Saturday, 6th of Summer

When Alma went to her mailbox, she was excited to see a letter from her dad in the mailbox:

"Alma,

I read an article about you in the local paper! I'm so impressed with your progress on the farm! Keep this up and dear old Dad might be retiring in a fern islands luxury bungalow after all. :)

Love, Dad"

He must have been referring to the "up-and-coming" article in the Stardew Valley Tribune! She wondered why he was getting it there too. Maybe someone sent him a copy? But she hadn't even seen or heard about a copy herself! She would have to ask someone about it in town. Maybe Gunther or Pierre would have a copy.

When she looked out at the crops, Alma was a little sad to see that some of the summer seed plants had died. "Oh, what?" She went down the stairs and inspected them, feeling their crispy leaves between her fingers. They were brown and shriveled. She wondered what she had done to them. Maybe she didn't water them enough? Or too much? Or maybe they needed better fertilizer? Too much sun? She also saw, though, that all of her pepper plants were ready to harvest! She pulled off the lovely red peppers and put them in her bag, wondering what she might be able to add some spice to in her cooking. She went ahead and watered the other plants, then went and filled Bisclavret's bowl too. She petted him and gave him lots of praise while he drank up his water, then she went to go cuddle the chickens too. She gathered up their eggs and the mushrooms too. She organized things in the chests and saw she had a lot to sell to Pierre at the store - and she remembered she needed to give Marnie her cave carrot too. So she wasted no time in gathering her things and heading south.

Alma entered Marnie's shop and said, "Good morning, Marnie! I've got something for you!"

"Oh! You brought the cave carrot!" Marnie's face lit up, and she came around the counter to her as she started digging in her bag. "Thank you so much, Ms. Alma."

"Not a problem!" She pulled out the carrot and handed it to Marnie.

"This looks great," she said as she looked it over. "I almost want to eat it myself! … almost."

Alma chuckled. "As long as your goats like it, that's what's most important, right?"

Marnie nodded. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble …. I really do appreciate it."

"No, no trouble at all. I've been exploring the mines and picking up all kinds of stuff along the way. But I'll tell you what would be a good thank-you …."

"What's that?"

"I would love to see these goats say 'hello' when you get them trained!" Alma laughed.

Marnie smiled and put the carrot in her smock. "As soon as it happens, I will let you know! Oh! And congrats on being in the newspaper! It was such a great article!"

"You saw it?"

"I did," she said with a sweet smile. "You're a joy to have in our little town now, Alma."

"Aw, Marnie! That's so sweet of you to say. I'm on my way next to the store to see if Pierre has a copy for me. See you around!" Alma said her goodbyes and went off into town to the general store. As she approached the building, she saw a Help Wanted ad posted on the wall from Shane, asking for carp. "Easy," she thought, and she ripped the paper off the wall. She thought for sure she had a carp in the fridge at home, and if not, it would be easy to fish for another in the mountain lake.

"Ms. Alma! I'm glad you're here!" Pierre called as she came in. "Everyone's enjoying the weather instead of shopping," he sighed. "So I'm happy to see your face! Did you bring me something today?"

"I did!" She pulled out the peppers, mushrooms, and eggs. "Pretty much the makings of a tasty omelet, if you ask me."

"Well, I'll put them on the shelves and advertise as such," he said, measuring them out. "You thinking about restocking any seeds?"

"Wheat, yes, and I think I - no, I'm just short of enough to buy sunflower seeds."

"You'll get there," he said with a wink.

"Oh, and something else," she started. "Do you carry issues of the Stardew Valley Tribune?"

"That's right! You were in this week's issue! Have you not read it yet?"

"No, but my dad has! I wondered if I could get a copy."

"They're at the library, actually. You'll have to go see Gunther about it."

She thanked him and headed out, and as she stepped out, she saw Mayor Lewis walking through town. "Mayor Lewis!" she called.

He turned around and smiled at her. "Ah, Alma! How is our very own star of the Stardew Valley Tribune doing?"

"You read it too, huh? I'm just on my way to get a copy from the library."

"Yes, yes, it's a fine piece on you - and it brings more attention to Pelican Town. I'm very happy about that."

"Well, you're welcome, I guess. I also wanted to let you know that I killed those slimes you asked for. I've got the slime to prove it to you, if you need to see it."

