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~

 Life is not a story book, where everything always turns out for the best
in the end.  You never read about the heroes failing, or about them having
troubles that they can't solve.  Everything always gets resolved in the end
in stories, and nobody important loses anything.  I always thought that
life was so simple, so easy, that things would always turn in my favor and
everything would work itself out.  I was delusional.  This is the story of
the end of my delusion, of the time that I stopped lying to myself and
accepted what I'd known all along.  This is the story of the beginning of
the rest of my life.

 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 hoping 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 grandfather 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
refridgerated, 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 the ax, 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, "Gray!  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 members.  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...


Chapter 4 - The Goddess Festival

 As Saturday morning dawned, it didn't seem like there was much different.
There was a light downpour outside, and I could see from my window that the
fields were going to be well-watered by it.  "Good," I muttered to myself,
"less work for me."  After breakfast, I decided to switch on the TV and
check the news.  The news station must've been fairly local, because they
reported that the Spring Goddess Festival was coming up tomorrow in some
of the local towns.  I had heard about it from Saibara the other day, but I
didn't really know what it was, so I decided to listen to the news report
and see if they said.  I was in luck, and they gave a description of it.
"The people of the rural villages all gather together to have a dance to
celebrate the Harvest Goddess' gift of spring.  It's a custom for boys to
ask their girlfriends to accompany them to this festival."  I switched to
the weather channel, and was glad to see that the rain was going to clear
up in time for the festivities.  A thought occurred to me, but I banished
it.  There was no way I could ask Popuri to go to the festival with me.  I
just didn't have the courage, and she'd probably reject me anyway.

 There was little work I could do on the farm, as the rain made it too
difficult to get much of anything done.  The mountain paths were muddy and
unsafe to traverse, so I couldn't do much around Mother Hill.  After I got
my normal chores done, I decided to pay Popuri a visit.  Not to ask her to
the dance, of course; I just wanted somebody to talk to, someone to have a
conversation with that didn't involve my grandfather.  The poultry farm was
still closed when I got there, but I didn't care; I knocked on the door
anyway.  "Who's there?" Rick's voice called out.  That didn't exactly
encourage me; Rick and I hadn't gotten along too well so far.  "Uh, it's
Gilbert..." I started, but Rick cut me off.  "We open at 11.  Come back
later."  I heard somebody say something, but the door muffled it and I
couldn't make it out.  "Fine!" I heard Rick yell, and there was a distinct
click.  "Come in," I heard him say, decidedly not happy.  Feeling a bit
uneasy, I entered.

 After I'd walked in, Rick slammed the door behind me, causing me to jump.
"Rick, behave yourself!" Lillia said from the kitchen, and returned to
cooking breakfast.  Rick sulked over to the couch, silent.  "Good morning,
Gilbert," Lillia said, "We were just about to have a late breakfast, but I
suppose you've already eaten."  I voiced in the affirmative, and looked
about.  Lillia noticed, and chuckled.  "She's upstairs.  You really like
her, don't you?"  I swallowed a lump in my throat, and gave a slight cough.
Lillia laughed.  "Ah, young love...  I remember when I was your age, and my
husband was like that.  Of course, I didn't even realize why he behaved
like that until much later."  I didn't know what to say, but this one-sided
conversation was not making me comfortable.  "Ah, nervous about it, hm?  I
understand.  But you really should tell her.  She deserves to know."  I
shook my head.  "I can't bring myself to..."  Lillia nodded.  "I know you
can't.  You wanted to the other day, I could see it in your eyes.  And let
me tell you something, Gilbert: if you don't work up the nerve to, you'll
never tell her.  The unease isn't just going to spontaneously vanish, you
know."  I nodded.  "I know, but I don't want to hurt her."  Lillia smiled.
"How could you possibly hurt her by telling her you love her?  You might
surprise her, but you won't upset her."  I smiled.  "You have a good point,
I suppose."

 Rick huffed from the couch.  "Just friends, huh?" he muttered.  Lillia
shook her head.  "Don't mind Rick.  He's just over-protective of Popuri.  I
wish he'd remember that he's her brother, not her father."  Rick gave a
cough; I doubt he'd expected his mother to say that.  He got up and went
outside without a word.  Lillia sighed.  "He never has been good with
confrontations.  It might sound strange of me to say this, but Popuri is
the more mature of the two."  I shook my head.  "No, that's not strange at
all.  Rick acts like he's in control, but he's not.  Popuri lives her life
the way she likes, and doesn't let little things get to her.  She even
faces up to her problems.  She really is more mature than he is."  Lillia
nodded.  "I'm glad you see that.  Everybody else in this village treats her
like a little girl.  Even I'm guilty of it at times, though I can't help
it; I'm her mother, after all.  Only you and Kai have ever seen her for
what she really is."  This was the second time I'd heard that name.  "Who
is Kai, anyway?"  Lillia shrugged.  "I don't know him very well, actually.
He's from another village to the south, some place called Port Rose.  He
and Popuri met two years ago, when my husband left to find a cure for my
disease.  Kai was the son of the ferry's operator."

 "Who's here?"  I looked up at the stairs, but Popuri wasn't coming down
just yet.  "Gilbert's here," Lillia replied, "Come on down and say hello."
Popuri laughed, and I smiled.  "Sure, in a minute.  I've got something I
need to take care of."  I turned back to Lillia.  "I know you're still
uneasy about it, but please tell her," she said, and turned back to the
frying pan.  "Hi, Gilbert."  I turned and faced Popuri.  "Oh, hey.  Uh, how
are you?"  She smiled.  "Pretty good.  Why'd you stop by?"  I shrugged.
"Oh, it's a rainy day, and I had nothing to do.  Hope you don't mind."  She
chuckled.  "Not at all.  You want to stay for breakfast?"  I looked over at
Lillia, but she was still busy at the stove.  "Well, I don't want to
impose..."  Lillia spoke up then.  "Don't worry, Gilbert.  I put on another
egg for you."  I nodded.  "I guess I'll stay, then."  Popuri chuckled, and
showed me to a chair.  "So, you were bored, huh?" she said, "What did you
want to do?"  I shrugged.  "Just talk, really.  It'd be nice to hear about
something other than my grandfather for a change."  She laughed.  "You
must've been talking to all the old folks in the village.  Well, alright,
but after breakfast.  Okay?"  I nodded, and we left it at that.

 Rick came back in a few minutes later, and sat down quietly at the table.
Nobody asked where he'd been or what he'd been doing, and he didn't offer
up any information.  He didn't even comment on the fact that I was sitting
at the table waiting for breakfast.  Lillia served up the meal, and we all
ate in silence.  It felt unnatural, especially between these three.  Rick
finished first, mostly because he'd been shoveling food in his mouth as
fast as he could, and he got up wordlessly and left the house.  Lillia
sighed, a mug of coffee held close to her lips.  "He really needs to grow
up," she said, shaking her head.  Popuri nodded, and turned to face me.
"He normally is the last one up from the table.  I've never seen him eat
that fast.  Is he upset about something?"  I sighed.  "Rick and I... aren't
on the best of terms.  He doesn't like the fact that you and I are
friends."  Popuri sighed.  "Mom's right, he does need to grow up.  Who does
he think he is, trying to decide who I can be friends with or not?"  Lillia
gave me a look, and I knew what she was trying to tell me.  My stomach
knotted for a moment, but I steeled myself against it.  "You done?" Popuri
asked me.  I nodded, and she took my plate, as well as the others on the
table, and put them in the sink.  "Come on upstairs, we'll talk up there."
I nodded, and followed her up.

