Rick

One summer morning, the young farmer Naomi walks out of her house to greet the warm air. She stretches her arms out wide as she takes a deep breath of the clean air. The sky is clear without a cloud in sight. “It’s going to be a great day on the farm,” cheered Naomi.

As she mentally prepares herself to get started, her boyfriend Rick walks into the farm carrying a bag of chicken feed. He smiles as he adjusts his glasses in front of his violet eyes as he watches his girlfriend stretch. Watching Naomi happy and carefree brings him so much joy in his life. Because the farm and the chicken ranch are so close, Rick and Naomi can work together and spend time with each other often. A farmer and a chicken rancher couldn’t be any more perfect for each other.

Naomi looks to her side to find her boyfriend and his signature blue vest and a green long sleeve shirt. She can only blush as she moves the strands of her dark brown hair away from her face. Rick has helped Naomi so much in the farm, that she can’t help but to fall in love with him. She is no stranger to chickens, so she also helps him out at the chicken ranch anytime he needs it.

“Your chicken feed order is here, where do you want it?” asked Rick jokingly.

Naomi giggles before she answers, “in the coop silly. Where else would it go?”

Rick nods before heading to the coop carrying the bag of chicken feed. Seeing Rick busy at work inspires her to rush out to the field to start watering the corn. It’s still pretty early in summer, so no corn crops has matured just yet. Instead, she spends the bulk of her time caring for the animals in her barn. Once she finds all the animals happy and healthy, she rings the bell to let them go outside to graze on fresh grass and get some sun. Only one animal stays inside, her strawberry cow named sugar who is pregnant and ready to give birth any day.

The cows, sheep, and alpacas are happy outside the farm. She takes the time to milk the cows and sheer any sheep or alpacas that are ready. Once all the byproducts are collected and shipped, she moves her attention to the coop to let the hens out. Once she goes inside the coop, she finds Rick there feeding the hens. The nests have also been cleaned, the coop maintained, and the eggs shipped ready for Zack to collect that afternoon. Naomi gives Rick a hug and a kiss on the cheek as a reward for his help.

“You took care of my hens, you didn’t have to do that! You spoil me so much, you know that?” said Naomi.

“Well, what can I say. I’m such an ‘egg’cellent boyfriend,” answered Rick.

After giggling and joking for a bit longer, Rick decides to go back home to the chicken ranch. Naomi decides to join him to keep him company on the way there. Even though the walk to the chicken ranch is short, they make the best of it. They tell each other quick stories and funny egg puns. They know how corny they look, but these moments mean everything to them.

At the chicken ranch, Rick’s mood shifts quickly as soon as he finds Kai and his sister Popuri talking to each other in front of the house. Seeing his sister talking to Kai irritates him greatly. He asked Kai to stay away from his sister countless times. Seeing that his warnings has gone ignored makes his blood boil in anger. Enough is enough, so Rick approaches Kai to settle things between them once and for all.

Naomi watches Rick nervously as he approaches Kai, not knowing what he plans to do. She gasps with worry as soon as he hears Rick say, “hey! I thought I told you to stay away from my sister!” His tone is malicious and threatening. This is not the Rick she knows and love. An angry beast is about to be unleashed, and she will need to intervene before things get ugly.

Kai looks back at Rick’s angry face. He can tell by the look on his face that things won’t end with a simple warning this time, and he will need to stand his ground. He is in love with Popuri, and he is willing to fight her brother if that will get him to stand down. Popuri becomes frightened and does her best to calm Kai down or hold him back.

Naomi and Popuri are now standing between Rick and Kai, doing their best to push them apart from each other as the boys scream and shout ugly profane words like barking wild dogs. The girls are able to keep them apart just long enough until officer Harris comes by to separate them by force. He allows Kai to leave the chicken ranch with a warning, but Harris threatens to have them both arrested if this ever happens again.

After Kai leaves the chicken ranch, Naomi tries to talk to Rick about what happened. He is still way too frantic to talk, so he walks into the house before he does or says anything he will regret. Naomi is relieved that things were settled without violence for now, but she does become concerned. Rick is normally a docile person. She knows that he is not too fond of Kai, but there was no reason to go this far. Since Rick is not himself at the moment, she decides to come back and check on him another day when he’s in a better mood.

