Boil em, Mash em, Stick em in a stew

Mission:

Hara leaned against a nearby fence, the cold clashed with his breath creating small clouds of vapor in front of him as he breathed. He was no stranger to early mornings, but these farmers were pushing it, and Hara rubbed at his eyes tiredly as he waited for his assignment. He didn’t really particularly understand why he was even doing this, but at least the manual labor would be good.

His thoughts were interrupted by the commotion of a cart as it rolled down the road, a friendly smiling farmer waved from the cart as it approached, the man had entirely too much energy and enthusiasm for how early it was.

“Howdy neighbor!” The farmer said in a cheery voice, Hara grumbled inwardly, this might be more laborious than the actual labor.

He put his hand up in a greeting but remained quiet, the farmer came to a stop next to him. His smile still broad as ever, he motioned to the seat next to him “I’m assuming you're the one who answered the farm's request?” Hara nodded as he pulled himself up and into the cart, the Bison pulling them groaned a bit at the extra weight but soon they were off and headed into the town.

The man continued “Well it’s good to have you on board! It’s a pretty simple day, I just need you to help me load and unload all these potatoes.” He laughed as he moved the canvas blanket covering all the potatoes. “I’ll tell ya, you're not gonna want to see another potato after today.”

Hara stayed quiet as the man spoke, giving small nods as he continued to rant and rave about the use of potatoes.

“You can boil em, you can mash em…” He continued as Hara zoned out and stared at the trees.

Eventually they made it to the small market stall that would be selling the farm's produce. The two climbed down from the cart and began transferring potatoes into a large wooden structure sitting in front of the stall.

Eventually, the man's enthusiasm for potatoes was infectious, and Hara even found himself smirking and being open with the man. They had short conversations about many things over the course of their work, and by the end of it this man that Hara had despised was now probably the only person who had spoken more than 10 sentences to him. By the end of their work, Hara was listening intently to the man as he described the best types of potatoes for roasting. The farmer had a way of making him feel seen and respected, and although Hara was generally distrusting, the man's sincerity was disarming.

After the lesson, Hara nodded respectfully, placing the last armful of Potatoes in the bin. “It has been a great pleasure to help you, sir.” Hara said, bowing his head slightly and putting his hand to his chest. The man returned the gesture, giving a big smile. “Well Son you’re quite the potato mover!” He laughed, Hara smirked and responded “I enjoyed our conversation sir, but I have more jobs that need attending too.” After payment, he motioned to leave.

The only thing that stopped Hara was the unusually concerned look, the first time he’d seen the man without a smile or laughing. He looked nervous to say anything, “Sir, what is bothering you?” Hara said with some small concern.

“Well, it’s just my neighbors, they have been experiencing some…weird goings on. I was going to see if you would be interested in checking it out?” The man said with some anxiety.

Hara didn’t think twice, at this point he would kill for this tiny potato farmer. “Point the way sir, I’ll go check it out.”


[exit]

wc: 623

Claims:

Hara wrote:[spoiler="Mission"][exit]

wc: 623

Claims:

Approved