 The upstairs of the poultry farm was very stark and simple.  There was
only one room, clearly a bedroom, and not much space to sit down.  Popuri
sat down on the middle bed, and motioned me over to one of the others.  I
sat down, and she took my hand.  "You wanted to do more than just chat,
didn't you?"  I felt a touch of unease, but fought it off.  "Uh, yeah," I
said uncomfortably.  "I'm making you nervous again, aren't I?" she asked,
her face concerned.  I shook my head.  "No, I'm making myself nervous.  I
want to tell you something, but I can't get over my fear."  Popuri looked
me in the eye.  "You won't hurt me.  Just tell me."  I closed my eyes, took
a deep breath, and fought back the part of me that was telling me to run
away and never return.  "Popuri...  I..."  I opened my eyes, and looked
right at her.  "I love you."  Funny, I thought to myself, it all seems so
much easier when you've finally gone through with it.  Popuri blinked.
"You do?  Really?"  I nodded.  She closed her eyes.  "I see," she said.  I
sighed.  "Now I've made you nervous, huh?"  She shook her head.  "No,
that's not it.  I just didn't expect this.  I thought you were going to
tell me that you had a girlfriend, or that you didn't want to be around me
any more."  I shook my head.  "No, not at all.  You really thought that?"
She nodded, her eyes still closed.  "I guess I should've realized that you
weren't unhappy with me.  I've never been good at seeing that sort of
thing."  She opened her eyes, and I could see that she was crying.  "I'm
sorry," she said.

 This didn't make me feel much better.  "Why are you sorry?" I asked.  She
shook her head.  "I don't love you.  I'm so sorry."  I felt a pang in my
chest, but I didn't give into despair.  "You don't have to be sorry about
that.  I didn't expect you to.  We've only just recently met, right?  I was
afraid this might happen.  I didn't want to hurt you, and here I've gone
and done it anyway."  She shook her head.  "No, you haven't.  You haven't
hurt me, Gilbert.  You've made me happy, even if it is a little poingant.
I was so afraid you were going to be like everybody else, and treat me like
I'm not even here, but it's just the opposite.  And I'm not ready for it.
I didn't realize that until you told me how you felt about me."  I shook my
head.  "It's alright."  She nodded.  "I know it is.  I just wish I were
ready.  All my life I've thought I could handle something like this, and
now that it's upon me, I see that I was wrong."  I gave her a quizzical
look.  "What's upon you?"  She smiled weakly.  "A relationship.  I thought
it would be so easy, but I was wrong.  I never even considered the
implications, the possibilities.  I thought it would be like something out
of a story book.  I guess what mom told me when I was growing up was true.
You're never really ready for it, you just have to play it by ear."  I took
her hand, and looked at her.  "It's not easy, I know.  I'm new to this kind
of relationship, too.  I don't expect you to be an expert at it.  I don't
even expect you to love me.  But... we can at least be friends, right?"
She nodded, her smile returning.  "Of course we can.  I wouldn't want it
any other way."

 Against my better judgement, I decided to ask her to the Goddess Festival.
"Popuri?" I said, and she blinked.  "Um, this might sound kind of out of
the blue, but..."  She put a finger to my lips.  "You're going to ask me to
the Goddess Festival, right?"  I blinked myself.  "Yes, I'll go with you.
If I don't, I'll have to go with Rick and Karen, and I'd rather be going
with you."  I smiled.  "Thank you.  I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?"
She nodded.  "I'll be by your farm around 9.  That should give you time to
get your farm chores done, right?  Then we can go to the square together."
I nodded.  "That sounds like a good plan.  I'll see you then."  I turned to
go downstairs.  "Gilbert!"  I looked back at Popuri, and she was smiling.
"Thank you for telling me."  I nodded.  "I promised I would, after all.
Take care."  She nodded back.  "You too."  As I got to the bottom of the
stairs, I noticed Lillia was looking at me, smiling.  "Well?"  I sighed.
"She doesn't love me."  She shook her head.  "You expected her to?  You've
barely known each other for a week.  She does like you, though, Gilbert.
Don't give up just because things aren't in your favor at the moment.  Give
it time."  I nodded.  "I will.  Thank you for your help."  Lillia chuckled.
"I didn't do much.  Just gave you a little push, that's all.  You take care
of yourself."  I left the poultry farm, feeling decidedly better than I had
when I arrived.

 "Hey."  I turned, and sighed.  Of course, I couldn't leave without Rick
confronting me.  "What is it, Rick?"  He shook his head.  "Uh, I just
wanted to say I'm sorry.  I was being a real cad back there.  It's not my
place to decide for my sister.  Mom's right, I need to back off and let her
live her own life."  I shrugged.  "Yeah, I guess so.  By the way, you can
stop freaking out about her and me.  She doesn't love me."  He blinked.
"She doesn't?  Oh...  I see...  I don't know if I should be happy or sorry
for you."  I smiled.  "I don't need sympathy, so feel free to be happy
about it."  Rick shook his head.  "No, I won't be.  You're... not like Kai.
I see that now.  I should've seen it back when I met you.  Kai's rude and
inconsiderate, not to mention shallow.  But you're...  Well, I know you're
probably sick of hearing it, but you're a lot like your grandpa was.  I
remember how he'd always take time out of his work schedule to pay us a
visit when I was younger, and how he always treated everybody like family.
I guess I'm babbling now, huh?  I've got things I need to do inside, but
I'll see you later.  Tomorrow, probably."  I nodded.  "Yeah, about that...
Popuri agreed to go with me to the festival.  I thought you should know
now, so you don't get upset."  He shrugged.  "I'm alright with it, though I
wouldn't have been earlier.  She's always hated having to hang around with
me and Karen, anyway.  Don't you ever hurt her, alright?"  I nodded.  "No
worries there, trust me."  With that, I headed back towards my farm, and
Rick headed back inside the poultry farm.

 I ended up spending the rest of the day moping about the house, thinking
about everything that had happened, and not coming to any conclusions.  I
felt better now that I'd told her how I felt, but at the same time, I felt
even worse for knowing that she didn't feel the same way.  "Why does love
have to be so complicated?" I asked Max, but he was much too interested in
an old bone I'd found for him to even look up.  I sighed.  "Nothing ever
seems to turn out the way I expect it to," I muttered to myself.  "My whole
life, I've done nothing but fail.  Fail my family, fail my friends, fail
myself.  I always think I can do things, but I never can.  Why can't
something go right for a change?"  I sighed.  "Well, I guess something kind
of went right.  Popuri's going with me tomorrow, at least.  Still, it feels
so empty, so meaningless.  It is just a festival, I know, but..."  I shook
my head.  "Why am I worrying about this?  I really need to learn to deal
with what life gives me for a change, and try and make it something better.
It's obvious enough that my complaining isn't solving anything."  Decided,
I checked my clock, and saw that it was already 8PM.  "Sheesh, how long was
I muttering, anyway?"  I decided to go to bed early.  Tomorrow was going to
be a big day, I could feel it.

