Chapter 7

Koni took his medicine everyday until it got better. It took him a good week to get as strong as it always was before the attack, perhaps even stronger. Old man Barley even came by, and boy he was surprised to see Koni strong and kicking.

A few things changed as far as how I treated my new friend. In the morning, I opened the stable and allowed Koni to leave when he was good and ready. I learned that he fought to get out because like me, he likes to sleep in a few hours before running around the farm.

Bringing him in at night was still a pain, but I learned a neat trick after a few days. One day, I was whistling my favorite tune, and Koni began to follow me. Koni loves the sound of whistling, and I was able to teach it some commands based on whistle pitches. High pitches makes him run off, while low pitches calls him to me. So at night, I whistled inside the stable and he came willingly after a few minutes. I wished I learned that sooner.

I soon found out why Koni was trampling my crops. I observed that Koni likes to hang out in the areas where he trampled my crops. Something about the way it smelled or something. Taking advantage of this, I planted grass on those spots and Koni stayed there grazing once the grass grew. This meant that I had to move some crops over to the far side of the field, but it all worked out in the end.

By the end of Spring, Barley came by to supervise my harvest. Naturally if I was ripping turnips and potatoes out of the ground on my own, I would have ruined them. Cabbage is especially delicate, so Barley had to show me the proper way to pick them to make sure I ship for the maximum profit. It took all day dragging a basket all around the farm carefully picking vegetables to ship. Naturally, I whined and complained the whole time and Barley didn’t even lift a finger to help.

After all the crops were properly and carefully shipped, I received my pay that afternoon. And boy was it a payday! Since all the crops this time around were plump, healthy, and high quality, I got a hefty pay from the shipper. In one day, I made a hell of a lot more than what my parent's sent in a month. Barley explained that the pay I got was only the beginning. With practice, I can grow a lot more crops; not to mention that different crops are even more profitable. Strawberry harvests may sell for less, but they can keep making more strawberries until the end of the season without replanting seeds.

That Summer, I invested in a ton of Tomato and Corn seeds. Using all that Barley taught me, I was able to sow them all on my own without his help. I made a few mistakes here and there, but at least it wasn't like the fiasco from the beginning of Spring. I got plenty of harvests by mid-Summer, and the money was pretty much pouring in after that.

Koni and I shared a bond that Summer. It followed me around when I was working in the farm like a chick to a hen. He let me hang some bags on his back and helped with the harvest. Because of his help, I got pretty decent with the farm. The tomatoes and corn were coming out plump and healthy. Koni's help made the daily harvest less of a chore, and felt like a walk with a friend. I am embarrassed to admit, I started talking to him like if it was a human. Telling him old stories from back in my hometown. At that time, Farm work didn't seem so bad after all.

The girls still came over to play. Surprisingly, I kept refusing. They tried over and over asking me to go to the beach to show off their new swimsuit. But over and over, I told them that I was too busy. I was really starting to like farm work. The beginning of the season was hard work, but the rest of the season was easy with Koni's help.

One day, I was collecting the Summer crops and dropping them off into Koni's satchels. As I was picking some corn, Koni gave me a light headbutt on my back. This was his way of showing affection. I turned around and gave him a rough rub on the head while laughing heartily. But as I played with my pony, I noticed Elli standing by the entrance of the farm. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her. She looked the same as usual with the typical nurse outfit, but watching her hair and dress billow in the Summer breeze just took my breath away. She smiled at me as she moved a few strands of hair from her face. All I did was smile back and wave at her.

She didn't stay long. I guess that she was on break from her job at the clinic. But I kept asking myself; why did she come by so randomly? I did hear a rumor that old man Barley asked her to do so, but I could never confirm that. But lets be honest, I didn't care about the rumor. To see her smile for me was all I wanted and needed to continue doing my best.

There was another mystery that I was thinking about; why did Elli care so much about that farm? Or why did Elli want me to work so hard? Before, I couldn't even get her to look at me. Then she randomly popped up my farm with the most pure and beautiful smile I had ever seen. Even though I only did the work to impress her, I completely forgot about my mission and worked for my own reasons.

Fall came to Mineral Town once again. I became ill, but I was well prepared that time. Only one day in bed, and it was straight back to work for me. But I did little work on the crops that season. I had another thing in mind. Early that fall, I invested in a hen. God damn hens are like roaches! You have one, and they start populating like crazy! By the end of the season, I had the whole coop filled with birds laying eggs every day. Not a lot of money in eggs, but it was a permanent form of income every day as long as they were healthy. Carry the chickens out in the morning, bring them back in at night. Collect the eggs while they were busy pecking the dirt. Not hard work compared to crops, and I got some extra money.

By mid Fall, I bought a cow. Cows are a whole lot of work compared to chickens. It was like raising another horse, but slower. Whistling didn't work too well, but pushing and shoving did the trick. That is until I learned that cows like the sound of bells not whistles. Took a while until it starting giving milk, but it was well worth it.

Too bad for the girls. I was so busy with my farm that I had to break up with all of them. They took it pretty rough, just as expected. When Elli rejected me, it hurt like hell! I don't even want to think about how the girls felt. But I had my goals now. I was gonna do my best for the farm, and earn Elli's affection somehow.

Winter came and went, and Spring arrived melting the snow. That marked the beginning of the third year living in Mineral Town. After that year, I was to be judged before the whole town. They get to decide if I get to stay in Mineral Town or not. I was fairly confident, the farm was doing well after all. But what I did the first year made me a bit nervous.

Koni grew into a fine stallion by that time. It was big enough to buy a saddle and ride it around. It was not very fast yet, so I had no plans to enter any horse races. But now that it's all grown up, I can whistle from anywhere in the farm, and jump on him to travel around town with ease.

Early that Spring, I learned about a festival for couples to enter. I believe it was called the "Flower Festival" or the "Goddess Festival" or something like that. All I knew was that I wanted to attend that year, and I knew who I was gonna ask to be my date.

So the day before the festival came, and I headed over to the clinic. You don't need to be a genius to figure out that I was gonna ask Elli to go with me to the festival. I admit, I was nervous as hell! I was almost too sure that she was gonna turn me down. But I thought to myself, "I'll never know until I try." So I swallowed my pride, and entered the clinic with my cleanest farming gear.

When I got there, Elli was treating her younger brother's scrape. As soon as she saw me, she asked her brother to go play, giving her a chance to see what I needed. "Can I help you?" she asked in her casual tone.

I had goosebumps as I tried to find the perfect words to say. But I put on my game face, and I decided to scrap the fancy talk and go for the direct approach, "there is a festival going on tomorrow. I've never been to that festival yet, so I'm looking forward to it. But I heard that you need a date to go, is that true?" She nodded. Then I continued, "I don't have anyone to go with, so I figured that I'd ask you to go with me. What do you say?"

She was quiet for a while. She then began to look deep into my eyes, almost like if she was searching for something. As she looked into my deep brown eyes, I could tell that she was not thinking about my question. Rather, it felt like if she was looking into my soul, checking out if my intentions were pure. She then looked down, and started to play with her fingers for some reason. I was almost sure that she was going to say no. I was prepared for the worst, until. . .

"Okay," she said shyly.

I admit, I was shocked! I was happy too, but shocked took over that very moment. I didn't know what else to say other than, "Okay. . . Sure! Lets head over to the square at ten in the morning. Shall I pick you up, or are you coming to the farm?"

"I'll come to the farm," she answered. At that time, I didn't know if she was happy or what. Her expression was strange, but not in a bad way. All I knew was that I had a date with Elli.