Chapter 2: RivalLaguna was even more tired than he assumed. He slept through all afternoon yesterday, and wakes up quite early. At first, he wakes up with a jerk, but then he realizes how he ended up in a soft comfortable bed. He met a girl named Mist the day before, and she not only gave him a home, but a job as well.
After waking up, he walks out of the house to get a breath of fresh air. But as he looks outside, his breath is taken away as he gazes into the beautiful mist that is covering the farm in the early Spring morning. At least he can clearly see why was the farm called “Mist Farm”.
After stretching for a moment, Laguna goes back into the house, and takes his first shower in a while. There are many things left in the house that Laguna can use, such as toiletries, tools, extra clothing, and some food in the small kitchen. The house is pretty old, but very livable.
Even though there are some clothes that Laguna can use, he feels most comfortable in the ones that he was wearing when he first arrived. He then grooms his hair, washes his teeth, and uses a razor to shave some of the facial hair that he developed while traveling around. After splashing his face with some water, he takes a look in the mirror, and sees a brand new man. A bit younger, cleaner, and easier on the eyes. He is now ready for the first day on the job.
He takes his tools that Mist gave him, along with any others he found in the house, and heads out to the field. But after he arrives, he stops, and stares hopelessly at the mess. He had completely forgotten how overgrown the field has become over the years. So many weeds, plants, rocks, and other random stuff just carpets the field. There are so many different things covering the ground, he can barely see the soil underneath.
He takes a deep breath, and tilts his head down. He hasn't even started yet, and he already feel exhausted just by looking at the mess. But he then rolls his sleeves back, and cheers for himself. Mist has been kind enough to give him a home and a job so that he doesn't have to live in the woods anymore. The least he can do is try his best in the farm for her sake.
So he begins pulling up the weeds, and other plants in the upper west corner. He doesn't plan to clear everything out at once, just enough to grow the seeds that Mist has given him the day before. But what seems to be a simple task, proves to be quite time consuming, and energy draining. But no matter how tough the job becomes, he still wants to do his best. Both for Mist, and his memory.
The small town of Kardia, just north of the farm, lives many people. Typically, shop owners who work hard to make ends meet. As the time passes, each shop opens up one by one. And as the town begins to become active, news of Mist's new farmer begins to spread faster than a plague. Many people become rather curious of this new member of the community. They keep asking about his age, his family history, his background, and other things. But since Laguna himself does not know much about himself, neither do the townsfolk.
One of the shops close to the farm is a general store. And inside this store, lives a young girl about the same age as Mist, along with her father. This young lady is Rosetta, best known as the village tomboy. Because she had also lost her mother at a young age, her personality can hardly be called ladylike. She is a free spirit with lots of energy, as strong as any normal man in the village, and always speaks her mind about anything.
But even with her tomboyish personality, Rosetta is a very lovely young woman. Her long golden hair that reaches a few inches below her shoulders catches the interest of many of the young men. Her young smooth pretty face and violet eyes can sometimes make her the envy of other young girls in the village. Even for a tomboy, she dresses in a feminine fashion with a blouse-like shirt, and a short skirt that hangs just above her knees.
Today, she is in the shop overlooking the stock. During opening hours, customers sometimes move items around misplacing them. Late in the day, Rosetta makes it her personal responsibility to reorganize the items so that they can sell more goods every day.
After she is done, she sighs deeply and says, “There we go. Nothing like a well organized store to help the sales a bit.”
Rosetta's father Jean then comes out of the back, and takes a look at the store. Jean is an ordinary middle aged man. With the exception of his blond hair, just about everything else is average. His wife passed away a long time ago, leaving him to raise his only daughter all by himself. Unlike Rosetta, Jean is not a very strong willed person. Typically, Rosetta bosses her father around, but he just smiles for her, and does whatever she says.
“You did a great job Rosetta.” said Jean, surprising Rosetta from behind.
Rosetta looks back at her father, and says, “Oh dad, what's up? You look like you have something to talk to me about.”
“Actually, I do.” answered Jean. “Have you heard about the farm? Mist finally found a farmer to work in the old farm. Isn't that good news? Looks like we may have more business from now on.”
“Oh, I see. It's about time, that farm hasn't been used ever since I was just a kid.” said Rosetta.
Jean then sweats nervously. Knowing how his daughter is, he can already foresee how is she going to react by what he is about to say next. But he dares himself to say, “About that. . . As the general goods store, we are in charge of shipping the goods in the farm. But I'm getting old, and I was hoping if you could do the shipping instead.”
“What!! Me?!” yelled Rosetta. She then crosses her arms, and turns away saying, “No dad! Shipping is a man's job! It's bad enough that the other people call me a tomboy! If I did it, I'll never e able to get married!”
Jean sighs and says, “Okay, I understand. . . I guess I'll have to do it, and leave you to run the store by yourself in the afternoon.”
As soon as Rosetta hears that, shipping suddenly sounds like a better idea. She then looks at her father with a smile and says, “You know dad, I think I should do the shipping instead. You're too old, and I wouldn't like you to get hurt. So leave it to me!”
