Wednesday, 17th of Summer

Alma watched The Queen of Sauce with intense focus, writing down the steps for making coleslaw. But as she listened to the ingredients, she heard "red cabbage." She stopped writing. She didn't remember seeing red cabbage at Pierre's store, and she certainly didn't have any. Where could she get some? She felt a bit disappointed but continued writing the recipe for later. When the show was over, she smacked her journal closed and went outside to get to work.

Summer spangles were ready again, and she had even more colors than the last harvest! She saved some of the best ones for herself but put the rest in the shipping bin. Then she did the rest of her usual work. As soon as she was finished, Alma rushed south to Marnie's shop. It was just after nine o'clock, right after her doors opened.

"Good morning, Marnie!"

Marnie smiled when Alma came in. "I figured you'd be here bright and early! A cow?"

Alma thought back to her quick decision to buy two chickens last time. "How much is one?"

"Fifteen hundred."

It didn't take long for her to make the same decision. "I'll take two!"

Marnie smiled wide. "Great! They can be friends. What would you like to call your cows?"

"One is Io, for sure."

Marnie looked up at her. "Io? Just like I-O?"

"Yes! It's from Greek mythology. Io was a young girl who was turned into a cow. One of Jupiter's moons is named after her."

Marnie shook her head as she took note. "You sure come up with the most unique names, Ms. Alma. What would you like to call your other cow?"

Alam hadn't thought of the second one. "How about Lottie? Latte means milk, so … that makes sense, right?"

"It's up to you! I think it's cute."

"Lottie it is. Lottie and Io," Alma said with a smile.

"Great! I'll send little Lottie and Io over right away!"

"Thank you! Oh, and I guess I need a milk pail too, huh? I'm going to be collecting milk soon!" She paid for a milk pail and put it in her bag. "Is there anything I need to know about feeding them? Like, best food for producing milk or something?"

"It's actually the same as chickens," Marnie said. "They eat hay, but they most enjoy fresh grass. You can use a scythe to cut feed from grass. Or you can buy it from me, of course. I could use the cash."

"If I need it, I will definitely buy it from you. Oh, but here, I have something to give you too." She reached in her bag and pulled out a large egg. "This is from one of your chickens. I wanted you to know they're doing really well."

Marnie took the egg and smiled. "Thank you! It's always good to know my animals are going to a good home. Shane will be especially happy."

"Good, you tell him then." She pulled her bag on tighter and said, "Well, I'd better go. I need to run a few errands in town."

"Of course. Enjoy your new farm-mates!" Marnie said with a wave.

Alma laughed and left the shop. She went next to Pierre's to sell her produce, but she saw on the wall that today was Sam's birthday, so she saved one summer spangle for him. And as it happened, as she left the store, he was walking by, she guessed on his way to work at JojaMart. "Hey Sam!"

"Hey, Alma, how's it going?"

She pulled out the spangle and said, "Happy Birthday!"

He gasped and took the flower. "A birthday gift?"

"Yeah! I remember you said at the Flower Dance that you really like flowers. These just bloomed today! I think they're beautiful."

"They are. Thank you. This is great!"

"No problem. See you later!" Alma went up toward the fountain and didn't see Harvey; it must have still been too early for his break. So she went up to see Robin instead. "Hi Robin!"

"Hey! That barn looks pretty good, doesn't it? It fits right in!"

"It does, Robin, thank you."

"Thinking of your next structure? Of if you need any buildings on your farm upgraded, just ask me! You'll need to provide enough lumber and stone for the project. And it costs money too. But I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results!"

Alma smacked her lips and said, "Yeah, I don't think I'm ready to build yet, but I thought I'd check out some stuff. Can I take a look at your catalog?"

"Sure!" she pulled out a notebook that showed all of the structures she could build, plus the required materials and costs. Alma checked out the silo, the mill, and the big coop. A silo could still wait, even though she already had all the things to build it. A mill required cloth, which she didn't know where to get, and a big coop was ten thousand gold, which she did not have. "Yeah, I'm not going to do anything with those today. But soon, hopefully!"

"No problem. Anything else you want to buy?"

"Actually," Alma remembered, "I think I heard you sell phones?"

"You heard right! Two thousand gold."

"Oh! Great! I'd like to buy one please." She took out the money, and Robin put a clunky rotary phone on the counter. "Wow. I haven't seen one of these in a while." She looked it over before she put it in her bag. "Thank you, Robin, as always."

"Have a good one, Alma!"

