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Chapter Text

She pondered the envelope in her hands. ‘When the burden of modern life is too much’ was written on the front in her grandfather’s messy scrawl, with a purple seal on the back bearing the letters ‘PT.’

Had the burden of modern life begun to crush her? It certainly felt like it. First, her girlfriend of many years had admitted to cheating on her for months and had broken up with her for the other woman. Then, not even a week later, she was fired because her manager at Joja had thrown her under the bus to cover his own ass. After all of this, she realized that she would hardly have enough money for rent this month.

“Fuck it,” she muttered and began to open the letter, carefully prying the seal on the back up.

Dear Millie, it began. She felt tears prickle her eyes at the nickname only her grandfather had used. 

If you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change. The same thing happened to me, long ago. I’d lost sight of what mattered most in life… real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.

I’ve enclosed the deed to that place… my pride and joy: Blackberry Farm. It’s located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It’s the perfect place to start your new life.

This was my most precious gift of all, and now it’s yours. I know you’ll honor the family name, my dear. Good Luck.

Love, Grandpa

P.S. If Lewis is still alive, say hi to the old guy for me, will ya?

Along with the letter was the deed to the Hudson family farm, Blackberry Farm, as promised. She always loved staying there with her grandfather over the summer as a child and had many fond memories of the place.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Amelia Hudson resolved to take over her grandfather’s old farm and make it the best she could. Her grandfather knew she would need an out from city life and had given it to her neatly folded in an envelope sealed with purple wax and she’d be damned if she didn’t take advantage of it.

~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead after she had zipped up her suitcase. She had crammed it as full as she could with clothing and other belongings, but she still had some things that she would have to stuff in her duffel and backpack before she left. She planned to leave a couple days after Winter Star so she could save herself the trip back for the holiday.

Shit. I still have to tell Mom and Dad, Amelia realized with a groan. Dad’s gonna kill me. She rubbed her face. That’s a conversation for after Winter Star.

She had already called the mayor of Pelican Town, the ‘Lewis’ that her grandfather had mentioned in his letter. He said that the local carpenter had been maintaining the house, so she would be able to move in as soon as she arrived in town. She was glad, as she would not have to pay another month in rent, just the fee for breaking her lease, which she had negotiated down to just over half the amount her landlord had been asking for. 

As Amelia looked over the pile of clothes still on her bed, a selection of jeans and shirts she had bought the day before for field work, she felt the most free she had in years.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Harvey Johnson was not typically the type to listen to gossip, but it was unavoidable when something big was happening in town and Evelyn Mullner was in the clinic. Today, she was in with her husband, George, for his seasonal check-up and was talking about the notice Mayor Lewis had put up on the bulletin board outside of Pierre’s shop.

“Oh, I’m just so glad that little Millie is taking over the farm. Albert was always so proud of her and she was always such a joy to be around,” Evelyn went on as Harvey checked George’s blood pressure. “I think she would be around your age, Dr. Harvey. Maybe the two of you would get along!”

Harvey said nothing, only humming as he wrote down George’s vitals. He had to admit, he was intrigued as to why a woman in her early 30’s, if Evelyn was to be believed, would up and move from Zuzu City to her late grandfather’s farm, nearly five years after he passed. Was she running from something in the city? What had to happen to prompt her to leave her life behind and move to a small town over two hours away?

Harvey shook himself from his thoughts.

“Well Mr. Mullner, your blood pressure is still higher than I would like but it is down from your last check-up. Other than that, everything seems to be fine,” He turned to address Evelyn. “Make sure he keeps taking his medicine. I’ll go ahead and refill the prescriptions he’s almost out of to save you another trip here. Go ahead and go up to the front and check out with Maru while I get those for you.”

Evelyn smiled warmly at him. “Of course, dear,” she replied, beginning to push George out of the exam room. She turned back before she went through the door. “Dr. Harvey? Mayor Lewis is going to bring Millie to the saloon the night she gets here to introduce her to some of the folks around here. I really think you should come and meet her.”