 The next morning, I woke up to somebody knocking on my door.  This was
just a bit unexpected.  I opened it, and gasped.  Popuri was standing
outside, dressed in a beautiful gown.  "Can I come in?"  I nodded, and
closed the door behind her.  "You're, uh, three hours early," I muttered
sleepily, checking the clock on the wall.  She nodded.  "I know I am.  I
wanted to get here early, though."  I blinked.  "Would you mind telling me
why?  It seems silly to get up so early just to wait three hours for
somebody to finish their chores."  Popuri nodded.  "I know.  I haven't even
had breakfast yet, I was in such a hurry.  I don't know why I came here so
early.  No, that's not true, I do too know why."  She sighed.  "Gilbert, I
think we need to clear some things up."  I paused, not sure what to say.
"What do we need to clear up?" I finally asked.  "Some things.  Would you
mind fixing something for us to eat, though?  I'm starving."  I nodded, and
got to work with the hot plate I'd brought along with me.  She watched,
probably amused.  "You don't have a kitchen?" she asked.  I chuckled.  "No,
I don't.  Where would it fit, in a tiny house like this?  I'm lucky I can
even use this little hot plate without burning the house down, it's so
cramped in here."  She chuckled.  "Oh.  I hadn't thought about that."  The
meal didn't take long to make (seeing as I didn't have much available to
begin with), and we sat down to a breakfast of warmed-up rice balls and
strawberry jam.

 "So, what do we need to clear up?" I asked again.  Popuri wiped her mouth,
and put down her rice ball.  "Well, there's the obvious problem that we
don't feel the same way about each other.  Don't get me wrong, I like you,
but it's not at the same level as you like me."  I nodded.  "We covered
that yesterday, rather uncomfortably."  She nodded.  "The thing is, you're
probably going to see things pretty differently than I do about our
relationship.  So I want to make it clear now that if something is unclear
between us, I want you to bring it up.  I'll try and do the same myself
when I'm not sure."  I nodded.  "That's reasonable enough.  I'd kind of
hoped to do that, anyway."  She took another bite of her rice ball,
swallowed it, and continued.  "Second, and I know this will probably be
difficult for you, but there will be times when we'll need to be apart, for
more than just a day or two.  We all need our time to ourselves, and I'm
not much of a people person."  I nodded.  "I'm fine with that.  I've never
been very social myself."  She took a drink of water.  "The last thing is,
please don't try to push the relationship too fast.  I know it'll be hard
to know what the limit is, but I don't want to rush this.  I'm still a bit
nervous about it."  I nodded.  "I'll do my best not to.  I'm not exactly
over my own unease, though our conversation yesterday really helped a lot."
She nodded, and we finished breakfast in silence.

 After the meal, I got up and grabbed my rucksack.  "Off to work, then?"
she asked me.  I nodded.  "I'll try to get done as quickly as I can."  She
sat up.  "Um, can I help?"  I smiled.  "If you want to.  But aren't you
worried about mussing up that nice dress?"  She blinked, and looked down at
herself.  "Oh!  I'd forgotten I was dressed like this.  You do bring up a
good point.  Well, I'll at least come outside and watch you work."  I
shrugged.  "If you want to, I'm fine with it," I said, and headed outside.
The morning air was pleasant, and I could see a faint rainbow in the
southern sky.  I headed straight for the stable, and took care of Colin.
He was getting more lively every day, I'd noticed.  Probably a touch of the
family gift for animals, I reasoned.  Leaving the stable, I looked towards
the house, and raised an eyebrow.  Popuri was standing nearby, dressed in
one of my own pairs of overalls and shirts.  I walked over to her.  "You
know, it's generally polite to ask before you put on other people's
clothes," I commented.  She laughed.  "Sorry, sorry.  I wanted to help out,
though.  It's so boring, just standing around watching."  I smiled.
"You'll hear no protest from me.  Well, let's get to work then."  With
Popuri's help, we managed to get the remaining farm chores done by 8, an
hour ahead of schedule.  "You know, you're not too bad at this, for a
beginner," I commented as I put the last batch of turnips in the shipping
bin.  "Thanks," she said, smiling benignly, "Maybe your family's talent is
rubbing off on me."  We both laughed.

 "Well, since we're done with the farm work, I guess I'd better change back
into my dress."  I nodded.  "You want to head to the square?  We'll be an
hour early."  She shook her head.  "Two hours early, actually.  But that's
alright, most people arrive early for the Goddess Festival anyway.  It's
one of the few festivals that people dance at."  I nodded, and realized as
she went inside that I didn't know how to dance.  I made a mental note to
mention that to her.  She emerged from the house, took my hand, and we made
our way to the square.  The mayor and another man who I'd never met were
there, but otherwise, the place was empty.  "Oh, you two are certainly
early," Thomas said.  Popuri laughed.  "We got done with farm work ahead of
schedule.  I hope you don't mind if we stick around here until the festival
starts."  Thomas shook his head.  "Not at all.  Just don't get in my way,
or in Kano's way."  The other man turned to face us.  "Ah, no worries about
that, mayor.  They seem harmless enough."  He walked up to me and shook my
hand.  "I'm Kano, a local photographer.  I also help out in setting up the
festivals around here.  Nice to meet you."  I nodded, and he got back to
work on the decorations.

 Popuri led me over to one of the benches, and we sat down.  "I love these
festivals.  I've always liked dancing."  I remembered my mental note I'd
made earlier.  "About that...  Um, I can't dance..."  She laughed.  "That's
okay.  I'll give you a crash course.  We've got two hours, after all."  She
got up, and took me out to the middle of the square.  "Um, are you sure
about this?" I asked, "I'm a bit clumsy at times..."  She smiled.  "Don't
worry, I'm pretty clumsy too.  I'll probably end up stepping on your feet
more than you do on mine."  I laughed.  "Ah, I see.  Well then, let's do
this."  I don't think I'd ever laughed or enjoyed myself so much before in
my entire life.  We fumbled about, "dancing" like a couple of drunken cows,
giggling and chortling the whole time.  By the time 9:30 rolled around, we
were practically in fits of hysteria, though our dancing had decidedly
improved.  "I think we should probably give it a rest now," Popuri said,
sounding a bit serious.  I looked over my shoulder, saw that Rick and Karen
were heading this way, and turned back.  "Ah.  Who cares if they're here,
though?  We can still have fun."  She smiled.  "Yeah, I guess you're right.
I just feel a little nervous dancing in front of Karen, that's all.  She's
so much better at it than I am."  I shook my head.  "Don't let that get to
you.  We can't all be experts at everything.  And besides, you dance just
fine."  She chuckled.  "I think your feet might think otherwise by now,
given how many times they've been stomped."  I chuckled myself.  "Ah, they
deserve a little abuse, for all my hands have to put up with daily."  We
both laughed, and resumed our dancing.

 All too soon, we stopped again.  "We really do have to take a break now,
Gilbert," Popuri said, still laughing at our latest blunder.  We'd managed
somehow to both step on one another's feet, and had had a hell of a time
getting untangled.  "The first event of the festival is when all the girls
dance without the boys, and I have to be a part of it."  I nodded.  "Okay,
okay.  I guess we could both use a breather before the main event anyway,
huh?"  She nodded, and we disengaged from each other.  As we looked around,
I realized that just about everybody was staring at us.  Popuri and I both
started laughing, and we walked over to one of the benches and sat down.
We finally managed to stop laughing a few seconds later.  Everybody finally
stopped staring at us, and we both just sat catching our breaths, and
smiling.  "You'd think they were never kids, huh?" Popuri commented.  I
chuckled.  "People forget how to have simple fun when they get older.  I
don't know why, but I'm glad I didn't."  Popuri nodded.  "I'm glad I didn't
forget, either.  Life would be so boring otherwise!  Oh, it looks like the
dance is going to start soon, I'd better get in position."  We both stood
up, and she took my hand.  "Don't go running off, now," she said to me, and
I laughed.  "You don't have to worry about that, believe me."  She gave a
light chuckle, and ran over to the assembled group of girls.  I could see
that all four of the others I'd met were also there, though I didn't see
any other girls participating in the dance.  Perhaps those five were the
only ones who participated any more.  More likely, I realized, they were
probably the only girls in the village that were at the right age to
participate.

