Disclaimer: I do not own Stardew Valley
...
Having one's source of income taken away by a bunch of birds has an odd way of making one go mildly insane, or at least was the conclusion that I had come up with. The concept of constructing a scarecrow in the first place was a foreign one and one which seemed far too simple. Of course, as many things I had found, what seemed easy on paper was far more complicated in practice.
My scythe had been given another go as I garnered enough stuffing for my scarecrow, cutting down a large amount of tall grass which had the added bonus of making my property more presentable. Finding large enough branches to utilize as both piece of my new friend was the next part. Nothing that I had gathered off of the ground had the right amount of length so I had gone into my forest with axe in hand.
Now, here is where I had to admit that I lost a bit of control. The axe that had been left with the property wasn't blunt but by no means was it actively sharp. The result of which was me spending far more time than I would like to admit hacking at the base of the tree with the intention of felling the large oak.
Physics told me which direction the tree was likely going to fall and the more damage I dealt the more I became cautious of falling lumber. Eventually, and with a great deal of satisfaction, the tree did fall and crashed into the ground with an almighty crack as branches were snapped clean off from the collision. What few were left were easier to remove before I dragged all of the smaller pieces to the side of my house where I had gathered the wood from the previous day.
Now, I will admit that I did get distracted from my original task here as I now had an entire tree just laying in plain view blocking half the path to the southern walkway. By all means it could remain there, it wasn't really doing any damage but after having spent as long as I had clearing up the landscape, I couldn't just leave an entire tree just laying there. Hence my axe had gotten some more of a workout as I got to work breaking the tree down into reasonably sized pieces. Needless to say, by the time lunch had rolled around I was well and truly knackered.
Still, I had scarecrows to build and after having selected a couple of shirts that I was less likely to wear, I got to building. I am ashamed to admit that it took me far longer than I'd like to admit putting two bits of wood together in the shape of a cross. Placing the shirt into where it needed to be, I tied some rope around the base of it to hold all of the stuffing in as I started loading my scarecrow full of yard clippings. At the end of the day, it wasn't a pretty construct but it got the job done.
Having hammered it into place, I effectively just dropped the hammer to the ground and gone to bed with the sun not yet set.
...
The following morning I had woken with two notable sensations. Firstly, I was famished. Positively ravenous and devouring breakfast couldn't come soon enough.
Secondly, I was in pain. Pulling my hands out from under the blanket I could see why. It seemed that having gone from doing absolutely no manual labour to wielding scythes and axes around with all the strength I could muster had done a number on the palms of my hands. Abrasions and small blisters littered my palms and fingers, the top layer of skin damaged from the work I had been doing.
Perhaps if I hadn't gone so heavy with the axe yesterday I could have avoided this situation but that was the beauty of hindsight. I wouldn't have needed to use the axe if I didn't need thick branches if I didn't need to build a scarecrow. I wouldn't have needed to build a scarecrow if my vegetables hadn't been pilaged. Hence, I could safely conclude that I could blame the state of my hands on the crows.
Damn crows.
Going through my morning routine was challenging but I managed to scrape by before I stepped outside to find that there were no birds currently in the garden. So that was the first win of the day. Given the state of my palms though it could very well be the only win for the day as I knew that there was little to no chance of getting any work done. I didn't want to risk causing more damage but I didn't really have anything here to treat what I had already done.
So, with what little money I had, I made my way to town hoping that treatment wouldn't completely rob me of all my savings. The walk was peaceful enough and I saw that where the bus was parked was a scattering of flowers littered about. Pick up enough of them and I could imagine that they'd make a rather pretty bouquet. Thankfully these thoughts prevented me from focusing on the pain currently circulating through my body. While my hands were the main issue, I could also feel stiffness in other parts, likely from doing foreign actions repeatedly when I hadn't done anything like that previously was the cause.
Walking into town, my focus was entirely on the medical facility that I had passed when getting groceries earlier in the week. There were a couple people chatting in the street who briefly turned their attention towards me before returning to their previous conversation. I didn't imagine there was really all that much to gossip about in a town of this size.
As I entered the clinic I wasn't particularly surprised at the size of it all. It was a small town after all, it wasn't as if they needed a multi leveled hospital. I wasn't the only person awaiting, an elderly lady was sitting in the corner, her white hair almost blending into the wall. She turned to look at me as I entered and gave me a polite nod, one that I returned. It was a small gesture but it wasn't really as if a doctor's clinic was the best place to talk to strangers.
"Hey there, how can I help you today?"
I focused my attention to the person who had spoken and found a young woman who wouldn't have been too much different in age than myself. Red rimmed glasses adorned toffee toned skin while she wore what I could only describe as a traditional nurse uniform. I wish I was kidding in that regard but it actively looked like something which you could specifically find by searching for 'Nurse Costume.'
Walking up to the counter, I felt it was much easier to show my problem than describe it. Raising my palms to the roof so that they were easy to see, the nurse immediately could see the damage I had done to myself. "I see," she said before pulling out a clipboard and a piece of paper. "Normally I would ask you to fill out your details before seeing the doctor but that might be a bit painful. Are you alright with me just asking you all of the questions?"
