Tuesday, 2nd of Spring
The rooster crowed from Marnie's farm to the south, and Alma woke up, her body still tense from arguing with Philly. She tried to move and was struck with the realization of muscle soreness … pretty much everywhere. "Suck it up, Alma," she thought, changing into her dirtied overalls, "you've got work to do." When she opened the door and squinted in the bright morning sunlight, she was happy to see the shoots of parsnips coming through the dirt! She gasped and crouched down to get a better look. It was the first time she had ever tried to plant something, and it was working! She was already very proud of herself. She thought she probably needed to water them again; the soil looked a bit dry. So she got her watering can, filled it up at the small pond, and watered the baby parsnips. "There you go, little guys, drink up."
She stood back up and took a moment to form a plan of action for the day: clear out as much grass as possible, chop down some more trees to have wood for supplies and to clear out more space, and maybe break apart some more rocks too. "Wait a minute - what's that?" She squinted and blocked the sun with her hands, and she saw some thicker greens on the ground by a tree. They seemed out of place somehow. Alma went closer and saw a bit of thick, brown root peeking out from underneath. Some sort of weed? She pulled it up and could smell a strong mustardy scent. "Huh. I'll figure out what it is later," she thought, and she stuffed it in her bag and started chopping down that tree.
At one point in the morning, when she hit a stone with her pickaxe, she heard a sound like she had hit something. It puzzled her at first, but when she struck it again, a geode fell out! "Oh!" Alma exclaimed. She held it up to the sun and could see the minerals glimmering in the sunlight. "I bet the blacksmith could break this open for me," she thought aloud. For now, she put it in her bag and kept working.
After a few hours of work clearing out more of the farmable land, she found herself again too exhausted to do much else. She looked at the pile of foraged goods, geodes, and materials she had gathered and was quite proud of herself … if she knew what it all was. A couple flowers, the strong-scented rooted greens, something she thought were probably onions, and a few mushrooms. Maybe some of this was worth something; she desperately needed the money. She knew she could either sell through the shopping bin or at Pierre's market, and she thought maybe selling through Pierre would be good for her and him. And she could go to Clint's shop and have him break open the geode too. She looked at the time; Clint had already closed, but maybe she could still make it to Pierre. So she decided to clean herself off a bit and see what she could do.
When Alma made her way into town, she passed by the clinic to go to Pierre's store, and she wondered if Dr. Harvey might be in. He seemed like a pleasant person to talk to, and she was a bit curious to see the inside of the clinic. She didn't have much of a reason to go in … but before she could think of something, she found herself turning around and pulling open the clinic door. Dr. Harvey was sitting at the front desk, talking to Robin and Demetrius's daughter. Alma couldn't recall her name right away, but she saw from her uniform that she must have worked here as a nurse. "Ms. Alma! Can I do anything for you?" the doctor greeted.
"Oh, no, I, uh … I was just on my way to the general store with these things, and I thought I'd … pop in and say hello since you're on the way," she chuckled.
Dr. Harvey sighed with relief. "I'm glad you're all right. Whenever I see someone come through the doors, I automatically wonder what might be wrong."
"Sorry if I gave you a scare. It seems like we're good at that."
He laughed. "No, It's nice to have visitors. It doesn't happen often."
"I'll see you on Thursday, Dr. Harvey," the nurse said, heading toward the door.
He smiled and nodded, giving her a small wave. "Yes, Maru, have a good night."
"It's good to see you again," she said to Alma as she pushed the door open. "Stop by our house when you need to upgrade your buildings. It's always nice to have visitors."
"Thank you, I'll remember that. Goodbye!"
The door closed, and Dr. Harvey looked at Alma's bag of plants. "So, what do you - do you have for Pierre?"
"Well, honestly," she chuckled with a bit of embarrassment, "I'm not sure. I thought maybe he could tell me. I'm so new to all this that I don't even know what's weeds and what's not." Alma put the bag on the counter and asked, "Do you happen to know what any of this is? Is any of it sellable?"
He picked through the plants and answered after a moment, "Yes, actually. These flowers here are daffodils. They're mostly decorative, but they make good gifts. And these dandelions aren't the prettiest flower, but there are some cultures that make a dandelion tea that's good for several medicinal purposes."
"Really?"
