Editing Tika/Story

{{Beta|Final Beta Test}}
{{Neighbor Tabs}}
{{Neighbor Stories
|s1_title = Tika's Troubles
|s1_text  = 
Fruitgarten Home-School Communication Book - Tika - Grade Seed
■■/■■/■■■■
Today at School:
Tika had a good day today. She didn't cry during class and was even sweet enough to comfort a few of her classmates. At lunchtime, she didn't want to use her spoon for her potato pie and tried to pick up a knife and fork when the teacher wasn't looking. We're a little concerned that she may hurt herself, as she's not quite ready to use them safely on her own. Please continue encouraging her to use her spoon at home and reminding her to be careful at mealtimes.

Message from Home:
Thanks for letting us know! Tika has been wanting to try using a knife and fork lately, even though she still has trouble holding her spoon properly, haha. We'll talk to her about why she can't use them just yet. We'd really appreciate it if you could keep an extra eye on her at school for us. Thanks again!

----

{{Neighbor Stories/Image|Tika Tika's Troubles Image 01|center}}

----

Fruitgarten Home-School Communication Book - Tika - Grade Seed
■■/■■/■■■■
Today at School:
Tika seems to be more curious than most children her age, and she may have a bit of a knack for growing things. During outdoor class, she likes to wander over to the orchard next door. Today, she even tied a cut apple to a tree trunk and called it "grafting," which was quite amusing. It might be worth encouraging her interest in this area.

Message from Home:
Tika's always been curious about everything! But honestly, she's probably just playing around, haha. She's only a kid. As long as she's having fun, that's all that matters for now.

----

Tika has been a little frustrated lately.
Right now, she's sitting outside her home and clutching a children's gardening trowel with focused intent.
"Tika dear, how about we go inside and play with your new doll?"
"No! I want to plant saplings!" Tika's grip tightens. She wants to go to the orchard because she's going to plant her rainbow candies today, and she's absolutely certain they'll produce a beautiful, rainbow-colored tree.
"Leave the planting to the grown-ups, Tika. Kids like you only have to worry about going to school and having fun."
"Besides, the hole you dug is too shallow. Even if you planted the seeds, they wouldn't grow."

All of a sudden, Tika feels herself being hoisted into the air and carried off. Ugh! Not this again! The grown-ups never believed that she's big enough to do these things. All she wanted was to plant some trees in the orchard with everyone else.
She isn't trying to cause any trouble! Besides, the sliced apple she tied to the tree last time actually sprouted a new branch! Sure, she doesn't know <i>how</i> it grew out, b-but... that shows she's definitely not just playing around as the grown-ups have claimed!

Tucked firmly under her parent's arm, Tika crosses her arms and tries her hardest to keep a stiff face. No jiggly cheek is going to stop her from making her serious protest clear today.

Tika wants to play with the fruit trees.
Tika is VERY unhappy!

----

{{Neighbor Stories/Image|Tika Tika's Troubles Image 02|center}}

|s2_title = Tika's Discovery
|s2_text  = 
Essay Title: "My Dream"
Tika, Grade Sprout

I have a dream. My dream is to become a...

— <i>A scribbled-on homework assignment</i>

----

{{Neighbor Stories/Image|Tika Tika's Discovery Image 01|right}}

Tika will be a Sprout student at the start of this school year.
During writing class, the teacher asked everyone what they wanted to become when they grow up.
One said, "I want to be a teacher!"
Someone else said, "I wanna be a scientist!"
The next one said, "I wanna be a princess!"
And the one after that, "I wanna be a prince!"

----

It's now Tika's turn.
Tika stands up, but she doesn't come up with an answer even after a long while.

"What do you want to do when you grow up, Tika?" the teacher asks, bending down to her eye level with a smile. Behind her, the whiteboard is covered with pictures of all sorts of professions. Those are all the "right" answers.
Tika looks at them carefully, one by one, but none of them catches her interest.
Be a teacher?... No, no. The teacher can't even figure out what Tika's gonna be when she grows up.
What about a scientist?... No, no. They wear baggy clothes and have crazy hair. Her own outfit and hairstyle look much better.
Then maybe a princess or a prince?... No, no. Those are just people from fairy tales for little kids, and Tika's <i>not</i> a little kid.
Truth is, Tika doesn't have a clue what she wants to be either. But if it were up to her, it must be someone who gets to visit the orchard whenever they want and plants their fruit tree however they like. It's someone who doesn't get talked down to and told, "Planting trees isn't for kids, go do something else," or "You won't grow fruit trees this way"...
But what do you call a job like that? Tika hasn't a clue, and thus, Tika has no answer.

----

Tika's not a slow child. In fact, she's the brightest kid in the orchard.
Fruit farmers there would always tell their kids, "Look at Tika! When are you going to get perfect scores like her?"
"But she couldn't even answer the teacher's question today!" one kid protests stubbornly, craning their neck and shouting loud enough for the whole orchard to hear.

Tika hears it too, but she pays it no mind. She sits in the shade of a tree and watches the farmers harvest fresh fruit. She sees how they climb the tall trees and catch the avocados freed from the branches with nimble snips of those pointed scissors.
It's super amazing!
Right now, Tika's still stuck with the round-tipped children's safety scissors, and she's barely the height of a young tree sapling. There's no way she can climb the towering avocado tree — it's almost as tall as the sun!
Tika looks up. The bright sun dazzles her eyes, leaving imprints of the farmers' silhouettes in her vision.
Getting to visit the orchard whenever you want and growing fruit trees however you please without anyone nagging you... Isn't that just what a fruit farmer does?