Jean smiles and says, “Oh, you'll do it? Thank you very much. Just remember, the goods have to picked up at 5:00pm every day except holidays.”
“At 5:00pm?” asked Rosetta. She then looks at the clock and says, “It's already past 4 in the afternoon! I better get going!” Rosetta then rushes out of the shop, and heads into the back where she can get the cart ready.
Back at the farm, Laguna has spent the day clearing out a good portion of the field. He takes a look at the cleared field, and pats himself in the back. In a single day, he has already cleared out more than he had originally planned. Not even a single weed in the area that he cleared.
He then looks back at the pile of weeds, branches, and other things that he pulled out of the field. Now he needs to find a way how to get rid of the trash. He takes a look around the farm for a corner or someplace to put the items he cleared out. After a minute of looking around, he finds a large box next to a watering hole.
“Perfect! I could throw this stuff in there!” said Laguna. So little by little, he begins carrying the stuff to the box, and dumps everything inside. After he closes the box, he picks up the hoe, and walks over to the field so he can start tilling the cleared soil.
As he walks to the field, Rosetta walks into the farm pulling the cart where she plans to carry the goods back to the general store. The cart hasn't been used in a long time, so the wheels are a bit rusty, and makes pulling the cart a bit more difficult than normal. She wanted to oil the cart before she started pulling it, but she knows that it could take hours to do that, and she was already running late.
“Seriously, why do I have to do this anyway?” asked Rosetta. “If it wasn't for a certain poet that keeps bothering me, I would be more than happy to run the shop by myself. But without dad to chase him off, he will never leave me along, no matter how bad I'd beat him up.
But I am curious, what is this new farmer guy like. I bet he's just an old guy who desperately needs a job. No normal person would be willing to take over the farm. The farm is too much of a mess to work in.”
After entering the farm, Rosetta takes a moment to find the shipping crate. She then finds it next to the watering hole, and pulls the cart towards it. She then parks the cart near the shipping crate, and wipes the sweat off her forehead. She may be stronger than the other girls currently living in the village, but pulling a rusty cart is hard work. But rather than complain, she rubs her hands together and says, “Well, lets see how the farmer did on his first day.”
As Rosetta opens the box, Laguna has just finished tilling about nine square feet of land, good enough for a single bag of seeds. Soon afterwards, he hears the voice of a young girl yelling, “HEY!!! WHO THE HELL THREW ALL THIS TRASH IN THE SHIPPING CRATE!!!
”
Laguna looks back, and finds Rosetta looking into the box where he threw the stuff he cleared out of the field. By the murderous look on her face, he feels that he may be in trouble. But rather than running and hide, he feels that he should go apologize instead.
So he walks towards Rosetta and says, “Excuse me miss, I'm sorry, it was me. I thought it was a box for throwing garbage.”
Rosetta looks at Laguna and says, “Garbage?! What the hell is wrong with you?! This is not used for garbage, it's for-” it takes her a minute to finally take a good look at Laguna. Her face turns red as soon as she looks into his handsome blue eyes. She then scans him starting from his young flawless face, his slender yet well toned body, and then back up to his brunette spiked hair.
“Oh my god, he's gorgeous!” she whispered to herself.
Laguna waves his hand over Rosetta's blank face, but hardly gets a response. “Excuse me, are you okay? You're face is all red.”
Rosetta then snaps out of her trance, and replies, “Oh, me? Of course I'm okay. I was just caught by surprise, that's all.”
“I see. . . Well, I hope you're not mad at me.” said Laguna.
Rosetta then laughs sheepishly and says, “Me? Angry? Why would I be angry at you?”
Laguna then points at the shipping crate and says, “Because of the trash in that box.”
Rosetta looks at the box for a moment, then back at Laguna saying, “Trash? This is not trash, it's umm. . .” She then takes a second look at the box. She knows that all the stuff Laguna threw in there is just weeds and other plants growing in the wild in the field, along with branches and stones. But even though, she feels that she could impress him a bit by making him feel that he did something good.
She then pulls out a random weed out of the box and says, “See this? This may look like a useless weed, but I can take this to a mill, and make fertilizer out of it.”
She then takes out a stone and a branch, and says, “These can be used for making materials. The branch could be taken to a lumber mill, and be made into lumber to make houses. And the stones could be taken to a quarry to be made into bricks.”
She then finds a bamboo shoot inside the mess of weeds and things, and says, “This is not a weed at all. It's actually a bamboo shoot. People buy this as an ingredient for cooking.”
She then takes one last look at the crate and says, “I think I can see some colored grasses used to make medicine in the shipping crate too. I'm afraid I can't pay yo too much for all this, but. . .”
“Oh, it's fine. I didn't even expect to get anything from this. I'm just glad that I didn't do anything to make you angry.” said Laguna.
Rosetta then pulls a basket out of the cart and says, “Well, I have to get started on these things. . . By the way, my name is Rosetta. What's you name?”
“My name is Laguna, it's nice to meet you.”
