Farming Failure

[The Mood is Write]

Morgan lived a quiet life in a quiet apartment, with a quiet job in a quiet cubicle, until her grandfather passed away after a long fight with cancer. He left her some farmland and a little money, but she thought nothing of it until she began to notice things around her becoming strange. Doors came unlocked that she'd locked while going to get groceries. Her purse was moved to the wrong end of the bed. Her mail was sorted alphabetically by sender. Even her furniture seemed off when she went to sit, but her rear end landed on the arm of the chair instead of the chair itself.

She became nervous, and then she became scared, and then she began to see unfamiliar faces following her that nobody else seemed to notice. Everything came to a head when she saw those same people at her grandfather's funeral, watching her.

That night, she packed up and went to the land her grandfather left her, desperately seeking peace, and there she found... a run-down farmhouse and overgrown fields.

Over the next few weeks, she worked hard on the house and fields, and by the time May came, she had the house in working order, moved into it, cobbled together a chicken coop, and managed to get a few seeds growing in part of a reclaimed field, but every night, she fell onto her bed and slept in her clothes.

⋯﴾⛧﴿⋯​

The day began under great protest from the young woman who recently moved into the decrepit farmhouse. The alarm clock was horrible. Breakfast was horrible. Watering the 'crops' before dawn was horrible. Chopping a tree was horrible. Painstakingly digging up the roots was similarly horrible. The only thing that went easily was feeding the chickens and stealing their eggs away from them.

Finally, the sun began to sink, and Morgan gave the field a small shower from the hose before she walked into her house and slipped out of her boots at the door. As she walked to the bedroom, she glanced briefly at the mini-fridge and microwave across from the bed, then grimaced as she flicked on a light and reached for a book as she fell onto the bed.

Her overalls dug into her freckled and sore back. She lifted the book over her head and stared at it, and the words began to swim before her eyes as her arms trembled.

[BCOLOR=#808080]| Potato plants do best in soil with...[/BCOLOR]

A number, and then... Ascorbancy? Was that even a word? She leaned her head forward and stared at the page until the word 'acidity' became clear.

⋯﴾⛧﴿⋯​

A creak woke her long before she wanted to rise, and she grunted as she pushed herself up onto hands and knees from her usual sleeping position on her belly.

"Nnhuh?" She scowled down at her pillow as her mind tried to catch up to what she'd heard before she started to lay back down, too tired to care if she ended up murdered during the night.

 

[Waking Nights]

Liam saw light. In the distance a few windows dotted the horizon, the telltale of a small town. A sigh of relief escaped his lips. It meant he'd have a place to stay. Life on the road was hard, and with the way the clouds were rolling it was going to rain, and hard if he had to suspect. His tent could only handle so much abuse before water would be let in, and his clothes well… Turning his head down to glance at what he was wearing, he had on a sweatshirt with several holes in it, under that an old beat up shirt. His jeans weren't faring much better, with tears at the knees and a discolored and frayed bottom it was unlikely they'd survive another bad night. His boots were about the only good thing he had, cost him a pretty penny but they were designed to last, though they were scuffed up, they weren't discolored or holey like the rest of his attire.

Turning his head back up he hastened his pace, the faster he was in the town the better. His backpack jangled as he moved quickly, metal tools and cookware clanged around as their own ran towards safety. Eventually, as raindrops started to fall he reached it. A quint little town, buildings and some shops dotting the main street as the road continued on through to places beyond. It was the sort of place that if one stood on one end and tried to find the other it was pretty easy. He glanced around, his eye looking for the sign he needed, but to his surprise he didn't see a single hotel or a motel even. "What sorta hick place…" He muttered quietly to himself not finishing the sentence as he sighed and was beginning to accept his fate. Might as well look around a bit before setting up for the night. Perhaps he'd find a nice overhang to pitch his tent under.

