Chapter 9

A Message Across Time

Fall 27, 2005 (Thursday)

Things has been quiet and uneventful for a few days. Trei and Muffy went on their date, but nothing special happened. They have been living together for so long that learning something new about each other in a date is not possible. Lumina and Rock has gone on two dates, and things are going well between them. With Rock's goofy personality, he is able to make Lumina smile and laugh very often and helps her forget about all he troubles.

Fall is ending soon, and the days are getting colder. Trei is at home lighting the fireplace to keep the family warm. Muffy is in the kitchen with Myo, she is trying her best to cook dinner while Myo is drawing. Just as he finishes placing the last log of the day in the fireplace, Muffy bursts in the bedroom carrying Myo with an excited look on her face.

“Trei, Look at what Myo can do!” Trei looks over at them to see what's all the fuss about. “Myo, go ahead and tell daddy the colors of the rainbow.”

“Blue, red, yellow, green, purple, orange!” yelled Myo.

Trei smiles and says, “Wow, she said that perfectly. Did you teach her that Muffy?”

Muffy shakes her head no and says, “I think she learned that from Cody. She is getting so smart these days!”

Trei walks up to Myo and pats her in the head. Myo laughs as Trei says, “Myo may not be book smart. But when it comes to art, she's a genius!”

Muffy snuggles Myo and says, “I'm so proud of her. If only Pete was here with us, it would be-” Muffy stops herself after seeing Trei's hurtful face from hearing his father's name. She sighs and continues, “sorry about that. I know how you get when you hear about your father.”

“If you know how I feel about it, then why did you say it?” snapped Trei.

“It just came out. I was so excited about Myo, I wasn't thinking about what I was saying.” Trei turns around, and begins to walk out of the house. “Where are you going?” asked Muffy.

“I'm going to the bar for a while. I'll be back later,” answered Trei. He then leaves and closes the door behind him.

Muffy just stood there in the bedroom holding Myo. “There goes your father. He'll never change I guess,” said Muffy. She then looks at her daughter and bounces her up and down saying, “doesn't he realize that we met and got married because of his father?”

Fall 28, 2005 (Friday)

Trei carries home enough wood to keep the family warm for the day. He drops them next to the fireplace, and begins to place a few logs in. After lighting the wood, Muffy walks out of the kitchen dressed in her usual clothes she uses to visit friends.

“I'm heading out to my cooking class. Make sure Myo stays out of trouble,” said Muffy. Trei nods and then she leaves.

After standing up and stretching his back, Trei hears Myo cry in the kitchen. He goes over to her to see what is wrong. He finds Myo sitting in front of the refrigerator crying her eyes out in the kitchen. Trei carries her, and sits her on the table. “What's wrong Myo? Why are you crying?” asked Trei. Myo then points at the refrigerator implying that she is hungry. She is far too short to open it herself.

Because he has been living with Myo and Muffy for quite some time, he already memorized the needs of his family. So he goes over to the refrigerator and pulls out bread, cheese, ham, and mayonnaise. He then makes a sandwich for Myo to ease her hunger. After feeding her, Trei leaves her in the kitchen to eat in peace.

Trei then walks outside to get a little bit of the fresh cool Fall air. It doesn't take long before he notices something unusual happening. He looks over to the fields where he grows trees, and sees his dog digging a deep hole there. At first, he thinks that it's trying to bury bones like in the cartoons, but then he notices that the dog doesn't have any bones with him.

He walks over to the dog and says, “Hey boy! What’cha doing? Did you find something?” Not too long after he says that, the dog starts to scratch something hard buried under the field. Trei takes a look in the hole, and sees a wooden box inside.

Excited that his dog might have discovered treasure, he runs over to the shed to grab his best hoe. He then uses it to dig the wooden box out of the ground. When he picks it up, he notices that the box is very light, so there is no gold in it. But when he shakes it, he can hear papers rustling inside. He assumes that there's cash money inside.

There is no lock, but the latch is so rusted that he couldn't open the box. He uses the hoe to break the latch, and open the box. His excitement turns to disappointment when he only finds a bunch of envelopes used to send letters. He takes one out, but he can't read anything written on it. Bad weather has worn and smudged the handwriting beyond legibility.

Trei takes the box into the house and begins to open the small white envelopes. Each one has a letter in it, but all of them were too worn and smudged to read. So one by one, he begins throwing the letters in the fireplace thinking that they are worthless. However, as he reaches into the box for more letters, he finds something else inside the box. A plastic bag with a video cassette inside.