Harvey stared after Evelyn as she wheeled George out of the room. She had a point. If there was going to be someone new in town, he should meet her before she needed his help. He still didn’t like that Evelyn was trying to push him and the new Pelican Town resident together before they even met, though.

~~~~~~~~~~

Only a couple days later, at the Feast of the Winter Star, everyone seemed to be talking about Pelican Town’s new resident. Harvey knew that it had been awhile since anyone new had come to town, with him being the most recent, coming only four years prior, but he didn’t like that this ‘Millie’ was the only thing everyone seemed to want to talk about. 

“Oh, I remember when Millie was just a little girl! She was always following Albert around like a shadow when she stayed with him for the summer,” Marnie reminisced excitedly. “It didn’t matter if he was feeding the animals, watering the crops, or even just running errands!”

“Oh, I remember that! Albert just adored her! He would brag about what she had done at school and I think he even had some of her perfect exams hung on his fridge,” Evelyn responded as George gave a harumph and wheeled over to where Harvey was standing.

“I don’t get why everyone is so excited. Millie was a decent girl but I don’t get why she waited so long to come back. She hasn’t bothered to come back for damn near a decade, except for Al’s funeral and she didn’t even stay past the funeral. She took off to the damn city as soon as she could. Why the hell is she coming back now?”

Harvey listened to George complain and nodded along, pausing before responding.

“It is strange she chose to come back and take over the farm now but don’t be too hard on her when she gets here. She may not have had a choice before now to come back.”

George scowled slightly at Harvey’s reply but said nothing, only wheeling over to the table where his grandson Alex sat. Harvey watched as Alex handed over a plate of food he had gotten for his grandfather, making George smile slightly. For as grumpy as George was, he loved his grandson and appreciated everything that he did.

Harvey looked away and began walking over to the tables loaded with food. Gus always went all out for town festivals and yet always outdid himself for the Feast of the Winter Star. There were dozens of trays piled high with food and Harvey knew that Gus had backup trays of every dish present back at the saloon. He always would give Harvey several boxes of leftovers, stating that it was “his Winter Star present for everything he does for the community.” Harvey had a sneaking suspicion that Gus knew his diet consisted nearly exclusively of frozen meals most of the year, and just gave him the leftovers to make sure he ate something not loaded with preservatives. 

At least I’ll be eating fairly well for the next week.

Chapter Text

Amelia scowled as her sister showed off her engagement ring. Allison had always been the more successful of the two Hudson girls, both with romance and jobs, and loved to rub it in Amelia’s face. 

“Isn’t it just stunning? Brad setup such a romantic proposal! We had dinner on the rooftop terrace at Chez Amor and he had hired this amazing band…” 

Amelia tuned her sister out. Allison had just gotten engaged and here she was, dreading telling her parents that she had gotten dumped and fired and was going to be moving out to Grandpa’s farm. She wanted to just tell them and get it over with, so she didn’t have it weighing on her, but she knew it would just bring the mood down. Thankfully, no one had asked about her now-ex partner’s absence yet. Everyone was more interested in Allison’s recounting of the proposal.

Hopefully it stays that way. I don’t want to answer any questions today. Especially now, after Allison has rubbed her superiority in my face again, Amelia thought bitterly. 

As if sensing her thoughts, Amelia’s mother turned to address her.

“Speaking of engagements, when are you and Kat going to get engaged? You two have been together for nearly 10 years now, right?”

Amelia looked down at her hands and began picking at her cuticles.

“We broke up,” she responded quietly.

“What?!” Her mother’s exclamation caught the attention of everyone at the table. “What happened?! I thought you two were happy!”

Everyone had turned and were watching Amelia for an explanation. She sunk down in her chair as she felt her face and ears burn with embarrassment.

“She had been cheating on me with another girl since summer. I caught them at her apartment and she dumped me when I asked if we could work things out,” Amelia explained, shrugging when she had finished.

Pandemonium broke out. Her father asked if he should go have a “talk” with her ex-girlfriend, her mother and her aunt began debating on how to get them back together, and her sister was smirking at her misfortune. 

Well now that that is out of the way…

“I also got fired.”

Everyone went dead silent. Her sister’s smirk grew.

“How’d you do that?” Allison asked. “Did they finally catch you sleeping on the job?”

Amelia saw red.

