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Chapter Text

“Shane…” knock knock knock “Shaaane…”  

Marnie stood outside his room calling his name. She had been knocking on his door and yelling for several minutes. He was notorious for sleeping like a log, Marnie was in a hurry and didn’t want to leave without telling Shane where she was going. Especially with Jas in bed asleep. She pushed open the door to his room. He had his face buried in his pillow and the covers pulled over his head, how he didn’t suffocate was beyond her. 

“Shane!” 

He jerked awake, “ What?” he groaned. He glanced at his alarm clock, Marnie had better have a good reason for waking him up at seven a.m. on his day off. She tried to tell him where she was going, but trying to tell Shane anything at this hour was fruitless. To him Marnie just sounded like a charlie brown character. 

“ Womp womp womp I’m leaving Shane womp womp womp I’ll be gone for a while womp womp womp Jas is still asleep womp womp womp I probably won’t be back until one, do you need anything while I’m in town? Shane? Shane, are you even listening to me?”

“Yessss.”

“What did I just say?”

“You’ll be back at one.”

Marnie sighed. “I asked you if you needed anything.”

“I heard you.”

“You didn’t answer.”

“I was thinking…” He groaned, he rubbed his thumb and forefinger over his eyes, “No I don’t think so.” 

“Well then I’ll be gone. There’s a pot of coffee for you in the kitchen.”

“Bye.”

Marnie closed the door and as soon as she did, Shane threw his blanket over his head again and buried his face into his pillow. He had to wake up at six o’clock in the morning five days a week, the least she could do was give him Saturday, at least let him sleep till nine. He tossed and turned and tried to get comfortable again, which wasn’t easy, his back ached from repeatedly bending, standing, lifting and tugging boxes at work. Every position he moved felt like he was laying on concrete. He flipped around for about twenty minutes before he found a spot that was comfortable. He laid in bed on his stomach, holding onto his pillow, his head was pounding. And there was no doubt as to why. His eyes were closed, he tried to keep his mind empty. To not focus on the pounding sensation in his head, the sour taste in his mouth or how his bed felt like a furnace, he’d throw the covers off himself if it weren’t for the light peering in from between the blinds that bothered him so much. And right when he felt himself begin the drift off sleep again, he heard, “Uncle Shane? Are you awake?” 

Jas was standing in his doorway, clutching her teddy bear.

He sighed, “No, I’m not awake.”

“How are you talking if you’re not awake?”

“I'm talking in my sleep, now go back to bed it’s too early.”

“But Uncle Shane, ”

“No buts, go back to bed.”

“I’m hungry !”

Shane rolled over to face her, it was now seven thirty. There was no way he was going back to sleep now. He sighed, “ Okay , let me get dressed.”

Jas smiled, and skipped off to the living room. Shane threw his covers off and slowly sat up, he was barely thirty but the aching feeling in his back made him feel closer to fifty. He stood and stretched his arms above his head. Then pressed his hand against his chin and popped his neck. He threw on a pair of sweat pants and t-shirt before meeting Jas in the hallway. 

“Uncle Shane, can we go outside?”

“I thought you were hungry?”

“I mean after we eat.”

“I guess.”

In the kitchen, Shane poured himself a cup of coffee, and pulled a carton of eggs out of the fridge. With as many hens as Marnie had, they were encouraged to eat as many eggs as they could. He pulled a pan out from the cabinet and turned the stove on. 

Jas sat behind him in a kitchen chair, she looked around for any sign of Marnie, she was usually awake at this hour, “Where did Aunt Marnie go?”

He couldn’t recall, if he had been paying any attention he would have heard her say she was bringing a house warming gift to the new farmer. Or maybe noticed the basket of goods she was carrying on her hip. “I don’t know Jas, she said she would be back around one.” He cracked two eggs into the pan and began mixing them around with the spatula to make what he and Jas nick-named lazy eggs.

“Uncle Shane?”

“Yes?”

“How many days until the dance Aunt Marnie told me about?” 

The flower dance, a long standing tradition in Pelican town, and while Shane had been visiting the valley since he could crawl, he had never been in town for the event before. He glanced at the calendar hanging by the fridge, “Two weeks.” He said.

