Harvest Moon: Aozora

Part 1: The Trouble With Girls

Spring 5, 2000

Well, here I am. I am officially Forget-Me-Not Valley's newest farmer. It hasn't been that long since dad died, I barely know why I am even here. I already know how it happened. You know, how dad died. But even though I have no reason to be here anymore, I'm somehow looking for answers to questions that don't exist. Now here I am, living in the same house that dad built and died in. Kind of sad if you think about it, living in a house which is a constant reminder of what I did to him.

It's fine. Takakura did show me around the village to meet the locals, they are all quiet and friendly. Sometimes a bit too friendly, it can get a bit creepy at times. But even so, these are the people who kinda knew my dad before the accident. I wonder what they've seen as they lived together over the years?

I admit that I am not that great of a farmer. In fact, I just plain suck. I did find dad's notes in the house, but half of it reads like gibberish. Solving a calculus problem is easier than learning crop formations and quality ratings. I could imagine him having the same problems when he started. He must have read a bunch of books to learn how to turn this dead land into a fertile paradise. Now he's gone, and I will have to take over in his place. It will take a few years before I can do this reliably. I did make my bed, and now I will have to lie on it.

Well, I guess I don't have anything else to write about. Takakura recommended to keep a journal of my time here in he valley. Something about being able to look back and track my progress. I guess I'll just stick with this job until I either get good, or get bored and leave. I guess the first thing I should take care of is to patch up these holes in the walls. Man, my dad did a number to this place.

Spring 10, 2000

Today I went over to the Blue Bar to have a drink. It feels weird to be able to go to the bar and get a drink without the bouncer asking me for ID. I am only 19 years old, and I was there having a drink. This is something that would never happen back in Atland. I do find it weird that people expect you to get a job at 18, but wait until 21 to have a drink. I guess that Forget-Me-Not Valley has more lax drinking laws. If you can work, you can have a drink. That's good enough for me, word traveled pretty fast about me being a farmer here in the valley. If I am going to be a farmer, who could deny me a drink?

Now let me tell you about a girl I met at the bar. Her name is Muffy, and she works as a waitress who assists the bartender called Griffin. At 26 years old, she is a bit older than me. But I'll tell you one thing, she sure is pretty! I was sitting at the bar sipping on a drink when she came out the back room. Her waist length wavy blonde hair danced as she walked around. Her green eyes are soft and round that can flirt with you from across the room. She's pretty thick in the places that count, and her cocktail dress shows every inch of it off. Those black heels keep those bare legs tight and curvy. I thought she was Griffin's wife at first, but she quickly let me know that she is single.

You can tell that Muffy was definitely interested in me. Of all the guys in the bar, she spent most of her time talking to me. She even once leaned forward while talking to me to show off a bit of cleavage. I tried not to look, but I'm a guy. Every time she walks away, she would shake those hips to give me something to think about. I don't mean to brag, but she definitely likes me.

Don't get me wrong. Muffy is a beautiful girl with a lot to offer other than her looks. She's funny, talkative, happy, and quite aggressive when she knows what she wants. I could see myself dating her if things were different though. You see, before I came to the valley, I promised myself that I don't want to be in a relationship. Things were hard on me when mom and dad died, I don't think I could survive losing anyone special in my life. Imagine if I did marry, and my wife would die? Or worse, what if I died and left my wife or kids behind. Every night, I would have nightmares of something like that happening. I would wake up almost in tears until I realize that it was just a dream.

Spring 14, 2000

I tell you one thing, Muffy is not one who gives up easily. It's kind of my fault, since I have never told her that I was not interested in a relationship. Even so, you think she would get the hint after a few days of coming to the bar and not asking her out. Each time I came to the bar, she would try to drop hints that she wanted to go out on a date. Of course I am not that dense, but what she did today definitely told me that she is not interested in giving up. Looks like I'm stuck with her following me around the valley for a long time.

