Oddly Prismatic

Chapter 2: [DEW] A Breath of Fresh Air

I ran around the house aimlessly, unable to sit still. To be fair, I thought I had a really good reason for being so excited. I mean, how often do people get to leave the boring, dirty city for a cute little farm to start a new life with their sister? I was trying to focus, I swear. I knew I had to start packing while Star got our affairs in order – she was currently calling our parents to explain the situation. I was trying not to listen because I didn't want to hear if they yelled at us…

I ran past Star again, who was sitting on the couch, my grin large across my face. She rolled her eyes playfully as she listened to the phone, seemingly waiting for our parent's response. She motioned for me to stop, gently placing a hand on the microphone of the receiver, "You know we can't take everything with us right now, right? We can't afford a moving truck so Mom and Dad are going to take the rest of our stuff when they come grab Miso."

"Omigosh, so this is really like starting a new life? We only have the essentials and the clothes on our backs! We'll be living off the land as we struggle to meet end's meet, battling against the elements! Some days we won't be able to eat, but that's okay I'm sure we'll be fine, I mean we're sort of used to that, right? At least now we won't be waiting for a paycheck from some big organization and that we'll be working for our own money now and – "

"Dew," Star sighed. "You're going to give Mom a heart attack. How about you go start packing… I'll make sure you take only what's needed after."

I nodded ecstatically, bolting to my room. Miso followed leisurely behind me, perhaps wondering why I was running around the house like she used to when she was younger. I bounced onto my bed, the springs creaking loudly under the weight of my body.

My room was plain – minus the excessive number of plush toys I tend to impulsively buy. The walls were a dirty white. Accompanying the bed was a dresser where I stored most of my clothes. The top of the white dresser was blank, except for a small picture of Mom and Dad for whenever I got homesick. On the same wall as the door was my closet, which remained empty with the exception of storage for seasonal clothes and suitcases.

Speaking of which, I bounded off the bed, a small "meow" coming from Miso as I did. I threw open the closet door, shifting through the assortment of jackets and sweaters I don't really wear anymore. At the back was a ratty old suitcase I use when we first moved out of Mom and Dad's.

I dragged it out behind me, lifting the case up onto the bed, then following it up onto the mattress myself. I quickly found one of the zippers, then proceeded to drag it along the teeth to open it. It was empty inside (no surprise), but it wasn't very big so I couldn't exactly take a lot of things. I fought the urge to take an armful of my plush toys and stuff them in but that wasn't very smart…

"Got anything yet?" Star spoke up, leaning against my doorframe as I turned.

"What's essentials? I understand we need some clothes, and maybe a jacket for rainy weather or something, and like our toiletries but do we have to worry about food? Can we hold off on winter clothes until that comes around? I mean, it's basically going to be spring by the time we get there anyway so we have almost an entire year before having to worry about that."

My sister paused, nodding to herself slowly, thinking about what she actually meant by her own words.

"And will we have furniture? I mean, Poppy Droppy's farm has been sitting there alone for I don't know how long so is the house even going to be livable? Are we going to have to sleep on the floor with no blankets or pillows or even heating? What about books? I know you like to read and write and I draw so are we going to take anything for that? Will we even have time for that?"

"Well…" Star began slowly, considering her words, "We should see if we can contact this "Mayor Lewis" to let him know we're on the way… Maybe Grandpa Drop already has that in order, considering he gave us the deed… He seems like someone to think things through."

"As for recreational things… Just the basics to keep us sustained for now I guess. If this really does work out, we could always buy more along the way… I hope. Just bring an empty book and new pencils that you have for now, Dew, for when you get bored and an itch to draw."

"Okay cool… Also: nose game!"

Star groaned when I touched my nose as soon as I said it, but we both knew she'd end up being the one calling anyway.

"Fine… Just finish packing your suitcase then see if you can find those old boxes we had stored away. You can start packing everything else for when our parents show up to take it all."

I nod once more and Star took that as her leave. Miso curiously sniffed the open suitcase before looking up at me with large green eyes. My expression fell soft as I gently leaned over to pet her, feeling her purring under my fingers the instant I began.

"I'm really going to miss you, you crazy ol' cat…" I murmured to her as I picked her up to lay in my lap.

She didn't mind too much – she was used to my weird advances by now anyway. She stepped off me in favour of curling up on the bed, back pressed against my thigh. I ruffled the fur behind her ear, the old tabby following my hand as much as she could. The only thing about this new life I would regret is having to leave Miso behind. As much as I wanted to say "no" to Star and take the cat with us, Star's point did stand, and since it would be a much longer ride than before, who knows how badly she'd react to a ride outside the city.

I sighed to myself, pushing all those thoughts away in favour for the excitement of moving.

The city always seemed dark and dreary. It was full of zombies that shuffled to work in the same pattern every day whilst breathing in the smog we called air. As full of life the city was, the city was more dead than alive. I could only imagine what the simpler life of a farmer could be like, having fresh air to breathe, hearing the songbird's voice early in the morning, to be able to see the sun on a clear day and not through the smoke.