“I wish it were closer.” She pouted. Shane wasn’t looking forward to the event. He was only going because Jas wanted to, and he needed someone to keep an eye on her. He wasn’t friends with anyone in town. Not really anyways. The closest thing to a friend he had in town was the bartender he was on a first name basis with. He never cared for dances in school, and he sure didn’t care for them as an adult. 

“Uncle Shane, can I wear my princess dress to the dance.”

“If you want to.”

Jas smiled from ear to ear. He pulled a plate down from the cabinet and poured her eggs onto it. He passed her her plate and took a sip from his mug of black coffee. 

“When can I drink coffee?” she asked.

“I’m not sure you’ll like it.”

“How do you know?” She said sassily.

Shane laughed, “because it’s bitter.”

“So?”

“Alright! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He passed his mug to Jas, “Careful it’s hot.”

She brought the mug to her mouth and took a small sip. The look of disgust on her face was instant. 

“Eww!” she wiped her mouth off. He couldn’t help but laugh. 

“That’s nasty, why do grown ups drink that?”

“‘Cause it helps you wake up.”

“I’d rather be sleepy than drink that it’s gross.”

“You’ll understand when you’re older.”

It had been years since Marnie visited the old farm house. It was less than a quarter mile from her own home, but since her neighbor’s passing, she hadn’t had a reason to stop by. She hadn’t realized just how dilapidated the farm had become in recent years. The house itself had seen better days, but the land was what was the worst. There was brush covering the fields which once held acres of lush prosperous crops, the orchid of grape vines and fruit trees were being strangled by wild vines and the roof of the green house had been caved in by a fallen tree likely during a thunderstorm. Marnie knew this poor person had their work cut out for them. And she was ready to offer a lending hand should they need it. She held the skirt of her dress up as she wadded through the thick overgrown grass leading towards the porch of the farm house. Keeping an eye out for snakes, and thanking God that she decided to wear closed toed shoes today. Once she got close enough to the house she stepped through the path created in the grass where her new neighbor had likely walked before. She stepped onto the creaky wood of the old porch and brushed her hand over her dress to make sure it was free from dirt and bugs after that strenuous journey. She double checked the basket of goods under her arm to make sure everything was arranged perfectly. She wanted her neighbor to feel welcome in Pelican town and so she decided to bring them a house warming present, a basket filled with homemade jams, canned goods, scented candles, air fresheners, all the works. She smiled and knocked on the door, excited to meet the new addition to the small town she called home. 

She heard something moving around inside like someone was rearranging furniture. Then what sounded like someone tripping and falling. She was pretty certain she heard someone say ‘Ow shit!’

“Hang on a minute!” They called, followed by more loud and somewhat concerning sounds until the door swung open. She was met by a young woman somewhere in her late twenties. With a mop of curly brown hair and round glasses. 

The woman didn’t even have a chance to speak before Marnie bombarded her, “HI! It’s so wonderful to finally meet you! It’s been so long since we’ve had someone new in the valley, when I heard someone would be moving into John’s old cottage I just couldn’t wait to see you, and when I heard you were his grandchild nonetheless, ooo I just got so excited! ” She squealed.

The woman nervously laughed, “Um, hehe, yeah it’s nice to meet you too.”

“What’s your name sweetie?” Marnie asked.

“Melissa,”

“Oh what a lovely name, I'm Marnie! Now, are you settling in alright?”

“I uh, I suppose so.”

“Well that’s wonderful! Have you gotten the chance to meet anyone else in town yet?”

“Uh not really,” she sheepishly admitted, “The mayor, of all people, came by to check on me but so far I’ve been doing a lot of work around the house. I haven’t got the chance to go into town yet.”

“Well that’s too bad, I’ll say, if you’re ever feeling lonely on this big old farm of yours, you're welcome to come by my house for dinner anytime! I live just south of here, on that ranch above the river, you can't miss me!”

“Thank you, that’s very kind of you.”

“Oh my goodness,” Marnie slapped her hand against her forehead, “I almost forgot, I brought you a little present.” She shifted the wicker basket off of her hip and passed it to Melissa. “Just a small way of saying, ‘welcome’ I hope you enjoy it here in the valley, where are you moving here from if you don't mind me asking?”

“Zuzu City.”

