"Welp, the injury doesn't look too serious." Harvey said as he wrapped bandages around my ankle, "But I do suggest that you take a lot of rest. I know that you have a farm to take care of, but at least keep the work at a minimum on that ankle."
I simply nodded and slid off the examination table.
"I really wasn't expecting you meet you first-hand like this," Harvey said, kneeling down to help me put my shoe on, "But I hope we can be past the Doctor and Patient relationship and be friends.
He held out a hand as he stood up and grinned happily.
I slowly took his hand and shook it.
He handed me a crutch and waved me goodbye as I headed out the door.
Entering the store next to it, I was greeted by an enthusiastic voice.
"Well if it isn't Farmer- woah!" Pierre's eyes focused on my bandaged ankle and crutch. "What happened to you?" he asked with concern.
"Took a tumble down some stairs. No biggie." I shrugged off the injury, hoping not to continue the conversation.
Requesting the kind of seeds and the number of them I wanted was quick. As Pierre set the bundle of seeds in a bag, his face was filled with worried.
"Don't you think it'll be hard to plant and water all these seeds with that kind of leg?" he asked, handing me my bag.
"Like I said, no biggie. I'll be fine." I turned away to walk out and slowly walked back to the farm.
I looked at the land in front of me and hesitated on what I should do. A few areas had fences around them, but some of the fences had broken down over the years of inactivity. The fenced-in plot of land near me seemed good enough.
I could barely plant the seeds, struggling to not put pressure onto my ankle. Before I could plant the last seed of the first packet, a loud, chirpy voice came from behind me. I turned around to see Abigail, the purple-haired daughter of Pierre, with two other people.
The blonde one seemed entranced at the things around him, while the dark-haired one seemed miserable to be here. Wait, I know that one. The one from last night, alone.
"My dad asked me to come over to help you, if that was alright for you." She smiled happily. "I hope you don't mind if I brought my friends over."
I glanced at the two boys standing there, keeping each other company.
I stared, then turned back to keep working. After I dropped the last seed, I crumpled the packet and try to open another one.
Man, the adhesive on this one packet was strong. I tried to open it as carefully as I could as to not rip the whole packet.
Good news, I had the packet open. Bad news, the others had all dropped.
As I bent over to pick up the fallen seeds, a hand beat me to it.
I straightened my back to meet Abigail's amethyst eyes. The smile on her face never faded even when I practically ignored her.
"I never asked for any help," I said coldly. "I'd rather you leave me alone."
I reached to grab the packets, but Abigail hid it behind her, pouting at my words.
"I'm hurt by your words, Farmer."
"Obviously." I turned my attention back to seed-planting. "I don't need help. I need peace. That's all I'm asking for."
Abigail sighed and left, with the seeds.
"Abi-" She kept on walking towards the side of the house and picking up a gardening fork and walked back, the two boys following.
"I want to help you, even if you refuse." She stabbed the ground to make holes deep enough for the seeds.
I sighed and leaned on my crutch, watching her stab holes in a straight line, then popping in a seed in each.
Blondie came over with a full watering can and started watering the lumps of dirt, intentionally wetting Abigail's boots.
Darkness loomed over me, giving my heart a jump. To my left, the gloomy boy stood there, holding a sun umbrella between us.
He looked miserable.
I didn't attempt to make small talk, knowing I would be shut down instantly.
"Out of all the places, you chose Stardew Valley?" he uttered softly.
"It's a second home to me. In fact, the only home left." I was appalled at the first words he said to me.
"What happened to the first one?" he asked.
I couldn't say anything. Slowly, all of the memories I wanted to leave behind started reappearing. One by one, they slowly ate up my mind, clouding it.
"Hey," he gave me a light nudge, clearing my head, "It's fine if you don't want to share, sorry."
I didn't say anything in return, just looked down at my feet.
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Impressive.
The energetic duo ran through the dirt and packets in a blink of an eye. They wiped the sweat off their foreheads, proud of the work they've done.
Sebastian, the name of the man next to me, and I stood by as the two gave each other high-fives and shouted triumphantly.
Looking back at Sebastian then at the bright pair, I wonder how they manage to be friends. The pair walked over to us, splattered with mud, trying to give us high-fives as well. Sebastian made a beeline out of that situation, leaving me to earn a muddy high-five and hugs.
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As I watched their figures disappear in the distance, I couldn't help but linger around the invitation they gave me.
"Every week on Fridays, the whole town would come to the saloon. Do you wanna hang with us?" Abigail asked excitedly.
"Yeah! It'll be totally awesome if you came! New-comers need to experience what Stardew is all about, right?" Sam nudged Abigail to agree with him.
"We'll be glad to give you those experiences!"
I contemplated on whether I should go or not. It was still Tuesday, so I have time to think about it.
I thought no.
But they helped out, it would be rude to not just go.
Then I thought yes.
Wouldn't it be awkward? I barely know the two. I would just be awkwardly standing there while they have fun.
No again. Then yes.
My in-head arguments lasted until I went to bed.
I'll see.
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I'm having very much difficulty writing this story. Since I've only been writing a previous story, switching to a light-hearted tone to a kinda gloomy one is giving me major writer's block. But I will try my best to write this story the best I can.