"Yes, for inflammation, circulation - many things! People around here tend to like them too because the leaves make a good salad."
"Wow, you know a lot!"
"No, no, just a bit. Oh, but I do know for a fact Mr. Mullner really loves eating leeks like this one."
"Is that so? I feel like I'll need something up my sleeve to get on his good side."
Dr. Harvey nodded with a look that seemed to know all too well what she meant about Mr. Mullner's demeanor. "This is horseradish, which, again, has many medicinal properties. And it looks like you've got a couple of good mushrooms too. So, yes, I think Pierre should give you a fair price for what you've got."
"Okay, great! Thank you." He helped her put everything back in her bag. She thought about her journal. "Is there anything here you could use? Maybe some of that horseradish?"
"Oh, it's okay, Alma, you don't need to do that. You said you want to sell them - you should do that to help you get on your feet."
"Well, you helped me. And it's not a problem - I've only scratched the surface of what's growing there, so I'm sure I'll find a lot more as I keep clearing things out. Here," and she dusted the dirt off of some of the horseradish and handed it to him.
Dr. Harvey hesitated and then accepted it. "That's such a nice gift. Thank you." He looked up at the clock on the wall and said, "Oh, it's nearly five. You'd better get to Pierre before he closes up. And he's closed on Wednesdays, so - "
"Oh, yes, you're right," she quickly threw the bag over her shoulder and started for the door, saying, "Thank you again!"
"Take care," he said with a wave.
Alma rushed out of the clinic and into Pierre's shop right as he was starting to clean things up. "It's Farmer Alma! Welcome!" he laughed. "And what's this? You have something for me?"
"Yes, I think you can buy some of these things, right? And maybe I can get some more seeds?"
"Sounds like a deal. If you're looking for seeds, you've come to the right place! Let's take a look at what you've got." Pierre was able to give her a few hundred gold for her forageables, and she bought some tulip and blue jazz bulbs and potatoes.
As she exited the store, Alma took out her journal and checked off her note to give a gift. And when she returned to Paradise Farm, she tilled some more ground to make room for her new plants. As she finished watering them, she felt this heaviness on her, like her body could no longer move on. "Oh man," she moaned, wiping her forehead. She managed to water one more plant, and then she dropped her watering can and practically crawled into her house. She went straight to bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Just then, an older gentleman came out from the front door. He had gray hair and a mustache, but his eyes looked young and excited to see the two of them standing there. "Ah, the new farmer!" He trotted down the creaky steps and shook Alma's hand with both of his. "Welcome, welcome! I'm Lewis, Mayor of Pelican Town. We spoke on the phone earlier."
"Yes, it's so nice to finally meet you in person, Mayor Lewis."
He looked her over and scowled a bit. "Are you sure you're going to be able to do this work, Ms. Alma? Farming is quite demanding."
"Well, I know I'm not experienced, but I am a fast learner. And I'm anxious to do well, so I think I've got that positive energy working for me."
"It's going to take more than excited energy and positivity to build up a farm," Robin said with a scoff. "Maybe it was best to leave you in the city."
Alma was a bit taken aback by these comments. "I, uh, I'm sure it will work out."
"Or you won't be able to make any food or money, and then you'll starve to death - "
" - Alone," Robin added.
"Mm, yes. Can't forget that. We are quite secluded here, and remember, you don't know anyone. We all know each other, and we have you surrounded."
"Well, I, uh - "
"You know what, I think I'm just gonna take you back to the bus stop," Robin said, grabbing her arm.
Lewis took her other arm. "Yes, I think this is best for you - and for us too."
"Wait, please, I - Give me a chance at least!"
Their grip tightened on her arms, and they started to lift her up into the air. "No, we're in control here," Mayor Lewis said. "We've made the final decision."
Robin and Mayor Lewis grew bigger, and Alma shrunk smaller. "You're better off with the city folk. They've got more resources there to help people like you out." Their strides were covering more ground, and they reached the bus stop rather quickly.
"People like me? Who are people like me?!"
Lewis and Robin let her go, throwing her onto the bus. "You'll see!" Mayor Lewis called. She crawled up the steps and saw sickly-looking men on the bus, some wrapped in straight jackets or handcuffs. As soon as they saw her, they descended on her, their teeth sharpened for flesh.