As Alma left Robin's shop, she saw an artifact poking out of the ground. She dug with her hoe and found an old spoon in the dirt. "Something new for Gunther," she told herself, sticking it in her bag. She made her way south to take it to him at the museum, and as she passed the community center, she could see Harvey standing by the fountain. She had plenty of time, so she decided to go see him first.

As she got closer, he turned and smiled. "Coming back from taking something to the community center?" he asked.

"No, actually, I was at Robin's."

"Buying something else? I thought you just got a barn."

"I was just doing some window shopping, but I did also get this!" She opened up her bag and showed him the phone. "So now I can call your friend! And maybe even my dad or brother."

"That's great. It will be nice to have some, uh, connection to the outside world." He smiled at her while she closed her bag again and put it on her back. "You know, it's nice to have a friend in town. I see you coming, and it brings a smile to my face."

"You make it sound like you don't have any friends!"

"Well," he said with a shrug, "I wouldn't say I do, really. People are friendly, but I don't really get to spend time with anyone outside of work. I mean, I see Maru on a regular basis, but we never really, you know, socialize outside the clinic. And maybe at the saloon, I'll chat with Gus a bit, or with Pierre at the store. I don't mind, though. I keep to myself most of the time anyway. But it - it is nice to have someone to chat with and see on a regular basis."

"I think so too," Alma said with a smile.

"And I do have friends outside of town: some old friends from med school, mostly. But, again, there's not much connection to the outside world. I'm fortunate to have a computer at the clinic, though, so at least I can get in touch with people that way."

"That is nice. Do you all get to talk much or see each other at all?"

"Well, they're all in the medical field in cities and such, so they're all busy. But, yes, sometimes we correspond about questions or catch up or something like that."

"That's good."

"What, uh … What about you?" he asked. "Since you left everything behind, did that include friends too?"

She shrugged. "The friends I had were mostly connected to my ex, so … no, I don't really care to stay in touch with them." Harvey nodded slowly. "I'm getting a lot of new friends here, though. That feels good."

He smiled. "It does."

She looked up at him and smiled back. "Well, I should go. I've got something to take to Gunther, and then I think I'm going to try to go to the mines."

"What did Welwick say today?"

"I actually didn't check," she said, "but the fact that I found an artifact might mean they're happy. Time will tell, I guess."

"Be careful. I don't want to see you in the clinic tonight - as a patient, anyway."

"Yes sir," she said with a salute. They said their goodbyes, and then she continued to the museum. She showed Gunther the spoon and said, "I wasn't sure if it was worth the museum or not."

"Listen, I'm desperate enough, I'd put anything more than five years old in the museum." He looked over the spoon carefully. "This is a worthy addition, though. Not ancient, but certainly an antique. I'd say probably from around the same time as the cog you brought in." He looked up at her through the tops of his glasses. "Thank you, Alma."

"My pleasure! I'm on my way up to the old mines, so I might be back tomorrow with something. Have a good day!"

"Be safe out there," he said as she waved goodbye.

As Alma went north, she thought about her plan for the mines today. It was about three o'clock now, so she thought she should be able to make it five levels - especially if the spirits were happy. She realized, though, that she didn't bring any snacks. Would she have the energy to do the work? "The bath house," she remembered. She could go there first and take a dip in the bath to recharge - which was exactly what she did. She needed a bath anyway, too. She washed her hair and wiped her arms and legs before she just lay back and relaxed. After a while, though, she reminded herself she couldn't stay in there long. So she hopped out and went toward the cave.

It did seem like the spirits were in a good mood today. When she took the ladder down to level twenty-one, she saw a few monsters and not too many rocks. She started making her way through the caverns, finding the ladders and dropping down. Soon, she found herself at the twenty-fifth level pretty easily and unscathed. It didn't look any different than earlier levels, but she still felt accomplished. She took out her journal and crossed out "level 25" and thought about what Harvey said. If there were at least sixty levels separated into three parts, then she would have seen a change today. But she didn't. Regardless, she decided to make her next goal based on the same assumption: "Make it to level 40." And with that, she got out and made her way home for bed.

CW: menstruation

TW: sexual assault, nakedness, public humiliation

Alma put her emptied storage containers under her bed with a grunt then stood up to admire her dorm room. Everything was unpacked, her books were set out for class tomorrow, and she was ready for her first day of college! She could still hear a lot of commotion through the halls as other students were moving in and getting settled too. She wondered what new friends she would make. She was a bit surprised she got one of the only single-student dorm rooms, but she decided she was going to take the opportunity to enjoy alone time and really focus on her studies. Still, she wanted to make some friends, so she stepped out in the hall to see if she could meet somebody.

