Hi there! I'm SapphireCity and this is the first time ever that I publish anything I've written for the world to see. Pray be gentle with me. I'm also still getting the hang of the controls on this site (cannot find a way to change text size so far).

So this is a fluffy little story that spans 5 in-game years so far. I make no promises on regular uploads and I don't know how long it's going to become because I have so many ideas, at some point I'll probably just give up. In the meantime, there's befriending the locals, building out the farm, getting a cat, falling in love, and of course the Community Center – all the good stuff, in no particular order.

There is very little conflict. There is very little tension – if you want an exciting story, this one isn't for you. There is very little will they/won't they, because I hate that stuff more with every letter that draws it out further (relationship becomes official on 20 Summer Year 3, if you want to cut straight to the chase – smut starts on 16 Fall Year 3). I'm trying to keep it realistic. Some characters have some baggage that's not mentioned in-game because it would be too boring if there were no tension at all.

I'll warn you up-front that Evan has Mary Sue tendencies. I am aware of this and I don't mind – this is escapism, and I like to spend some time now and then living in a world where there's a person who is understanding, tolerant, compassionate, and very good at de-escalating fights. Part of it is also me trying to explore how to be that person – hoping that it may become easier to react in the correct way if I've 'done it before', be it mentally. Aside from this, I just want to write something that feels mostly just as calm and peaceful and happy as the game itself does, so: barely any conflict, no one has it out for anyone, insults anyone or holds grudges. This will make it seem like even people who may appear to have a reason for giving Evan a hard time will not actively do so, though I'm also doing my best to make sure that no one is given a reason to do such a thing... As such, Evan does not kick any shins and seems more perfect. As the game dictates, Evan is also unreasonably quickly, unreasonably good at farming and fishing etc, though I try to give more believable reasons why he would know which mushrooms are edible and such. It's not like "everybody loves him even though they have no reason to/ might have more reason to hate him" levels and I'm not going to go into detailed descriptions of outfits, I promise.

You know what, I'm just going to stop rambling and let you read. Feedback very welcome.

1 Spring, Year 1

Arrival

I shoot awake when the bus stops with squeaking brakes, look around me wildly and find only empty countryside and a little fenced-off area with fewer trees. The coffee and I have been trying to fight off sleep since I got on the wretched vehicle at 4 am, but it looks like we've lost even in spite of the uncomfortable seat.

I see no sign, no name. The bus driver isn't letting me know where in hell's end we are, or maybe he did while I was still out.

"Sorry, is this Pelican Town?" I whisper at the older lady on the other side of the path. She nodds, disturbed. I jump up at the moment I hear the doors start to close.

"No, no, wait! Sorry, I... er... nodded off. This is my stop. My suitcase is in the trunk, could you open it, please?"

I stumble out of the bus and onto a bit of bare dirt next to the asphalted road. It seems to be the only thing asphalted for miles.

"Hello! You must be Evan," a red-headed forty-something woman speaks up, and I nearly jump – I was so focused on my suitcase I hadn't seen her there.

"Oh, hi... Just... excuse me, I need to get my suitcase before he leaves," I mumble, and hurry over to the gaping open space in the side of the bus. Someone has dumped one of those giant pink noblewoman suitcases on top of mine, one with a leopard print that screams "I have a sister sitting further in the back of the trunk because all my owner's clothes and make-up didn't fit in me". There's no space to move it sideways, so I try to push it upward and dislodge mine from below. The woman who was waiting for me shoots to my side.

"Here, I'll hold this, you pull," she says, and lifts the pink case with ease. I pull on mine and with a big tug it comes out – I nearly drop to my ass. That wouldn't have been a great start. I'm already looking weak, I don't also want to come across as unable to stand on my legs.

"Okay, that's better," the woman says, dropping the suitcase. She waves at the bus driver via his side mirror and the trunk closes. She turns back to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. Sorry for the whole shlemiel act, I've had all of four hours' sleep."

"Nervous for the big move, I reckon."

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm Robin, I'm the local carpenter. Mayor Lewis asked me to fetch you and show you the way to your new home. He's there right now, tidying things up. It's right over here. Shall we?"

"Lead the way, ma'am.

She goes ahead to a path that turns out to run past the bus stop, behind the fence I saw from inside the bus.

"This way is the village, Pelican Town. I'm sure you'll love it. The farm is the other way," Robin points out, turning to the right. The wheels of my suitcase don't turn well on the dry sand, so I have to carry it as I walk behind her.

We don't go far before we pass through an opening in the fence. It seems to lead to a lot of empty land, looking much like the overgrown patches I've seen sitting in those forgotten, sun-starved spaces between two tall buildings in the city. My memories of this town are buried deep in my brain, but I have the impression that it didn't use to be like this.

