::CE:: Happiness

It was almost six in the morning. In a quiet town, facing the sea and backed by a mountain, every single villager was fast asleep. The woodcutter snored soundly, his house strong with the fragrant smell of wood; a little girl slept with her dog, making her bed creak with every toss and turn; even the little Harvest Sprites, magical beings with extraordinary powers, were tucked neatly with their tiny rainbow-coloured futons. The entire town was quieter than ever, with only the chirping of birds in the forest and the gentle waves hitting the shore.  

As soon as the clock read six, though, the peace was momentarily disturbed in a young female farmer’s house. Her alarm clock beeped noisily, and it took her ten seconds to comprehend it. She blinked wearily at the ceiling, and contemplated staying in bed a while longer, before sighing and sitting herself up. Her arm reached across and smacked the snooze button.

Claire got off the bed, shivering a little as her body left the warmth of her blankets. She stretched her arms and legs, freshened up and changed into her work clothes. It was only when she started her breakfast did she realize the date – Spring 1st.

She immediately chowed down on her food, excited and happy that spring was finally here. At last, the bitter cold winds and frostbite of winter could be forgotten for another three seasons. Claire cleaned up after breakfast, and tiptoed to the window, careful not to wake her sleeping husband – and child, who was asleep on her husband’s left. She smiled tenderly at the father and daughter, who looked so alike in slumber, with their pale skin and ginger hair.

When she pulled away the curtains, Claire nearly gasped in delight. The snow and frost had seemingly disappeared overnight, and what was left of the harsh winter were only mere puddles on the ground. She pulled on her snow boots, just in case it was still cold – she was right; the breeze outside made her want to shrivel back in her cosy home. But, this was different from yesterday – the air had a sense of freshness to it, like new beginnings and the start of new life.

Claire went to her barn to check on her cows and sheep. “There, girl,” she cooed to her favourite cow. “You’re looking great! The baby should be here in another two weeks.” The cow mooed, seemingly able to understand what she said. She giggled and brushed it clean.
After milking her cows and shearing sheep wool, Claire returned near her house to ship her animal products. By this time, the sun had peeked through the clouds, and shone brightly and proudly. Her door creaked open, and the next thing Claire knew, her little daughter had ambushed her legs and was hugging them tightly.

“Hey, Ginger, darling,” Claire said sweetly, patting her daughter’s unruly curls. “Good morning.”

“Good morning Mama!” Ginger exclaimed cheerily, looking up. “Guess what day it is?”

Claire acted like she was thinking hard. “Hmm… what could it be?” She peeked at her daughter’s expecting eyes, big as the moon. “Could it be… my birthday?”

“Silly Mama!” Ginger laughed. “Mama’s birthday’s in Fall.”

“Is it? My memory must be getting old, then,” Claire chuckled. “Well then, what day is it?”

“It’s the first of Spring, Mama! All the birdies and pretty flowers will be there again when we go hiking in the mountains!” Ginger’s bright blue eyes shone. “I can’t wait to go hiking, Mama! Can we go today?”

Claire sighed. “Sorry, darling. Mama’s got to work again – there are a lot of crops to plant. And we have to go to the town’s New Year celebrations later. How about, Daddy will bring you hiking tomorrow?”

Before her daughter could open her mouth to reply, Claire felt a pair of arms encircling her waist. Soon after, a tender kiss was planted on her cheek. “Good morning, dear,” Gray whispered into her ear. He was dressed in his regular get-up, hat and all, and smelled faintly of wood musk from the fireplace inside the house.

Claire grasped his hand. “Good morning.”

Gray turned to face their daughter. “Papa wants to sleep tomorrow,” he declared. “It’s Papa’s day off, and you know how Papa needs his sleep.”

Ginger pouted, crossing her arms. Claire noted how similar she looked like Gray – not to mention their temper. “But I want to go see all the pretty pink flowers and chase the squirrels! I’ve been waiting a whole year, Papa, and Papa would rather sleep?”

Claire turned to Gray, smirking. “She has a point. It’s been all snow and cold for quite a while and you’d rather sleep in than enjoy the natural outdoors?”

