The Heart's Melody

A request by Zero

Chapter 1

Outside of the reaches of the large cities and overpopulated communities, there lies a distant village far away nestled in a valley. A quiet place filled with the beauty of nature and the hopes of the people who live there. This sleepy village is home to a small group of people who has settled to start a new life free from the cities and their pasts alike. This village is known as Forget-Me-Not Valley.

From the entrance of the village arrives a young man carrying nothing but the clothes on his back, a sack with his irreplaceable belongings, and an ad for an abandoned farm. He gazes over the valley as the light spring air breezes causing his tied back hair to billow with it. He sighs in relief, knowing that the directions he got from Mineral Town were accurate enough to bring him there. The journey took a long time, but now he has finally arrived at a place he could now call home.

The young man is Hiro, a 21 year old farmer who has traveled from Leaf Valley. He used to work at his grandfather’s farm for a couple of years. After hearing of another farm in need of an owner, he said goodbye to his friends and packed his things. Even though he will miss his friends in Leaf Valley, he wants to start a new life here in Forget-Me-Not Valley. A distant place where no one knows him or his past.

Hiro takes a deep breath before taking his first steps into Forget-Me-Not Valley. He finds a farm nearby, so he stops to ask some questions. In that farm, he meets the residents Vesta, Marlin and Celia. They are very welcoming, but they explain that this is not the farm he is looking for. Down the road past the bridge is the other farm with no owner. He bows respectfully as he thanks them for their kindness.

As he walks over the bridge, he finds the farm surrounded by trees with an ungated entrance inviting anyone for a visit. He grips the bag that is resting over his shoulder, hoping that the farm is still available and his trip not wasted. He then walks into the property, then gasps at the marvelous sight of the farm. He finds two houses within the farm, one small for one person to live in, and a much larger log house big enough for a family to live comfortably. There is a large barn with a pasture that has a single cow grazing in it. A little further away is an empty chicken coop. There is also three plots of land used to grow crops of varying quality. The fields are smaller than he is used to, but the barn and coop are much larger. There is also a much taller building between the two houses, and a shed that looks worn and unusable.

As Hiro continues to gaze over the property, an older man walks out of the smaller house. The older man looks at Hiro with his squinted eyes and over exaggerated eyebrows. Based on his worn jeans, work boots and dirty white tank top, Hiro feels that he must be the farmer who lives there. The old man walks up to Hiro, then asks, “can I help you son?”

He nods answering, “my name is Hiro. I came because I hear that you need a farmer to run things around here.”

The old man nods, “yes, I was wondering if anyone was going to answer my ad. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Takakura. Me and my partner founded this farm, but he passed away a while ago. His son inherited the farm, but he didn’t show any interest in farming. He left about year ago, and I’ve been watching over it since then.”

He then turns around saying, “come with me, there’s a lot to see.” Hiro nods and follows Takakura towards the larger house. As Takakura opens the door, Hiro gasps at how nice the house is. Even though it’s not fancy, the house is cozy and has a lot of open space. There is a master bedroom with a king sized bed. A smaller room that looks like it was made for guests or children. A full sized kitchen with modern appliances just waiting for him to cook some delicious meals. It is a lot of house for one single man to live in.

After touring the house, Hiro dares himself to ask, “so Takakura, what’s the story? This place is a bit too nice to be abandoned like this.”

He nods but doesn’t answer immediately. He moves himself to a nearby window where he can look out to the sleepy valley to remember all the hard work he put in with his best friend to build the farm. He then takes a deep breath before answering, “you see young man, farming is not for everyone. Me and my friend built this place to be family owned. When his son inherited the farm, it was under the condition that he would get married and start a family. His son tried the farming business, but he was not interested. So he left back to his home town and left our dreams behind. I’m getting too old to run things by myself, and so I’ve decided to find a new person to take over.”

“I see,” said Hiro. He wants to say something to him or tell him his own story. But by the look on Takakura’s face, he feels that it may be best to keep quiet and let him have his moment.

Takakura lets out a sad sigh before turning to Hiro to pat his shoulder. “if you want, the farm is yours now. I still have a few years left in me, so I’ll help you for as long as I can. I just hope you’ll decide to stay.”

Hiro nods. He is a bit shocked that Takakura already gave him the farm without going through some red tape or exchange of money for a deed. They then head out of the house so that Takakura can give him a tour of the farm. As they walk around, Hiro explains his experience in running a farm back in Leaf Valley. He expected Takakura to ask why he left his grandfather’s farm to live in Forget-Me-Not Valley, but he never did. Hiro is glad that he didn’t, he would rather not think of his own past.

