "Yeah, promise," the boy said.  My
vision began to clear, and I could see Mineral Valley, from the peak of
Mother Hill.  "I want to teach you a song," the girl's voice said.  She
began to sing a tune, which sounded very familiar.  It was simple, but
pretty.  "Sing it with me," she begged, and I heard both her and the boy
singing it.

 My eyes opened slowly, but the singing hadn't stopped.  It was a deeper
voice singing it now, and only a female one.  I shook my head, and tried to
clear it of the song, but it was still there.  It occurred to me then that
maybe I wasn't hearing it in my dream any longer, but in the real world.  I
sat up, and the singing stopped.  I froze, listening, but nothing happened.
As I started to relax, I heard footsteps, and realized that whoever had
been singing had also stopped to listen, and was now leaving.  That dream I
had just had, it seemed so familiar...  A thought hit me.  I had come to
this village 12 years ago, and had met a girl on Mother Hill.  She'd asked
me about the city and taught me a song.  Popuri had asked me about the city
today, as well.  Had her question woken up the memories of that time 12
years ago, and the hot springs helped me remember it so vividly?  I thought
about it, and realized that I could remember, for the first time in years,
exactly what had happened when I'd met that girl.  And it was the same as
what I had seen in the dream, down to the song.  Somebody had been singing
that song, not too far away.  Could it have been the same girl?  I shook my
head.  It was possible, but how did I know that she was the only one who
knew that song?  What if she didn't even live here any more?  I decided to
stop thinking about it, and just go back home.  I did a bit of restless
reading, and eventually fell asleep.

 In my dreams, I saw me and Popuri, visiting the city where I'd lived my
youth.  "Thank you," she said to me, "for keeping your promise..."


Chapter 3 - Learning More

 The next day was a haze of activity.  I mined, I foraged, I bought and
planted seeds; I worked until midnight, and barely had time to even say
hello to anybody.  By the time I was ready for bed, I had managed to not
only plant four plots of turnips, but had also bought a chicken and some
feed for it.  By the time I was done, I was dead tired.  I figured a quick
dip in the hot springs couldn't hurt.  By the time I woke up, it was 3AM,
and I made my groggy way back home to sleep the last three hours in my own
bed.

 It was Thursday, I realized as I got up from my short sleep, and Saibara
had mentioned that he didn't work on Thursdays.  I figured it was as good a
time as any to ask him about my grandfather.  I got my watering and animal
tending done on the farm as quickly as I could, and went into town to pay
Saibara a visit.  "Who is it?" I heard his gruff voice ask.  "It's me,
Gilbert.  You know, the new guy.  I wanted to ask you some questions about
my grandfather."  The door opened, and Saibara stared at me.  "Hm, oh yes.
Well, alright, come in."  He ushered me inside, and directed me to a nearby
chair.  "So, what would you like to know?"  I shrugged.  "Anything you can
tell me about him, really."  Saibara chuckled.  "Don't know what to ask,
huh?  Not surprising, he did a lot of things for this village.  Of all of
us founders, he was the one who worked the hardest, that's for sure.  He
was my inspiration to work as hard as I do, and I still can't match his
dedication.  He never took a day off from his work, unless it was a
festival."  I nodded respectfully, and Saibara continued.  "It's a pity,
really, that his son was never as devoted as he was.  He's still a bit of a
slacker, too."  I decided to ask about him.  "Who is my grandfather's son?
I haven't met him."  Saibara laughed.  "Sure you have.  You just don't
realize it.  Hell, he'd never tell you he's your uncle, that Zack."

 I practically fell out of my chair.  "Zack is my uncle?"  Saibara nodded,
still giggling.  "Yep, he sure is.  'Haven't met him', indeed..."  I shook
my head.  "I guess that would explain why he told me he wanted nothing to
do with Skywind farm."  Saibara nodded.  "Yeah, Zack never liked the farm
much.  He used to try and ride the cows when he was younger.  He was a
headstrong little brute, too.  I've never seen any child that mischevious.
His father couldn't keep him in control, he had enough to worry about as it
was.  Zack mellowed out about the time your mother left the village, but I
think it was when he practically killed himself getting drunk that he
realized he had a problem."  "Why'd he get so wasted?" I asked.  Saibara
shrugged.  "Not sure.  Maybe he realized he was a wreck.  He'd practically
disowned himself from your grandfather, his sister had left more or less to
spite him, and he had nobody to call a family.  After he sobered up, Greg
took him in as a stepson, but he changed after that experience.  He stopped
being a troublemaker, and started taking things a bit more seriously.  He
became a supplier, and slowly got back onto good terms with Lauren.  When
Lauren died, Greg tells me Zack actually pondered suicide.  He's avoided
Skywind farm ever since.  Too many memories, good and bad."  I felt a pang
of guilt, which Saibara must've noticed.   "Don't be that way, now.  He's
happy to be able to help this village make a comeback.  If it means he has
to face his past, he's willing to, for the greater good."

