Light Of My Life
1
The ride was a long and bumpy one...
it was no wonder really why Cheryl had a hard time trying to rent a moving truck to go out this far...
She was a fierce little woman-
Big bright blue eyes filled with fiery passion...just like her hair.
She insisted on driving the truck herself on the long un-catered-to road to Stardew Valley- as a precaution rather than risking her son's safety.
Though...having him ride in the back with the furniture and boxes may have She had found a listing on a little cottage on the out skirts of a place called Pelican Town for the cheap...and since she had lost practically everything in the divorce-
She really couldn't afford much else.
They couldn't put Thomas in the back due to his frail body. Cheryl's younger brother was sickly and needed attention often, even though he tries to play it off as nothing too serious-
Luckily they managed to find him a doctor in the small town, Doctor Harvey, which helped.
It's not as though Wave is untended to back their though.
He actually didn't mind the dark. and luckily he could just sit and lay on the couch back there. All of his systems were charged up so he wouldn't get bored- spare batteries for the fan, since it really does get hot in the back of the truck...a cooler full of drinks and plenty of snaacks.
Uncomfortable perhaps, but not unbearable.
He could feel the engine sputter to a stop, signifying that they must have finally arrived... so he sat up and waited for the door to come open.
"I'm so sorry, hunny, it must have een so stuffy back here...are you all right?" She asks him as she helps him out of the back to find his footing and regain the feeling back in his legs.
"It wasn't so bad..." he responded softly. Stepping into the light. His blue eyes whinced as soon as they met the sun...having bright blue eyes like his mother can really make the light hurt- hence why he really didn't mind the dark. His cherry red wine colored hair matched hers as well, aside from the added color of blue and black that he put in himself, the two really did look just alike. It would be impossibe to mistake their DNA-
Which Waverly was grateful for...
As he wasn't too keen on his old man and really wanted no part of him to be anything like Leonard Thruman-
"Hello, and Welcome!" They were greeted by a seemingly friendly ginger, much to Wave's surprise. As he hadn't expected to have a welcome party of any sort.
"Wait...mom, are you sure we're in the right place?" he asked as he took a look around where the truck had made its stop. It looked to be more of a bust station-
Not to note the broken down bus at the side or anything like that...
"Oh believe me, you're in the right place, young man." the ginger woman giggled, "The home you bought is just down the way here- The mayor is there not, clearing it up so that you can park the truck and start moving in~" she hummed, "My name is Robin, by the way. Mayor Lewis sent me here to meey you guys so that I could help guide you through."
"Oh thank god." Cheryl hummed, "I wasn't sure how much more I could drive this hunk of machine..."
"I told you to let me drive, mom..." Wave chuckled.
"You bet I won't!" she huffed, "You've never handled a truck before- and we weren't aware of these roads."
"I could have driven, it would have been fine." A young man chuckled. Pale skin and even paler blue eyes...though he did share Cheryl's hair color...
They were were a blood-bound family.
"It's fine, little brother- look we made it here in one piece, see?" she hummed, "Ms. Robin says that the house is just a straight walk down the road here..." she said to her son, "So I thought maybe you would appreciate a little air and walking the rest of the way, if you'd like, Waverly."
"Sure, I could go for that." the boy chuckled as he stretched his body and took in long breaths of fresh clean air, "It was getting pretty stuffy in there...plus I could really use a bit of leg stretching."
"No problem young man, just follow me." smiled Robin, "You know...my son is about the same age as you...it would be nice if the two of you ended up becoming friends wouldn't you say."
"Sure...that'd be cool." Wave said politely.
He was a polite young man if nothing else.
Raise right by his single young mother-
"And you, Cheryl, right?" said Robin, "Just go slow, I'll go beside you and guide you through the brush."
"Thank you kindly~" Cheryl hummed.
xxx
Getting the truck through the wooded area was no easy feat-
But they had managed some how.
As Wave walked along the ide he took in the sights around him.
A lot of trees.
Cheryl really wasn't kidding when she said she found a place on the out skirts of town...
It really was pretty deep in the woods...
"Holy- What the!?" The boy's eyes widened as he looked around the property.
Trees, rocks, branches and tall weeds and over grown grass-
Was this really a liveable house!?
"Now now...I know what you're thinking-" Robin chuckled as she caught Waverly's flabbergasted look of surprise-
"Yes...this certainly does not look like the picture I found online..." Cheryl muttered wondering herself if she didn't just screw her family over-
"This place may be over grown now but there's good soil here." she stated, "With a little TLC this place will be whipped to shape in no time~"
"Those pictures were out dated, I'm terribly sorry." An older gent stepped out of the cottage that was hidden behind the wooded brush, "But I assure you, I have checked everything and Robin and I even re-installed everything to make sure it was in proper liveable condition before lettig your family move in."
