The yellow grass crunches beneath my feet as I step outside of my farm to inspect my crops with the futile hope that something was growing. Nothing. As I walk over to the watering hole to fill my can, I notice the last drop of honey fall from the beehive. My last form of income was now gone. My name is Russell, a farmer of Crossbell Town. We are are the crux of the country and the city, but we cling to what we can of the old life we once had. My father, and his father before him worked on this farm in the past and told me stories about how the soil was so rich and the town was bustling with life. After my father’s passing, the allure of the city drew many of my closest friends away. Crossbell is almost a ghost town now, with a total population of 10. I tried my hardest, but no matter what I do, nothing seems to work. That is why I find myself here, in the greenest part of Crossbell: The Goddess’s Pond. It probably isn’t dying because of how it is inside of a cave on a mountain overlooking my farm. I don’t generally pray, or believe in silly myths about a goddess that supposedly helped farmers in the past, but I just need some time to think. I find a flower growing out of the soil and sit down in front of the pond…

“Dum da da daaaa~! Ah, so it’s you, Russell.” A voice chimes from the pond and woke me from my thoughts of how much of a failure I was as a farmer; that I could not save my home with my own hands. My mind goes blank as my eyes widened. The myths were true? I crawl over to the pond and looked around for some sort of speaker. There was none—but wait, I was in a cave! Echoes could carry on far… but this was a dead end. Was there really a voice talking to me from thin air?

“Listen my dear, while I cannot comment on your own skills, as it seems the soil in your area is slowly deteriorating.” I look into the pond, hoping to find something and in the ripples of my own reflection,another face stared back at me—a beautiful woman with lavender hair. It spooked me for a moment. I listened to her as she continued. “You will need to revive the Goddess Tree there. It’s the only way to restore your land to its former glory. Then everything will be as it should be~! Good luck~!”

She paused for a moment.

“Oh! And before I forget, be sure to befriend the villagers as well.”

What? Was she serious? Those remaining people don’t know the first thing of farming! And Goddess Tree? What the heck is a Goddess Tree—what does one look like? She heard my thoughts and answered:

“Ah but that’s the wonderfully mysterious thing about farmland~! Even the little inane things like making friends with the villagers can affect how well you do~! As for reviving the Goddess Tree, well there are multiple ways. Firstly, you must find the myth and/or legend that corresponds to your land.” 

“Lady, you are the myth,” I say. “Why do you think nobody visits you here?” Her giggle put me off for a moment. Usually gods and goddesses smite people for saying things like that.

“Well I’m fully aware of that, my dear. Let’s see, since your town has lost any and all reference to your Goddess Tree, I shall see what I can do. Chances are, that Tree has long since died and you will need to plant a new one in its place. There will be a seed that no one has seen before by a place of light. Take it, plant it by the roots of the old Goddess Tree and water it for several days.”

She pauses again.

“The villagers will have to help as well.”

Again with the others… I hit my head and groan. Doesn’t she see that those idiots won’t help? It’s only a matter of time before they abandon the town too! That is why I will do this on my own. I just need to know more things.

“But, how will I be able to tell the Goddess Tree apart from the rest, to know where to plant it?” I ask the Harvest Goddess.

“The Goddess Tree should be the largest tree in the entire area and also have a strange sort of glow to it. There might even be some Harvest Sprites lurking around there, trying to revive it as well.”

Harvest Sprites? More stupid myths. Really, she expects me to believe that little magic people are trying to help save my town? Magic doesn’t exist. I turned around and began to walk out of the cave. I bid farewell to the Goddess.