By the time I reached the farm, it was nearly 4:00 pm. I looked at the sorry state of the place and sighed. It was going to be a lot of work to clear up all the mess that had accrued. Barbold was right, I needed to find help. But who would want to help me when they were all so busy with their own farms and businesses? It’s not like I had money to pay anyone.
I decided since it was the first day of summer and I had crops, it was best to get to work and plant some. Also, I was curious to see how it worked. There was a suitable patch of long grass right in front of the porch. So, while Max snored away on the wooden patio, I got to work. I swung the scythe again and again, clearing out a large swathe of tall grass. I felt my energy waning as I did so and wiped the sweat from my brow. I kept going until I had a nice cleared-out area. I was panting heavily and took a seat on the ground, dismissing my scythe. I checked on my energy levels:
[ Energy: 60/100 ]
I whistled, I may have overdone it. I had cleared a pretty big spot out but I only had five crops to plant. I scratched my head. Ok, so it was time to do this. But how? I focused and selected them from my inventory and the scythe immediately disappeared and in my hands was a pot containing a tomato plant with a small sprout at the top.
“Adorable,” I said with a smile.
I had never planted anything in my life but already I liked the feeling of this. I tried to set the plant down in the dirt but a large X appeared in my vision and the words:
[ You must dig a hole first, before planting a crop. You can do so using a Hoe. ]
Right, of course. And while I’m at it I should probably clear out my inventory and reorganize.
I walked over to the chest and deposited the items in my inventory that I didn’t need to use such as the plant material, the ‘soiled’ clothes, and the scythe. Once I had finished that I then picked out the hoe and the watering can from the chest and transferred them to my inventory. I marveled at the ease with which I was already navigating the item management systems.
I walked back over to the patch of grass I had cleared out and selected the hoe. It appeared in my hands and I used it on the barren patch of earth closest to me. The earth went from flat and unbroken to mulched up and ready to plant. I then dug up four slots in the dirt and checked my energy. It had gone down once more.
[ Energy 40/100 ]
I decided I’d best not dig anymore, not until I got new crops. I selected each tomato crop one by one and deposited them in the hole. This cost me another five energy, one apiece.
[Energy 35/100]
Next, I went to fill up the watering can. Thankfully the area I’d cleared had revealed a small pond. I saw Max’s tracks here and realized this was no doubt where he’d gone to get all wet and mucky. I filled up the can and then watered the plants. This cost me twelve energy points total, I assumed two for filling up the can and two apiece for each watering.
[Energy 23/100]
The energy meter was flashing red. A warning. I had successfully planted my first crops and I decided I should probably take a break. It was 7:00 PM, suppertime. I walked back to the porch and sat down beside Max. The dog rolled over onto his belly and whined so I gave him a few pets and he grunted happily, his tail slapping the deck as it moved back and forth.
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It had been a long hard day, but oddly I felt a strange calm. I hadn’t worked with my hands like this in years and though my muscles ached, I enjoyed the feeling of my body being put to good use. But all that work had my stomach grumbling. I was hungry.
“I’m headed into town,” I said to Max, scratching his ears and getting close to his face. "You want to come, boy?”
He opened his eyes and burped directly into my face. It was foul and smelled of rancid meat. I gagged.
“Ok… so… I’m guessing you already caught yourself dinner somewhere huh? Right then, I’ll leave you to take a nap.”
Off to find food, let’s hope it’s cheap!
***
The sky was turning green and pink, the sun was setting. As I walked towards the town once more I waved goodbye to my little tomato plants, already feeling an affinity for them, and headed into the city center. I realized as the dirt road transitioned back to cobblestone that I was still wearing my farming outfit. Usually, I would be dressed nicely if I was going for a night out, but my only suit was ‘soiled’ as my inventory put it.
Oh well, who am I really trying to impress anyway?
As if on cue, I heard a tinkle of laughter, and two young women brushed by me. One I recognized, was the elf maiden with books from earlier! But the other I did not, she had long fiery red hair and wore a plain white dress. She clung to the elf’s arm, practically dragging the taller woman in the direction of what appeared the town pub. Neither noticed me at all. I ran a finger through my hair.
Well, if I was going to try to impress anyone, it would probably be a pretty redhead and an elf-maiden.
I looked around for any other signs of life in the town and came up short. It seemed that the pub was my only option. I gave the girls a bit of a head start, watching them enter. When the large door opened I heard cheerful hails from inside and saw a warm yellow light. Then it slammed shut. I walked up to the door and opened it myself. I had expected something, stares, cheers, a sudden quieting, anything. But the truth was no one reacted to my entry at all.
A lesson in humility, then. I’ll take it.
I glanced at the two girls. The redhead was still babbling on to the elf, who was smiling politely and nodding. The green-haired maiden caught my stare and looked back for a moment then looked away, a faint blush on her cheeks.
I continued surveying the rest of the bar’s interior. Other than those two, there were no familiar faces, just a handful of patrons, mostly alone and enjoying a mug of what looked like ale. I didn’t see anyone eating, and that was a little alarming, but there was only one way to find out if they stocked food.
I walked right up to the counter. It was empty but as soon as I stepped up to it a thin balding man shot towards me like an arrow out of a bow, a large fake smile plastered across his face.
He spoke rapid fire at me: “Well hello sir, my name is Manuel. I am the barkeep of the Moonshot Saloon! How can I help you this fine evening? We have a special on, well, dang near everything!”
Even after he’d finished talking his smile persisted. I found it more than a little unnerving. I wondered if he ever blinked. Thankfully for me, I didn’t have to ask any more questions, I could just browse what he had in stock. I scrolled through a rather large list of drinks, all of which cost a heck of a lot more than I had in my inventory. Finally, I landed on a few things I could buy. A mug of ale was twenty gold, but it was on sale today for 15. I could also get a loaf of bread for another 5 gold. All the other food was over 20 gold so I had to pass on it.
“I’ll just get one ale and one loaf of bread please!” I demanded.