Harvest Moon: The Simple Life

[Feathers]

Berry plodded slowly down the dirt road, her head swinging from side to side as if the view would suddenly disappear. After the 10 hour train ride and the day long Ferry trip, there wasn't a more comfortable thing imaginable to the girl struggling to take in the simple beauty of her surroundings. It was almost stunning to think that a little less than two days before the chaos of the city had been something commonplace, but for the first time the soft rustle of the winter and the gentle chatter of birds was the only sounds she heard. "Nice! And I won't get mugged here! Well.....I didn't really have anything worth stealing before........so I guess I wasn't going to get mugged there either. But still........" she mumbled to herself as she dug into the messenger bag at her side. Pulling out the deed and the house key clipped to it she stared at it once more in disbelief. It was a shame her grandpa had to die, but the chance to escape the minimum wage 'slowly-being-poisoned-by-food-coloring' life she looked to be locked into just had to be taken.

So here she was. Stopping in front of the run down house and making sure that the numbers on the door matched she stood there looking at her new life in silent wonder. Her black shoulder blade length hair tossed lightly in the breeze, the purple highlights catching just a bit more of a gleam in the golden sun as she made her way towards the simple one room house. The interior wasn't much better than the exterior as it looked to be everything that she could imagine an elderly man caring about. A loud and clunky fridge in the corner, a bed, and a TV on a crate. "Greeeaat. Way to go grandpa. Probably has the same number of cockroaches as New York though." She pondered as she dropped her bag on the bed. After the taxes and the transfer of the land deed she only had 500 gold leftover, so getting straight to work was a necessity.

Taking a quick walk around the back she quickly found the garden shed and collected whatever she thought looked useful. Humming softly to herself as the shed door slammed shut behind her the 17 year old froze in fear. Pulling the hoe she was holding in her hands across her body protectively, Berry did her best fierce impression. "I'm the head......grower here. This is MY house how. Ok? You're not going to....bite me now, are you? Good boy!....or Girl. Goooddd yyyouuuu!" she chirped to the beast as she backed slowly towards the fields. Getting a good distance way she relaxed, giving herself a pat on the back for showing mother nature who was boss on her first day on the job.

Meanwhile a very perplexed chicken watched the odd Human back away in fear, feeling proud for once in her life that, at least one time, something had not wanted to eat it at first glance.

 

[Openots]

For Mia… Island-town had always been her home. It was a small island… off the coast, damn near secluded from the rest of the world. Going there was almost like taking a step back in time, aside from electricity… technology was a rare thing. Aside from the large farm that was close to the beach, the island was heavily wooded. A very modest population actually lived there… hell, only one person on the island actually owned a vehicle and that was the delivery man. But… everyone got along which was key to the island’s survival. Though… now that the old man was dead… the amount of food the island would have was going to plummet. She overheard her mother talking about it a few days back… and it was a worrisome topic. No one wanted to leave the island… and they wouldn’t have to… but times would grow progressively difficult. While the farm hadn’t been huge… the food he sold was enough to feed a lot of mouths.

Then… the mayor came out and told everyone that a family member would be taking over the farm. It was almost like a sigh of relief washed over the small town, things grew sleepy and quiet once more, and everyone fell back into their usual routine. Mia was quite excited though! While a lot of people were content to share a house with their parents until the day they died… she wanted a place of her own… a small little house on the edge of town… or even a room above the bar. Maybe she could get a job on the farm… or whatever the old man’s heir planned on doing with the farm. Whatever it was… she would do it.

Having heard that the heir was going to move in the next day… Mia was sure to sleep up the previous evening. When she woke up, the sun was shining through the trees outside, the birds were singing… it was going to be a good day… she just knew it. Slipping out of bed, she ran to the shower, noting that her parents were gone… probably at work already. Her mother helped with the ferry and her father was the local librarian. Because of her father, Mia had grown into quite the bookworm, though it also meant she was very well educated compared to the rest of the town. After showering off, she quickly brushed her brown hair before getting dressed. A long skirt with a floral print and a white blouse. She wasn’t exactly the curviest thing, nor was her bust exactly gigantic, a modest B-cup. Fortunately, the farm wasn’t too far away… maybe about a ten minute walk from her parent’s house.

