Sunday, 21st of Fall

Alma woke up to the sound of rain pelting on her window and cabin walls, and it brought a smile to her face. She hopped out of bed, turned on the TV, and climbed back under the covers to watch The Queen of Sauce. "It's yam season, and what better way to enjoy these delightful tubers than by slathering them in a sweet, sticky glaze?"

"I knew there was a reason I liked you, your majesty," Alma mumbled to herself, getting out her notepad. She wrote down the recipe for Glazed Yams as her mouth watered. Then when the show was over, she turned off the TV, gave Bisclavret a cuddle, put on her overalls and hat, and stepped outside. She held on to the brim of her hat and squinted out into the rain over the farm. The crystalarium seemed to have another diamond ready, yams and eggplants were ready to harvest, and she could see from the porch that the maple tap was full of syrup. She looked over at the coop and thought Robin was probably hard at work inside too. Alma hopped down the steps of the cabin and started to get to work.

"Good morning, Robin," she said as she ducked into the coop and started gathering eggs, petting each of the chickens and ducks as she went through.

"Morning, Alma," Robin said, giving a quick glance over her shoulder as she continued to hammer.

Alma brought the eggs over to the mayonnaise machines, right next to where Robin stood. "Everything coming along okay?"

"Be patient. I still have a lot of work to do."

"Oh, sure, I didn't mean - " A jar of duck mayonnaise fell to the floor and rolled in front of Robin's feet. Alma was amazed it didn't break.

Robin picked it up and smiled. "A birthday gift? That's very kind of you! I love it."

"Oh! Uh, well, yeah! Happy Birthday - of course!" Alma dared not tell Robin she didn't know today was her birthday and that that was a complete accident. "Duck mayonnaise is especially good, so enjoy!"

Robin nodded with a smile and put the mayonnaise in her tool belt, then she turned back to her work, her face set in focus again. Alma also turned and went about her business, opening the door out of the coop and continuing to the barn.

Alma returned by the cabin after going through the farm, and as she organized things in the chests and decided what to sell, what to put in the shipping bin, and what to keep, she remembered Caroline's request for the pumpkin to carve with Abigail. She ran inside and picked out the good pumpkin from her stock before heading into town.

"Morning, Pam!" she called on her way.

"Howdy, kid," Pam called back with a wave. "Stayin' dry?"

"Tryin' to!" she laughed, tipping her hat and doing a spin-around as she walked past. As she came into town and walked past the clinic, she gave a little look in the window. She saw Harvey inside at the front desk, going through some paperwork. She smiled and knocked on the glass. When he looked up and smiled, she waved and kept walking toward Pierre's.

"Finally! There's somebody!" Pierre called as she came in and wiped her boots on the mat.

"Hi, Pierre." Alma took off her hat and shook off the water before she approached the counter. "Business is slow today, huh?"

"Most people stay indoors on days like this," he moped. "It's not good for business."

"Well, maybe this will help out then." She pulled the produce out of her bag, including the yams, eggplants, maple syrup, mayonnaise, eggs, milk, cheese, and mushrooms. "You know, now that I am making pretty high-quality products, I only save the best for you. The rest I just put in the shipping container for Mayor Lewis to pick up."

"Mm, yes, he exports that to bring in money for the town." He rang up the produce and opened up the cash register to take out the money for her, but he stopped for a moment to look at her. "I really do appreciate that, and I'm sure he does too. And … everyone else too, I guess. You do a lot for this town, Alma. Don't you forget that." She smiled and shook her head, a bit bashful. He wagged his finger at her, and she stifled a grin. "Now don't make me get too sappy. Here's your money. Want to buy any seeds? Might be able to get another amaranth, wheat, or bok choy harvest before the season's out."

"Sure, let me have some wheat please." He gave her the seeds and the rest of her money, and before she turned to leave, she asked, "Oh, right, is Caroline home?"

"Yeah, she and Abby are both back there. And, hey," he said with a look, "keep your nose where it belongs this time." He smirked to lighten his tone, but Alma knew he was serious.

She thanked him carefully and headed to the back door. "Caroline?" she called. She hoped for a quick response this time.

And she got one: she could hear Caroline's voice say, "We're in here!" Alma still gave a little knock on the bedroom door before she pushed it open and saw Abigail and Caroline both standing there. "Oh, Alma! Come in!"

"Sorry if I'm intruding, but I came to bring the pumpkin you requested," she said, pulling her bag around to get it out.

"Oh the pumpkin! Yes!"