I grinned, my hands forming fists as I threw myself off the bed to dig through my dresser for anything I thought would be suitable for farm work. Turns out, there wasn't much, mainly white dress shirts that were required for working with Joja. I found some shirts that I liked, quickly stuffing them in my suitcase before digging through my pants drawer. I had a lot of skirts from Joja, and few pants because of it. I found some I liked, along with a skirt or two that were wearable and put them in too. After diving through my undergarments and taking some, I stood back to see how much room I had left.

I pursed my lips, realizing that my case was incredibly small and that I didn't have much room left. Biting my lip now, I strode over to my closet to take a light jacket, as well as to dig through the shelf above the hangers. There were a few books that I had stored there, mainly drawing books I filled the last few years. I sifted through the books, looking for one that I hadn't used yet.

"Aha!"

I smiled widely, pulling out a sketchbook from underneath the pile. It was a cheap one you could get from the art store, but Star gave me this for our birthday this year, although it was left forgotten up until now. I quickly flipped through the pages, grinning even wider. Next to the pile of books were a few kits of drawing pencils I collected over the years. One set was still in the original packaging – another gift from my lovely sister this year.

I took the pencils, book, and jacket, laying it on top of my growing pile of stuff in the case.

Miso blinked slowly at me as I stared at my bed, wondering what else I should take. It was hard to think of other things that I would definitely need and not be able to survive without, but my mind was drawing a blank – perhaps from the excitement of actually moving again.

I went back over to my closet, putting a hand on my chin in wonder if I should take another book with me but then it hit me – I should totally take our photo album! Of course we should take it; like what if we feel homesick one of these days when living out of the city for the first time ever and we wanted to be reminded of home without actually having to go home?

I stuck my nose back amongst my books, quickly deducing that it wasn't in my closet like I thought it was. My eyebrows crossed as I tried to remember what we did with it – it's been literally forever since I've seen the book, let alone thought about it.

I walked out of my room, back to the small sitting area to ask Star if she knew where it was.

"Haha, yeah… Me and my sister Dew have decided to follow our grandfather's footsteps."

There was a pause as I came around the corner. Star was curled up on the couch, a pen and notepad under one hand on the arm rest, the receiver up to her ear in the other hand. She listened intently, nodding to herself.

"Oh really? That's perfect then!" A pause. "Yeah… He must have been. He thought of everything, didn't he?"

Star's blue-grey eyes caught mine, and she gave a small smile of acknowledgment. She tore her attention back to the phone, presumably talking to Mayor Lewis about our living arrangements. I decided to just check her closet instead of interrupting, not that there were many places the album would be without me really knowing.

Star's room was at the other side of our apartment (it was pretty symmetrical; the kitchen and living area were at the centre of the apartment with the storage closet and my room leading down one hall and the bathroom and Star's room down an opposite hall.) I walked into her room – it was laid out like mine, but even less comforting. Her room lacked the flare that my plushies added to mine, giving it a more sterile feel, although there was a blur of green from her home-grown houseplants that were placed meticulously around her room. I ignored everything but her closet, opening the sliding door with a sharp tug.

Star used her closet just like I did – storing things we didn't need for the season, although her shelf was filled more than mine. I recognized a few books she had stuffed up there as some she kept re-reading in the past but found little time to do so now. There were a few binders I knew were filled with my sister's writings and drabbles whenever she felt the urge to express herself on paper in a different way than myself.

I sorted through the binders, looking for anything that vaguely looked like our photo album.

"Oh, there it is…" I murmured to myself when I noticed it underneath an old shoe box my sister had stored.

I tried my best to take the album out without needing to move the shoe box but it proved much more difficult than I thought due to the height of the shelf and weight of the box. It started to slip without me being able to stop it, falling to the floor with a loud crash.

I winced, slowly taking the freed album from the shelf before falling to my knees, as I needed to clean up the mess of papers that spilled out of the box.

I didn't pay much attention to the assortment of letters and documents that Star kept – it was her stuff, not mine. I merely cleared the mess I made until I was left with one last letter that had toppled out. I grabbed it, along with the box lid, prepared to store it away for Star to sort through later until the stamp on the front of the letter caught my eye

Golden Coast University.

I paused. I vaguely recognized the name of the university – Star used to talk about how prestigious it was to be accepted into it. The letter looked old, and despite being very well taken care of, it looked like it was held very often. Without warning, I felt my heart in my throat. I didn't remember my sister applying for university, especially not this one. She would have mentioned it… multiple times, wouldn't she? Ever since we left high school, we worked for Joja Corporation, something our parents urged us to do. It was boring, but it was stable job with a reliant paycheck. We didn't have to worry about ever going hungry ever again but…

"Hey, Dew? You alright? I heard a bang."

My eyes widened as I quickly stuffed the letter into the album instead of the shoebox it used to call its home.

"Uh, yeah! I was, uh, just looking for our old photo album because I uh thought it would be good for us to take and I might have accidentally knocked over your shoe box and things might have fallen out and um I just cleaned it all up so you don't have to worry about it or anything so uh I'm just going to put it back now so don't worry about it Star it's all cleaned up now."