As he checked out the various buildings, each and every one having already closed for the night he eventually stumbled on to a dirt path. It barely looked used, the grass was threatening to grow over it. It was a good sign, in a place like this, that usually meant an abandoned building or park. It would be nice to have a roof over his head. Following the path, he stumbled on to an old farm. "Guess this place closed down a while ago." He said to himself. His feet carried him along the path towards the old building he saw in the distance. In the darkness he couldn't quite tell the condition of the building, and frankly he just wanted to get out of this rain before it soaked him to the bone. Cutting through some of the field he eventually found one of the doors, naturally it was locked. "Ugh…" He groaned as he reached into his bag quickly and pulled out a pair of bobby pins. It was no doubt a simple lock something that he could- *click* The door swung open before he could even finish his thought and a smile crossed over his face. "Home sweet home."

Heading in he decided to check the place for animals before he'd buckle down in a nice spot, maybe get a fire going. Though it was odd…this place felt and looked to be in better condition then he thought, the outside looked pretty crappy from what he could see but in here it wasn't too bad. Most places like this were usually ramsacked or decayed in some way. Checking out the various rooms he didn't find too much of note, at least that was until he wandered into the bedroom, and there was a rather easy way of telling that just did too. A woman was laying on the bed wearing a set of overalls and a few other things.

'Someone owns this dump?!' He thought to himself in surprise. 'Well considering I just broke in anyway…maybe I should see if theres anything of value laying around or-' Unfortunately for him, the old house betrayed him, one more step and a loud creak echoed through out the building and the woman pushed herself up a bit grumbling. Instinctively, and perhaps knowing that his ass was in trouble if she noticed him sneaking about he decided to cover himself. "Hello?" He asked as if speaking into the darkness. "Is anyone here?"

 

[The Mood is Write]

A voice.

A human voice.

Morgan inhaled sharply and turned toward where she heard the voice, saw a wall, then looked the other way, where she spotted what looked like a drifter.

Horror stories charged rapidly through her brain, and she stared, wide-eyed, at the stranger, unable to stop her fearful tremors as adrenaline woke her faster than anything else.

"Uh...!" She tried and failed to speak past the lump in her throat. All that emerged was a choked squeak.

She forced herself to cough as she rose from the bed. "Um... This is my house," she managed, trying not to scream in fear as she reached for a baseball bat that wasn't leaning against the bed.

Belatedly, she recalled that some nights ago, she accidentally knocked it and it rolled beneath.

"Be... be careful, I just have... just have plywood down, the floors are dangerous...!" Why she was warning someone she'd been about to threaten with a bat, she had no idea, and it never occurred to her that it might be weird.

 

[Waking Nights]

Liam watched as the woman practically shot off the bed. It looked to him as though she tried to speak several times but failed. Eventually spitting out some words he frankly didn't want to hear. "Ah…" He muttered in response as he noticed her fumbling for something, a thought in the back of his mind hoped it wasn't a gun. Though her next words caught him off-guard a bit. "Huh?" He glanced down at his feet and after testing his weight sure enough it moved a bit. Between the storm outside and his desperation to find a safe dry place he hadn't noticed. He glanced back up at her, she was stiff as a board and staring at him. Though it was only natural, he was a stranger who had come into her home, her bedroom at night. He held up his hands by the sides of his head, showing he wasn't holding anything. "Hey, I know this looks bad, but I swear I wasn't up to anything. I was just looking for a place to get out of the storm and this shack looked like it was abandoned." He paused for a moment considering his next words carefully. "Besides when I tried the door it was unlocked so I assumed no one else was here."

He let her think on his words for a while before speaking again. "What's your name? I'm Liam." He said simply, trying to get her to trust him a bit more. "I was passing through when the storm hit, and I tried to find a place to stay. I would leave…but that storm out there would kill me if I had to spend another night in it, can you please let me spend the night somewhere? The town doesn't have a place to stay and I didn't see anything else on my way here." It was a bit of a lie, he certainly wouldn't die if he was outside in that storm, but to be frank he very much did not want to suffer another freezing night. Besides that, he was curious to see how she'd react, it was odd to him that she'd warn a stranger, what was his drifting for if not for strange situations.

