Chapter Seven

A Spider Web and a Kiss

Sam had woken up with a start somewhere in the middle of Tuesday night. He remembered! He remembered why he had felt as if he had known her. Why he had been annoyed and flustered all day.

Sam, Abigail and Sebastian have been friends since pre-school, which would be expected if you were the only kids of the same age in the same small town. They did everything together most of the time, and it's been that way forever. It has only been in the last few years that Sebastian has completely withdrawn into himself, locking himself away for days, until either Sam or Abigail drags him out for air. Abigail has grown wilder and has been going off on her own to do more adventurous stuff. Going deeper into the mines, going out into the dark forest...visiting the wizard. And...Sam...is still Sam, the only thing that has changed for him is him working afternoon shifts at JoJo Mart as a cleaner and having a crush on Penny his little brother's tutor.

They had explored everywhere as kids, the surrounding area was all forest. The areas that were not covered with trees were river, lake or ocean. Stardew Valley was bordered by the ocean from the south over towards the west.

It had been autumn, Sam remembered, he loved being in the forest that time of year. He had just turned nine that previous summer. Abigail and Sebastian had been somewhere else that day, doing something else...that he can't really remember. He had been alone with his skateboard on the little fishing dock on the big lake just south west of the Old Ranch in Cindersap Forest. He had been practicing to balance on his board without moving, pretending he was surfing along one of the main streets in ZuZu City. He had been deep in his own imagination that he had not heard her come up behind him.

"What are you doing?" the soft question came from behind him, Sam jumped, spinning in mid air and coming face to face with the prettiest girl he had ever seen besides Abigail. Startled he lost his footing and the skate board glided off the dock and into the water. "Dang it!" Sam muttered and dived after his board, he fell flat on his stomach half hanging over the dock and grabbing his board just as it was about to disappear under the dark murky lake water.
"Are...are you okay? I am so sorry!" the soft voice came again; she kneeled down next to him and helped him reach for his board and placed it on the dock. Sam pushed himself up and sat on his knees opposite her, with the skateboard between them. Sam looked at her. She was dressed in a dark brown sweater and faded blue jeans, a dull comparison against the bright blue jacket he was wearing. Her auburn hair was pulled up in a ponytail braid that was hanging over one shoulder. Her green eyes were wide and her cheeks were flushed.

"Hey..." he said.
"Hey" she smiled.

"My name is Jo...short for Joanna" she said quickly and she held out a small hand towards him in greeting. Sam swallowed and looked down at her hand. "This is the part you tell me your name and shake my hand" she said. Sam looked back at her.

"Sam...short for Samuel" he said returning her smile, and then reached over to shake her hand. The handshake was quick and they both removed their hands quickly as if they had burned each other. Her hand was cold, Sam noted, icy almost.

They both stood up and Sam picked up his board.
"Do you live here? In Stardew Valley?" she asked.
"Yes, over in Pelican Town" Sam stated, then moved passed her to walk off the dock. He turned round to face her. "Where do you live?" he asked.
"In Zuzu City, but we...me and my mom are visiting...a relative."

Sam only realized now she had never said that were visiting her grandfather on Sunshine Farm...that is why he had not made any connection earlier when he had met Joan.

Sam watched as she starting to fidget with her fingers, he had wanted to leave, but she had looked so lost. She was very pretty, he thought, for a girl. Where was Abigail when he needed her?
"I like taking walks in the forest this time of year. I like autumn." Her face had perked up as Sam had started talking again, he continued. "Did you ever notice all the spider webs that appear during fall? If you get up early you'll see them covered in dew...like little stars."

She cocked her head to one side watching him, intrigued that he would say something like that. He looked like one of those boys who only cared about...well, skateboards?
"Wanna see something cool?" he asked. She nodded.
"Come!" he held out his hand and propped his board underneath his arm. Jo...Joan hesitated at first, then looking at his face and seeing the real genuine warm smile she took his hand and this time they both held on, it did not burn. They crossed the open grass until they came to the cliff wall just west of the Cindersap Forest. Sam showed her the little path that was hidden behind a large wooden log. He placed his board against the log, and then climbed on top, he reached down and pulled Joan up and they both jumped down together on the other side. Joan was excited, she loved exploring and this...this was exhilarating.

They walked down the path underneath a canopy of red and brown leaves. It looked like the trees had bowed towards each other and the branches had intertwined with each other, like they were holding each other. They were still hand in hand when they entered a clearing. The sun came down thru the opening above and shone on a tiny little pond on the edge of the clearing. The water glittered like diamonds. The clearing was surrounded by closely knitted trees, the only entrance and exit being the way they had came. Sam was leading her towards the pond. She was mesmerized...it was like a secret woods.
He stopped then moved closer to her, "look" he said and pointed to one of the trees. There in-between two branches was a spider web covered in little tiny stars. He had stood so close to her, Sam could smell a scent of pomegranate. She smelled pretty too and her hand was not cold anymore he noted.

They were still standing hand in hand watching the spider web, when Joan suddenly turned and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you" she said so softly he could almost not hear her, "I...I...you are welcome" Sam grinned sheepishly, he wanted to touch his cheek so bad. But instead he laughed and Joan had joined him, then he pulled her towards the pond. They spent the afternoon chatting about everyday things and had lain down on the grass looking up at the clouds. They were being kids, doing kid things. The day had ended much too soon. They had made a promise to meet again the next day, here in the secret woods. But the next day never came...

For a day Sam had been best friends with a girl named Jo, the prettiest girl he had ever seen who had kissed him on his cheek underneath a starry web and smelled like pomegranates.

Sam had sat up in bed for a long time on Tuesday night, remembering that day. He had never told anyone about her and had never seen Jo again...until today and she still smelled like pomegranates.