The video cassette is still in good condition protected by the plastic sealed bag. But the front of the tape has no label on it, so he can’t tell what is in it. He then looks over at his television set. Since he woke up in Forget-Me-Not Valley, he has not watched anything decent. The television only took reception from three channels. He has a VCR, but no cassettes to play in it.

He looks at the video cassette, and feels that it would be a good idea to watch whatever that's in it. Just then, Myo finishes her sandwich and heads over to the bedroom where she found her father looking at the video cassette. She walks up to him and asks, “Daddy, what tat?”

Trei looks down at Myo and says, “It's a movie. You want to watch it with me?”

“Yay! Yay! Moobie! Moobie!” cheered Myo jumping up and down. Trei just smiles at Myo acting so cute and carefree.

First, he throws the rest of the letters in the fireplace. Trei then turns on the television and inserts the video cassette into the VCR. Finally, he sits on the bed and sits Myo on his lap waiting for the video to begin. After a few seconds, they finally see something on the TV. But it's not a movie like Trei believed it to be. It's a video recording that someone left behind in the ranch.

The first thing they see is a huge empty lot on the television. On the lower right corner, they can see a date that the recording was made. The date says Spring 5, 1986. As the camera pans over the empty lot, a familiar person comes into view of the camera.

The man turns to to the camera exposing his face. Trei looks hard at the television screen before yelling the word, “Dad!?”

Even though Trei hasn't seen his father's face in years, he still recognizes him easily. Especially since he has grown to look a lot like him. The same face, same eyes, same messy spiky hair. The only difference between them is the mustache his father has in the video.

“So, this is the plot where we will build the ranch?” asked Pete.

“I think it's good,” said a voice that resembles Takakura's. However, he cannot be seen in the video. So Trei assumes that he is the one holding the video camera taking the recording. “The land here is very fertile, and has not been used in a very long time. I'm sure it has a lot of potential.”

“It looks the same as I remember it,” said Pete

“Excuse me?” asked Takakura

Pete laughs nervously and says, “I meant to say, like I've always imagined it.” He then walks up to the middle of the plot and grabs a handful of dirt. “Yes, I can build a pasture here. This is good for growing grass to feed the cows.” He then points over to the north west corner and says, “I'll build a nice home over there, and make several plots of land used for growing crops on the side.”

Pete continues to walk around making plans for the ranch that he will build. “I also checked out the community. It's still small, but everyone is nice and welcoming. I only wish that my wife and son would come live with me.”

“Wife?” asked Takakura's voice. “I thought you had a divorce? Doesn't that mean that she isn't your wife anymore?”

Pete looks at the camera and says, “We didn't have a divorce because we didn't love each other anymore. But it's always been my dream to own a ranch since I was a kid. Sarah doesn't want to live in the country, so she let me go live my dream. I just wanted her to be a free woman to do whatever she wants. She did promise to take care of my son while I work out here.”

“I see,” said Takakura.

Pete then continues, “well, might as well turn that camera off. We have to start looking for part time jobs to pay for materials for the ranch.”

The picture cuts off suddenly. Trei begins to feel angry seeing that his father left to build the ranch, and not feel the least bit guilty about it. A few moments later, the picture returns. This time, Pete is wearing farming clothes and his face is covered in dirt. He is working in a farm planting crops in a field. The date in the corner is now Summer 5, 1987. A little bit over a year after the last recording.

“How is the job coming?” asked Takakura's voice, obviously still holding the camera.

Pete looks at the camera and says, “As you can see, I got a job at Vesta's farm. She's a real slave driver, but her pay is decent. And I've been learning how to care for crops here in this farm. It's pretty convenient when you think about it, good pay and free training.” Pete continues to work and says, “so, how is your job coming along Takakura?”

"I've been going to Mineral Town for work. There's this guy named Barley there who owns a ranch who needed help. The pay is not too bad, but I've been learning how to care for cows and other animals. I guess in a way, it's just like your job, but I deal with animals instead. Did you know that you cannot get milk from cows unless they give birth every 40 days?”

“Wow, that's pretty interesting. I'll have to keep that in mind when we have the farm built. So far, we don't have enough materials to even start building anything. But little by little, we'll make enough to have everything we need,” said Pete.

“Pete!” yelled Vesta's voice. The camera points to Vesta who is walking to Pete's direction. Trei has always known Vesta to be a huge scary woman, but in the video she is much slimmer and somewhat attractive. The years has changed her from what she used to be, to what she is now.

“Yes Vesta! What can I do for you?” asked Pete.

“I brought you a little helper. She will be staying in the farm from now on.” The camera points down to reveal a little brunette girl hiding behind Vesta's legs.

“You mean her? But isn't she far too young to be working on a farm?” asked Pete.

