Monday, 15th of Spring

When Alma heard the rooster crow, she was pleasantly surprised - again - that she didn't have a nightmare. It was rare, and this was now the second week it had happened to her. Maybe things were really starting to look up for her in Stardew Valley. She looked over in her mailbox and saw she had a few letters waiting for her. One was a sweet letter from Mrs. Mullner, giving her some welcome tips about growing seasonal crops. The other letter had postage from her hometown. She wondered who it could have been, and she opened it up quickly.

"Dear Alma,

Have you settled into your new life yet? I can't believe you're all grown up now… Time sure flies. Now that you're gone, I have all this extra money laying around, so I included a little gift.

Love,

Dad"

The letter included a check for five hundred gold. "What are you talking about?" she mumbled. He sounded like she was a teenager who had just moved out of the house. And "all this extra money laying around?" What the heck? She figured he was trying to be facetious, but it didn't come across well in writing. She shook her head with a smirk and put the money in her pocket. "Thanks, ya weirdo," she joked.

Alma looked out over the farm. Potatoes were ready again, and she knew that would bring in some good money from Pierre. She pulled those up, watered everything else, and went to take care of Bisclavret. When she looked up from filling his bowl, she saw some bushes along the fence that had berries on them. She went and investigated more closely, pinching off a little red berry. Was it a raspberry? She sniffed it and couldn't tell anything. She was a bit scared to eat it, but after a little hesitation, she popped one into her mouth. It was tart with a hint of sweetness, and she still couldn't place her finger on what kind of berry it was. Maybe if she gathered a handful and took them to Pierre, he could tell her – and maybe even buy some.

She went back to her chests to unload stuff and pick up others. She saw geodes and the spur sitting in there, and she thought maybe today would be a good day to see Clint and Gunther. Since she'd be heading that way, she took some of the fish and crops for the bundles in the community center. She eyed her sword. Maybe she could check out the mines some more too, if she brought some field snacks to keep her energy up. So she grabbed both and made her way down the road into town.

On her way into the store, Alma checked the bulletin board, as usual. No birthdays, but there was a Help Wanted post from Evelyn: "I need a sunfish, if it's not too inconvenient." Sunfish was one of the fish needed for one of the bundles, too, so maybe if she caught an extra one, she could drop it off. She tore off the notice and stuck it in her journal before going inside to see Pierre.

"Oh these!" he exclaimed when she showed him the berries. "Yes, these are salmonberries! They grow for a very short time this season, so if you see them, pick them fast before they're gone!"

"Ah okay. And you'll buy them off me?"

"Sure! They don't sell for much, but I'm happy to buy any produce off you. I'll give you a fair price, of course!"

"Of course, I know you will. Thank you." Alma sold him her potatoes and bought more parsnips, remembering that she still needed some high quality ones for the community center. Then she said her goodbyes and headed up the path behind the building to drop off what she had for the bundles. It always felt good to unload things from her bag, and as she exited the building, she saw a leek poking up from the ground near the door. If she was going to take a fish to Evelyn, maybe she should also take a leek to George; Alma remembered how Dr. Harvey said it was his favorite. She pulled it up out of the ground and put it in her bag before going down to Clint's shop.

"Good morning, Clint," she said as she came through the door. "I have some more geodes for you, please, sir." As he broke them apart, she was happy with the outcome: quite a bit of copper ore, some clay, and some minerals she could take to Gunther too. "Thank you very much!" she said, gathering up the goods and putting them in her bag. She dropped off her donations to the museum, and Gunther was very happy to have them. Just as she was about to leave, she noticed some special books on display right there at the front of the bookstacks. "What's this?" she asked him.

"That, my dear donatoris, would be the new Lost Books collection." She looked back at him, aghast, and he nodded proudly. "They cleaned up well, and they were actually quite well-preserved."

"May I?" she asked, gesturing to the shelves.

"That's why they're there, isn't it?" he chuckled. Alma carefully took one of the books off the shelf. The cover read, On Animal Care, by Marnie.

"Marnie?" she asked Gunther, looking over her shoulder. "The same Marnie who runs the ranch Marnie?"

Gunther nodded. "The very same."

She read an excerpt from the first chapter:

"Animals are very sensitive. They like to be pet every day, and prefer to eat grass outdoors than dry hay. They don't like being outside in the rain, though. Happy animals produce higher quality products!"

"I didn't know Marnie was a writer!" she said to herself. She made note, thinking she should read more of this when she was ready to care for animals. For now, she placed it back on the shelf and took the other one: On Foraging. It detailed methods and places to find wild produce – including a way to cultivate it on a farm. She already felt like she had learned just about all there was to know about that; after all, she had wild spring seeds growing on her farm at just this moment, thanks to the Junimo. Still, she was fascinated. "Can I check these out?"

