1 The Farm Girl

"Hey Erika! We need more carrots! The people are in need of carrots!" A man said.

"Coming dear!" A woman called out. "Alright Risa, we need these seeds from the market in town. The demand for crops are much higher than they used to be."

"Are you sure you and the old man can handle it by yourselves? The people are kinda...needy and a bit rude now." I asked.

"No need to worry about us sweetheart, we can handle it. Your father is an expert. Now go, no time to waste." The woman smiled.

"Alright mom, if you say so." I said and took the list then jogged off.

My name is Risa Nakagami, and I am 17 years old. I'm just a simple farm girl who's barely making it by when it comes to money since most of our money goes to a huge business in the city. A bunch of sloppy pigs take our money in the form of taxes. My village is barely stable with the amount of money we collect each year, but I digress. My family and I grow and sell crops to the travellers and gain money that way. It is our main source of income even though we keep only 10% of what we earn. Right now the demand for crops are a lot higher than before since it's becoming winter and no one wants to go out for anything. I don't blame them though, our winter seasons are always rough. Just last year we had a blizzard that destroyed all our crops! My dad was pissed on that year and he was rightfully so. We worked hard on those crops, but this time we are making sure we do better this year.

"Alright...watermelon seeds, pumpkin seeds..apple seeds..just seeds in general. Now for the list for ourselves: bread, milk, tomatoes, potatoes, and eggs." I said.

"Yo Risa!" A male ran up to me. I looked back to look at him.

"A-Ahh, Aaron. What brings you here?" I brushed hair behind my ear.

"The old lady wants me to do some grocery shopping for this year's winter hell." Aaron laughed.

Aaron was my childhood friend in the small village we both stayed in. He is 18 years old and his family runs a small bakery. Naturally his family's business became my family's rival. He may seem annoying at first but he's a good person at heart.

"I assume you're doing the same thing?" Aaron asked.

"Mhm, the demand for my family's crops have increased a bit fast because of the winter..honestly it's a dread because to even out how much we get to keep, we had to make our own personal greenhouse. I didn't think our business would grow so big so fast." I said.

"Well it's convenient because it allows the people to just buy crops in the comfort of their own village." Aaron said. "I've made a few stops, but every time I went you weren't there."

"W-What you were looking for me?" I blushed then weakly hit his chest. "D-Don't say things like that!"

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean for it to come out like that." Aaron laughed.

"Hmph! I'm going to get my groceries!" I walked off.

"You're walking the wrong way!" Aaron called out.

I turned around and walked past him. Aaron followed and chuckled a little. It took a total of 30 minutes to get our groceries for each of our parents. We walked back towards our village.

"So any plans for this upcoming holidays?" Aaron asked.

"Nothing in particular. My older sister might come to the village and stay for a few days." I said and pulled up my scarf.

"Ahhh. My mom and I have nothing to do, is it fine we have a little get together, like the old times?" Aaron asked.

"It's not a problem. My family would be glad to have you and your mother." I said and smiled.

"Great, my mom would be delighted to come over." Aaron said.

The cold air blew into our faces and I shivered. Aaron stopped, so I instinctively stopped as well. He gave me his jacket and I blushed and looked at him.

"Aren't you gonna get cold?" I asked.

"I worked in the fields in harsh weathers with my father before he died. This weather is nothing to me." Aaron picked up his bags.

"I-If you say so." I said.

We kept walking back home and we parted ways. I ran to the house and walked in.

"Sorry I was late! I actually ran into Aaron, we walked home together." I said and took off my shoes at the door then put on my slippers.

"It's alright." My mom said and walked to the front to greet me. "Is he coming over with his mom this Christmas?"

"Mhm! Have you heard from big sis? She's a bit of an airhead when it comes to these things." I giggled.

"Surprisingly she's gonna be early this season. She's got time off from her job early so we should be seeing her next week!" My mom said happily.

"Great! I wonder how her job with modelling is going." I walked to the kitchen and set the bags down. I then proceeded to put the groceries away and threw the bags in the trash. I walked to the living room and took the cigarette out from my dad's mouth.

"Yeah yeah, I already know what you're gonna say."

"Smoking in the house is bad." We both said.

"I've heard it a million times, but I literally didn't light the cigarette up. I was reading the paper and thought you should watch out for the roads later on. Getting pretty hectic now.." My dad said.

"Hectic how?" I asked.

"Well mainly the frost on the road makes it harder to steer your vehicle so..you get the picture." My dad said.

"Mhm, I promise to watch out for everything boz!" I smiled.

"Boz, I haven't heard that since you were four years old." My dad smiled.

I smiled and sat back on the couch and my mom proceeded to make dinner. It was only 3 weeks until Christmas. We all were excited for this year's Christmas, as much as we were on any other year. Christmas was one of the only times our family actually got together. Because of my sister's career she isn't able to celebrate with us as much as she wants. She missed some of my birthdays because her shows would fall on that week of my birthday. This year is special though..we all get to be together like we once were when we were younger. The only difference is Aaron's dad isn't gonna be here..but he will watch over us.

"Mmm? You crying?" My dad looked at me.

"W-What?" I rubbed my eyes. "I-I don't know how I started to cry."

"It happens to all of us." My dad laughed softly.

"S-Shut up..!" I laughed with him and continued to wipe my tears.

My mom smiled and listened to us joke around as she cooked dinner. She was happy that we all got to come together as one once more. Christmas was special to us more than anything in the world. Our family and friends coming over and spending the few days over until New Year's. My sister being able to come home and spend time with me. It is a joyous moment for us to experience again. I couldn't wait until that time came.