You woke up Tuesday morning to a loud clap of thunder and a bright flash of light. The rain danced on your roof in rhythmic beats as you stepped out of bed. It had lightly rained all of the day before, but the storm must have intensified overnight. You got dressed, grabbed your umbrella, and ran out to the chicken coop to check on the baby chicks. They were bouncing around jubilantly, excited to be in the warm coop and not in the rain. After refilling their food and water, you ventured back into the house. You didn't need to take care of the crops, the rain did that for you. Thank Yoba, you were tired and didn't want to be in the freezing rain any longer.
You got back inside and put away your wet things. You looked at your wall calendar to see what you needed to do today. Under Spring 17, there was pretty much nothing besides a few house chores. You looked ahead to the next few days to see if there was anything else to get a head start on when you came across Saturday, Spring 20. It was Shane's birthday. You had completely forgotten and decided you needed to get him a gift. Even if he wanted nothing to do with you, it was rude to not give someone a gift on their birthday. Plus, it would give you another chance to hopefully see him.
What to get Shane, on the other hand, was a dilemma. You knew he would love beer and pizza, but you had already given him that. Plus, it was his birthday, so you felt you should get him something a little bit bigger and better. You sat down at your small kitchen table to think it over when your bright red telephone suddenly rang. You ran over to grab it and picked it up quickly.
"(Y/N)? Hello?" Marnie's frantic voice echoed sharply through the phone.
"Marnie?" You asked, surprised to hear from the kind rancher. You wondered why she was calling and a wave of worry started to wash over you. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes, hi (Y/N)!" She sounded slightly relieved to hear your voice. "Is Shane there?"
"Shane?" You asked, surprised. Your stomach twisted saying his name. "No, he's not here." You looked around. "At least I don't think he's here, why?"
She sighed deeply as she answered your query. "Well, he was gone when I woke up this morning. I assumed he had just headed to work, but about an hour later his boss, Morris, called the Ranch to ask where he was." You could tell she was on the verge of tears with worry for her nephew. "I thought he might be with you or you might know where he is..." her voice trailed off. "But it's okay, I'll just keep looking. Have a wonderful day, (Y/N)!" She started to hang up but you quickly responded to keep her on the line.
"Wait!" You knew you had to find Shane, you were really worried about him. "Could I help you look for him?"
"Oh, (Y/N). I couldn't ask you for that. It's storming so badly outside." This prompted you to peer out the window, where the sky had gotten even darker since you had been inside. "Stay home where you'll be nice and dry."
"I really want to help you, Marnie." You replied, trying your best to compromise with the kind rancher. "How about this: call down to the Saloon and see if Shane's there or if anyone has seen him. If you don't hear anything from him in a couple hours, please let me help you go out and look for him."
"If you insist." She replied. "Thank you, (Y/N). I'll call you back if I hear anything." She hung up quickly.
Your stomach churned as you thought about the missing case of Shane. You reassured yourself that he was probably just at the Saloon, skipping work, but something in the back of your mind wasn't convinced of it.
You grabbed some lunch and went over to your living area to try and relax. You sat on the couch, which still reminded you of Shane, and turned on the TV. You decided to watch the local cooking show, Queen of Sauce. Cooking shows were easy to watch and that was exactly what you needed at the moment. You couldn't help but look back at your bright red telephone every few minutes, hoping to see it ring with good news from Marnie, or better yet, Shane himself.
However, every time you looked, nothing had changed. You tried to distract yourself with chores around the house and the television, but nothing could take your mind off of the situation. You looked up at the clock on your wall. It was almost four in the afternoon. You hadn't looked to see what time Marnie called, so you ran over to the phone to check. You picked up the phone and checked the call box.
Recent Calls:
↘ Marnie's Ranch | 1:07 PM | Spring 17
↖ Carpenter's Shop | 9:53 AM | Spring 12
↖ Mayor Manor | 11:39 AM | Spring 7
↘ Mayor Manor | 4:22 PM | Spring 3
You saw that she had called a little after one and started to panic internally. It had been almost three hours. She said she would call after a couple. You decided that it wasn't worth panicking yet, but your nerves were quickly taking over.
Maybe I should call Marnie to see if everything is okay. Maybe she forgot to call. Your mind raced with possibilities as you sat down, anxiously, at the kitchen table. You were surprised that you were so worried about it, but you cared about Shane despite how much you tried to convince yourself otherwise. You slowly paced around your small farmhouse, stopping every few moments to peek out the window at the storm. Most of the lightning and thunder had subsided, but the rain was coming down faster than ever, in millions of giant, heavy droplets. You hoped Shane was somewhere warm and dry, staying safe. Maybe he ran away. Maybe he's in Zuzu City right now, perfectly fine. You knew it was hypothetical and completely unlikely, but you didn't want to give up hope yet.