 I walked over to the main group, and took a spot near the front of the
decidedly small crowd that had gathered.  "I saw you out there with Popuri
earlier," I heard Cliff say next to me.  I turned to face him.  "Yeah, I
think most everybody did.  It was kind of hard to miss, we were laughing so
loudly."  Cliff nodded.  "We thought you two had gone crazy."  I shook my
head.  "Nah, we were just having fun.  Nothing wrong with that."  Cliff
shrugged.  "I guess.  Seemed kind of juvenile, though."  I chuckled.  "I
guess it did.  But it was fun, and nobody got hurt.  Well, except for our
feet, but even that wasn't too bad."  Cliff shook his head, and we left it
at that.  The girls-only dance was interesting to watch, simple though it
was.  I ended up watching Popuri for most of it, which wasn't all that
surprising, given how I felt about her.  Once the dance was over, Popuri
came over to me.  "Let's get something to drink, I'm parched.  Then we can
get back to our own dancing."  I smiled, and we headed over to the small
refreshment table.  The festival wore on into the afternoon, and then into
the evening as more and more dance events took place.  Popuri and I had a
great time, especially during the contest to see who was the clumsiest
couple (we won, needless to say).  By the time 5PM rolled around, I was
happier than I had been in many a year.  "The dance ends in five minutes,"
mayor Thomas called from one of the benches, "please wrap it up, we still
need to clean up the square."  Popuri and I had already stopped dancing,
and were sitting on a bench nearby.

 "Hey, you want to take a walk?" Popuri asked me.  I nodded.  "I'd like
that.  It's too stuffy with so many people around."  We got up and headed
down the stairs to the beach, and sat down in the sands in front of the
ocean.  "I had a great time today," Popuri said.  I nodded.  "So did I.  I
haven't had that much fun in at least a dozen years."  Popuri nodded.
"Same here.  Hey Gilbert, I have a question for you.  When you were
younger, did you ever visit Mineral Town?"  I nodded.  "About two or three
years ago, when my grandfather died.  And about ten years before that.
Why?"  Popuri shrugged.  "Oh, I don't know.  I just remembered something
from a long time ago, and I was wondering if maybe you remembered it, too."
I blinked.  "What is it?"  She sighed, and tilted her head back.  "About
twelve years ago, a boy came to this area on summer vacation.  He was a shy
boy, I guess, since he never visited the village.  But I met him one day,
up on Mother Hill.  We talked for a while, and when he left, he promised he
would come back one day.  I never even knew his name, but he was staying at
your grandpa's farm."  She turned to face me.  "It was you, wasn't it?"  I
nodded.  "Yeah, it was me.  A few days ago, I remembered it fully, moreso
than I had in years.  I think it was because of the hot springs."  Popuri
blinked.  "The hot springs?  You were...?  Wait, was it late at night, on
Tuesday?"  I nodded.  "How'd you know?"  She blushed.  "I was...  I also
visited the hot springs that night.  I guess it was you in the springs, and
not a monkey like I thought."  I chuckled.  "I don't know, I kind of look
ape-like, don't I?"  She laughed, and shook her head.

 "I heard you singing," I commented.  She nodded.  "I figured you must've.
Did you recognize the song?"  I nodded.  "You taught it to me twelve years
ago.  I'd forgotten it, but when I was in the hot springs, it came back to
me."  She smiled.  "That makes me happy.  I guess we haven't just met after
all, have we?  We've known each other for years, even if we haven't seen
one another since we were still kids."  I nodded.  "I guess so.  Life is so
strange sometimes.  I thought I'd never see you again when I left for home
all those years ago, and now that I've found you again, I fell in love with
you without even realizing who you were."  She nodded.  "It is strange.  A
lot has happened in those years.  We've both become adults.  And yet, we
both still act like kids at times, don't we?"  I chuckled.  "So we do.  But
why shouldn't we?  We're happiest when we're children, and why should we
have to give that up just because we're older?"  She laughed.  "That's
exactly how I see it.  But then, I have it pretty easy.  I'm the only girl
in the village without any job.  I'm worried about what would happen if mom
were to..."  I shook my head.  "You shouldn't think about things like that.
It's bad karma, so to speak.  It's not as though you can't do anything,
though."  She looked at me quizzically.  "What could I do, though?"  I
smiled.  "You could always help me out around the farm.  You obviously have
a knack for it."  She laughed.  "I guess I could, but you don't have a very
solid income right now, do you?  How would you pay me?"  I sighed.  "Yeah,
there is that, huh?"  She took my hand.  "Thank you for offering, even so."

 We sat there for a while, just watching the waves, thinking to ourselves.
Finally, Popuri stood up.  "It's getting late, we should probably go home.
Mom and Rick will be worried if I don't get back before 10."  I stood up
myself.  "I see.  Well, it is getting a bit cold, too.  I'll walk you home,
then."  We walked back to the poultry farm in silence, caught up in our own
thoughts, and we were there far too soon for my liking.  "Well, good
night," Popuri said, and kissed me on the cheek.  "Good night, Popuri.
Take care."  I walked back home in a light daze, feeling happier than I had
in so many years.  At last, so much was going my way, it was amazing.  I
only hoped that I wouldn't mess everything up like I had so many other
things in my life.  As I settled into bed, I vowed to myself to not repeat
my past mistakes.  Of course, nothing is ever that simple...


Chapter 5 - Complications

 The night's dreams must have been sparse, for it seemed like only seconds
after I'd gotten to bed that I was woken up by my alarm clock.  Groggily, I
got up and performed my daily chores around the farm, glad that the sun was
shining again today.  Yesterday kept playing back in my mind as I worked,
and it seemed like nothing could break the spell of happiness that had come
over me.  I'd just finished my farm chores when I remembered that Saibara
had said he'd send my new axe along with Gray at the Goddess Festival, and
I hadn't gotten it then.  Indeed, I hadn't seen Gray carrying any tools of
any sort at all.  I decided to pay the blacksmith shop a visit to find out
what was up.  "You damn fool!" I heard from outside the door, and cringed
as I realized that Saibara was probably chiding Gray for not delivering the
new tool to me.  I entered cautiously, and saw Gray sulking in one corner
as Saibara yelled at him angrily.  "I ask you to do one thing, ONE thing,
and you can't even get it right!  Gilbert is probably furious right now
because of you!"  My suspicion was confirmed, and I decided to speak up.
"No, I'm not.  I didn't even remember that I was supposed to get my axe
yesterday until this morning."

