Haley x Female Reader

Prologue

You sigh.

You are currently leaning on your arm at the cash register, being bored out of your mind. You scan the interior of the Joja Mart you work at and can't help but think about how wrong this felt.

How can your job be so boring? Every day you come to work and do the same things over and over and over again. It was soul draining. You literally felt like you were going insane the longer you worked here. But hey what could you do? At least you had a job. It may be the worst job in existence, but it was a job.

You just didn't think it was worth it.

No one respected retail workers. People expected the most from you and got mad at you for things that you don't control. Why was it your fault that some toothpaste went up a dollar?! You didn't make the prices, so why were you getting yelled at!

It sucked.

"Y/N!" Someone called.

It jolted you awake and you immediately stopped the melancholic thoughts you were having.

"Don't scare me like that!" You whisper-yell.

It was Shane. Shane was... ok. You didn't particularly feel anything about them. They were your co-worker and that was about it. But you did bond over one thing. And that was-

"Having fun selling garbage, Y/N?" Shane sarcastically said.

That. We both hated this place.

"Yep! As the saying goes... life is better with Joja!" You peppily said.

You tried to hold in your laugh but couldn't quite do it when you saw the utter look of disgust on Shane's face when you said that. He joined in your laughter and we both found ourselves clutching our stomachs with tears in our eyes. It wasn't actually that funny, but you had to find humor anywhere you could when you were in this soul sucking place.

"Almost had me there for a minute." Shane said, as he was recovering from laughing so hard.

"Oh! You finally shaved the beard!" You exclaimed.

"Yeah... I decided it was time for a change." He said as he rubbed his four o'clock shadow.

You look over at the clock on the wall and see it's almost time to clock out. Your favorite time of day!

"Can't that clock tick any faster?" You whine.

Shane looks amused by your antics.

"No, Y/N, the clock can not tick any faster. Time is constant." He said smarmily.

"Ok, old man." You say as you roll your eyes.

"Hey!" Shane yells.

He wasn't really that old, but it got under his skin every time you mentioned his age, so you teased him about it every chance you got.

"Well, it was nice talking, but it's time to clock out and go home." You say wistfully.

"Alright, see you tomorrow Y/N."

Tomorrow... You'll still be here tomorrow and that was a depressing thought. You walked past Shane to go clock out and get your stuff from the employee room. Once you were in the employee room, you made your way to your locker and happened to glance at your appearance in the mirror. Your H/C hair was all tussled and looked to be all over the place. It was always like that... You always looked like you got ran over by a car when your shift ended.

You sighed, louder this time.

You moved out of sight of the mirror and unlocked your locker to get your stuff. You were too tired to care. You just wanted to go home. Home... You didn't really have a 'home'. You had a place where you stayed that housed all your stuff.

Home was where your Grandpa was. Thinking about your late Grandpa made you tear up again. How many times had you cried since he died? It must have been a million. He was your rock and you loved him with everything you had. He was the last family member that was alive and now you were left alone.

Alone with a horrible job that made you depressed.

You still hadn't opened his letter. You weren't ready to read his final words. That letter was the last piece of him. Reading it meant you had to finally accept that he was really gone and that was such a hard thing to do. But it had been a few months, and even though you still cried when you thought about him, you thought you were finally ready to read it.

You opened the door to your house and immediately went to your room. Maybe reading the letter would give you closer. You so desperately needed something in your life to be positive. That was wishful thinking on your part though...

The door to your room stuck a little, so you had to jimmy the handle to get it opened.

"Aha!" You said when it finally opened.

You raced to your desk where you knew you had stashed his letter. You stood there for a little before gently and slowly opening the drawer. And there it was. It looked the exact same from when you put it in here. Your hands shook as you picked it up with the utmost care. You could feel the tears flowing from your eyes.

"Grandpa..." You whispered.

You ran your fingers over the wax seal before gently opening it and taking out the letter. Grandpa always was old-fashioned like that. The memories of him refusing to have anything to do with technology almost had you laughing. Almost. A sad smile graced your face. You decided you had stalled long enough and opened your Grandpa's last words.

Dear Y/N,

If you're reading this then I have sadly passed.

I am so sorry that you will have to live on without me, but I will miss you just as much as you will miss me.

Y/N... You need to live. Really live. Working for that blasted Joja Mart is not your future. So, I've handed you yours in this letter.

I've enclosed the deed to that place... my pride and joy: F/N. 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 Y/N. Good luck and live.

Love, Grandpa

By the time you had finished reading, you were bawling and couldn't comprehend what your Grandpa had just given you. It was all just so much, but you had a thought. This really could be your next step in life. You could finally quit your job at Joja Mart and finally start living. It wasn't like you hated farming. Farming was in your blood. It was perfect.

"I guess I'm quitting my job tomorrow!" You happily yelled out into the ether.