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Description
Amir sat down at his place at the head of the table. The place next to his was empty, which surprised him. If anyone was on time, it was Sanjay. Not that anyone else had a tendency to be late, but Sanjay was never late, not even before they moved to Echo Village.
No matter. He would turn up within the next couple of minutes. Amir started eating his plate of random food he had pulled out of thin air. He always seemed to be able to conjure food out of thin air, but he never chose what it was. He didn’t question it, not usually, anyway. But today he was having a sort of identity crisis and he looked at everything that he did and that happened and wondered. For example, why was it that he had pulled pasta out of the air today? Yesterday it had been omelet rice. The day before it was a baked yam. Tomorrow, heck, it could be a salad! And besides that, why did everyone sit down to dinner at seven o’clock exactly? And why did they eat breakfast immediately after waking up at six o’clock? And everyone was always at their houses for lunch at noon. Unless they were working. No one that worked ate. Why was that?
As Amir pondered these mysterious happenings, he heard the scraping of a fork and looked up to see Sanjay next to him, eating his dinner. Sanjay was eating the same pasta that Amir was. Why? How did the air know to give them the same food? Why did they get food from the air, anyway?
“It is eerie how you do that,” Amir said as he returned to his food.
“Is it?” Sanjay’s voice was strained against an emotion that Amir was all too familiar with. He had begun to recognize it shortly after it appeared, and it hadn’t appeared until Sanjay had started dating the farmer. The mysteriously quiet farmer, who talked only when absolutely necessary, was an incredible woman. She could lift buildings and move them across town, and no one could see her do it. She could build entire houses within seconds and basically built the entire town herself. She took care of crops, cows, chickens, alpacas, yaks, sheep, llamas and bees, and she managed to visit all of her friends (including him), spend time with Sanjay, travel, go mining, catch fish and bugs and forage, and she still managed to have time to sleep and relax. She revitalized the entire town basically by herself. And she drove Sanjay nuts, for whatever reason. She didn’t faint often, but she had. Yes, Rio drove Sanjay almost insane with worry and love. Amir looked up and caught the look in Sanjay’s eyes as he stared into a space far beyond the door. Yup, he was thinking about Rio.
Come to think of it, Rio was probably the reason Sanjay hadn’t been on time for supper. Because once you were outside, if you were in the same area as the farmer, you couldn’t move to a different area until she left. Why on earth was that?
“What has Rio done to get under your skin this time?” Amir asked, avoiding the topic of Sanjay’s ability to appear out of nowhere. Come to think of it, Amir never walked anywhere either. He appeared there before he sat down to eat, went to bed, or began to wander around. Why? A floating question mark dangled above Sanjay’s head for a moment before being replaced with a giant red-orange exclamation point. Why did that happen?
“N-nothing, master,” Sanjay said. Amir could feel the black scribble ball appearing above his head. Again, why did little markings appear to convey their emotions? Were they three dimensional, or were they an illusion?
“Come now, Sanjay, I know you too well for you to lie to me.” Sanjay looked pensive and contemplative for a moment before he answered.
“Well master, I would like to marry Rio.”
“Ask her. Go ask her after dinner,” Amir said. Sanjay looked horrified.
“I cannot ask her today!”
“Why not?”
“Firstly, it is not a sunny Saturday or Sunday.”
“Why does it have to be on one of those days, though?” Sanjay appeared mildly annoyed by his master’s question.
“I suppose because I have to walk her to the mountain spring in order to properly propose.”
“Why?”
“Because that is how it is done.”
“Why?”
“I do not know, master.”
“Well, what are your other reasons?”
“Thank you for allowing me to continue. Secondly, she has not given me one hundred-fifty gifts yet.”
“What on earth do you need one hundred-fifty gifts from her for?”
“I do not know, master.”
“Then what do you know about it?”
“I just know that I cannot propose to her until I receive one hundred-fifty gifts.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, don’t you think?”
“Well, master, Ms. Felicity must receive one hundred-fifty gifts from Mr. Hart before she may propose to him.”
“But could Rio propose to you, or Hart propose to Felicity?”
“If they wished.”
“Then why can’t you propose whenever you want?”
“I do not know, master.”
“And how, in the name of the Harvest Goddess, do you know how many gifts you have received from Rio?”
“I do not know, master. When I receive the one hundred-fiftieth gift, I will know.”
“But why?”
“Why does our food appear out of thin air?”
“I was just wondering that myself before you appeared.”
“The answer to our question is the answer to the one you have been asking me. Whatever the reason for all of these happenings is, it is the reasoning for all of them, and shall continue to remain unknown to us.”
“But…why?”
Sanjay sighed inwardly. Amir was strangely incorrigible tonight. It was best just to accept the strange happenings and not worry too much about them. Everyone had to wonder why. But it was best not to think too deeply. These questions he had sought answers to several times, and many more. After all, why did he say the same exact things to Rio every day? Surely she tired of hearing the same phrases. And why did Rio choose not to talk most of the time.
They lived in a strange town, to be sure.