 Saibara straightened, and turned to face me.  "That doesn't excuse that
Gray failed to do his job," he told me.  I didn't feel like arguing with
Saibara about his work ethic, so I just left it at that.  "Anyway," he
continued, "your new axe is right here.  Enjoy using it."  He handed me the
blade, and I saw that it was quite a bit sharper than the old one.  "Thank
you, sir.  Good day," I said, and left quickly.  I felt sorry for Gray, but
I had to admit that Saibara was right about him not doing his job.  "Well,"
I reasoned, "it's none of my business anyway."  Since it was still before
noon, and most of the shops were closed, I decided to try my hand at a bit
of fishing.  My mind set, I walked straight down to Mineral Beach and cast
out my line.  My luck was quite a bit better than the previous try, and I
managed to catch 3 small fish.  Unfortunately, the backpack I had was so
small that I couldn't carry any more than that.  "Note to self: upgrade
rucksack," I muttered as I headed back to the farm.  After depositing my
new pond dwellers, I gave my watch a glance and saw that it was 2.  "Time
flies when you're fishing," I noted, but rationalized that there wasn't
much else to do on a slow Monday like this.

 I remembered my resolution to get a new rucksack, and checked my funds.
It seemed like a reasonable goal, and a good rucksack couldn't cost more
than a few thousand, so I headed to the supermarket.  Sure enough, a bigger
backpack was sitting on one of the counters, priced at 3000, and I bought
it, along with some more turnip seeds to replant the fields with.  I got
right on that task, and it was already 3 when I finished.  I spent the rest
of the afternoon fishing in the stream nearby, but didn't catch anything.
After Zack made his usual 5PM run, I figured I'd settle in early, and went
straight to bed to read and eventually sleep.  The morning greeted me with
rain, but I didn't let it get me down.  I got my usual farm chores done
fairly quickly (along with harvesting the newly ripened cucumbers), and
found I had nothing left to do.  I thought about giving Popuri a visit, but
reasoned that I'd been taking up enough of her time as it was lately, and
settled for reading various books I'd been meaning to catch up on, most of
them about farming techniques and tactics.  The day crawled by slowly as I
mulled over the books, stopping only briefly for lunch and dinner.  When I
finally put them down and got to bed, I felt I had a much better idea of
what farming was all about.

 Wednesday dawned, and it was still raining outside.  I decided to give the
weather channel a quick glance, and discovered that the rains were expected
to pass tomorrow.  Satisfied, I did my usual work, and then paused to
consider what I would do next.  It seemed like my work wasn't really taking
up much time lately, even though taking care of a farm was a full-time job.
Of course, I rationalized, I didn't have much to take care of yet, but even
so, I was finding myself with a lot of free time.  It was only 8, and I had
all of my chores done, after all.  This being the case, I figured that
maybe I'd drop in on Popuri and see what she was doing.  "Who is it?" I
heard Rick ask.  Hoping that there wouldn't be a repeat of my last visit, I
announced myself.  Rick sighed wearily from the other side of the door, and
let me in.  "Sorry for the early visit.  Not much to do today," I commented
as I came inside.  Rick shrugged as he closed the door.  "Yeah, I know.
It's alright, I'm just frustrated."  I turned to face him.  "Frustrated?
Why's that?"  He shook his head.  "Popuri's been acting weird ever since
the Goddess Festival.  You didn't do anything to her, did you?"  I shook my
head, confused.  "She's always cooped up in her room nowadays, never talks
to any of us.  I know she does this sometimes, but never this long."  That
caught me by surprise.  I remembered that Popuri had told me that we'd need
time apart, but I hadn't thought she'd be avoiding her family, too.

 "Who's here?" I heard Lillia ask from the stairs.  "Ah, I should've
known," she said lightly as she came down.  "Good morning, Gilbert.  What
brings you here today?"  I shook my head.  "Not much, really.  It's a rainy
day, and I have nothing to do, so I thought I'd visit a friend."  She
nodded.  "I thought as much.  Well, as Rick probably told you, Popuri's
been in a bit of a black mood lately.  Neither of us can approach her.  I'm
not sure this is the best time to be around her."  I nodded.  "You may be
right.  Is she upstairs?"  Lillia nodded.  "Still moping about, I'm sure.
She seems to be struggling with something.  You can go up if you want, but
don't expect a warm reception."  I nodded, and headed upstairs.  Popuri was
sitting on one of the beds, her back turned to the stairs as she looked out
a small window.  I coughed lightly to get her attention, and she looked
over at me.  Her face appeared sad, but it changed in an instant to
something quite a bit more cheerful.  "Gilbert!  I didn't know you were
here."  I nodded, and sat down next to her on the bed.  "I bet mom and Rick
told you I was depressed, huh?"  I nodded.  "More or less, yeah.  What's
up?"  She shook her head.  "They don't understand it at all.  I'm always
quiet and reserved when I'm thinking."  I shook my head.  "Yeah, so am I,
but you looked sad when I came up here.  Are you sure you're alright?"
Popuri nodded.  "Yeah, I am.  Rainy days remind me of my father, that's
all.  He left when it was raining, and..."  I nodded.  "I understand."

 She turned to face me.  "So, why are you here today?  Just bored?"  I
nodded, chuckling.  "Not much to do on a rainy day.  I spent all of
yesterday reading, and I'm none too keen to do it again today."  She
smiled, and took my hand.  "Well then, what should we do?"  I shrugged.  "I
don't really know.  I guess we could talk, though neither of us really seem
to do much talking on the whole."  She sighed.  "Yeah, I know.  Nothing to
talk about, usually.  Well, hmm...  We could play a board game!"  I
laughed.  "I haven't played one of those in years.  It'd be fun, though.
So let's do it!"  With that, she pulled out a long box, and we played a
rousing game of Monopoly.  It became pretty obvious after a while that we
were evenly matched, and we decided to call it a forfiet after a bit.
"Well, that was fun," I commented as we put the pieces back in the box.
Popuri nodded, but didn't say anything.  I got the feeling that she wanted
to say something, but didn't quite know how to say it.  I didn't want to
push her, though, so I kept my mouth shut.  She got up from the shelf, and
turned to face me.  "I, uh..." she started, looking almost embarrassed.
"What is it?" I asked.  She sighed.  "No wonder you had such a rough time
telling me.  I don't have the same worries as you did, but I still can't
seem to do it."  I gave her a quizzical look, then realized what she was
saying.  "You mean...?" I started, and she nodded.  "Yeah.  I've been
thinking about it practically non-stop for two days.  I know I can't be
mistaken about it.  Gilbert...  I...  I love you, too."

 There was a long silence as we just looked at each other, neither really
sure what to do next.  Finally, I broke the silence.  "You do?  But, before
you said..."  She cut me off.  "I know.  And I wasn't lying.  It's just...
When I found out who you really are, and the memory of the past you merged
with the memory of the present you, I realized that there was more to how
I felt about you than I'd thought.  Before, I was afraid that I'd lose out
forever if I let myself care too deeply for you, because of that memory of
the earlier you.  I thought that the boy I met all those years ago might
come back, and hate me for abandoning him like that."  Understanding dawned
on me.  "So you were in love with the younger me?"  She shook her head.
"Not exactly, no.  I wanted to see you again, to be with you.  I thought
about you for a long time after you left, and I felt like I had to see you
again and find out more about you.  When I heard that somebody was going to
take over the Skywind farm, I hoped against hope that it might be you that
was taking it over.  I was too afraid to ask you if you were the same boy,
too afraid of the possibility that it wasn't true.  When I finally worked
up the courage to ask on Sunday, you can't possibly comprehend how happy I
was when you told me who you really are.  The feelings that washed over me
also scared me, but I've spent the last two days thinking about it, and I
realized the truth.  Gilbert, I love you."

