The Foundation of Growth

Conrad's back was fight a losing battle against the sun's rays.

An unforeseen problem Conrad encountered with working a farm was simply becoming accustomed to walking on uneven soil. He had tripped more than once simply attempting to keep pace with Carmela. The boy's life as a child and teenager had consisted almost entirely of diligent homeschooling, cognitive tests, strict surveillance, and pristine floors. All of which were missing from his current circumstances.

Well, except perhaps the strict surveillance.

Carmela winked at him as she overtook him. "You let me pass you again. Bad boy." The sounds of Carmela's hoe scarping through the dirt had been gradually growing louder for the past several minutes, but Conrad had resisted the urge to glance over and see her throwing him another smirk. He grumbled.

Carmela was a monster. All lean and densely packed muscle from almost two decades of farm work, with a sense of focus and drive needed for long stretches of labor. Conrad's experience studying mathematics and computer science had, shockingly, not prepared him effectively for his new task. Add on the fact that he was being forced to work in a body that he was still getting accustomed to, one smaller than the one he was born in, and it wasn't hard imagine why he was coming up short. His other arm would heal from the wolf attack, thanks to the quick and effective treatment Conrad received, but it was just another factor slowing him down for now too.

Carmela had inherited her mother's positive attitude and her father's build. Joshua, in his prime, had been a heck of a specimen as well, according to Cassandra. Even now, he was working the field, though he paced himself quite a bit more than Carmela and took more breaks as well. He had claimed that he took plenty of breaks merely because it was his farm and he had the right to, while giving a rare chuckle as he did. But Conrad caught the wistful glances he shot Conrad and Carmela after. In spite of his tough, grizzled persona, Joshua was just as insecure about growing old as anyone else was.

"I like the daughter."

A voice that most assuredly was not Carmela's spoke out next to Conrad. Sighing, he looked to the side. Nana's getup today was markedly less conservative. A pair of sunglasses was perched on her face. Gone was her long, golden robe, replaced with a modern swimsuit that made it more convenient for her to experience the sun's rays. Conrad had to conclude that she had simply materialized the outfit out of thin air as well.

Speaking of materializing things out of thin air, to Conrad's annoyance, she was relaxing on a long, comfortable futon while Conrad slaved away in the heat.

Conrad quickly returned his attention to his task, realizing after the moment in the bedroom that visibly paying attention to Nana would likely just make him look insane to the others. He lowered his voice as he spoke to her.

"Of course you like her. She's just like you. Another woman that loves to tease me."

"I suppose."

"You couldn't have thrown me into a different body?"

"Big boy can't handle sweating a little?"

"It's not that. I'm pretty sure you put me in this situation and set me up with this family so I could get experience with physical labor."

"Oh, you've been thinking critically as you work. Good."

"I try. If the whole point of the human experience was just to train our brains, you wouldn't have thrown me through that portal, right? I was already doing that typing away at a computer all day."

"You're probably right. Yes, I wanted you to learn the value of training your body. But there's another reason."

"What's that?"

"Growth takes place in multiple facets. Physical, mental, emotional, the list goes on."

She turned and stared at Conrad, even as he focused down on his work.

"I felt it made sense for you to come to appreciate the hard work of the people who have prepared your food."

"But people in my time aren't farming exactly like this anymore. They're using heavy machinery now."

"Yes, because the growing world population necessitated farmers to up their game. Besides, if I sent you to a different world and made you drive a tractor all day, it would defeat the other point of this. You wouldn't be building your body."

"True. Either way, it's nice of you to help raise me like this."

"Excuse me?"

"I thought your plan was to give me the chance to experience a new life, in exchange for watching me squirm for your entertainment."

"You're not getting back the time you spend here, you know. Even if you survive long enough for me to decide to send you back, your own body back home is still aging. Your cells are still dividing. You're losing time over there and have lost contact with everyone you know. So the polite thing for me to do is to throw in a little perspective and wisdom here and there."

Conrad was quiet a moment. He hadn't spared his own body much thought recently. "Thank you," he responded sincerely.

"You're welcome. Anyways, we got off track. What's your issue with being here, if not the physical labor?"

"The simple fact that I have both you and Carmela teasing me now. I can't imagine Joshua and Cassandra are going to feed me unless I work. So I have to deal with Carmela. And there's absolutely nothing I can do to prevent you from popping up whenever you want. My hands are tied."

Nana cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Don't you have free reign over your actions? All I've done is sent you here and thrown your soul in someone else's body. I haven't robbed you of your free will. You know you can drop your farming equipment and walk away whenever you want, right?"

"And then I'd have to find a different way to put food in this body. And hope I don't get set upon by any more hostile beasts."

"True. I'm just reminding you not to act like you don't have options. There's risk and reward inherit in every decision you could possibly make."

She yawned and stretched out on her futon. "But if I were you, yeah, I'd stay put. You're not well-suited to surviving without the help of others right now. Build your discipline, and your will. By the time that I'm in the mood to swap you around again, you'll have a mindset ready to support you in your next chapter."

Conrad paused. "...Swap me around again?"

Nana chuckled. "I want to see what a sharp, promising young fellow like you does in a variety of circumstances. Struggling physically is only one way to struggle. The lifestyle of a farmer is only one lifestyle. You think I've set you up with difficult circumstances this time? What would you have done if I threw you into the body of a warrior responsible for protecting his homeland from a dragon?"

Conrad could feel himself sweating even harder, and he knew it wasn't just because of the sun.

"I suppose that would have been very excessive."

"As do I. Well, bottom line is, might as well keep at it. You won't take the progress you make building this body into your next body, but there's still value in this. Develop that work ethic and mental fortitude."

Nana glanced at Conrad, giving him a parting wave and smile.

"Buh-bye!"

With that, her futon vanished, and she simply floated down into the earth, phasing through the ground itself.