After touring the farm, Takakura takes Hiro for a walk across the Valley. During their walk, me met a lot of people who will become dependent on his work for milk and eggs. At the inn, he met a young tomboyish woman named Nami who is a traveler. He then was taken to the Blue Bar where he meets Griffin and his lovely blonde waitress named Muffy. He is then taken to Vesta’s farm where he is introduced to his fellow farmers who lives across the river. He is also introduces to Carter and Flora who run a dig site far past Vesta’s farm.

Everyone he meets is very friendly and welcoming. As he tours the valley, he does pass by an enormous fancy villa at the top of the highest hill in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Takakura explains that an old woman used to live up there, but she passed away last year. He is not sure if anyone still lives up there anymore. Hiro looks up at the Villa, remembering that there is also an empty Villa in Leaf Valley.

After the tour, Hiro is taken back to the farm where he can rest and change his clothes. He opens his sack to find his old farming clothes he used to wear back in Leaf Valley. A pair of heavy duty jeans with brown work boots. A light white button up tee, a set of work gloves, and a red bandanna around his neck. After getting changed, he looks at himself in the mirror with pride. He looks so much like his father back in Flowerbud Village. He is his own man now with a farm of his own. He cheers for himself as his own farm story begins once again.

The next morning, he unpacks his tools he brought over from Leaf Valley. He then unpacks his small collection of trinkets and memorabilia he brought as well, including his collection of records. One of those items is a framed photograph of himself posing with a young girl. He takes a look at the photograph, and begins to feel a bit depressed. Even though the photograph makes him feel sad, he can’t bring himself to get rid of it. So he just places the photograph in the book shelf nestled between some books. That way he won’t be able to look at it too often.

After gathering the things he needs for his first day of hard work, Hiro leaves the house to get started. The first thing he does is familiarize himself with his new cow. The cow is a bit nervous to meet Hiro for the first time, but his gentle touch calms it down. He then starts harvesting some grass in case of rainy days for the barn. After extracting some milk, he pushes the cow out to the pasture to graze. Now that the cow is taken care of, he moves on to the other areas of the farm.

After a thorough inspection of the farm, Hiro leaves to take a tour of the village once again. As he walks around, he finds plenty of wild flowers and herbs to harvest and sell. He is a bit disappointed that he can’t find any berries like in Leaf Valley, but he feels that he can make a decent living off of the land around Forget-Me-Not Valley. After gathering a healthy amount of wild flowers and herbs, he decides to do a bit of fishing before he starts selling his collection.

Hiro learns quickly that selling his wares in Forget-Me-Not Valley is a bit different than Leaf Valley. In his old village, he could sell his fruit, crops, byproducts, fish, herbs, and flowers directly to the residents. Even though he can’t sell directly to the people, he learns from a few neighbors that he can set up a small stall near the Blue Bar. That way he can sell to any passing villagers who needs any groceries. He then rushes back to his house to get a blanket and set up shop near the Blue Bar.

Hiro’s experience in Leaf Valley made him very successful in selling his wares in Forget-Me-Not Valley. He has no problem attracting passing customers to show off what he collected. One by one, his milk, herbs, and fish sell out to the mothers in the village. As he sells his goods, he takes some time for small chat to get to know his new neighbors. Everyone enjoys having Hiro around the village as a new farmer.

As he is selling, he catches the attention of a young woman living inside the inn nearby. The young woman looks out the window and notices the young farmer selling his wares to the other villagers. She begins to take a keen interest in how nice and social he is to everyone who he meets. Curious to know more, she leaves the inn and heads to his direction. As Hiro is distracted from selling to another resident, the young woman picks up a bunch of flowers to arrange into a bouquet.

As soon as Hiro gets a free moment, the young woman asks, “excuse me, but how much are the flowers?”

Hiro looks up to see the young woman’s hazel eyes meet his. As he looks at her, he wonders who she is. He could have sworn he met everyone who lives in the valley, and tourists don’t normally visit such a remote village. He is not sure why, but there is something about her that he finds comforting. Her soft sweet honeyed voice that has a refined accent to it. Her light brown hair sways with the gentle spring breeze. Her olive and forest green plaid dress is a lot fancier than anything he has seen in the valley. Her gold colored hairband, orange bandanna, and brown loafers give her a cute and innocent charm. He finds her very attractive, but there is an odd yet familiar feeling behind her that he can’t quite pinpoint.

