5:22 and I just woke up…
I swear, Takakura is crazy if he thinks I'm going to be able to wake up this early everyday… What got me was when I stepped outside, it was still dark out! How was I supposed to work without a light?! As I was about to dose off standing at the door, Takakura walked up to me. "Ah, good, you're up. Since it's your first day here, I just want you to take care of Bessi for a while. Get used to it, so you both will get along." He explained to me how to milk her… This was a little strange, since I've never done this sort of thing. He was there to make sure I didn't do anything wrong, and as far as he was concerned, I was doing rather well. After about an hour of tending to Bessi and the barn she was in, he said I could take a break from it for now. I decided to go walk around the Valley, it could get my mind off of the farm, I hope…
As I started walking from the farm, Chris was nearby. I had nothing else to do, so I stopped by and greeted her. "Oh, hi Malunis. How is the farm thing going?" She asked me. Ugh, as if I didn't already have the farm on my mind. I just nodded though, got to be polite. "Doing okay.. Where are you off to?" She smiled at me then, "I'm on my way to Mineral Town to buy some milk. I hope that it's affordable today.." Something told me that I should help her, because I knew I could. I handed her the two bottles of milk I was able to get from Bessi. "Is this for me?" She asked. I simply nodded, "Yeah, I got it from my cow earlier. It's free, if you want it." She smiled at me and kindly took the milk. "Thank you Malunis! It's so nice of you to do this for me, I really appreciate it." After that, she walked back home, able to give fresh milk to her family. It felt strange… in a good way, to be able to offer something because I owned a farm. Even then, I still wasn't sure about staying…
So, I was walking past Vesta's farm later that morning, and I noticed a small group of flowers… They looked different than most, a beautiful shade of yellow which shines in the morning sun. These caught my attention as I couldn't help but stare at them for a moment, a little smile on my face. I picked one from the ground, gently, looking at its shine coming from the morning dew still on the flower. "Those are Goddess Drops." A girl said from behind me. I turned around and saw a girl with long brown hair, who looked as if she worked at a farm as well. "Beautiful…" I said quietly. "… I, uhm.. The flowers, that is." I continued, realizing what I said. "I don't believe we've met, have we?" She asked. "Uhh, no, I just got her yesterday." I answered. She smiled and bowed lightly, "My name is Celia. I work with Vesta and Marlin at that farm." She said, pointing to Vesta's farm. "I'm.. Malunis." I replied. She then smiled to me, happy to hear my name. "Oh, so you're the boy Mr. Takakura mentioned! You own that farm that belonged to your father, don't you?" I was caught by surprise that she had to bring up that farm, or my father, but I guess that's expected. "Uh, yeah.. I.. Did you know my father..?" She nodded lightly, a bit of sadness shown in her eyes now.
"He used to come by our farm to work everyday before he worked on his own farm. He was really kind, always thinking of others before himself." She explained, trying to hold back a frown. I kind of felt a little sad to hear about him again, but I guess I shook it off or something. "Yeah.. he was always like that." Then I handed her the Goddess Drop I picked up before she talked to me. "Uhh, here." I said nervously. Her sadness went away quickly as she took the flower from my hand gently. I smiled as well when she put the flower in her hair. "This is so sweet of you! Thank you, kind Malunis.." After that, she hugged me… It felt weird, no girl has ever hugged me before, other than my mother. "Well, uhm, anytime.." I wasn't sure what else I could say. After a few seconds, she stopped hugging me and smiled, "If you need anything for your farm, you know where to find me." With that, she bowed and went back to Vesta's farm. Huh… Somehow, staying here didn't seem too bad, with kind people like her. I didn't really have any friends at all where I used to live, so maybe this is a good start for me. Maybe, just maybe, I have a reason to stay…
I stood there watching her leave, but then I realized she might see me… Don't want to become the freak of the town so soon, so I headed off to explore some of the Valley. It was unusual walking by the Inn., almost like I was being watched… As I stopped to look around, I noticed someone was looking at me through the window at the entrance. I didn't get a good look at her because she turned away when I saw her, but she had bright red hair… I decided to introduce myself, so I opened the door to the Inn. and walked inside. Before I could see her, she'd just walked upstairs to her room. "Yo, Malunis!" Rock greeted me as he saw me enter. I nodded in greeting, "Hey… Who was that girl by the window?" I asked him. "You mean the chick with the red hair?" He was confused, but he knew who I was talking about apparently. His father, Tim, at the front desk overheard us and answered me, "Are you talking about Nami?" Tim said. "She's a young lady who's staying here as a guest, she doesn't talk much but she says she comes from the city." He explained. "Ahhh… A city person like me. Wonder what she's doing here." I thought to myself out loud. "So why'd ya wanna know about her, huh?" Rock asked me.