“Well, if you must know, dear sister ,” she spat. “The higher ups finally caught on that things were going missing from the warehouse and my lovely manager blamed it on me to save his own ass. The bastard got a fucking promotion for ‘catching the thief’ that made his salary twice as much as I was making,” Amelia stood from her seat. “While I’m at it, I’m leaving Zuzu. Congradu- fucking -lations, sis, but if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to my shitty apartment and pack up the last of my shitty life.”

As she stormed out of the house, Amelia caught a glimpse of her sister’s dumbfounded look and couldn’t help but feel a bit of satisfaction. She managed to make it to her car before the tears began to spill down her cheeks. 

Yoba. That went about as badly as it could’ve. Hopefully I didn’t ruin Winter Star for everyone…

Amelia was startled out of her thoughts by a rapping on her window. She hastily wiped her tears before rolling down her window to see her father’s face looking back at her. 

“Ames,” he started before rubbing his face. “When were you going to tell us?”

“I was going to wait until tomorrow, but…” she trailed off. 

He nodded before responding. “You didn’t want to drop that on Winter Star, but your mom didn’t let that happen,” He sighed. “Where are you going? I know you said you are leaving Zuzu, but where now?”

“Grandpa’s farm…” 

Her dad furrowed his brows. “I thought the farm was auctioned off when he died? How..?”

“He left the deed to me in the letter I got. Y’know the one that I wasn’t supposed to open until ‘modern life was too much’?” 

Amelia braced herself as she pulled the envelope she now carried with her everywhere out of her purse with shaking hands. Her grandpa was her dad’s father and he absolutely loved that farm, it was why the two of them visited every summer. She was sure he would have gotten the farm, and she anticipated that he would be pissed that he didn’t get it. 

He wasn’t angry, however, as he looked over the letter and the deed. 

“I wondered if he hadn’t actually had it auctioned off. He loved that farm too much, it’s why he wanted to be buried there. I’m glad you got it Ames, it sounds like you really need out of the city with everything going on,” He paused as he handed back the letter and deed. “Now, do you want to come back in and eat or do you really want to go back to your apartment?”

She let out a watery chuckle. 

“Well, I don’t want to face everyone after that, but I really don’t want to go back to my apartment. I’ve already got everything packed up…”

“I’ll go in first and have everyone leave you alone about it, if you want to eat. When are you leaving anyway?”

“Yeah I’d like that Dad, thanks. My plan was to hop on the afternoon bus out the day after tomorrow, but the storm that’s supposed to come in looks like it’s going to be a nasty one, so I think I’m going to catch the first bus out instead.”

Her dad nodded in approval. 

“Good idea to get ahead of the storm. I’ll go ahead and head in and get everything off your case. Wait a couple minutes then come in.”

Thank Yoba for dad. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of Winter Star went off without a hitch. Amelia had gotten some new Solarian Chronicles books from her parents, who said “They just seemed like something you’d like!” They weren’t wrong, she loved playing Solarian Chronicles, she just hadn’t played since she graduated college. Yoba that brought back memories. All the friends she had made during the campaigns, some stuck around, some didn’t. The fact that her and Kat had met through her first campaign didn’t sully the other fantastic memories she had. Though, looking back, Amelia realized that Kat had been flirting with every other girl that played with them too, saying it was ‘just part of her character’ as the bard in their party. She frowned at the realization as she crammed the rest of her gifts into her bag. A couple new sweaters from her aunt and uncle, a pair of hand-knit socks from her mom on top of the books (‘Your father picked them out and I already had these made!’), and, most infuriating, a ‘fresh linen’ scented candle from her sister and her fiance. Amelia hated fresh linen scented things as they smelled too generic to her and her sister had left the clearance sticker on the bottom of the candle, proudly declaring the price to have gone down to 5 gold. Amelia wouldn’t have been so upset, except Allison had gotten everyone else rather expensive gifts and couldn’t have been bothered to even take the clearance sticker off the stupid thing. 

Amelia let out a frustrated huff as she zipped up her backpack. Her sister’s shitty gift had just been more salt in the wound that had been festering for nearly two weeks. She hoped that moving out to the farm helped her heal from everything, but she knew it would take a while still. Glancing at her watch, she cursed as she looked at the time. 

“Fuck, it’s already 6:30! Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

The first bus out to Pelican town didn’t leave until nearly 8, but she still had to drop off her keys at the property manager’s office and then drive her rental to the bus station. Thankfully, she had already sold her car the day before, so she didn’t need to worry about long-term parking or anything, but she was still on a tight schedule for the morning. She grabbed her backpack, the last thing left in her apartment, and left her apartment for the last time, not even sparing a look back.