So here's the story, today I did some work on the farm. Not too much, just planted a few bags of seeds to get used to things. This is my first season working with crops after all. I wiped the sweat off my brow, then I decided to refresh at the Blue Bar. It was about noon and I know I shouldn't even be thinking about drinking until evening, but I had nothing else better to do.

At the bar, Muffy came running out. She was pretty upset over a dish that she broke while cleaning up the lunch rush. Griffin wasn't mad at her or anything, but she feels pretty guilty when she does it. She is living at the bar's top floor, so she doesn't want to burden him with sudden expenses.

Even after hearing her out, she still looked pretty upset. I felt bad for her, so I asked if there was anything I can do to make her feel better. Her mood quickly changed, then she asked if we can go on a date. Of course she asked me out on a date, I should have seen that coming. I wanted to turn her down, but I couldn't say no to those green eyes that begged me.

Somehow she already had a plan. I sometimes wonder if maybe she broke that dish on purpose just to trick me to go out on a date with her. It was just too coincidental. She grabbed my hand, and we ended up going to Mineral Town on our date. They were having a Thanksgiving Festival down there. The Thanksgiving festival is very different than the ones we would have back in Atland. We would eat turkey on Thanksgiving in the Fall. But in Mineral Town, people celebrate Thanksgiving twice a year; once in Winter, and once in Spring. The one in Spring is similar to White Day, a day to give girls sweets as gifts. And the one in Winter is their Valentines Day. What a strange tradition in this part of the country.

Riding the boat to Mineral Town was definitely an experience. Muffy kept asking all sorts of questions about me and my life back in the city of Atland. As we talked, she would inch closer hoping that I would take the lead and hold her hand or something. It was embarrassing, the other people on the boat thought we were a couple. I'm pretty sure she thought the same thing too.

As we walked around Mineral Town, I took a great interest in their culture. It was definitely an interesting place to say the least. It's not as noisy and busy as Atland, but definitely more active and alive than the sleepy village of Forget-Me-Not Valley. I tried my best to keep a little bit of distance from Muffy, otherwise she would be holding my hand all the way to Rose Square.

Rose Square was definitely the place that screams "town in the middle of nowhere". There were so many people there, I promise you that Mineral Town goes all out when it comes to their festivals. There were mostly couples shopping at the stalls or dancing to the old fashioned folk music. This definitely made me feel uncomfortable, everyone had to think that Muffy was my girlfriend attending this type of festival with her. There were so many young men my age giving presents to young ladies. It was cute watching all those different personalities hoping their dates would accept their gifts. I looked at Muffy's cheerful face and knew she tricked me.

Muffy sat on a bench just waiting for me to buy her something. You can see it all over her face. It looked cute and silly just watching her sit there fidgeting with her fingers waiting for me to do something. Yeah, she got me in a pickle. She knew that I couldn't just leave her with no gift in the middle of these strangers in a town so close to our village. I bet she did this a few times before with a few other guys she liked.

I bought her some chocolate cookies. Mainly so she would stop embarrassing me already, pretending that I was a neglectful boyfriend. Everyone in town saw be bring her as my date, so I played the part for today. She got so happy when I brought her the tray of cookies, we just sat there eating them. I didn't complain to much, I love me some chocolate. As we ate, I noticed the other people giggling at us making comments like "how cute". I don't blame anyone, I would have thought the same thing if I saw some guy bring a cute blonde girl to a romantic themed festival. I didn't mind too much, Muffy is a very pretty girl anyway. Anyone would be happy if they had such a pretty date like her.

Just before we ate our last cookie, the music started to change and the residents of Mineral Town all gathered up in the center of the square. They all started to do some sort of old fashioned folk dance with their dates. Of course Muffy wanted to get up and dance with them. She grabbed my arm and dragged me to the dance floor to join them. It was pretty embarrassing, neither of us knew how to dance whatever jig they were doing. Instead of trying, I just made the best of the situation and decided to do my own little dance. Muffy got the same idea and joined me in inventing a new dance. I guess we impressed the town, they circled around us and clapped to the beat as we just kept on dancing. Me and Muffy hopped, skipped, and whatever else we could come up with. We had so much fun pretending that we knew what we were doing.

