Friday, 12th of Spring
Alma knew these stress dreams were triggered by her emotions yesterday - by her flip-flopping on how she felt about Dr. Harvey. She knew she was just feeling sorry for herself-and then silly for feeling sorry - and then sorry for feeling silly - and just overall angry about all of it. "Ugh," she moaned, falling back down into the bed. She looked out the window. The sun was shining, and the world was still spinning. She needed to get up. She started thinking through all the things that needed to be done: the crops, the seeds, the fish, the mines, and Robin's ax too.
She stepped outside and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Clint standing there on her steps. "Holy - Clint!"
"Uh … hi there. Good morning."
"To what do I owe this … early morning pleasure?"
"I noticed that you've been breaking some rocks open and finding ore. That's good!"
"Oh, you mean from the geodes yesterday?"
He nodded. "If you want to get the most out of the ores you find, you'll need a furnace." He reached into his apron. "Just so happens I had an extra set of blueprints lying around. Here," he said, handing the roll to her, "I want you to have them. They'll teach you how to build a furnace yourself."
"Thank you, Clint, that's very sweet of you to think of me, but I don't know if I can build a furnace. I could barely make wooden chests or a scarecrow!"
"Just follow the instructions. It shouldn't be hard." He pointed to the blueprints, saying, "The furnace allows you to smelt metal bars. The bars can be used for crafting, construction, and tool upgrades. When you've smelted a few copper bars, consider having me upgrade your tools. It can make your work a lot easier."
"Will upgraded tools help me break up some of these bigger logs and boulders on the farm?" she asked, indicating some of them.
He looked where she pointed, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Yes, they should do the job. Get some bars smelted, bring them to me, and I'll help you take care of it." He turned back to her and waved. "Well, okay. I'm heading home. Take it easy."
"Okay, Clint, thank you again!" She waved the blueprint at him and watched him go back toward town, and when she looked in that direction, she noticed she had some mail in the mailbox. It was a letter from Mayor Lewis, letting her know about the Egg Festival tomorrow. It would be fun to see how Pelican Town celebrated holidays. She had never really celebrated the Egg Festival, so she was excited for that. She took out her notebook and made a note to make a furnace, then she looked out at the crops. Nothing was ready to harvest, but everything was growing right along. There were enough crops now that it exhausted her energy just to water them all - and fill Bisclavret's bowl. She did a quick walkthrough of the farm and found a few things she could sell to Pierre, so she headed that way.
When she entered the store, she tried to ignore that Dr. Harvey was there. But when she came in, he still smiled and greeted her. "Good afternoon, Ms. Alma."
"Good afternoon, Dr. Harvey."
"Are you selling any produce that I – I might be able to buy again today? This stuff can definitely be incorporated into a healthy diet."
"Yes, you've said that before," she answered. She walked up to the counter and opened her bag, speaking over her shoulder. "No, no produce today – unless you like acorns and maple seeds." She looked up and saw that Abigail was there too, standing by the counter. She smiled at Alma, and Alma smiled back.
"Hi there. Is your farm doing well?" Pierre asked. "Maybe a few seeds will spruce things up."
"No, I think I'm okay, thank you, Pierre. The crops just need time." In the bottom of the bag, she did have a daffodil. "Here, Doctor," she said, trying not to think too much about it. "It's not to eat, but maybe it will liven up your apartment."
Dr. Harvey accepted it. "That's such a nice gift. Thank you!" Alma nodded with a little smile.
"Are you excited about your first Egg Festival tomorrow, Alma?" Pierre asked.
"I guess so, though I don't know much of what to expect, if I'm honest. Mayor Lewis mentioned there will be an egg hunt?"
"Oh, that's the best part!" Abigail chimed in.
"Abigail loves the Egg Festival," Pierre laughed. "I personally think the festival should just be for the kids, but what do I know?"
Abigail pursed her lips and gave him a sideways glance. "As long as you have fun, who cares how old you are?" she said. Then she looked at Alma with a serious glance. "I'm definitely going to enter the egg hunt tomorrow. Are you?"
Alma smiled. "Yeah, sure. I don't see why not." This made Abigail grin. "How about you, Dr. Harvey? Will you be competing in the egg hunt tomorrow?"
Dr. Harvey laughed. "I'm afraid with my poor eyesight, egg hunts aren't my forte."
"That's a shame," Alma said, "because I'd love to see Abigail beat you!" They all laughed, and Alma headed out. "Thank you, Pierre. See you all tomorrow morning!"
"Bye, Alma!" Abigail called.
Alma left and headed toward the beach. On the pier close to the shop, she saw Elliott looking out over the water. "Hi, Elliott," she said. "Finding your muse?"
"Something like that," he sighed. "You know, I saw that Pierre had fresh parsnips in the shop the other day! He said it was locally grown by our newest farmer."
Alma gasped. "Did you get one?"
He gave a chef's kiss. "Marvelous. It smelled just perfect … and firm too!"
"Oh, I'm glad to hear you liked it so much! Thank you!"
"Thank you! I look forward to more of your delicacies in the future."
"I'm selling produce just about every day, so, yes, keep your eyes peeled! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go speak to Willy."
"Of course. Have a good day, Alma!"
She waved goodbye and continued walking to Willy's shop. "Good afternoon, sir."