"So you helped us with our slime problem?" He said this with a surprised tone, as if he was not expecting her of all people to be the "slime hunter." He continued with a political smile, "Thank you! I hope you didn't go through too much trouble …. Those slimes can be pretty dangerous in groups."

"No, not a problem. I've gotten pretty used to them now, I think."

"It should be a little easier to go spelunking now, thanks to your efforts - not for me, of course, but for other, more adventurous townspeople, like those in the Adventurers' Guild." He pulled out his wallet and handed her six hundred gold. "Enjoy your reward," he said with a smile.

"Thank you very much!" Her first thought was that, with this amount of money, she would now have enough to buy sunflowers. She went right back in to Pierre's. "So, about those sunflower seeds?"

"Oh? You came into some money, did you?"

"Just call me the slime bounty hunter from now on," she laughed. "Let me have nine, please."

Pierre picked out the seeds with a little chuckle and said, "So you've been going into the mines now, too? Well, don't tell Abby; she'll want to go with you."

"Oh, come on, it's not that dangerous. I've only passed out … three times?"

He shot her a look as he handed her the seed packets. "I'm serious, Alma. She's always wanting to go out on adventures and act like some kind of - knight or something, swinging around a sword and doing spooky things. It has Caroline very concerned."

"All right, all right, I understand. But seriously, if she wants to come with me sometime, I'm okay with that. I'd keep an eye on her."

"Just - don't mention anything to her about it, okay?" Alma responded with a scrunched up mouth, and she gave him the gold and said her goodbyes.

Alma went next to Clint's shop to break up some of the geodes she got from the mines yesterday. Inside was another calcite block and some special stone she would need Gunther to identify - which was perfect since she needed to see him anyway. She thanked Clint and headed just south to the library.

"Ah! If it isn't the Alma of Pelican Town! Who are you wearing?" Gunther called, pretending to snap pictures from behind the front desk.

Alma strutted in and pretended to flip her hair. "It's the latest in agro-chic: denim overalls that haven't been cleaned in over a season!" She put her bag down next to the counter, still laughing. "Sorry, I can't even pretend to be fashionable."

Gunther pulled out a copy of the newspaper. "Have you seen it?"

"No, I heard I could get a copy from you!"

"You most certainly can," he said, sliding it over to her. "You're on page five, in the Lifestyle section. It's a pretty nice spread, if I do say so myself."

Alma put her hand over it and looked at him. "I almost don't want to look at it. Can I give you something to check out first?" He nodded, and she pulled out the stone from her bag. "Can you tell me what this is?"

Gunther held it up and examined it. "Limestone, I believe. Pretty common in this area, but worth a spot in the museum, regardless."

As he looked it over, Alma hesitantly turned the pages of the newspaper and saw her picture splayed out over the top of the headline, "This Week's Up-and-Coming Stardew Valley Star."

"Ah geez, it's like they took the worst picture of me that's ever been taken!" She stood with an awkward smile on the porch of the cabin, with Bisclavret sitting at one side, Henriette under her arm, and the spread of barely-growing summer plants in front of her. She looked below and read the article:

"35-year-old Alma originally came from the suburbs outside of Stardew Valley, but her heart has always been in Pelican Town.

"Her story actually starts in 1937 with her grandfather, Phillip, who studied Agriculture and Animal Husbandry at Ferngill A&M. As a young graduate, he worked a not-so-ideal job at a meat processing plant. He worked long and hard hours, and he saw all kinds of animal cruelty in the food industry. His health suffered, his marriage weakened, and he felt hopeless, both in himself and in the world.

"By 1949, Phillip decided to quit, pack up everything, and start fresh on a plot of wooded farmland in Pelican Town that he named Paradise. He and his wife Anna vowed to treat the land, animals, plants, and people with respect; and they used their produce to benefit the community around them. They thrived there, and so did Pelican Town, which was in its economic prime during their stay in the 1950s. Phillip and Anna also had two sons during their stay: Phillip Jr. and Nathan, Alma's father.

"But unfortunately, in 1955, when he was just 36 years old, Phillip had a serious heart attack that weakened his health forever. He had to make the difficult decision to stop his work on the farm. He sold his livestock and remaining produce and moved to Zuzu City, where he and his wife could live a less physically demanding life. He got an office job selling farmers' insurance, she started teaching, and their family continued to grow with two more sons.

