Saturday, 6th of Spring

Alma opened her eyes and saw she was by herself in the twin-size bed. She could still feel his kiss on her lips. She lay in bed for a minute, trying to go back to sleep. She wanted to be with him again. But she knew it wasn't happening. She got out of bed and put on her overalls, still soggy from the day before.

She watered her crops, and she even made a little scarecrow for her little growing garden. She thought it looked bad enough that it would scare anything off! She took out her journal and crossed that off the list.

Her focus today would be getting rid of some of the rocks around the farm. She knew her tools wouldn't be strong enough to break up some of the bigger boulders, but maybe she could at least make the ground a little more even and good for planting. Plus, she thought, the stone would be valuable material for making other things later.

As she was working, Alma saw something unusual poking out of the soil. It looked almost like roots wiggling above the ground. Surely she would've seen them before? When she dug it up with her hoe, she was amazed: under the soil was an old book! She tried turning through the pages, but it was hard to read through the caked-on soil. She knew there was a library in town in the same building as the museum, so maybe she could take it there. For now, she put it on her porch.

And again, as she continued around the farm, she found another strange spot. She got her hoe and dug at it again, and this time, it was some rice shoots! "Can I plant these?!" she wondered, and she looked toward the small pond close to her cabin. For now, she put them in her bag and kept breaking up rocks.

It didn't take too much longer before Alma started to feel pretty tired. She had covered about half the farm, and though she was hoping to do more, she didn't think she could go on much longer. She thought maybe she should go into town soon, but first, she wanted to use the last bit of energy to plant and water the rice shoots. She went over, tilled some soil next to the pond, and planted them. "Y'know," she said, pulling her bag off and looking inside, "I bet I could use some of this sap to fertilize the soil." She rubbed the thick sap in her hands until it clumped together into little pellets, then she sprinkled that on the shoots. "We'll see if that does anything." She put all of her stone and other materials in her chests, cleaned herself up, and made her way across town to the library.

Alma went inside the quiet building and heard the echo of the door closing. Mayor Lewis was there, chatting with the man behind the front desk, but they stopped when Alma carefully came toward them. "Hello there!" the man said, tipping his blue cowboy hat. "Welcome to the Stardew Valley Archeological Office!"

"Most of us just call it the library," Lewis snickered, and the man gave him a side eye. "This is Alma, the new farmer who's taken up residence at Paradise Farm on the west side of town."

"Ah yes! Good land out there. I'm Gunther, the museum curator, chief librarian, and head of archeological research in the area." He placed his hat on his chest with one hand and extended his other. When Alma reached for it, she was surprised when he lifted it up for a kiss. It seemed obvious he was an eccentric man with a love for traditions of the past, including chivalry.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Alma answered.

"You're looking quite chipper, Alma," Mayor Lewis noted. "Things must be going well on the farm! Or maybe it's just the weekend glow. Everyone seems a little happier on the weekends, don't you think? I'm on the job seven days a week, though."

"I'm just happy to see the library. I love libraries, and I would very much like to see the museum collection too. Maybe I can learn about some of the history of Stardew Valley."

Gunther and Lewis exchanged glances. "This is embarrassing," Gunther answered, clearing his throat and putting his hat back on his head, "but, uh ... the previous curator made off with the entire collection."

"Oh!"

He nodded and shrugged. "We don't have any artifacts for display."

"That's awful! How does that even happen?"

"He was a charlatan," Lewis hissed. "Swindled us out of valuable assets that brought in a lot of tourism to the town. It was shortly after that when JojaMart moved in. The town hasn't been the same since."

"But," Gunther added, nearly interrupting, "I'm hoping to remedy that soon."

"How?" Lewis asked, almost accusingly. "The man is still a wanted criminal!"

"No no, I mean the collection." Lewis furrowed his brow and huffed. Alma looked at Gunther curiously, wondering how he was going to replace a museum's worth of artifacts. He shifted his glance between the two of them and nervously chuckled, stroking his goatee. "This has been, uh, a difficult position to take over. I do my best, but I rely on the townsfolk for their findings too. I know you're new here, but, hey, if you find any artifacts or minerals out there … would you let me know?"

"Well, as it turns out," she said, lifting her bag. She took out the old book and tried wiping off the dirt before handing it over. "I found this on my farm just this morning and thought maybe you might want to have it."

Gunther adjusted his blue-tinted glasses, pulled up his gloves, and carefully handled the old book. "Ah, yes, one of the lost books. I can get this cleaned up and put back on the shelves, actually." He looked up at Alma and smiled at her above his tinted glasses. "Thank you, Ms. … Alma, was it?"

"Yes sir."

Gunther took the book and placed it behind his desk, saying, "A name with a debated etymology."

"Oh, here we go," Lewis mumbled under his breath.