 We talked a bit more about Zack and my grandfather, but it was mostly just
old stories about Zack's troublemaking, and tales of Lauren's endeavors to
make Mineral Town a better place.  By the time I'd left, it was already
noon.  I made some quick supply runs, did some more work on clearing up the
still-cluttered field, and mined up some more gold pieces.  When 5PM rolled
around, I decided to confront Zack.  He was already admiring the day's
hoard.  "Hey.  Nice haul you've got here today."  I nodded.  "Thanks, uncle
Zack."  Zack looked up at me, and sighed deeply.  "Ah, cat's out of the
bag, huh?"  I nodded.  "You can blame Saibara, he's the one who told me."
Zack shrugged.  "Hey, you would've found out sooner or later.  Better
sooner, I guess."  I shrugged back, realizing how awkward this situation
was.  "Hey, um, if you don't want to work as shipper for the farm..." I
started, but Zack cut me off.  "Don't you worry about me.  I'll deal with
my own problems, thank you very much."  I nodded.  "Yeah, okay.  Sorry.  I
was just trying to..."  He cut me off again.  "I know.  ...Thanks."  The
rest of the evening was a bit of a blur, mostly because I kept thinking
about how Zack was being forced to face something he'd been avoiding
because of me.  By the time I went to bed, though, I'd decided that it was
Zack's choice to do this, and if he was willing, then there was nothing I
could say or do to stop him.

 The next morning, I woke to the sound of somebody knocking on my door.  I
got up, and opened it to find Popuri there.  "Um, good morning," I said, a
bit confused.  She smiled benignly.  "Can I come in for a second?"  I
shrugged, my head still in a fog of dreamsleep.  She sat down at the little
table in the middle of my house, and looked up at me.  "Are you alright,
Gilbert?  I haven't seen you since Tuesday, and I heard from Mary that you
were at the library for hours a few days ago, writing something."  I didn't
quite know what to tell her, but decided that telling her that I loved her
and was trying to restore the farm to impress her was probably not a good
idea.  "Well, uh...  I realized that I needed to take the farm more
seriously.  Well, more than I had been, anyway.  So I made up a plan to
get the place in good working order, and I've been working on that ever
since."  Popuri nodded, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking.  "I'm
just a little worried about you," Popuri said.  I did a bit of a double-
take, and she blushed.  "Um, what I mean is, you're new to farming, right?
I'm worried you might over-work yourself."  I nodded, feeling a bit
embarrassed myself.  "Yeah, but I'm not having any trouble adapting.  It's
kind of weird, actually.  It's like I've been farming my whole life."  She
smiled.  "I guess the old legends about your family are true, then.  Well,
I'm glad you're doing alright, but...  Uh, nevermind..."  "What?" I asked,
but she shook her head.  "Oh, it's nothing.  Well, I should probably go
home and have breakfast.  Good morning."  She got up and left, leaving me
confused and uncertain.

 The day's work passed quickly, my thoughts on Popuri's words.  What had
she wanted to say to me?  Why, for that matter, had she come to visit me
this morning?  It seemed a bit silly that she'd make a house call just
because she was worried that I was over-working myself.  As noon rolled
around, I decided I'd confront her about it.  As I approached the chicken
farm, I heard somebody call out my name.  I turned to see that it was Rick.
"Um, what's up?" I asked.  Rick didn't look happy.  "What's going on
between you and my sister?"  This was not the way I liked to open any
conversation.  "We're just friends," I said, wondering if even that was
true.  Rick eyed me suspiciously.  "Friends, huh?  Well, I'm keeping my eye
on you.  For all I know, you're as bad as Kai."  I'd never heard that name
before.  "Who is Kai?"  Rick harumphed.  "He's a pompous jerk who visits
here during the summer, pisses everybody off, then goes back to his own
village down south.  He's nothing but trouble."  A thought hit me.  "And he
and Popuri are friends?"  Rick frowned.  "Yeah, they are.  I'm afraid he's
going to take her away from me."  "What, so that's your only reason for
hating the guy, because he may or may not marry your sister?"  Rick
blushed, and just walked off.  "That guy has issues," I muttered to myself
as I entered Chicken Lil's.