I quickly stood up, grabbing both the album and box to put the box back where it belonged before Star appeared in the doorway. My heart was thudding in my chest for some reason; I couldn't tear my thoughts away from the letter. When did Star apply for university?

"You okay?" My sister narrowed her eyes, analyzing me carefully.

"Who? Me? Haha, of course I am, Star. I just… Uh, I just got spooked when the shoe box fell because I wasn't expecting it or anything so uh I'm just going to pack this into my suit case and see what else I'll need to take and you asked me to find some old boxes right so I'll see if I can uh find them too…"

Star looked unconvinced but brushed it off as she stepped to the side, allowing me to walk out of her room.

"Anyway, I was just talking to Mayor Lewis," she began, following me towards my room. She stopped at the storage closet, presumably to look for the boxes instead of packing right away. "Grandpa Drop really thought of everything. He left money with Lewis for if we decided to move to the farm. He's going to use it to hire the resident carpenter to fix up the farmhouse a little for when we get there. Apparently Grandpa left them quite a sum, as they're also going to buy new furnishings for us, and we don't have to worry about moving any dishes either because Grandpa's old dishes are still in pretty good shape."

"Oh sweet! Omigosh, I'm getting really excited about this again!" I grinned, my thoughts pushing the letter aside – it wasn't of utmost importance right now, so I'd have to remember to bring it up some other time.

Star stumbled back from the closet while gripping some old dusty boxes we kept around just in case. I came out to help her, grabbing some so we could open them up. They weren't very big, but we didn't have much stuff to worry about; the furniture came with the apartment so mainly it was the cosmetics and dishes we had to pack away for when Mom and Dad came to collect our stuff.

"The mayor said that everything should be ready for us around the first of Spring, so that gives us about a week to pack and move."

"Well, that's tons of time, right? Like I'm pretty much packed now and since we don't have to worry about working at Joja tomorrow we can spend time packing, right?"

Star nodded in response, moving her boxes into the living area as I followed behind her. We set them on the floor for us to deal with in a bit.

"I should start packing as well. We can leave the toiletries for last, as we still have a week left, and we'll just wear any clothes we don't want to take with us for now. Leave out one outfit you want to wear the day we leave, that way you'll have a little more room to pack something else."

I hummed happily in response, grinning wildly. "I want to do my hair before we go too – it's starting to grow out and I'd hate to have to deal with it when we get there so I'll probably do that sometime tomorrow or maybe the next day or something."

My sister nodded in acknowledgment, looking around her with a sigh. She seemed to be having trouble really accepting that we both just quit our jobs out of the blue without much discussion, and now we were going to just live on some random farm we inherited when we were little.

As I placed my hand on her shoulder for some sort of reassurance, the alarm I had set for the oven went off and I couldn't help but have a grin stretch across my face for its amazing timing. "Hey, let's eat first to help comprehend the possibly best decision we made in our life. I made lasagna!"

That seemed to help set her mood as she offered a gentle smile in return. We filed into the kitchen as Miso crawled out of my room to join us for supper.

.💧.

"What kind of farm do you think Poppy Droppy had? Maybe it was in the forest! Ooooh! Or maybe it was a hill? Oh, maybe it got overrun by slimes at night! Wouldn't that be awesome? Do you think he fought off the slimes and defended his crops and animals from his nighttime visitors? Omigosh, you don't think he had a farm made up of a lot of rivers and needed to use a boat to get from one part of the farm to the other, do you? That would be awesome!"

"It was probably just a standard farm, Dew."

"Awww… You're no fun! I know you can't remember it, Star! Which farm do you think he had?"

"… If he didn't have a standard, run of the mill farm… I'd say he'd have a hilltop farm, with a lot of places you can mine and get good ores from."

"Oh cool! That sounds awesome! I'm sure it'll be cool either way, I mean it's going to be our farm. Like how cool is that? How many people can claim that they inherited a farm from their grandpa and actually go to live on it? Well, I don't actually know how many people but I'm sure it's not that high or we'd hear about it more and stuff… Oh! I wonder what the town's going to be like! Are the people going to be nice? I mean, I sure hope so considering we're just outsiders suddenly coming in on their little parade of a perfect little community and omigosh what if we find our soulmate there? Do you think that would happen?"

I paused long enough for my sister to answer. We sat next to each other on the bus that was heading towards Stardew Valley. It was one of the many places it stopped around the surrounding areas of the city, but there currently wasn't a lot of people on our bus.

I watched Star shift in her seat, fixing the way she had her feet placed as her suitcase was taking up most of the space on the floor. I thought I saw a bit of blush rising on her face but she answered before I could call her out on it, "Don't get your hopes up, Dew. As you said, we are just suddenly coming into their lives. In small, close-knit communities they tend to look away from outsiders, even if our grandfather was one of them. They probably have their minds made up on who they like anyway…"

I pursed my lip but said nothing. Star had been in a relationship before – I hadn't. She understood the basics of dating by now so I had nothing else to really go on but her word.

"Ugh… That sucks…"

Star smiled, lightly elbowing me. "Hey, get your stuff together. Our stop is coming up."

My frown fell from my face, replaced with a smile. I gripped the top of my suitcase as I turned my attention to the passing scenery.