Once she was there… she saw a woman backing away from the shed with a hoe in her hands… talking to it like it was a baby. Quietly, she walked up behind the woman and tapped her on the shoulder. “Umm… excuse me… are you talking to the shed?” Mia asked, light blue eyes looking at the woman through a pair of rimless glasses.

 

[Feathers]

"GGAAAHHHH" Berry screamed, spinning around in mid-air at the touch on her shoulder. "Oh my Goddess don't DO THAT" She said breatlessly, turning back around to keep an eye on the chicken. "It's just waiting for me to drop my guard, I just know it. It probably knows I'm going to fry it's children up doesn't it? Can't we just.........tie it to a post or something? A tied up chicken would work just fine." She concluded, finally turning to get a good look at her visitor for the first time.

What she found was so much more interesting than killer poultry. "Oh.....Hey," Berry stumbled. "No, I totally wasn't talking to the shed. That would be silly. I was talking to...myself. Can I change my answer back to the shed? Anyway I'm Berry. This place was my Grandfather's but it's mine now. I haven't seen him since I was little, but it looks like he still thought of me occasionally." Berry said sadly, her green eyes meeting the dirt of the field below them. "I wish I had spent some more time with him. He must have been so happy here......"

"WELL HELLO!" A voice boomed, loud enough to send Berry once again off the ground. "I'm Clarence McManon! Town Mayor! You must be Cranberry Vodka Morel! So very much glad to make your acquaintance!" The rather pear shaped Mayor announced loudly as he rounded the side of the house towards the back. At the sound of her full name Berry seemed to turn a shade darker to match her mood.

"IT'S BERRY! JUST BERRY." She yelled back at him, before turning dismissively away from his outstretched hand. "So....what's your name? Good to see someone else my age here. Does the Mayor always yell or is it a special occasion thing?" Berry asked of her new friend.

 

[Openots]

Berry’s scream was almost enough to put the young girl in the grave. The color drained from her cheeks as she attempted to take a step back. “S-sorry! I-I-I…” So far… this was going FANTASTICALLY. She scared the bejesus out of the new woman who seemed to be absolutely petrified of a shed. “It’s… a chicken.” Mia replied, looking a little confused. Now… Mia wasn’t exactly an expert on chickens… but she was fairly sure they didn’t go out of their way to kill a person for eating eggs. Could a Chicken even kill a person? Well… now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“Right… yourself… or the shed.” She was rather attractive… much more than the girls who remained on the island. Of course… quite a few of them were content to become homely housewives and pack on the pounds until the day they died. “Ah yes, I knew your grandfather. Honestly… the entire island will miss him.” She replied. It was truer than Berry might’ve thought. Even if the small farm didn’t produce a massive amount of crops, the village relied on it for vegetables. Eggs and meat… well, it would be up to his granddaughter if she wanted to start raising cattle and chickens.

At the sound of the Mayor’s voice, the girl jumped a little. Though… she had to suppress a snort at the girl’s name. School must have been hell for the poor woman… if she did go to school. Most of the children on the island were home schooled and quite a few of them couldn’t even read. “He… yeah…” She admitted as the portly man huffed at the pair of them, turning on his heel and stomping away. Of course, in a town where microphones were all but non-existent… he would have to have a loud voice; it was practically a perquisite for being the mayor! Oh well, he would come back later… or send a letter… since the girl seemed rather hostile.

As he walked off, Mia looked back to Berry. “Oh! I’m Mia Dower… though I must say, my name isn’t nearly as interesting as… yours.” She teased a little. “I actually came by to see if you could use a hand. If I remember correctly… your grandfather didn’t exactly keep his home in the best shape.”

