Chapter Text
While most people wake up at this time with the sound of bird, or roosters, I was waking up to pounding at the door. That’s enough to wake just about anyone up, and push me up out of my bed. Well, falling more like it. I was rushing to the door to see who it even was. Sunlight poured through the windows as I tried to be quick, flinging the door open to see a tall muscular man. Did I already do something to piss someone off? I just got here. I don’t recognize him at all. He must have seen my face of confusion since their face relaxed.
“Sorry if I scared you. I’m Impulse. I’m the town's blacksmith, Xisuma told me you needed supplies to clean up the farm.” Impulse was broad. He wasn’t tall, but felt tall with me being all hunched over like I was. My reaction, once again, must have been something stupid since his face changed as well.
“I’ve brought over an extra pickaxe, shovel, hoe, watering can, axe. Pixel from the adventurer's guild can hook you up with anything else you’ll need for the mines. If you ever want to upgrade or just talk more about them, you can visit me. My workshop is by the museum. If not then Gem and Pearl can help. They are my younger sisters living just south of the farm. I’ll leave you for now. I left the tools on the bottom porch? I’m not sure what it’s called. I hope you have a good one.” Impulse smiled before leaving down the stairs, passing by the tools he was talking about. The watercan was the only left on the actual porch. That was something to wake up to, that's for sure. Stretching before closing the door. There was less dust than the previous day, meaning that the windows were actually left open. It’s actually surprising how I didn’t notice that, but it was also pitch black, isn’t summer soon? I don’t have any money to buy things or do things with the house. I’m going to leave that as a later Jimmy problem, but someone came through and knocked on the door before I could even head back to bed to rest more. I couldn’t help the groan coming out of my mouth. Outside this time wasn’t another random person I’ve seen but rather the mayor himself.
“Good morning Jimmy. I hope you’ve enjoyed your rest.” I had to give a bit of a smile.
“Yeah. It was fine. I just got up a bit from the door. So.” I had no idea what to say. The realization drew on me that one of my first reactions with someone, might have been negative because I was tired. So things are off to a great start clearly.
“I’m not sure how things worked in the city,” Thank goddess you had more to say Xisuma. “But around here you are going to have to wake up early. I’m just here to drop off a few bits that would help you get started.” Xisuma moved backwards and summoned me outside. Now, I was only wearing my clothes from last night, and a pair of socks. It’s barely been a day and I’m already a mess. Xisuma seemed to notice my hesitation to come out. It wasn’t much with him, or just not wanting to come out, it was more in the sense of, I’m in socks and in the same clothing I came with. I really need to do, is change my clothing, with a possible shower as well. These had to get washed anyway, might as well just step out onto the porch and get blinded by the morning sun. It’s spring, it’s pretty early in the morning, why did it seem like it was already the afternoon.
“I’d still have to wake up early. It didn’t get messed up anyway. Although I did quit a bit ago so it’s just been a while since I’ve woken up at a time like this.” A never smile had to have painted my lips. It’s all a bit much.
“Well, I can walk you through how things are probably gonna go. You have a farm to run now with a mix of things to do.”
“Yeah that. That's fine by me, just let me get changed first if you don’t mind.”
“Alright. I’ll just be waiting out here then.” Stepping inside and closing the front door, I froze. Did I really want to do this? It’s too late to back out now anyway. But I wanted to shower. Well, if I want to live I need to learn how to take care of myself. Who knows, maybe I can make a small penny off of this. Walking back into my room, I pulled up one of my suitcases onto the bed and opened it, scanning for something decent to wear. As much as I would keep the same pair of pants, it was probably better to just change them, so another pair of jeans was fine. I could have put more thought into it, I just figured that it shouldn't be white. Too bad for this random video game shirt, I can't even remember what it's from.
At the door, it was a slight pain to put on my shoes. I need to find some good slip ons. It was a pain untying the laces just to retie them. I need a change anyway if I’m dedicating myself to this job. Standing outside with the door closing behind me, I suddenly began to see the beauty of everything. The tree’s seemed to reach heights that didn’t seem possible. The running waterfall to my right with the sound of the checks. I do hope it isn’t too hard. Xisuma called me over to the middle of a little dirt.
“Lesson 1, crops. It’s kinda obvious how it works. Different crops for different seasons, each taking a few days to grow. I don’t know if Tango’s got any fruit trees in stock so you can worry about those later. I’ve brought over some hay and seeds as well so you can get started on your own.’ It was a little hard to keep track of everything. Xisuma grabbed a strange looking tool before doing something to the ground with it. The previous dirt was now slightly darker. “This is how you hoe the land. It can take a bit of force to get it to properly move. You can hoe it slightly more do that you get it deeper in the dark. It is better for things like potatoes. From here though I’d recommend your hands, so if you have gloves, they’d work in this setting. Come try it out.” I was slightly nervous walking up to the extended tool. Any tools I’ve worked with have been not just small, but mainly related to coffee. I was not expecting this to go right at all.