 

[The Mood is Write]

"Morgan," she responded after a few long moments. "I'm Morgan. Um..."

She forced another deep breath. "Wait... wait there."

She couldn't get out that she was going to offer him a towel. The words wouldn't come. She moved slowly, towards another door, and opened it to reveal a bathroom, a shower curtain visible on the far side. She tried to watch him at the same time she reached for the nearest towel, but had to look to find the towel. Once she had it, she tossed it his way.

"Dry off," she managed. "There's... a spot in the living room that's sturdy. I'll... get some of my spare blankets for you. And my extra pillow." She spoke quickly, with awkward pauses in several places as she tried to simply function in such a weird situation.

 

[Waking Nights]

This was a first. A towel gently hit his body as the woman had gone to go get a towel for him. Her name was Morgan, a nice name, one that reminded him of witches and evil women from books and movies, but it seems this one didn't have a cruel bone in her body. At least as far as he could tell anyways. He readily accepted the towel and dried himself off, starting with his hair, which tossed lightly with its current length, before moving down to the rest of his body and his bag. What she said next was what really caught him off guard. She was offering to let him spend the night in her living room, this woman was either naïve or stupid, either way it was a boon for him. Thankfully for her, he wasn't a murderer or rapist, otherwise someone might have had a fun time. "Uh…thank you." He muttered, genuine disbelief in his voice.

As he made his way towards the living room that she pointed out, his eye adjusted to the darkness around him and he saw the state of the place…it was frankly in shambles with plywood all over barely keeping the place up. Eventually he heard Morgan starting to return with what she said she'd bring. "Thank you for being so kind, Miss." He said simply, his tone respectful, he wasn't about to squander this. "I can set up the rest, I won't cause any problems for you, I just want to let this storm pass with it taking me with it." He chuckled slightly, trying to ease the atmosphere a bit. He had already set his bag down and was getting ready to do with the stuff she had given him as he could. It wouldn't be the best accommodations he's had, but certainly not the worst either. Regardless his mind began to drift as he thought about Morgan, she was an odd woman to say the least, not many would allow a perfect stranger into their home for an hour let alone a night's rest. Perhaps…he could have a bit of fun with her.

 

[The Mood is Write]

"Um. Rest well," she managed before she headed back to her room. A god-awful grinding screech followed as she closed her bedroom door with clear struggle.

She wasn't about to completely trust him, just like that.

Still, it wasn't like she could just send him right back outside. It wouldn't be right, plus he was bigger than she was...

If he tried her bedroom door, he'd wake her, no questions about it, so... she felt reasonably safe. There was a reason she hadn't fixed the thing yet.

"Good night!" she called from the other side before she backed up onto the bed, then sat down on the edge and began to process what just happened.

Before long, she was back on the bed properly, curled up tight atop the blankets and quietly wishing she'd gotten under them, but too tired to move that much.

Morning came a few hours after dawn, with the sun through the window acting as Morgan's alarm clock.

She rose with a groan of objection and stared down at the floor between her boots for several moments before she pulled on some fresh socks and pushed her feet into them. Her head hurt, but she still had work to do to make the place not only livable, but profitable enough to live off.

Her mind ran through the list of stuff she needed to do that day as she stared numbly, then finally rose with a muttering of "Breakfast..."

She didn't remember she had a guest.

 

[Waking Nights]

She told him to rest well, and eventually tried to shut her door, though it scraped and groaned painfully as it did. He heard a yell from the other side. "Good night." He responded quietly as well as a bit awkwardly. No doubt this was a strange situation for the both of them, he had just to be happy that he wound up in the home of someone who wasn't going to shoot him. Laying back on the plank which was to serve as his bed for the night he brought his arms behind his head and stared up, every now and then he'd see a spot that was leaking but thankfully none were above him. Eventually the rain pounding down on the roof dragged him to sleep.

