Chapter Text
Amber wasn’t a farmer. Amber had never been a farmer.
But now she had no choice but to quit her job, leave the city, and take over her grandpa’s old farm in tiny, isolated Stardew Valley.
One unlucky encounter with a strange animal on a cold winter night near her home in Zuzu City had turned her life upside down in a way she never thought possible, and when she woke up to a chewed and clawed apartment the morning after the next full moon, she knew she couldn’t stay in the city.
So here she was, on an unseasonably warm final day of winter, stepping off the bus and into her new life. She expected the surprisingly-still-living Mayor Lewis to greet her but instead was met by a red-headed woman who introduced herself as Robin, the local carpenter. Lewis was apparently waiting for her at the farm.
She quickly introduced herself and let Robin lead her to her new home - and almost fainted in shock when she saw the derelict old cabin. God was this place overgrown. It was expected, really, she’d been fifteen when her grandfather died and left this place to her and now, she was about to turn twenty-five. Regardless, the prospect of clearing a decade’s worth of overgrowth hadn’t really hit her until now, looking out on a vast field of trees and debris. What had she gotten herself into?
Before she could succumb entirely to despair, a moustachioed old man popped out of the cottage, distracting her from her thoughts. So, this was Mayor Lewis, the man who’s been in charge of Pelican Town for almost a quarter of a century. He was short and unassuming, and more spry than Amber had expected given his age. He shook her hand firmly as he introduced himself and welcomed her to the valley before the pair left her alone to ‘rest’ and get settled in before her first real day in the valley tomorrow.
She decided this was a good idea and resolved herself to start working on clearing the land and meeting the locals tomorrow. This evening she would have peace to unpack and adjust to her new surroundings.
The cabin was small, just one main room and a bathroom. That was alright she supposed, it was a similar set up to her old studio apartment but without the threat of noisy neighbours, and a lot more outside space. Thinking about her old apartment made her wince, it cost her almost all she had to cover the damages she – no, it - had caused, and she was down to her last 500G. She was lucky she had Hedgerow Farm to fall back on, even if it was a little “rustic”. There was no way she could afford to rent anywhere now, and in any case having so many neighbours close by would be problematic in her situation.
Ugh, she threw the trunk containing all of her measly belongings into the wardrobe and flopped down on the creaky bed without bothering to actually unpack, why did this have to happen to her?