Mountains and Caves

The Arrival

The bus trundled along the road, the rhythmic and continuous sound of the bus going over the rocks and bumps on the road drove my mind to blissful memories of running around that old farm, playing with my friends, and lying in bed whilst listening to my grandpa reading bedtime stories.

A loud and obvious cough brought me away from the reel of memories flicking through my brain. The bus driver was staring at me, along with some of other passengers on the bus. The bus driver jerked his head towards the door and I stood up, awkwardly walking towards the door, whilst profusely apologising to anyone who would listen to me.

I watched as the bus disappeared in to the dark tunnel and could feel the strings of my old life snap and a small jab of longing pierced my heart. I shook my head. I knew those feelings were pointless and insincere. I mean, I'd spent hours every day sitting in a crusty, old chair whilst people cubicles away actually DIED. My only sustenance during that life was coming home and dreaming of fanciful and unattainable versions of myself, and imagining myself raising chickens and growing beautiful flowers.

"Hello!" I spun around to see a person with ginger hair standing there, "You must be y/n, the new farmer." I stared at her and nodded. "Oh! You must forgive me for my lack of manners, I'm Robin, the local carpenter." "Oh, uh, nice to meet you, could I, maybe, make my way to my new farm?" I asked, trying to hurry this slow-speaking lady along. Robins smile dropped and her demeanour reduced in optimism, "Oh, yeah, that would be okay, Mayor Lewis is waiting by the lodge."

Together, we walked down the rough path, and followed the signs towards 'Everglen Farm'. A few steps away from the farm entrance, Robin pulled me aside. "Hey y/n, I just wanted to warn you, the farm has been unoccupied for at least 10 years, so it's, uhm, wild." I rolled my eyes, it couldn't be that bad.

The farm was in bad shape. I could see that now. Robin and Mayor Lewis stared around the farm ashamedly. I was attempting to reimagine it as the lively and beautiful farm that I remembered it as, but there was just too much clutter and thick wooded areas. The farm was covered in jagged boulders and small piles of rocks, as well as thick and dense trees covering almost half of the farm's area.

Mayor Lewis broke the silence, "Well, it's, uh, a bit—uhm a lot of a fixer-upper, but I'm sure you'll be able to return it to it's previous state, or even better." "Yeah..." I frowned.

My house was foul. There was no other way to put it. It's wooden floors were moldy and dusty in many areas and the walls were made of the exact same type of wood and it's characteristics were similar to the floor. I grimaced. This was more than a fixer-upper. I had dug myself into a hole of overgrown farming land and moldy houses. If this was the farm, what would the town be like?

Reluctantly, I slid into the bed, closed my eyes and shut my eyes, almost hoping that this hadn't happened at all.

The next morning, I was awakened by my door, being whipped closed in the wind. In shock, my eyes flicked open and I stared around room, eyes almost completely skipping over the box in the middle of my room. Curiously, I stood up, walking tentatively over to unwrap it. I opened it and inside were some... seeds?

They were seeds. Parsnip seeds. Well, I guess they could be sort of useful, kick off my farming life. I shoved the seeds into my backpack, and walked outside to be met with a nice sunny day. I smiled as I walked towards the town, hoping to gain some good seeds for a reasonable price.