“Laguna. . .” Rosetta's face turns red again, as she begins to imagine herself in a wedding dress holding on to his hand making their vows.
Laguna looks at Rosetta strangely as she giggles to herself with an empty basket in her hands. He then turns to the field, and says, “Well, I have to get back to work. I hope I see you around Rosetta.”
“I'll see you later Laguna!” waves Rosetta. She then begins packing the stuff in the shipping crate, and whispers to herself, “Wow, Laguna. . . What a perfect name. I'm so glad I decided to do this, I can see him every day!”
After she has finished packing everything to be shipped, she says her goodbyes to Laguna, and leaves the farm with her head full of daydreams. Laguna finds Rosetta to be a bit strange, but he feels that she's a nice girl. He only hopes that everyone else in the village is as nice as she is.
The next day, Rosetta learns that she completely forgot to pay Laguna for the stuff he shipped yesterday. So she totals up the money she owes him, and runs off out of the general goods store and heads to the farm. This time, she wears some hair clips in her hair to make her look a bit more cuter to impress Laguna. She could have waited until later that day so she could deliver the money, but she just wants any excuse to go to the farm, and see Laguna.
As soon as she arrives at the farm, She peeks inside to see if Laguna's there. She does find Laguna in the field, but she hides somewhere as soon as she notices that he is not alone. Yesterday, Laguna has finished tilling all the space he has cleared. Today, she finds Mist with him giving Laguna pointers on the best way to plant the seeds, and water the soil.
Seeing Mist so close to him makes Rosetta feels upset. She had forgotten that since Mist's father is missing, Mist now owns the farm in his place. A long time ago, Mist and Rosetta were once best friends. But now they have become bitter rivals, and haven't spoken to one another in years. Since Mist is with Laguna, Rosetta decides to leave, and come back at 5:00pm to pick up any produce. The last thing she wants is to talk to Mist.
Later that day, Rosetta arrives at the farm just in time to pick up the shipped produce. But when she opens the box, she finds nothing in the shipping crate. She then looks over at Laguna, and notices that he is alone watering the planted seeds. Seeing that Mist is not with him, she decides to go ahead, and talk to him.
She slowly walks up to him, and says, “Hi there Laguna. How is everything?”
Laguna looks back, and finds Rosetta walking towards him. He smiles and says, “Hello Rosetta. Everything is just fine.”
“I noticed that you didn't ship anything today. You know, you could ship anything, as long as it fits in the shipping crate. Just let me worry about what I can do with the stuff you ship.”
“I see. I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the advice.” answered Laguna.
“So, are you almost done with your work for the day? Since there's nothing to pack and ship, I have some free time. We could go to the square, talk for a bit, and get to know one another a little bit better.”
“Sure, sounds like fun.” answered Laguna.
Rosetta then embraces Laguna's arm, and begins to walk out of the farm. But it doesn't take long until Mist comes into the farm carrying some seeds that she wants Laguna to plant, and finds Rosetta in the farm leaving with Laguna. The shock from seeing them walk out together like if they are about to go on a date makes her drop the seeds she brought with her.
Just like Rosetta was upset seeing him with Mist, now Mist becomes upset seeing him with Rosetta. But rather than hiding and watching from afar, Mist decides to approach them, and stop whatever Rosetta has planned.
“Hey! Laguna, where are you going!?” yelled Mist. Rosetta looks back, and finds Mist standing behind them. She quickly grows angry at the first sight of her. Even Laguna can quickly see the negative energy both of the young girls are giving off between them.
“So, I take it that you both are friends?” he asked thoughtlessly.
“Hardly.” answered Rosetta.
“We used to be friends, but Rosetta stole my boyfriend a few years ago.” commented Mist.
“I didn't steal anyone's boyfriend!!” yelled Rosetta. “He told me that he broke up with you, so we started going out. It wasn't my fault that he likes me better than you.”
Mist then points at Rosetta and yells, “Oh is that so? Then what are you doing with Laguna? He just got here, and you're already stealing him away!”
Rosetta tightens her grip on Laguna's arm and says, “Well duh! Laguna is your farmer, not your boyfriend. So he an do and go wherever he wants. Unless there is another reason that he cannot go for a walk with me.”
As much as Mist hates to admit it, Rosetta is right. Mist only hired Laguna as a farmer, he is not obligated to do anything else. But even so, she liked Laguna before Rosetta, so she feels that she has first dibs on him. SO she comes up with an idea and says, “Well . . . I brought some seeds that Laguna needs to plant, so I'm afraid that he cannot go with you today.” she said.
“Oh really? I'll get to work on that then.” said Laguna walking away from Rosetta.
“But. . . What about our walk?” asked Rosetta as she watches Laguna walk away from her.
Laguna looks back and smiles at Rosetta saying, “We'll go for that walk next time. Right now, I have a job to do.”
Laguna then walks to Mist, and helps her pick up the seeds she dropped. Rosetta becomes upset at Mist, and says under her breath, “You win this time Mist. But I swear that someday he will be mine.” She then goes to her cart, and goes back home.
To be continued.
I can't wait. ^-^
”