Cars passed us going the other way towards Zuzu City. I counted them as they went by, noting the colour of the cars and how much more vibrant they seemed out of the looming shadows of the city. I watched as the stray tree passed us from the side of the road – will there be this much green in the valley? The rolling mountains in the background – all painted with green – gave a good indication that it was, making my heart soar. I watched a stray bird dart into the bright blue sky between the sporadic trees, perhaps singing a lovely tune that I couldn't hear over the humming of the bus. In the distance just barely peaking over the horizon, I could see the golden hues of the desert I remember learning about when I was a kid. The scene of the simmering sands did not stay long as the bus slowed to a stop, waiting for a car to pass before it crossed over traffic and turned off the freeway onto a smaller lane.

I was nearly bouncing in my seat.

The smaller asphalt path we now travelled on wasn't as well kept as the main road. I jostled into Star who grunted with the next bump but overall it was a short road. We were quickly covered by a tunnel that stretched overhead and before long, we came out the other side. We went down the asphalt a little longer before pulling onto the gravel shoulder of the road, coming to a screeching halt in front of the bus stop.

"Well. This is it," Star exclaimed, standing up. I waited for her to pull her luggage out from under the seat before I stood up as well. "Pelican Town."

Nervousness filled me to the brim without warning as I meekly followed my sister off the bus. The bus driver grunted something of a farewell but I ignored him, putting my attention into my footing as I exited the bus.

The first thing I noticed was the crispness of the air. We were further into the mountains, although still in a valley, in comparison to Zuzu City. You could still feel the chill in the air that the receding winter offered, as it was technically still winter, but it wasn't cold enough for the need of a jacket. Spring didn't officially start until tomorrow, but Mayor Lewis rang us up saying that we could come a little early since the restoration finished sooner than expected.

I could hear birds chirping wildly in the distance. Something was banging rapidly against a tree – a woodpecker if I wasn't mistaken – echoing into my ears. The sun was so warm, vibrantly lighting up the green of the world around me. My eyes darted wildly around, trying to take in as much as I could of my new surroundings. I spotted an old bus parked to the left of us, out of the way on the gravel, but it was facing the wrong way.

I didn't pay much more attention to it as I noticed a woman dressed primarily in yellows and oranges who smiling at us, giving us a moment to take in the sight of new scenery.

"Hello!" she greeted.

Instinctively I fell in behind my sister who took the front. I felt my anxiety of people surface rapidly and I almost kicked myself mentally – the one thing I forgot about during my excitement was the fact I had to meet new people… something I wasn't very good at. There was something about having to talk to people I didn't really know other than my sister that just made me freeze up, as I was now.

"You must be Star and Dew, right?"

"Yes, that's correct. I'm Star, and this is my sister, Dew," Star confirmed, giving a small gesture towards me as I was mentioned. I did my best to offer a small wave.

The red-haired woman laughed, "Well, I'm Robin, the local carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me here to fetch you two and show you to your farm. He's there now, tidying things up for when you get there."

"Ah, yes. I remember Mayor Lewis mentioning that a carpenter fixed up the house for us."

Robin nodded, "That was me! Your farm's over this way, if you two would follow me."

The native townsfolk took the front with Star following close behind. I followed Star and her luggage, listening to the loud rumble of both suitcases roll against the dirt path. I forced myself to remain calm, storing away all the anxiety and telling myself that it'll be okay. Working on the farm will be fun; it'll reinvent our lives and we'll never be bored ever again.

I smiled, picking my pace up a bit.

Robin took a right from the bus station, and even from where I was, I could make out a large, flat area of what I assumed was the field. My assumptions proved to be correct when the path gave way to the farm that was promised to us.

Much like Star predicted originally, it was a standard farm by the looks of it, but I couldn't tell how large it truly was due to the forest that was growing on the land. Trees of all ages dotted the farm land, some blown over and some nothing more than stumps. Large boulders also made their home in places as well, blocking parts of the farm from being usable. Smaller stones and branches littered the ground, and in places where there wasn't anything obstructing the soil, weeds sprouted up plentiful and green.

I could feel Star tense at the scene. Surely, she was running through her mind how bad an idea this truly was after seeing the state of the farm. The amount of work that would require making this land usable once more was going to be a daunting task.

I, on the other hand, screamed. I was certain I startled both women as I dropped my suitcase and smiled widely.

"I love it! I love it, I love it, I love it! Omigosh look at this Star! This is our very own farm and it's all ours! I've never seen so many trees before, or so much green! Look how green it all is, Star! We don't have to worry about breathing bad air ever again I mean look how pretty it all is! Do you think we'll see wild animals here? I sure hope so I've never seen any wild animals except pigeons in the city but I don't think they'd be wild considering they're very tame. But look at how big this place is! We'll be the best farmers in the world and we'll have so many crops and oh! I want animals too! Can we have animals, Star? I want some cute cows, and little chickens and pigs and ducks and omigosh! Star! It's a butterfly! I've only ever seen them in books back in school but look how pretty it is, fluttering around! Though isn't it a little early to see butterflies? I mean I guess it is a little warmer this year and all, not that the snow's all melted but – "

"Well! I was wondering what that scream was, but it seems it's just someone enjoying herself!"