 "Welcome.  Oh, Gilbert.  Here again?"  I nodded absentmindedly, looking
around for Popuri.  "She's upstairs," Lillia said, "I'll go tell her you're
here."  I thanked her, and took a seat on the sofa.  I starting thinking
over what I'd ask Popuri, and still hadn't decided when she came down the
stairs and sat down on the sofa next to me.  "What's up, Gilbert?" she
asked.  I swallowed my fear, and asked.  "What were you going to say to me
this morning?"  She blushed.  "You really want to know?"  I nodded.  "Uh,
I'm not sure how to say it...  I like being with you, Gilbert."  I didn't
know what to say, but my stomach suddenly felt a bit uneasy.  "You're not
like Rick, or like Kai, or like anybody in this village.  You treat me like
an adult.  I never knew how nice that was, until you came along."  I tried
to respond, but I didn't know what to say.  "I guess I made you nervous
again, huh?  Sorry."  I shook my head.  "It's not your fault."  She smiled,
and took my hand.  "I don't want to make you nervous, but it seems like
you're always that way.  Why is that, Gilbert?"  Oh crap, why'd she have to
bring that up?  "I...  I want to tell you, but I'm afraid it might hurt you
if I did."  She nodded.  "It's alright, you can tell me."  I shook my head.
"I wish I could, I really do.  But something won't let me.  I need a little
time to think about it."  She looked at me, perplexed, but then understood.
"Oh, I see.  It's something emotional, huh?  Alright, I can wait."  Relief
came over me.  "Thank you.  I will tell you, one day.  I promise.  I should
go now, though."  I got up and left Chicken Lil's, wishing I'd had a bit
more courage.

 I took a trip to the mine, this time determined to go as far down as I
could.  The time passed quickly as my thoughts continued to take up my
attention, and I pondered what I was going to say to Popuri.  If I told her
the truth, what would she say?  We barely even knew each other, after all.
What if she got mad at me?  I didn't know what I was going to do.  A light
blue glint caught my eye, and my thoughts stopped.  I didn't remember any
light blue metals being around here before...  I dug it up, and found that
it was some sort of natural metal alloy, though I couldn't for the life of
me figure out what.  I decided to to take it to Saibara, and see what he
thought.  He was quite surprised when I showed it to him.  "This is
Mystrile.  I haven't seen any of this for years."  I blinked.  "Mystrile?
Uh, I've never heard of that."  Saibara nodded.  "I imagine not.  It's only
found in Mineral Valley.  A rare alloy of metals that makes for very strong
and dependable tools."  A thought occurred to me.  "Could you make me a new
tool with this?"  Saibara shrugged.  "Probably.  What did you have in mind,
though?"  I considered for a second.  "A new axe would be best, I think."
Saibara nodded.  "I can do that.  I'll have to charge you for the work,
though.  6000 should be enough."  I gasped, and he laughed.  "What did you
expect?  Mystrile's tough to work with.  I'll tell you what, though.  If
you trade in your old axe, I'll reduce the price to 4000.  Deal?"  I sighed
wearily, and handed him my old axe and the money.  He nodded.  "Thank you.
It'll take me about three days to finish it.  That'd be the day of the
Goddess Festival, actually.  I'll have Gray bring it with him to the
festival for you, then.  Alright?"  I nodded, thanked him, and left his
shop.

 I spent most of the rest of the day clearing up the fields of weeds and
rocks.  By the time 5 rolled around and Zack picked up my day's shipment,
I had the field about as clear as I was going to get it, given my pitiful
resources.  "Hey, the field's looking good," Zack commented as he pulled
out some of the large chunks of copper, silver, and gold I'd mined earlier
that day.  "Thanks.  It's got a lot of work yet to be done on it, though."
Zack shrugged, and we left it at that.  Once he'd paid me, I decided I'd go
and vist the one part of Mineral Town that I hadn't seen yet, the beaches.
The sound of the waves hit my ears as I stepped out onto the sandy coast,
and I looked around with a bit of awe.  The beach was small, but the view
out over the ocean was beautiful.  "'Scuse me," I heard Zack say behind me,
and jumped out of the way as he walked towards a small seaside hut.
Another man, quite a bit older, was leaving the house.  "Evening, Greg,"
Zack said as he entered the house.  Ah, so this was the other village elder
that Barley had mentioned.  Greg walked down the pier, set up a bucket and
stool, and started fishing.  I decided to go and talk to him.  "Evening,"
Greg said as I approached.  I nodded, and sat down next to him on the pier.
"I'm Gilbert, Lauren's grandson.  I was wondering if you wouldn't mind
telling me a bit about him."  Greg nodded.  "Sure, I'd love to.  I haven't
thought about him in at least a year."  He cleared his throat, and thought
for a moment.