As we kept dancing, I noticed something about Muffy. She reminds me a bit like my mother. Don't get me wrong, she looks nothing like her. What I mean is that mom had a very similar personality to Muffy. It's funny, my dad told me when I was younger a story of the day they met. Mom was a cheerful young woman who aggressively pursued my dad when they were young adults. I remember his story like it was yesterday.

My dad was a carpenter, a very shy one too. Mom and dad met when he came over to do some repairs at her house. Mom fell in love with him at first sight. She followed him around as he did his work, he had no clue why she was always nearby watching him. She would flirt with him all day, and he thought she was teasing him. Now that I think about it, I guess dad was always a bit dense.

Dad told me that mom called him back a few days later. She said something went wrong, and he thought she was talking about the repairs he did. When he came back, he was nervous thinking that she was going to yell at him or something. Turned out, she just wanted to see him again. Mom asked him out, and he was so shocked that he didn't know what to do. I still remember what he said, "not in a million years could I imagine someone so beautiful would ask me out."

Mom told me about their first date. They went to a fancy little restaurant to talk and get to know each other. Of course, mom did most of the talking to make up for the fact that dad was so shy. Even though most people find my dad's shyness annoying, mom found it very cute. Mom's open and cheerful personality while my dad was quiet and shy, opposites do attract after all.

After dinner, mom dragged him to a night club so they can dance. Dad was totally against it, he had two left feet. Everyone in Atland knew he couldn't dance to save his life. But even so, she still convinced him to go. Mom always had a way to convince people to do the craziest things. I can only laugh as I imagine a fully grown man sitting at a night club with a girl tugging on his arm convincing him to give dancing a try.

Eventually my dad gave in to her demands. He thought he was going to be so embarrassed showing how bad of a dancer he was in the middle of a night club. Mom on the other hand had a plan, she will not let him look silly in front of a group of people. After she dragged him to the middle of the floor, she allowed him to do his thing. After getting to know what she was working with, she began to dance around him. She took the lead and made a harmonious bridge between my dad and the music. Mom danced so well to make up for my dad, that the people thought they knew what they were doing and danced in harmony. Not a single person thought dad was a horrible dancer that night. Everyone thought they were a dancing duo, dad had so much fun. At least that's what they told me, who knows if any of it was even true.

They became a real couple soon afterwards. They even got married about a year later. A bit soon for my taste, but they were happy. It's almost amazing as I write down these thoughts in my journal remembering mom and dad's stories. And all of this happened because I was out dancing with Muffy. I almost thought about just dating Muffy, maybe have a happily ever after with her. She's so pretty, energetic, cheerful, confident, and so full of personality. But then I think about my parents, and my heart just breaks.

After the festival ended, I took Muffy back to the bar. I admit that we had a great time on our date. We spent the whole trip back talking and laughing about our experience in Mineral Town. But at the bar's front door, she tried to kiss me. If things were different, I would have definitely kissed her. But I remembered my promise I made to myself, so I didn't. Instead I grabbed her shoulders and gently moved her away. She asked why, and I told her that I was not ready to be in a relationship. I had a great time, but I had to stop it there.

Thinking about it now, I sort of screwed up. I told Muffy that I was not ready for a relationship, but the truth is that I never wanted to be in one. Not with her, or anyone else. Because I didn't tell her the truth about me or my past, she said that she will wait. She will keep pursuing me until I am ready to either accept her, or I am no longer single. If only I had the courage to tell her the truth, she would give up and move on. Someday I will tell her the truth, when I am ready to face it myself. My heart is so damaged and terrified, that I don't believe that I have the capability to be in love. Hopefully, I can one day make her understand.