I nodded, given that there really wasn't any other way I could go about the situation. I'm sure that I could have forced my way through the questionnaire through sheer grit but why put myself through that. So slowly but surely my answers were transcribed down, the simple ones being name, age and date of birth to officially put on their records. Listing my occupation as 'Farmer' had been very strange off of the tongue while the rest of the questions had been very straight forward.
Once my impromptu questionnaire had been concluded I was instructed to take a seat and wait. Making my way to the waiting area I noticed that during my time with the nurse, the elderly woman had been taken through for her appointment. Taking my seat, I looked at the small stack of magazines resting on a nearby table, many of which didn't particularly interest me. What did peak my curiosity was a newsletter, one which had only been printed at the start of the season.
Written by Mayor Lewis, it essentially was a play by play on what to expect for the rest of the season including the Egg Festival and Flower Dance and what was expected from everybody in the town. There was also a piece from Pierre stating that he had seasonal seeds now in stock which were to be rotated at the end of Spring. At least it was comforting from a cultivating standpoint that stock shifted on a seasonal basis. No point in trying to plant something that wasn't going to grow because there was nothing else to plant.
One other piece which did sort of throw me out of place was the warning regarding an old mine in the mountains and how it was inhabited by monsters. I immediately figured that this was a scare tactic to prevent the younger generation from exploring somewhere dangerous. There were no such things as monsters after all.
Placing the newsletter down, I made myself comfortable. The ticking of the clock was rhythmic in nature as I slowly tapped my foot every four seconds. It wasn't that I was musically gifted in any sense but frankly I rather did that then read through a motoring magazine that was six months out of publication. It wasn't as if the town was big enough to warrant having a car unless I planned to drive back out to the city anytime soon.
Minutes ticked by one after the other before the nearby door opened and the doctor stepped out with their previous patient. There was a reaffirming handshake before the patient moved towards the exit. I kept focus on the doctor however, wavey brown hair adorning the top of his head as thick square glasses sat atop a nose which housed a fine mustache beneath it. Grabbing hold of the nearby clipboard, he called out my name despite the fact I was the only customer in the clinic.
Stepping up, I silently hoped that there wouldn't be any intrusive questions asked.
...
Stepping out of the office with Harvey (as I had learnt in my twenty minute session with the town's doctor) with my palms recently bandaged up, ointment previously having been placed on the irritated patches of skin. It was comforting but I was told that it would be a few days before my hands had properly healed and to not do anything strenuous until the start of the next week. It made sense but given how much work I still had to do to make anything resembling an income a few days was a painful thought process
The door behind me closed as Harvey made his way back to his office and I made my way to the exit with my pockets significantly lighter but with something still to my name. The first round of crops could not grow quickly enough.
My hand was on the handle ready to exit the building when a voice popped up behind me. "Excuse me," said the nurse behind the counter. Part of me had effectively wanted to walk out the door and be done with the clinic but it would be rude of me given that the staff here had been nothing but kind to me.
"Can I help?" I asked as I turned to face the nurse.
"Could I see your hand for a moment?" she asked in return.
It wasn't as if anything else could be administered to my injuries so I was mildly bemused by why she wanted to see my hand. Still, it wasn't as if I had anything to lose. Meandering over to the counter, I offered out my hand for the nurse to gently grab me by the wrist. Slowly, she lifted my hand up so that my fingers were pointed to the ceiling before she held her spare hand palm close to mine, measuring our hands against one another.
"If you like, I do have an old set of work gloves which I believe would fit you perfectly. I got a new pair recently so my old pair are just sitting about doing nothing. While they wouldn't help with your current injuries they'll help prevent you causing too much damage down the line," she offered.
I hated the fact that I didn't see the offer for what it was until I after the words had already left my mouth. "I'm sorry, but I can't really afford to purchase any gloves at the moment, even if they are second hand."
"I'm not looking to sell them," said the nurse with a polite smile. "It'd be better for you to actively use them as opposed to them just sitting in a drawer until I eventually toss them out."
"Well..." I started, still feeling rather foolish for my initial statement. Rubbing at the back of my neck sheepishly I considered my next words. Sadly, I could only come up with two. "Thank you."
"You're welcome Taylor," she said, recalling my name from when she had filled out my form for me. "Why don't you come around my place tomorrow afternoon and I'll give them to you."
"Umm, sure."
My vocabulary seemed to be completely shot today.
"Sounds like a plan, my home is the main building up the mountain path just North of town," said the nurse.
"Sounds good, I'll see you then," I said as I made my way swiftly to the exit. I didn't even say goodbye, I just left the clinic thinking I had embarrassed myself enough. It was only once I was out of the clinic did I realize I hadn't even gotten the nurse's name. I couldn't go back in now, it would just make me look even more foolish.
Cutting my losses, I starting trudging down the path back towards the farmstead. It wasn't like I could do much when I got home but getting home, cooking a hearty meal and tucking myself into bed felt like a good use of the rest of the day.
Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.
...
Hope you enjoyed.