“I am not asking you to make her do anything rough. Just small little tasks like passing you seeds, and helping with the harvest. I'm sure she can handle that,” answered Vesta.

“I see,” Vesta then pushes the little girl to Pete so that she can introduce herself. But she is so shy that she just looks at him and says nothing. Pete just pats her in the head and says, “Hi there little cutie. My name is Pete, what's your name?”

“. . . Celia.” she answered nervously.

“Celia huh?” continues Pete. “That's a very pretty name. Tell me, how old are you?”

“Eight.” said Celia.

“Wow, eight years old? You're the same age as my son. Let me ask you, would you like to be my son's wife when you grow up. I'm hoping that he will come live at my ranch when he grows up.” Asked Pete.

Vesta pulls Celia away and says, “Don't get any funny ideas old man. I already have someone for her when she grows up, so she's already taken.”

“I see,” said Pete. He then looks down at Celia again and continues, “but even so, what she wants to do when she grows up is up to her. So there's still a chance that my son will end up with a cute girl like her. Am I right Celia?”

Celia just nods nervously barely understanding what he means. Vesta the notices Takakura holding the camera and yells, “what is this!? A movie set!? There are no visitors in the farm except for customers! Get out of here old man, and let Pete do his work in peace!”

The picture cuts off suddenly once again. Trei is surprised that how his father acted in that part of the video. He was working hard, but already made plans for him to live with him before the farm was even close to being built. Trei becomes even more curious about his father's life, so he continues to watch the video.

The picture returns. This time, Pete is inside Romana's Mansion dressed in a butler's uniform. His hair is now well groomed, and no signs of dirt or sweat. The date on the corner of the video is Fall 9, 1992. About five years after the last recording.

Pete is cleaning a table in the mansion when the video started. The Takakura says from behind the camera, “hey there Pete! Smile for the camera!”

Pete then turns around and smiles. He says, “wow, I forgot all about that thing! It's been a few years since the last entry of the video journal.”

“Tell us, what happened to your old job?” asked Takakura.

“Well, Vesta's brother Marlin came to live in Forget-Me-Not Valley. So Vesta didn't need me anymore,” answered Pete. “But it's okay. This job as a butler pays way better, it's much easier, and I already know everything there is to know about farming. So, how is the job in Mineral Town?”

Takakura says, “it's going great. I already arranged a contract with Mineral Town to sell goods to the shipper there. But the condition was that I would have to deliver the goods myself.”

“I see,” said Pete. “Well, since this job pays so well, I've been getting money to buy materials at a pretty good pace. In a few more seasons, I can start building our houses and a barn. I already have plans drawn out for them, so everything is going to be fine.”

“What do you do here in the mansion?” asked Takakura.

“Well, I do clean and help cook. But the reason I even got this job last Spring is because the little princess came to live here. So it's my job to take care of all her needs,” answered Pete.

“Little Princess?” asked Takakura.

“Pete, what are you doing?” said the voice of a young girl. The camera moves a very familiar looking girl. At first, Trei didn't recognize her with the white shirt, jeans, and pink sneakers. But the hair band, and bandanna tied around her neck gives her away.

“Well, if it isn't the little princess herself!” cheered Pete.

The girl looks at Pete with an annoyed look on his face and says, “Pete, I thought I told you not to call me 'Little Princess'. My name is Lumina.”

Pete laughs and says, “sorry about that.” He walks up to Lumina and pats her on the head. “How was Piano practice?”

Lumina says, “I made a lot of mistakes, but grandma says I am getting better.”

“Grandma?” asked Pete. “I thought she is your aunt?”

“Grandma hates it when I call her auntie. So I call her grandma,” answered Lumina. She the looks at the camera and asks, “Are you making a movie?”

“Not really,” answered Pete. “It's a video journal, I'm hoping that one day my son will see it.”

“You have a son?” asked Lumina.

“Yeah why don't you smile for the camera?” asked Pete. Lumina forces a smile, and even made a peace sign with her hand. Pete then asks, “By the way Lumina, how old are you again?”

“I'm ten years old. Did you forget?” answered Lumina.

“Hmm, you're three years younger than my son, but I think it'll be okay. So Lumina, would you like to be my son's wife when you grow up?”

“Me?” Lumina then thinks for a moment and asks, “is he like a prince charming from my books?”

Pete laughs again and says, “Well, he may not be a prince, but I'm sure that he'll be very charming when he comes to live here. So, what do you say?”

“Hmm, I don't know. . ,” said Lumina.

“Peter!” yelled another voice. The camera moves to Sebastian who is walking towards Pete. Trei can't help but laugh seeing that Sebastian's hair was not pale gray back in those days.

