"Hello! You've reached JojaCorp Support, this is Eliowyn speaking, how may I assist you today?" Eliowyn gritted her teeth through her fake customer service voice for, what felt like the millionth time that day. Her forced smile wilted away as a barrage of insults pelted into her. She silently bit her tongue until the screaming ceased before replying gently, "Of course, we can get your money back… do you have your receipt code from your purchase so I can just confirm that it matches your Joja Jumpstart Page account ID?" Another slew of insults were hurled her way. She flinched into the phone, lowering its volume as the voice on the other side grated on her eardrums. She placed the corded phone down on her desk, giving her ears a brief vacation from the livid customer.

She flitted her eyes over to her monitor's clock, "11:43 AM". She wasn't even halfway finished with her day. I do not get paid enough for this. She thought, realizing partway through that the sound on the other line had quieted. With a wavering sigh of little confidence, she lifted the receiver back to her ear, cleared her throat, and whispered, "Ma'am…? Are you still there?"

"I said get me your MAN. A. GER. Now."

"Ahh, miss, let us not get too hasty, let me see if I can just-"

"Manager. NOW." The voice boomed from the other line.

Rubbing her temples, she obliged, sending the call to her direct supervisor, before the official transfer was processed, the receptionist gave a cheeky grin before nearly singing out, "Alrighty, you're all set! You have a Joyful Joja day, you jacka-."

Click.

The call ended before Eliowyn could finalize her formal farewell. She pulled her lips into a tight line, concern creeping its way across her face as she waited for the inevitable. The seconds turned into minutes as she soon became deeply uncomfortable in her chair, squirming around slightly. It never took Martin this long to consult an unhappy customer, he could normally just smooze them right into a gift card and some JojaCredits on their membership account. A long silence wafted through the office, so quiet that Eliowyn could hear the din of the fluorescent lights above her and everyone else's cubicles. Another glance at the clock, "11:55 AM".

She gulped, a dryness forming in her throat, Great. Just what I need, another write-up. Another sixty seconds dragged on before the door of Martin's office slammed open, the sound in the silent space was deafening. Everybody in the office jerked to attention, Eliowyn's heart pounding in her ears. Nobody had heard the door open like that since Jamie Monson had set up the skeleton prop at the singular empty cubicle in the building, draping it over the keyboard and mouse set up as if it had keeled over from stress. The skeleton prop still lay there, nearly two seasons later, spiderwebs growing more visible on it by the week. She gazed around her cube, catching the fuming stare of Martin, who was walking, no, stomping directly toward her. His eyes shot daggers at her and at that moment she wished she was the skeleton prop.

"TWILWOOD. My office. IMMEDIATELY." His voice silenced any more noise that lingered in the space, it was almost a yell, but not quite. Eliowyn lept from her seat and peered meekly into the aisle, Martin had already turned on his heels and was making his way back to his office. After a moment of contemplation, Eliowyn bustled after him.

She gazed over to see Jamie's former place of employment, now marked out with a massive heap of red tape with the word "TERMINATED" plastered across it. She quickened her pace, "Ahh… Marty… M-Dog, My Man… we can certainly discuss this right, I mean I am one of your best workers… Marty…? I can call you Marty right?" She was laying the cheerful demeanor on thick, praying to snag just an ounce of a chuckle, a gram of a giggle, a pinch of a smile. She was rewarded with nothing but a scowl, a firm shove into Martin's office, and the slamming of the door behind her.

"Hey!" She grunted in protest. Martin was never one to touch anyone, even to shake hands, so the feeling of his fingertips on her back sent her reeling.

"Sit down, Miss Twilwood." He ordered, his voice rocking into her ribcage. She obliged.

"Care to explain why I have had not one, not two, not even three, but five calls this week that all came from your office phone as a manager transfer?"

"Oh well I-" The young woman began, her face flushing in embarrassment.

"I'm not finished yet." Martin held up a hand to silence her, earning a whimper of protest. He continued, "And why have you been using such… vitriolic language at our customers? Hmm? Care to explain that, Twilwood?" The words hung in the air for a moment, anger prickling in both of the bodies within the office.

