Maple got out the throw pillow Haley had given her. It had been a long day of socializing. She was happy to see some familiar faces again, but Sterling was out of social battery. He was currently recharging with chocolate cookies and Journey of the Prairie King. He reflected on all the changes he would have to internalize.
Maru had left the valley for college. George had moved away after losing his wife. Emily had started a business selling crystals and incense to ward off monsters and push good vibes. Penny had run away to become a teacher, and now Vincent, Jas, and Leo were living with Shane in the city so they could go to a public school. Leah had disappeared, everyone knew Krobus, and the Dwarf had made a fortune selling weapons. Only a few people remained in Pelican Town. Caroline was running the shop after Pierre had run away with the traveling cart saleswoman, and Gus had downsized from the Saloon to a smaller pizza place. The clinic had shut down, which wasn't good, because the monsters could really hurt someone, and healing magic wasn't exactly Abigail's strong suit. The village had lost Pam to an attack from an army of slimes. Lewis had committed suicide after his affair with Marnie had been exposed. Sandy moved to Pelican town recently after the denizens of Skull Cavern had escaped and wrecked the Oasis. The town had no real leader, which didn't really matter, because they had little to no contact with the outside world. In short, it was a mess.
Sterling wished the witch had never attacked. Then, his mother would be alive, and everything would stay the same. Maple was wondering what tomorrow would bring, because it certainly wouldn't be farming. What did mom do on free days? If she wasn't taking care of her children, she would be mining, or fishing, or redecorating the shed. Maple decided on fishing.
"Hey Sterling, do you wanna go fishing tomorrow?" whispered Maple.
"Huh? Oh… yeah, sure." Sterling looked up from the GameBoy, then quickly looked back down to shoot an orc.
The next day, Sterling rummaged through a chest in the shed, hoping to find his fiberglass rod. It had been a gift from his mother after she upgraded to an iridium fishing rod. Maple waited impatiently behind him. He found two fishing rods in the chest, his fiberglass rod, and Maple's training rod. He handed her the green rod, and they scurried off to the river by the town- their favorite fishing spot.
"I got a bite!" Maple's rod was being tugged. She tried to reel it in, but it got away. Sterling just kept on catching more fish. Eventually, he saw how discouraged his sister was.
"Let's practice in the pond on our farm. There's only trash in there, but it makes good practice." They walked back to Snowyfox. With some pointers from her brother, Maple managed to fish up about 1 million soggy newspapers and Joja Colas. Another day was almost over, so they were ready to call it a night, but Maple managed to reel in one more thing. It was a strange doll, with a blue shirt, brown pants, a bald head, and a pair of soulless eyes.
"That's a strange doll, used in the Arcane Ritual of Selfishness to transform people into doves."
"I'm not even gonna ask how you know this. You just know about everything with magic involved."
"Well, let's get to bed."
"How about tomorrow, we go talk to robin about buying actual beds?"
"Yeah."