I paused mid sentence, my face flushing red as I turned towards the house I only just now noticed. A wooden house with a red roof stood before me; the small deck seemed rickety and had some holes in the planks. The house wasn't very big, but there was a sizable stash of firewood to the left of it. Standing in the doorway was an older man who smiled at us from under his brown cap. His grey moustache danced in the light breeze that flowed over us.

"You must be Star and Dew," he greeted us while holding a hand out.

Star immediately shook his hand. "I'm Star, I was the one who spoke to you on the phone. The one who was endlessly ranting is my sister, Dew," she said with a hint of a smile.

He laughed heartily, walking down so he was between me and my sister. He looked between us fondly before formally introducing himself, "Welcome to your new home! I'm Lewis, Mayor of Pelican Town."

"You know, the townsfolk are very anxious to meet you two. It's not every day that we get new people living here, let alone two young women. It's quite a big deal."

I could feel my face heat up with his every word.

He turned away from us and towards what was to be our new home.

"So… You're moving into your grandfather's old cottage…? It's a good house; just 'rustic'."

Robin snorted, "That's one way to put it! 'Crusty' might be a little more apt, though."

The woman laughed at the mayor's reaction. I felt myself moving towards Star during their exchange, feeling more comfortable with her next to me. I felt Star join in on their laughter, although it was much more tense than it should have been. I could only imagine that she was thinking about how bad the inside of our house was because of their light banter. The outside certainly left a lot to be desired…

"Oh, don't listen to her, girls. She's just trying to make you dissatisfied so that you buy one of her house upgrades," Lewis shot towards Robin.

The carpenter scoffed, her face heating up from embarrassment as she crossed her arms. Lewis laughed, turning his attention away from us and towards the farm instead.

He took a few steps towards the field, overlooking the land that used to be full of crops. "You know… this used to be a thriving farm; your grandfather took very well care of it. It was his pride and joy…"

He spoke with nostalgia in his voice, as if remembering a time when our grandfather was still alive. "He always hoped that it would grow to be something more… and he never had the heart to give this place up after your grandmother passed away."

Our grandmother very rarely came up in any conversation. She passed away before me and Star were born, but according to Dad, she loved our grandpa and their farm more than anything in the world.

"I… I think he'd be proud, seeing you two take the mantle. He spoke very fondly of you two when you were little, not that you would remember."

Lewis cleared his throat, seemingly getting emotional. He turned towards us with a small smile, although the nostalgia was still present in his eyes, "Ah, very well then. You must be tired from your long journey from the city. You ladies should get some rest. Tomorrow you ought to explore the town and introduce yourselves. I'm sure everyone would appreciate that."

Both my sister and I nodded in agreement, "Thank you Mayor Lewis, and you as well Robin. We'll get situated and drop around tomorrow," Star said.

Robin fell in by Lewis's side, offering a wave as a farewell. They began to walk away before Lewis stopped, exclaiming "Oh, I nearly forgot!"

The old man turned towards us, gesturing to the large bin just to the side of our house. "That there is your shipping bin. Place whatever you want to sell into it and I'll come by in the night to empty it."

"Thank you, Lewis. I'm sure we'll make good use of it," my sister assured him.

With that, Mayor Lewis and Robin left us to our own devices.

"Well, what do you think?" my sister asked after a long period of silence.

I grinned, the ease of being alone with Star again settling in fast. "Well, if anything from earlier is to be based off how I feel, I love it! Though, I'm sure you still have your doubts."

Star smiled wearily before turning towards the steps leading to our new home. "Let's get unpacked."

The door squeaked as Star pried it open. It was dark, but not unpleasantly so. A single window on the back wall allowed light into the house; the rays beamed down onto the dining table and chairs that we'd be using from now on. On it's left was a large floor television pushed into the corner of the open room and a small, run-down loveseat sat in front of it. A narrow door next to the loveseat opened into a small, unlit room that I assumed was the bathroom. On the right of the dining table there was a fireplace that hadn't been lit in a long time. Along the back wall, right of the fireplace, and stretching into the corner was what I guess could be called a kitchen. Below the 'kitchen' and bathroom respectfully were beds pressed into the remaining corners of the room, although the bed on the left had a dresser propped against the wall in between the frames of the bed and bathroom door.

I immediately threw myself onto the left bed, grinning at my sister who moved towards the right. She lifted her luggage onto her bed while I continued to laze on my own, enjoying the surprising softness of it. I noticed there was a window in the wall in front of me, allowing me to look up into the shockingly blue sky and the lazy white clouds that drifted across it.

"We should get unpacked… and I'm going to call our parents to let them know we're okay."

"Such a worrywart!" I stuck my tongue out, but I did lean over to open my suitcase.

We quickly learned we only had the one dresser for now, so I took the bottom drawer while Star took the top one. With the lack of suitable clothes we owned, it was easy to put everything we had in it. While Star was taking care of some other things, I went outside to see if I could close the green shutters of my window as there were no curtains for me to close. After a few minutes of struggling, I concluded that the shutters were stubbornly rusted together and no longer wanted to be shut. I walked back into the house, feeling defeated by my failed attempts only to see Star walking out of the bathroom with a frown of her own.