The next morning Liam found his eyes opening rather slowly, despite himself he had fallen into a rather deep sleep and only the loud groan of her bedroom door woke him up. Once he realized where he was he sat up rather sharply and his head snapped to look at the door that had just opened. It took him a moment to realize it was his benefactor. His whole body relaxed and the tension in his shoulders eased. "Good morning…Morgan, right?" He checked to make sure his groggy mind was right. The soft sound of gentle rain outside told him it was still a bit wet out there, but not too bad.

Of course, at this point he could just leave, but there was something interesting about her. Perhaps he could get up to something more here. "…So." He muttered coughing quietly to clear his throat. "I was thinking that you honestly look like you could use some help here, this place is…well it looks abandoned." He paused for a moment to let that sink in. "I actually grew up on a farm, so I know some of the basics if want my help. The only thing I'd need in return in a place to stay. I need to gather up some more food and stuff before I hit the road again." With that he stood himself up from the floor. "Of course, you've already done more than enough so if you want me out I understand, thank you for letting me rest here Ma'am." He decided to be a bit more formal perhaps she'd like that.

 

[The Mood is Write]

With breakfast finished, she began the process of opening her door. Why it was closed, she wasn't sure, but she had work to do outside...

Once it was open, a man's voice greeted her and called her by name.

Her head whipped toward him, and she yelped as she ducked back into her room, then peered out, eyes wide.

Her mind caught up as he continued to speak, and she remembered that she let him, a stranger, stay the night. She couldn't remember his name, if he'd given it, but adrenaline had her wide awake and attentive now.

He was offering to help. She wasn't sure she could trust him, but he'd not tried to get through her door during the night, which was good. He grew up on a farm, too.

He wrapped up his offer with thanks and understanding if she decided not to let him stay and help, and she managed a mute nod before she found her words.

"That sounds... sounds good," she managed, throat dry. "This place used to belong to my grandpa, so since I only have to pay utilities, I moved out here, but it's kind of... um..."

"I have no idea what I'm doing..."

 

[Waking Nights]

The plot thickens so to speak. He certainly wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass him by, in fact now that it was bright out and he actually had a chance to look at her, he had to admit this Morgan wasn't too bad looking, to be fair though he likely thought that about almost anyone. Shaking his mind free of lecherous thoughts, he smiled at her when she mentioned she could use the help. "Huh really?" He asked a little baffled about how she got this place, it sounded like something out of a book. "Well I guess that explains quite a bit." He glanced around his one eye leering about her home.

"If we're going to work together, I should at least introduce myself a bit better than stranger who happened to wander in one night." He paused, hoping perhaps he'd get a bit of a chuckle out of her. "I told you my name, Liam. My background is mostly just that I drift from place to place, it's a nice life, I get to see a lot of sights, meet a lot of people, experience a lot of things." He kept it admittedly vague but figured it'd help her calm down and ease into this new working relationship they had suddenly found themselves in. He also brought up things like his age and other small details, nothing noteworthy however. At some point he had leaned gently against a chair he had found in the room, not quite sitting but not quite standing either.

"So, I guess the best way to do this is for me to assess what you've gotten done and how well. I'll admit it's been a while since I've done any farmwork but I remember a lot of it, and I should have at least the basics down." He paused in thought. "What's giving you the most trouble?" He asked glancing up at her.

 

[The Mood is Write]

She did giggle at his offer to introduce himself, though it was awkward and more from nerves than humor.

The actual introduction did calm her a little, and she emerged from her doorway, no longer hiding behind it as she paid attention, her stare pasted to his face. She didn't blink often, in her concentration.

She had a feeling she'd forget a lot of what he was telling her, regardless, so took the time to try to remember his face, instead.

He almost caught her off guard with his question of what was giving her trouble, and she hurriedly looked down, sunburnt face reddened with a blush.

"Honestly... the house? I've... been working outside a lot of the time and haven't had much opportunity to work inside... I figured I could hire someone, but I'm... not sure how to go about that..."

