I have been continuing this since sometime in August. Took a break from it in September and the beginning of October for one of my depressions, then was at about 56,000 words when November began. I wanted a buffer before posting, which was why I put the mid-point as the "when" to do it. So, mid-point reached a few days into November, I felt I had to make good on my word.
Fall 1
Eager to get the planting done, I almost left before checking the TV.
Weather forecast, windy. Luck was in my hands. Livin’ off the Land talked about sunflowers, and him mentioning being sold on sunflowers reminded me that I had money waiting for me in the shipping bin.
Spotting a package in the mailbox distracted me. I blinked at the dark blue note attached to it.
- Greetings, young adept.
I have enclosed in this package an item of arcane significance. Use it wisely.
M. Rasmodius, Wizard.
I had to hold onto the mailbox to stay upright. What did he mean? I thought he’d withdrawn his insistence on taking me on as an apprentice.
The hand holding the note shook as I re-read. No. It said “adept”, not apprentice. Wasn’t adept a bit higher than apprentice? Like...someone he trusted to be able to handle themselves? Possibly with occasional advice. Maybe now he’d be willing to hold a conversation, but I wouldn’t bet much on it.
Thoughts still swirling, I opened the package, finding a jade inside. It’s 200 G value made me want to sell it, but if it could be important, maybe I should hold onto it until I found its use. The three kegs nearby had pale ale ready for me, and got more hops to work on.
I picked up the money from yesterday’s sales, bringing my total to 19,406 G, went to get the seeds I had and fertilizer, then went downstairs to prepare the land for planting. The scythe came in useful for harvesting the wheat that had ripened, along with clearing what remained of the summer crops apart from the corn.
Since the instructions on my 21 rare seeds said they needed all season to grow, they had to get into the ground today. To make the most money from them, I used the quality fertilizer from the mystery boxes on them. There should still be some base quality berries for the Rare Crop bundle.
A clucking noise from upstairs reminded me of my chickens, Ina and Ayame, and my cat, Belle. Ran up to take care of them, get the gold quality mayonnaise and put another egg in there. A small egg this time, as there was no large egg today. I was about to run over to the shipping bin with the mayo, before I recalled that I should be able to sell it to Pierre.
Visited the bat cave, looking for something I might sell, but it only had salmonberries, spice berries, blackberries and a wild plum. Either not worth selling, or stuff I might need for the Forager bundle. I ate the salmonberries for breakfast and stashed the rest.
As I passed the bus stop, stopping to pick up a wild plum, I considered opening the reward envelopes while I was alone. Decided against it. If Pierre saw proof of how strapped I was for cash, he might be a little less pushy. Besides, I might not need it.
Met Abigail outside the shop. “Coming with me to the beach?” she asked. “It’s so nice down there now that it’s cooler.”
“Sorry. I have to buy seeds for crops and get them planted. Some other time. I like fishing at the beach.”
“Not I. The only fish I like is pufferfish. The rest of them? Keep them to yourself. I go there to look at the waves and think.”
“Okay, I will keep that in mind,” I promised.
We parted ways.
“Welcome, Erica. Need some seeds for your farm? I’ve got them,” Pierre greeted me as I entered his shop.
I nodded to him, but went to exchange a few words with Marnie first.
“How are your chickens doing?” Marnie asked.
“They’re doing fine and have laid their first large eggs.”
She brightened at the news and started talking about ways to keep chickens happy, like some kind of special feed called blue grass, that I had no idea how to get.
“I’d better go buy seeds,” I excused myself. “The crops won’t plant themselves.”
She nodded and turned her attention back to her shopping list.
I browsed the seeds. Most of them were affordable. Then there were some really costly, like cranberry seeds, fairy rose seeds, and sunflower seeds. Ignoring those, pumpkins, corn, and wheat, I bought 8 of each of the other kinds, for a total of 2080 G.
“Will that be all?” Pierre asked, eyeing my wallet. “You should know that cranberries can be rather lucrative, as can fairy roses, especially if you keep bees.”
“No. I just needed a bit of perspective of what I’ll be able to afford, and consider how much I can care for. Right now I’d rather grow for variety rather than focus on just one crop, and focus on food crops. Sure, many flowers are edible, but it feels wrong to eat them.” I didn’t mention that I’d planned on relying on mixed flower seeds for flowers this season.