"There… doesn't seem to be a washer anywhere… I guess we'll have to wash and dry them by hand."

"Aw… I hate washing clothes as it is! … And the shutters on the window are seized shut."

Star pursed her lip, dutifully ignoring my comment about washing clothes, "Not much we can do about it right now I guess... We'll have to get you curtains later."

"I want blue ones!" I grinned.

I heard Star laugh, but she offered no further response as she walked over to the table. A black dial phone rested against the back wall, just under the window. Star picked up the receiver, quickly dialing our parent's number to give them a call while pulling out a chair to sit down. I took this as a sign to start cooking supper.

.💧.

I was rudely awoken from my slumber by Star's alarm clock going off. I heard her sigh, grumbling lightly as she slipped out of the warmth the beds provided to shut it off. She didn't return to bed, but my hazy mind failed to keep track of her as she moved around the room.

"Dew…?" she croaked out.

I moaned, burrowing my head deeper into the blankets. The sun was starting to peer through my window, shining directly onto my face. Clearly I didn't think this spot through...

"C'mon… We got to get our life together."

I would have laughed if I wasn't so tired; so much held onto her words although she said them so nonchalantly. We had to get our lives together on this farm or else we'll be out of money completely.

And I doubted the townspeople wanted to start a charity for us.

I slowly sat up, finding that Star had already made her way to put something on the woodstove for us to eat. I took this as permission to use the bathroom first; I quickly picked out something to wear from our shared dresser – a black dress that I thought would be cute and a pair of light black pants.

I reappeared from the bathroom shortly after dressing and washing myself up, my fingers threading through my freshly brushed hair. I rummaged through my drawer again, finding a brown belt to wrap around my waist for aesthetics while placing my nightwear on my bed.

"I made some eggs…" she sighed, dumping the food on two small plates for us to eat.

I stifled a giggle as she shuffled over to the table, still half asleep. Her brown hair was a mess everywhere; it was amusing to see my perfect sister in an imperfect state.

We ate our breakfast in silence, perhaps both wondering how the heck we're going to get this life started. We had no tools, no seeds, and no money. We didn't even have enough cleared farmland to use even if we didn't lack the tools.

"We're… going to have to buy some tools…" Star said after swallowing the last bite of her eggs. I looked up from playing with a bit of burnt egg from my plate. "I… We'll have to go into our savings and hope that we can make it back. We honestly can't afford to lose it."

The reality of it all suddenly came down onto my head. I could remember in the past Star talking about how fragile her plants could be, and even after all the TLC she could offer, they would sometimes just succumb to weakness. If that were to happen to our harvest, it could devastate us.

Despite these horrors, I put on a brave face and smiled. It seemed to comfort Star a bit, "Well… Where do we get them? There's gotta be someone in town that sells them, right? I mean, maybe Robin sells some at her shop?"

"We'll see… I'll go get dressed then we can assess the damage to the farm."

While Star went to get washed up, I took our plates and washed them in the sink. It wasn't long before she reappeared just as I was drying my hands.

We took one look at each other before laughter filled the small farmhouse.

"Why are you wearing that shirt?" I giggled.

"I… didn't realize you were wearing that dress…" she admitted.

Star stood before me wearing a shirt in the same style as my dress. It was black with short sleeves, and had four buttons in a square shape on the stomach. While what I wore was the full on dress that fell half-way down my thighs with leggings underneath, Star's shirt fell to her hips and she paired it with dark coloured splash pants instead.

"Is that my old art apron you're wearing?"

Around her waist was a green apron with three big pockets that I got when I was younger. I used it when I was drawing so I had somewhere to store my pencils and erasers, so I didn't forget where I put them. I hadn't used it much, as it was left forgotten in my closet until now.

"Yeah… Sorry, I thought it would be useful. I could take it off if you want...?"

"No, no no! You'll use it more than I ever will! We're committed! It was bound to happen!"

Star rolled her eyes playfully before they widen as she remembered something. "Oh yeah! Dew?"

I hummed in response, my eyes following her as she went digging in her drawer. Very quickly, she pulled out two small pieces of cloth – one white and one blue.

"Mom and Dad gave us these for the farm… it was all they could afford. They can be used to keep the sweat and dirt off our faces."

"I call dibs on blue!"

I snatched the blue kerchief from my sister, grinning wickedly as I folded the cloth into a triangle to wrap around my neck and tied it at the back. Star folded her cloth as well and tied it in a similar style as mine, but she tied the the knot at the front so the fabric could protect the back of her neck.

"Omigosh. This is even worse than when we had the same colour hair," I groaned, although the smile never left my lips.

"I'm sure people will be able to tell us apart."

With that, Star and myself worked to put on our shoes. Unfortunately, working for Joja meant we only really had dress shoes and not much for a farm. All we had to wear on our feet were an old pair of sneakers each, but they were bound to get messy really fast.

"Welp. I'm ready when you are, sis!"

My sister opened the door, filing out into the early morning sun.