 I didn't know what to do, what to say.  Popuri seemed as much at a loss as
I was.  I finally decided that I should probably reassure her of my own
feelings.  "And I love you.  That's not going to change, rest assured.  It
makes me happy that we feel the same way about this now."  She nodded, and
I noticed that she was crying.  "What's wrong?" I asked.  She smiled.
"Nothing is.  I'm crying because I'm so happy."  She walked up to me then,
and for the first time, we kissed.  It was a wonderful feeling, and I
didn't want to let it go.  Popuri seemed reluctant to stop, too, but she
did anyway.  "Everything's going to change now," she noted.  I nodded.
"Yeah, but it's for the better."  She smiled, and we kissed again.
"Popuri?  Gilbert?  Are you two alright up there?"  We both jumped in shock
and separated quickly.  "We're fine, mom!" Popuri yelled, then turned back
to face me sheepishly.  "I guess we kinda got caught up in the moment,
huh?"  I nodded, feeling pretty embarrassed myself.  "Maybe we should go
downstairs?" I asked.  She nodded, and we headed down.  "There you two are.
You were so quiet for so long up there that I was wondering if you were
even still alive."  Popuri laughed.  "No, we were just talking, mom."  She
nodded, and turned back to the stove.  "Well, lunch will be ready soon.  I
assume you'll be eating here too, Gilbert?"  I nodded, and Popuri and I sat
down at the table.

 The awkward silence that followed was hard for Lillia to miss.  "This is
rather a surprise.  Usually you two can't stop talking to each other, but
now you're so quiet."  She turned to face us.  "Did something happen
between you two?"  We both blushed, remembering our kissing not too long
ago, and Popuri spoke before I could.  "It's a private matter, mom."  She
nodded.  "Ah, I understand.  Well, I won't butt in any further, then."  She
turned back to the stove, and I couldn't help but notice that she had a
very satisfied smirk on her face.  "This is so weird," Popuri said.  I
looked at her quizzically.  "What is?"  She sighed.  "I usually don't mind
talking to mom about things like this, but...  I don't know, it just feels
awkward."  I nodded, not quite knowing what to say.  I'd never really had
an experience like this with my own parents.  We were quiet for a minute or
so, and then Popuri turned to face me again.  "Um, do you mind if I tell
her?"  I shook my head, confused.  "No, I don't mind at all."  Popuri
turned back to face her mother.  "Uh, mom?"  Lillia turned around, and
Popuri continued.  "Gilbert and I...  Uh...  Well, we're in love..."
Lillia smiled.  "That's wonderful news, dear.  I'm sure you'll be happy
together.  You may want to not tell Rick, though.  You know how he is..."
Popuri nodded, and turned back to me.  We just looked at each other, lost
in our own thoughts of one another.

 "I'm starved!  What's for...?"  Popuri and I turned to see Rick coming in
the house, staring right at us.  "We're having sandwiches, Rick.  You're
just in time, too.  I've made your favorite.  Well, come sit down."  Rick
nodded, his face looking almost distressed.  I turned to Popuri, and she
shook her head.  "I don't know, either.  I've never seen him like that
before."  We turned back to the front of the table, where our lunch was
waiting, and ate our meal.  Unlike the previous meal I'd had at this house,
there was actually conversation this time, and Rick was eating at a
reasonable pace.  It seemed more right than before, though I couldn't help
but notice that Rick still had an aire of discomfort around him.  Lillia
obviously noticed it too.  "What's wrong, Rick?  You certainly seem unhappy
all of a sudden."  He shook his head.  "It's nothing, mom.  Really."  He
wasn't fooling any of us with that excuse, of course, but none of us pushed
him further on the matter.  I had a pretty good idea of what was bugging
him, and it was yet again relating to me and Popuri.  Lunch was over soon
after Lillia's inquiry, and Rick went back outside again without a word.
"I know something is bothering him," Lillia muttered, "I just wish I could
figure out what."  Popuri sighed.  "He's probably upset about me and
Gilbert."  Lillia raised an eyebrow.  "Oh?  But he doesn't know yet, does
he?"  I shook my head.  "He probably suspects it, though.  And we all know
how poorly he handles these sorts of matters."  Lillia sighed.  "Well, I
suppose it can't really be helped.  He would've found out eventually.  You
three need to talk this over with each other."  That prospect didn't sit
well with me, and I could tell that Popuri wasn't too happy with the idea,
either.

 "Mom's right," Popuri said suddenly.  I started to speak, but Popuri cut
me off.  "We can't just leave things the way they are now, Gilbert.  I
really don't like the idea of confronting Rick, either, but it's better
that we do on our own terms."  Her point was undeniably valid, so I nodded
my assent, and we went outside.  Rick was walking around near the chicken
coop, looking uncomfortable.  "Rick," Popuri said lightly, and Rick jumped.
He turned to face us, looking very haggard.  "Oh, sis!  I didn't hear you
come outside.  What's up?"  Popuri shook her head.  "What is the matter
with you?  You're acting so strangely all of a sudden."  Rick laughed
uneasily.  "Oh, it's nothing, really."  I coughed.  "Who are you trying to
fool here, Rick?  It's obvious that you're upset, so just spit it out and
tell us what's wrong."  Rick sighed, shaking his head.  "I saw you two
looking at each other when I came in.  I know that look.  Karen and I often
look at each other like that...  You two are in love now, aren't you?"
Popuri nodded.  "Yes, we are.  But why would that be a problem?"  Rick
sighed again.  "It shouldn't be.  I should be happy for the two of you.
You're right for each other, and yet...  I guess it makes me upset because
you're my sister, Popuri, and..."  Popuri sighed.  "Rick, I'm not your
property, you know."  Rick nodded.  "Yeah, I know.  I'm sorry about how
I've treated you for so long, sis.  What I mean is, it's like my world has
just been turned upside-down.  My own little sister is in love.  It seems
like just yesterday that we were little kids playing games, and now..."
Popuri nodded.  "I see.  I guess it does make sense that you'd be upset,
then.  But you're going to have to accept this, Rick."  Rick nodded.  "I
know.  And I will, eventually.  It's just... it's not easy for me."

 I really couldn't think of anything to say at that point, and Popuri
seemed as much at a loss for words as I did.  Rock sighed.  "Don't mind me,
I have to deal with my own problems.  But I will say this: I'm glad you
ended up with Gilbert, instead of Kai."  Popuri's face contorted in anger,
which hardly surprised me.  "Oh, Rick!  Just when I think you've learned to
mind your own business, you have to go and prove me wrong!"  Rick shook his
head, backpedaling, as Popuri bore down on him.  "Kai is my friend, no
matter what you think of him, and that's final!  Got it?"  Rick was
definitely not in an advantageous position at this point, backed up against
the chicken coop.  "I get it, I get it!  Sorry..."  Popuri sighed angrily,
and turned back to me.  She seemed to brighten as she walked over to me.
"Sorry about that.  I just can't stand his imperious ways sometimes."  I
nodded.  "It's okay, don't worry about it.  That really was out of line for
him to say, though."  Popuri nodded, and took my hand absentmindedly.
"Let's go somewhere else.  I wanna do something different for a change."  I
shrugged, and we walked off towards the village.

