The Farmer

The hairless apes show up again. You ignore them as best as you can, as you push another seed into the ground with the heel of your left palm. You shift the bag slung across your other shoulder, now feeling almost empty. You are nearly halfway done here, and you can see that a pile of seeds is waiting only a few paces away that will complete this row. You look right and see empty rows extending off into the horizon, their seed piles also waiting.

You look left, where many seeds that you planted in the last few rows are already sprouting. Further back, trees and small stands of plants grow taller as fruits and vegetables ripen in the sun. Perhaps at the end of this row, you will return to the last twenty rows, to remove weeds and tend to each garden. Further back from there, other hairless apes quietly harvest for themselves. They leave offerings for you, but that does not matter. You do it for them, after all.

You smile as you continue to gaze to the left, and the assembled crowd behind you sighs and babbles to each other. Your fluffy white fur stands on end and flashes purple. They applaud, though they do not understand that you do that when you are embarrassed. It will turn out to be one of those days.

Two hairless apes have approached to a respectful, practiced distance, and are bowing low. You briefly go purple again, but you know what to do, and lean down, offering your left forearm. Electric devices briefly fill shadows with light as members of the crowd cherish how the next event plays out. The hairless apes stand as tall as they can. The one on your left is slightly familiar to you, and is the first to reach out and pet your arm. It babbles to its much younger companion, who joins the ritual with awe and wonder in their eyes and facial expressions. You smile, for this does feel nice. They are wearing shirts emblazoned with your face inside of a circle.

You look up, and the larger crowd has carried out something for you. This time, the gifts are a large pointy circle and a long pole with a ball on one end, both forged from some metal of clear importance and significance to the hairless apes. They seem impractical, but you make the most of it. The circle fits your right forearm snuggly, where it will remind you of the job ahead. You step forward three paces, and dig a new hole with the ball end of your second new gift.

The hairless apes unexpectedly follow this time, babbling away at you. They unfurl drawings of what looks like home, but with artificial lines drawn everywhere. Some areas are marked with a black X. You say nothing, but turn back and plant another seed.

You go on further, and are refilling your bag from the seed pile, when the same hairless apes approach again. They babble more slowly, as they show you images of past rows in the garden, now withered or burned. They seem to be asking you what they should do next.

You move forward silently and plant another seed. A din rises behind you as the hairless apes babble angrily. That is usually a sign that you can continue this row in peace. Indeed, the crowd noise disperses behind you.

You step forward and dig again when a disturbance catches your eye in the empty row to your right. Your younger visitor from earlier in your present row is leading five others, all pushing a seed ahead, towards a second group of hairless apes now digging in the dirt at your side. You look back, and other teams are filling earth over a spot parallel with your last stop.

You smile and nod, turn facing ahead, and push another seed into the ground.


Reddit WritingPrompts again, [WP] You are the cutest thing imaginable. So cute, you become elected as the ruler of the entire world, when all you wanna do is farm, which became an excuse to try the second person for the first time. Is hard.


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