She arrived to Zuzu City early the next morning. The commute was long and uncomfortable. She looked at her phone: she had 13% battery left, not a single text message, not a single call. Dallas probably got home so late and so drunk that he didn't realize she was not there. Once the bus stopped, she walked to the nearest C-Mobile story, sluggish but determined.

"Hi, I'm here to get a new phone number."

—

It took another hour by bus to travel from Zuzu City to Stardew Valley. When she pulled into town, she was greeted by a middle-aged woman with hair the color of fire and an older man with a mustache. Had they been expecting her?

Celeste stepped off the bus, exhausted. Her phone had died on the way, so she was able to get some rest on the bus.

The pale redhead cheerfully greeted her, to her astonishment. "Hiya! I'm Robin! I think you're who've we've been expecting."

Celeste looked behind her to see if anyone else stepped off the bus and pointed to herself. "Me? Uh…"

The older man spoke up, "Noah told us a year ago to expect you. We rarely get newcomers, and nobody has moved to this town in the last few years… The bus station called me to ask if we can allow a special stop..."

Noah…? He must be… "Lewis!?"

"Yes, and you must be Celeste," he responded. "It's a pleasure meeting you. This is Robin, the local carpenter. We prepared the cabin in your anticipation. Follow us this way."

Lewis and Robin lead Celeste down a bumpy path towards her grandfather's abandoned farm. There was twigs and weeds everywhere, but otherwise it was beautiful. A small cabin was at the northeast end of the farm.

"It's a fixer upper, but definitely a work-in-progress. Would you like to see the inside?" Robin excitedly spoke. Inside the cabin, there was a bed frame with a beaten-up full-size mattress, a small table and chair, and an outdated television set. There was also a fireplace on the back corner, and Robin must've seen Celeste staring at it because she responded, "It's safe to use! It should be able to keep you warm on the colder days while we work on getting heating and cooling set up in this place." Celeste was overwhelmed, but surprised. She was glad to be away from what she left behind.

—

She used the rest of the weekend to settle into her place and unpack. She didn't bring much, but wouldn't begin to feel at home until she organized what she brought. She laid down on the bed to take a nap, falling asleep all weekend. She really was tired.

—

Before Lewis left on Saturday afternoon, he gave he a list of names of townsfolk that he expected her to make an effort to meet. She glanced at the list. Wow, this town is really small. Seems like it'll be easy to do.

She woke up early on Monday morning with that task in mind. She still didn't have running water in her cabin, so she needed to get clean somehow. She remembered the lake she saw on Saturday afternoon when receiving the brief farm tour. She went outside and looked around. Long grass and fallen trees surrounded her in the field. Nobody was around for miles, or so it seemed, so she stripped from her clothes and jumped into the ice-cold water. Even though spring was in bloom, winter wasn't far enough away to warm up the water. She screamed as she hit the water. It was colder than she expected. She quickly rinsed her hair and dried herself and got dressed. Maybe I should visit Robin and ask her to install running water and a bathroom for me, she thought to herself.

So, her first task for the day, before doing what Lewis suggested, was to head up towards the mountain and find Robin's home. Lewis had provided her with a map when he left her the list of names, labeling the home for each of the townspeople to make it simpler for Celeste.

Robin's home must be this way, she said to herself, staring closely at the map. And maybe the others will be around…that's three people to check off the list.

When walking inside, she saw the fiery redhead standing behind a desk as she excitedly greeted her when she walked through the door. "Have a nice walk?" Robin excitedly asked her.

"Uh, hi Robin. I came by to speak with you because I noticed the cabin doesn't have any running water and I'm wondering…if it wouldn't be too much….this is all I have," Celeste said, showing Robin the crumbled bills she had in her hand.

Robin slammed her hands on her desk and said, "Oh! It's not a problem! I would've installed some plumbing, but I wasn't sure when you'd arrive, and I didn't want it to rust over. I can get started tomorrow, and don't worry about the money. This will be my welcoming gift to you!" Celeste stared at Robin with appreciative eyes, when Demetrius walked into the room. His skin was the color of milk chocolate and he was wearing a lab coat. "Honey, this is Celeste! She just moved into town this weekend." He excitedly looked towards her and said, "Greetings! I'm Demetrius, local scientist and father! Nice to meet you!" She cracked a small smile as he continued, "I'm studying the local plants and animals from my home laboratory. Have you met my daughter Maru? She's interested to meet you." Celeste lit up and said, "No, I haven't yet, but I'd love to meet her!" Maru, overhearing her name, walked into the foyer and upon noticing Celeste said, "Oh! Aren't you the one who just moved in? I'm Maru. I've been looking forward to meeting you!" Maru let out a big smile and Celeste blushed. She wasn't expecting such a warm welcome. Maru continued, "You know, with a small town like this, a new face can really alter the community dynamic. It's exciting!"

