Fall 1- Friday

There's a chill in the air that I can sense before I open my eyes in the morning. 6:10 AM, and it's dark outside. I groan, stretch, and slope out of bed, grabbing a pair of white socks from my drawer on the way to the kitchen.

A friend of mine gifted me an automatic coffee machine, which has been a lifesaver for my early mornings. I peek outside. The once lush, green foliage has turned hues of orange, red, yellow and brown. Some of the trees that border the farm look purple, or like they don't have any more leaves at all. I put my hand to my steaming mug of coffee, noticing the difference between the piping hot cup and my chilled fingers. I start a fire in the fireplace, and mentally start to go over what needs to be done today.

This is my second Fall in Stardew Valley, since my grandfather left this sweet cabin and the farmland that surrounds it to me. I moved in a little more than a year ago. My experience has been full of learning curves, surprises, and getting to know my way around Pelican Town. At this point I feel like I've gotten the hang of it, for the most part. I am actually starting to see money come in at a rate I hadn't had in that first year. Fall can mean a time for harvest, but there are plenty of crops to grow and items to sell!

I put on a coat, hat and fingerless gloves and step outside. A slight breeze curls around me and rustles through my crops, and I hear crows in the distance. Gazing out from my front porch I take a look at what needs to be done: the sudden change in temperature means that my remaining crops, if any, were tanked overnight, and I'll have to start anew with Fall crops this morning.

From my porch I look to the right of me, checking out my chicken coop. I left the door open for them so my chickens, ducks and rabbits could wander in and out "free range" style". It looks like they were up before I was, happily pecking at the hay and grass before them.

"Mreeew!" a little voice yells. I walk to the banister to see my orange cat Hobbes, reminding me that it's time for breakfast. I oblige him, check the coop for any eggs or wool, and till the soil of my crops to prepare it for the fall seeds I'll need from Pierre's. Town is a 15-20 minute walk away, and I've been starting to get to know the locals a little more. Pierre is one of the first people I met since he has all of the growing supplies I need to keep my farm running.

I run my hands in the cool water of a nearby stream before wiping them on my overalls and heading to town with my backpack in tow. Exiting my farmland means that I walk by a bus stop on the left of me and stay walking until the dirt road becomes cobblestone, indicating that I've made it to the center of Pelican Town. There are about 30 people who live around here altogether, and it's got quite a cozy feel to it, especially when autumn rolls around.

I wipe my feet at Pierre's store's entrance and give the glass door a pull. I hear bells above me indicating that I've entered.

"Alanna! My first customer of the day." I see Pierre at his usual spot, behind the register. "I've got all new seeds for the season!"

"Hi Pierre," I reply, "That's exactly what I'm here for!"

Pierre gestures to a carousel of seed packets positioned on the checkout table. I spy eggplant, artichoke, and of course, pumpkins! I still didn't have a ton of money, but wanted to have a little bit of everything for the season.

"Eggplants stay planted and reproduce every few days or so," Pierre gestured. "Are you familiar with cooking with it?"

"I am actually, it's one of my favorites."

"Splendid! Let me know how many seed packets you'd like."

A salesman first, this Pierre.

As I pondered the wares I heard a door from the further corner of the store open and then close. "I'll do the classwork later, Sebastian wants me there nowwwwokaybye!" Abigail, Pierre's daughter, cut her mom off, adjusted her bag, and was getting ready to leave. She's about the same age as me, maybe a little younger. She's got some emo/goth vibes to her and a head of long, purple hair that goes to the middle of her back. She catches me looking at her, but I think she interprets it as staring.

"Good morning," she says pointedly, and gives me a pained expression.

"Is it?" I gesture. Luckily it makes her huff out a laugh, which is what I was hoping it would do.

"It could be worse," she laughs. "How are your crops doing?"

"Well I'm about to start a new batch here with some of these seeds, but if they're anything like last seasons, I think I'll be okay."

"Awesomesauce. Well good luck!"

"Thanks. You're seeing Sebastian today?" I only really knew of Sebastian through Robin, the other woman I met the first day I arrived in Stardew Valley. He gave me weird vibes and didn't seem like he wanted to talk to anyone, so I respected his wishes and never did.

"Yeah! We're just gonna like, watch a movie or play video games, probably."

I caught a look in her eye that was more mischievous, as if to let me know that there were other day's plans at play, possibly, but her dad was right there, so these would not be said aloud.

"Sounds great!" I offer. "If you guys are free later maybe we can play some games at the saloon?"

Abigail's eyebrows shot up. "I didn't take you for a video game player!" she said.

"Honestly? I'm pretty bad at it. But I haven't been socializing a ton since I got here, it'd be cool to just like… go do something."

"Bet! I'll let you know. Especially if you're not gunning to beat any of my records!"

"Gunning would definitely not be the right word, I'd say it'd be a miracle if that were to happen."

Abigail chortled. "Some miracle! We'll see. Alright, well Sebastian's waiting. See you later Alanna, bye dad!"

"See ya!"

I watched her leave the store, her black skirt swishing from stepping out into the breezy day.

"She's a quirky gal," her father commented.

"Definitely!" I said.

I chose a handful of different seeds: Pumpkins, bok choy, amaranth, yams and artichokes– and hurried back to the farm. I was in possession of some automatic sprinklers now, which were extremely helpful– I didn't have to get up early to water anymore!

After sowing the seeds and making sure the sprinklers were on and the scarecrows were set up, it was just a matter of time before my yield would be ready.