"This is Shearwater Farm," she announces. I have to take a moment to process this. I look around at the tall grass, wildflowers and random-looking trees, fallen branches... it even looks like a few boulders rolled down from the hill on the other side or something. I didn't remember having ever seen glaciers around here, so that can't be what moved these rocks. Then I notice the old house sitting amidst the rubble to my right, looking saggy. It's mostly made of wood – sturdy chestnut, my grandpa used to be proud of it, said it would never rot come rain or flood. The roof tiles seem to have held up slightly less well – I imagine there'll be leaks in that roof.

My heart sinks into my sneakers. Last I saw this farm it was well-kept, ordered, with a large clematis vine climbing up the fence. Looking closer, I can see the vines, mostly a skeleton of woody branches at the base, with a scattering of yellowing leaves above. I'm not very much of an expert on clematis, but that is not what that plant used to look like when my grandma was still tending it. Gods, this is going to be a nightmare to work through.

Robin eyes me, and I can see she is trying to hide worry.

"What's the matter?"

I'm looking for a kind way of saying what's on my mind, but didn't immediately stumble upon a useful phrase. She puts me out of my misery quickly.

"Sure, it's a bit overgrown, but there's some good soil underneath that mess," she says soothingly. "With a little dedication, you'll have it cleaned up in no time." I just keep my mouth shut. She's not gonna have to be the one to dig down to that soil. When I was little, I believed this farm covered the half of the world that wasn't Zuzu City – I could run and run and it seemed to go on forever. "Look, there's your new home," she points out. The longer I look at the old farm house, the more dilapidated it looks.

Then the door opens, and an older man in a green dress shirt, yellow tie and suspenders comes out. He has one of those Old Man Farmer caps on his white hair that I'd only ever seen in hillbilly movies.

"Ah, the new farmer," he says with a belly laugh. He must have more belly than the sweater gives him credit for. "Welcome! I'm Lewis, mayor of Pelican Town." He comes over to shake my hand. His grip is pretty strong for as old as he looks – he must be over fifty.

"Oh, right, it's you," I say with a polite smile. "My grandpa wrote in the letter he left me with the deed to the farm that I should say hello for him."

"He did, didn't he. Such a good man, your granddad was. And a stellar farmer, too. If you're half the farmer he was, this village is going to thrive through your presence. Everyone's been asking about you, you know. It's not every day that someone new moves in."

Looking around, I have half an idea that I understand why. Oh, I've lived happy summers here, but with no obligations and a child's ability to make a game out of nothing. The only entertainment an adult could find in this place was the pub, as far as I remember, and that place was full of smokers and professional drunks.

"So," Mayor Lewis goes on, "we'll let you settle into your grandfather's old cottage. It's a good house. Very 'rustic'."

I can hear the air quotes around the word and wonder what exactly he thinks he means by it. It's one of those words that change meaning every time they change mouths.

"Rustic?" Robin smirks. "Crusty might be a little more apt."

Lewis throws her an annoyed look.

"Don't listen to that, Evan. Robin just wants you to have her fix it up, for a small fee of course." Now Robin looks disgruntled, but the mayor goes on before she can retort. "Anyway, you must be tired. You certainly look like you got up early to catch that bus. Get some rest. Maybe explore the farm if you feel up for it, get an idea of where everything is. Maybe tomorrow you could pass through the town and get to know the people. They're impatient to meet you."

Lewis turns and starts to walk away. Robin is standing to my other side, tapping her foot, her mouth in a bit of a pout. Is she really that annoyed over Lewis's remark? Maybe there's some backstory here that I'm missing...

"Oh, before I forget," Lewis says, and turns back to face us. "If you have anything to sell, you can put it in this box here. I always come for a walk past here in the morning, I can pick your goods up and sell them to the shops in town. I'll leave the money in the box the next morning. It's an old understanding I used to have with your granddad as well. That okay?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Oh, don't be like that. Just call me Lewis. Everyone does. Well... good luck, and I'll see you around, Evan."

"Yeah, see you," I say, forcing another polite smile. The mayor and Robin leave.

I look around once more, trying to see the bright side. I've been wanting a garden to experiment growing plants in for years. My idea was mostly about kitchen herbs and maybe a few pretty flowers, but well.