"Most people believe it's Latin almus for 'mother' - "

"I'm going into town," Lewis said over him.

" - but it could be from the Greek almi for 'salt water' - "

"I'll see you, Gunther."

" - or maybe from the Hebrew alma - " Gunther continued with a wave to Lewis.

"Bye, Mayor Lewis," Alma answered as he headed for the door.

" - which was a term for a young maiden and thus became a popular name among girls, even found in Genesis."

"It was also in Spenser's The Faerie Queene and gained a lot of popularity after the Battle of Alma near the Alma River in Crimea. It means 'soul' in Spanish, 'on the water' in Arabic, and 'apple' in many languages too."

"That it does," he answered, impressed by her knowledge. "Yes, 'Alma' appears simple on the surface … but is actually quite complex." He flashed her a smile, as if he knew something she didn't. "Anyway, Ms. Alma, your addition is a great help."

She nodded with a smile. "I'll be happy to provide more if I find them."

"I'm sure you will. Lost books are all over Pelican Town, unfortunately. And there's a lot of rich history here, so I'm sure you'll find many artifacts for me to study."

Alma looked over to the tall bookshelves. "Do you mind if I peruse the books?"

"Of course! That's why it's here. Make yourself at home."

She placed her bag by the desk and made her way to the bookshelves. She began glancing through titles and was automatically drawn to one: Tips on Farming. She pulled the book and sifted through its pages, finding very useful information. She got so absorbed in it that she jumped when she heard, "Good afternoo - " It was Dr. Harvey, and Alma's scare made him jump too. He dropped the heavy medical book in his hands, and its thud echoed throughout the building. "I - I'm so sorry!"

"No no, it's okay," she gasped, and she picked up his book for him. "I was just so interested in - " She turned the book over to show him the cover and laughed. "Well, it's interesting to me anyway."

"And yet again we spook each other easily. I'm sorry again."

"Really, it's okay. Give me any book, and I get pretty absorbed. Do you have the day off today?"

"Oh, no, I'm never really off, am I? Even though the clinic is closed on Saturdays, I do research and catch up on medical news. But it's a beautiful day, isn't it? I wish I had less work to do, but at least I can have a nice walk through town and a change of scenery."

"Yes, it's nice to know there's a library here. I quite like reading."

"Yeah? And what do you most enjoy?"

"I actually tend to gravitate towards the classic European literature you read in school. Greek mythology, Beowulf, King Arthur, Don Quixote - that kind of thing." She drummed her fingers on the book. "Now you know I'm a whole other flavor of nerd."

"'Nerd' is often used in such a derogatory way," Dr. Harvey said with unusual resolve, "whereas I think it means more … someone who has an intense passion in a certain subject that may not be for everybody. And there's no shame in that." Alma nodded slowly and smirked. "Though I think you'll be hard-pressed to find something like Beowulf in Pelican Town. This is more of a … local collection."

"Well, this is the kind of stuff I need anyway," she said, lifting the book in her hands again. "Beowulf won't tell me how to live on a farm."

"I guess not." Dr. Harvey smacked his lips and said, "I've kept you long enough. I should leave you to your book. Have a good evening."

"Bye, Doctor," and she watched him put his book on the book cart and leave.

CW: death by brute force

Alma stepped out on the farm and was surprised to see that quite a bit of the grass she had cut was now back, taller than it was before. She took her scythe out of her bag and started hacking away at it, making her way through the farm. But as soon as she would cut it, the grass would grow back even taller. She thought if she worked faster and with more force, maybe that would make the grass go away permanently, but it always grew back. She went deeper and deeper into the grass, and soon, she started to feel disoriented. She turned back and didn't know which direction she had come from. She couldn't see the cabin. The grass was so tall now that she could barely even see the sky! It was a canopy above her, with a bit of sunlight poking through. She finally admitted to herself she was lost. "Hello?" she called, knowing it was probably in vain. "Is anyone there? I need some help!"

She thought she heard some rustling and turned toward it. "Is someone there?" The sound grew louder as it approached closer, and she could now hear the sound of thundering footsteps. "Please! I need help!" She started to hear a low groan, almost like a growl, and she now understood that whatever this thing was, it was not here to help her. She held her scythe like a weapon, clenching her hands around the handle. As the footsteps became closer, she could feel the ground rumble beneath her feet and could see the grass moving above her too. Whatever this was, it was giant. It moved closer, and she could hear breathing. And finally, she saw it: a large human-like creature, and she knew immediately - "Grendel!"

Alma turned and ran through the grass, and she could hear that the monster was beginning to run too. She knew in her heart she couldn't outrun it, but she tried as hard as she could. Within moments, he had her in his grasp, his large hand wrapped around her calf, and he lifted her up in the air. She swung her scythe at him but could never reach. And then he threw her above his head and smacked her to the ground, splitting her skull open.