Brrrrrrrrring! Brring! The second you heard the phone ring, you rushed to it. You grabbed the phone with so much intensity that you almost knocked it off of the small table it set on. You briefly read that the call was from Pierre's General Store, but that didn't stop you from answering.
"Hello?! Marnie?! Is Shane okay?" You asked quickly into the phone.
"Hi, (Y/N). It's Pierre." The shopkeeper said calmly. You sighed with disappointment. "I'm here with Marnie, she wants to speak with you."
Your heart rate picked back up as Pierre handed the phone to Marnie. "(Y/N)?"
"Marnie, hi." You said, calmer than your original answer. "Have you found Shane?"
"No, not yet." Marnie sighed as your heart fell, matching her sentiment. "Are you available to help me look for him?"
"Of course!" You jumped at the opportunity. "What do you want me to do? What have you done so far?"
"Well, I called down to all of the shops in town, but none of them had seen Shane since last night." She paused momentarily to gather herself. If you felt this bad after only knowing him a few weeks, you couldn't imagine what Marnie was going through. He tried to repel people, but there was something about him that couldn't help but draw people in. You were jolted out of your thoughts as Marnie continued. "So I decided to come to look for him myself. I dropped Jas off with Jodi at their house. Vincent will keep her plenty of company, and probably give Jodi a break." She chuckled lightly, but there was still a pain in her voice. "I checked the beach after that, but I couldn't make it far with the wind coming in off the ocean. I don't think he could survive to be out there." She huffed loudly into the microphone. "I went around to some of the places he frequents in town, but I haven't seen the slightest trace of him." She sounded on the verge of tears.
You felt so bad for her, out in the rain all alone. "I'm so sorry, Marnie. I'm sure we'll find Shane." You choked up slightly as you said his name. "What can I do?"
"Well, I was wondering if you would help me look for him." She paused a moment before she spoke again. "I think I'll go north, towards the mountains. He might be around the big lake or some retired mines that are up there. Would you look around the Cindersap Forest for him? I'd feel better if you stayed closer to home. I have a feeling he might be in the forest, but I'm not sure."
"Okay, I can do that." You said, ready to head out.
She continued before you could leave. "One more thing, (Y/N), would you meet me back at the Ranch by 11 tonight? I don't need you getting lost or staying out too late."
You promised her you would be back by 11 and that you would be safe, then hung up the phone. You ran to the door and grabbed your pack which lay right next to it. You opened the door and saw the torrential downpour in front of you. Quickly, you slammed it and ran to put on your raincoat and boots. You threw them on, grabbed a flashlight to see through the dark storm, and your tiny portable phone.
When you had originally decided to move to Stardew Valley, you sold almost all of your valuable possessions to afford the transition. This included your hi-tech, computerized cell phone. You remembered that no one in the Valley carried a phone, so it wouldn't be much use to you. Instead, everyone preferred a household landline. Eventually, you settled for a small emergency cell with a very limited contact list. So far, the only people you had in the list were your mother and Harvey's Office for emergencies. Even though it wasn't much, you decided to take it with you.
You sprinted through your farm and into the Cindersap Forest. Normally, you would be terrified to venture out into a storm. Farm life had toughened you up, though, and your concern for Shane was pumping adrenaline through your veins.
You first ran to the lake where you and Shane had spent a late night talking. He wasn't on the dock, or anywhere around it for that matter. You personally hadn't gotten to explore the rest of the forest, but your lack of experience didn't matter at this point. You just needed to find Shane ... if it was even possible.
You ran around to the west side of the river and followed it down until you reached denser woods. You sprinted through them as a strong breeze blowing at you became ever more apparent. You found yourself in a thinner patch of trees with the wind beating hard into you, facefirst. You figured you must have made it to the ocean at this point, and you began to turn around.
Before you could finish, you felt another gust hit you. It drew you in. You followed it through the trees and found yourself standing on the edge of some high cliffs that overlooked the sea. The intensity of the location called to you and you realized that it probably would have done the same for Shane...
✏️ A/N: Ah! Where could Shane be? What happened to him? I hope this chapter kept you on your toes. I'm sorry we've strayed from our happy little plot, just stick with me. The next chapter, Chapter 11: The Despair of the Drunk, will be published next Sunday, January 23, 2022. Also, this is the tenth chapter! Can you believe we made it this far? Thank you all so much for all of the love and support you've given me and my work. It means the world. I hope you all enjoy this and I promise there will be plenty more surprises coming in the future. Thanks! xoxo Kira