Poppy - Stardew Valley Penny

2 - You've Got Mail

Life in the valley has settled into a comfortable rhythm; harvesting fresh parsnips, green beans and potatoes and going to the saloon after a long day of slaying slimes. Maybe it's just that the alternative to this life is being decayed and overworked in Joja Corp but the hard work of the farm doesn't bother me as much these days. The valley has so much intricate depth to it, each day I seem to uncover something new.

I make my way through the beaten path leading to the town, glancing over at the ghost of a bus stop as I pass it. I've begun to realise just how isolated this place is from everything, each villager and forest is a component in a thriving ecosystem of its own, like a bewitching secret that I am now a part of.

"Hey Shane!"

The hunched over man in a lint covered blue Joja hoodie makes a disgruntled acknowledgment at me in return. All of the villagers here are really quite kind and welcoming, though I haven't really had time to converse with them all as they are all busy with their own interesting lives. I tend to spend most of my time annoying Shane just by talking to him. He won't admit it but he seems to enjoy my company, at the very least he tolerates it which is more than I can say for the other villagers. Maybe he just reminds me of home.

The first day I met him he bluntly told me "I don't know you. Why are you talking to me?" and I knew he would become my best friend.

We stroll down Willow Lane, past the blonde spiky haired skater boy Sam who appears to be trying, and unfortunately failing, to nail a kick flip. I say stroll but it's mostly me pestering Shane with fascinating titbits of information about my adventures whilst he nods every so often to show that he is in fact listening. As we round the corner of the saloon I am mid way through explaining my conspiracy theories on the shadow people when I hear the grating sound of an upset Mr Mullner. A figure with hair the colour of maple sap holds out some mail, rather fearfully, to George Mullner. I halt. It's  Penny.

Shane glances at the situation with disinterest and continues on his way to his job at the Jojamart, leaving me to bear witness to it all.

"How feeble do you think I am?!" George grumbles at Penny, pulling his wheelchair closer towards the mailbox. Penny looks conflicted and perhaps a bit saddened by the whole exchange. I know it's none of my business but I cannot stand by and let Mr Mullner berate Penny.

"Everything alright here?" I say casually approaching.

"I don't need anybody's help!" George yells. "You are no do-gooder, all high and mighty treating the old as though they are no better than helpless children. Well let me tell you miss you-"

I cut him off before he has the chance to let loose the string of swear words that tend to follow George's conversations. 

"Penny did a kind thing here, she was just trying to help you, not patronise you." Penny looks up at me in surprise

"I really was just trying to help." Sincerity drips from her voice. 

George looks somewhat remorseful having considered our words. He mumbles an apology followed by a barely discernible 'thank you'. Penny grants him a smile in reconciliation, the matter having been closed. He pushes his wheelchair back into his house

"Thank you..."She says quietly, glancing up at me from beneath her eyelashes. She looks towards the Mullner's cozy blue hardwood home "It must be difficult to grow old."

"It's just a different part of life" I respond with a shrug. She considers this, her bejewelled eyes penetrating mine.

"You're right" She says finally, looking away from me to cast her eyes out over the town. "The river flows by without a care in the world but to reach the ocean. I suppose it's better to live in the moment than be trapped by our own mortality" For a moment she stares at the mailbox lost in thought, her eyebrows knitted. I watch the trickle of the nearby stream as robins flit above the roof of the Mullner's house. She looks back up at me and for but a slither of a second a shadow passes through her eyes, a deep well of emotion hidden beneath her sunny disposition.

"I'd better go." Her smile dipping back onto her face. She gives me a small wave, heading back towards the rusted tin trailer, that my favourite woman in stem Maru, told me she lives in with her mother Pam. I'm left standing beside the mailbox staring after her for a while before I remember myself. Shaking my mind clear, I cast a single glance backwards to where she left before I jostle on about my day.