"For carving jack-o-lanterns?" Abigail excitedly asked.

"That's right!" Caroline answered. Then she said, almost to Alma as an aside, "Fall is Abby's favorite season, so I'm hoping she'll come out of her room more often."

Abigail rolled her eyes at this and said, tongue-in-cheek, "Alma, I was thinking about dyeing my hair again." Caroline looked at her, obviously upset. "What do you think?"

Alma froze and looked between Caroline and Abigail, not sure what the best answer would be here. Black? Blonde? Natural? She knew Abigail was doing this as an act of defiance, and as she looked at Caroline with green hair and Abigail with purple, in the grand scheme of things, did hair color really make that much of a rebellious statement? So why not encourage her to go all out? Alma shrugged and nonchalantly answered, "How about bubblegum pink?"

Abigail laughed and said, "You're always good for a laugh!" Caroline shook her head with a smile, like she still didn't know what to do with her daughter but was thankful Alma was there to help dissolve the situation.

"Then will this make you laugh?" Alma handed over the big, bright pumpkin, and they both gasped.

"It's a good one," Caroline said. "Abigail will be so happy when she sees this."

"Uh, I'm seeing it now," Abigail said. "But, yes, I am so happy!"

"Thanks, Alma!" Caroline said, giving her the gold.

"No problem. You two enjoy!" she said as she pulled her bag back onto her shoulders. "I've got some more errands to run, so I'll see you both later."

"Bye!" Abigail called with a wave. Caroline smiled too on her way out.

As Alma came out of the bedroom, she could hear the belltones from the Yoba altar and paused for a moment. She remembered when she stopped by before for a moment of thanks, and she was struck again that she needed to take another moment of gratitude. She walked quietly toward the temple room and took a seat just outside the door. She closed her eyes, listened to the quiet prayers of the people inside, and said a little prayer herself. When the bell struck again, she opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and stood up to go back toward Pierre's store. "See you later, Pierre!" she called as she went through to the front door.

She went next to Clint's smithy to process an omni geode she had gotten from the mines before. "The weather doesn't really matter to me," he said before he struck the geode with his hammer. "I typically stay near my shop year-round." Out of the geode came several gold pieces, and he handed them to her with a sad look on his face. "Depressing, huh?"

Alma took the gold ore, but she was thinking more about what Clint was saying. She had the impression Clint felt lonely and wanted someone to confide in. She carefully said, "No, I understand. The weather doesn't really matter to me either; there's always work to be done for both of us, isn't there?"

"I suppose so," he said, placing his hammer on the anvil. "That's enough gold ore there to smelt a bar, if you've got coal. Four more of those and I can eventually make you some gold tools. That should help you out a lot."

"Yes, my plan is to upgrade tools a lot next season because I won't be needing them as much. So I will smelt as many bars as I can and get back to you," she said with a confident nod. He nodded too, still looking a bit unsettled. "I'll see you around, Clint." She gave him a wave before putting back on her straw hat and heading outside into the rain.

Alma made her way back into town, thinking about the gold. Clint was right; she now had enough to make a gold bar, and she knew she needed one in the community center. And she remembered too, did she ever donate an iron bar? She knew she had some of those that she had smelted already in her chest. She'd have to go back and check. She went back to the farm, filled the furnace with coal and gold, and left it to do its work. As it was going, she remembered, too, that the traveling saleswoman would be near the forest today, so she went south to see if she had anything worthwhile. "Good afternoon," she said to her, patting her large pig on the head.

"Yes, good afternoon, farmer. Come to see what I've got?" The woman motioned her hands to her selection, and Alma looked it over. Chocolate cake, fertilizer, a rarecrow, a sea urchin … not much that Alma was interested in. But then she saw one thing that she did need: a pomegranate. She was selling it for six hundred gold, which she knew must be overpriced. But the only way she herself would be able to get a pomegranate would be to buy a sapling from Pierre and wait for it to bear fruit, which wouldn't happen until at least next spring. So she bit the bullet and decided to buy the pomegranate. "An excellent purchase," the woman said. "Anything else I can get for you?"

"No, thank you, I think that will be it," Alma said, putting the pomegranate safely in her bag. She tipped her hat to the woman and said goodbye until Sunday, then she went back north to check on the gold bar.