 

[Feathers]

"Hey...wait.....," Berry said softly to the back of the huffing man hurrying his way back towards the road. "Oh no, five minutes here and I already messed things up. I didn't mean it" she said softly as she planted one end of the hoe in the dirt and softly rubbed her eyes. The stress of the city was easy in comparison to the new in every sense environment that she found herself transplanted into. Living there was easy, don't walk into the road, stay away from the Park at night, and when the tap water was a light brown you could mix sugar into it for an instant summer beverage. Easy rules. The near instant appearance of here new friends and neighbors on her property was not a little disorientating to the girl from a place where a head nod spoke volumes.

"He works at town hall right? I'm going to walk down and see him later and apologize. It was just.... this is all so......weird." The word popped out of Berry's mouth before she could catch it. "Gosh darn it. I didn't mean weird. This place is great, it really is. A pleasure to meet you Mia, and that dress looks lovely on you. " Berry smiled softly, brushing a dark purple strand away from her eyes in the comfortable Spring breeze as she extended her hand. If anything the gentle teasing directed her way was calming the Teen down after the series of gaffes. Back home her friends wouldn't have let her get away from the slipups without at least a slightly bruised ego. It was natural that it made her feel a little more like home.


"Interesting........yeah. Kinda long story about that." Berry explained. "Anyway, sure. I reeaaallllyyy could use some help. Before this I grew a tomato......once. That kind of counts as farming. I don't know if I can pay you much though. Grandpa wasn't a rich man as you can guess. I think I doubled the property value when I sat my bag on the bed. Want to see inside?" Berry asked as she turned her head to look at the cabin. She justified it to herself by saying that Mia seemed like a cool person and a worthy acquaintance, but the little voice inside was more than a little curious about getting to know her new friend.

 

[Openots]

“Oh don’t worry about him… he just has his moods. If he isn’t the center of attention he isn’t happy.” Mia replied, smirking a little. It was a well known fact that the mayor was a bit of a drama queen, and this poor woman wasn’t exactly familiar with everyone in town quite yet. “I’d recommend walking around town and meeting people once you’ve gotten settled… and cleaned up your house. There aren’t too many people. I imagine you met my mother already, she works on the ferry… then there is my father in the Library. Lord Cockswain runs the local butcher shop… don’t ask why we call him lord. Ummm… there is the carpenter.” She took another look over Berry’s shoulder at the cabin. “You’ll definitely want to talk to him. Actually… I’ll just give you the grand tour tomorrow, how does that sound?”

At the compliment, a dark blush crossed Mia’s cheeks. For her… compliments were few and far between. “W-Well thank you, I r-really like your hair. We don’t have hair dyes on the island so… this is the first I’ve actually ever seen someone with it.” She blinked at the hand before taking it and shaking it gently. Honestly, she wanted the girl to be more comfortable. Once you got into the swing on things on the island, it was actually a fairly relaxing place to live… well… maybe not for Berry. Aside from the winter months, farming was a fairly labor-intensive job.

“Well, I wouldn’t expect you to pay me to help you clean up.” Mia snickered, looking at the cabin as well. “Though, I’m afraid farming really isn’t my area of expertise. Cooking, cleaning, mostly housekeeping I suppose.” At this… she looked a little embarrassed. She did know how to fish… but she’d keep that tidbit to herself. The last thing she wanted was a job gathering… gutting… and cleaning fish. Plus, the smell never came out. “Oh, I’d love to see the inside. I’ll admit, most of the children around here sort of treat the place like a ‘haunted mansion’.” Mia giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

 

[Feathers]

"Cooking and cleaning? Hmmmm......" Berry's corner of her mouth quirked upward, just as it had ever since she was little when she was lost in thought. Deep at the bottom of her bag there was a plain piece of paper with "MASTER PLAN' written neatly in cursive across the top, and meeing an enjoyable person who could cook was a great thing indeed. It's not like the employment pool here had an Olympic regulation depth anyway. She made a mental note to come back to it when she was settled. She already pissed off one person already, two would be a streak she wouldn't be proud of.