"Sure, just as long as you're careful with them. They're more fragile than the other books, you know."

She brought the book with her to the counter. "I'll bring the other book back soon, I promise."

"Take your time. They're meant to be enjoyed," he said with a smile as he handed the book back to her. She thanked Gunther and went to the river.

Alma cast out her line and waited patiently. She found that it was in these moments of silence when her mind bothered her the most – when it went to places she shouldn't. She thought back on her nightmares, her past, her regrets, her mistakes. And each time her rod would pull, she would pull her mind back out of it, remembering that she was not that person anymore. She pulled on the line, wondering how much longer she would have to remind herself of that – that she wasn't going back, that she was staying here, that life would be better. The fish fought back, but she kept reeling, and eventually, out came a sunfish. Then a smallmouth bass. And another sunfish. And two more smallmouth bass. She was getting better at fishing every day.

She took the fish to the Mullners' house nearby and greeted Alex just outside. "Hey. What, you wanna talk to me? I'm busy."

"Actually, I wanted to know if your grandparents are home?" she asked him.

"Yeah, you can go on in," he answered, tossing his football into the air.

"Thanks," she said, pushing open the door. And to her surprise, when she looked up, she saw Dr. Harvey with Mr. Mullner. She stayed quiet for a moment, not wanting to interrupt.

Dr. Harvey had out his stethoscope and was listening carefully to George's breathing. "Okay, George. I want you to take a deep breath for me." She tiptoed to the kitchen, hoping to find Evelyn, but no one was there. "Mmhmm, very good. Turn around, please," he said, standing up and putting the stethoscope back around his neck. Mr. Mullner turned his wheelchair around and smacked his lips, looking a bit annoyed. "George, I'll be honest with you. I'm concerned about your heart. You need to make some changes in your lifestyle if you want to stay healthy. We need to increase your circulation rate, your oxygen levels, and maybe build up some muscle mass too. I'd like you to reduce your sodium intake, and try to get some moderate exercise with your arms." Alma tried to go down the hall quietly to look for Mrs. Mullner but couldn't find her anywhere.

"Hmmph," Mr. Mullner grumbled. "I know what's best for me. Who do you think you are, telling me how to live my life?"

"I'm your doctor, George. That's who I am." He started to gather up the things in his medicine bag. Alma walked quietly back down the hallway toward the front door, thinking maybe this wasn't the best time. "And I went to school for eight years so I could learn how to help people stay healthy." The floorboards creaked under her feet, and Dr. Harvey and Mr. Mullner both turned to her. "Oh! Ms. Alma?"

"What are you doing here?" George shouted.

"I'm so sorry," she said, putting her hands up. "Alex was outside, and he told me I could come in. I'm just dropping off a few things for you and Mrs. Mullner."

"I-I'm sorry, but you shouldn't be here," Dr. Harvey said. "These check-ups are supposed to be private."

"Really, I'm sorry, I had no idea. I'll see myself out and – "

"Not so fast!" George called, pushing himself in her direction a bit. "I'd like to get a second opinion from this young lady."

Dr. Harvey stood for a moment, not sure what to do. Alma shrugged and looked to him for guidance. "Very well," he sighed. "Ms. Alma, what do you think George should do?"

"Me?! You want me to make this decision? But I don't – "

"I trust you just about as much as I trust this quack here," George said. Dr. Harvey closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to keep himself calm, before he looked at Alma with a pleading glance.

She, of course, thought Dr. Harvey was well-educated and an expert in his field. She remembered what he said last night at the saloon, about how he got invested in the lives of his patients so he could see their health in the context of their lifestyle. George was quite an older gentleman, obviously with a lot of knowledge and experience about the subject at hand: his own body. But maybe he hadn't considered the whole picture. She didn't know him very well but knew that he could be rough and callous – but also that, if what Evelyn told her the other day was right, he could be a softie and a pushover when he needed to be.

Alma sighed and walked toward them, giving her answer. She crouched next to George's wheelchair. "Mr. Mullner," she said, and he turned his face away from her. She started again, "Mr. Mullner, Dr. Harvey knows what he's doing, and he only cares about taking care of you. If you want to keep living – not just for yourself but for Evelyn and Alex too – you've got to take care of yourself. And to best do that, you need to listen to a trained professional." She put her hand on his, and he looked at her with an expression that looked a bit shocked and maybe even also a bit offended. "My grandfather Phillip, the very man you knew who lived at Paradise Farm, had a heart attack when he was only thirty-six, and it weakened him forever. It's what caused him to have to sacrifice the land he loved here." Just then, she could hear a door opening in the house. Mrs. Mullner made her way down the hallway and saw them together in the living room. "You know why he really gave it up?" She could see George's face softening as he glanced at Evelyn. "He decided his family was more important to him. Even though he loved Pelican Town, all of you, and the life on the farm, he knew he needed to be more careful with his health if he wanted to live a long time with his family. And because of that decision ... I got to know him." The front door opened, and Alex came in, walking past the living room on his way to his bedroom. Mr. Mullner watched him walk by. Alma stood back up and said, "You should follow Dr. Harvey's advice."