“Oh how interesting! Well, I'll be the first to tell you, life here can be quite different from the city, it’s much slower, quieter, peaceful, I personally don’t know anyone would ever want to live anywhere else!”

“It’s different that’s for certain, and it is much quieter, the nights are so silent it’s almost deafening.”

“Oh honey, in a few weeks when the cicadas come out, you’ll forget what quiet sounds like.”

Melissa laughed. 

“I really do appreciate the present, I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to say hi to anyone yet, I’ve been so busy trying to get this place fixed up just so I can live here I haven't had the chance yet. It was nice of you to introduce yourself.”

“Of course! And I really do mean that about the dinner. If you ever want to just sit around the table and swap stories, or maybe chat over tea, my door is always open!”

“Thank you.” Melissa smiled nervously, introductions weren’t her favorite thing. People weren’t really her thing either, even though Marnie seemed nice, it didn’t take away the awkward tension she felt, that Marnie began to feel. She got the feeling that Melissa was ready for her to leave, and didn’t want to overstay her welcome.

“Well, I’ll be on my way, I’m sure you’ve a lot of work to do, I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“Well, it was nice meeting you, I’d invite you in for coffee, but there isn’t really anywhere to sit— besides the floor that is. And I’m not sure which box my coffee maker is packed away in.”

“Oh it isn’t a problem, I know you’ve got a lot to do and I don’t want to hold you up. You’ll have to let me know though if you like that jelly I packed in there, it's homemade!” Marnie added and winked.

“I will, I promise.”

“Well I’ll be off, I have some errands to run anyways!”

“Goodbye.”

Melissa closed the door. She couldn’t help but feel she ruined that woman's first impression of her. The way she left so fast, she knew the woman could tell she was uncomfortable. There wasn’t anything she could do about it now, just hope the next time she sees her she comes off as less socially awkward. She brought the basket of goods to the kitchen and emptied it out onto the counter. Marnie had given her a carton of eggs, a scented candle, air freshener, two jars of jelly, canned greens, crocheted pot holders, and some sort of baked good wrapped in brown paper. 

“Jesus.”

Such a generous gift for a total stranger. Melissa couldn’t believe it. She felt like she should do something nice in return. Just what exactly? She hadn’t a clue, it wasn’t like she could just fill the basket up with home grown produce and send it back to her. No, it would be a long time before anything was going to grow around here. She had been in town for five days and had only met two people. Both of which come to see her . She knew she should go into town and get acquainted with everyone, but she had so much work to do around the house, what with her leaky roof, basement that floods, lights that won't stay on, the floor that's caving in in different spots and a million other things, she just didn’t have the time. And if she was being honest with herself, part of her didn’t want to. Meeting new people was one of her least favorite things to do. Part of the reason she left the city was that there were far fewer people. She was going to have to meet the locals eventually… just not today.

Chapter Text

“Aunt Marnie!” Jas dropped her jump rope to the ground and ran into Marnie’s arms as she approached the ranch. Marnie picked her up and held her on her hip.

“Hi sweetheart.”

“Where’d you go today?”

“I went to go say hi to our new neighbor. I told your Uncle Shane that before I left, I guess he wasn’t paying attention after all.”

“I heard you were leaving and when you’d be back I didn't think I needed the specifics.” He sounded less than thrilled.

Jas could sense the tension in their voices, she knew another argument was to come.

“Well I told you I wanted to make a proper introduction, and tell her that I was looking forward to getting to know her. You haven’t met her yet have you?”

“No, and I don’t particularly want to either, if I haven’t made it extremely obvious I don’t exactly do new people, and besides when would I even have the time?”

“I don’t know Shane,” she said exhaustively, “maybe you could’ve seen her at work or at the saloon.”

Shane cut his eyes at her, “No I haven’t, I didn’t even know that she was a she ‘till just now.”

“Well you should go say hi to her if you get the chance, she seems nice, about your age.”

He rolled his eyes at her, “Oh God Marnie, I thought I told you, I don’t want you trying to set me up with people I don’t know. You tried to set me up with Emily and didn’t let up until you found she was in a relationship. With a woman, ” he sighed, “I’m fine on my own Marnie, I don’t need a relationship right now, or for the foreseeable future.”

Jas’ eyes were fixated on the ground. Shane took her from Marnie.

