Solace in the Storm

Chapter 1

Kira sat at her desk; she was bored out of her mind. It felt as though the "work" light had been blinking forever. She didn't have any work to do at the moment; no calls, no files to send, no accounts to review or emails to forward. She rested her head in her hands, staring at the blinking light telling her to work, almost willing it to change to "rest". After a few minutes, she just looked back down at her desk. She felt defeated; she thought back.

She never thought too much about the envelope he'd given her, as she'd hoped to move further within Joja Corp. Here she was now; 5 years later, same position. She was 26 and she was still sitting behind a desk with a light to dictate when she works and rests. She still had no friends, unless you count Soulless Worker #14 that sat at the desk in front of her and occasionally would ask her if she had any extra paper.

She wanted to scream. Why had she ever thought she would be content with an office job? Sure, it paid the bills, but she wasn't happy. She was the loneliest she'd ever been, and there weren't many options for dating. She groaned aloud; she felt as though she was wasting her life. "Where did I put that damn letter?" she thought to herself. She racked her brain, thinking through the events of that day the best she could. She remembered placing it in her bag after she got it from her grandfather, so then she must have brought it to work afterwards. She rummaged through her work drawers and sure enough, the old envelope was sitting there under a few pages of work documents. She pulled the envelope out, not quite sure of what she was expecting. She admired the wax seal before opening it. She saw her grandfather's writing:

"Dear Kira,

If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.

The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life... Real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.

I've enclosed the deed to that place... My pride and joy: Hikaru Farm. 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, my girl. Good luck.

Love, Grandpa

P.S. If Lewis is still alive, say hi to the old guy for me, will ya?"

She sat there in her chair, dumbstruck. He bequeathed her a farm and it took her 5 years to inherit it. Yes, he told her to wait, but had she known what was waiting for her, she would have opened it much sooner. Thoughts started racing through her head as she searched for a box or some sort of container in her cubicle. When she couldn't find one, she called over to the cubicle in front of her, "Hey." she whispered just loud enough for him to hear. "Hey, do you have a box or something?" He didn't respond, but after a few seconds, he shoved a medium sized box out into the walkway. She quickly grabbed it and started clearing out her desk of important items.

Just as she was almost finished, a stuffy man in a black suit with small circular glasses happened to walk by. "Ahem..." he cleared his throat.

Kira looked at the man with a sort of disdain, "Sir?" she asked.

He drummed his fingers on the wall of her cubicle, "Oh, I was just wondering what you were doing, Employee number..." he lazily glanced at the number on the wall, "15? As, the light is still signaling for you to work, and you don't appear to be... working." Although he was smiling, there was a menacing feeling projecting from his eyes.

Kira smirked and looked him directly in the eye, "Why, sir. I'm packing up my items."

His smile nearly faltered, but he caught himself and kept up his façade of niceties, "And why, pray tell, are you doing that?" he asked.