~~~~~~~~~~

Harvey pondered the book in his hand. Would The History of Ferngill War Planes tie him over for the day? Probably not, but he still had the new Gotoran war plane documentary he could watch today. He was determined to spend the day in his apartment to stay out of the snowstorm that was about to come through. Was this an excuse to avoid anyone else in town? Maybe, but he really wanted to avoid Evelyn and Lewis, the only two people in town guaranteed to drag him to the saloon tonight to meet the new farmer. 

I really hope they aren’t still bringing her to the saloon tonight. Or at least that she won’t be in until the storm is done tomorrow. The storm coming through is supposed to be awful and I’d hate for her to get sick or injured her first week here…

Harvey was startled from his thoughts as Gunther cleared his throat behind him. 

“Sorry to scare you Doc, but the snow’s starting to pick up if you wanted to get back before it gets too heavy.”

“Oh! Thank you, Gunther. Yeah, I had better get back before it gets too bad. Just this one today, please,” Harvey responded, handing over the book he had selected. 

“Excellent choice, Doc! Managed to buy this one on sale at the beginning of winter using the money Sam and Abigail finally gave me for their overdue books. Just put it out today, actually!”

“What perfect timing!” Harvey responded, taking the book from Gunther after he had marked the due date on the slip on the inside of the cover. “Let me know if you get any others like this. Once winter’s over, I’ll have some more downtime I’ll need to fill.”

“Of course, Doc! Hopefully I’ll be able to collect Sebastian and Robin’s fines here soon to order a new book for ya!”

“Appreciate it, Gunther. Stay safe and stay warm. I don’t want to have to see you in my clinic before the year’s out.”

“Will do, Doc! You do the same!”

Harvey smiled as he left the museum. Gunther was probably one of his only friends in Pelican Town, along with Maru, his assistant at the clinic. It was more than a little upsetting that the ‘museum’ in town didn’t have anything on display, due to the old curator taking off with all the artifacts that had once been displayed there. It was now more of a library, though even that term was used loosely, as there were many books that had been checked out and lost, leaving the shelves nearly barren. 

Harvey sighed and pulled his coat tighter around him. The wind and snow had picked up substantially in the mere half hour he had been inside and he was beginning to worry for the new farmer again.

I really hope she is safe, wherever she is. This storm really is shaping up to be a bad one.

His thoughts turned, as they often did in poor weather, to a friend he had back in his undergrad days. She was a Meteorology major and loved it when the weather turned for the worse as she ‘found it fascinating to watch everything happen.’

Amelia would have loved this. I wonder what she’s doing nowadays…

Chapter Text

Amelia swore quietly as the bus passed yet another car stuck in the ditch. The snowstorm had moved in quicker than expected and had caught many people traveling home after the holiday by surprise. She was surprised the bus had made it as far as it had, with only about 10 miles left in her journey, but she wondered if the driver could make it the rest of the way. The driver had been driving rather erratically at the beginning of the trip, making more than a few risky decisions that Amelia did not agree with, but had begun driving much more carefully once the snow had started coming down heavily.

The driver let out a grunt as she slid a bit as she drove around a curve. 

“I’ll be honest with you kid, I don’t know if we’re gonna make it to Pelican Town. Damn lousy mayor doesn’t pay the plow drivers to come out this way until the snow stops.”

Amelia looked up at the driver. She had her complete attention back on the road, nearly crawling down hills and around curves. She had blonde hair that was permed within an inch of its life and a magenta tracksuit that Amelia was sure her mom had one of back in college. She wasn’t able to get a good look at the driver’s face, but even from her seat near the back of the bus, she could tell the woman was wearing an obscene amount of purple eyeshadow to compliment her outfit. 

The driver grunted again as the bus fishtailed slightly.

“I’ve gotta pull off kid. Can’t afford to get us both killed out here,” she said as she managed to pull the bus off to the side of the road. “Gonna call Lewis and see what he wants me to do with ya.”

She pulled out her cell phone, which was a greatly outdated flip phone, and quickly dialed Lewis’s number. 

“Heya Lewis. Yeah, I’m just about stuck. Don’t wanna kill the kid before she even makes it to town. What do you wanna do?”

After a pause with a few ‘mhm’s sprinkled in, the driver let out a sigh. 

“Alright, but you’re paying to fix the bus if something happens. I know you ‘don’t have the gold’ but if you had just paid those plow drivers to come through before the damn snow stopped, we wouldn’t be having this conversation! Whatever, Lewis. Just be at the bus stop when I get there.” 

The driver grumbled as she hung up the phone before turning to address Amelia. 

“Hey kid, you better brace yourself. Lewis insists that I make it back,” she said as she put the bus back into gear. 

“O-okay…” Amelia trailed off as she grasped her backpack and held onto the seat in front of her. 

The driver pulled the bus back onto the road, traveling at a crawl. 

“I never caught your name, kid,” The driver stated, not taking her eyes off the road.

“Amelia. Amelia Hudson.”

“Oh so you’re Bert’s grandkid. Nice to meet you. The name’s Pam.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Amelia responded. She appreciated that Pam was trying to make small talk to distract her from their possible impending doom due to the mayor’s negligence. Her grip on the seat in front of her tightened at the thought. 