Robin, who was gathering supplies in preparation of making Celeste's bathroom, turned back to Celeste and said, "Have you met everyone in town yet? That sounds exhausting."

"No, not yet," Celeste replied. "This is my first stop of the day. I'm yet to meet anybody else." "Oh!" Robin let out in surprise. "Well, you must meet my son Sebastian! He should be in his room downstairs in the basement! Here, let me take you!" And just like that, Robin was leading Celeste down towards Sebastian's room.

She noticed the darkness of his room. It was in the basement, after all, so there was no natural light coming in. But in addition to that, he had dark walls, dark bedding, and some goth band posters up on his wall. As she scanned his room, she finally noticed him, sitting at his computer, typing away as if he didn't just notice the tall redhead walk into his room with a complete stranger. But Celeste couldn't ignore him: he was dressed in black from head to toe, a hoodie keeping him warm in the cool, dark room. His hair was dyed black and his fringe was long and pushed to the side. His skin was pale like Robin's, so he couldn't have been Demetrius' son. He was thin, but his clothes hugged his skin snuggly, something Celeste couldn't ignore. Would Robin notice she began staring at him? Seeing that he didn't pay attention to them walking in, Robin cleared her throat and said, "Sebby, we have a visitor." With a glare, he looked at Robin, upset that she would call him this in front of someone else, and then at Celeste. His dark brown eyes warmed up and he said to her, "Oh. You just moved in right? Cool." That was it. He turned his face back to look at his computer screen. He didn't seem interested. And Celeste felt foolish for staring.

Robin tried to continue the conversation and said, "Celeste will be joining us for dinner tonight." Noticing that she didn't ask her before the invite, Robin turned to Celeste and said, "I hope you don't mind. We wanted to show our welcome to you in this town." Celeste gave her a smile to indicate that she accepted the offer, and Robin walked back up the stairs. Once she closed the door behind her, Sebastian spoke again. "Out of all the places you could live, you chose Pelican town?" Celeste felt offended. Who was he to judge? He was wasting this beautiful day sitting behind a blaring computer screen in the dark.

"My grandfather left me his farm," she finally spoke up with a crack in her voice. Sebastian looked away from his computer screen and into Celeste's eyes, giving her a small grin. Celeste looked away and blushed, her legs feeling like jelly. He turned back to his computer screen, and she took that as a sign that the conversation was over. Upon making her way upstairs to the ground level, she told Robin that she was going to explore Pelican Town and meet some more of the townspeople as Lewis asked her to. On her way out, Robin said, "Dinner is at 8! You can come early and shower here if you'd like. I know it's not fun having no internal plumbing." Celeste turned to her and smiled before leaving the front door, venturing south to Pelican Town square.

—

It took her nearly 30 minutes to walk to the center of town, where she noticed Pierre's shop. She thought that maybe it would be a good idea to browse the store and see if anybody was inside. As she opened the front door, she was greeted by a man with auburn hair behind a counter. "Hey, it's Ms. Celeste, the new farmer! I'm Pierre, owner of the local general store. Take a look around and see what you like."

Browsing through the store, she bumped into a pale young woman in her early 20's, hair as purple as the deepest amethyst. Still surprised by her appearance, the young woman responded, "Oh, that's right… I heard someone new was moving onto that old farm. It's kind of a shame, really. I always enjoyed exploring those overgrown fields by myself." Taken aback by what she said, Celeste responded, "Uh, hi.. I'm Celeste. Nice to meet you?," the last coming out with a question. The woman chuckled and said, "I don't mean it in a bad way. I'm Abigail. Maybe I'll see you around town," making her way towards the door and leaving the store.

—

It was nearly 7 o'clock and Celeste had spent the good chunk of the day trying to meet all of the townspeople. It was grueling, but one by one, she checked everybody off her list.

Caroline, the green haired lady who's married to Pierre. "I've never met anyone with naturally green hair before…"

Leah, the friendly artist with auburn hair who lives down by Marnie's ranch.

George, the grumpy old man who was confined to a wheelchair, and his extremely friendly wife Evelyn, as well as Alex, their athletic grandson.

Gus, the chubby friendly face who owned the town saloon.

Jodi, the passive aggressive, yet seemingly nice lady who was mother to Vincent and Sam. Sam was close to Celeste's age, but Vincent was much younger. Celeste was curious about the stark age difference.

