I'll be brief because I know you didn't come here to listen to me babble on about myself. My name is TheMeltingBoy and this is my first Harvest Moon FanFiction. I appreciate any kind of reviews, however, I do prefer intellectual ones with some honest criticism. Well I said I will be brief so I'll let you get on to the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any other Natsume games. I do however own my imagination.
Hypnagogia
Prologue
Summertime was in full swing; the days were long, nights were warm, and the ocean was high. Life was on track and everything had been going just as it had for the last decade, like a merry-go-round that would never stop. It was enough to drive someone mad.
But that summer nobody in the small town of Flowerbud Village would have to worry about going mad from the heat, oh no, there were much worse problems headed their way.
According to travel pamphlets, a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to attract tourists, Flowerbud Village was 'the ideal small community that was rarely seen in this day in age. A place where the villagers were friendly, the shops were unique, and the nature mesmerizing'.
Unfortunately the advertisement failed to mention that the town could only be reached by boat, of which there is only one. That is, unless you live in one of the other small communities located on Harvest Island. But neighboring townspeople don't qualify as tourists.
In 1921, the eve of the Great Depression, Flowerbud Village was established by a small group of people looking to create a socialist community. They were successful in creating one but in 1929, when the Great Depression began, the socialist community collapsed under panic and distress.
Oliver McPike was the man who restored peace to the community after the socialist collapse. Later in the year he became Mayor and the town flourished for twenty years under his guidance. But disaster struck once more. Mayor McPike died by choking on his own tongue during a seizer. In the wake of his death Martin Hansbrough, a local farmer, announced that he was the new mayor.
Under Hasbrough's rule Flowerbud village was swept into a quasi-dictatorship. During that time communication with outside life was cut off and the village was swept behind a curtain of darkness. In 1989, forty years after Hasbrough took control of the village, he died. It was an accidental drowning according to a police report, however, there are no official autopsy.
The population of the town diminished during the forty year span and after Hasbrough's death many of the villagers left, leaving Flowerbud in a run-down state with a population of approximately five.
Now, at the beginning of the new millennium, the village has finally begun to flourish again. While at a population of about forty, the town maintains a stable economic and political structure. Mayor Theodore Holmes, a descendent of Oliver McPike, is to thank for this because for the last twelve years he had been working nonstop to return the village to glory.
Unknown to Mayor Holmes his term as Mayor would be cut short and he would be unable to complete his goal of making Flowerbud Village win the BSCA-Best Small Community Award. Twenty-seven days into summer he would die. There would be no autopsy report, no police records, no death certificate.
For at the edge of dreams and reality something lurks around every corner, under every bed, behind each closed door.
Welcome to hypnagogia.
Maria Holmes walked along the rows of bookshelves in Flowerbud Library in search of misplaced books. As usual there were none and she returned back to her librarian desk where she would sit and watch time tick by. Visitors were a rare sight and most of the villagers only came in to chat to her.
Solemnly she looked out the window, it was casting bright noontime sunlight onto her black hair making it shine. Right now all the girls her age were probably flirting with their boyfriends at the beach or at the top of Mount Moon cuddling. Momentarily she wondered where hers was and remembered that he was always fishing at noon.
Ray Daniels was his name and fishing was his game- actually it was more like and obsession, there didn't seem to be a single moment when he wasn't. An idol has displaced me, Maria thought quoting Dickens.
But what if he wasn't really out fishing? What if he was with another woman? Instead of anger Maria was feeling excitement. Well then I guess I'm just going to have to check on him to make sure. In her heart she knew he wouldn't cheat on her, not that he was a perfect boyfriend or anything but because no girl would want him. It was a mean thought but the truth, even she was beginning to lose affection for him.
Maria got out from behind the desk and turned the OPEN sign in the front window to CLOSED. Momentarily she looked in the mirror to see if she was presentable. Not much of a vain person she spent less then a second deciding that she looked perfectly fine for a summers day. Although it would be considerably hot for her in the gray dress she wore, not to mention hard to walk through the dirt streets in her black heels.
Warm air hit her when she first opened the door and instantly she felt a tiny drop of sweat drip down her neck. But anything was better than being trapped in the library waiting for visitors that would never come. She walked down the path that lead to Forest Pond, Ray's favorite fishing spot, and along the way she passed by a few buildings.
The first, which was kitty corner from the library, was the Café Callaway. Inside she could see a young girl with brown curls and a waitress' dress on serve a few of the locals. Katie Thompson was her name, she lived and worked at the café with its owner Carl Callaway. Rumors were that they had a little romance going on but Maria figured that that was just a silly lie used to stir up excitement in a small town.
Just like Ray cheating on you. She ignored her inner voice.
The table Katie was currently serving had a cute couple seated at it. The boy had disheveled black hair and glasses and his outfit resembled that of an office worker. The girl, presumably his date, had her orange hair tied into a ponytail. Her cloths were boyish and covered with black spots. They were locals Ann Covington and Louis Watts- both of whom were inventers.
Just about three weeks ago Ray had taken her there but it had been a horrible attempt at a date. Ray wouldn't quit talking about the "big fish" he had caught the other day and when Katie had come to take their order he ordered for the both of them. Moments later a platter of fish stew was set down right in front of her.