"I'm the town Carpenter." said Robin, "So anything you want to upgrade or expand on you just let me know...but for now, while the land around may be a bit whiley- I assure you the home itself is safe."
"Indeed...I would be ashamed of myself as Mayor if I had allowed a family to move into an unliveable place in out town." he gruffed and cleared his throat, "My name is Lewis...the Town Mayor, it's a pleasure to be meeting you ad your family today, Ms. Cheryl~"
"Like wise, Mr. Mayor." Cheryl said with a soft hum as she hopped out of the truck to greet him with a hand shake, "Thank you for having us in your town."
"Thank YOU Ms. Cheryl- for joining our little community, here in Stardew Valley." he chided back with a kind smile, "Pelican Town is small, but it's home and we do our best to take care of it."
"Well I assure you my family and I look forward to doing our part to help with that." she smiled, "Right boys?"
"Sure, I guess?" Wave said awkwardly-
He was still floored by the condition of the surrounding area.
"We're not afraid of a little hard work." said Thomas, shufflinf in next to his sister to greet the Mayor as well.
"Besides...we have a pair of young hands willing to do the job~"
"Way to volunteer ME Uncle Tom..." Wave muttered as his uncle teased him.
Thomas wasn't opposed to working hard...though he was a bit frail, so he needed help sometimes. Cheryl takes care of him...along with her son.
"Well then...I shall leave you to settle in." the Mayor hummed, "Should you find the time, you ought to explore the town, and introduce yourself to the towns folk~"
"We'll certainly do that." said Cheryl waving off their hekppful guides, "Good Bye now...and thank you!"
xxx
It was a long day of work...
Thomas did a lot of weeding by the house so he could clear up the flower beds for them to make use of...Cheryl did a lot of hack and slashing through the tall overgrown meadow grass, at least so she could clear a trekable path towards the town while Wave removed rocks and heavy boalders to make travel safe to wander through.
The last thing they needed was Thomas tripping or something...
Or he and Cheryl hurting themselves.
The sun was setting through the trees, casing orange rays through the foliage as the sky went from blue to dusk...
Everyone was exhausted.
"I think it's safe to call it mom..." said Waverly as he helped his Uncle off the ground to gude him inside, "You should come in...wash up."
"In a minute dear." she said sooftly as she wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead, "I'm going to try to clear a few more things while it's still light out." she hummed, "You two wash up though...get some rest." she sighed, "There's bread on the counter and deli meat in the fridge, so be sire to eat something before going to bed, both of you." she stated, "It's not much, but, I'll be sure to do some shopping tomorrow..."
"...All right..." Wave said softly with a sigh in his voice, "Just...don't stay up too late...okay?"
"...I'll be fine." she hummed.
xxx
The remaining daylight has slowly begin falling into night...
Thomas and Wave were now tucked away asleep in their beds...
Meanwhile Cheryl was still awake...
Through all of her hacking she had discovered a nice little stream not too far from the house. It really was a nice little proper underneath all the brush...
She was certain it was going to look lovely once they finished cleaning it all up...
She had returned to the house and quietly opened up the fridge, looking to make herself a sandwich before washing up and retiring for the night as well. Her eyes scaned through the contents of the fridge...
Or rather...the lack there of...
And soon they had halted and rested on a bottle inside.
A Sweet deep red liquid that made her lick her lips at the thought of the taste...Though the conflict of taking it or not was the real struggle.
She had been trying to cut back-
For Waverly's sake-
The problem became a bad habit for a while after her divorce...
She had been doing better.
But the pain still lingered...
The struggle and the sting of her ex-husband's words and actions...
She scratched at her wrists, contemplating on weather or not she should take a swig now that the work was done for the night...
But it was late...
"Well...maybe a little won't hurt..." she said softly to herself, caving into the temptation ad reaching in, "Besides...it helps me sleep too."
And that was that.
The fridge was shut with a light tap, holding the bottle by the neck in her hand, freezing up as old flash images of horror played out from the last time she had held the bottle this way-
Quickly shifting her grip to the base and shaking away the memories...sandwich in the other hand as she quietly makes her way back to the side of that little stream.
She didn't want to turn on any lights in the house while her son and her younger brother were resting their tired eyes-
Besides, that spot by the stream was well lit by the moon and had a clear view of the stars, making for a lovelyy little picnic for herself...
And the bottom of the bottle.
To Be Continued