The fluorescent lights. Others on the thirty-fourth floor of the Zuzu City office sector of Joja Corporation argued in whispered other matters about the wrongs with the way corporate demanded business be held in. Cubicles seven, ten, and twenty held their own grudges over Human Resource matters concerning their pay and hours; something about management screwing them over on unpaid overtime which they plowed through until midnight. I didn't get to listen to the rest before the floor manager shoved us out of the meagre breakroom the size of our desks as if chickens back into the open space. At least that's what I remember; the mind fails under the constant ebb and flow of great stress and a little bit of stimulant highs. My grudge lied in the lights, mocking our eyes as I blinked them dry.
Todd said in a meeting it would be just like music. Layered on top of the grey cubicles, grey ceiling, grey tiles, grey fucking everything; he said it would help us stay on our toes. Like there was anything at Joja we needed to keep to a high standard. There was to be no slacking, no eating, no drinking, no lounging, no leaning, no phones, and most certainly no speaking with fellow teamsters over our soggy cubicles, and then some. Nothing but work was allowed in this space of the world and all voices were to be kept at a minimum despite the floor being dedicated to being a sultry call center, or else we'd have a monitor from the upstairs admins breathing down the inner walls of our work space. Worse yet, the blinking red light above which our monitors mounted box cameras lest we sought out the former mentioned. The past week had been its peak worst since transferring over from the Armed Forces of Ferngill. Not a single veteran relief employee such as myself were safe from the bullshittery floor manager Todd had to serve on the golden platter for us minions who bought into the logo.
The green light signaled a caller was on the line, and my phone lit up like a Christmas tree. Tick tock aaaaaand! Time for work. Barking up same excuses from the worst script I'd ever seen written from Todd. I spoke quickly trying not to yawn, "Thank you for calling Joja Corporation! My name is Ingram and I'll be your personal care representative today. How may I help you?" I sounded happy sure. Faking emotions was easy for me when you've seen the things I've seen. Joja never liked those with a frown. In fact I was promised happy, seeing the adverts in the newspaper back in my apartment after my discharge. Most of the men I served with after the invasion pushed me towards this kind of life.
Join us. Thrive! Was what those guys had cheered. At the time I didn't think we'd end up like this sat here holding our tears in and cheering for a corporate office desk jockey job talking to screaming customers over the line. Mine was as such, yelling expletives over a double charge on their Joja card while a baby cried in the back. I breathed in and out while punching the hysterical mother's card number on the computer screen and simply returned her money back with a click of the button. Frantically I skipped over the justification windows and bypassed all of it to just make her voice stop. No I didn't want to specify their complaint. No I didn't want to consult my supervisor, and fuck no did I want to transfer her to another representative. No more stealing, no more badgering for Joja incentives intent on more profit. With the mistaken transaction fixed she told me once more to go to hell before a crash on the end of the line nearly broke my ears.
I too slammed down the phone watching the green turn to red. My chest tightened; the yelling I couldn't take anymore. My eyes watered as I gripped my chest. I thought the yelling would be done? Isn't that type of behavior saved for the wicked battlefield? I couldn't breathe then anymore and I tried to slam my fists over and over into my forehead but my air refused to gave way. Something was squeezing my lungs tight and I let lose one tear leaning down into my chair. Years of fighting to move up to an administrative position? Years of enduring garbage like this when some of us present in the room endured years of fighting already? Why yell? Why were they yelling at us? I forced myself into this position straight out of the war a year ago. And already my soul was dissolving into dust. Not here not now. I had to hold it together before a monitor showed up to check on me.
Dust. Huh.
My muscles were locked in place but I managed to sit up and dangle my head past the back of the office chair. Rule Number One broken. The hole where I shoved my emotions was full and not much else of panic would fit. Just relax Ingram. Think. Think think think. Think of your happy place. Who was your happy place? Close your eyes. . .
". . . And for my very special grandson. I want you to have this sealed envelope," said my grandfather addressing the empty room aside from myself. The nightgown with peace written on his cheeks never helped much with my heart. I hiccupped a tear as I sat knelt before him, placing my hand over his and listened.
"I want you to have this sealed envelope."
I eased it from his hands but he held my finger.
"No no. . . Don't open it yet. Have patience," he muttered, "Now listen close. . . There will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of modern life. . . War. . . And all of what it holds. I cannot imagine what you will see in the coming invasion. And you, your bright soul will fade growing into emptiness."