Gray scoffed, but with a hint of amusement. “Sleep is priority,” he stated again, but this time he picks up their daughter and holds her in his arms. “Okay, Papa will bring you tomorrow,” he announced, “but we will help Mama with the farm work until it’s time for the celebration today. Is that clear?”

Ginger laughed happily, her cheeks rosy and her smile blinding. “I want to play with the chickens! I love the chickens! Especially that little chick that just hatched! I want to collect their eggs too! They’re tasty!”

Gray look dismayed. “Noooo. Not the chickens. They are evil.”

Claire exploded into laughter at her husband’s expression. “They’re not that bad. Help me feed them while you’re at it, okay? Mama needs to plant her turnips.”

“Okay, Mama!” Ginger declared. Claire looked on, amused, as Ginger held her father by the hand, dragging him to his most detested place on the farm, the chicken coop. She stifled a laugh as she heard Gray muttering to himself, “Collecting eggs is one thing, because eggs are yummy, but the chickens are another thing altogether… I wonder if I can roast them instead…”

With her husband and daughter having quality bonding time together with the chickens (Claire couldn’t understand if Gray would make it out alive, though) she had peace and quiet to sow her seeds. Claire made it a tradition to always sow turnip seeds as her first crop of the year. As she tilled the soil with her hoe, Claire realized that in a blink, she had already reached her sixth year in Mineral Town.

Now, how did that happen?

Claire finished tilling, and put down her hoe. She looked at the hoe again. It was upgraded to Mystrile, and so were all her other tools. She looked at her house. Fully upgraded, with a big bed, kitchen and fireplace. She looked at her barn. Also fully upgraded. Same went for her chicken coop. Her fields were clear of boulders, her horse was fully grown, her animals gave high-quality products, and her crops were always fresh and delicious. She’d gotten to know everyone in town – including the Kappa, Harvest Goddess and the Harvest Sprites. She’d met new friends, made friends for life, fell in love with someone she’d never expected. She’d gotten married four summers ago – and had been blessed with Ginger the next spring. Now, Ginger was nearly three, and Claire couldn’t believe it.
Everything seemed to have passed so fast.

How did such a rundown farm, and a problematic city girl, manage to turn the ranch around and find happiness in a small, sleepy village by the name of Mineral Town?

---***---

Oh my goodness, Claire thought, this isn’t the place I saw. It’s…

The farmland was overrun with weeds, stones and tree stumps. The house was practically a shack, dingy and too close for comfort. The barn and coop had spider webs in every corner, and one sneeze could blanket the entire floor in dust.

It’s horrible.

A stout little man, probably in his early fifties, walked into the farm compound. Claire turned around, about to bark at him. Get off my property! Her mouth formed the words, but no sound came out. The man continued to walk, but as soon as he saw Claire, he looked surprised. “Hello,” he said pleasantly. “Are you a tourist?”

Claire ignored him, too frustrated to answer. She’d basically thrown away a steady-paying job, a life of her own, for what? This rundown farm? I’m going to sue the realtor, she thought. They basically cheated her of several tens of thousands of dollars!

She gave herself some time to breathe in, breathe out, and calm down. Then she turned to face the little man. “Nope,” Claire said. “I bought this place.”

Hoping he took her annoyed tone as a hint, Claire rolled her eyes when the little man continued to walk and stopped right in front of her. “Did MT Realtor tell you that you can live a refreshing life on a farm?” he asked.

Claire looked at him, stunned. Is he some psychic?

He should tell me how to get my money back then.

“You’re the new farmer?” he reconfirmed. Claire nodded at him, uncertainly.
She had hopes, that this little man was a rich business tycoon, and would offer to help her get her money back – or at least give her some cash to sustain while she earned back some. Claire took in his extravagant clothes and top hat – almost like a circus conductor’s outfit – and prayed for the best.

Of course, he wasn’t.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!” He laughed loudly, earning himself a look from Claire. “You’ve been tricked! It used to be a gorgeous farm, but not since the owner passed away.” The strange man gestured to the weeds and rocks and stumps. “As you can see, no one’s been taking care of it.”