Yoba, it would suck dying on my way to my fresh start. What a cosmic joke that would be.

~~~~~~~~~~

For the most part, the rest of the journey to Pelican Town went smoothly. Pam drove exceptionally slowly and carefully, only having the bus slide sideways twice before getting to the tunnel that would lead them to the bus stop at the edge of town. 

“Oh you gotta be fuckin’ kidding me!” Pam exclaimed as she rounded the last curve before the tunnel.

Amelia peeked her head up to see what Pam was upset about and saw that the snow had drifted in front of the tunnel entrance, making the snow nearly four times as deep. 

“Now you really gotta hold on, kid. I’m gonna have to just plow through that drift,” Pam said, revving the engine to pick up speed. 

Amelia tightened her grip even further, even bracing her knees on the seat in front of her. She was very glad she did, as when Pam hit the drift, the bus jolted and she would have probably been thrown from her seat. The bus began making a clanking noise that Amelia knew was never a good sign but made it through the drift and into the tunnel, where Pam picked up speed. The clanking noise grew in frequency as they made their way through the tunnel. 

“Lewis owes me a new fuckin’ bus,” Pam muttered. 

Amelia worried that the bus wasn’t going to make it to the stop, even though the tunnel was only about a mile long. Against all odds, the bus managed to crawl into the bus stop, dying as soon as Pam had brought it to a stop. Amelia looked back at the final drift they had gone through at the end of the tunnel. It was only slightly deeper than the snow around it, but it had been enough to spell the end of the bus. 

“The fucker’s not even here yet!” Pam grumbled. “Alright kid, grab your bags. I gotta see where I’m supposed to bring ya.”

As Amelia clambered out of her seat and began to grab her luggage from the rack overhead, Pam made another call, presumably to Lewis again. She stepped out of the bus so Amelia could not hear what she was saying, but it was obvious from her angry arm gestures, she was less than happy with whoever she was speaking with. As Amelia had all of her bags gathered, ready to leave the bus, Pam ended her call and stepped back in the bus.

“Alright, so Lewis says I’m supposed to bring you to your farm then to the saloon after you settle in. There’s no way in hell I’m dragging you back into town through all of this, so I told Lewis to go fuck himself and you’re gonna be introduced to everyone tomorrow after the storm has ended. You got any complaints with that?”

Amelia vigorously shook her head.

“Good. Now follow me.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Harvey looked out his window after finishing his book. He saw a magenta figure trudging through the snow towards the saloon.

Is that Pam? What in Yoba’s name is she doing out in this weather?

Harvey thought for a moment.

Oh Yoba . I really hope she didn’t just drive the new farmer here!

He watched her walk into the saloon, then looked around the empty town square to see if the farmer was following her. When he didn’t see any other figures out in the square, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe Lewis wasn’t insane enough to have Pam drive her in this weather. Maybe she just got done getting the bus ready to sit through the rest of the storm. Yeah, that’s got to be it…

Harvey was started from his thoughts as his phone chimed from the table. He fumbled with it for a moment before unlocking it to read the message he had gotten from Maru. 

Mom says the new farmer made it to town ok.

Apparently she’s at her cabin rn and not

coming to the saloon so ur safe. Not sure

 about tomorrow tho

Harvey sighed. He was more than a little upset that the new farmer and Pam had to traverse through the inclement weather, but he was glad to hear that they made it alright, if Robin was to be believed. He looked back down at his phone as it chimed with another text from Maru.

Btw, r u going to the saloon for new year’s 

tomorrow night? 

Harvey shot off a quick ‘not sure’ back to Maru before deciding to reheat some of Gus’s leftovers for supper. As his plate of ham, mashed potatoes, and roasted carrots spun around in the microwave, his thoughts once again turned to the farmer. Would she fit in with the tight-knit community in Pelican Town? He knew she used to come and visit her grandfather, but she hadn’t been back in years. Why had she been away for so long? From what he had heard, she hadn’t come back the last 4 years of her grandfather’s life and barely stayed for his funeral, though supposedly she was very close to him. The microwave beeped and Harvey sighed as he pulled out his food. 

I need to stop worrying about her. I haven’t even met her! I’m sure she will fit in just fine.

Maybe we’ll even end up friends.

Chapter Text

Amelia groaned as her alarm went off the next morning. She had slept in the living room next to the fireplace on the old fold-out cot her grandfather kept for when she would visit. 

I remember this damn thing being so much more comfortable. Am I just old now? She thought miserably as she tried to stretch out her stiff muscles. 

Logically, she knew the cot was older than her and likely well past worn out, as her grandfather had been sleeping in it the last five years of his life, too weak to get around the house. He had opted to stay in the cot so he could stay near the fireplace for cold nights and the window for warm nights. He was also only a few feet from the kitchen, so he could get himself food on his better days. Amelia sighed at the thought.