Description
Amir sat down at his place at the head of the table. The place next to his was empty, which surprised him. If anyone was on time, it was Sanjay. Not that anyone else had a tendency to be late, but Sanjay was never late, not even before they moved to Echo Village.
No matter. He would turn up within the next couple of minutes. Amir started eating his plate of random food he had pulled out of thin air. He always seemed to be able to conjure food out of thin air, but he never chose what it was. He didn’t question it, not usually, anyway. But today he was having a sort of identity crisis and he looked at everything that he did and that happened and wondered. For example, why was it that he had pulled pasta out of the air today? Yesterday it had been omelet rice. The day before it was a baked yam. Tomorrow, heck, it could be a salad! And besides that, why did everyone sit down to dinner at seven o’clock exactly? And why did they eat breakfast immediately after waking up at six o’clock? And everyone was always at their houses for lunch at noon. Unless they were working. No one that worked ate. Why was that?
As Amir pondered these mysterious happenings, he heard the scraping of a fork and looked up to see Sanjay next to him, eating his dinner. Sanjay was eating the same pasta that Amir was. Why? How did the air know to give them the same food? Why did they get food from the air, anyway?
“It is eerie how you do that,” Amir said as he returned to his food.
“Is it?” Sanjay’s voice was strained against an emotion that Amir was all too familiar with. He had begun to recognize it shortly after it appeared, and it hadn’t appeared until Sanjay had started dating the farmer. The mysteriously quiet farmer, who talked only when absolutely necessary, was an incredible woman. She could lift buildings and move them across town, and no one could see her do it. She could build entire houses within seconds and basically built the entire town herself. She took care of crops, cows, chickens, alpacas, yaks, sheep, llamas and bees, and she managed to visit all of her friends (including him), spend time with Sanjay, travel, go mining, catch fish and bugs and forage, and she still managed to have time to sleep and relax. She revitalized the entire town basically by herself. And she drove Sanjay nuts, for whatever reason. She didn’t faint often, but she had. Yes, Rio drove Sanjay almost insane with worry and love. Amir looked up and caught the look in Sanjay’s eyes as he stared into a space far beyond the door. Yup, he was thinking about Rio.
Come to think of it, Rio was probably the reason Sanjay hadn’t been on time for supper. Because once you were outside, if you were in the same area as the farmer, you couldn’t move to a different area until she left. Why on earth was that?
“What has Rio done to get under your skin this time?” Amir asked, avoiding the topic of Sanjay’s ability to appear out of nowhere. Come to think of it, Amir never walked anywhere either. He appeared there before he sat down to eat, went to bed, or began to wander around. Why? A floating question mark dangled above Sanjay’s head for a moment before being replaced with a giant red-orange exclamation point. Why did that happen?
“N-nothing, master,” Sanjay said. Amir could feel the black scribble ball appearing above his head. Again, why did little markings appear to convey their emotions? Were they three dimensional, or were they an illusion?
“Come now, Sanjay, I know you too well for you to lie to me.” Sanjay looked pensive and contemplative for a moment before he answered.
“Well master, I would like to marry Rio.”
“Ask her. Go ask her after dinner,” Amir said. Sanjay looked horrified.
“I cannot ask her today!”
“Why not?”
“Firstly, it is not a sunny Saturday or Sunday.”
“Why does it have to be on one of those days, though?” Sanjay appeared mildly annoyed by his master’s question.
“I suppose because I have to walk her to the mountain spring in order to properly propose.”
“Why?”
“Because that is how it is done.”
“Why?”
“I do not know, master.”
“Well, what are your other reasons?”
“Thank you for allowing me to continue. Secondly, she has not given me one hundred-fifty gifts yet.”
“What on earth do you need one hundred-fifty gifts from her for?”
“I do not know, master.”
“Then what do you know about it?”
“I just know that I cannot propose to her until I receive one hundred-fifty gifts.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, don’t you think?”
“Well, master, Ms. Felicity must receive one hundred-fifty gifts from Mr. Hart before she may propose to him.”
“But could Rio propose to you, or Hart propose to Felicity?”
“If they wished.”
“Then why can’t you propose whenever you want?”
“I do not know, master.”
“And how, in the name of the Harvest Goddess, do you know how many gifts you have received from Rio?”
“I do not know, master. When I receive the one hundred-fiftieth gift, I will know.”
“But why?”
“Why does our food appear out of thin air?”
“I was just wondering that myself before you appeared.”
“The answer to our question is the answer to the one you have been asking me. Whatever the reason for all of these happenings is, it is the reasoning for all of them, and shall continue to remain unknown to us.”
“But…why?”
Sanjay sighed inwardly. Amir was strangely incorrigible tonight. It was best just to accept the strange happenings and not worry too much about them. Everyone had to wonder why. But it was best not to think too deeply. These questions he had sought answers to several times, and many more. After all, why did he say the same exact things to Rio every day? Surely she tired of hearing the same phrases. And why did Rio choose not to talk most of the time.
They lived in a strange town, to be sure.