I stared blankly out the window of the rickety bus at the dark blurs of trees passing by. It had been a pretty hectic year and I hoped moving out here would help clear my mind. My grandfather passed last year and his final request was for me to move to Stardew when 'the pressure of city life seemed too harsh.' Unfortunately that happened sooner than I had hoped and of course his death only added fuel to the flame.
My mother and I got into a huge argument right before I left and she begged me to stay. Thanks to that I was barely able to catch the last bus out of town. I sighed and rested my chin in the palm of hand. I wonder if she's calmed down at all. I thought.
At long last the vehicle screeched to a halt. I breathed a sigh of relief and happily stretched my legs. The bus ride had taken about three hours which was more than enough time for the finality of my decision to settle in. I terminated my lease and lost my deposit. Even if i regretted it later, I was stuck here for now.
Pulling my bag from the overhead compartment I made my way off the bus where a tall woman with fiery orange hair and an older gray haired gentleman greeted me. "You must be Reimi! I'm Mayor Lewis, its nice to finally meet you." The man smiled and held out his hand for me. I stared at it for a second before shaking it.
"Name's Robin!" The woman had her hands stuffed into her pockets as she looked at me. Her emerald eyes were warm and friendly. I was amazed either one of them were so jovial this late at night. They chatted with me in an animated fashion as we walked towards where I would be staying for an indefinite amount of time.
When we reached the farm I raised an eyebrow as I looked around. The ground was covered in weeds. What wasn't covered in weeds either had stray rocks or trees in their place. Was this the result of grandfather's passing? Had no one come out here to look at this place since his death? I sighed inwardly and tried to absorb everything the two were telling me. The most I could muster were a few nods and half smiles. I could barely retain any of the information they were spewing at me.
They bid me goodbye a short while later and let me enter the house I was going to call home. The outside was seriously in need of a new coat of paint but the inside was well taken care of. The floors were freshly varnished, the paint on the walls looked like it was only fifteen years old(as opposed to fifty) and the stove in the kitchen worked! I found a door in the hallway that happened to lead to the bedroom, my bedroom. My bag slipped from my shoulder and landed on the floor with a 'thud'. I quickly scanned the room but only found a bed shoved up against a wall in the corner. After another quick stretch, I went on my journey to explore the house. It didn't take long for me to figure out how barren the it was. I never knew my grandfather was a minimalist.
There were a few towels in the bathroom and a minute number of dishes in the cabinets but that was it. With slumped shoulders, I trudged back towards the bathroom since I had given up on finding anything else of value in the house. When I turned the knob there was a weird bubbling sound and then silence. I put my hands on my hips, huffed a sigh and blew some hair out of my face. Seriously? I ran my fingers through my hair and gave the tub a swift kick. A loud gurgling noise rang in my ears just as water shot out from the pipe. First it was a deep rustic brown and then it quickly started to run clear. This was as good a time as any to take a shower to get the musty bus smell off of me. The hot water eased most of the tension from my muscles and helped me clear my mind. Once I finished my shower, I threw on some pajamas and crawled into the bed. It smelled like my grandfather which gave me some comfort as I drifted off to sleep.
I woke up earlier than I expected the next morning and crawled into the kitchen. I was hoping for food but I knew within my heart of hearts that were wasn't going to be anything. My grandfather did leave me some money though so not all was lost! I dug into my bag to pull out a pair of shorts and a shirt before tying my long midnight blue hair into a high ponytail. Making a quick stop in the kitchen, I filled up a cup of water and took my pills for the morning before going outside.
I stumbled into town finding it relatively quiet and relaxing. As I walked around, I slowly took mental notes of some of the buildings; general store, saloon, library, they even had a blacksmith! How cool was that?! I rounded the corner near the saloon and almost slammed into a very rough looking man. His hair was tousled and looked as if it had never seen a comb while the bags under his eyes said he hadn't slept in weeks. Or at all. Stubble had begun to sprout on his face making it look like he didn't care enough to shave it but cared just enough to keep it from growing into a beard. He glared down at me with his piercing green eyes, remaining silent while he examined me.
"Hi!" I said with a cheerful smile.
"I don't know you. Why are you talking to me?"
I tilted my head slightly and knitted my brows. "So I can get to know you?" He huffed and walked around me so I followed in stride beside him. "I didn't catch your name."
"I didn't throw it."
I rolled my eyes. When we reached the cobblestone bridge I stopped abruptly and he didn't. I had tried to ignore that building on my first walk around the town. Its looming presence sent a shiver down my spine as a few select memories rushed back to me. Shuddering, I turned around as he walked into the building.
A few hours passed and in that time I had gotten groceries as well as made the decision to try to clear the weeds out of my yard. The sun started to set before I had made much of a dent. With a defeated sigh I decided to stop before it got too late. As I walked up my front porch and vaguely recalled Lewis telling me that everyone got together on Friday nights at the saloon. This might be a good time to introduce myself, or attempt to anyway.
I slipped on a pair of black leggings and a red plaid button up shirt after stepping out of the shower. My hands began to shake. I snatched my brush off the counter and started running it through my hair. It's normal to be a little nervous I thought idly. Taking a few steps out of my bathroom, I walked down the hall and into the living room and began to pace. What if they don't like me? What if I say something weird? I shook my head free of these thoughts and retraced my steps to the bathroom to grab a scrunchie. I pulled my hair into a low ponytail and let it drape over my shoulder. I managed to get a good look at myself as I passed by the mirror. You got this. I smiled before heading out towards the Saloon.
