Wednesday, 10th of Summer

Alma again woke up to the sound of rain. It was a peaceful way to wake up, and she realized how calm she really was; this was now her fourth consecutive night without a nightmare. This was becoming more and more incredible. Bisclavret was still cuddled up on the bed next to her, and she happily pet him. Life was good and getting better.

She rolled over and was able to reach the TV. The Queen of Sauce was on, and today's recipe was Radish Salad! Alma went to her overalls and dug in her pockets for her journal. She was hopeful that she could make radish salad once her radishes were ready, but she saw she needed oil and vinegar too. She could easily get those things from Pierre, though. When the show was over, she closed her journal and looked over at Bisclavret. "Well, Biz, it's time to get to work," she said with another cuddle. "You enjoy your day off." She changed into her overalls, put on her straw hat, and went outside.

Some of her summer seed crops were ready to harvest, and the wheat was too again. She went ahead and gathered those things. She saved some hay for the chickens and then collected the best quality wheat for the community center. She now had enough to donate to Marnie's fodder bundle. She went to the coop to check on Henriette and Little Red and to gather their eggs, and then she went into the cave to get the mushrooms there too. She threw what she wanted to sell into the shipping bin since Pierre's was closed, and she saw that she had some mail in her mailbox.

"Dear Alma,

Tomorrow we're all gathering at the beach for the annual Pelican Town Luau.

The highlight of the event is the communal potluck. Make sure you bring something good to contribute! The governor himself is attending the event, so make sure you're on your best behavior.

Come to the beach sometime between 9 AM and 2 PM.

- Mayor Lewis"

Alma folded up the letter, wondering what she could bring to contribute to a soup. She figured it would probably be primarily a vegetable soup, so it wouldn't be good to put in something that had a strong flavor. It needed to be the best quality she could get and something that would be fresh by tomorrow. She couldn't remember which (if any) of her crops would be ready to harvest tomorrow, but she thought maybe an egg might be good. If the girls laid a high quality large egg, she decided that's what she'd take.

Alma made her way to the community center to drop off the wheat. She looked down the hall toward the office with the vault. She checked her money; she almost had enough to buy the barn, but maybe it'd be good to go ahead and put her money in the smallest bundle. She went into the office to check; it was 2500 gold. Alma thought she could do that without much pain, so she dropped her money inside. A present appeared, and when she opened it up, she was surprised to see it was three chocolate cakes!

Thinking of the barn made Alma realize she didn't know if she had enough wood or stone. She thought maybe since she was closeby, maybe she should go ask Robin about it. She went up the mountain path to Robin's shop. "Hi Alma! Staying dry?" Robin asked.

"Not much," Alma said, hanging her hat on the coat rack by the door. She saw Maru sitting in the shop too. "I think I saw it's your birthday today, right?"

"You remembered my birthday?"

Alma nodded, opening up her bag. "And it just so happens, I have a whole chocolate cake for you right here!"

She handed the platter to Maru. "Thank you. This is great! I'll make sure to share it with Mom, Dad, and Sebastian too."

"That's very kind of you!" Robin said with a laugh. "You've met my son Sebastian, right? He lives downstairs. He's a little shy, but I'm sure he'll warm up to you if you're nice to him."

"I have, yes," Alma answered. "He's a nice young man."

Maru took the platter and started walking toward the hall. "I'm going to take it to my room for now. Come to my room if you ever want to tinker with my gadgets, Alma. Thanks again!"

"You're welcome! Happy Birthday!"

As Maru left, Robin asked, "What can I do for you today, Alma?"

"I'm just wondering if you can tell me what I need for a barn. I should be ready to build one soon."

"It's 350 wood, 150 stone, and 8,000 gold."

"Okay, I'll make sure to have all of that wood and stone ready when I've got the funds. Thank you!"

"Is that all for you today?"