Emily, the extremely nice and outgoing bartender at Gus' saloon. Emily had blue hair and it made Celeste wonder why so many people in town had such unusual hair colors if there wasn't a cosmetologist for miles. However, Celeste saw herself possibly becoming friends with Emily. Her sister, Hayley on the other hand… she wasn't very friendly, and after introducing herself to her, Hayley responded with, "Hmm… if it weren't for those horrendous clothes you might actually be pretty… Actually, nevermind." Who says that to somebody they just meet?!

Penny, the shy redhead who lived in the trailer with her single mother, Pam.

Harvey, the local doctor who seemed friendly enough.

Clint, the local blacksmith, who was quiet socially awkward, but meant no harm.

Elliott, the dreamy seaside poet, whose hair was longer than Celeste's.

Willy, the fisherman with his seaside shop. He was nice enough to hand Celeste a fishing pole of her own.

Marnie and Jas, those two lived on the farm just south of New Sunshine Farm. Marnie sold supplies and animals and Celeste made a mental note about getting friendly with her.

And Linus, the backwoodsman free spirit, who lived in a tent just north of Robin's home.

There's one more person on this list….. Celeste looked closely to see who she didn't check off. Shane. It shows that he lives with Marnie, but he wasn't there when I visited earlier. But she didn't have time. It was already too close to dinnertime and she still needed to run to her cabin to grab some soap and fresh clothes to shower at Robin's.

—

A thick fog started to develop as Celeste made her way back to Robin's home. She knocked on the door, and the tall redhead opened with a large grin.

"Hi Robin, I brought my stuff…" holding up a bag with her towel and fresh clothes. At first Robin looked at her confused, and then said, "Oh! Right! Let me show you which way to go!," leading Celeste to her master bathroom. "Use whatever you need, I'll be in the kitchen cooking."

The master bathroom was plain, but nice, with wooden fixtures everywhere. It had a large window that showed the beauty of the mountainside forest, just as the sun began to set. Celeste quickly started to undress and turn on the water to the hottest setting. A hot shower…it had been 3 days and she was filling up with excitement as the bathroom filled up with steam. She looked in the mirror, staring at the marks on her body that began to fade away. A yellowish bruise was on her ribcage just under her left breast and the scratch marks on her neck have now faded. She let out a sigh of relief and hopped into the shower, washing away all sorrow she held from her past.

—

After she showered, Celeste quickly towel dried her hair and walked into the kitchen where Robin was beginning to cook. Celeste saw the counter sprawled with different kinds of beans and vegetables. Robin looked at her with a warm smile and said, "I'm making a spicy bean hot pot. It's Demetrius's favorite. I don't cook it as well as he does, but it really is tasty." Celeste grabbed some carrots and began cutting, her long dark brown hair still damp, but pulled behind her ears.

Sebastian walked in after his smoke break to see her smiling as she cut the veggies, appearing a lot happier than when they first met earlier that day. He looked at her from a distance, admiring her form. She was wearing black leggings and a long plaid shirt that fit her like a dress. Her thick, dark brown hair was starting to get wavy in the humidity, and her fair skin donned a few freckles around her nose and under her eyes. He wasn't much taller than average, but she stood shorter than him, happily cutting some onion to be sautéed as Robin started the gas stove. She turned to look at him, catching him staring before he quickly turned his head. "Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes, Sebby. Go call Maru and Demetrius," Robin said with lightness in her voice.

Sebastian groaned and headed outside to look for his half-sister and stepfather, looking down at the ground with his hand in his jacket pockets as he made his way.

During dinner, they all sat at the table, Sebastian sitting opposite to Celeste. A chair was pulled up from the lab for Celeste to sit in, since they didn't have enough at the table.

"Before we begin eating, let us say grace," Robin surprisingly said. Celeste wasn't usually religious and was surprised that a family where half were scientists would say grace before dinner, but to be polite, she followed their lead.

Yoba, praise You for the nourishment You have provided us. Thank You for meeting our physical needs of hunger and thirst. Bless this food to fuel our bodies to move forward and we thank You for this early springtime abundance. Blessed be.

Celeste couldn't remember the last time she sat to have a warm meal with a group of inviting souls, let alone saying a prayer before beginning to eat. She took a bite of the bean hot pot and was immediately in love, devouring the entire bowl and shyly asking for seconds. Robin made some rice pudding the night before, which they all had for dessert. Celeste was stuffed!

By 10 o'clock, she started to feel tired and suggested that she go home for the evening. She thanked Robin for the wonderful meal and time she got to spend with her family and made her way towards her farm.

The night was dark in Stardew Valley. There weren't streetlights like she was used to in the city, and she heard owls hooting from nearby trees. Some animal stirs frightened her along her path and she nearly stumbled and fell a few times walking in the dark towards her cabin. She got home just after 10:30. Tomorrow, Robin begins working on my plumbing, she thought to herself with glee. She crawled into the bed and quickly fell asleep.