 For the rest of the day, we spent our time visiting the shops around town,
and generally enjoying the day as best we could.  The rain made it a bit
harder, but we managed well enough.  By the time 5 rolled around, both of
us had forgotten about Rick's outburst earlier.  We stood at the crossroads
to my farm, and kissed for the third time that day.  "I had a wonderful
time today," Popuri said, "Thank you so much."  I smiled.  "You're welcome.
And thank you, too.  Today was much better than I'd hoped for."  Popuri
chuckled, and turned down the path towards Chicken Lil's.  She looked back
at me a few steps later, smiling.  "So, I guess we'll see each other on
Saturday, then?"  I blinked.  "Why Saturday?"  Popuri chuckled again.
"Because, silly, Saturday's Valentine's Day!"  "Oh," I said sheepishly, and
grinned.  "Until then," Popuri said, and walked back towards her home.  I
turned down the path to my own farm, an old song on my lips that just
begged to be whistled.  Nothing could possibly ruin my day now, I figured.
Fortunately, Murphy's Law seemed to be giving me a reprieve, and I came
home to find everything in order.  After a quick stop by the library to
return the books I'd checked out earlier that week, I sat down for a few
entertainment TV shows, then got myself to bed.  Things were looking up.


Chapter 6 - Pandora's Box

 Thursday and Friday were a blur.  There's just no other way to describe
it.  Thinking back, I have never been able to fully recall what happened on
those two days, as I was so mentally occupied with Valentine's Day.  I only
vaguely recall buying some chocolates and picking some flowers to give to
Popuri late Friday.  Saturday, however, I will never forget.  Saturday was
the beginning of the end of perhaps my greatest delusion yet.  The day
started like so many of the days had on the farm, with me doing my chores
and thinking fondly of Popuri.  By 8AM, I was done and ready to go see the
girl of my dreams.  Hopping and skipping all the way, and generally making
a fool of myself (and not giving a damn, either), I went up to the poultry
farm and knocked on the door.  I was ever so happy when it was Popuri who
opened it, her face beaming with happiness.  Had we known how the day was
going to end, I think we both would've basked in that happiness longer.
"Gilbert!  Just who I wanted to see today.  Come in, come in!"  I obliged,
sweeping from behind my back the flowers and candy that I'd bought for her
the other day.  "For you, my dear," I said in my best charming voice.  She
giggled, and took the flowers and chocolates.  "Thank you, Gilbert."  I
nodded.  "Happy Valentine's Day, Popuri.  What shall we do today?"  She put
the chocolates and flowers down on the table then, took my hand, and
without a word, the two of us were racing outside the poultry farm, and
into the most interesting day we ever had together.

 We went everywhere that day.  Unlike our last foray, today the skies were
a clear and beautiful cerulean blue, with not a cloud in sight.  We went to
the mountains, we walked on the beach, we shopped in town, and we explored
the old mines.  We climbed trees and played games with each other.  It was
like we were reliving all of the childhood memories we never had a chance
to make together.  We watched the sun set just as we had all those years
ago, from the peak of Mother Hill, hand in hand, side by side.  Popuri
sighed happily and leaned into my shoulder.  It seemed like everything was
perfect then.  If only we'd left good enough alone.  If only we hadn't done
what we did next.  It all started out so innocent, too.  We kissed, and it
became a passionate kiss, a kiss of lovers.  And we kept kissing, over and
over again.  I hate to imagine what would've happened if Popuri hadn't
stopped us, hadn't pulled back and said, "We're going too fast."  I wish
I'd had the sense to see that she was right.  "What do you mean?  What's
wrong?  Aren't you enoying it?"  Popuri nodded.  "Yes, but..."  "Well
then," I cut her off, "What's the problem?"  Poprui shook her head, her
eyes narrowed in anger.  "The point is that this is all too sudden."  She
stood up, looking down at me with a mix of anger and fear.  "Gilbert, we've
only just met.  I know, we met all those years ago too, but we still
haven't really known each other for much more than two weeks."  Something
hit me, something I thought was understanding, but now realize was just
good old-fashioned human stupidity.  "You want to break up," I said
accusingly.  Sometimes I wish I could travel back in time, if only to deck
myself for being such an idiot.

 I think that was the point when I discovered what the phrase "all Hell
broke loose" meant, because that's exactly what happened.  Popuri's face
contorted in anger in such a way that the look she had given Rick a few
days back seemed tame by comparison.  Gritting her teeth, she pulled me to
my feet and slapped me squarely across my face.  The shock that registered
led me to do something at least ten times stupider than my previous
statement: I slapped her right back.  "I can't believe you, Gilbert!  One
minute you say you love me, the next minute you're hitting me!"  "You
started this!" I shouted back.  She screamed in anger, and kicked me hard
in the shins.  As I buckled over in pain, I heard her shout as she walked
down the hill, "It's over between us!"  At that moment, I was experiencing
more emotions at once than I'd ever felt.  I was angry, nay enraged, that
Popuri had turned on me.  I was heartbroken that she'd decided to leave me.
I was in pain from the blows she'd dealt me.  I hated her and loved her
both at once, unsure of which was more intense right now.  And above all
else, I was downright confused as to how this had happened, how our
happiness had shattered in an instant.  I limped my way home, my thoughts
jumbled to bits by my emotions, unable to think straight.  My entire world,
everything I'd worked for, seemed to have just gotten dumped down the
drain.  I cried myself to sleep, and as I found out much later, Popuri was
doing the same.

 I can barely remember the days after Saturday, but unfortunately, for very
different reasons than why I forgot the two days before it.  To say that I
was depressed was an understatement; suicidal was more like it.  Popuri had
meant everything to me.  She was my inspiration for remaking the farm.  She
was the very reason I even thought of taking over the farm in the first
place.  Without her, what was the point?  Fortunately for my animals, my
daily routine was so ingrained by now that they, at least, didn't suffer
from my mental anguish.  The weather seemed determined to make me feel even
worse, as it had started raining early Sunday morning.  The rains didn't
ease up for three days, nor did my mood lighten.  Well, that's not entirely
true.  There was one thing that got my spirits up, just a little.  On
Tuesday night, I happened to be browsing the TV, when I came across the
local news.  They were reporting on the Mineral Town Local Horse Race, a
big event back in the day, now mostly just a formality.  But the prospect
of a festival seemed nice, after the gloom I'd been stuck with for the last
half week or so.  And I'd always been a bit of an undeground gambler, so a
horse race sounded kind of fun.

 Wednesday rolled around, and my mood was much improved.  I'd developed a
bit of a coping mechanism.  I didn't think about Popuri, and invented new
excuses for why I was here and why I was doing what I was to this farm.  It
was working pretty well, doomed though it was the next time I saw Popuri,
but it was enough to get me out of bed and done with my chores.  I arrived
at Rose Square nice and early, and even helped Kano and Thomas set up the
festival decorations and facilities.  10AM rolled around, and so ended my
illusions, as Popuri walked into the square without so much as a glance
towards me.  Well, it was a nice four hours, at least.  But as she walked
to her decided spot for watching the race, I decided that I wasn't going to
let her ruin my fun, and picked a spot as far from her as I could manage.
I bet a few tickets on the races, and actually got a decent payback, though
none of the prizes really caught my eye.  It made me choke a bit to see
that most of the stuff being sold was jewelery, as that's exactly the sort
of thing a guy who's just gotten dumped doesn't need to be seeing.  I made
my way home, feeling not quite as happy as I'd hoped, but at least out of
the funk I was stuck in before.