Grandpa hated being so weak. He didn’t want us to see him like that. He wanted us to remember him as he was before, not how he was at the end, but Dad and Aunt Cathy wouldn’t listen to his wishes. 

She thought back to the first phone call her dad had gotten about her grandfather’s failing health. It was while she was home for winter break and he had called to tell everyone to stay away until he was better. Her dad had listened for the first few months, but when it had become painfully clear that Grandpa wasn’t going to get any better, he had caved and gone with his sister to visit. They had ended up asking the local doctor to check in on him, and eventually a nurse to care for him full-time. He had insisted that he needed to stay in his house and not go to a nursing home, thankfully that was one wish of his that his children listened to. 

Amelia’s second alarm startled her from her thoughts. 

I feel bad for not visiting, but it’s what Grandpa wanted. We still talked on the phone, at least.

Shaking her head, she finally drug herself out of bed, rekindled the fire, and began to get ready for the day. She didn’t have much planned for herself, other than tidying up and unpacking, though she knew she should probably make an appearance at the saloon tonight, per the mayor’s request. 

Amelia groaned at the thought. She hated introducing herself to people and while there were a few people she remembered from her last visit to her grandfather, she knew there were several people she hadn’t met back then and likely some folks who had moved in after her last visit. She didn’t like meeting a lot of people all at once, but these people would be her neighbors for the foreseeable future.

That is only if I don’t fuck this up royally right out of the gate…  

Amelia scowled at this thought, glancing through the window after she had pulled on her sweatshirt to complete her outfit. The snow had slowed significantly from the night before, though it was still falling. 

At least it slowed down. Still not sure how I’m supposed to start farming tomorrow with everything still covered in snow though…

Sighing, Amelia pushed that thought to the side as she tossed her suitcase and duffel onto the cot and began unpacking. Thankfully the carpenter, Robin, if she remembered right, had kept the house clean as well as maintained,  so there wasn’t anything she really had to do before she could unpack. She decided to start with her books, as the bookcase was only a few steps away from the cot. She only had a few novels that she would reread every so often, a couple of old textbooks from college, and the large quantity of Solarian Chronicles books she had gotten over the years. After arranging her books, Amelia stepped back to check her work and realized the shelf was much larger than she remembered, with her books only taking up half of the bottom shelf. She frowned and quickly sifted through her bags to see what else she had to put up on the shelves. Her hand brushed a velvet box and she knew what she would display- her dice. 

As Amelia began arranging her dice, she thought back to all the memories tied to each set. Most sets were just cheap ones she had gotten at a game store but some were gifts with fond memories associated with their giver. One set was from the GM of the first campaign of Solarian Chronicles she had played as a thank-you for playing when their final session had come to a close. She vividly remembered crying at the end of the session after their party had defeated the evil necromancer and freed the citizens of the land from his reign of terror and the GM hugging all of them before handing them each a set of dice. Each set referenced the player’s character, with hers being clear with polymer books set in the middle of each die, referring to her character being a bookish wizard.

Another set was from her Aunt Diane, her mother’s sister. She was ecstatic that Amelia was getting into Solarian Chronicles, as she had begun playing only a few months before Amelia had. Aunt Diane had given the set to Amelia for her birthday, a transparent blue and green swirled set with glow in the dark flecks scattered throughout, along with the handbook for players so she could more easily build characters. 

The final set Amelia put on the bookshelf was easily her favorite and was put in the middle on the top of the bookshelf, right at eye level. This set was a deep shimmery green with gold lettering and sat in a black velvet box. She sighed as her mind wandered and she reminisced on the day she received the set.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Here, I want you to have this.”

Amelia frowned as she took the box.

“Wait, it's your graduation day! Why are you giving me a gift?”

The man’s face flushed and he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, you’ve been one of the best friends I’ve made here and I wanted to show my appreciation,” he replied. He looked like he was about to say something else but Kat had rushed over and thrown her arm around Amelia. 

“Hey babe, there you are! Let’s go, we’ve got to leave now if we want to make it to my parent’s anniversary party,” Kat said as she pulled on Amelia’s arm.

“Oh shit, alright. Head to the car, I’ll be there in a sec.”

As Kat grumbled something about taking too long and walked off, Amelia carefully opened the box to reveal another, smaller box, this one covered in black velvet. She looked at the man with a furrowed brow, receiving a nervous smile in return. She opened the velvet box to reveal a deep green set of dice that shimmered stunningly in the sunlight.