It appeared that the girls' rooms were on one side of the hall, and the boys' were on the other. It was a setup that didn't make much sense to Alma, but that was just how things were, she supposed. Her room was at the end of the hall, so she came out and saw a big window just outside overlooking the campus square. There, too, was a lot of energy and movement as students, families, and staff were all getting things ready for the new school year. When Alma looked across the hall, she noticed a boy unpacking in his room too, and every now and then, he would glance over at her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. She avoided his eyes as much as she could.

The hall was full of people, and Alma enjoyed watching them go in and out of their rooms, carrying boxes, books, and bags. Moms and dads were crying, boys and girls were flirting, and roommates were getting to know each other. Alma took a deep breath and smiled.

She noticed two men knocking on someone's door and calling, "Freshmen health check!" Alma wondered what that was about. She hadn't heard anything about a health check. Maybe it was just for that student? Or was it for everyone? She went to her laptop to check her email. After several minutes, she confirmed: no, nothing from the school about that. But then, there was the same knock on her door and a voice calling, "Freshmen health check!"

She opened the door and saw the two men's faces looking right back at her, bored. "Hi, sorry, but I don't think I need to do this health check? I already got my health exam and necessary vaccinations, and I don't see any email from the school about this."

"You're Alma, right? New student? Just moved in?"

"Yes, that's me."

"It's for this dorm, not the university," the other man said. "We check all the new students to make sure they're not bringing anything into the dorms."

"Oh. Well … okay, I guess. Come on in."

"No, it has to be conducted out in the hallway."

"Yeah," the other said, "for propriety. For your own safety - you understand."

"But … what about patient confidentiality and HIPAA and all that?"

"Look, we're just doing what we're told."

"Okay, well, um," she stepped out in the hall and suddenly was not so happy about all the people moving about in the hallway. She noticed the creepy guy in the room across the hall too. Everyone was still going about their business, but every now and then an eye would pass her way. "So … what do I need to do?"

"Strip naked and put her clothes on a pile in the floor."

"What?!"

"We strip search all the incoming freshmen for contraband."

"Look, I can assure you I'm not - "

"Right, that's what they all say."

"Just take your clothes off, okay?"

"There won't be a lot of attention drawn to you if you stay quiet. But if you make a fuss, a lot more people will be looking this way."

"Listen … um, gentlemen," she started to say, "I am currently, uh, menstruating. It's a heavy flow day. If I strip naked, there's - there's gonna be a mess. Can I leave my underwear on?"

"We have cleaning materials for you to use after we're done if need be."

"You're - You're gonna make me clean it?"

"It's not sanitary for us to clean it."

"Come on, chick, just take your clothes off."

Alma's eyes shifted all around her - at the two men, at the guy across the hall who was now standing in the doorway, at the other students moving around, at their parents …. There were way too many people here for this. But she did it. She unbuttoned her pants and pulled them down, then she pulled her shirt over her head. She pulled down her underwear and unhooked her bra, carefully placing her clothes next to her so that the blood from her pad wouldn't get on her clothes. They looked and felt all over the front of her body, squeezing her breasts a little too long. She felt all the other eyes on her. She closed her eyelids tight, trying to imagine this wasn't real. She could feel blood trickling down her leg. "Turn around, please." They pushed her against the wall and felt down the back of her body too. One of them began to grind against her, and she could feel his erection pushing through his pants on the back of her thigh. "Get on your hands and knees, please," he said in her ear.

"What?! Why?! Was this not enough?!"

He stepped away from her and said, "Ma'am, we have to do an anal search."

"But I really don't think you do."

"You gonna make this hard for us?" the other said, more aggressive than they'd been thus far. She got down on her hands and knees, facing the wall. "That's right, bitch," he muttered. They both got behind her, and Alma again closed her eyes tight. She expected to feel them inside her, but a bit surprised, they did indeed only do a cavity search, though they seemed to be back there a long time. Eventually, they stood up and said, "Okay, you can put your clothes back on." Alma hurriedly grabbed her clothes and threw them on while they took notes on a clipboard. As she pulled her shirt over her head, they handed her the paper. "You're all clear."

"Though," one man said, leaning in closer and speaking more quietly, "you have some anal fissures you need to get seen about."

"And you'll need to clean the floor," one man said, handing her a rag. And with that, they left. Alma looked up and saw everyone again back the way they were, moving in to their rooms and getting things settled in. But as she looked on, her feelings were so different. She couldn't wait to get out of this place.