----

{{Neighbor Stories/Image|Tika Tika's Discovery Image 02|center}}

|s3_title = Tika's Answer
|s3_text  = 
Seasons passed, and Tika grew a little older.
She even achieved her dream and became... half a fruit farmer.

"I'm off to the orchard!"
Tika slung on her little backpack, stuffed with her small shovel and rake, and headed out. Lately, a bunch of agriculture students had been attending workshops at the orchard. Tika always tagged along, even if she hardly understood anything they said.
But planting trees? That she definitely knew how to do. You just dig a hole, place the sapling inside, and cover it with dirt again. She had even learned a new trick recently: you have to dig the hole a little deeper for trees.
"We work with fruit trees every single day in our major," one of the senior students told Tika while breaking up the soil with a rake. She was amazed by how much passion the little kid had for fruit trees. "If you want to plant fruit trees and don't mind the hard work, you should come study agriculture with us."
But who would ever think hanging out with fruit trees was hard work? Tika stood at the far end of the student group and puffed her chest out with pride.

It was okay if she didn't become a fruit farmer right away, because from that day forward, agriculture student Tika would grow every single one of those wondrous fruits from her dreams!

----

{{Neighbor Stories/Image|Tika Tika's Answer Image 01|center}}

----

■■/■■/■■■■
Weather: Very sunny
Mood: Great
Starting today, I'm an agriculture student!
The teacher said I was granted a "special mission." I don't really get it. Nobody told me what the mission is.
I'm going to grow a sparkly fruit tree with sparkly fruit!

■■/■■/■■■■
Weather: Very rainy
Mood: Okay
I'm not growing a sparkly tree anymore. Teacher won't let me.
Lately, teacher has been teaching us about growing sugarcane. I learned two new words: node and internode. I've decided to breed sugarcane with really short internodes! That way, a single stalk will have lots and lots of nodes. It could even be made entirely of nodes!
People who love eating sugarcane nodes will definitely support me!

■■/■■/■■■■
Weather: Very rainy
Mood: Not bad!
Teacher said nobody likes eating sugarcane nodes and told me to go back to working on fruit trees. Fruit trees are great, and I love spending time with them, especially Paltas!
I got a new idea to breed salty Paltas, or spicy ones. Someone might want to try bitter Paltas too. Anyway, it would be great if tasteless fruits like Paltas came in more flavors!
If only the teacher would let me, I'd breed Paltas in all kinds of colors, too. It's so boring that they're always the same color!
I'll get to work on it tomorrow! Gonna give it my all, heh heh.

— Tika's diary, covered in all kinds of fruit-shaped stickers

----

{{Neighbor Stories/Image|Tika Tika's Answer Image 02|center}}

|s4_title = Tika's Departure
|s4_text  = 
Today is her senior's graduation ceremony, and Tika's been invited by her to attend. However, the budding fruit farmer looks unusually downcast and completely drained of her usual energy.
"What's wrong?" The senior crouches down and pats the little one's head. She's grown fond of Tika — the kid's smart and motivated, and kept her company through the most grueling days of writing her thesis. Tika's whimsical ideas never failed to make her laugh out loud.
"Dina, I don't wanna be an agriculture student anymore."
Oh no...! Is this really coming from Tika, <i>the</i> Tika who loved spending time with fruit trees more than anything? Dina's eyes widen, and her hand freezes in place.
"What happened?"

What did happen? Tika can't really explain it either, because she just can't put her head around why her teacher kept shooting down all her cultivation ideas.
Her teacher said her ideas "violated the basic principles of plant growth." But how would he know they won't work for sure when he's never tried?
"Dina, when will everyone stop treating my ideas as jokes...?"
"I'm serious about them. I really wanna test every single one of them."

----

{{Neighbor Stories/Image|Tika Tika's Departure Image 01|center}}

----

Professor Pablo is feeling rather troubled.
That difficult student of his, Tika, left a note behind and ran off somewhere.
"She says she's going to grow the most Tika-style avocados ever! What does that even mean? Is she going to plant seeds in a stone again and expect them to grow? It's utter nonsense!"
The little old man's beard bristles with frustration. He wants to call her immediately and drag her back here if he has to.
But his fingers hesitate over the dial. And then, he finally concedes and hangs up the receiver with a sigh. He grabs a pen and paper instead and pens a long, long letter, giving Tika advice on everything from cultivating techniques to how to take care of herself in her day-to-day life. The letter ends with a weighted but sincere, "Work hard, learn everything you can, and if you ever run into a problem you can't solve, you can always come back."

"Professor, do you even know Tika's address? Where are you going to send this letter?"
"...I said don't worry about it! It's just a draft! I'll call her later and read it to her!"

----

{{Neighbor Stories/Image|Tika Tika's Departure Image 02|right}}

It's Tika's fourth year as an agriculture student. Out the gates of her beloved orchard, she steps into the Starsea alone, like a tiny seedling breaking through the soil.
She's going to cultivate all her ideas into fruits that are uniquely Tika, and prove their worth to everyone.
}}