Thursday, 4th of Summer

Alma jolted awake with a shriek. Then she took a deep breath, seeing that she was in her bedroom. She did remember Fruit Basket Turnover on Senior Skip Day, but thankfully, it wasn't that mortifying. Still, envisioning all of her exes in one place like that, celebrating the times they'd taken advantage of her … it did make her stomach turn. She took some time to calm down, and as she did, she looked around and still felt that the bedroom was bare. There was nothing here except her bed, a torch in the corner, Bisclavret's rug, and a window. Maybe before working on the farm today, she could take some time to work in the house.

She moved around some of the furniture, trying to more evenly distribute it between the two rooms. The kitchen and living room were in one space, and just down the short hallway was her bedroom. She took the TV first and moved it into the bedroom, just to try it out for a while. She could always move it back if she didn't like it. Then she took the little picture off the wall in the living room and hung it in the bedroom. That helped to fill the space in the bedroom at least a little bit more.

She went back to the living room, which now felt quite empty. She was surprised to see that she could actually move the fireplace; it was a stand-alone structure! So she moved it and the dining room table to fill the space more. She left the potted plant by the front door. She put her hands on her hips and wondered what she could do. She looked to the front door, thinking about the chests she had lining the porch. She didn't really want to move those because they provided easy access to resources while she was working on the farm, but maybe …. She looked back at the fridge, then rushed outside to get some wood and tools, and quickly built another chest just next to the fridge too, to store food that didn't need to be refrigerated. She moved over some produce from the fridge into the chest then stepped back to look everything over. "It's still quite empty, but … I think it's a bit better."

This work took nearly two hours, but she was glad she did it. She went outside next and watered all of her crops, filling up Bisclavret's water too. She remembered that she wanted to make tappers for the trees, and she checked to see what she needed and how to do it. If she made one more copper bar, she would have enough to make two tappers. So that was exactly what she did. She melted one more copper bar in the furnace then fashioned the tappers and put them on the two closest trees: one maple and one oak.

Alma went next to check on the chickens, gather their eggs, and harvest the mushrooms. To her surprise, there was another purple mushroom, and it reminded her that she was so close to finishing the summer foraging bundle, so after she finished her work on the farm, she decided to go on a little trip for spice berries. She first went south to the forest, circling around the lake and keeping an eye out for any forageables. She found some sweet pea and grapes, but she wasn't finding any spice berry. She made her way more south to the Cindersap forest, and after some searching, finally, she found one. She headed back north toward Leah's house, and as she did, she saw Jas standing by the cow fence in front of Marnie's house. She remembered that today was the little girl's birthday. "Hello, Jas!" Jas turned and got a deer-in-the-headlights kind of look. She knew Jas was a bit more nervous around her than Vincent was, and she proceeded with caution. "I heard that it's someone's birthday today," she said in a sing-songy voice as she pulled her bag around her shoulders, "so I got a surprise for you!"

Jas's eyes lit up, and she got on her tiptoes, trying to see inside the bag to know what the surprise was. "You remembered my birthday!"

"I did!" Alma lifted up a sweet pea flower, and Jas gasped.

The girl accepted the flower, hugging it to her chest and closing her eyes to smell its sweet fragrance. "Mmm …. Thank you. This is great."

"You're welcome, sweet girl. Have a great birthday!" she said as she patted her shoulder and stood back up. They waved goodbye as she went down the road into town.

Alma went first to the museum. She wanted to show Gunther the big stone she found. "Happy Day of Thor, Alma!"

Alma chuckled as she entered the library. "You too, I guess? You into Greek polytheism?"

"No, more like agnosticism. But it's fun to dream, eh?" He nodded toward her bag. "What treasure do you have for me today?"

She pulled out the stone, and Gunther gasped. "I found this up in the mountains, by the bath house that was just unblocked by the earthquake the other night."

"Yes yes, there are many artifacts up there," he said, happily looking over the stone. "This is the first prehistoric item you have brought. A wonderful contribution, Ms. Alma!"

"What is it?"

"This," he said, putting the stone in his palm, "is a handaxe. It was used as a tool for breaking up wood and other stones. It could also have been used as a weapon." He demonstrated, holding up his hand and quickly moving it down as if striking something. "I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of these."

"So now you have an antique collection and a prehistoric collection?"

"Yes! And a mineral and fossil exhibit too. All thanks to you!"

"Well, it's still not much."

"Ms. Alma," Gunther said, almost chastising her, "I have asked others in town to bring in contributions too. You're the only one who has been doing it! Everyone else is too wrapped up in their own lives and routines to keep their eyes peeled. But you … you have a special eye!"

Alma smiled and shrugged. "Maybe it's just because I'm new. I'm noticing more that others have just passed by."

"Exactly! Fresh eyes are good ones," he said, putting the handaxe away. "And I'm thankful for them. Keep them peeled for me, would you?"

"Of course, sir," she said with a salute as she turned for the door. Alma went next to the community center, where she dropped off the spice berry to the summer foraging bundle. When she completed that bundle, a present appeared. She picked it up and unwrapped it, finding a package of summer seeds inside. She remembered last season when the spring seeds were ready for harvest, how it made her front yard come to life with crops! She was excited for that to happen again this summer. She happily put the packet in her bag.

She heard a rumble in another part of the community center and knew that meant yet another bundle was ready for her. There were only two rooms left in the center that were unexplored. She went first to the kitchen, but there was nothing there, so she went to the other side of the building to the administrative office and saw, sure enough, a scroll on the floor in front of a giant vault. There, a junimo happily bounced around, and when she approached, it bounced off into the dark. Alma looked at the scroll and this one was different; it was just wanting money. The smallest amount was 2,500, and the biggest one asked for 25,000. It was hard to imagine that Alma would ever see that kind of money. She saw, though, that when this bundle was completed, the Junimo said the bus would be repaired. She remembered that the bus broke down after her arrival, and she felt partly responsible for it. 2,500 gold wasn't that hard to come by, but it would have to wait until after Alma had finished buying all of these summer seeds. They were sucking her dry! And speaking of, she thought, she needed to get to the store before Pierre closed it for the day. She went out of the center and headed south.

"Good afternoon, Pierre! Enjoy your Wednesday off?"

"I did indeed!" he answered. "I'm so glad to have a day off from work, even if it's just once a week."

"That's more than I get, anyway," Alma said, putting her bag on the counter. "Not a lot today; just some wild produce."

"No problem. I'll still take it!" She gave him what she had, and she used the money to buy a bit of some of the more expensive crops: poppies and corn. She saw that corn would continue to produce, even into the fall, so she figured that's why they were so expensive. The last crop she saw that she needed to buy were sunflower seeds, but they were two hundred gold a seed! "Why are sunflowers so expensive, Pierre?"

"They're one of the only crops that produce more seeds. If I can let you in on a little secret," he said, leaning closer, "they're actually not very profitable. For every seed you buy, you'd have to sell three flowers to turn a profit."

"Oh, I see."

"Of course," he said, "most people don't get sunflowers for profit anyway. They're a popular flower because they're so big and pretty. More ornamental than functional."

"Well, thanks for letting me know! I would like some, but maybe not any time soon."

"I'll trust you'll come get some from me when you're ready. And I'll be happy to buy the flowers off you, of course," he said with a wink.

"Thanks, Pierre. It's always a pleasure doing business with you."

"You too, Ms. Alma. Have a great afternoon!"

She waved and headed back to the farm. She spent the evening planting the summer seeds, poppies, and corn, and by the time she had tilled, fertilized, planted, and watered, it was late into the night. She was exhausted, and she went straight to bed.