Claire clenched her fists in anger. I am so suing the realtor for this…

The little man wiped away his tears of laughter, and continued blabbering on. “Not many people want to work on the farm now. So MT Realtor decided to make the advertisement sound more attractive, and every now and then there are people who have seen the ad and they come here. Just like yourself.”

“But whenever they see the farm, they get disappointed and leave. Just like that.” He thought for a while. “It’s been a while since the last one came, though. I can’t believe you fell for that cheesy advertisement! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

That was the last straw. Maybe it was Claire’s fault for being tricked so easily. Maybe it was the realtor’s fault for not being truthful to their customers. But no one, no one insults Claire and gets away with it.

What more, with her frustration already building up inside, Claire didn’t notice she was holding her hammer with rage. She certainly didn’t notice the expression on the man’s face when she instinctively smashed down on him. Claire huffed, letting her anger out.

She opened her eyes, and blinked. It took her a while to realize she had actually hit the man really hard. Claire nearly gasped. She didn’t mean to nearly kill him… “Ow! Ouch… Okay, okay, sorry. Please stop hitting me,” the man pleaded. Claire could see the mark where a bruise would form later on.

She put down her hammer a little apologetically. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I just, I’m just really frustrated… I quit my job and moved out of my apartment for this.”

The man looked a little apologetic as well. “That’s too bad…” he murmured. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he smiled brightly at Claire.

“I know! Why don’t you just try and run the farm? The house is liveable, and actually pretty nice… after some spring cleaning, of course.” His voice trailed off a little at the last bit, but he perked up again soon enough. “I’m sure if you work hard, you’ll be happy here.” He cleared his throat a little. “As the mayor of this town, I will help you as much as I can.”

Claire raised an eyebrow at him. This funnily dressed old guy is the mayor of town? Well, I guess it is a very quaint town… “I can’t imagine that I’ll ever be truly happy here though,” Claire admitted, a little embarrassed. “This place is a real dump, and I’m not good with people…”    

The man smiled at her, almost calculatingly. “I can teach you some basics of farming, of course.”

---***---

The next day, the little man, who introduced himself as Thomas, brought over a bag of seeds, a hoe and a watering can. “Today, I’ll teach you how to plant seeds,” he said chirpily.

Claire rubbed her eyes. She wasn’t used to waking up so early, and the bed was so uncomfortable she couldn’t sleep a wink. Perhaps being a city girl had spoiled her in some way. “Seeds?” Claire repeated.

Thomas nodded. “Seeds. Today we’ll plant turnip seeds, because turnips are the simplest to grow. All you have to do is till the soil, sow, and water. Simple isn’t it?”

It wasn’t as easy as said, though. Claire’s arm muscles trembled as she tilled the soil with the heavy hose. By the time she had a 3x3 space of tilled land, her biceps felt like they were on fire. “Now,” Thomas continued, oblivious to her moans of pain, “stand in the middle and throw the seeds.”

“Just throw? Won’t they fly  everywhere?”

Thomas smiled. “Think of it as a new start. You’re throwing every worry away, and besides, it’s beautiful when the seeds spiral into the air and then land. They land haphazardly, but don’t you think that’s the beauty of it? Nothing in nature is uniform.”

Claire looked at him, wary, before sighing and accepting his explanation. She stood in the middle, and flung her hand into the air.

Plop! The seeds landed, a little anticlimactically. Some didn’t land on the tilled land, but most did – in the messiest way possible.

Claire had a sudden urge to pick them all up and plant them one by one by hand – she had a little obsessive –compulsive disorder, and was a personal neat freak. However, she thought that although the seeds weren’t uniform, the way they were lying seemed natural somehow…

It was certainly interesting.

As Claire watered her seeds, Thomas decided to give another thread of advice. “Remember to water them every day, and they’ll grow big and healthy! Let me see one turnip at least before you ship it off. I’d like to see how you can farm.”

“But, I don’t think they’ll be anything to be proud of.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, child. Remember, if you work hard, you’ll be happy here. Don’t forget to stop by in town! Buy a chicken when you’ve saved up enough, the profits will be greater than any crop you can plant now. Cows and sheep can wait for when you’re more settled down. Don’t forget to meet the townspeople! They’re all very nice. There are many young adults your age, and a bar. You might meet new friends, or maybe even a boy…”

Claire blushed a little. She would never imagine an older guy she’d just met, the mayor of her new home, trying to get her to hook up with someone as soon as she moved in. “Mayor Thomas, thank you for the tips. But I’m not exactly good with people, so I’ll pass on that. I’ll consider the chicken, though.”
 