I intertwined my fingers into his, frail and fleeting hand, "Yes grandpa. . . Please stay with me now."
"When that happens, my dear, you'll be ready for this gift. . . When the memories of war become too great for you to bear retreat to this letter and remember my words my dear grandson. You will live, but the death around you will taint your heart. . . When I pass, visit this letter and follow it."
"Y-yes grandpa. . . I love you."
"I love you very much. Now let grandpa rest. . ."
My heart tainted with death. Huh.
The red light not against my cubicle glowed red and a blaring alarm buzzed me out of my own head. The letter. I stashed it in my backpack at all times and I dug for it. The paper still fresh and crisp only folded to fit into any pocket. However the hustle and bustle around me had begun as an announcement came over the intercom.
"Floor thirty-four! Please kindly report to your designated meeting rooms! Joja thanks you for your continued loyalty!"
I wiped the tears dripping down my face and stood, but before I could, a strong grip clutched my forearm. Todd stood smiling in front of me and nodded. Fuck, he caught me slacking off didn't he? Damn cameras. I smiled back; as to follow protocol. A Joja job wasn't something worth losing over a floor manager's job. Quietly, he let me go and waved for me to come and join the mass crowd tunneling into the back room. My plight of panic subsided a notch as I took my seat at the giant meeting table where Todd took his place at the very end, both monitors flanking him at each side. The scorn I held for his smile branded into my mind.
He rubbed his hands together and quickly picked up a remote on the table, "Today! We will be rolling out a new program for you all! Now how is everyone doing today?"
In unison, all of us staring at the granite, let out a long and drawn out Good!
"Great to hear everyone! Okay team! So here's the plan. The higher brass has figured out a new way to keep customer satisfaction up due in part to the latest online survey results on our very own dedicated browser and our very own online marketplace. We scored ninth out of our worldwide competitors and that won't do!" A woman from the crowd, the only one who made a sound gasped. Marsha. The only true suck up to the company's logo within the room raised her hand but Todd waved her down. Her enthusiasm was one of a kind; special in the cultish light of loyalty bordering between Todd and the company each day I clocked in for work.
I hated it.
"To solve this, we have assigned each call center employee their very own customer to dedicate their time to! With this new way of operations we will be able to build stable 5 relationships with each customer effectively guaranteeing we make sure satisfaction and sales stay above our competitors," he said clicking through a series of slides, "Integrate, cooperate and nurture our customer until they are one with the Joja family!"
My vision tunneled, the patterns of the granite keeping my mind company. Customer satisfaction? Didn't they know people just clicked through each of those stupid windows on their website? The panic began to set in again. I was really in this mess of fear, fear for losing my job. Where the hell else would I work? Joja promised the return of each veteran would be covered with a job and a plethora of benefits but only our health, and if we could afford one, car insurance. But having to deal with one customer for the rest of our careers?
No this couldn't be.
The meeting adjourned without incident and without a question asked save for Marsha who stayed behind to speak with Todd. I returned somberly to my desk. The red light remained solid, and I inventoried my time. I opened my desk rifling over the amassed stacks of paper built up from over the years; most of them motivational letters and corporate junk offering higher positions elsewhere in the company promising more hours and an easier time moving up the ladder in whatever godforsaken department. I almost dropped the entire ordeal for the glistening bottle of amphetamines sitting in the drawer above. But something, a tingle at the back of my head urged me like a hand rubbing my back to keep digging. At the bottom was a picture of me when I was a baby and my grandfather sitting on the front porch of his old land in Stardew Valley. I used to visit often back then when Ma and Pa were out of the big city and off living near Calico Desert however when high school rolled around, the trips became less and less.
In my hand held the letter he'd given me. There will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of modern life. I never heeded those words until then as I unfurled it from the creases. In old tales of the land in which I lived on told of soldiers returning home in promise of a land such as my grandfather's. But what was in this letter? And why me? I was nothing special. I killed for a living straight out of young adulthood and earned my place here in Joja. Yes, was what I thought at the time, without regrets.
Grandpa I think it's time. Forgive me if it isn't.
Where ever you're watching me.
They were legal papers. Each one with my name on it with grandpa's signature scribbled on every redline. One thick card stock certificate contained an empty red line above my grandfather's signature already inked in. I shuffled through them tossing them into my desk, but in the center a notebook page was set in the center of it all.
Dear Ingram,
If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change. The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life… real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belonged.