 "Your grandfather wasn't the first farmer in your family, you know," Greg
said.  I raised an eyebrow, but just listened.  "Your great grandfather,
Yurinov, was the first in your family to start the farming tradition.  He
ran a farm in some other village, Flower Bud Village I think it was.
Anyway, he tried train your grandfather to be a farmer too, but your
grandfather wouldn't have it."  That caught me off guard.  "Grandpa didn't
want to be a farmer?  I had no idea."  Greg chuckled.  "Yep, he wanted to
make a name for himself as an author.  Unfortunately for that dream, fate
wouldn't allow for it.  He couldn't get published, and he had no other
marketable skills.  He did have friends, though.  Me, Saibara, Ellen,
Marcus, and Anette were all fellow writers."  I blinked.  "Marcus?"  Greg
laughed.  "Ellen's husband.  He died about four years ago of pneumonia.
Anyway, the six of us decided that we wanted to make our mark on the world.
We were just old enough to pull it off, and just young enough to think it
could work."  I chuckled.  "And I guess it worked, huh?"  Greg shrugged.
"In the end, yeah.  We originally wanted to start our own publishing
company, but we couldn't afford it.  Then your grandpa Lauren got the idea
of starting a village instead."

 Greg suddenly jumped to attention, and started reeling on his fishing pole
furiously.  I watched in amazement as he pulled up a huge salmon.  "Good
catch," he commented, and put it in his bucket, which I saw had held many
fish of similar size in it over the years.  "Anyway," he continued as he
re-baited his hook and put it back in the water, "the village idea seemed
even more crazy, but the way Lauren explained it, it sounded like we could
really DO it.  So, we got together some of our old friends, pooled our
funds, and started building.  The end result, fourty years later, is what
you see now.  Mineral Town was born from Lauren's crazy dream, and he ended
up becoming exactly what he didn't want to be.  But let me tell you, once
he started farming, he realized that he really did want to be a farmer
after all.  It was incredible to watch, actually.  He just took naturally
to farming, like he'd been doing it his whole life.  His pop had taught him
some of the trade, but not enough to be as skilled as he was.  His skill
with the hoe and his talent for taking care of animals became legendary,
and we all became convinced that he had the essence of farming itself
flowing through his veins."  I nodded, realizing at last what the mayor had
meant the other day, as well as what legend Popuri had been referring to.

 I pondered for a moment.  "But, wait, building a village can't be cheap.
How'd you afford it?"  Greg chuckled.  "Damn straight it was spendy.
Lauren had a good chunk of money that his father gave him, though.  Yurinov
was a hell of a farmer, and an even better businessman, so he could provide
quite a bit of money to his family, even the more estranged ones.  We
didn't build the entire village all at once, though.  We started with the
Skywind farm, and built the chicken farm, Yodel Ranch, and the blacksmith
shop next.  It took us a good ten years to finish most of the village
buildings, mostly because of our lack of funds.  For a while there, it was
just the six of us that decided to try this crazy plan living here.  The
first year was the toughest, I remember, because we didn't have any farm
animals or produce yet.  But by the second year, we were slowly climbing
out of the red, and your grandfather was already planning for further
expansions and profit-making for the village.  He definitely inherited his
father's business sense.  By the sixth year, the village was making a
solid profit, and we were able to build more houses.  Your grandpa insisted
that we limit the size of the village, though, as he didn't want it too
big.  He also refused to let us defile the forest to the north of the
village.  He did let us build a church there, finally, about fifteen years
ago."

 Greg pulled up another huge salmon, and whistled appreciatively.  "Wow,
they're really biting tonight.  Hey, you want to take a shot at fishing?"
I blinked.  "Uh, sure.  But, I don't have a fishing pole..."  Greg
chuckled.  "No problem.  I'll give you this one."  He grabbed a fishing
pole from the side of his pack, and handed it to me.  "It's a good pole.
I've used it for years now.  Take good care of it, okay?"  I nodded, and
tried to fish a bit.  To my credit, I did pretty good, seeing as I had
never fished before in my life.  I managed to pull up quite a bit of
garbage, and a small trout.  "Hey, you caught something," Greg commented,
and looked at the fish carefully.  It was pretty pathetic.  "I'd throw it
back, myself, but that's just me.  Maybe you could use it to start a fish
pond?"  I hadn't thought of that, but it sounded like a good idea.  There
was even a nice little pond on the farm for the task.  I thanked Greg for
the pole and the conversation, and then went back to the farm.  After
depositing the fish into the pond, I took a peek at my watch and saw that
it was after 10.  My day had been full enough, I reasoned, so I went inside
and got myself to bed.

 I didn't know it then, but everything was about to change...

To be continued...