 The rest of the week whizzed by in its usual buzz, with so much repetition
of schedule that it was almost mind-numbing.  But a bit of mind-numbing was
just what I needed, I realized later, as it kept it from dwelling on the
stuff that would make me depressed all over again.  By the time Saturday
had rolled around, my farm was looking good, as were my finances.  I'd
gotten an upgrade done on my hammer, gotten a better watering can, and was
finally done clearing my fields of rocks and logs.  I also had a very nice,
very large new rucksack, which would doubtless make harvesting crops much
easier on my legs (if not my back; those sacks weigh a lot when fully
loaded!).  I was delighted to see another festival notice pop up on the
television, as that was just the sort of thing I needed to get myself back
in a good mood.  The festival was to be a cooking one, though, and I was
definitely not much of a chef.  Not much one can do with a hot-plate and
rice balls, anyway.  But I didn't care; just going to the festival and
enjoying the good food would be enough for me.  And it was fun, even though
Popuri was again at this festival, and again was avoiding me.  I didn't
care any more, to be honest.  I enjoyed the good food, and cheered on the
winner (none other than the local innkeeper, Doug).  The days of spring
lulled onwards after that, with so little excitement that I began to forget
what day it was.  I probably could've gone into summer quite happy, if not
for what happened on the last day of spring.

 It was raining, which was welcome enough given that we probably weren't
going to see a drop of water from the skies for the next two or three weeks
or so.  I was just going into town to see if Jeff had ordered summer crop
seeds at the supermarket, when I saw him.  A strange fellow, this one was.
His skin was very tanned, and he wore a purple bandanna to hide what I
could only assume was a bald head.  I could tell, even at this distance,
that he was the confident sort.  He held himself very proudly, and had the
most irritating smirk I'd ever seen on his face.  And he was talking with
none other than the ex-love-of-my-life, Popuri.  "Hey, it's Kai!" said May,
who I realized just then was also there.  "We know summer's here when Kai
has arrived!" Popuri said, sounding quite cheery.  Ah, so this was the
mysterious Kai that I'd heard so much about.  He smirked his irritating
smirk even wider.  "I've got to go set up my seaside shack now, ladies, but
you be sure to come and visit some time, okay?"  Popuri and May both
giggled, and continued down the road, while Kai started my way.  I wasn't
quite sure how to react to this guy, so I just stood at the crossroads,
staring at him.  "You must be new here.  You certainly weren't around last
year," Kai said to me, grinning as usual.  I nodded, and he shrugged.
"Well, I'm Kai.  Nice ta meetcha.  I've got a food shack I run down on the
beach.  Come stop by and visit some time, ya hear?"  I nodded again, and he
turned down the path and was gone.

 Something about my encounter with Kai really irritated me.  Was it the way
he acted?  His annoying perpetual grin?  That stupid bandanna?  Or was I
jealous that he might take Popuri away from me?  Nah, I figured, that can't
be it.  I broke up with Popuri, let her go out with whoever she wants,
right?  But I knew deep down that I was only fooling myself.  And it was
deep down that I was hoping that those two didn't end up going out, because
a part of me still wanted to believe that Popuri and I could be together
again.  I went on with my day's shopping and work, the entire encounter
earlier intentionally being ignored, as had become my standard tactic
concerning Popuri this last half-season or so.  Of course, no tactic like
that can work for long, because somebody's going to come along eventually
and ruin it all by doing something that no denial in the world can possibly
block out.  And wouldn't you know it, that happened on the first day of
summer, the day of the swimming contest.

 As I made my way onto the beach, my day's work done, I found myself facing
something that made me feel like somebody had just shoved a red-hot cactus
up my nose: Popuri and Kai standing together, holding hands, looking quite
happy together.  Rage and hatred started racing through my veins, as my
mind futilely tried to cling to the lies that I'd convinced myself of for
the last half-season.  Needless to say, it failed, and the rage took over
me entirely.  It's a damned good thing that I've never been the violent
type, or it's likely that I would've fought Kai and lost Popuri forever.
But a more subtle form of revenge came to me as I walked down onto the
beach.  I'd get my revenge by being even happier with a different girl.
But who would I...?  "Hey, Gilbert!  What's cooking?" Ann said, coming up
to me.  Peeeeerfect...  "Not much, Ann.  Good to see you."  Ann chuckled.
"You sick or something?  Ah, you must be.  Kai's got your girl and all."  I
shrugged.  "Let him have her.  I'm more interested in you, babe."  She
blushed, looking quite embarrassed.  "Huh?  Me?  Wha, bu, er, I mean..."
I grinned.  All too easy.  "Yep, I've got eyes for only you now, Ann.
Whadda ya say?  Wanna go steady?"  She stared at me, slack-jawed, then
realized that she was standing there like an idiot and re-composed herself.
"Uh, sure.  Okay.  Uh... are you sure?  I mean, I've never had a boyfriend
before, and..."  I laughed.  "Hey, there's a first for everything, right?"
She laughed weakly.  "Yeah, I guess so..."  I took her hand, and walked
right over to Popuri and Kai.

 Popuri looked surprised to see me coming towards her with Ann beside me,
but quickly changed her expression.  "Ah, Gilbert.  Imagine running into
you here.  This is Kai, my boyfriend."  I grinned, and nodded.  "Good to
see that you're not dwelling on me.  I believe you already know my new
girlfriend, Ann."  Ann smiled weakly, almost apologetically, but Popuri
didn't even look at her.  "Quite.  Well then, I guess everything is over
between the two of us."  I nodded.  "Quite, indeed."  We walked our
separate ways, both of us feeling even more angry and decided than we did
before.  Things were, without a doubt, far from over between us.  "Gotta go
for a bit, babe," I said to Ann, "Gotta get changed for the race.  Cheer
for me!"  She smiled, looking pretty uncomfortable, but I didn't even
notice.  This was all about me, after all.  My concience nicely tucked away
for later (much later, from the looks of things), I got changed into my
swimming trunks and got ready to swim my way to victory.  Unfortunately
(and this is a lesson that one should learn early), sheer determination is
not enough to win in a race against a highly skilled opponent.  Kai mopped
up the floor with me, basically, making it to the finish line a good 5
seconds before me (but, to my credit, a good 30 seconds before everybody
else besides me).  I was incensed, but I kept my temper in check.

 "Congratulations, Kai!" Popuri beamed as he climbed onto the dock, that
punch-me-please smirk back on his face.  "Aw, it was nothing.  These kids
are no competition at all," he said.  Fortunately for me, I already had
plans for how to channel my anger, so I didn't let Kai's words make me give
him a knuckle sandwich like I wanted to.  Instead, I walked up to Ann and
gave her a hug.  "Uh, you did good, Gilbert," Ann said.  I smiled.  "Thanks
bunches, Ann.  I couldn't have done so well without ya, though."  Ann gave
me a confused look.  "Huh?  Er, what do you mean?"  I smiled.  "The thought
of you cheering me on sped me to the goal, babe."  Ann smiled weakly.  "Oh,
I see.  Well, uh...  You're welcome?"  I gave her another hug, and walked
her over to Kai and Popuri.  "Good race, Kai," I said amiably, "But don't
expect to win next year."  Kai grinned.  "Yeah, you put up a fair fight.
Still, you've got a ways to go before you can match up to me."  Popuri
gave Kai an affectionate hug.  "That's my Kai!  Years ahead of the
competition!"  I laughed politely, seething inside and letting my rage
build.  This was going to be a looooong summer...


To be continued...