“Hi there Sebastian,” said Pete. “But my name is Pete, not Peter.”

“Oh, sorry about that. But I need your help in the kitchen,” said Sebastian.

“Sure thing!” said Pete. He then looks at the camera and says, “I have to go back to work now. Shut the camera off.”

The picture cuts off for the third time. The picture returns a few moments later with Pete sitting on top of the house nailing some boards to the roof. The date on the video says Summer 10, 1993. Not too long after the last video. By the way things looks, Pete has already started building the house that Trei currently lives in.

“Hey there Pete!” yelled Takakura who is once again behind the camera.

Pete looks down and yells, “Takakura, it's been a while! The old man finally gave you some time off?”

“Just a few days!” yelled Takakura.

Pete then puts his tools away, and jumps off the roof landing on the soft dirt safely. He then says, “Take a look, how is it coming out?”

“Isn't it rather small?” asked Takakura. “I mean, it's big enough for you to live in comfortably, but what about your son? Isn't he going to be living here too?”

“That’s right. But this house will be easily remodeled after it's done. That way, I can save time on construction and get the ranch done sooner. As the family gets bigger, the house will grow bigger as well.”

“What do you mean by a bigger family?” asked Takakura.

Pete turns to the incomplete house and says, “I want this ranch to be family owned. When my son comes to live here, he'll meet a lovely lady to spend his life with. Then he will have a son or daughter of his own, and the ranch will be passed down from generation to generation. That is my greatest dream.”

“Have you been keeping contact with your son?” asked Takakura.

“There are no phones in Forget-Me-Not Valley, so there is no way I can speak to him without leaving the valley. The only way I can contact him is through mail, but I have no time to write any letters. The last seven years I've been here has been morning-noon-to night non-stop work. And since I've started to build the farm, I have even less time. I have been sending Sarah money to help care for my son, I only hope that it's enough for him to live comfortably.”

Pete looks at the camera and continues, “since you're here, why not give me a hand? It would be nice to get a little ahead and finish quickly.”

The picture cuts off again. Trei begins to think about his father for a moment before the next recording starts. Even though his father had a reason why he didn't make contact with him in the early years, he still didn't write any letters after the farm was built. Curiously, he continues to watch the video.

The picture starts again. This time, he finds his father sitting inside the Blue Bar having a drink. The date on the camera says Winter 7, 1995. Trei can see a slight sadness in his eyes as he drinks. Griffin is also in the bar cleaning out mugs. The window is dark, so the recording was taken at night. Unlike before, Takakura remains quiet taking the recording without Pete knowing.

Pete takes a long swig of the drink before slamming the mug on the table demanding for more. Griffin tops him off, and Pete continues to drink. Griffin looks at him curiously and asks, “Is anything the matter my friend? You've been drinking a lot today.”

“Nonsense!” yelled Pete in a half drunken expression. “Everything is just fine. The farm is built, My son is now a teenager in high school, I have plenty of friends. What could possibly be wrong?”

“I just asked because you look like you're stressed,” commented Griffin.

Suddenly, a young woman comes out of the back. Trei is able to recognize quickly that she is Muffy, but younger than he remembers her. Nothing much has changed about her except that her hair is a little bit shorter than it is now. She still wears the red dress and the blue jacket with the black shoes and hair band.

“Is everything okay here Griffin? Do you need my help with anything?” asked Muffy.

Griffin and Pete looks at her, and they smile. Griffin then says, “We're fine today. You can take the night off Muffy.”

“Are you sure?” asked Muffy. Griffin nods. “Okay I'll just go to sleep early then. Good night!”

Muffy then goes to the back leaving the men to socialize. Pete then looks at Griffin and says, “That's a very pretty woman you have living here. If I was you, I would put a ring around that finger before my son comes around and takes her away.” Pete than laughs and says, “Imagine that. She is quite a few years older than my son, and one day she'll become his wife. I bet you'll be pretty upset about that!”

“Not exactly,” said Griffin. Pete looks at him awkwardly curious to know what he meant. “You see, I do love Muffy. But I care about her like if she was a member of my own family. Like the daughter I never had, I could never love her as a woman. If she one day falls in love with your son, I would give her my full support. After all, isn't that what fathers are supposed to do?”

Amazed at Griffin's words of wisdom, he looks down sadly and sighs. He takes another swig of his drink and begins to cry. Griffin looks at him and asks, “hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying Pete?”

He weeps for a moment then admits, “it's my son. He's not coming to live here like I planned. He hates me.”

“He does? How do you know?” asked Griffin.