It wasn’t something too hard actually. I did have to put my back into it with Xisuma showing me how to do it to not hurt myself too much. I got a few rows down when he called me over and showed me what he was doing with the Parsnip seeds he brought with him. It was actually a pretty simple rhythm to do everything. The last thing to do was to water everything, which wasn’t too hard.
“Uhm. Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but where would I get water if I manage to run out?”
“It’s not a dumb question. Grian asked the same thing too. There’s a river by the chicken coop. I don’t know if he had plans to build a well a bit closer to the crop fields or not. That's something either Joel or Keralis would know.” I nodded to his response. It made sense, and it was a pretty dumb question. Picking up from where my brother left off was strange. It sounded like he had his whole life planned here. What was probably gonna hurt more, placing the tools down by the porch, was going to be the comparisons. The only thing I can hope for is that people don’t compare me to Grian. I don’t know if anyone even knows if we’re siblings. They’ll find out eventually. It’s a small town to not have something like that spread. But that wasn’t a current problem anyway. Xisuma was making his way to the chickens, where that weird guy was yesterday. There was a huge bag next to the gate with, I honestly can’t tell exactly because it looks like maybe hay or straw, but getting closer there are little balls that look like seeds.
“This is chicken feed. I mean, you can use it with any of the other animals but since you just have chickens, it is just chicken feed for now.” Feed for all animals? That was strange to say the least. Maybe the balls were actually just seeds that were safe for chickens to eat?
“The feed is actually only really for the insides, so other than a well I’d recommend getting a silo so you can store this easier. It’s better to use on a rainy day or during the winter. Other than that,” Xisuma knocked on a small hatch before pulling it open, hooking the hatch above it, revealing a small little square hole. Two chicks popped out, clucking at each other before wandering out into the grass. I watched them run around, playing like siblings. Two little fluff balls just roaming around. It was slightly scary to see them get close to the river. I know that they chicks probably knew where to not go, but it was still slightly scary to see them get close.
“Worried huh?” My attention drew over to Xisuma who was struggling with the door to the coop. I could help him but he was blocking my way. Or, well, the hay was. “Grian was the same way. He helped the chickens figure out that the water was bad. Although, it wouldn’t stop them from following him if he ever went to wade in the water. It’s the reason he made a makeshift bridge by the old greenhouse.”
“I didn’t know there was a green house here? Grian never made mention of it.” Xisuma shrugged as the door creaked open.
“The old thing is beyond repair. You can try if you wish but.” Xisuma just shook his head entering the coop where I followed, putting down the bag next to something with a hole. Kinda like a bin before he lifted the lid off, placing it next to these other things and stuffing the sack, placing it, in the bin. “A storm years back destroyed the glass, having shattered it. It’s still a mess around it with glass and broken, whatever they used. It was broken even before your brother. That's something you’d probably have to talk to Keralis or Joel about.” I made a mental note to look and ask around for those two. It was all so overwhelming. There was so much to do, it felt like I wouldn't have time to do everything even if I wanted to. Much less interacting with people if I needed to work the whole time.
“This is for feeding the chicks on other days.” I looked back to Xisuma to see what he was talking about. Giving the top a slight tap to the top of the bin. “In case it rains or during the winter. I’d have to get you a pail so you can scoop it from here,” pointing to the bin “to the trough.” to the thing on the ground. So that's what the name of it was. It was all overwhelming. I didn’t think there would be so much to do in a place like this. Grian made it sound so much easier with taking care of things, but who knows how much of this overgrown forest was from when he was around either.
“If you have questions Jimmy you know where I live. There’s also a library if need be. The internet out here isn’t the best, but we are working on it. I don’t understand how but the Library has the best reception.” Well then. I guess I knew where I was going. We said our goodbyes with each other, leaving me to do the farming and stuff. All the seeds that Xisuma gave though were already planted. They weren’t watered though, so that was something to do. It was pretty easy to do, something that couldn't be said when it came to chopping tree’s down. The axe didn’t really feel right in my hands. It was too heavy, almost dragging me down to the ground as I tried to move it. Swinging it was even harder. Most muscle I had was from carrying items in the bakery. Even then, with the office job, most of those muscles have gone away, no matter how much he tried to go to the gym. It was exercise though nonetheless.
•-•
When the sun was at its highest, I decided to take a break. Being outside all day can bring some exhaustion pretty quickly. What I did was to change into some slightly cleaner clothes, washing myself off a bit before doing so. I walked through the path that went past the bus stop and into town, trying to remember my way around the town. I really needed to find some sort of map because standing in the middle of the town square looking around like a lost puppy probably made me look pathetic, but it was the best way to figure out where I even needed to go. It was actually quite easy once I saw Xisuma’s house, office, building, it was pretty easy to see the bridge that he said led to the library. The building itself was actually pretty small. But going inside, it was giant. It was as if I stepped foot into another universe with how big it was. The front desk looked empty, with a small bell and a donation and return box right next to it. I wasn’t sure whether to ring the bell or not, especially since there looked to be a boy here with an adult seemingly teaching him, but at the same time, if I didn’t ring it, would anyone know I’m even here or waiting. This felt like being at school all over again, especially after moving. I was going to call it quits there and just leave but a woman came from a door that I didn’t notice holding a ton of books.