"It IS a haunted mansion! You should SEE the freaking spiders in here! I'm going to sleep holding a shovel I swear." Berry joined in the giggle, starting the walk back to the house. "You're pretty cool. I was totally afraid that it was going to be all fifty year olds and people trying to get a senior citizen discount when I did get something to grow. It's good to have someone to talk to. Besides the chicken. The chicken is a JERK." Berry explained, pushing open the door and giving a quick spider check along the doorway before slipping into the musty air of the cabin.

Berry plopped onto the edge of the futon that served as the bed, coughing lightly at the kicked up dust. "I'll take you up on the grand tour. It better be grand though. You promised! Anyway no hair dyes? Seriously? Darn it." she sighed before breaking into another smile. "Can't stay here then, I'm moving back home. I would DIE if people found out in actually a Strawberry blond......... I know, totally shocking right! What else do you do for fun Mia? Besides offer to help clean complete strangers house luckily. I'm kind of guessing there isn't any internet here." Berry said, pulling herself up and clicking on the television perched on the crate, flipping through it's exactly one channel with nothing but the weather.

 

[Openots]

“Mhmmm.” Mia was very much a ‘momma’s girl’ having learned a great deal of it from the rather… heavyset woman. “S-spiders?” The girl stammered, looking genuinely worried. There wasn’t much in this world that scared her, aside from enclosed spaces, fire, and the dark… but bugs were definitely at the top of her list. “M-Maybe a shotgun would be a better idea.” She commented, following Berry closely. Of course, bugs were a bit of a rarity on the island aside from the occasional butterfly or cicada. The other thing was that guns were all but unheard of. Probably the most dangerous thing on the island were the tools Berry would be using on her farm.

“Cool…? T-Thanks?” Mia cocked a brow, not entirely sure how to respond. She was one of three teenagers on the island, so she wasn’t completely familiar with the phrase. “Well, most of the people on the island are actually in their late twenties. I think the oldest people here are the hermit and the mayor.” She replied, a thoughtful look on her face. Obviously the joke had gone clear over her head. Looking around the cabin, she wrinkled her nose a little at the musty smell. For a moment, she almost regretted offering to help the woman though she quickly pushed that thought from her mind.

“Oh, well don’t worry. I mean… you can place an order at the general store.” Mia quipped helpfully. “Though… it’ll take WEEKS to get here.” Because of the remote location of the island, it often took a month at the shortest for anything to arrive. “Oh… you were joking.” A blush colored her cheeks as she turned around and looked at a chair. Brushing it off, she sat down quietly and looked over at the TV. “Well, the library has a terminal with internet, but it is slow enough most people just don’t bother with it. “For fun?” She blinked, looking a little surprised. “Well, fishing, hiking, exploring, we have a festival for each season, ummm…” Mia tapped her lip thoughtfully. “There is the library and the bar… and the horse ranch on the other side of the island. Oh! And the beaches are fantastic around this time of year."

 

[Feathers]

Berry listened to the teen explain the finer details of the comings and goings of the island intently. Mia's literalness had a certain cuteness to it, from the way she poured out her answers as if she had just spent hours researching them to the way she pressed her finger to her lips in thought. That there were only three teens on the island, well......now four, was believable just by her demeanor. Mia had the look of a person who liked spending more time in her own head than out at midnight tearing up the town, and it was more than a little refreshing. Berry had come here to start a life after all, and a nightlife would just be one more distraction that she didn't need.

"Nice. We had a couple festivals in the city. The only one I'd think you would have here is the New Years festival. I think everyone celebrates that. That's actually how I got my nam................how I got my hair this color. Spur of the moment thing!" Berry stopped herself as her cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink. Her name and her birthdate exactly nine months after the New Years festival brought more than one snicker from this or that city clerk in the past much to her annoyance. "They all sound awesome. I just hope I have enough time later to see them all. I know this isn't a job with a ton of relax time but going exploring and laying on the beach sounds awesome. At least it won't be packed because there isn't a ton of people here anyway!" Berry comforted herself, perking up at the idea of a beach all to herself. It definitely beats fighting for a patch of sand big enough to lay a town down on with several hundred other people.