Evelyn came and put a hand on Alma's shoulder. She looked at Dr. Harvey, and he looked at her with an expression she hadn't seen from him before. "Thank you," he said sincerely. Then he turned to Mr. Mullner. "You see, George," he said gently, "I'm just trying to help you."

George pursed his lips and huffed, looking up at Alma through his brow. He turned his wheelchair to face the window and lowered his head. "Fine," he sighed, "I'll do what you say, Doctor."

Evelyn walked over to him and hugged him. He wrapped an arm around hers. Dr. Harvey smiled and gathered his things. "Mr. Mullner, I'm going to leave you some paperwork on exercises you can do. And Mrs. Mullner, try to cut down on salt in his diet, if you can."

"Yes, Doctor," she said, patting George's back.

"You can both come by and see me if you have any questions. I'd like to do another check in two weeks, if that's okay." He made his way to the door and put a hand on Alma's shoulder as he passed. "Thanks for your help, Ms. Alma. I appreciate it."

"Sorry I barged in," she whispered.

"Don't be," he said quietly, looking back to Evelyn and George. "I'm glad you were here. You did a great job helping me diffuse a difficult situation. Have a good day." And he let himself out.

"Oh my," Evelyn said, looking at Alma. "What a lovely day! To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"You said you brought something for us?" George asked.

"Yes, I did!" She took off her bag and pulled out a sunfish for Mrs. Mullner.

"Oh so you saw the notice I posted," she said, walking closer to take it.

"I sure did. I was in need of one too, so I got one for each of us."

"It looks perfect," Mrs. Mullner said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin bag. "Here's a little something for your trouble."

"Thank you very much," she said, accepting the gold. "And for you, Mr. Mullner," she said as she pulled out the leek, "a little birdie told me that you are a fan of these little guys."

He rolled his chair to her, his eyes bright. "This is my favorite thing! Thank you."

"You're very welcome. I wanted to show my appreciation for you both and the hospitality you have shown me."

"It's what your grandfather would have done," Evelyn said.

Alma smiled. "Well, I think I'd better be going on. Still work to be done."

"Thank you again, for everything," Evelyn said as she walked her to the door.

"No problem. Have a nice day!" Evelyn watched her leave and waved after her. She went up the mountain path and dropped off the sunfish at the community center, and then she kept heading north to the mines.

She looked down the mineshaft and took a deep breath. Was she really ready for this? Who knows what she would find down there! "One way to find out," she told herself. And she climbed the ladder and jumped to the ground. Just as before, she saw quite a bit of rock. She took out her pickaxe and started making a path, and it wasn't long into doing this that she uncovered another shaft, presumably down into another level. Should she go deeper? She looked up into the little daylight from the opening above her. As long as she made it back before dark, she thought she would probably be okay. So she climbed down the next ladder.

Here, the room was a bit bigger, but she still couldn't see too much because of the rocks in her path. So again she started mining them down, gathering the stone in her bag. She could hear a strange sound, as if some thick liquid was oozing from a wall or something closeby, but she continued to make her way. Suddenly, when she broke open one of the rocks, a small green mass shot out to her, slicing her ankle. She instinctively dropped her ax and pulled out the sword, swiping through the slimy ball, and it fell still. A thick green slime residue stuck to her blade. "What the heck was that thing?!" she wondered as she pulled off the muck. "I could've sworn it had red eyes looking right at me." Alma continued to break down the rocks around her and soon found the next ladder down.

This cavern was bigger still, and she felt like there were eyes on her. She stayed vigilant as she mined at the rocks. One rock that she hit had a strange glimmer to it, and as she brought it apart, copper ore fell to the ground. Alma picked it up and tucked it away in her bag, and as she was turned around, she felt another sting at her ankles. "Ow!" she cried, pulling out her sword again. This time, she got a better look at the creature: a green amorphous blob with, yes, red eyes angrily staring her down. It squished down, as if mustering its strength for something, and then lunged at her again. But this time, she was able to duck out of the way and slash it down. It broke apart and absorbed into the ground, leaving an orb of slime behind. Alma crouched down to take a look, but the next thing she knew, another was eye to eye with her, jumping right toward her. She felt the burn on her cheek and swung her sword again, striking it into the cave floor.