"Alma never got to see Paradise, but she heard about it often from her grandparents until her grandfather died in 1992, at age 73, after multiple battles with heart disease and congestive heart failure. When he passed, he gave gifts to all of his family members, and to Alma, at 11 years old, he gave an envelope and told her not to open it until she felt she was ready for a major life change.

"Alma continued to grow up and formed a love for technology and its ability to aid people. She got an Informatics degree in 2002 at the Ferngill Republic Technical College and had a job on campus at the Adaptive Technologies Lab, helping disabled students with accessibility on and off campus.

"Soon after college, Alma married and moved to city life outside of Stardew Valley to pursue a data analysis job at a marketing firm and support the family while her husband worked on his Masters degree. 'For the next several years, there was just one thing after another,' she recalls. Her mother passed away from cancer in 2003, her father relapsed into alcoholism soon after, her younger brother overdosed the following year, she couldn't seem to get much work in her field despite her extensive job training, and her marriage struggled until it finally led to divorce in 2015. 'I kept looking at the envelope from Grandpa and thinking things would get better. I wasn't ready for the life change yet. I could hold on.'

"But finally, at the end of 2015, she had had enough. 'I was just worn down,' she remembers. She pulled out the envelope and was amazed to see it was the deed to Paradise Farm. The family all thought that Grandpa Phillip had sold the farm, but in fact, he had been saving it for his only granddaughter, Alma. And though she knew nothing about farming, fishing, or foraging, the decision was an easy one: it was time to honor his wishes and pick things up in Paradise.

"Alma has now been working on Paradise Farm for just over a season, and she has made a name for herself in Pelican Town. She has cleaned up the property, expanded the family cabin, adopted a farm dog, built and filled a chicken coop, and raised over 10,000 gold in sales from produce on her farm - which she almost exclusively sells to the Pelican Town General Store. Not to mention, she has donated several lost books and specimens to the town's archeological office, joined the Adventurers' Guild, and made an effort to help many of her friends and neighbors with errands around town. 'I have a long road ahead of me,' she says, 'but I'm glad I chose to take the turn to get here.'"

She pointed to those last few sentences. "How did they know that stuff? I didn't tell them that in the phone interview!"

"Well, maybe a little birdie told them," Gunther said with a wink.

Alma put down the newspaper. "Gunther! You were the one who submitted me to be in this?!"

"No, not me," he said with a smile. He pointed toward the book stacks, and Alma knew who was there. She stepped back quietly and craned her neck to see Harvey standing at the bookshelf, reading. She looked back at Gunther, who was nodding with a goofy grin.

Alma paid for the newspaper and carried it with her into the book stacks. "H-Harvey?"

He jumped a bit at her voice and turned around quickly, putting the book he was reading back on the shelf. "Yes, Alma, h-hi!" He looked down and saw the newspaper in her hand. "Ah, this week's SVT is out!"

"Harvey, is it true? Were you the one who contacted the Tribune about me?"

He looked startled for a moment and started scrambling for words. "Well, I - You see, Pierre and Lewis and Gunther - We all have been - I just - "

Alma chuckled. "No, it's okay, I'm not mad about it. I'm … really touched." He breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled a little nervously. "What made you decide to reach out to them?"

"Well, I - I read the Tribune with my morning coffee throughout the week, and I see all these, uh, these articles about young entrepreneurs and people making a name for themselves and changing their lives and the lives of people around them, and a-as I was reading one article recently, I got to thinking about you and just … thought you should be recognized for all that you've done in such a short amount of time. The stories you - you've told me about the connection between you a-and your grandfather through the farm, the hardships you've overcome, the way you left everything behind and took control of your life …. Those are not ordinary accomplishments, and they're things that - that I thought could bring hope to a lot of people w-who might read it."

"Harvey …!" She felt her eyes begin to well with tears.

"Plus, it's been … well, pretty stagnant in Pelican Town for a while. I thought maybe having a published story about something refreshing would be - " He looked at her, saw her tears begin to flow pretty heavily now, and started to panic. "Oh, I - I'm sorry, Alma, I didn't mean to - " He put a hand on her shoulder, and before she knew it, she had her arms around him and was crying into his chest. He froze for a moment, then put his arms around her and gently rubbed her back. "Alma, I'm - I'm sorry. Can I do anything for you?"

"No, no, I'm so - so - " her voice rasped, and she cried harder, unable to speak.