"Yes ma'am, that's all. Have a good one!" She took her hat from off the hook and made her way back outside. She looked toward the caves and thought maybe today would be another good day to try the mines. She looked at the time; it was only about three o'clock, so maybe she could make it to the twentieth level before it go too late.

Alma started at level fifteen without much trouble. In fact, she made it down two more levels without any trouble at all. But soon, with a few infestations and pesky cave flies, she ran into more problems. She had to eat her two chocolate cakes to replenish her energy and health, but she was still doing okay. When she was in the nineteenth level, she realized it was already eight o'clock. If she could get through this level quickly, maybe she could get to the saloon to say hi to Harvey and everyone else before the saloon closed for the night.

It was a long and narrow cavern with lots of curves, almost like it was spiraling in on itself. Alma was running low on energy, so she went ahead with just her sword, only mining if she had to. She fought off monsters as they came and was surprised she still hadn't found the ladder to the next level. Time was running out. She desperately mined, trying to find the ladder or get out of the spiral. She checked the time as she caught her breath. It was nine now. "I'm just gonna get out." She rushed back to the elevator, trying not to feel defeated. But she tried also to remind herself that this was protecting herself and saving her money in case she passed out.

She pushed the button on the elevator to take her back up to the surface and dusted herself off as she rode up several levels. When she felt the elevator stop, she stepped through the doors and offloaded her sword and some other things to the chest by the entrance. Then she held on tight to her hat and rushed out of the caves, down to the saloon. Just as she passed the Mullners', she could see a figure with an umbrella moving through the dark toward the clinic. "Harvey!" she called.

The figure stopped and turned. "Alma?" She began to come toward him, and he walked quickly to meet her and get her under the umbrella. But then what he didn't think of was how close she would be next to him under the umbrella. "To, uh … To what do I owe this p-pleasure?"

"I was just on my way back home from exploring in the mines. I lost track of time and tried to get to the saloon to see – " She looked up at his face silhouetted by the lamppost behind him. " … what Gus's daily special was today."

"Oh! Hm, well, it changes, but I believe I saw it was pepper poppers today. If you want, you can maybe still get some before he closes. Would you – Would you like me to walk you there?"

"Oh, no, I think I need to be getting back home. Peppers this late would, uh … give me heartburn, I think. No, I believe I'm ready for some good rest."

He nodded. "Exercise is important, but don't get too exhausted, or you might end up at my clinic! Though I must say," he said, looking down at his feet, "I-I do enjoy your visits – just as a visitor, I mean. And I admit that I missed seeing you tonight at the saloon." He looked back up at her and gave a little sheepish smile. "But I'm glad to know you're safe."

Alma smiled too. "Thanks." She took a breath and looked around the square. "Well, I guess I should be getting home. It was nice to run into you and say hi."

"W-Would you like me to walk you home? It can be a bit dangerous walking around this late by yourself, and this weather is not the best either."

"Well … " She tried to think of reasons to say no, but nothing came to mind. "All right. I'd appreciate that."

"Great," he said with a smile. He held out his elbow for her to take, and they began walking back toward the west entrance to the square. "So … are you not s-scared in the mines?"

"I was at first," she said, "but not so much anymore. It depends on the day, really. Some days are good, and some days are not."

"Then was today a good day or a bad day?"

"It was okay. A bit frustrating."

"How so?"

"Well," she started, "the old elevator in the mine shaft can only stop every five levels, and it hasn't been used in so long that you have to manually go down five levels to make it work at the next fifth level. Does that make sense? So I go down the elevator to where I left off and try to access five levels each time I go to unlock the next fifth level." Harvey nodded, his brows furrowed. "Tonight, I got down four levels pretty easily, but that fifth level … I couldn't get through it. Not tonight. I just didn't have the energy to keep searching for the ladder under all those rocks."

"I see." As they passed in front of the bus stop, they tried to avoid large puddles and mud. "Well, I'm glad you stopped when you did. Make sure and listen to your body."

"I try," she said with a little smile as they approached the farm. He led her to the stairs, and she stepped up to stand under the awning. "Thank you so much, Harvey. Have a good night!"