Alma stood still for a moment, listening and looking for signs of any more. She instead heard a buzzing and saw a large blue beetle flying right at her. She let it pass, but one of its wings cut at her shoulder, and she again drew her sword. The beetle broke in half, and when its pieces fell to the ground, she could see some of them fall into a hole-the next level. She felt her face; there was some blood, but it wasn't too bad. She picked up the slime and bug meat and debated if she should take it home. If nothing else, maybe she could show Marlon or someone else to prove there were strange and dangerous creatures down here. So she packed them in her bag and went down one more level.

Alma broke apart more rocks and found more copper ore. She was starting to feel tired, and she could no longer see any light from the openings above her. She couldn't hear any sign of movement around her, so she thought maybe she'd break up enough to fill the rest of her bag and then go back home for the night. As she worked, she did find the opening to the next level and debated if she should go down or not. "Maybe I'll just poke my head in to see what's there," she said to herself, climbing down the ladder.

When her feet touched the ground, she jumped at the sound of a ding. To the right of the entrance was an old elevator. She stepped toward it and saw it was operational to go back to the surface. "Convenient," she said. She looked at her watch: it was after nine o'clock now. "So much for getting home before dark!" She went to the elevator and pressed the button to go back to the surface. As the door opened, she prayed it would work. She breathed a sigh of relief when the doors opened again at the top, and she quickly made her way home.

As she was walking, she wondered how deep the mine went. She pulled out her journal and saw the note she made about going down five levels. She crossed that out and then wrote "Reach Level 25 of the mines?" Alma couldn't believe she was actually egging herself on to go that far down. But at the same time, the drive of adrenaline carrying that sword pushed her further.

When she got home, she unloaded her materials and noticed she now had enough copper ore to craft a furnace from the blueprints Clint gave her a few days ago. She followed the instructions, worked quickly, fashioned a small one, placing it to the side of her house. "Improving more and more," she told herself, looking over the furnace and eating a field snack. She quickly planted and watered her new parsnips and went inside to call it a night.

CW: drunkenness

TW: rape, abuse, asphyxiation

As they were waiting for the photographer to get ready, Alma looked over at him. His tie was loose, his hair was tussled, his cheeks were red, his eyes were glazed. The crowd laughed and cheered as they got their bubbles ready. She knew he would want to drive, but she knew it needed to be her. She was angry at him for letting himself get drunk – for even letting his friends sneak alcohol into the wedding. She had specifically asked for no alcohol because of her father's past. But here she looked and could see he was clearly drunk. "Okay, I think we're ready! Let's start blowing bubbles, everybody!" the photographer called. She looked out the door and through the tunnel of her friends and family, ready to celebrate them as they rushed to the decorated getaway car. "Whenever you two are ready, come on!"

He looked at her and laughed, kissing her cheek, and she forced a smile too. He pulled her through their loved ones and all the thousands of bubbles, stopping halfway to give her a passionate kiss. His kiss tasted awful, but she tried to look like she was enjoying it. She could hear the photographers' cameras clicking over and over. Then they stumbled to the car, laughing, and he took her over to the passenger's side, opening the door for her. "You can't drive," she said quietly, leading his arm into the car.

He grabbed the top of the car to stop himself and said, "It's fine, I'm fine! You get in here, and I'll take us to the hotel." She grabbed his arm and insisted, pushing him into the car. She could hear the cameras stop, and all the people got quiet. "You try to tell me what to do?!" He took both of her arms, closed the car door, and pushed her against it. "Then I guess we're not going anywhere."

"What are you doing?!" He began to pull up her wedding dress, pushing up against her with his body so she couldn't escape. "Stop this! Stop!"

"It's okay, Al, it's okay," he whispered in her ear as he unbuckled his pants. "It's me, remember?"

"No, please! Please stop!" He began to rip away at the neckline of her gown. "Someone help me, please!" she screamed behind her, but no one dared move. "Don't do this to me! Please!" She managed to get one hand free, and she tried to throw his hand away, but as soon as she let go, his hand darted up to her neck, and pushed her harder against the car. She gasped for air, trying to get her fingers between her neck and his fingers.

"Al, relax," he said, still trying to sound gentle, though his strength was making his voice strain. His breath reeked of alcohol. He gripped her waist with his thighs. "Relax!" he yelled as he started to thrust. She kicked her legs, pushed her pelvis, punched at him, tried anything to get him off, but he seemed to get tighter, heavier. He lifted her off the ground with his weight, and he was crushing her ribs. It became harder to breathe. "You're always overthinking, you bitch!" He slapped her, but she couldn't scream. "Just let go! It would be so much easier if you would just let go!" He slapped her again. And again. And again. She started to stop fighting. She felt the air go out but not come back in. "That's it," he said, panting, trying to sound sweet again. "Just go to sleep, Al. I'm here." A dark haze started to cloud her vision, and she could feel her strength leaving her. "I'm your husband now, remember?" Her head fell to the side, and she could see the crowd of people watching behind her, horrified. A photographer snapped one more picture. "Just – relax – "