"Oh, no reason… I thought she was looking at me, it was probably just my imagination. Take care." I answered, walking out as quickly as possible. Whoever she was, it embarrassed me to have to explain myself… I really did think she was looking at me, though. Anyway, after I left the Inn., I started to meet some of the other people Takakura didn't introduce me too yet. Let's see… I didn't really memorize names, I just wrote them down. There was these two short old guys who were twins, a big dark skinned man that looked pretty scary, a hippie guy who makes his own music, and some weird doctor who was wearing boxers… A very unusual place, this Valley. As sundown had come, I noticed the Blue Bar was open, so I took a look inside to see what it was like. There weren't any customers here yet since they had just opened for the night, but I did see a woman standing at the counter. She was wearing a beautiful red dress, and had bright blue eyes which complimented her long flowing blonde hair… "Oh, hello there. Welcome to the Blue Bar." She said to me with a smile. From her voice, I could tell she was no more than a couple years older than myself, but she looked mature for her age. "H-hi… I'm Malunis." I said nervously. It was strange being at a bar, even stranger for a girl to work here. I always pictured bars to have… male owners. Odd. "Oh, you're that Manson guy, right? Takakura mentioned you a couple days ago." She said with interest.
"Oh, yeah… I just moved here yesterday, I'm introducing myself to more of the people here today." I said, trying to make conversation. Something about bars makes everything more interesting. "I see! Well, my name is Muffy. I work here with Griffin, the owner." She said kindly. "Is there anything we can get for you?" A man said as he entered from the back room. This man was obviously the owner, Griffin. "Oh, no thanks, I'm just visiting…" I said nervously. It was nice to speak to someone alone, but for some reason I find it awkward to carry a one-on-one conversation with more people in the room. "I think I'd better get going… Gotta do some farm work before it gets too late, y'know?" I said as I started to leave my seat. To be honest, I wasn't leaving to work, I just didn't feel like talking to anymore people about the farm or my father. But before I could leave out, Muffy stopped me. "Wait, here." She handed me a package of coffee grounds. "If you're gonna be out there working in the early morning, you've gotta have something to keep yourself energized." She said. I smiled and took the package, but realized… "Uhm, I don't have any money with me right now, actually… I could go back to the farm and get it—" She stopped me before I could finish. "Not a problem, it's free. Complementary of the Blue Bar!" Muffy said happily, winking at me. I blushed a little and nodded, then headed out.
Soon enough, it was nightfall, and time for me to go home and eat dinner. Fortunately, my mother packed me some food that I could cook when I got here, so I got lucky for now. This, of course, will only last a few nights, so I'd better learn more about that farming stuff soon before I starve. All in all, it wasn't a bad first day, but I still don't feel so sure about making farming a way of life… Can anyone really do something like that, or is it an acquired taste? In any case, I couldn't really let Takakura do all this on his own. He's kind of old, and I'd hate for him to have to live alone here… Now that my father is gone, I'm not sure who he has to talk to or spend time with. I guess I'll go along with it for now, until I'm really sure about what I'm gonna do… Oh man, waking up that early every morning is going to be rough unless I keep trying at it…