“I received a letter from Sarah last year in Fall. My farm was almost finished, and I couldn't leave to celebrate my son's birthday. Ever since then, my son has been getting angry every time he hears the word 'father'. And as the letters from Sarah keep coming, it's only getting worse. I'm a failure as a father.”

“Hey take it easy.” comforted Griffin. “Maybe it's not too late, why don't you sent him a letter tomorrow?”

“I can't,” said Pete. “I'm afraid of how will he react. I want to send him something to let him know that I care about him. Something to tell him that I've been thinking and talking about him all the time. But every time I do write something, I don't have the courage to send the letters. Not only am I a failure, but I'm also a coward.”

Pete finishes the drink, and slams it on the table yelling, “Give me more! I need to drown my agony so that I can work on the ranch tomorrow.”

“I think you had enough to drink today. That was your 12th mug after all,” said Griffin.

Pete stands up feeling annoyed and yells, “bah! I don't need your liquor! I have more than enough wine at home! And when I'm done, I can get more from Mineral Town tomorrow! I'm going home!”

Peter notices the camera on the way out and yells, “Why did you bring that here?! There is no point to having it anymore! Shut that damn thing off!”

The picture cuts off once again. Trei never knew before, but his anger was making his father miserable. He feels sorry for him, he always though that his father never cared about him. Because there was no communication since he was 7 years old, there was no way for Trei to know how his father really felt about him.

The picture comes on again. Pete is at home looking straight at the Camera. But this time, nobody was holding it. Pete looked very ill as well. He has aged incredibly, became very thin and frail. Most of his hair has also lost color. The date on the video said Winter 25, 1999. Only days before Trei found out that Pete died. Judging by the date, Pete died shortly after the video was complete.

“Hello Trei, my son,” said Pete. “If you are watching this video, I have already passed on to the next life. Since you hate your own father, I truly doubt that you've taken over my ranch. But even so, how are things? Sarah told me that you are growing to be a very intelligent young man You are graduating college in only a few days. I wish I could have been there, but I am in no condition to travel.”

Pete sighs and continues, “I wonder what sort of life have you chosen for yourself? I wonder how old are you when you get this video? Have you gotten married yet? Have you ever had a son or daughter yet? I wonder what happened to my ranch after I am gone. I can only hope that Takakura sold it to a more worthy man than I ever was. Maybe he has a good family that he cares about.”

Pete pauses for a moment to wipe the tears from his face. He is trying his hardest not to cry, but he just couldn't help himself. “Son, I just wanted to tell you how proud I am that you are living your own life. And I also need to tell you, that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I left you behind. If I can do it all over, I would have stayed at home with your mother. I'm sorry that I missed everything that was most important to you. I would never ask you to forgive me, but I still want to say that. . . I'm sorry.”

Trei begins to shed tears of sadness. His body trembles feeling sorry that he has put his father through so much agony. He could not control himself.

After Pete is able to calm down in the video, he concludes, “Son, I know I was never a good father, or a good example. but please let me give you a single piece of father to son advice. Whatever that happens, please don't ever do the same mistake I did. If you're married, stay by your wife. And always support any children that you may have. Family always comes first. Goodbye son, I love you.”

“Dad!!” screamed Trei as the picture cuts for the last time. Trei embraces Myo tightly promising that he will never leave her side. Myo does not understand what he's feeling, but she enjoys the warm strong embrace from her father anyway.

Trei stands up and walks over to the VCR and removes the cassette. He then notices a message on the back of the tape saying, “When found, please send to my son.” The address is written below his father's handwriting. Finally, he looks over to all the burning letters that he threw in the fireplace carelessly. They were all unsent letters that his father was too afraid to send.

Just then, Muffy walks into the house announcing, “Trei, I'm home!”

Trei then looks at Muffy with his face completely soaked in tears. She runs up to him, and wiped his face dry with a handkerchief she had in her pocket. She then asks, “Trei, what happened? Why are you so upset?”

“Muffy, you knew my father, didn't you?” asked Trei.

Muffy looks at him awkwardly and answers, “of course I did. He used to ask me a lot if I would like to be your wife someday. I never imagined that we would fall in love and get married. But then he started drinking like crazy, and his liver went bad. I'm sure that wherever he is, he would be proud of you. After all, he always talked about you every single day.”

Trei begins to cry uncontrollably. Muffy embraces him stroking his hair trying her best to comfort her husband. Trei then says, “it's all my fault isn't it? Dad died because I made him so miserable.”

“It's not your fault sweetheart. Even though you always said that you hated him, the truth is that you've missed him all those years.” Trei continues to cry tears of sorrow on Muffy's arms. For the first time in a very long time, Trei is grieving for the father that he lost far before he died.