Chapter Text
“There will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of modern life… and your bright spirit will fade before a growing emptiness.”
An alarm chimed out through a small apartment, alone on a large bed lay a woman. A woman who slapped the clock off, and who rolled over to try and go back to sleep. Yet she could not fall back into a slumber, not when the words of her grandfather on his deathbed rang through her ears.
It was the third time in a few weeks she dreamed of that night. When she and her mother visited him one last time. He gave her a letter, a letter he said, to not open until the time was right.
Within a flash she was standing in her kitchen, junk drawer opened, with the letter in hand. She still never opened it, a whole 30 something years closed. She tilted her head, the deep purple stamp completely intact. She felt crushed by modern life, 42 years old and having fulfilled nothing with her life. Her finger teased the flap of the envelope, she wanted nothing more than to know what sat inside it.
Before she could make up her mind, her alarm went off once more, grounding her to reality. Reluctantly she places the letter down on the counter and heads to her room to turn off her alarm. A harsh reminder that she has a job she needs to get ready for. A job she loathes more than anything else in the world.
As she continues to get ready for work her mind still lingers on that letter. It could be a check, she thought. Though she realizes, it would most definitely be expired by now. She spends a good while in front of her mirror, toothbrush practically hanging out of her mouth as she gets lost in thought. A door slamming outside wakes her up from her trance, she hurriedly finishes her teeth and does her hair. It’s short, luckily, so it doesn’t take her too long. She runs to her room, her eyes rest on her bed.
A truly hideous blue Joja Co. sweater lays on top of it, she had to wear it. Joja had a strict dress code, any and all tattoos must be covered up, and unfortunately for her as a young woman she decided to get a full sleeve tattoo on both of her arms.
She pulls the sweater over her head, she pulls the hem of it down. As she pulls, the sleeves slide up, exposing her inked up wrists. When she tugs them down the hem of the jacket flies up, exposing some of her undershirt tucked neatly into her pants. It was a dance she had to go through every day, Joja didn’t make sweaters in her size, not ones that will last more than a week anyways.
Eventually she gave in, letting her stomach be somewhat exposed. She hoped that no one would notice it while she was sitting at her desk. She made her way outside her apartment, but before she could close the door she hesitated. Her hand rested on the handle for a moment longer than usual, her face wrinkled in thought, nose scrunching up and eyebrows furrowing.
Quickly she ran back inside and grabbed the letter. For some reason, she has a gut feeling that she would need it.
Inside the Joja offices the clacking of keyboards deafens any thoughts someone might have. Within seconds of sitting down a slender, long, greasy man leans over her. “Helen! How are you doing beautiful?” He said through his gritted teeth. His smile was wider than any normal person, and his teeth stained yellow with years of neglect.
Helen grimaces, her supervisor knew exactly how to make her extremely uncomfortable. She forces a polite smile and turns to him. Already she knew he had signed her up for extra work, and she had prepared herself for it. He leans even closer, his breath is hot and disgusting, his hand slides over hers, resting on her mouse.
“Did you hear Frank here died?” He points to the cubicle in front of Helen.
“No.”
He shakes his head and places a hand on his heart, “Such a shame. He was an even better worker than you.” He pouts, a false one to appear more human. Within seconds his head snaps back to Helen, “And unfortunately he left us a huge pile of unfinished work.” He locks eyes with Helen, and before she could open her mouth to object he slams a pile of papers in front of her. “So I volunteered you to finish it up! So I’m going to need you to file all of this, and computerize it. Frank always was so old school with his work.”
Helen stared at the pile in front of her. It was taller than her computer, and she had to squint to even read the text on each paper. Her supervisor stood up straight, never breaking eye contact with her.
“Oh and you’ll have to do this alongside your own reports for no additional pay.” He quickly added before spinning around and walking away with a wave, “Have fun!”
Helen just sat there in silence, this wasn’t the first time her supervisor “volunteered” her to do extra work for piss poor pay, but it still broke her every time. Eventually she tried to dive into the work, but the handwriting on each page being as small as it was made her work at a snail's pace. After two hours and not having a chunk of it done she threw her head back in her hands in frustration. Was this what her life was going to be, stuck behind a desk filling in for people’s work as they died until she followed suit?
As she sat in her chair in silence a faint voice whispered in the back of her mind. Absent-mindedly she opened the drawer of her desk, she stared at her grandfather’s letter. She had put it there when she arrived at work, worried that someone might pry her as to why she had brought it into the office with her.
Her eyebrows furrowed, quickly she grabbed it and placed her finger under the flap of the envelope. She was done waiting for the perfect moment, she was opening it now.
Inside the envelope were two papers, she grabbed the first and unfolded it. It was a letter, addressed to her.
“Dear Helen,
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 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: Foxtail Farm. It’s located in 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 family name, my dear. Good luck
Love, Grandpa
P.S. If Lewis is still alive say hi to the old guy for me, will ya?”
Helen blinked at the letter, then read it over again. And again. And again. She couldn’t believe what her grandfather had written to her. Quickly she grabbed the second paper and unfolded it. True to her grandfather’s words the deed to Foxtail Farm was right there.
Unbeknownst to her, she had been staring at the deed and the letter for far too long. Long enough her supervisor noticed her lack of working. He grabbed the letter out of her hand, “I thought I told you to work? Now what’s this?” He began to read the letter, quickly and without thinking Helen slapped it out of his hand.
“I quit!” She yelled, loud enough people around her stopped doing their work to eavesdrop on her.
Her supervisor was speechless, never had Helen dared to reprimand him. His eyebrows furrowed, "Excuse me?” He stammered, clenching his fist in anger.