Berry pulled herself off the mattress and brushed a little bit of the dust sticking to her blue jeans and white Tshirt. "It's my first day and there is a TON of stuff to do. Want to go get lunch before we start? I mean....if you want to hang out with me more. That would be cool. If you don't we can meet here in like two hours. Either way.........off to the store!"

 

[Openots]

Nightlife in the town was… well… less than exciting. Aside from the festivals, it usually included getting wasted at the bar and having Sam drag your ass back to your house, something Berry’s grandfather had a certain… fondness for… though she wouldn’t tell Berry that. It was interesting to meet another teen though, at least one who lived off of the island. Mia had only actually left the small island once and only for a day though that was considered extravagant by the standards of people who literally never stepped foot off of the island in their entire life. She did have to admit though… Berry was rather attractive, especially when compared to the usual fare on the island.

“Oh! We have one of those!” Mia nodded. “The New Year’s festival is probably the biggest!” She commented with a smile before pausing. “Well, if you save up enough money the winter months are pretty much vacation time for you, though I suppose you could always shovel the snow off of your field and try to grow something. Buuut, as I recall, your grandfather usually finished most of his work at the crack of dawn and then spent the day relaxing. Of course, the library has plenty of books over farming techniques and practices, if you’d like, I could take you by there once we finish cleaning the house.” The library didn't use cards or have late fees, there really wasn't a need for them. If someone ended up keeping a book for too long, her father would simply walk to their house and ask them what was going on. It was easily the second biggest building in town, legend said that the library had been the location of an ancient ruin long before the town was even built... though it was mostly a tall tale the children liked to spread.

She also wanted to tell the girl that she miiiight want to buy a new mattress. Since… well… that was where they found her grandfather. “Hm? Oh! Yes! Lunch sounds great! Um, we’ll have to go to… the bar for lunch since the café isn’t open anymore.” Mia nodded, standing up carefully. Luckily enough, she managed to sit down and stand up without getting a speck of dust on her clothing. “We’ll just say it is my treat, okay? I know your financial situation will probably be… precarious for a couple of months.” The girl offered Berry an apologetic smile as she held the door open for her.

 

[Feathers]

"Yeah.....thanks" Berry mumbled, more than a little embarrassed that Mia could see right through her financial situation. Taking the offered door onto the front porch she waited for her new friend to catch up before slipping up the path towards the front road. The off-handed comment about the cafe made the corner of her lips quirk up in thought for a moment though, it seemed like more than a coincidence that her MASTER PLAN was more and more matching reality. Silently Berry reminded herself that she had yet to put a single plant in the ground but the excitement was already palpable.

"Wait, Bar?" She asked, perking up immediately. "Oh my goddess, I would kill for a drink right now. I think farming is going to be easier half smashed. Well, not easier but at least more fun. A nice salad would be awesome too. It would be better if I grew everything myself, but it might give me some inspiration to get some more work done before the end of the day. I can't let you buy all the time......" Berry rambled, glancing at Mia out of the corner of her eyes to judge her reaction. They seemed to fit together pretty good so far, but people have gotten tired of her in less time before.

"I'd love for you to show me everything you can here. I'm guessing.....you spend a lot of time at the library? That's cool. In the city the library was pretty much a couple stacks of magazines and some stuff from thirty years ago. I think I have a ton of stuff to catch up on." Berry said as they hit the main road to the town proper, the soft crunch of the gravel beneath their feet combining with the chirps from the trees to form a soundtrack fit for any club.

Clearing her throat Berry continued, her voice uncharacteristically flat. "So......do you have lunch.....with someone else usually? Do you ever get...lonely?"