Thomas smiled, that calculating smile again. “Not to worry, Claire. I’m sure you will have a great time here in Mineral Town. Remember, if you work hard…”

---***---

“…you’ll be happy here,” Claire finished.

The sound of her dog barking at her woke her from her trance. “Hey there, boy,” Claire smiled at the dog. She could still remember when Buster was a tiny little puppy, and that was somewhere at the beginning of this whole story… she looked down at her palm.

---***---

The turnips she’d grew that year were small, and not very tasty. But, the feeling she had when she saw them sprouting, from tiny green leaves to a vegetable, was pretty much indescribable. Claire had run to the mayor, exclaiming in excitement, “They grew! They grew!”

Mayor Thomas had chuckled. “You’re such a naïve young kid, but I like that. Reminds me of when I was younger… that’s a nice turnip! You’re doing well, kiddo.”

And Claire swore she never smiled brighter before.

The times after were different. Claire got better at planning her farm, and her crops grew healthier than ever before. She still kept a habit of giving the mayor a turnip every time a batch grew, and she was glad she could see the difference in every new batch.

Claire could remember giving the last turnip of the spring that year. It was the last day of Spring, and the batch she had planted were harvested just in time. She was returning from the mayor’s house, but not before a happy redhead girl walked into her.

“Oh! I’m so sorry! Are you alright?” The redhead helped her up.

“Yeah, I’m fine, thank you,” Claire replied.

The redhead’s face lit up. “I’ve never seen you before. You’re the new farmer, right? I’m Ann.”

And after that, Ann had brought Claire to the Inn. There, she got to meet many of the townsfolk, both older and younger, and some her age.

“Gray! Come out here! Stop hiding in your room all day like a hermit crab!” Ann was banging on the door of one of the rooms available for rent. Claire peered curiously at her, before the door swung open and Claire saw the grumpiest guy she had ever seen.
“What the heck, Ann? I was trying to sleep.” The man brought his hand to his head and self-consciously rubbed his hair. He was tall, pale and ginger-haired.

“Is this your brother?” Claire had asked Ann. Ann had burst out laughing. The man had a most disgusted look on his face.

“Like heck I would be related to her,” he had snapped.

“Don’t be so mean, Gray. Introduce yourself to Claire! She’s the new farmer,” Ann said happily.

Gray took one long look at Claire before closing the door. “I don’t like farmers,” he muttered just before the door slammed shut.

“Don’t mind him, Claire. Gray doesn’t really like people,” Ann had told her.

Claire wouldn’t have imagined her chance encounter with Ann after delivering a turnip to Mayor Thomas’s would lead to her meeting the guy she would eventually marry.

---***---

After that, Claire planted all throughout the year. Even though they were all crops, turnips still held a place in her heart for being the first successful crops she’d planted. She remembered waiting anxiously for Spring to arrive, just so she could sow those seeds again.

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Claire returned to reality, back from the world of memories and days past. She stepped into the centre of her 3x3 tilled plot, smiled at the tiny seeds in her hand, and tossed them high up into the air.

The seeds dispersed, some going north, some going west, and some spiralling dangerously through the air. The surroundings suddenly went quiet, and all focus was on the tiny containers of life cutting through the air on their journey to the ground.

When the seeds landed, Claire watered them, and stepped back to look at her work. Sure, they were nothing more than specks in dirt now, but she knew with work and tender care, they would be plump and fresh and delicious.

In five days, when she harvested them, Claire was going to pay the mayor another visit. Certainly it wouldn’t be the Claire from the year before, or the year before that, or the Claire of six years past. It might be the exact same conditions – turnip in rucksack, smile on face, legs aching from running speedily towards the mayor’s. But this time, Claire would thank him for that simple line of advice from when she first arrived. And she’d proudly declare that she’d fulfilled what he’d expected – she’d found happiness.  

There was a reason why Claire always planted turnips as her first crops in spring.