Helen swiftly grabbed the letter on the ground, “I quit.” She growled, turning around towards her desk and shoving the letter and the deed back into the envelope. “I’m sick of you overworking me, and I’m especially sick of you harassing me!” She continued, grabbing everything from her desk that did not belong to Joja. Luckily it’s not a lot, just a tear away calendar and a single photo of her, her parents, and her childhood dog.
“You’re being dramatic!” Her supervisor yelled, jogging behind her as she began to leave the building, “Listen, I’m sorry you think I was harassing you…” he continued, but Helen didn’t listen. She was sick of this place, of Zuzu city, she needed to start anew, and her grandfather gave her the perfect opportunity.
When she reached the doors to the office her supervisor stopped, his face distorted itself in anger, he began to scream nonsense at her, she had tuned him out. Once she got home she stood in front of her doorway for a good while.
“Stardew Valley” She read, eyeing the letter over again. For the first time in a long time, she felt excited about her future. She walked into her bedroom decisively and began packing a suitcase of the most essentials. She would tell her family of her plans later, right now she was dreaming of heading to the southern coast.
It took a week for her to get her things in order. But now she was on a bus to Stardew Valley. As the mountains passed by her, she couldn’t help but daydream about her future. She imagined fields full of crops, barns full of animals, and most of all, she imagined sitting on the front porch next to a spouse, with a pair of children running around the property as she had many years ago.
“Stardew Valley, Pelican Town!” The bus driver yelled, snapping Helen out of her head. Quickly she got up and got out of the bus, it was warmer than she thought. She wouldn’t need the coat she was wearing until fall at the earliest. The bus slowly drove off, here she was, at the start of a new life.
Helen quickly notices a red-headed woman around her own age, just as quickly the red-head notices her as well. She jogs up to Helen with an extended hand, before retracting it when she realizes Helen’s hands are occupied by her belongings. “Hello! You must be Helen.”
She begins with a smile “I’m Robin, the local carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me here to fetch you and show you the way to your new home. He’s there right now, tidying things up for your arrival.”
Helen opens her mouth to say something, but her nerves get the best of her, causing her to just nod with her mouth slightly agape. Robin giggles softly to herself, “Cat got your tongue?” She walks next to Helen, placing a hand behind her shoulder and leading her into the valley. The two walk in silence for a while, eventually Robin breaks the almost uncomfortable silence. “You know the town is really excited about getting a new face.” Helen perks up, “Oh?” She remarked, she shouldn’t be surprised, from her research the past week Pelican Town was a small community, any change would be exciting.
Robin nods, “Mm-hmm, it’s been a long time since your old farm was maintained.”
Helen chuckles softly to herself, “I’m sorry if I’m being a bit bashful, it's a big change moving out here.” She admitted glancing up to the distant fields. They looked a bit unkempt, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle.
Until she got closer, they were a complete mess, there wasn’t a speck of land that looked like it could properly be used as farmland. Robin noticed Helen’s agape eyes and mouth.
“Sure, it’s a bit overgrown, but there’s some good soil underneath that mess! With a little dedication you’ll have it cleaned up in no time.” Robin assured, patting Helen’s shoulder.
Helen sighed, being a farmer did mean a lot of manual labor. She’d imagine she’ll be spending a long time getting this place under control. When she turned back towards Robin she saw her making her way towards the farmhouse. It was smaller than Helen remembered, but it was still larger than the apartment she was stuck in just a week prior. As the two women walked up the steps the door swung open, an older man with a flat cap and large curly moustache walked out with a broom. He perked up when he saw the women, and quickly made his way towards Helen.
“The new farmer!” He exclaimed, he too attempted to shake her hand, and he too realized that wouldn’t happen just yet. Quickly he cleared his throat, “Welcome! I’m Lewis, Mayor of Pelican town.”
Helen perked up, this was the Lewis her grandfather wrote about, “You know, everyone’s been asking about you.” He continued, opening the door further for her, gesturing to her to come in and set her things down.
“I heard, I’m excited to meet everyone.” Helen replied, walking into the farmhouse she was hit with a wave of nostalgia. She set down her suitcases on her grandfather’s old bed, it was much nicer than she remembered.
Both Robin and Lewis follow her inside, Lewis pats her shoulder firmly, “Living in your grandfather’s old cottage. It’s a good house…” He looks around the small house, his eyes lingering on the dust collecting in the corner of the room, “Very ‘rustic’.”
Robin snorts, circling her boot on the floorboards, “I suppose that’s one way to put it…” She walks around, knocking the walls with her knuckles, “‘Crusty’ might be a little more apt, though.” She says with a grin. Lewis scoffs, “Ignore her.”
Helen opens up one of the suitcases, hardly paying attention to Robin and Lewis’ banter. She grabs a small photo frame, the same one she kept next to her at Joja, slowly she walks to the fireplace and places it on the mantle, next to an old dusty photo of her grandfather and one of his dogs. She turns to the pair, “It’s perfect. Thank you, really.” She walks to the window at the back and sweeps some dust off its still, “Just some dusting and it’ll look as good as new.” She smiled, optimistically.
Lewis nods with a smile and waves Robin away, “That’s right. But you must be tired from the long journey. You should get some rest, we’ll be heading out.” He turns and follows Robin out, but pauses at the doorframe. “Oh and tomorrow you ought to explore the town a bit and introduce yourself. Like I said, everyone is excited to meet you.”
Helen nods, “Yes sir.” She walks the pair out of the cottage, waving them off as they head back towards town. She looks out towards the fields again. It’s a mess as far as she can see, it’ll be a long while before her dreams of large lush farmlands come true. She turned and headed back into her new home, she was a bit exhausted just imagining all the work she’ll have to do in the morning, so she opted going to bed now would be for the best.
Tomorrow will be the first day of her new life in Stardew Valley.