The Farmer and The Doctor

YEAR 1 - SPRING - DAY 20

It had been a month since I had moved to Pelican Town and already it seemed like I had been there for years. In small towns like this everyone knows everyone, and I fit in quite nicely in this little community. I had found myself to be a welcome part of the town's economy, too. Pierre and I became fast friends since I would see him at least once every week for new seeds. Bumping into his daughter Abigail was always a pleasant surprise and she grew very interested in my expeditions into the mines. When luck was on my side, I would go down to the mines for materials and would find quartz and give it to her. She would jokingly say that it looked delicious. I have no idea what she means by it, but I still laugh along.

On the farm, my cauliflower and parsnip crops were growing nicely. It took me several days, but I had managed to clear out a decent amount of land to cultivate my crops. I had set my sights on a chicken coop, but I still needed the money and materials to purchase one. I looked out over my farm and sighed. It wasn't much but it was mine. I grimaced looking out over the dense forest of trees that had grown towards the back of the farm. I had only just managed to chop down enough trees to reach Marnie's house before almost collapsing. My eye traced down to my crops; perhaps I had gone overboard buying fifty parsnips, after all, I still had to harvest them. As the sun slowly rose into the red morning sky, I rolled up my sleeves and began picking the harvest.

I was pleasantly surprised with how well the parsnips had grown with only a little bit of fertiliser. I looked to the cauliflower which looked like they would be ready to harvest any day now and smiled. Surely such good quality crops would bring in a profit after all this time. It was hard work but every day I became better and better at it, and I could feel myself getting stronger. There's no way I would have been able to do this much when I still lived in the city. I hardly missed that life; I certainly didn't miss looking at a computer screen all day. Here, I was always busy. There was always something that needed to be planted, mined, or chopped down. I found myself walking everywhere I went. The air was so much cleaner, and I was so much healthier. I was so much happier here.

"The last one!" I announced to the valley as I pulled the last parsnip from the dirt. I smiled brightly as I wiped the sweat from my brow. I marched proudly to the shipping bin and dumped the crops in, triumphantly clapping the dust from my hands.

I looked at my watch. "12:00pm"

Like clockwork, my mouth felt dry, and my stomach started to rumble. The day had barely begun and already I was beginning to get tired. Gus' Saloon would be opening about now...Perhaps I should visit him, I thought to myself.

A splendid idea. After all, I'd be able to make back the cost of the food from my harvest today. And while I'm out, I could go to Pierre's and buy one last harvest for the season. The walk from the farm to town was always nice and I could have a chat with some people while I'm about. I nodded to myself and began the short trek to town.

My first stop was Pierre's.

"Seeds for sale!" He called out as I walked up to the counter. "How was the harvest?"

"Great!" I beamed at him. "Going to try to get at least one more harvest in before the end of the season."

Pierre smiled sweetly at me. "Say no more." He said, packing another fifty packets of parsnip seeds. My hands began to ache thinking about having to harvest them all over again. "Is that everything today?"

"I think so, Pierre. Thanks again!" I nodded to him.

Abigail turned the corner. "Hey, you!" She said as she leaned against the wall. "What are you up to today."

"Mostly shopping really. I'm gonna head over to the saloon for some lunch, you could join me if you like?" I replied, tucking the seeds into my backpack.