A few days later, Naomi enters Rick’s family house to see how her boyfriend is doing. She finds Popuri and Lillia in the main floor hard at work, but Rick is not helping them. Lillia tells Naomi that Rick has been upstairs in the bedroom since the incident with Kai. He has not come down since then except to care for the hens in the morning. After a brief conversation, Lillia allows Naomi to go upstairs to talk to Rick and find out what’s been bothering him.

Naomi find Rick upstairs sitting on his bed staring at a watch. He is quiet, but there is a painful look in his eyes. He looks up at Naomi once he notices her, but looks away in shame before returning his attention to the watch. She takes a seat on the bed next to him, but he doesn’t say anything at first or move to acknowledge her. All of his attention is on the watch.

“Hey Rick, are you okay?” asked Naomi.

He takes a deep breath as he continues to fidget with the watch for some time. “I’m sorry about what happened the other day. I just lost my cool as soon as I saw him with my sister again. We had a nasty argument last time I went to his shack and asked him to stay away from her. But I took things too far, and I am ashamed of myself.”

Naomi then focuses her attention on the watch in his hands. She then curiously says, “that’s a nice watch. It looks old though. I never seen you wear a watch before. Where did you get it?”

Rick pauses for a moment before he responds, “it was my dad’s. He gave it to me on the day he left home. He told me that I am the man of the house now, and I’ll have to watch over my mom and Popuri until he gets back. But it’s been too many years since he left. I’m sure he’s not coming back home.”

“Didn’t he leave to find some type of flower to heal your mother? Maybe he’s still searching out there and he’ll be back any day now.”

He shakes his head no, then continues, “I believed that too a long time ago. But now I know that is a lie. We have a plant hunter who lives here in Mineral Town. If dad wanted to find a flower, he could have paid Basil to find it. What makes things worse is that Mom and Popuri still believe that he’ll come back eventually. I’m the only one who knows he won’t. There was no reason for him to leave, especially since it was a silly rumor he heard from Manna. Not to mention that he hasn’t called or written even once since he left.

“Lets face it, he only left because mom is ill and he didn’t want to be bothered. So he left home and gave me this watch, leaving me in charge of his responsibilities. For all we know, he probably has a whole new family and forgot all about us. Sometimes I wish we got some sort of news that he died out there, it would be a better explanation.

“And that’s why I don’t want Kai around my sister. He comes around every summer, strings my sister along with his empty promises, then leaves to god knows where. Just the thought of him taking advantage of my sister while he has another girl out there makes me so mad. I don’t want my sister to one day wait for someone who won’t come back, just like mom.”

Naomi embraces Rick, doing her best to comfort him. “I get it. You only want to do what’s best for Popuri and keep her safe. Even so, you can’t judge every guy Popuri meets based on what your father did. If you chase away every guy she likes, she’s going to end up alone. She is an adult after all, and she will love who she wants to love with or without your blessing.”

“But. . .”

Naomi takes Rick’s hands and looks deep into his eyes through his glasses. She can clearly see him hurting, she hopes that her words can break through to him and makes him feel better. “Rick, I love you and I want you to think things through. If Popuri was against us being together; would you respect her opinion, or find a way to be with me anyway?”

Rick becomes silent for a moment. He then takes another look at the watch. He knows that Naomi is right, but the thought about Kai taking his sister still bothers him. He has hated Kai for years, he can’t just simply let it go now. He loves his sister, and he wants to protect her with his life. But Popuri is an adult, and she has every right to love who she wants. His mind is conflicted, and he has no idea what to do.

“What should I do?” asked Rick.

Naomi gives him a sweet gentle kiss on the cheek. She then stands up and answers, “I can’t answer that for you. But I know you’ll figure it out and make the best decision for your family.” She then leaves and returns to her farm.

Rick remains in the room pondering about things. As he fidgets with his watch, he starts to ask himself a bunch of questions. He knows that the right thing to do is to let Kai and Popuri be together. He also knows that he can’t forgive himself if Kai hurts Popuri. But even if he is wrong and Kai ends up marrying Popuri, what will happen to the family or the chicken ranch? Will Popuri leave Mineral Town, or will Kai move in?

He then thinks about his girlfriend Naomi. Ever since they met, she has been by his side through his best and worst days. When the chicken ranch was overwhelming, she was there to help him. When she needed an extra hand, he was ready and willing to race to the farm and help out. He closes his eyes and imagines a future where Naomi is there for him even in his darkest days to help him see the light. Whatever happens to Popuri, Naomi will be there with him to make things better.

