Muddy Relations (Stardew Valley Fanfiction)

Sane is, as Sane Does

Standing in the strangely fluorescent office, I held a small box in my hand, stickers of animals and cartoon animals littered all about the brown craft. I swallowed, my saliva thick. I knew exactly what it was by the colorful and strange tape that kept it shut. It was a gift from home. A gift from my mom.

I set the package down carefully on my desk, analyzing the size, analyzing the bowing of the sides. My stomach turned. My mom had always gotten me something I enjoyed for my birthday, but I knew exactly what type of move she was playing by sending it to the office. She didn't care about my life in ZuZu.

I sat in my chair, keeping my eyes level with the strange gift. A black suit walked into my vision, the package still in focus.

"I don't think it's going to move," the voice whispered. I snorted in response. "What is it?" Morris asked.

"Something from home," I said, pushing and poking it across my desk to the edge. Morris clasped it in his hand before it could tip.

"What's the occasion?" Morris inquired, turning it around on the desk, observing all the stickers plastered on top. "Geeze, it's heavy."

"I guess it's just a care package," I sighed, sitting up again. "I'll open it when I'm back home."

"No, that's boring," he whined. "I want to see what your family sent you."

We opened the package, surprised to find a large bag of soil. Morris' nose turned up in disgust. My reaction was different, however, my heart jumping for joy, seeing a high quality loam soil. There was not a clump within the small bag.

"That sure is a nice care package," Morris tisked, adding an especially sarcastic flavor to his comment. "I can't imagine someone giving me dirt,"

I pulled out the bag to see two cards in the bottom. They puckered a little from being underneath the soil, brown from the sediment that had leaked. One from my mom, and another from my step-dad. I was tempted to open the letters right then, excited that they had finally cared enough to write. Excited that my mom had cared enough to write. My step-dad wrote all the time, fortunately.

"I still can't believe that your family is full of farmers," Morris breathed out. "Do you think they haven't realized that you hate this kind of stuff?"

"I don't hate it," I breathed. I shook my mom's letter to my ear, hearing small objects thwack against the paper.

"You work at Joja, you had to have hated it more than what you think."

I shrugged my shoulders, too thrilled to respond. I opened the letter from my mom first. A card came out easily. The envelope still rattled.

"My most beautiful daughter," it read, "I want to wish you to have the best birthday an adult can have! I miss you terribly while you're away in ZuZu City. Grampleton just isn't complete without you. I know that you have a lot of responsibilities because of your work, so I felt like you needed a life to take care of. When you were in high school, your plants always received the most care when you were busy– Maybe that's because you overwater your plants too much! Just joking," She had scribbled the apology quickly after the insult. I laughed to myself, feeling the world around me disappear.

"I was hoping that growing this plant from the ground up would help you realize where your own roots lie. I want you to find the right place for you. If it's in the city, I will love you all the more for it. If it's following your father and your grandfather's footsteps, I know you will be happy. May Yoba watch over you, and your house. Love, Mom." Her signature was twirly.

         "P.S.," it continued, "I got you all the supplies for your plant besides a pot. I know you'll find one well enough. Be sure to soak the seeds before planting them!" I looked into the envelope and saw dozens of flat seeds. I didn't recognize them.