Flambéed Love (Story of Seasons / Harvest Moon Fanfiction)

Chapter 9: Wishes

Minori laid motionless on her bed and let out a deep sigh as she stared into her ceiling. It was winter the thirteenth, which marked no special occasion until this year when she arrived and became a resident of Oak Tree Town. The picture of a present box was drawn on this date on the calendar located by her bed side, and right beside the picture a name was written: Minori. It was her birthday, something that Minori has been rather anticipated of. She wanted to see who actually remembers and cared enough to shower her with congratulatory words. To her gratitude, all of the residents she talked to that day had wished her a happy birthday, along with some of their personal wishes for her; and the people she was close to showered her with thoughtful gifts in addition.

Iris and Agate gave her a set of presents together placed inside one box and they made a personalised birthday card for her, handwritten by Iris because the novelist's handwriting was much neater than the ranger's. The present box was wrapped in mint green wrapper, decorated with white ribbons; and Minori discovered along with a leather-covered journal for the upcoming year, two orichalcums tucked carefully at its side. The girls had known of her plan to upgrade her big house and add another storey to it, but Minori was still lacking in materials, despite her having more than enough money to pay Gunther for his service. Minori was astonished at the sight, and while she very much loved her gifts, she felt somewhat guilty to be receiving such an exquisite gift for her birthday. Orichalcum is a very rare stone, after all. Apparently, Agate has spent the past few days trying to find them at the mine inside the safari.

The girls were the only one who went through such length to personalise Minori's birthday gift though, as the others preferred to hand it to Minori in person while explaining to her what the gift was. Klaus, who has assumed the role of 'big brother' for her, delivered to her house a medium-sized glass bottle filled with his latest creation, a limited edition perfume to be released next spring, with the scent of rose - which is Minori's favourite.

Fritz, her fellow farmer and good friend, surprised her early in the morning by doing Minori's share of farm work for the day. Fritz hasn't been the best farmer around, but for that day, he did the best he could - perhaps even better than his usual standard - and Minori appreciated that very much. "Today is your day, Minori. I want you to relax and enjoy it to the fullest!" Fritz grinned warmly and Minori smiled sweetly in return, and was reminded yet again how grateful she was for his presence.

Corona, Melanie and Otmar are the people Minori felt close to that don't belong in her age group. Corona is the person Minori would usually look for to get some advice, especially when it comes to every day problems that girls face - Minori would look for the wise Klaus when it comes to other issues. On the other hand, Minori sees Melanie like a younger sister and Otmar just like her own grandfather. For her birthday, Corona gave Minori her special homemade baked cookies that she loved; Melanie made a flower bouquet for her; and Otmar gave Minori his treasured old fishing rod, thinking that it would be put to better use in her hands - considering Otmar's age. Minori was grateful for every single one of them.

Minori would have been elated and the day would have been perfect, if only one last remaining person had took even the slightest trouble to wish her. It was already five in the afternoon, yet there was still no word from Raeger - causing Minori to wonder if he actually had forgotten, much to her disappointment. Minori let out another deep sigh and rolled around her bed, as she watched the clock ticked one long second at a time.

...

The young farmer would normally head to bed the moment she finishes her farm work; but today, she stayed awake longer, waiting for the day to end when the clock strikes past midnight. She did everything she could to distract herself while she continued waiting: watched the television, opened her refrigerator a few times without actually eating something, flipped through her blueprints, rolled on her bed... But even as time continued passing painstakingly, there was still no word from Raeger.