If Popuri does end up leaving Mineral Town to be with Kai, he will be sad and lonely. But with Naomi by his side, he will survive without his sister. But if he keeps butting into Popuri’s love life, nothing will stop her from running away and eloping. He will lose his sister forever if that happens. But if he respects their relationship, Popuri will always be his little sister no matter where she’ll end up. As he continues to think things through, he wonders how can he respect Popuri’s feelings while protecting her at the same time?

The next day Rick finds himself in front of Kai’s Seaside Shack. He takes a deep breath as he does everything in his power to control his emotions and act civil. As soon as he is ready, he walks into the shack. Inside he finds Kai cleaning up the dining area after the lunch rush. It takes a moment before Kai realizes that he has company. Their eyes lock on each others as they wait for the other guy’s reaction. Kai is not afraid of Rick, but he would rather not resort to violence.

After some time, Kai continues to wipe the tables as he says, “listen buddy, I don’t want any trouble. I haven’t seen Popuri since the last time I was over the ranch.”

“I’m not here for trouble,” answered Rick as he pulls out a bottle of wine he got from his best friend Karen. “We need to talk.”

Kai nods, then pulls up a seat for his guest. He then brings two cups and takes a seat in front of Rick. They consume the wine quietly at first. Once Rick starts to feel comfortable, he begins to ask Kai some questions. Not about Popuri or their relationship, but personal ones about Kai. Rick may not be happy about Kai’s reputation, but he also admits that he never even tried to know him before passing judgment. He only hopes that if he does get to know Kai better, he will feel a bit more comfortable with him being around his sister.

As the guys begin to talk to each other, Rick begins to enjoy his time with Kai. He tells Rick many stories about his family and travels between towns and his experience with them. Kai’s reputation is simply a misunderstanding, his good looks and dark skin tone tends to get him in trouble everywhere he goes. He doesn’t mean to cause any trouble, things just happen outside of his control. He hoped that Mineral Town would be different, but that was just wishful thinking.

Rick then shares stories about himself, especially about his father. This surprises Kai, Rick’s description of his father is much different than what Popuri told him. If only he knew Rick’s side of that story, he could have been more understanding of his feelings. Kai apologizes to Rick for not communicating with him. He also gives Rick a good chuckle by telling him, “if I ever meet your dad in my travels, I’ll give him a good punch in the jaw for you. Family always comes first after all.”

After spending over an hour talking to each other, Kai and Rick shakes hands and come to an agreement. They may not be friends just yet, but they agree to live in Mineral Town peacefully. After all, this is for the best if Rick wants to mend his relationship with his sister.

A couple of days later, Kai opens his shop that morning. As he flips the sign from closed to open, he finds Rick and Naomi standing outside waiting for him. Kai curiously walks outside to see what’s going on. As soon as Kai is close enough to them, Rick and Naomi move aside to reveal Popuri hiding behind them. Rick nods at his sister and whispers, “go on, it’s okay.”

Popuri nods with gratitude before rushing ahead and gives Kai a great big hug. Seeing that Rick allowed Popuri to be with him, he feels that it is now the perfect time to propose. He kneels down on one knee, then pulls out a Blue Feather for her. She gasps cheerfully just before saying yes and accepting the feather. They are now engaged to be married.

As Rick has his emotional moment, Naomi jabs him in the gut saying, “where’s my Blue Feather you jerk!”

Rick laughs as he answers, “soon, I promise. But before we can talk about that, I have one last thing I need to do.”

He then takes Naomi’s hand and leads her to the dock nearby. At the end of the dock, he stands before the roaring ocean holding his father’s watch. He looks out to the vast ocean blue wondering where his father might have disappeared to. Rick is an adult now, and he knows that he will never come home. Now it’s time to let his memory go.

“What are you planning to do?” asked Naomi.

“I almost lost my sister by becoming my dad. I was only being selfish and thinking about my own feelings instead of what’s best for her. So I am going to curse his memory by throwing his watch to the bottom of the sea!” He then takes a few steps back, and rushes forward throwing the watch as hard as he can. The watch flails around until it is finally in the water where it will never to be seen again.
As the ocean winds blow through Rick and Naomi’s hair, he takes a moment to look at the horizon before taking her hand and returning back home. They do have a wedding to plan after all, and Rick will be there at the church to give his sister away. He also plans to ask Naomi to marry him after the wedding to start a family of his own without the memory of his father.

The end.