"Good afternoon, lass. What can I do for ye?"
"I wondered if you could help me with something." She pulled out the notes from the community center's fish tank. "Can you help me know where I can catch these fish?"
He rolled out the paper on the counter, looking closely at it. "Hm … Some fish come and go with the seasons. Others only come out at night or in the rain."
"So which ones could I get now, in the springtime?"
"Sunfish, catfish, and shad are all in the river, though catfish and shad only show up in the rain. Bream are in the river too, but only after the sun goes down. Bass, carp, and bullhead are all in the mountain lake this time of year. The only one of these ocean fish you're gonna find now is the sardine. Those are pretty easy. Ah, but eel are in the ocean too, when it's raining, starting in the afternoon. These here," he said, pointing to the crab pot bundle, "can all be caught in crab pots. Some can be found lying on the beach too. And these," he said with a chuckle, tapping his pipe on the specialty fish bundle, "these will be a trick. You can get a bunch of these this time of year, but you've got to get into the mines, desert, and secret woods. That can be a bit hard, miss."
"You've been hugely helpful, Willy, thank you," she said, folding up her paper again.
"Any time, miss." He watched her as she put the paper in her pocket. "What, eh, are you catchin' all of those for?"
Alma froze for a second. What should she say? "It's just for helping someone in town," she answered quickly with a smile. "Thanks again!" She then left the shop to try to stifle any more questions.
When she stepped outside, she thought maybe she could try doing some of the fishing now, but she felt quite tired. She didn't think she'd be able to do much. "Another day," she told herself. She took out her journal to see if there was anything she could do with the rest of her day. "Robin's ax," she read. She thought maybe if she explored some before it got dark, she could find it. It wouldn't take much energy, as long as she made sure not to pull out any of her tools. "It can't be too difficult," she told herself, starting to head up into town.
She decided to go first into the forest, as that made the most sense to her; if Robin lost her ax, she probably did so while out gathering wood. She made her rounds in the forest but didn't find anything. But as she was rounding the forest lake, she did see something unusual: a traveling merchant, with a cart being pulled by a giant pig! The woman waved to her. "Come, come, girl! Come see what I have for you to buy! I know I'll have something you want!"
Alma was suspicious but took a look at what she was selling. A lot of it was outrageously expensive! Four hundred gold for fertilizer that she could make at home? "No thank you," Alma said.
"No problem, dear," the woman said. "I'll be back on Sunday. You come see me then." Alma slowly stepped away and kept searching for Robin's ax. As she went, she did find some horseradish, and as she entered the Cindersap Forest, she also found more spring onion. It was starting to get dark, but she did see something that looked a bit unusual … And there it was! Robin's ax! "An easy 250 gold!" she shouted. She rushed back into town, hoping Robin and Demetrius might still be at the saloon. As she approached, she saw them both just coming out. "Robin!" she called.
They both turned around, and Alma showed her the ax. Robin smiled and came toward her. "Hey, you found my ax!"
"Yes, here you go! It was in the Cindersap Forest."
Robin rolled her eyes and slapped her face with her palm. "That makes so much sense. I was just there the other day and stayed a bit too late. I must have dropped it in the dark. What a relief," she said, looking down at the ax. "I almost chopped my toe off with the other one I was using." Alma wasn't sure whether to laugh or be terrified. "Thank you, Alma, thank you!" She handed her the money.
"No problem. Have a good night!" They walked back toward their house, and Alma took out her journal. "Another job – done." And she too headed back home for sleep.
CW: dismemberment
Alma took her fishing pole down to the beach to see if she could catch some of the ocean fish that Willy mentioned. She felt a bit nervous about fishing, but she knew she wouldn't get any better if she never practiced. So she cast her line and waited for a bite. Waiting wasn't so bad; it gave her a chance to sit and enjoy the seashore. She watched the waves move in and out, and she loved how the clouds moved so slowly over the horizon. The sky looked so big, and she felt so small, in the best way. Sometimes, that was the feeling she loved the most – to be insignificant in the midst of the beautiful order of the universe.
She started to feel a pull, and she turned her attention back to her fishing pole. "Okay, this is it, Alma," she told herself, starting to reel the fish in. She would pull it in, and give it some slack, and pull pull pull … and wait. She knew it was a dance of sorts between her and the fish, and patience was key. But soon, the fish started pulling more – significantly more. She couldn't seem to pull back or get control over her reel anymore. She started putting her whole self into it, flinging the rod back to get more leverage on the reel. She dug her heels into the pier and bent her knees, bracing herself against the wood. "Willy!" she called, hoping for help. "Elliott? Someone?!" But no one came. She was on her own, and she was pulling as hard as she could. She could see the rod bending under the strain, and she was amazed the line hadn't snapped yet. Then suddenly, there was another sudden pull, and she was yanked forward off the pier and into the water.
The saltwater stung Alma's eyes, and as the bubbles cleared around her, she could see the fish she was fighting beneath the surface: it was a giant angler fish, big as a whale! And when he saw her, with the hook still in his mouth, he charged at her. She could hear his roar muffled under the water, and though she tried to swim away, she was nowhere fast enough. It wasn't long before he took a bite right at her waist, cutting her in half. Her top half floated to the surface, and he dragged her bottom half down to the depths of the ocean with him.