Chapter 9

Things got pretty busy afterwards; Elli and I became a couple. Me being a farmer and she being a nurse, it wasn't easy. We lived in the opposite sides of the village, which gave little time to see each other. We both did our best to make it work though.

When I got done with my farm work, I would go over to the clinic with flowers. Just for kicks, I would make up illnesses to have an excuse to see her. Being an expert in health, Elli knew when I was faking it. But that's okay, she found my acts to be pretty funny.

On her breaks, she came over to my farm with sandwiches. They were. . . A little hard to eat when she started making them. They did get better over time, she really tried hard for me. I really appreciated that. She did teach me her recipe, which are the sandwiches I eat today.

Not only that, we attended each festival together. I must admit, these festivals are a ton of fun once you give them a chance. Or maybe they were a lot of fun when you go with someone you love. We learned so much about each other from the festivals. My favorite festival was the tomato throwing festival. Gave me an excuse to let out any frustration by pegging people with tomatoes in the face. I win every round, while Elli and her brother keep getting hit.

Fall came around, and once again I got sick. When that happened, Elli took time off work to take care of me. She made me hot food, made sure my house was clean, and found some help for the farm. It's pretty amazing to know how dependable she was. Nobody else was like her, which made me love her even more.

Winter came and went once more. The fourth Spring arrived, and I was to be judged before the entire village. Grandfather's farm was running well, but I did piss off a few villagers. I was pretty scared to tell you the truth, I really wanted to stay in Mineral Town with Elli. It took several long painful nail-biting hours to reach a decision. But after everything was said and done, they decided to let me stay.

The village celebrated that day when I officially became a resident of Mineral Town. I was allowed to keep my grandfather's farm, we partied all the way to the next day, and I thought things were going to be perfect, like an ending to a fairy tale.

Since I was allowed to stay, I did what any man in love would do. I asked Elli to marry me. She said yes, with her beautiful and cheerful smile. When we announced it to the doctor, Elli surprised me by quitting her job that very day. She said that she can't be a perfect wife to me if she devoted her time to the clinic. It was painful to watch her say goodbye to the clinic, but this was her decision so I respected it.

The whole village celebrated that day we got married just a week later. She was so beautiful in her wedding dress, pure white with ribbons everywhere. Like an angle descended from heaven. Me and Elli wrote our vows, and recited them on our wedding day. I was so moved when she read her vows. I am not going to even try to recall it word for word; I know that I have made it seem that I can remember everything, but I will not even try to butcher her precious words. I remember clearly that she was telling me about how she waited for me for many years, but she never gave up. She knew that someday, I would find my way back to her.

Me on the other hand, I remember what I wrote perfectly. I unfolded my page that I spent all week writing, and recited these words, "Growing up, I made a lot of mistakes. My heart rebelled, and I didn't know why I did the things I did. When I came here to Mineral Town, I found my answer. My heart was incomplete. But when I found Elli, I slowly started to change. Not even a day passed by, I found myself not thinking about her. I realized that me and Elli shared an unbreakable bond. In the Japanese language, this is called 'Enishi', a red string of fate that bonds two hearts. Time or distance did not break his bond. When I was a child, Me and Elli promised that we will be together forever. Now and forever, I will keep that promise. I love Elli, and I will keep loving her until the end of time."

After exchanging the rings, we sealed our vows with a kiss. I felt like the proudest man in the universe that day. Looking back now, I never imagined that I would someday tie the knot. But there I was, kissing the blushing bride. There was no going back, I was a changed man.

And what a change that was. Since the villagers accepted me as one of them, we did everything together as one huge family. We celebrated, had fun, and supported each other to the best of our ability. I didn't know it before, but I found out around that time why was the village called "Mineral Town". The population is that of a village, but it had the heart of a town.

Naturally, Elli and I lived together after we got married. She did miss her job as a nurse, but she was still happy to be my wife. She made sure I was well taken care of, had a balanced healthy diet, and all of my injuries were taken care of so I can recover quickly. I appreciated her hard work so much.

We were inseparable, except when it came to farm work of course. She was there when I woke up, there to see me off to work, there when I came back, and there when I went to sleep. We would go on a picnic every Sunday, and talk to each other about anything. We were a very open couple, and held nothing back.

Then at night when we are all alone in our nest, we would have endless nights of passion. I made love with countless women before, but being with Elli was different. Our love was pure and meaningful. We would look into each others eyes, held each others hands tightly as our souls became one. She was so warm and comforting, I have never experienced that with anyone else.

Yes, my life with her was nothing but perfect. We never fought, she was very affectionate, and we communicated every chance we got. I swear, it was like a perfect dream. But like all dreams, they must end unexpectedly. . .

One Fall day, the mayor came to me with a desperate favor. He made some sort of deal with the mayor of the next town over. If someone in Mineral Town could catch a fish over three feet long before the next day, the village will be rewarded. He asked me to do the fishing of course.

Elli told me not to go. She knew that my weakness to the Fall weather would make the favor dangerous. But I was a proud member of Mineral Town, I couldn't let it go. So I left home that afternoon for the docks to fish.

I was there all afternoon and all night fishing for that perfect catch. I did feel ill as I sat on that dock waiting for the next catch. I took some medicine, and kept going. In the middle of the night, my patience paid off. My line pulled hard, and I fought with the biggest sucker I have ever felt. It was a hard fight, I pulled it in after a good half hour. I caught a king fish that measured over four feet long. I was excited by my catch, so I ran back planning to head to the mayor's house.

But fate was not kind that night. As I was still on the dock, I had a hard time struggling with the fish that felt like it weighed more than I did. Eventually, I became seriously ill. I quickly developed a high fever, things got dizzy and I lost my balance. I let go of the fish, and it fell into the water. As for me, I fell in with it.