Vitriolic is a big word for him, I'm shocked he knows what it even means, he must really be pissed. Eliowyn shuddered as the words were spat at her.

"Wilwood." She responded blankly, the air in the room dissipated as she spoke.

"What?"

"Wilwood. My last name is Wilwood. And yes, I can explain why I've been so awful, so terrible, so unhappy at this miserable excuse of a job" Now she'd done it, she couldn't turn back now. "Because day in and day out these customers are horrid to us! All because of your faulty, terrible products, and your faulty, terrible website, and your faulty, terrible management, and-and your faulty, terrible everything!" The words rushed out of her like a dam bursting. She had wanted to scream this at him for months, years even.

"This whole company is a scam and I'm so tired of being abused for it!" She finally squeaked out, her throat dry and hoarse from finally speaking her mind.

Once the initial shock of what had been blurted from her passed, she gasped to herself, unable to face the wrath of her boss. She kept her eyes pasted directly to the floor, but she felt his own eyes bore into her, the thought made her feel incredibly weak. He wasn't what she would describe as a scary figure, but his demeanor certainly kept the office in check. She sat there in silence and awaited the explosion that was surely to come from him, maybe termination, maybe he'd yell at her in private or even worse, in front of her coworkers. She looked up shyly, expecting to see a red-faced brute bearing down at her, but was met with only a sigh and a groan, "Out. Now. Go finish up your work."

She scurried out of Martin's office as if she had just been slapped, crinkling down into her desk chair, begging that the prying eyes of her officemates wouldn't linger for too long. Quietly she began to return to her work, responding to emails, questions, and other meaningless messages to calm her shot nerves. It proceeded to only worsen them.

At 1:00 PM on the dot, Eliowyn promptly started her lunch break, sliding over to the company microwave to pop in her Joja convenience meal. She couldn't even remember the last time she had a fresh meal, let alone anything homemade. She hummed to herself as she thought of the days of childhood with fresh tomato sandwiches with her Papa. Her grandfather had lived on a small piece of property outside the city in a tiny mountain town by the Gem Sea. She struggled to remember the name of the town, reaching far back into her memory to find it. Pinecone Town… Pilot Town… no that's not right… maybe it was an animal? Possum Town? Ugh. Her thoughts clamored together as she stumbled through various names of animals starting with the letter "P" and finishing the phrase with "Town". Maybe it's a bird? Peacock? Pigeon? Pel-?

A sharp ding from the microwave pierced the air, dragging her down from her thoughts, but only for a moment. Eliowyn continued to muse over the memories of the little seaside village, feeling warmth bubble up inside her. She missed the outdoors, the fresh air, the quiet, the magic of that small town.

Magic! That was it! The best way to fully describe how she felt when she was in the mountains. Magical. Hints of subdued electricity sparked throughout her body, and an odd and unfamiliar sensation followed, creeping up her torso and making the woman dizzy. Oh, goodness. That was different. I'm much too young to be experiencing that-.

The thought came and went as another hit of sparks shot their way into the forefront of her mind. "The letter." She whispered aloud as she all but sprinted over to her cubicle, leaving the finished meal to sit in the slightly opened microwave.

Throwing herself in her desk chair, she pulled open her top desk drawer and carefully withdrew a large, white envelope. Dead center, holding the paper closed, was a shimmering wax seal of royal purple. The letters "PT" were stamped into the wax. With delicate fingers, Eliowyn tore open the envelope and revealed the letter inside. Dark brown scroll paper held her grandfather's penmanship, a font she hadn't seen in seasons and seasons. The letter seemed to spark beneath her fingertips, she sighed quietly, trying to keep from crying within her cube. She had cried at her desk before, but she refused to cry over something so sentimental. Not here. Not now. She steadied her breath before she began to read the last words her Papa wrote to her.

"Dear Ellie,

If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.

The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life... real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.

I've enclosed the deed to that place… my pride and joy: Wyllow Farm. It's located in the Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It's the perfect place to start your new life. This was my most precious gift of all, and now it's yours. I know you'll honor the farm, my dear.

