shift || sebastian - stardew valley

Chapter Two

I woke up startled. A crow flew against my window, and it nearly shook me out of bed.

I tossed, checking my phone and squinting at the blue light shining in the early morning hours.

6 a.m. I knew my sister was already out of bed by the smell of coffee ruminating from the bottom of my door frame.

I threw my legs over the side of my bed and stood up. My soft pajama pants felt nice in the chill of the house. I padded out of my room and straight to the left down the slim, royal blue hallway into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror with glazed-over eyes, lazily adding toothpaste to my toothbrush and looking around at the bulb-lit mirror as I brushed my teeth. I made a mental note to dust the opaque lights, then ran my fingers through my hair. I looked at my under eyes, which bore a dark pink color against my brown skin. I rubbed them, sighing as I thought about how tired I was. Keeping my head down, I finished up in the bathroom and walked down the four steps to the kitchen.

My sister was standing at the counter, peering over a magazine with an oversized coffee mug that read, "Powered by Caffeine and Sarcasm"

I always smile when I see that mug. "Goood Morning!" I sang, stepping over to the filled coffee pot and pouring myself a mug that was shaped like a cat.

"Morning. I'm making tough decisions today." Her hair was flying out from under her scrunchie, her light brown curls were sprawling against her oversized sweatshirt, as she propped her leg up slightly.

"I can't decide if I want to order a Telephone for the farm or craft a Farm Computer"

"Those sound like the same thing to me."

"They're not. And no one gets service out here apparently, so I'm leaning towards the land line."

I sat down at the island on the high black chairs my sister purchased. I didn't respond, letting her make her critical decision on her own. I grabbed a magazine from the stack pushed against the side of the island and began aimlessly flipping through it. It's old; I noticed as I saw an ad for a Deluxe Chicken Coop that my sister feverishly purchased nearly the first week she arrived at the farm.

I sipped on my coffee slowly as I listened to my sister make an audible pros and cons list about either the Farm Computer or the Telephone.

"I can make dinner tonight if you plan on working late,'' I chimed in to break the stream of consciousness flowing through her.

''Okay! That'd be great. I just got a recipe to make Pumpkin Soup if you're willing to give it a go?"

"I'm sure I can handle it." I say confidently, peering over at the pile of pumpkins my sister had sitting out on the far counter. "I'm going to get ready for work, but text me the recipe and I'll have it on the dinner table by the time you're done picking weeds." I grinned, peering up at her from my mug to see her reaction.

"You're such a brat," she joked, waving the magazine my way.

I stood up, screeching jokingly and skittering away as she shook the paper at me. I made my way up the stairs and down the navy blue hallway once more to put on some makeup and a few layers of clothing before sauntering off to work.

—

"Ella! Good morning!" Gunther boomed from behind the museum's main counter.

"Good morning, Gunther. Happy Fall." I said sheepishly, his voice catching me off guard.

"I've received a ton of wonderful, interesting artifacts to catalogue today. When you get started, let me know. I'd love to tell you more about them."

I grinned as I passed him, pushing my backpack into one of the small slots built into the long mahogany counter. "Great! Is the fireplace already running? It's a bit chilly in here!"