“I know it’s not much, but I hope you like them. I saw them at the game store down on 9th street and they reminded me of you…” he trailed off, rubbing his neck again. 

Amelia carefully closed the box before throwing her arms around him.

“Harv, I love them so much! Thank you,” her voice cracked.

He regained his composure and hugged her back.

“It’s nothing, really. Just promise me you’ll try and stay in touch?”

“Of course!” she quickly answered. “Promise you’ll try and visit when you get a chance?”

“Of course!” he echoed her reply.

~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia shook herself from the memory. Her and Harvey hadn’t kept in touch past the end of the winter, shortly after her grandfather had died. He had gotten busy with med school and she was trying to cope with her grandpa’s passing while working two part time jobs alongside going to school, causing it to become nearly impossible to meet up or even message each other. 

I hope he’s doing well, wherever he ended up. Maybe he has a wife and kids now, or maybe he even has his own practice somewhere…

~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia let out a sigh of relief as she was finally able to put her empty duffel and backpack into the closet with her suitcase. It had taken her nearly all day, but she had managed to get all her belongings put away. She glanced at her phone to check the time and saw that she still had an hour before she needed to leave for the saloon and decided to get ready. 

Flipping through her clothes in her closet, Amelia decided on a dark red and green plaid skirt and a black sweater for the evening. She laid out the skirt and sweater on her bed, grabbing a pair of thick black tights and setting them on the bed as well. She walked into the bathroom and pulled her makeup bag out of the cabinet under the sink, deciding on a shimmery, semi-smoky, neutral eye look with winged liner. Finishing up the look with a burgundy lipstick, Amelia checked her appearance in the mirror, deciding to let her hair loose from the bun she had tossed it in earlier. 

After running her fingers through her hair a few times to ensure there were no tangles and everything laid nicely, Amelia turned and walked into the bedroom, quickly getting dressed. She glanced at her phone to see a text from an unknown number.

Hey Amelia! This is Robin, Pelican Town’s 

carpenter and Maru and Sebastian’s mom, if 

you remember them. Lewis gave me your

number and asked me to check in with you.

Were you planning on coming to the saloon 

tonight for the new year’s celebration?

Amelia quickly saved the carpenter’s number before responding.

Hey, Robin! Yeah I plan to be there. It hasn’t

moved, right?

She set her phone on the bed and grabbed her boots from the end of the bed. As she laced them up, she heard her phone buzz against the blanket. Once she had finished lacing and tying her boots, she checked her phone once more.

Yep, same place it’s always been! I’ll save a seat 

for you with Demetrius and I. See you soon!

Amelia smiled at the message. She remembered Robin and her children faintly, never one to interact much with the kids in the valley when she was there over the summer, but it warmed her heart to see Robin so willing to welcome her to town. She sighed as she glanced at the time and realized she needed to leave if she wanted to get to the saloon before the festivities were in full swing. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia paused at the door to the saloon to shake the snow out of her hair. It had continued to flurry all day, thankfully not adding much to the snow that had fallen the day prior. She took a deep breath before opening the door.

“You made it!” a red-headed woman up at the bar exclaimed. Robin, Amelia’s brain helpfully supplied. She waited for Amelia to join her before continuing, “I know the road out to your place doesn’t get plowed right away and we had a hell of a lot of snow come through. How’d you fare?”

“Well, the cabin was in good shape when I got in last night, thank you for that by the way. I managed to stay plenty warm with a fire going both last night and today. Walking here wasn’t too bad, but I’m definitely glad I wore boots! It had drifted pretty bad in some spots,”

“Glad to hear the cabin’s treating you well! Your grandfather loved that little cabin and it felt like a damned shame to let it go to ruin. That being said, if you ever want to add on, you’ve got my number,” she responded with a wink. 

Amelia laughed.

“Don’t worry. If I last past spring, I’ll definitely need some more space before too long!”

Robin laughed before turning to the mustachioed bartender who had appeared and slid a beer towards her. 

“Thanks, Gus. You remember Millie right?” Robin gestured towards Amelia. 

“I sure do! How’ve  ya been, Millie? Can I get ya anything?”

“Oh, I’ve been alright. Um I’ll take an amaretto sour if you’ve got the stuff, please,” 

“Of course! I’ll have that right up for you! Anything you want from the kitchen?”

Amelia thought for a moment.

“Do you still make that spaghetti? With the cheesy garlic bread on the side?”

Gus’s face split into a wide grin.

“I sure do! Though don’t tell anyone about the cheesy garlic bread, that was always a special order for you and Al,” he responded with a chuckle and a wink.

Amelia watched as he prepared her drink. She wondered how long it would be before the folks around town saw her as much more than “Albert Hudson’s granddaughter.” She supposed it would probably be quite a while, with him having been such an important part of the community before his health started failing.

I hope I can make you proud, Grandpa.

