From June Till Fall - Stardew Valley

Chapter 20 -- Heartbeat

17. September 2020

***

Hi! 

I'm taking few steps back at at the story. Or not really back, just a little change.

I'm way too quick at changing my mind..

It'll come together after I get it done 

Hopefully...

And btw.

This chapter is just weird.. and may be boring..

It'll get more interesting later I promise!

***

I came into the carpenter, and noticed that the counter was empty. Since it was pretty late already, Robin should've came back from the cottage. 

"How come you 'forgot' to get any fruits?" Robin glared at Demetrius who was standing by the kitchen's entrance. 

I took the scarf off and placed it to a stand near by. Cap happily waddled to a warm looking 'bed' that Maru had made for him. I should really get a coat somewhere, the weather just get's colder and colder.

"Didn't I already tell you at least a million times that tomatoes are fruits!" Demetrius argued glaring at a plastic bag on the kitchen table. 

I decided not to interrupt anything and just quietly make my way to Maru's room. 

Unsuccessfully.

"Hey, Ciara! You're back already?" Robin began with much sweeter tone. "Come here, you must be hungry. Maru and Sebastian already ate but we left some for you"

I was quickly sat down and nearly forced a huge bowl of hot soup. I mean, I don't mind. The soup was delicious no matter what.

"So, I've already gotten the coop finished but the cottage needs a bit more care" Robin took a seat in front of me.

"It'll surely be finished by tomorrow"

"Great!" I had talked with mum through phone, June's supposed to come here in few days and I definitely want to get back to the cottage before that.

*

I got to go back to the Maru's room, and at the very second the door closed the 'fruit' was bought up again.

"Oh, you're back!" Maru smiled, putting away whatever metallic thing she was holding.

There was a giant metal robot looking thing in the middle of the room. "What in the world is that?" 

"It's a small project of mine, nothing major" Yeah, sure.

"And I couldn't get to that even if I tried" I commented.

"Surely you could. It's actually quite simple" She laughed.

*

It actually wasn't 'quite simple'.

Maru explained me how it supposedly worked and how she had built it so far. I didn't understand a thing. 

She even went and demonstrated it, but it ended up just me getting a shock from it.

Ever going to ask about any of her inventions again?

Never.

*

I escaped the situation by toddling back to kitchen.

A fight over tomatoes is much better than another shock.

"Hey, Sam and Abigail are coming to hang out in about an hour or so, you wanna join?" Sebastian suggested sitting lazily on one of the chairs.

"Yeah, sure. Why not" I sat down with a small thump. A small wooden plate had been placed onto the table, and was now filled with bright red tomatoes.

*

"Hey, Cia!" Sam greeted excitedly as I got to the basement. I had been helping Robin with dishes and the trio had gathered to the basement meantime.

I sat down on the dark couch in front of the TV. They played in rounds and Sam had clearly gotten better than what he was last time we played. I tried few rounds, but after I lost every time I just settled to watch them play. 

After some time, maybe an hour - I completely lost track of time - Robin came and gave us some snacks and drinks, which were happily welcomed by the trio. I didn't touch any, just watched. None of them seemed to pay attention to my presence, and my vision started to slowly darken.

So slowly that I didn't pay much attention to it, until I realized I couldn't really pay attention to anything. The TV screen was just blur, all the talking turned into unrecognizable mumbling, and few black dots appeared to my vision.

I felt alarmingly light, and unrealistically heavy both at the same time. The mumbling got louder and louder and something started ringing hurtfully loudly. I couldn't get a hold of anything or even move a single muscle. 

Then, in one single heart beat. Everything got quiet.

***