Friday, 12th of Summer

Alma did not sleep well. She didn't have any nightmares, but she tossed and turned all night - partly from indigestion and partly from stress about Harvey. She was not looking forward to today. But the farm called in the form of a far off rooster, so she made herself get out of bed.

When she went outside, she saw she had a letter from Gus, with an enclosed recipe for Salmon Dinner. Gus was such a sweetheart, and it was nice to know that he considered her a good friend. She folded up the recipe and put it in her pocket. Then she looked out over the crops and saw that tomatoes and peppers were ready to pick. She got her watering can and did her normal morning routine: water, harvest, Biz, chickens, eggs, mushrooms.

As she put things in the chest, she was reminded that she needed to gather stone and wood for the barn. She had the money now, and looking in there, she saw she had more than enough stone. But the wood … she only had eleven pieces of wood, where she needed 350! "Well, I know what I'll be doing today," she said to herself. The day was already about half done, and she was depleted of quite a bit of energy. So she decided to go into town first and then chop trees for the rest of the day. If she was done before five, she would go to Robin to buy the barn.

Alma went first to the community center to drop off a tomato in the summer crops bundle. All she lacked there was a blueberry, which she hoped would be ready soon. She went next to Pierre's to sell the other crops. As she reached to exit, the door opened in front of her. It was Harvey coming in. It startled him a bit, and they both instantly felt awkward. "H-Hi, Alma."

"Hello, Doctor," she said, looking down. "Coming to buy your groceries?"

"Yes, uh … this stuff can definitely be incorporated into a healthy diet."

She shook her head with a smile. "That it can. And I've just dropped off some fresh tomatoes and peppers, so you'll have some more options to diversify your food. Excuse me, please," she said, pulling her bag a little tighter on her shoulders.

"Oh, yes, of course, sorry," he said, letting her by. "I'll, uh … see you around then?"

"Yes, have a good day!" she called behind her. As she walked away, she could feel her chest start to heave and her eyes get warm. She closed her eyes tight, feeling angry with herself, but the tears started flowing. By the time she got to the farm, she had spiraled into a hole of self-loathing and self-pity and pain and anger and so many familiar demons that had come up from her past. She grabbed her ax and started chopping down trees. She was yelling and crying, making field snacks as she went to replenish her energy and chop some more. By the time she had gathered enough wood, it was late into the night. She dropped her ax and fell to the ground. She sat and cried, trying to calm herself down. She was so tired. She gathered up her wood, put it in the chest, and crawled into bed, cuddling Bisclavret.

TW: heart attack

Alma stepped out in the morning sunshine to get to work on the farm, but when she looked out over her crops, she saw a man already watering them. Bisclavret was next to him, wagging his tail and panting happily as he supervised the man's work. Alma came down the stairs, and the man turned around. He was a tall, trim man with a short-cropped beard and kind brown eyes. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place where she knew him. "Ah, good morning! I could use your help." He pointed to where she had harvested radishes the other day. "I saw you forgot to replenish your radish supply, and now the ground needs to be tilled and fertilized again. If you'll do that, I'll finish up the watering."

"Who … who are you?" she asked.

He smiled and wiped his brow. "You don't recognize your own grandpa, huh?" Alma covered her mouth, not believing her eyes. "I guess I do look quite a bit different than the old man you knew as my little Almaroo." She ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. He still smelled like pennies, flannel, and Old Spice, and she loved to hear his little chuckle as he squeezed her tighter. "I've got to say, you've done a really great job here, Alma. And this fella is a great helper," he said as he rubbed Bisclavret's head.

"He is the goodest boy." She chuckled and got her hoe and fertilizer. "I guess it looks pretty sparse compared to what it looked like when you took care of it."

"Oh, well, this looks better than mine did by the beginning of my first summer. I mean," he gestured to the cabin, "you built a kitchen! We never had that, and you did it by the end of your first season!" he laughed.

"Yeah, what did you all do?!"

"Well," he said, continuing the watering, "right about where you're standing, there was a fire pit."

Alma poured on the last of the fertilizer and scoffed. "I know how to build a campfire. Why didn't I think of that?!"

Her grandfather laughed. "There will be a lot of times you'll have that feeling." He finished up the watering and put the can back in the chest. "You wanna come with me to the coop?"

"Sure!"

"Y'know, Alma," he said as they started to walk, "I know some others have blamed you for how you handled the deed. But I want you to know … you've done exactly the right thing." Alma nodded, feeling her eyes well up with tears. "One reason you and I bonded when you were younger was because I saw a lot of myself in you. I knew you had a lot of hopes and dreams, and I was concerned that when you grew up, you would be let down by the harsh reality of the world. That's what happened to me, and I wanted you to have a way out if you felt trapped."

"Thanks, Grandpa. That means a lot."

He looked down at the chickens contentedly pecking away at the grass just outside their coop. "Well, these little ladies look pleased as punch! And you know what they say: happy hens lay the best eggs."

"I try to take good care of them," she said, giving each of them a little pat. They ducked inside the coop and each got an egg. Alma was happy to see that today they were both large and looked to be of good quality.

"Judging by the looks of these eggs, you definitely have some happy chickens!" He handed her the egg in his hand, and she carefully placed it into her bag. "Now, I am very keen to see how Dr. Demetrius has set up this mushroom research lab or whatever in the little cave!"

"Follow me then," she said. "Was this cave here when you - "

"Nope! In fact, I knew there was some hollow ground back there, but I was scared to disturb it because I was concerned about a landslide or something." They stepped in, and he whistled as he squatted down to see one of the six mushroom stations. "Now this is neat. I wonder what he's doing to make these produce mushrooms so frequently."

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's good for me!" she said as she started pulling up mushrooms. "Oh, since you're here, I wanted to ask you: do you know anything about the Junimo?"

She watched as his face slowly grew into a big smile. "They found you, huh?"

Alma gasped. "Harvey was right! I knew it!"

"Oh, yes, and I want to ask you about this Dr. Harvey," he asked as they started walking back to the cabin. Bisclavret joined them at their side, and he especially stayed close to Alma's grandfather.

"Grandpa, please. Spare me." He laughed, and as his laugh grew, he started to cough. She patted his back, and she noticed that his face changed. Bisclavret started barking at him. He suddenly looked pale, his eyes wide, and he grabbed at his chest. "Grandpa?!" He fell to his knees and started sputtering, trying to speak. "No, no, stop, just breathe." His breaths were quick and shallow, and he fell on the ground. "Someone help!" she yelled. "Please! Someone!" Bisclavret circled around them. "Biz! Go get the doctor! Go get Dr. Harvey, Biz!" The dog ran down the road into town, and Alma looked back down at her grandfather. His eyes started to roll back into his head. Alma patted his cheek and started crying. "Grandpa! Grandpa, please. Grandpa …."