Chapter 7

During the next week, Popuri continues to look around for a job. No matter how hard she looks, she comes home empty handed day after day. She also tries to look for something at the nearby villages, but they are a bit too far away to commute. Even if she can find a job outside of Mineral Town or Forget-Me-Not Valley, she knows that he mother will never approve. So each night she takes a long look at the brochure to fantasize what life is like for her chickens at the farm in Sunny Island.

That Sunday night, Popuri puts the brochure away and drifts herself to sleep. Despite spending a whole week looking for work, she knows that she can’t simply give up. Fall will start in a few days, so she still has a whole season to figure something out. Even if she doesn’t make it, there will always be the following year.

Popuri heads over to Forget-Me-Not Valley the next morning for her weekly class with Takakura. It is the last Monday of summer and the air is starting to get cooler. Popuri walks through the valley and takes in the beauty of the changing seasons. The leaves are starting to fade and change colors as the air gets cooler. She can only imagine how beautiful the valley will get once the leave fully turn color when fall arrives. She smiles as she looks forward to the cool fall season. She only wonders if maybe her chickens will enjoy the beautiful fall season in Sunny Island.

Once she arrives at Takakura’s house, he wastes no time in sharing the good news with Popuri. “You were able to find me a job?” asked Popuri.

Takakura nods, then answers, “I asked Jill to ask around the valley to see if anyone needs any help. Turns out that Jill herself was looking for someone to help her for the fall season. This village doesn’t get a lot of visitors, so finding some extra help can be tough. What luck that you two girls can help each other!”

Popuri nods with anticipation as she asks, “so what kind of help does she need?”

To answer Popuri’s question, Takakura takes her outside to show her the empty field in front of Jill’s house. All the summer crops have already wilted and were cleared out in preparation for fall. Without the summer crops, the field looks a lot bigger than Popuri remembers it. The only thing that is left is the grass pasture with the cows and chickens.

“This coming fall, Jill will cover this field with crops once again. Carrots, eggplants, yams, green peppers, spinach; all of that and then some. But even though she is a skilled farmer, she still has a hard time taking care of all this alone. I do lend her a hand every chance I get, but I am getting too old. This type of work is for the young and healthy. Because of that, it would me so much to us if you can lend Jill a hand this year.”

Popuri nods. At that moment, Jill walks out of her house and notices Takakura and Popuri out in the field. She smiles as she rushes over to Takakura to ask, “Hey Uncle Taka! Did you talk to Popuri about my job offer?”

Takakura nods. Jill then bounces over to Popuri and asks, “so what do you say? Will you help me out with the fall harvest this year?”

Popuri nods cheerfully and answers, “of course! I may not know much about farming, but I hope you can teach me!”

“That’s no problem. Uncle Taka says that you are a fast learner. You’ll get he hang of it in no time,” replied Jill. They then shake hands and agree to start work on the first day of fall. Popuri does ask Takakura about her chicken ranch training, but he says that it can wait until spring.

As soon as Popuri goes back home, she talks to her mother and brother about her job in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Rick wants to object, but Lillia is able to explain to him that Popuri is a young adult who should be allowed some level of freedom. Rick isn’t happy about it, but he is able to understand and support Popuri’s needs. All they ask of her is to be careful working out there in Forget-Me-Not Valley.

On the first day of fall, Popuri heads over to Forget-Me-Not Valley, eager to start her job assisting Jill and her farm. She arrives early at around 8:00 am, but she already finds Jill tilling the field. As Jill wipes the sweat off her head, she notices Popuri and waves at her. Her mood quickly shifts as she notices that Popuri is not quite prepared to work on the field.

Popuri walks up to Jill, then asks, “I’m here, so where do I start?”

Jill sweats nervously as she scans Popuri’s clothing. She is still wearing her everyday outfit she normally arrives in. She was expecting Popuri to wear something a bit lighter and comfortable. She scratches her head as she asks, “are you sure that you can work dressed like that?”

Popuri looks at herself, then laughs sheepishly as she answers, “sorry, I always dress like this when I help out at the chicken ranch in secret. I don’t own any work clothes like jeans, tee shirt, or anything with pockets. Does that bother you?”

“No, not really,” answered Jill. “I’m just saying that it would be a lot easier if you came dressed a bit less. . . Girly?”

Popuri begins to pout. She knows that Jill is right, but she was so excited about work that she didn’t think things through. Jill places her hands on her hips and sighs, she wants to let Popuri borrow her clothes, but Popuri’s body measurements are too different than hers. Instead, she just pulls out a bag of carrot seeds and says, “we can deal with the clothes another time. Why don’t you just get started and plant these seeds.”

Popuri takes the bag of seeds and smiles cheerfully. As they get started with the work, Popuri quickly realizes why Jill was so concerned about her clothes. Popuri’s long red skirt causes her to trip and fall constantly as her shoes sink into the soft tilled dirt. Her white blouse gets very dirty, and Popuri knows how hard mud stains are to clean. Her corset is tight, which stifles movement and makes her feel warmer than usual. Even her long pink hair gets in her way as she kneels to plant the seeds. Despite the cool fall air, Popuri is hot and sweaty as she works through the day. But no matter how unbearable her dress is making her, she keeps on working as hard as she can.

As Popuri works through the day sweating from every inch of her body, Jill can’t help but to feel bad for her. She knows that Popuri can’t fit her clothes because she is shorter and curvier than Jill is. If Popuri is going to work with her, she will need clothes that are more comfortable and keep her cool.

At around 2:00 pm, Popuri and Jill are done for the day. Jill claps her hands, then places them on her hips as she looks over the work they’ve completed. She is impressed at how much they have accomplished in one day. But she looks at Popuri and finds her looking a mess. She is breathing heavily, and her face is covered in mud and sweat. Her dress is dirty, and her hair is a frizzled mess. Even though Popuri worked well, she can’t just keep letting her work like this. She will need to come up with a new plan.

Once she finds an idea, she walks up to Popuri and says, “great job today! We got so much work done, how did you like the first day on the job?”

Popuri wipes the sweat off her forehead, “no problem. I can do this every day.” She is only glad that Jill can’t see her knees shake from exhaustion under her skirt. She can’t help but to be a little jealous of Jill’s energy.

After they chat for a bit longer, Popuri start her trip back home. Her feet hurt as she drags them back to the dock to wait for the boat back to Mineral Town. She then takes a quick nap on the boat as the ocean breeze cools her off. She continues to drag her feet all the way back to her house. After eating dinner, she tosses herself on her bed so she can finally relax. She wonders if maybe this is how Rick and Jack feels after a long day at work.

As she slowly drifts herself to sleep, she hopes that she can get used to the work sooner than later. No matter how hard the job can get, she knows that she can’t give up no matter what. Her dream to see her chickens again no matter what will give her all the strength to keep working. For now, she must rest and prepare for another day.