I drew with my finger on the counter to help me think. The 10 quality sprinklers I had... one had corn growing, and the seeds I’d already planted took up four sprinklers with the two corn plants that had grown from mixed seeds. I’d bought enough for fives prinklers, but only three needed to be planted right now. The two regrowing and one for single crop seeds. That left me with just two sprinklers. I wanted one for flowers near the bee house, and then I had one left. But I should be able to extend the grid, squeeze in maybe five more and hope none was too far from the scarecrow...
“I think I have space for 48 cranberries,” I said as I dug out that many seed packets.
“Anything else?” Pierre asked as I paid him 11,520 G, a sum that really hurt despite knowing it was an investment.
I counted my remaining money, then dug out the reward envelopes. “I just need to see how much I’ve got in these and see if I have enough.”
Pierre looked as awkward as I felt as I dug out mostly small sums from the multitude of envelopes. He evaded it by turning his attention to Marnie when she came to pay for her groceries.
“Just enough,” I announced and went to the backpack he had on display.“I’ll take this one, please.”
Paying another 10,000 G, and having just 211 G left hurt even more. I could’ve used that money to pay off one or two bundles on the vault scroll. Or bought myself dinner at the Saloon for a week or more.
Pierre looked worried when he noticed how little I had left. “Are you certain? I know you’ve gone without a few meals since coming here.”
“I need a bigger backpack, and I have crops I can eat, not to mention the eggs from my chickens,” I reassured him. “I did bring some in case I needed to sell them to be able to afford both backpack and seeds, if the reward envelopes weren’t enough.”
I showed him the amount of blueberries I’d brought as I transferred my belongings to the new backpack. Fortunately, it had pockets at the same places as the old one, so the cards and other stuff would be where I expected them to be.
The door’s bell rang as Leah entered the store.
“You bought a bigger backpack?” she asked me. “Must come in handy for foraging.”
“Definitely. For harvesting and mining too. Fewer trips to the storage chest.”
“So, how’re those mushroom logs working for you? I overheard you mentioning harvesting them. If they’re not doing too well, you could check the forest. I made myself a mushroom omelet with what I found this morning, and I’m still full.”
“They’re doing well enough and I’ve placed a few more. I just need to remember to check them.”
“That’s good.” She went to look at the shelves.
Caroline had come to restock shelves, and merely asked if I’d found everything I needed when I approached her. I assured her that I had.
Despite needing to get my seeds planted, I took the time to go say hello to Sam who was on his way to work, then Alex and his grandparents, as well as Dr. Harvey. Of them, Harvey was the only one who had time to talk... Well, technically speaking, George had time to talk but didn’t want to.
“Have you been going to the mines lately, Erica?” Harvey asked. “It’s a dangerous place and I recommend against it.”
“Went there the day before yesterday. I agree about it being dangerous. But taking care of the monsters there make them less likely to emerge and attack others. And I heal faster than most.”
“You could need someone to talk to. You did mention having been in a depression...” He gave me a concerned look.
It suddenly clicked. He thought I might be suicidal, or using the monsters in place of self-harm.
“I have thought about why I’ve been going there. But it’s not because of the depression. More a way to prove to myself that I really want to live. Another, bigger part, is that I need the ores and other stuff I find there. Besides, without going down the mine, I wouldn’t have been able to grow coffee beans.”
I was about to continue when I noticed his yearning expression.
“You’ve grown coffee beans? Could I get to sample the coffee made from them? If you’ve got kegs, you could use them to brew coffee. Five beans should be enough for a cup,” he said.
I considered my options. Telling him I was currently making pale ale didn’t seem like the best option. “I’ll keep that in mind,”I finally said. Maybe I could also try to put a tea leaf in a keg and see what happened. Hadn’t Caroline mentioned wanting to try my tea?
I returned to my farm and made four sprinklers, using up all I had of iron bars and refined quartz. Not all of the gold though, as I still had 12 bars of that.
Most of what remained of the day was spent planting and watering seeds. The sprinkler area closest to the bee house got planted with mixed flower seeds. I had quite a few seeds left over from what I’d bought, such as the bok choy and half the yam and amaranth seeds, but all the regrowable seeds, including the grape starters, got planted. One space of the grid remained empty, so I’d have to remember to water those eight crops until I could make another sprinkler. A rarecrow got placed near the grid end that extended furthest.
One thing bothered me. I hadn’t seen any broccoli seeds at Pierre’s store, and I needed broccoli for the Fall Crop bundle. Would I have to go to JojaMart to buy them? Another possibility came to mind. Could it be found in those seed spots, similar to carrot or summer squash? I hadn’t seen those for sale either.
Recalled the mayonnaise and pale ales I hadn’t sold to Pierre and put those in the shipping bin, before going inside to write and get ready for bed.