Hiro snaps out of his daze after a few seconds, realizing that she is waiting for an answer. She picked up and arranged a mixed set of flowers. He thinks for a second before answering, “lets see. . . I normally charge a few bucks each flower. But you did such a nice job on that bouquet, that I couldn’t sell it at full price. How does ten bucks sound?”

She smiles warmly as she answers, “that’s so nice of you. Thank you. May I please ask your name?”

“My name is Hiro. I just moved into the farm yesterday.”

“My name is Lumina. It is a pleasure to meet you,” she replied bowing gracefully.

After greeting each other, Lumina returns to the inn where she places the bouquet of flowers into a vase. As she places the vase in the window, she continues to watch Hiro. She smiles as she watches him sit there for a while longer until he sells out all his wares. As Hiro packs up his blanket, he can’t help but to think about that girl a bit longer. He feel that she is so refined and unique that he can’t stop thinking about her for a while.

The next morning, Hiro walks out of the house refreshed from a good night’s sleep. The spring day is sunny, which is a perfect day to work in the farm. “Good morning Hiro,” called Takakura.

“Good morning,” answered Hiro. “What’s up? Looks like you got something on your mind.”

Takakura nods before answering, “I checked the shipping crate this morning, but it was empty. I know that you just started working yesterday, but I was expecting some milk from the cow. Is everything okay?”

“Shipping crate? We have one of those around here?” asked Hiro.

“Indeed we do,” answered Takakura. He then takes Hiro to the tall building in between their houses to show their refrigerated shipping bin used to ship items such as crops, fish, eggs, and milk products. Hiro is amazed, the crates he is used to are from Flowerbud Village which exists just inside the farm entrance. He is also shown a large freezer in the back he can use to store food long term. Hiro wishes that he had these things back in Leaf Valley and his home town. Takakura then explains that he will take the stuff he ships to Mineral Town, and pay Hiro when he returns. Hiro nods cheerfully knowing that he doesn’t have to sell most of his goods manually. Takakura also explains that Hiro can’t ship flowers, herbs, and wool, he will need to sell them himself to the villagers or Van the traveling salesman.

After his long explanation of the shipping crate, Hiro wanders off to do his daily farm chores. He makes a request to Takakura to start investing in chickens and other animals. He then spends some time at Vesta’s farm buying some seedlings. Since Vesta already has crops covered in her farm, Hiro decides to invest in fruit trees for future income. After planting the trees, Hiro is done for the day and proceeds to have a tea break.

As Hiro is in the house, Lumina walks into the farm. She looks around, but she doesn’t see Hiro working in the farm. She does find Takakura who is wandering around doing general maintenance. Lumina approaches him and asks if Hiro is in. Takakura points at the house where Hiro lives and tells her that he’s sure he’s in there. Lumina bows gracefully, thanking Takakura for his kindness. As she approaches the door to Hiro’s house, she begins to get butterflies in her stomach. She knows that what she is about is insane, but she also knows she has to do it. She takes a deep breath as she gathers the courage to knock on the door.

Hiro answers only moments later. He is surprised to see Lumina standing outside his door. They greet each other formally, but Hiro notices a lot of hesitation and shyness in her voice. She is fidgeting with her fingers nervously. He has no idea what’s going on with her, so he invites her in to have some tea. Lumina sits quietly as Hiro places the teacup in front of her. He pours some tea in her cup before filling his own. Lumina tries to say what she came to say, but she has a hard time saying anything. She quickly picks up her teacup, and sips before her nervousness becomes too awkward.

After some time, Hiro decides to take the initiative, “so, how are the flowers?”

“They’re great,” answered Lumina. “They give my room some extra color, and the spring breeze fills the room with their fragrance.”

Hiro then takes a sip of tea before asking, “it looks like you have something on your mind. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Lumina begins to play with the frills on her skirt for a while before answering, “well, I do have a favor to ask you. It’s a pretty big favor, so you may decline if you wish.”

“I see. I’ll do my best if I can help you. Go ahead, shoot,” responded Hiro before taking another sip of tea.

Lumina then stands up and bows as she cries, “Hiro, will you please marry me?”

Hiro quickly gasps, then spit out his tea all over the table. The shock nearly drowns him in steaming hot tea. As he coughs uncontrollably, Lumina cries, “Hiro, are you okay?”

After coughing a few more times, Hiro answers, “yeah, I’m fine. But did you say marry?”

Lumina’s face turns red as she nods nervously. Hiro trembles as he has no idea what just happened, or how should he respond. They just met yesterday and neither of them know each other outside their names. All of the sudden, Lumina arrives at his farm talking about marriage, the one thing Hiro was not expecting so sudden.