I've enclosed the deed to that place… my pride and joy: Langnar Farm. It's located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It's the perfect place to start your new life. I don't know if you'll remember it from your visits when you were young, but I remember how much joy it brought to you then, and I'm sure it will do the same for you now.
This was my most precious gift of all, and now it's yours. I know you'll honor the family name, my boy. Good luck.
Love, Grandpa.
P.S Say hi to the older guy for me. Mayor Lewis is his name.
I sat the letter down upon the stack of legal documents. It was all too much, but at the same time, the right time. He really left it all to me? The green light had come on, and Todd jogged over to my cubicle, out of breath and subtle shade.
His eyebrows furled up as he laid a hand on the wall of my grey cubicle, "Hey! How are you champ? What's- what's all this? You doing okay? The green light's on, come on you've got callers."
I gathered the papers together except for the empty document. I took a pen from the cup holder by the keyboard, and quickly signed the red line, "And I've got a deed too, sir."
Todd glared, "Excuse me?"
"I'm done," I said.
"What do you mean? What? No no no," he said sitting next down as I tried to get up, "Come on Mr. Langnar! We're all apart of the Joja family now! You can't just leave us we're all counting on you to get this done! Now come on you'll receive your new customer soon I'm about to send the email."
My fist cleared through the monitor in front of me. I stood as Todd stepped back exasperated face beginning to turn red.
"That's coming out of your salary," he mumbled quietly, "You can't just do this, Ingram. Any more of this and I'll have to call the police. Do you understand? We don't tolerate this at Joja. We're supposed to be smiling."
"Okay," I said, "And I have a deed. I think things are right now. I've fought long enough. Fought for this country, fought for Joja. Nothing's wrong. I just am out."
I snatched up my backpack, making sure to pack up the old papers and my orange bottle of prescription amphetamines. Every paper I had concerning my then former business within my backpack, I calmly tossed onto the desk. Eyes were glued to me, other cubicles had stopped speaking on their phones, their customer's collective voices loud enough to hear their confusion over the line. I blushed, and stormed out to the elevator. I was free all along, I was free. As for all my other coworkers, I sadly couldn't have said the same thing for them.
•••
When I got back to my apartment, I had picked up a bottle of whiskey, and steadily took shots of it for two nights. With what little I had, I could add to the initial payment when I listed my unit available for rent: one moldy fridge and a soup splattered microwave. Except for my uniform, that was coming with me to Stardew Valley. My promised land. I challenged myself that night, I wasn't going to use the internet to see just what I was getting into. I booked a ticket south the day after tomorrow to the golden valley. Old Pelican town awaited me blindly in my memory from what very little I could piece together from frequent visits. Just my uniform and phone was coming with me.
Yeah. It was time.
AN:
Hey there. So you've taken the time to read the first chapter in my ongoing first attempt to write a fanfiction. Thank you. I got a couple notes for you all as you continue on and a few things I want to discuss moving forward such as credits, inspirations, and obligatory disclaimers.
First things first I intend on including characters and their respective events from the Stardew Valley Extended expanse mod from content creator: FlashShifter. Thank you for creating such an amazing mod which adds, what I believe, to be a ton of expansive content which felt missing from ConcernedApe's amazing original base game.
Second: I am 100% open to constructive criticism. Please do provide any details I may have missed. This story of mine is a work in progress and the fact that you the reader are even taking a look at it means so much to me.
Third: I intend on publishing a chapter every week, or at least make that my goal. I currently have several chapters I am editing and awaiting to put on fanfiction. I intend on making a cover for this story when I get the time to do so. And I also intend on seeing this story through and not leave anyone hanging.
Fourth: I believe credit is due for inspiring me to make this story possible was a person by the name of LittleBlueNA. I sort of modeled this first chapter after theirs and I can't go on writing thinking they didn't spark the creativity in which I had not felt in so long. Please do check out their work titled, "A New Chapter in Stardew Valley," and while it may not have been updated for some years now I'd like to think one day they could return to continue on the story. Seriously, it's a great read and I absolutely love how they portray and speak on certain issues.
Fifth: This story touches on issues about addiction and how combat PTSD affects veterans who have fought in bloody conflicts so please adhere to this trigger warning if this does bother you. In the game, it is mentioned and hinted by the character Kent and most of the other townsfolk that there is a canonical, yet vague, conflict, between Ferngill and Gotoro. I tried expanding on this during the writing process and I believe it has affected every single character in some way or another within the game. I wish to keep things as real as possible, so I included it for story sake and to explore the human condition to the best of my ability.