“Oh. Hello. Sorry I wasn’t here. I’m Andrea, the local librarian and collector. How may I help you?” Andrea placed the books down on the desk with a heavy thump, moving her hand quickly to her face to push back her glasses from falling down her face.
“I was wondering where the farming section is? How to farm plants and seasons?” I saw Andrea think for a moment, probably trying to mentally remember where to even go before she moved towards my left, getting out from behind the desk to probably show me where they are, although I wasn’t too sure if I should follow or not. Although it didn’t seem like she went too far anyway, going behind some book shelves before popping back out to summon me.
“Everything farming related is here. Some of these books are old, so please be gentle. They’re donations and from people who used to live here, so I just ask to please be careful. There’s a table just around if you need to use it.”
“Thank you.” I offered my best smile to the female. She smiled back and moved back to the front desk, to whatever she was doing. Me on the other hand, had to look at the spines of the books to see if any of them would be good to take information down. There were a few with more faded titles that looked interesting, and taking them out seemed rewarding too. “How to Farm 101”, “Ways of the Land”, “Crops All Year Round” Oh yeah. These would do. It made me wish I bought a notebook with me. I have like, one or two in my bag, but it would be easier to do all this research with somewhere to write it down. Oh well. I’ll just have to try and remember everything so I know what I’m doing. Even though I don't’.
•-•
It’s one thing, falling asleep in your own home or in a friend’s place, but it's a completely different thing when falling asleep in a public place. The panic I had, scaring the librarian when she woke me up. I was so embarrassed. I didn’t realize how tired I was with the trip and working the morning on the farm.
“Sorry to wake you, it’s just that I’m closing soon and you're currently the only one here. Other than myself.”
“Oh I’m sorry I didn’t mean to.” I was quick to get up, closing the books and pushing in the chair. I saw that she looked at the books and then looked at me.
“Did you want to check those out?”
“I’m sorry?” It caught me off guard and I didn’t even know what she was talking about for a minute.
“I know these volumes are a little old, but would you want to check them out? Take them home for a while and then return them? It’s not hard to do and would only take a bit of time.” Thinking, while it would be great to have, I’m not sure that I’d even have a place to put them. But, having them at home means that I could reference them better, and take notes as well.
“If it isn’t too much of a hassle I don’t mind taking them out.” Andrea smiled and nodded, walking towards the front desk. What I did was grab the books that I had out. There were only three I grabbed, but walking by the section, there was another that caught my eye, so in a split second decision, I grabbed it as well, holding four books on my way to the desk. Putting them down, and despite the already bad condition, Andrea checked the books, probably for any other damage she didn’t have noted down. Probably I don’t know. I’ve been to a library once for school and tried checking out a book but couldn't for whatever reason. It's hard to remember it was elementary school.
“Okay. Four books. Return themmm byyy” Andrea spun around to look at a calendar she had on the wall. To think that spring just started a few weeks ago, it felt surreal. Grian’s birthday was a month ago, and my own a month soon. Time passes by too quickly for all this to be happening. “Hello?” I had to spring my attention up back to the brunette, blushing out of embarrassment. “You zoned out. They're gonna be due back on the twenty sixth. This month is preferable. I do hope you enjoy them.” A thought came across his mind seeing her face kinda wince at putting the books down.
“Why don’t you just remake them?” Andrea tilted her head in confusion. “I know making books is hard but since these are local books, if you want to keep them preserved in the same way, why not rewrite them and then make them as your own book to have on the shelves for check out.” I watched as the gears began turning in her head and her eyes lit up.
“I don’t think I ever would have thought of that oh my gods. Thanks for the idea I’d have to look into doing book binding again but I have never thought of that oh my gods. Thank you for the idea.” A wide smile appeared on Andrea’s face as she followed me to lock the door, closing it behind me. It sounds stupid I won’t lie but I do hope she had a good time doing it. But it's time to leave for now and head home for research, holding and carrying the books back home. The only careful part I had to be at, was the path from the house to the town itself. A few people were out, those I should probably introduce myself to, although that is a bit of a later problem and one of the last things on my mind as I found myself parkouring on these stones to even get home somewhat safely. That though, is the last thing on my mind currently as I arrived at the house, opening the door to get in. Something set in me as I took off my shoes and then moved over to the kitchen table to put down the books I got. From there it was just looking for the notebook, easily showing from my backpack. Sitting back down as the sun began to fade over the horizon, bringing in the darkness, making reading just a bit more difficult for me to do the research I wanted.