She bit both her lips as her eyes took in the sad state of her floor, and then her ceiling. She could see dark spots and wet spots, and it was... kind of depressing. She'd taken the only room that didn't leak a whole lot, and didn't use any of the others—she couldn't even get into the kitchen!

"I thought that... since it's a farm, I should concentrate on... uh... the... outside..."

Morgan couldn't help but try to defend her unwise decision, even as her shoulders hunched and she gripped one arm with the other hand.

 

[Waking Nights]

Liam listened to her for a while and closed his eyes in thought as she mentioned all of what she was doing. "Well…I suppose that's what I would have done if I didn't know any better." He tried to make her feel a little better. "First thing that should probably be done is the roof, make sure it doesn't leak and ruin what work you have done in here." He glanced around and grimaced slightly, in truth while part of him was interested in seeing what would happen if he hung around this woman, the other part genuinely did feel a bit bad for her squalid living conditions and he had to suppose, his own. Unless you have some shingles lying around though that'll have to wait. It was around then he realized that he barely even had a mental map of this place and its condition.

"Why don't you walk me through this place and what it's got. I'll see what I can help with." He gave her a warm smile to try and put her at ease. "I could tend the gardens while you clean up in here, or perhaps the other way around if you want." He suspected that she wouldn't, however helpful he was, he was still a stranger, and she might have something valuable in here. Though he couldn't claim that his thinking always lined up with hers.

 

[The Mood is Write]

"A walkthrough?" she asked, then paused, "Right, tour, yeah." That was what normal people called it. Don't be weird, she reminded herself.

When he suggested they split the work between inside and outside and who did what, her first thought was to let him do the house work, since he seemed to have an idea what he was doing and just trying to think of what needed done made her want to do literally anything else.

She didn't really have much of value there—most of her money was split between checking and savings accounts, what little jewelry she had wasn't real, and the deed to the property... who would want the place? It was still kept hidden, though, and well-protected from elements and vermin. Just in case. It was from a loved one, after all.

"Uh... We'll... split things up later," she said, opting not to think on that topic much more at the moment. "Tour first... I won't get much done outside today, anyway." She forced a deep breath and indicated her room.

"That's my room. I'm leaving the door broken for now because it's... super loud. Like a security alarm. It's... already scared off one person who tried to break in."

She forced another deep breath, then pointed to the room he'd slept in. "That's... that's the living room, I guess. I'd like to get it furnished nicely, maybe with a TV to check the news and weather and... other things." Like maybe her old Super Nintendo.

Morgan then led to an open doorway where there was no floor beyond it. "In here is the kitchen. I... haven't seen much past this point." She pointed to a room next to hers. "That's the main bathroom, mostly... unusable. Then the last door is... it's got laundry stuff and things like that. There are also stairs leading down, but I didn't wanna risk falling through them and getting trapped."

 

[Waking Nights]

It seemed she had decided when she spoke up about splitting things up later instead opting to show him around her home, what little of it was built anyway. She showed off her room speaking about the door and how it was almost an alarm, come to think of it she didn't even really wake up when he pushed it open, perhaps she'd do best to rethink that strategy. "Hmm, not a bad idea, but someone already tried to break in?" He was assuming she didn't mean him of course, he had no idea why anyone besides someone looking for a place to stay would break into a shack like this.

Next up she showed off the living room, talking about how she'd like to furnish it. Out of all the rooms it was probably the most built, it had proper floors and walls though it was very barren outside of the sofa that was in the room. "Again, not a bad idea. I'm guessing you probably can't tell how the weather will go at a glance, knowing what's coming up is pretty is pretty important for any farmer."

All while she was showing off the rest of the house he kept his eyes open for any valuables, but he didn't see much, this was truly a case where he had very little to gain in exchange for his help, though he couldn't help but steal a glance or two at Morgan's form as they continued to move. She was a nice-looking woman, soft but still curvy. Perhaps she would be his reward. He noticed now that it was brighter out that she had lots of sunburn on her exposed skin at least that meant she was trying.