The closer I got to the building the harder my heart thumped in my chest. Before I realized it, I was standing in front of the brick building. I rubbed my damp hands on my pants, took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door open. A large round of laughter erupted into my ears and I felt a sudden warmth fill up my body. "Hey its the new girl!" The woman behind the counter smiled, folded her arms over the bar and waited for me to approach. The bright red lipstick she wore made her smile nearly blinding.
"Hi!" She said excitedly once I sat down.
"Hello." I replied with a small smile and pushed some hair behind my ear.
"So what will you be having tonight?"
I shrugged. "What do you recommend?" She let out an excited giggle and walked away. My heart had finally calmed down but now my throat felt dry. What if I said something dumb? I could be making a terrible first impression right now. This is a small town word would spread fast. I heard her footsteps approach quickly and pulled myself from my thoughts.
"I'm Emily by the way." She said laying a drink down in front of me.
"Reimi."
"That's a pretty name. I like it."
"Thanks." I felt warmth flow into my cheeks and took a sip of my drink. "This is actually pretty good, what is it?"
"Apricot juice!" She said with a toothy grin. "I didn't know if you drank or not so I decided to give you something light to try." I gave her an appreciative nod and took another swig. I heard a grunt beside me and almost jumped out of my skin. He was sitting beside me sipping on a beer. I cursed myself for not noticing him there.
"Hello again." I said with a smile. He didn't return it.
"Raspberry is kind of a doofy name isn't it?"
Emily frowned. "Be nice." She said. The main snorted and took another sip.
"Reimi, and I would still like to know your name."
"And I want a pot of gold. See, it's easy to want things Raspberry."
"Stop being a jerk Shane." Emily winked and I shot her a smile.
"It's nice to meet you."
"You won't be saying that for long."
"Is that a challenge." I asked raising an eyebrow.
"No that's a promise." An awkward chuckle escaped my lips as I downed the rest of my drink as quickly as possible. I dug into my pocket and set some money on the bar before tucking a few strands of loose hair behind my ear and walking away.
On the other end of the saloon was a pool table, a few arcade cabinets and three people. There were two guys playing pool together and a girl with purple hair observing them from the couch on the other side of the room. The black haired boy was the first to notice me and leaned against his pool cue. He had dark purple hair and was dressed in all black. He had a neutral expression on his face which was in stark contrast to the boy standing next to him. This guy had lightning yellow hair and was dressed in a blue hoodie and jeans. He nodded towards me causing the blonde haired boy in front of him to spin around.
"Hi!" he said with a smile. "You must be the new girl around here. My name is Sam!"
"Yes I am." I said with a laugh. "My name is Reimi."
"Well that's different. I like it." The purple haired girl gave me a big smile as she made her way over to us. "I'm Abigail and that unfriendly looking guy over there-" She gestured to the dark haired boy. "Is Sebastian." The boy didn't look up as he shot another pool ball. From the looks of it he was completely destroying Sam. It was actually pretty sad to watch.
"Do you...always lose this bad?" I asked tentatively.
"Yeah he sucks." Sebastian said with a chuckle. The three of them shared a laugh and continued to play for a while longer. I stayed and chatted with them and found that they were really nice people. Sebastian was a bit stand-offish but Abigail and Sam were really kind and invited me to hang out with them sometime. We exchanged phone numbers and headed out of the saloon together each going our separate ways. The fresh air hit me like a truck, making my stomach do flips. My guess was the apricot juice didn't sit well with me. I put that in the back of my mind as I dragged myself home and crawled into bed. Closing my eyes, I prayed sleep would take me so this pain would go away and thankfully my prayers were answered.
The morning sun filtered in through the window and gave me a headache. I wriggled out of bed, wrapped myself in a blanket and stepped outside.
The bright sunlight burned my eyes but the wind felt nice blowing through my hair. After I sat down on the porch, I let my legs dangle off the edge and squeezed my eyes shut. The fresh air was probably the best thing about moving to the country. The city was nice for convenience but it was suffocating. Sometimes the streets were so crammed you couldn't go two blocks without being shoulder to shoulder with someone and don't get me started on traffic.
I twirled a piece of hair around my finger as I recounted yesterday's events. All things considering, things could have gone much worse. I finally opened my eyes again stared off into the horizon as they began to adjust to the light. My eyes scanned the surrounding area taking in the new place I would be calling home. Despite how dilapidated it was, I could tell it was a lovely piece of land. Obviously it was going to take a hell of a lot of work but I think it'll be worth it. I retreated back into my house to take a shower now that I was in higher spirits. I needed to go into town to pick up a few things so after my shower I got dressed, took my pills and strolled out the door.
Since it was still early the streets were devoid of people. Pierre's didn't open for another thirty minutes so I decided to wait in front of the building. As I rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet I noticed a calendar to my left. Upon closer inspection I saw it had all the events for this season which also happened to include birthdays. The only names I happened to recognize were old man Lewis, Shane and Emily. I made a mental note of that, hoping I wouldn't forget them and whirled around. At the last moment I saw a figure in my peripheral and squeezed my eyes shut. I braced myself an impact that ended up being softer than I expected. Slowly, I opened an eye and realized it was the green eyed grumpy man.
"Good morning Shane!" He rolled his eyes at me and groaned.
"You're way too happy."
"I am an adequate amount of happy. You just aren't happy enough."
He let out an annoyed sigh and started to rub his temples. "What do you want? You want something right?"
"I want to be your friend Shane." I shrugged slightly with one shoulder. He shook his head and walked around me. I attempted to match his stride while walking beside him and skidded to a halt. Shane tilted his head towards me slightly but kept his pace as he walked towards the building. I hated Joja Mart with a passion that burned stronger with each passing year. Finding a store here where I was supposed to be getting a fresh start felt like a bad omen. With another shudder I turned on my heel and retreated back towards Pierre's general store.