Good luck.

Love, Grandpa"

Tears pricked in the young woman's eyes as she quickly logged into her computer, hoping to find pictures of the old town she once frequented so often. She couldn't just up and leave the city, but she at least wanted to see if she could get a look at the property that her grandfather had left to her. She searched "Towns in Stardew Valley" as well as "Farms in small towns in Stardew Valley", with little results at first, she finally looked up "Stardew Valley mountains". There was little luck, but she continued to scroll until she stumbled across the webpage for a small beach town boarding a small beach, nothing like she remembered as a young girl, but then again, everything is larger when you're six. She glanced at the title of the website, which bore a simple title of, "pelicantownstardew". Yes! Pelican Town! That's it that's the pl- As her mind swam through the new sea of information at her fingertips, she hardly had time to notice the menacing figure of Martin who was now towering over her, a stack of papers in his hands. With a loud thud, he dropped the stack on her desk, earning a frightened yelp in response. Eliowyn looked up at him, eyes wide and thoughts disrupted.

"My desk. Monday."

"Martin that's a month's work of paperwork! It's Thursday! I'd need to work for three days straight to get all these complaints taken care of."

"Then you better hop to it. At least now you don't have to answer the phones. And get off the company computer for personal matters." He smirked as he turned, attempting to saunter away. Eliowyn grabbed his sleeve, furious, "I'll never get this all done, you know that!"

"If you don't? You're fired. Got it?"

"Fired? What do you mean fired? You can't fire me over not completing an insane amount of work like that, it's not fair!"

"Who said anything about fair?" He shook his hand away from her, annoyance gripping at the corners of his mouth.

"I-... I-..." The stammering slipped out in a painful grunt, tears being held back. Any moment she would burst. Embarrassment radiated through her body as her coworkers were now beginning to stare. "You can't fire me. Or… you won't have the opportunity to fire me. I quit." She said, still holding back the dam of tears threatening to flood her senses.

Martin stared at her, stunned. It was now his turn to latch onto her, "Excuse me?"

"Let go, Martin."

"No, no, what did you say?" His voice was a booming growl.

"I said… I-... I quit."

"After absolutely everything I've done for you? Kept you here? Allowed you early raises? Kept you off the streets of ZuZu City?" His grip around her wrist tightened.

"I am capable of surviving on my own. You nor Joja kept me off the streets, don't think of yourselves so damn highly. Besides, weren't you just threatening to fire me? Why are you so infuriated that I no longer am eligible for unemployment?" Another squeeze. Her manager said nothing.

"Martin, you're hurting me. Martin?"

"Where are you going to go? Nobody is going to hire the likes of you, you can't even keep a simple customer service job?" His anger felt… unearned. As if she was just the sad fool that happened to break the camel's back. He needed a new punching bag, and she was there, ripe for the picking at just the right time. Once again, she tugged her wrist back, still within his clutches. The man wasn't tall by any means, nor particularly strong, but she couldn't manage to free herself from him. Her weakness flustered her. Her eyes flashed around the room, silently pleading for anyone to help her, but nobody moved. All just stared, their mouths agape.

The pressure on her wrist snapped her back into the warmth of reality. She winced, his hand was in a white-knuckled grip around her and she could immediately feel the bruises begin to seer into her flesh. A yelp occurred when his other hand snagged onto her as well, the pressure increasing. Fear gripped her as she once again struggled to pull away, gaining a slight advantage as she swung her bag into his side. "You're going to break my wrist, you bastard! Let GO!" With a final heave, she managed to free herself from his grasp, using one of her feet to kick back on his thigh, sending him into her computer monitor, and knocking it to the ground.

Taking the opportunity to make a beeline for the door, she fled, and although speed was another of her weak points, she managed to grab onto the handle. She flung herself into the city's hustle and bustle, leaving her dazed and exhausted. As she wobbled back from the door, she reached up to feel the small metal nameplate pinned to her blouse. She snatched the plate off her person before heaving it at the glass window.

"Like I said. I QUIT!"