After the tour finished he glanced up at her and back at the floorless rooms ahead. "Well…I quite frankly don't know how this happened, but I'd say getting a working kitchen and bathroom should be your biggest goals. Might also be some stuff in the basement that is useful but like you said probably for the best that you don't get trapped down there." He crossed his arms in thought and scratched his chin lightly, he could feel hairs, would need to shave soon. "So, the house needs some work, what about outside, what have you gotten done out there." As he turned his head to look out the door he noticed it was still gently raining, hopefully her sunburn wouldn't get any worse because of that.

 

[The Mood is Write]

"I have... some things planted. Some of the field is cleared out, mostly what's closest to the house. There's lots of bushes and young trees there... Um... The barn has a floor, but it creaks a lot and I get nervous going too far in, but it's sturdy enough near the big door to park my car."

She paused as she finally noticed him looking outside, and her cheeks reddened further. "Did you... want to see for yourself?" she finally thought to ask.

Even as she did ask, she headed for the door, mind already set on it, though she internally cringed at the idea of going out into the wet.

"Watch... your step," she warned as she opened the back door to reveal the porch had plywood to walk on as well, with cinderblocks to either side to hold it flat and keep it from tipping to one side or the other.

"From here, you can... um..." She pointed to the left. "The barn's... over there." Even as she stood pointing for him to see, a chill deluge fell onto her arm from the roof, unimpeded by such things as drains.

She also pointed out her attempt at building a chicken coop. It didn't look sturdy, and the chicken wire 'fence' around it was ugly and unstable, but it existed, though she admitted she hadn't gotten any chickens yet, she figured farms were supposed to have them. Straight out and to the right from the back door were the fields, though they were overgrown.

"The part I've been working on... It's not visible from here," she admitted, hoping he wouldn't ask to go outside in the rain. Already, her arm felt frozen.

 

[Waking Nights]

Liam listened as she spoke yet again, this place really was run-down, quite frankly he was amazed she managed to survive here for as long as she did. She eventually asked if he wanted to see for himself and before he had a chance to nod she was already heading towards the door. He followed and once they were outside some of the cold air woke him up. She shared everything she had done, he was about to share his thoughts before she suddenly was hit by a massive rivet of water. "Ah…uh sorry." He muttered rubbing the back of his neck feeling a bit guilty he had indirectly gotten her wet. She mentioned the part she was working on can't be seen from here and he shook his head. "That's fine, with the way the weather is today it'd be hard to work out here anyways. We could take a look tomorrow. For I suppose I could help you inside, that kitchen seems pretty important to have, what tools and stuff do you have?" He tilted his head as he asked, she must have had some stuff otherwise how would she have gotten the plywood set down.

 

[The Mood is Write]

"Uh... tools..." she trailed off as she wiped some of the water from her arm.

"I have a small toolbox I brought with me, and a drill set. The electrician I called only fixed the power to the bedroom, because he said the rest was a hazard to work in, so... I have a few extension cords. If we make a list of anything we need to work on things, I can buy it when the weather lets up."

She wasn't really poor, but she lived like she was. It would have been easier for her to have the place torn down and rebuilt, but she had a feeling there might be important things around, and... she wasn't sure where to start on either task.

"As for kitchen stuff, I... have a few things in my room that help with food stuff. A microwave, mini fridge, and toaster oven..." She trailed off. He wouldn't have easy access to those, though, which meant he was right: the kitchen needed worked on first. Once that was serviceable, he would be able to sleep there, she assumed. She could get him a futon until they got more of the house fixed up, too.

"I'll... start a list," she offered before she scurried past him, moving carefully on her plywood floors until she made it to her room, where she first dug out her tools, then a pad of paper and a pen she accidentally stole from a doctor's office. The pen still had a plastic spoon taped to the end.

When she emerged, she carried a pretty nice drill set in its case and a small, but sturdy-looking tool box, carried a pen in her mouth, and had a notebook perched atop the two cases.