—

She took the bus back home, guilt flooding her emotions. How could she have done this to Dallas? After all they've been through? Six years isn't something easy to just forget.

He was slightly older than her, maybe a little too old for her when they got together. She was 20 and he was nearly 30, but he frequently reminded her that age was just a number and that she was always mature for her age. She met him when she was 19 and enrolled in the local college. He was teaching some classes and she found herself enrolling in a class of his, only to walk away in a hidden relationship. Once the school found out, he had to teach the rest of the semester from home, and the remainder of his career consisted of teaching online classes, to which he didn't really mind. Two years into their relationship, as Celeste was finishing her final year, he proposed to her and asked her to move in with him. She had been living with him ever since, but it got rocky quickly into their cohabitation. After his mother died, she spent a lot of her time trying to console him and had to pick up extra shifts to make ends meet, dropping out her senior year of college. She found a job at Jojo Mart Corporation, answering phone calls for dissatisfied customers. It wasn't her life dream, but it paid the bills.

As she got out of the bus and opened the apartment door; to her surprise, it was left unlocked. Inside, she saw Dallas, having sex with her former best friend (one of the people she had found him cheating with). They turned to look at her, smiled, and he continued humping her, laughing. "You were never as pretty as her anyways, Celeste. And your pussy was never as tight."

She felt dizzy and stumbled to the door. The ground fell before her, showing the edge of a cliff. If I jump right now, end it all, it will surely be less painful than to continue… she took one step forward…..

….and suddenly….

…..

…she jolted awake.

She didn't expect to fall into a slumber that quickly. She didn't expect to start dreaming that quickly either. She looked at her phone. 5:56 AM. There's no use in trying to continue to sleep now. She got up and got ready for the day, shortly before her alarm began screaming at her to get up.

What was she going to do today? Chop some wood, clear out the land in the farm from debris, maybe plant the parsnip seeds that Lewis kindly gave her on her first day here. She wouldn't want him to ask and find out that she still hadn't placed them in the ground. How would she plant them? She loved the outdoors but wasn't sure if she actually had a green thumb.

So, she spent the first hour in the morning, browsing the internet, finding as much information as she can to help her begin on her farm. The service was choppy where she stayed, so it took longer than usual for her to find the answers she was looking for. She put on her painter's overalls, flecks of acrylic all over them, and made her way outside. After spending the entire morning clearing the farm, she put the seeds into the ground and watered them. She sat down on the ground, let out a sigh, and dropped to her back.

Just as a cloud covered the sun and she briefly she closed her eyes for rest, Robin called from the distance. "Hey farmer! I came to get started on your plumbing!" Celeste propped herself up and led Robin inside. Robin quickly and excitedly began working as the hunger pangs began to hit Celeste. It was definitely time for her to find a meal, so she made her way into town and towards Gus's saloon.

—

The saloon was empty at this time in the day, with only Gus behind the counter, cleaning and storing glasses from the night before. Celeste ordered a salad and took her time eating, observing the atmosphere. She had avoided coming to the saloon yesterday, not feeling comfortable in environments that served alcohol, but I guess it's not that bad, this early in the day. No one was drinking…

Gus was humming as he worked when Celeste looked up at him and said, "Gus.. Lewis asked me to say hello to everybody in this town…"

"Mm."

"But I haven't been able to find one person….Shane?"

Gus put his glass down and the smile on his face faded as he looked at Celeste. "Whats wrong?," she asked. In a serious tone, he responded, "He will probably be here after his shift. Around 5:30, like...clockwork."

"Oh?"

"You can't miss him. He's usually here all night long. He's a regular. I'd be out of business if it weren't for him."

Celeste didn't take that as a good sign. What could he be doing in a saloon every single night after work? This was something she tried to avoid, as to not be reminded of Dallas. She didn't trust people when they were drunk. Maybe she could catch him before he started his routine and leave before he had his first glass. She would never have to see him again after that. Right?

Celeste thanked Gus for the meal, leaving a tip, and walked out the saloon. She quickly stopped at Pierre's to buy some seeds before she headed back to her farm to see Robin working still, several hours later. "Hey Celeste. So… I didn't get as much done today as I had hoped. It looks like it may take a week for me to finish this. But in the meantime, please feel free to come to my home and get yourself clean! I really don't want you to worry too much about imposing." Celeste thanked her for her work and said goodbye as she left for the night. She planned to head to Robin's early tomorrow after some gardening to get clean and explore the rest of Pelican Town. She had met most of the town, but still needed to find Shane. She had a plan.

But a week without her own internal plumbing? Damn.