The furnace had finished churning, and she was able to carefully pull out the freshly smelted gold bar. As soon as the rain hit it, it started to cool. Alma placed it in her bag and took out an iron bar from her chest as well. She walked through the rain to the community center and pushed open the creaky door. She could hear rain pouring through cracks and holes in the ceiling, and the sound of her heavy footsteps still echoed throughout the building. But Alma was starting to feel a great sense of peace from inside the community center. She sighed as she placed the pomegranate in the hallway bundle for the wizard, then she went toward the boiler room. She was glad she brought the iron bar because, sure enough, she had not yet put one there. And by placing her iron bar and gold bar inside, that bundle was now complete. A present appeared, and she opened it to reveal another furnace. "Well, that will help get double the work done!" she said happily as she took it and pushed it into her bag. "Thanks, Junimo!" she said to the air.

Alma left the center and stood under the big cherry blossom tree just outside. It was still light out, so it was a bit too early to go to the saloon to meet Harvey. "Time for some fishing," she said, going south. She walked past the Mullners' house and Pam's trailer and stood on the bridge. She cast her line and waited patiently for the ever-elusive catfish, though all she was catching were fish she didn't necessarily want. "It's the last week of fall," she thought to herself. "I'm running out of chances to get catfish until next spring!" She pulled up another shad with a moan and cast her line again. Something bit fairly quickly and started jumping around - Alma knew it was a catfish! She tried to stay calm and stick with it, reeling in and giving slack when she needed to. But soon, she felt the line snap as the catfish swam away. "Dangit!" she yelled, putting another line on the rod. "One more time," she told herself, "then I'm going to the saloon."

She cast her line again and when a fish started tugging, she noticed something unusual but familiar. The fish felt heavy, like there was something else stuck to the line. "A treasure chest!" She remembered the last chest that gave her five thousand gold, and she was hopeful for another - though she knew that couldn't possibly happen often. She focused hard, trying to make sure the fish came up on the line. Sure enough, she had caught another sunfish, and with it, a treasure chest. She put the fish in her bag, set down the chest, and opened it to reveal what appeared to be a frog fossil and some jewelry. It looked too big to be a ring but too small to be a necklace. Maybe a bangle? It was dirty but still beautiful, with mysterious words etched along the side. It was definitely a mystery for Gunther to solve. But for now, time for the saloon.

When Alma came through the saloon door, she could see a fair crowd there. Clint raised his stein to her from one side of the room, while on the other side, Lewis gave Alma a wave between his conversation with Marnie. Pam was at her normal spot at the bar, and Demetrius and Pierre were chatting on the other end of the room. "Hi, Alma," Gus called. "I'll take your order in a few moments."

"No worries, Gus," Alma said, wiping her boots. "Take your time." She took a seat at the bar, placing her bag on the floor next to her. She took off her straw hat and shook her hair out a bit. Then, with a sigh, she leaned over the bar and took a glance around the room. To her surprise, she saw Elliott approaching her. "Well, hey, Elliott."

"Hello, Alma! What a pleasant surprise!" he said, standing next to her at the bar. "You're waiting for your, mm, personal physician, yes?

"Yeah, I'm a bit earlier than I normally am," she answered with a chuckle. "How's writing coming?"

"Ah, well, all right, I suppose. I was just stopping in to relax after an eight-hour writing session."

"Wow, that sounds … exhausting? But maybe also inspired, hopefully?"

"Yes, exactly," he answered, turning toward the bar. "Bartender! Two of your finest ales, please!" Gus shot Elliott a look and walked toward the tap, rolling his eyes. Elliott turned back to Alma and smirked, leaning on the bar. "I should take my opportunity to buy you a drink since the doctor hasn't yet arrived."

"Well, that's nice of you, Elliott, but you don't have to."

"There you go, sir," Gus said flatly as she brought over the two drinks.

Elliott took one of the pint glasses and handed it to Alma. "A gentleman never has to buy a drink for a lady." He started to lift the glass to his lips, but he stopped and said, "Wait, of course. Where are my manners? I propose a toast! To … hm …."

"To our friendship!" Alma suggested, lifting up her glass.

"That's a great idea! Here's to us!"

"And our friendship," Alma said again, a little firmer.

"Yes, of course," he said, tipping his glass to touch hers. They both drank, and Alma was surprised to see Elliott drink quite a bit. He placed the half-empty glass on the bar and flipped his hair with a hiccup. "Strong stuff," he said, beating his chest.

"So, marathon writing sessions are quite hard, I imagine?"