~~~~~~~~~~

After Gus had slid her drink to her, Amelia followed Robin over to where her husband was sitting at a booth in the corner near the door. 

“I’m sure Mayor Lewis will want to introduce you to everyone, but for now, you can sit here with Demetrius and I. Everyone should start getting here in the next 10 minutes or so,” Robin said as she slid into the booth next to her husband. “Hopefully everyone doesn’t show up all at once. We may be a small community, but there’s enough of us that it can be overwhelming to try and meet everyone all at once. You’ll have to ask the doc about how his introductions to the town went!” she laughed.

“I would definitely prefer to meet people a few at a time,” Amelia chuckled as she slid into the booth across from Robin and Demetrius. “And maybe not start until after I eat,” she added with a sheepish smile as her stomach gurgled loudly.

Robin and Demetrius laughed.

“Well, don’t you worry. Gus should have your food to you here soon. He tends to have some stuff prepared ahead of time for events like tonight so no one has to wait too long to eat,”

“I can confirm! He had a serving of his bean hotpot ready for me almost the moment I walked in the door last New Year’s!” Demetrius chimed in.

“That’s because I could almost set my clock on your timing and I know what my customers like!” Gus exclaimed with a laugh as he set the plate of spaghetti in front of Amelia. “Here you go, Millie. Just let me or Emily know if you need anything else. She’s in the red dress over there,” he gestured to a blue-haired woman behind the bar. 

“Thanks, Gus! It smells delicious,”

“Of course! Enjoy!” he replied before walking back behind the bar.

Amelia wasted no time and promptly dug into her meal. She knew it was only a matter of time before everyone began trickling into the saloon and she would have to introduce herself to everyone.

Yoba, I regret this already…

~~~~~~~~~~

Mayor Lewis had shown up with Marnie shortly after Amelia had finished her food and first drink. She remembered Marnie from her time spent with her grandfather, often tagging along with him as he went down to her ranch to buy feed for the chickens he had. Marnie would always offer her a little slice of cake or another little treat, but Amelia was always more interested in going out and meeting the various livestock kept on the ranch. This always led to a conversation with her grandfather where she would ask if he would get more animals for the farm. He would always tell her “maybe someday” but he kept just the chickens until he got sick, when they were sold back to Marnie.

After Lewis’s lengthy and unnecessary introduction to Marnie, Amelia quickly found herself drug to each Pelican Town resident as they entered the bar and introduced. There were some people she remembered, if only vaguely, like Mr. and Mrs. Mullner, Pierre and his family, and Robin’s children, Sebastian and Maru. There were, however, many others she did not recognize. Marnie’s nephew, Shane, had grumbled a greeting before quickly taking a seat at the bar; A woman named Jodi introduced herself and her sons Sam and Vincent before pulling her youngest to go talk with Pierre’s wife, Caroline; There was a flood of residents closer to her age that came in nearly all at once. The Mullner’s grandson Alex, a writer named Elliot, an artist named Leah, and Pam’s daughter Penny had all come in within a few minutes of each other. 

It was nearly 11:30 when Amelia found herself able to return to her seat. She had been introduced to over two dozen people in the span of a few hours, with several of those wanting to talk with her and get to know her a bit. Realistically, it wasn’t that many people to meet in that period of time, but Amelia was exhausted. She was struggling to remember everyone’s names and job in town and she knew there were still a few people she hadn’t met, the mysterious doctor for one. 

Other than Robin mentioning him early in the evening and a passing mention by Mayor Lewis, no one had spoke of him. Many folks had mentioned the names of other residents as they were looking for their friends, but the doctor was not one of them. 

Surely he has friends around here, right? He can’t just hide away all the time…

The door to the saloon had opened, bringing in a gust of cold air that shook her out of her thoughts. Amelia looked up to see who the newest arrival to the saloon’s festivities was.

The man who entered was tall, easily over 6 foot, and wore a deep green hat and coat that, along with a crimson scarf, brought a feeling of familiarity. He brushed the snow from his broad shoulders before removing his hat and scarf. Amelia’s breath caught in her throat as the vague feeling of familiarity quickly turned to a wave of recognition at the sight of wavy, caramel brown hair.

“Harvey?!”