I shake my head. I'm just gonna have to get to it and see how it goes... and if I fail miserably at this whole farming thing, like my dad expects, well, then I guess I could sell off the land and crawl back home with my tail between my legs. I'll get laughed at at big family parties for a few years and... get another soul-sucking job, I guess. That's actually not the worst motivation. Let's see how much of those movies where they romanticize farm life is true. It's gonna be hard work, and I might even work up a tan and a bit of muscle tone –

I'm nearly ready to turn around back to the bus stop when I think about the sore muscles. But hey, at least the work won't be wasted here. The city is full of gyms where you lift weights and pull on springs and stuff just for the hell of it – for the sake of that muscle tone, or for the sake of feeling healthier, and nothing else. Working on the farm at least both that muscle tone and that health will be a side effect of actual work that should have actual real-life benefits. I am very aware that I am a lump of porridge right now, but my mother says I could be good-looking if I worked off a few pounds. Of course, she is my mother. She's kind of required to tell me those kinds of things.

I grab my suitcase and climb the three steps toward the porch. The wood creaks but holds up. Lewis has left the door unlocked so I can just push it open.

The house is just a single room. A bed stands in the right corner closest to me. In the back, there's an actual, true-to-life chimney that I barely remember – as I only ever visited in the summer, I've never seen it being used. There's a table with a single chair and a model boat on top, and a tv sitting directly on the floor. Bright sunshine spills in from the window above it.

Well, it's about as large as a city apartment. The only problem I'm going to have for now is cooking. There's no kitchen in this house – grandpa used to have dinner at the saloon in town every night, and for the rest of the day he'd often just munch on some fruit or vegetable from the field, or the cheese he made from the milk of his one goat. Where might that critter have gone, I wonder. The mayor mentioned something about Robin fixing the house... maybe I should see how that would work. Then again, a kitchen is more than just woodwork. Would there be a plumber in this village? A gas stove would do to bake some pancakes or boil some potatoes. Robin will probably know, if she fixes houses.

I turn the TV on, mostly for something to do. The first channel is a nonstop news channel that's currently giving the weather report. I have a look; it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow. Next is a fortune teller, which I skip immediately. The last channel is a rather preposterous-sounding cooking show, the 'Queen of Sauce'. This isn't immediately useful to me without a kitchen, but as I'm hoping to get one soon, I might as well keep some notes on things I could make with it – my mother has always done the cooking at home, I'm not very familiar with kitchens. I don't have any paper on me right now, though. I file the cooking show away in the back of my head for later.

The tv doesn't have any more than those three channels, so I turn it off, sit down on the bed and try to think about what to do next. From this angle I can see there's a rack with farm tools hanging on the wall next to the door, and sitting next to them, a box. Now curious, I pick it up. It's wrapped in brown paper and has a label on it: "Here's a little something to get you started", signed by Lewis. In the box I find 15 packets of parsnip seeds.

"Wow, Lewis," I breathe. This does remind me that I have no idea where to get seeds for my crops – or fertilizer, I have the idea that fertilizer is supposed to figure in the process – but at least with this I have one crop to start learning with.

Well, it's 11 am by now, the sun is shining brightly through the window – I'm not going to be able to catch up to my lost sleep right now, and considering how much time crops take to grow, I probably don't have much time to lose. I look at the tools hanging on the wall. I can at least identify them: there's a hoe for tilling soil, an axe for chopping wood, a... what are those things called again, depictions of Death always have one of those, a scythe. On the far side near the door there's a bit of a peculiar-looking one that I can't immediately place in the tasks associated with farm life, so I don't ruminate on it, and there's a watering can too. All the tools look pretty rusty, and I'm a bit worried that their wooden handles might not hold up after so long, but at least I can try and see how it goes. First I have to get rid of all the grass and weeds outside, so I grab the scythe.

It does its job. For the most part. I have the impression that that's mostly because I'm pulling the grass out by its roots – the scythe acts more like a hook than a knife – but at this moment that's better than nothing. I clear out as large of a patch as I have energy for, then sit down on the porch steps with a few sandwiches I'd packed for the trip and the last of my bottle of water. This presents me with a new problem.

The cottage doesn't have running water. There's the river, but as my grandfather told me when I was a kid, that water always needs to be at least boiled and preferably filtered before drinking it. But I have no filter, and nothing to cook with. I'm not going to be able to live like this. I need a way to boil water and prepare some food.

My watch tells me it's now 2 pm, still comparatively early. I can sow my parsnip seeds in the dirt that's already loose and exposed now even without tilling because I pulled the grass out by the roots, and then water them, and after that go to the village and see if anyone can help me out with cooking equipment. And maybe a way to sharpen my scythe. And a way to get more seeds.

And at some point, when I have the basics I'm going to need to survive, I might see a chance to explore the rest of the farmland. There's a lot of trees standing around, but I want to know what kinds of trees they are before I cut any down – they might be useful ones. At least I can already recognize some pine trees, or something from that family, so I can see if they produce cones with nuts.