The freshness of the air never ceased to amaze me as it hit me the second I walked out the door. I could hear birds chirping their song as the wind tickled the trees, creating a swaying lullaby. The sun reflected off stray puddles that the melted snow left behind.

"Oh, hold on… What's this?"

I turned towards Star who knelt, a wooden crate left near our door. On top was a note that read "Star and Dew", so obviously it was for us. I helped Star remove the cover, gasping when we looked at the contents inside.

Two extendable poles and the heads of different farm tools rested inside in pairs – one for each of us. A bag of seeds sat in one corner while a pair of red rain boots and a brown pair of steel toe boots sat in the other. On top of the boots were two small backpacks.

Ignoring all the equipment, Star opted to grab the note that was gingerly laid on top of everything.

She unfolded the three-folded letter, reading it out for the both of us.

"Good morning, girls!

I hope your rest wasn't too bad. It must be difficult to sleep in such a new environment.

Inside are some of your grandfather's old tools. He willed them to you just in case you both decided to take over his old farm; it took me a while to dig them out of storage!

I also bought some parsnip seeds for you girls to get started with, to get used to the tools and lifestyle. And there should be two rucksacks in here as well for you to use for on-hand storage.

I wish you good luck!

Best regards,

Lewis

P.S.: I noticed your shoes yesterday and thought that you could use better footwear. Sorry for the shape of them; they were the only thing I could find that would be suitable for farm work and fit your feet!"

"How sweet…" Star mused, taking the pair of red boots out.

I grunted at the weight of the steel-toed boots, but considering that Star was already changing out her footwear, I was stuck with these. Surprisingly, they weren't that hard to lace, nor did they seem that uncomfortable to wear once I stood up.

Star began to pull all the tool heads out of the box as she held one of the shafts, quickly discovering that all but the watering can could be screwed onto the top of the shaft and acted as interchangeable heads. I watched in awe before she started dumping half of said tools into my arms, causing me to cry out. The other half she placed into her own rucksack.

"We've got to get a move on, Dew," Star explained, lifting her rucksack over her shoulder. She attached the sickle-head to the extendable shaft and locked it in the extended position. With her sickle in one hand, she looked out into the mess we called a farm. "This is real. This is our job. Whether we're good at it or not… we'll find that out soon enough, I guess."

I nodded, dumping all my tools to the ground in favour of putting the rucksack onto my shoulders. I put some tools away, keeping my sickle-head to screw onto the pole so I could begin cutting the weeds down so we could actually see the soil.

"Let's only clear a small area for now… We don't want to waste too much energy just trying to clear the field."

With that, we went to work. Time seemed to pass much quicker when we were doing physical labour than desk work. Surprisingly, chopping down trees and destroying the stumps wasn't as hard as I thought it was... especially since there was two of us to murder them. We quickly realized though that with our weak axes, we couldn't cut all the trees as some piney ones remained. That was the same for the many boulders on the property as well... although they were muchtougher to destroy. Within an hour, we only had a small corner of the field clear, just enough room for the parsnip seeds that the mayor gave us to grow, but to be fair I was glad it was over.

"So… how do we plant them? Do we just throw them on the ground?"

"No, Dew. You need to till the soil."

"Till?"

"Yes… We need to till the soil in order to loosen the dirt so the seeds will have a chance to take. Here, let me show you."

Star switched out her pickaxe-head for her hoe-head, digging it into the ground once she attached it. I watched carefully, although I couldn't help but wonder where she learned this. My sister seemed to struggle with the tool as she upturned the dry soil to reveal the moist earth underneath. As she wiped the sweat from her brow, she stood up straight with a smile on her face as I stared back with a blank look. It wasn't pretty – clearly not professional – but Star left a small square of tilled soil. With a second's hesitation, I reached into my rucksack to replace the head of my pickaxe to the hoe as well, following her lead. Unfortunately for me, Star somehow made tilling the earth easier than it actually was, so by the time we had only about fifteen separate squares we were doubled over with our hands on our knees. Complaints about our stiffening backs and dead arms helped break up the heavy breaths we sucked in.

"We are so going to be sore tomorrow…" I groaned.

Star recovered sooner than I did, and chose to not comment on my unfortunately true words, "C'mon. We have to plant them now." Her voice strained as she tried to keep her breaths even, "Each pack contains a few seeds, to up the chances of at least one of them taking to the soil. Open the bag, put all of the seeds in on square, then cover them up again. Then open the next bag and move onto the next square."

Star entrusted me with a bag of seeds as I stood straight, although it came with a wince. By the time I recomposed myself, Star already had two bags of seeds opened, planted, and covered by the soil we had just nearly killed ourselves over disturbing. I narrowed my eyes, gripping my single packet with gusto as I savagely began to tear into the tiny paper bag… except it clearly didn't open as easily as it did with Star. I thought it was going to rip easily – you know how you can open a bag of chips from the top or bottom? I thought it'd be like that, but clearly it didn't. I tried biting the bag with my teeth but even that failed to yield any results. Star was moving onto bag seven now, and I hadn't been able to get this first packet open.

