Breaking Away From Here-Harvest Moon Animal Parade Fan fiction

My Goal

Soon it was Spring once more, and Father had to travel far to buy more seeds, and a telephone for that matter so that he wouldn't need to travel soo far every time he needed seeds. Mother had an airy expression. She was probably looking forward to getting the spring crops to bake into delicious dishes. Strawberries, cocoa fruit, cabbage, potatoes, and wheat. She loved cooking and putting them in the shipping bin. Many customers delighted in buying her delectable dishes.

It was actually great fun to help her with the cooking. Learning the recipes and being able to make some by myself was great fun. Now that Mother knew where he was going, she didn't lose herself this time. It really surprised me how fast the life drained from her when Father hadn't come home.

Finn and I felt bad for Father, too. His leg hadn't healed all the way just yet. So he had to travel miles with his severely bruised leg. Mother did the best she could to nurse it back to full health before Spring, but that was near impossible. I gladly had the opportunity to water and harvest crops during Winter while he waited for his leg to get better. I could tell it made both parents nervous to have me go out and work, but they had to let me if they still wanted to earn a profit. Plus Mother said she had no idea how to farm, so I had to be the one to do the job.

Hopefully they admired my hard work enough to let me work with Father this Spring. That would be nice. Then maybe I could meet the wild animals outside. My family had never had any livestock or pets, so I looked forward to seeing any of the Spring animals. It is quite funny! When I am face to face with things I have never experienced, I don't get nervous all that much, and I embrace the moment with all my being.

Mother taught me things from her old schoolbook. She only schooled me whenever she didn't have much to do. The house was sparkling, there weren't enough ingredients to cook much with, and all the clothes were nicely mended. So it was lesson time! Finn despised the schooling, but I enjoyed it very much, for it distracted me from wishing I had a life I didn't have. Plus, I got to read stories and learn math. I only enjoyed this stuff because it was something besides boredom. And I was actually good at it.

"What is 50 multiplied by 70?" "...3,500?" "Is that a question, or an answer?" Mother teased. "3,500!" I exclaimed. "Correct! How do you do all this multiplying in your mind?" "I'm not sure." "Alright. What is 742 divided by 22?" "Umm....." I was quiet for awhile, but I dared not write out the problem. Finally I said,"33.727272... it just keeps being 7272." "Wow. That's brilliant, Beatrice!" Mother said, amazed. "This is boring!" Finn whined.

Soon Father was home right after we finished dinner. He brought many seeds and showed the wonderfuls he had refined. Jade, lapis lazuli, garnet, opal, and amber.  Lot's of glass. Then he gave me a sapphire that  he refined from the blue wonderful he had given me. He let me take the refined wonderfuls to the shipping bin.

I put the sapphire in my drawer where the old one used to inhabit. Joyfully I climbed back down to watch Father eat his dinner and listen to him spin his tale about his journey out to the common marketplace. He got to see his old friend, Cain. They see each other every time they go to the market place. "Cain says he lives in Castanet and owns a ranch. Horn Ranch, he calls it. He's a friendly guy, but animals is his field of work, and we don't really see eye to eye on that kind of stuff."

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Being brave, I asked him straightforwardly, "Father, may I work in the fields with you?" Father frowned and stooped to my level. "Listen, honey. I appreciate all the work you did during Winter. It meant a lot. But you are just a girl. And some day you'll be a grown women. A women's work is in the home. Raising children, cooking, sewing, and cleaning. I'm sorry, sweet heart. Only in very drastic times must women do men's work." "...so...can I work with you, or-?" "No. You can't. You must stay inside with Mother, learn the work of women, and get married when you are old enough." I started crying, but I didn't get angry. I promised myself I wouldn't get angry anymore, or hold grudges. I climbed to my room and stayed up there the rest of the night. I promised myself I'd be better than my parents.