"Indeed," he said with another hiccup. "The long hours are both tortuous and insightful, daunting and enticing." He looked at the drink in his glass and said, "The sweet friction of pen and paper is the music of my soul." Then he looked up to Alma and curled his hair behind his ear again. "That's why I chose this beach as my home, so I could have peace and quiet to do my work." She could already see his eyes glazing over a bit and his eyelids lower in relaxation. He inhaled and closed his eyes, listening to the music from the jukebox. "Speaking of music …" The music on the jukebox played, and Alma watched as Elliott started to bob up and down to the rhythm. "Do you dance, Alma?"

Alma snickered and shook her head. "Not much, no."

"So you don't fancy a dance with me then?"

"I'm all right, thanks."

He pushed himself off the bar and began to bounce to the music. "I guess that means I will have to dance with myself then!"

Alma chuckled and took a sip. "Just keep your head on you and be careful not to fall while you dance." She had never seen Elliott relaxed like this. He always seemed so formal and refined, so seeing him a bit more casual was refreshing.

Just then, the door opened, and Harvey came through. He had his coat over his head to keep the rain off of him, and he shook out his coat and wiped his feet as he stepped into the saloon. "Ah, there's the good doctor now!" Elliott said maybe a little too loud. Harvey looked up, a bit surprised, and walked toward them, folding his coat over his arm. "Don't mind me, Doctor," he said, clumsily stopping his galavanting. "Just expressing my thanks to your lovely amoureuse for her companionship."

"- which has been totally platonic, by the way," Alma said with a snicker, wagging her head at Elliott's demeanor under alcohol.

Dr. Harvey smirked and said, "Well, uh, don't let me spoil the moment between you two."

"No, no, by all means, Doctor," Elliott said, bowing out, "I will make my exit and leave you two to enjoy the evening undisturbed." He lifted up his glass one more time before turning and going to another table.

Harvey took a seat next to Alma as they both watched him leave. "Well. That was weird," Alma said, "but … sweet, I guess?"

"I think that is Elliott's general aura: a, uh … little p-peculiar but genuinely nice. But maybe I should be worried? He, uh … he has a nice physique, a quaint cabin on the beach, charming words …."

She brought his head toward her and kissed him on the cheek. "There's nothing to worry about."

"And that hair! I can't compete with that hair."

"No one in Stardew Valley could compete with that hair, I don't think," she laughed. "But you could always grow yours out. Then you'd have the impeccable hair and the magic mustache." Harvey laughed, and Alma continued teasing, "And who needs charming, flowery language when you know medical terminology? I mean, all that Latin and Greek knowledge!"

"That's true - ipsum venereum."

"Plus, you live in a studio apartment with a microwave. What's not to love about that?"

"Okay, now w-wait a minute -"

"And your physique is a dad bod in the making, which lots of people find very attractive!"

"All right, all right, this joke is cutting a-a little deep," he said with a laugh, pushing her away.

She laughed too and settled back on her stool. "Sorry, the ale is a bit strong. Makes me more sassy, I guess."

"I'm keeping my eye on you." He turned and waved Gus down, asking for a cup of coffee. "You need anything else? Some food, perhaps?"

"I'm okay for now, thanks."

"Coffee coming up," Gus said.

Harvey turned back to her and said. "Some food might do you good, with the rain. I'm sure you've been working hard all day. When you eat certain foods, you'll perform better. Eating a 'Farmer's Brunch' will give you the nutrition you need to water and harvest crops better!"

"Well, thank you for looking out for me, but I'm not planning on doing any more work tonight. Just relaxing now." Alma shifted her weight and leaned on him.

Gus handed Harvey his coffee and said, "I sell different dishes each week, so make sure and check in every now and then! Farmer's Brunch is in the rotation! And who knows - you might taste something spectacular. Just let me know if you have any allergies."

"Noted, Gus. Thank you," Alma said.

"I appreciate you looking out for the health of others, Gus."

Gus nodded and glanced between the two of them. "Okay, see you around."

Alma waited a moment then mumbled, "I think my PDA scared him off."

Harvey chuckled and put an arm around her to support her weight. "Yes, because you're just being so inappropriate right now. I can't take you anywhere." He kissed the top of her head, and she sat up again on her stool and took another sip of her ale. "So how was, uh … how was your day?"

"Pretty good. Just a bunch of errands. Robin's working on that final coop upgrade. I finished another bundle in the community center. Did some fishing. Not a lot. How about you? Was it busy today at the clinic?"

"Oh, no, the weekends tend to be slow. On Sundays I just prepare for the upcoming week. Get things organized, restocked - that kind of thing. But the, uh, rain gave me something to … to look forward to," he said with a little smile and a glance her way. She stifled a grin too and held up her glass to him. He clinked it with his coffee mug, and they both took a sip.