WHY CHOOSE? - a stardew valley short story

ACT THREE - FALL

I'm knee deep in my cranberry field when I finally decide I can't take it anymore.

Since that Summer night, Harvey and Elliott have haunted me; mind, body, and soul.

I can't even escape them in my dreams. Quite the opposite, actually.

Oh, Yoba. The dreams...

I throw my watering can down in exasperation, deciding to leave the rest of the watering to the sprinklers.

Upon seeing my chickens and ducks disappearing back into their coop for the night, I estimate it to be about 5 o'clock, meaning that I know where I'll be able to find the two who have bewitched me so thoroughly. Where I can meet them every night, as has become our new routine.

Meeting at the saloon between 5 and 6, then spending the next couple of hours pretending that they aren't driving me mad with their glances and innocent touches.

They're saints, really.

While I was consumed by the farm for the remainder of Summer and first half of Fall, they have waited patiently for my response. Since the night they spent at the farm, sprawled out on the two long brown couches on either side of the fireplace in my living room, the two men have been nothing short of respectful, to the point that I begin to question if I have made them wait too long, and their interest has faded.

No.

I still see that fervent look in Harvey's eyes as he stares at me over the rim of his wine glass. I still feel the lingering hands when engulfed in Elliott's long embraces.

No, it definitely hasn't disappeared.

And suddenly, I'm half-jogging down the dirt road into town, unable to wait even another moment to tell them that I've decided.

That I'm ready.

꧁꧁꧂꧂

It's as if they can immediately tell the second I walk in the door. It must be something on my face, because Elliott smirks triumphantly, while Harvey's chest fills with his sudden intake of air.

And suddenly, I feel exactly as I did on that night so many weeks ago. Something in their gaze makes me feel like prey as I take my spot on the barstool between the two, graciously accepting the glass of wine from Emily on the other side of the bar.

"You're glowing!" She comments with a beaming smile, her choppy blue hair bouncing as she nods her head approvingly.

"Am I?" I ask with a start, wondering how my face could betray so much about my state of mind.

"It must be all that fresh Fall air! I just can't wait for your cranberries to come in, I promised Haley I'd make us a cobbler!" She chirps with a pleased smile at the prospect of baking a sweet treat to share with her sister.

"Yes, it must be the fresh air..." I trail off, feeling myself blush, which I cover up by taking a huge sip of my wine. "I'll be sure to save the best ones for you when they ripen up."

This seems to please the girl, because her smile widens before she flits away to serve another pint of beer to Pam, who occupies her usual spot at the far end of the bar.

"Fresh air, hmm?" Elliott ponders, grabbing the bottom of my barstool with his left hand and tugging me closer, parting his legs and settling my chair between them as Harvey scoots his own stool closer, leaning an elbow on the bar; effectively caging me between the two of them in a way that is so similar to that Summer night that I blush even deeper. "Or is it something else that has you in such a mood?"