"It's okay," Harvey said. "Y-You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

She could feel so much of the pressure leaving her, to know that someone saw her, her pain, and her effort and felt pride in the things that she was doing. She had only just recently had any pride slowly grow in herself, so to know that the whole area thought she was worth talking about really meant a lot to her - and it was because of what Harvey saw in her. "Just - Thank you," she squeaked.

Harvey continued to hold her for a few minutes as she continued crying, and as she started to calm down, she pulled away from him and laughed a little at the tear stains she left on his shirt. She tried in vain to wipe them off with her arm. "Ah geez, I'm sorry," she said, wiping her own tears too.

"It's okay, it's okay. It will dry. Do you, uh … feel better now?"

"Yes," she said with a sniff. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose myself like that, but I - It's just … you understand more than most do about what I've gone through, and you still don't even know all of it. And to know that you thought I was worth … that much …. That just really means a lot to me."

He looked at her, scanning her red face, and though there was a little smile, there was a lot of sadness there for her too. "I hate to ask this, but … have you contacted the therapist yet?"

Alma sighed and looked down. "No, not yet, but I will, I promise. I have to earn enough to buy a phone from Robin first."

"I really hope you do. The ways you're feeling, Alma - they're treatable. I think we can get you feeling better about yourself. You don't have to be in so much pain."

She nodded in agreement, hugging herself. "Thank you for - for caring."

"It's my job to care," he said with a shrug. He pointed to the paper in her hand. "I haven't read it yet. I usually pick my copy up today. Can I - Can I see it?"

"Oh, sure," she said, handing it to him.

She still had the paper open to the article, and when he looked at it, he said, "This is a good picture of you - with your dog and chicken and everything. You really look like a-a farmer!" She chuckled a little, still wiping her face. "Do you think they did a good job?"

"Oh, yeah, they got everything right! I didn't think they were listening to me that well when they interviewed me over the phone. But I guess they were!" She watched his face as he continued to read.

"Do you think your father or brother will mind that you mentioned their problems? Or your - your ex-husband?"

"I did try to keep things vague. I didn't go into everything, of course. But, no, Dad already read it and loved it! That's how I knew it was out! I don't know if my brother will read it; he's not much of a newspaper guy. And I don't care if my ex reads it. He'll be fine."

"I'm glad your father liked it. That's got to feel good for him too, to know that you're happy and succeeding," Harvey said with a smile. He finished reading and gave it back to her. "It is really well-done. They did a great job. I'm sure your grandfather would, uh, would be proud too."

"Okay, stop, I can't cry again," she chuckled, still wiping her face. "Let's talk about something else now."

"Good idea," he said, putting his hands in his coat pockets. "What else are you, uh, up to today?"

She rolled up the paper and put it in her bag. "Taking a carp to Shane and maybe going to see Willy about the summer fish for the community center bundle."

"Does Willy know about a-all that too?"

"No, you and Rasmodius are the only ones. But he is keen to give me fishing advice, and his knowledge makes it a lot easier to find what I need." She pulled her bag tight over her shoulders again. "I guess I'd better go ahead and head out, actually. Does my face still look red?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, you look - you look fine," Harvey stumbled. Alma raised her eyebrows at him; his hesitance made her skeptical. "No, really, y-you look fine."

"Okay, if you say so." She looked at his shirt, which was still drying. "Sorry again about your shirt."

"It's a badge of honor," he answered, opening up his coat a little and looking down at the tear stain.

She smiled and started to turn. "And thank you again, for - for everything."

He nodded and gave a little shrug. "Take care." She turned and left, and as she walked out the door, she couldn't help but notice Gunther sitting at the counter with his head propped up in his hands, smiling wide. She shook her head and laughed at him on her way out.

Alma hurried back to her farm and looked in her fridge for a carp - only to find that there wasn't one. "I thought for sure I had one!" She closed the fridge again and looked up in thought, trying to think if she used it or gave it to someone else already. "Well, I guess I've got some fishing to do." She had an idea and quickly went to the bedroom to get the book about the mines before going out to her chests, grabbing her fishing rod, and going up to the mountain. As she passed by the path to the bath house, she thought about how good it felt to take a dip yesterday to get her energy up. Maybe she should do that again, if she was going to be fishing for a few hours. So she went up to the bath house, changed, and slid into the hot bath.