Maria hated fish but there was no way she would tell her fish obsessed boyfriend that. She made up the excuse that her stomach wasn't feeling good that day and said she should be getting home to rest. Before she could even finish the sentence he was up and halfway to the front door. As he exited he said that he hoped she felt better and that he was going fishing. Minutes passed and Maria had sat there starring at the front door, the check for the two unfinished fish stews in front of her.
Maybe she did hope he was cheating on her, if he was then she could easily dump him.
Just fifty yards down the road from the café was Spring Bridge and beyond that the Perch Inn. Maria was curious as to how it stayed open seeing that there weren't any tourists.
Her heels echoed as she crossed the bridge and beneath her she could hear the peaceful sound of rushing water. Flowerbud Village did have an appealing nature aspect to it with all the natural streams and healthy forests. A big bonus to its tourist points seeing as most of the big cities were thick with smog and grime. However big grimy cities had one thing that Flowerbud didn't, and that was massive shopping centers.
Smells of delicious foods filled her nose as she walked past the inn. If they weren't staying open on tourist money then it was the villagers buying Gwen Rancourt's amazing food that was keeping them up.
She continued past the Inn and found herself approaching Sping Farm, a prosperous family run farm that glowed with tender radiance. A sweet melody was drifting out from a patch of tomato bushes and in the mix of ripe red tomatoes Maria could see Nina Loomas' rosy red hair. Nina was water the plants and as Maria walked by her head looked up and she smiled.
"Good afternoon Maria!" She chirped; everything about Nina was lively, from her hair to her bubbly personality.
Maria smiled and replied with the same greeting she had received. While Nina's smile and voice had been inviting Maria knew that to make small talk in the middle of gardening hour would be a mistake for Nina's mother Liz would surely chew her daughter out for slacking off.
Ms. Loomis wasn't a mean woman; she shared both her daughter's looks and personality but the woman had high expectations when it came to the crops. Both her and her late husband had purchased the farm and pored everything they had into it and when Mr. Loomis died everyone was sure the farm would die with him. But Liz had remained strong, not once letting the grief take over her ability to run the farm.
A month after his death she discovered that she was pregnant. Somehow the woman was able to continue with her intense workload while carrying the baby. Even after Nina's birth Liz continued to work the same hours as she had and with that her daughter grew accustomed to being outside in the garden crops.
That farm was everything to Liz and for it to go to ruins would surely kill her.
Hearing children's laughter distracted Maria from her walk to Spring Pond. Cheerful cries escaped a little boy's mouth as him and his dog ran along the beaches edge. His name escaped her and no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't remember it, though she knew that he was the grandson of the village's blacksmith.
Continuing on her way to find Ray, the exact reason for which she wanted to see him forgotten by now, Maria made right alongside the western edge of Spring Farm. From a side window she was Liz arranging various seed packets at the front of the store.
A few feet later she was staring at the front door of a massive wooden house nestled in the edge of a small forest of trees. Somewhere behind the building there came a steady chopping sound, nothing unusual when the place was the blacksmiths cabin. An old man lived there along with his two apprentices, both of which were quite the eye candy.
Ray flashed into her mind and she frowned. Out of all the local bachelors she had chosen him, the one who was the least attractive in both personality and looks.
Why all of a sudden did she feel such a bitter anger towards him? Had he done anything wrong to her? Had he treated her unfairly? To all of them she answered no. Unable to pinpoint the exact origin of the emotions she was getting Maria forced herself to shrug them away and admire the beautiful landscape surrounding her.
By the time Maria reached Spring Pond the sun had begun its decent towards the distant horizon, she hadn't realized how long it takes to actually make it to the pond. At first glance she saw nothing but the clear pond water surrounded by a dozen or so trees, all cast in the shadow of the rock wall that ascended past the tips of the trees. People called the plateau that rested on the rock wall lover's leap for legend once told a tale that a young couple whose love for each other was forbidden jumped off the cliff and into the pong below where they drowned in each others arms.
Quite touching, but not something Maria would do for her man. Besides he would probably leave her to drown while he admired the fish in the pond. Where was he anyway? Maria hoped she hadn't walked all the way over to the secluded place just to find out he wasn't there.
Then she saw him, he was sprawled out underneath on of the shade trees, his fishing rod lying next to him. Suddenly all the bitterness she had been feeling went away. There was something about his peaceful state that contained a sort of majestic beauty, a hidden loveliness that an awakened Ray could not exude. His messy brown hair was swept across one closed eye and his stomach moved up and down ever so slightly with each slow breath.
Removing her heels so that they would not sink into the soft green grass that surrounded the pond, Maria made her way barefoot over to her sleeping boyfriend making sure not to awaken him with her approach.
How could she ever think such bad things about him? At this moment even if she tried she would fail at finding any flaw he had about him.
Carefully she brought herself to her knees next to him and looked into his closed eyelids. She wondered what he was dreaming about.
Fish most likely.
That response didn't register with Maria and she continued gazing at him with wonder. In so few moments she had become captivating by his sleeping beauty and couldn't find away to break herself out of the spell he had cast upon her.
Gently she laid her head onto his chest closed her eyes. She could hear the steady rhythm of his heart beating and as her herself drifted into sleep she felt his arms wrap around her.
She loved him.