"Oh come on you silly little bag! I know you don't want to be planted but it sucks to be you because me and Star really need to plant you so we can sell you and make money! I swear, it's not as bad as it seems! You'll have a nice home in the dirt for a few days and we'll water you every day and take care of you and when you're ready we'll harvest you!"

"Dew… You're doing it wrong. You're trying to open it from the bottom. Do it from the top."

"I tried that. It didn't work! … Oh. I have an idea."

"Dew no. Let me just open it for you."

I ignored her voice as I had many times before when I thought I had an idea. Looking back at my track record, though, I should probably listen to her one day… Either way, I reached into my rucksack for the sickle-head to replace the hoe attachment, having the intention of using it to slice open the packet. I caught on side of the bag with the curved point and began tugging, ignoring Star's look of disappointment.

Clearly, my plan worked all too well because the bag sliced open too easily and the in wrong way. The seeds exploded from the packet all over myself as well as the untilled ground. My eyes widened as laughter spilled from my lips.

"Star! Did you see that –"

The look on her face stopped my joyous laughter in its tracks. Her features were twisted somewhere between being horrified, angry, and absolute disbelief. It made me curl in on myself as my name fell from her lips in her angered frustration.

"Why didn't you just let me open it, Dew?!"

"I…" What could I say? I didn't see anything wrong with some spilled seeds, but it greatly upset Star which made me feel horrible about it.

Star looked like she was about to say more – her mouth hung open as she drew in a large breath. With a second thought, she rubbed her face dramatically, exhaling the breath she drew uneasily. I felt my guilt doubling at the fact that she wasn't even going to scold me… It's not like I meant to spill the seeds… I was only trying to help her without bothering her too much.

"How about… you go around town and introduce yourself. Find out if there's anywhere nearby we can buy seeds when we make a bit of money. I'll just… finish up here and find you after."

"Oh… Okay…"

I couldn't leave with the tension so tight in the air between us. The sun beat on my back as I stood there unmoving as my sister got to her knees to collect as many of the wasted seeds as possible. I moved to step over one of the patches of tilled earth that were still void of seeds, careful not to move much before wiping myself down. A few seeds fell from the wrinkles of my fabric onto the moist soil. Star stood up, her boots scraping against the ground as she took her cupped hands and gently shook the seeds from them, scattering them around on the same patch.

My eyes caught hers briefly before I felt a smile stretch across my lips. "I… I bet I can meet all the villagers before you will."

A questioning smile and a raised eyebrow greeted me, "Oh yeah?"

I hummed, "Mmhmm! While you're stuck here doing whatever you're doing, I'll be the one greeting all our new neighbours! They'll know the name Dew before they know the name Star!"

This caused Star to laugh, the tension slowly unwinding rather than being cut violently. I smiled to myself, knowing that I had already made amends with her. "Well, you better get a move on! Before you know it, I'll be meeting more people than you!"

I snickered, giving her more of a mischievous grin before skipping off the farm, just briefly looking over my shoulder to see my sister watching as she shook her head. A laugh fell from my lips as I followed the path that led to the main part of the tiny hamlet called Pelican Town.

Amaranthyn: Hello. It is I, Amarathyn, the author of this... "amazing" chapter with the lovely Dew as the narrator.

TheEmberWoods: I certainly enjoyed reading it, I can tell you that much! Our dear Amaranthyn did a wonderful job leading us into the way this Co-Written story is going to play out, as well as giving those reading the first taste of the alternating writing styles!

Amaranthyn: Mmhm! So we've learned more on how the girls interact between themselves, as well as the environment around them. We got Dew who's more hyper than a kid on a sugar rush and Star who's like... meh.

TheEmberWoods: Yup! We also got the first glimpse of some Pelican Town inhabitants – Lewis and Robin!

Amaranthyn: Ah yes. The Wild Lewis and Robin in their natural habitat. Here, we have an incredible find as the Robin is territorial, and has quite the temperament when set off, in contrast to the shyer Lewis who would rather just stay home (with Marnie.)

TheEmberWoods: Thank you for delving into the wild territory to get the REAL story, Amaranthyn. Where would we be without your level of reporting?
...Truly, where WOULD we be?
...Probably somewhere far better than here.

Amaranthyn: WOW. Just WOW. Okay, I see how it is.

Please keep your hands, knees and sarcasm inside the cart at all times as we investigate Dew's terrible social anxiety.

If you would look to your right, you can see how outgoing she is when in her presence of her sister. On the left coming up, you'll find our experts scratching their heads, wondering how she could have such crippling social anxiety elsewhere.

TheEmberWoods: Can I get a refund?

Amaranthyn: I'm sorry, but here at Joja Corporation, it is against our policy to issue refunds to dissatisfied customers as there should be no reason for your dissatisfaction. Thank you for your cooperation, and enjoy your day.

Service fee for call: 250G.

TheEmberWoods: WHat-?! I-! Oh dang it, she hung up...

I miss Brad. The real hero of Joja. The silent hero of Joja.

Anyway, in the next chapter I'll be picking up where Amaranthyn left off, and we'll see Star finish up on the farm before heading out to greet the rest of Pelican Town! ;3

Amaranthyn: And maybe perhaps she'll meet some eligible bachelors – or bachelorettes!