She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to let herself relax. Of course, that was always easier said than done. She felt her mind begin to wander to dark places, and she tried to reel it back in. She remembered holding on to Harvey and him rubbing her back, trying to console her. Part of her felt so silly for enjoying moments like those, and part of her told her it was better to let her mind go to that than to thoughts of self-blame and pain. She didn't stay in the bath long; when she felt refreshed, she took a deep breath, stepped out of the bath, and went back toward the lake.

She skipped down the steps and past Robin's house. When she reached the lake, she put her bag down next to her and cast out her line. She put the line in a belt loop on her overalls so that her hands were free, and then she reached into her bag for her copy of How Deep Do the Mines Go? She was absorbed in the information about the mines, but every so often, she would feel a tug on the line, tuck the book in her armpit, and reel in a fish. After a while, she had a few fish, including a few carp, a bullhead, and a chub. It was starting to get dark, and she was running out of room in her bag, so she decided to call it quits with fishing and make her way to the saloon to find Shane. On her way, she dropped off the chub for Demetrius's bundle on the bulletin board of the community center, and she did a quick check for the fish still needed in the fish tank. Then she made her way down to the saloon.

She first made her rounds and said hi to everyone. Leah, Pam, Marnie, and Clint were there, along with Willy and Shane. Of course, Gus and Emily were working too. They were all happy to see Alma, and they were all talking about her article. She made her way to Shane, who surprisingly smiled when she approached him. She figured maybe he had already had a few beers in him. "Hello, Alma!"

"Hi, Shane. You, uh … you doing okay?"

"I'm peachy, thanks." He took another swig of his beer. Alma took off her bag and began to pull out the fish. "Is that the carp I requested?"

"It is!" she said, handing it to him.

"Aw, thanks so much!" He slapped it on the bar next to him, and Emily jumped a little.

"You catch fish?" she asked Alma.

"Yeah, sometimes. I'm not very good at it, though. Still learning."

"I just hope you treat the poor things humanely. Every critter deserves our respect, even the slimy ones."

"You're absolutely right, Emily. I couldn't agree more."

"Let's see. Here's what I owe you." Shane reached into his coat pocket and gave her ninety gold. "Go buy yourself a drink or something."

Alma took the money but looked carefully at Shane. "Have you eaten dinner yet?"

"Yeah, yeah, I did. I'm taking care of myself, I promise."

"Emily," Alma said, "Could you bring a cup of water please?" Emily nodded.

"You know, I'm surprised that you're still trying to make friends with me. Haven't I been rude enough to you yet?"

"Here you go, Alma," Emily said, sliding the glass to her.

Alma put it in front of Shane. "You can't get rid of me that easily, Shane. If you need me to walk you home, let me know, okay?" He lifted up his glass to her. She went and stood next to Willy and Clint. Willy seemed to be mumbling to himself. "Good evening, sir. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Eh?" he asked, looking up at her. "Oh, lass, good evening. I'd tell ye about my thoughts, but it's a fisherman's secret."

"He won't tell me either, Alma," Clint said. He shook his head and took a drink of his beer. "Sometimes I wonder how I ended up in this town."

"You're just in the right place, Clint. You belong right here with the rest of us," she said with a smile. Then she turned to the old fisherman. "Willy, I wondered if I might be able to pick your brain a bit about summertime fish."

"Sure, lass, what can I do to help ye?"

She pulled out her notes from the community center and showed him the fish she needed. "You were so helpful last season, so I wondered if you could help me out again this time too. Which of these fish can I get in the summer?"

"Hmm …" He looked carefully at her journal. "Not much here ye can get. Sturgeon are in the mountain lake, and it's a bit tricky to catch. Tuna, red snapper, and tilapia are all ocean fish; but red snapper is only out when it's raining, and tilapia is best to find in the morning." He looked up at her. "That help ye?"

"Yes sir, thank you very much," she said, closing up her notebook. She looked at the time and saw it was starting to get late. "Well, gentlemen, I'd love to stay, but I think I'd better get back home. Thank you for your time." She looked back at Shane. "I'm planning to go home, but if you need me to stay and wait for you, I can."

He waved her away. "I'm fine. You worry too much. I'm gonna stay a bit longer anyway."

"We'll keep an eye on him, Alma," Willy said with a nod and a wink.

"All right, thank you, sir. Goodnight!"