"My pleasure, Alma. Goodnight. See you at the luau tomorrow?"

"Yes, that's right!" She gave a little wave, and he smiled with a nod before turning around and walking back up the path toward town.

TW: mass shooting, death by shooting, themes of racism

Alma joined the crowd of her coworkers, waiting to hear the announcement from their supervisor. He stepped up to the microphone and said, "Hello, everyone, thanks for coming. As you all know, there was a shooting yesterday at the JojaMart in Grampleton."

Alma gasped. "There was?!" she whispered to the people around her.

One of her coworkers looked at her and sadly nodded. "Five fatalities, including the shooter, and twelve injuries. All Joja employees."

"There is going to be an event of solidarity in Grampleton where all the Joja branches have been asked to gather and show support. We have a bus waiting for us, and we will be loading shortly. Please make sure to wear your uniforms before boarding the bus." He pointed toward the door, where Alma could see a large tour bus waiting. "But let me be very clear: this is a serious event. There will be no clapping, no cheering, no political statements, no protesting, or anything other than silence and stillness to respect the workers of Grampleton."

The next thing she knew, they were filing to board the bus, all of them in their blue and black uniforms. In an instant, they were standing on the streets of Grampleton, where something like a parade was going on. The police were leading the march through the street, and the Grampleton JojaMart employees were sitting on the backs of cars that rolled through town. As they came through, the on-lookers on the sides of the street started clapping and cheering, celebrating the heroism of those who put themselves in harm's way to save lives. A few people from Alma's branch started clapping, and the supervisor immediately shouted, "No applauding! This is a solemn event!" When they continued clapping, he forced his way into the crowd and slapped their hands down. "No clapping!"

As he was chastising them, one car pulled through the parade where three people held up fists, showing their support for the black employees who had been killed. Several others in the crowd also lifted their fists, including a few from Alma's group. "Put your fists down, you idiots!" her supervisor yelled. He went through the crowd and started pushing down their fists, and he even went to the car with the employees and smacked their hands down. They looked at him, shocked. "Do you want to get yourselves killed?!" he said furiously.

"Black lives matter!" one of them yelled at him, standing up. The car kept moving on, and the supervisor ignored him and went back to his group.

As he approached them, he yelled, "I want you all to salute!" They looked at each other, embarrassed and unsure if they should comply. "Salute!" He turned, clicked his heels, and pushed his hand up to salute. Slowly, others in the group followed suit, until everyone was saluting. Alma put her hand up slowly too.

The cars continued to roll by, and though others cheered and shouted, Alma and her group were silent, still, and saluting, all in their Joja Corp uniforms. The employees who rode by looked at them with confusion, and Alma felt embarrassed. She didn't know enough about the situation to know what was going on, but she felt like they were doing something exactly the opposite of respectful.

Suddenly, she heard a popping sound and screams. She and the others instinctively ducked, covering their heads. "They're shooting!" someone yelled. She looked up and tried to see where the shots were coming from, but more pelted, hitting some of the people in the parade. People started running, and Alma joined the crowd. More shots came, and two people fell off the cars from the parade, dead.

Alma looked up as she ran and could see a few windows open in the buildings across the street. There were guns pointing out of the windows, moving back and forth as they looked for targets. "They're snipers!" she yelled, pointing up to the windows. The guns all pointed at her group when she yelled. "Get down!" she screamed. She reached her arms out, trying to protect anyone around her, and sprinted forward. She could hear the gunshots and the sounds of bodies flopping to the ground around her. More shots came, and Alma felt pushed to the ground as something stung right in the middle of her chest. She fell to the ground, unable to get a breath. She gasped for air but could only feel fluid come up her throat. She watched feet run past her. Muffled sounds of more gunshots preceded more bodies falling in front of her. She could hear piercing screams all around her. She tried to pull herself up, but she couldn't seem to move. Her vision closed in, and everything went black ….