Stumble - (Stardew Valley)

2 - The Pier

"Hello Polly! You see this dog here?"

I was barely awake, groggily standing in my doorway. It was six in the morning, earlier than I typically woke up back in the city. To be greeted by Marnie standing on my porch with a dog was jarring.

"Yeah, that's a dog," I yawned and looked down at the dog sitting calmly by Marnie's feet. It was white with a few tan spots, the most notable one on his right eye, and amber eyes that stared at me eagerly. Its tongue drooped out of its mouth and it panted exasperatedly, as if it had been running for a while.

"I found him sitting outside the entrance to your farm! I think it's a stray, poor thing," Marnie scratched behind the dog's ear. "Hey, it seems to like this place! Don't you think this farm could use a good dog?"

"A dog? I hadn't really been planning on having a pet so soon," I rubbed my eyes, then looked back down at the dog.

"Come on now, he's a good boy! Look at him!" she smiled. I had always wanted a dog, but this wasn't the best time. But when I looked into the dog's eyes...

"Alright, I'll keep him," I gave Marnie a nod. Her expression brightened.

"Oh, wonderful! What are you going to name him?" she clapped her hands together with excitement.

"I'm not sure, I guess I'll go through a bunch of names and see what he responds to," I shrugged, then squatted down and faced the dog. He gazed off into the distance, watching something.

"Spot. Fido. Lucky. Freckles. Bones. Spike. Cookie. Anything?"

No response.

"I don't think he likes those, maybe too basic?" Marnie simpered.

"Sure, maybe something more original would be better. Y'know... I've always found it funny when animals had weirdly human names. Maybe I'll give those a shot," I glanced over at Marnie, who gave me an approving nod.

"Jeff. Mark. Fred. Bob. Richard. Roger."

Bark!

"Roger?" I gently put my hand in front of the dog's face. He sniffed it, analyzing whatever scent he could gather, and gave it a lick. "Roger it is."

"Oh that's lovely, Polly, I'm so glad I could find this little guy a home. Who knows how he got here?" Marnie gave Roger a pat on the head.

"I think he'll be a great addition to the farm," I beamed. I opened the front door a tad more so that Roger could come into the house. My parents always had a dog or two in the house when I was growing up, so adopting Roger felt like it had filled a vacant space in my chest. I closed the door behind me and stood on the porch with Marnie.

"So how are you liking Pelican Town, Polly?" she sat herself down on the edge of the porch and swung her long brown braid over her shoulder. I took a few steps and sat down to meet her.

"It's lovely, everyone's so nice," I hesitated, "other than your nephew, I guess."

"Oh, Shane's always a bit bitter, don't let him get to you. He's been through a lot in these past few years," Marnie seemed lost in thought with her brown eyes locked in front of her, yet not looking at anything in particular.

"Like what, if you don't mind me asking?" I prodded.

"Oh, well I won't go into much detail, that would be rude of me, but I suppose I can give you a baseline understanding. He was very good friends with Jas's parents and that's why he's Jas's godfather, so when they died it was very hard on him," Marnie sighed. "It might be easier if he would stop drinking and go to therapy or something."