“I know you say that Shane, but aren’t you lonely? I worry about you, you need to get out more—”

“I’ll be fine.” He cut her off. His eyes darted to Jas, then back to Marnie, he didn’t want to have this spat in front of her.

“Okay.” She exhaled, “I’ll be inside, I’m going to get dinner started.”

Marnie always got on his nerves about this kind of thing, and he hated that she could make him so mad, but she had the tendency to make subtle jabs at him. He knew she only had his best interest in mind, Marnie was like a mother to him growing up, she was letting him stay in her house at pretty low cost, and babysat Jas with no complaints. He should be grateful to her, and he was, he just didn't know how to express it. When he moved back in with Marnie, it’s like things picked up where they left off the last time he had stayed with her, as a moody teenager. Every comment made towards him had to be met with an attitude of some sorts. It took most of his strength not to slam doors or yell at her to ‘ get of his case.’ He didn’t like being angry, he worried he would just have to accept that this is who he was now. He had become an angry man.

Shane carried Jas over to the tree by the pond. He sat her down so she could climb onto the swing hanging from its branch. 

“Why do you and Aunt Marnie argue so much?” She asked.

He pulled the seat of the swing into the air and let it drop, “Marnie and I disagree on a lot of things, that's all.”

“Like Aunt Marnie wanting you to make friends?”

“She doesn’t want me to make friends, she wants to get me a girl friend.”

“Oooo.” She teased.

Shane stopped her swing, “Don’t get any funny ideas. I don’t want you and Marnie conspiring behind my back, I’m not interested.”

“Why not?”

“It’s complicated kiddo.”

“Ugh, why do adults always say that? ‘It’s complicated, you’ll understand when you’re older!’” She mocked. 

“Because it’s the truth, most grown up stuff is pretty complicated.”

“But I’m not a baby, just tell me!”

Shane sighed, he hated this part of parenting, trying to put things delicately. Kids were so curious, this one especially, and he knew she was smart for her age, it’s not like she wouldn’t understand, but she had already been through so much in her little life, he didn’t need to give her something else to worry about.

“Relationships are a lot of work, it’s not like it is on T.V. I don’t have the time for one.”

“But you don’t have any friends.”

“Who says I don’t have any friends?”

“Well, you never go see your friends, and nobody comes to see you. I go and see Vincent all the time!”

“Well, maybe I don’t need friends.”

“Everybody needs friends!” She retorted.

“Not me!”

Jas paused for a moment, “Is aunt Marnie right?”

Probably , he thought. “About what?”

“...Do you get lonely?”

Shane hesitated before he answered. How could he ever not be lonely? And why would Marnie ask such a thing? How could she put that idea in Jas’ head?

“Of course I’m not lonely, I’ve got you!” He stopped her swing mid air, so he could grab hold of her and blow a raspberry on her cheek. Jas squealed and wiped her face.

“You don’t have to worry about me baby, it’s my job to worry about you .” 

Monday

The wooden stairs leading into the basement creaked below her feet. The cardboard boxes in her arms blocked her view of the steps. She held onto the railing which was in desperate need of sanding. 

“ Phew!” She dropped the boxes in the corner with the rest of them. She pulled the chain hanging from the ceiling. When the light turned on it illuminated just how much dust was covering the basement. It smelt horribly dank. It would flood when it rained, causing mildew to grow on the walls. Stemming from the baseboards going upwards. 

‘ I’ve really gotta get a professional in here…’ she thought.

“Let’s see, what are you…” she flicked open a box cutter and cut the tape sealing the box revealing her pots and pans inside. 

Finally , she had been in such a hurry to move out that she hadn’t labeled any of her boxes. She’d been sorting through them trying to find her pots and pans. Cereal and peanut butter sandwiches were getting sickening. 

She heard something move behind her. She whipped her head around, and caught the shadow of something darting behind one of her boxes. It was likely a mouse. She made a note to herself to buy some traps later, for the time being she’d just have to shew it away.

“Okay little guy, I hate to do this to you, but can’t stay here...this is my home now…” 

Once she got closer to the box it was hiding behind, she noticed its long skinny tail. 

‘Is that…an opossum?’

The mouse was much larger than she thought it would be.

‘How the hell did an opossum get in here…’

The creature, realizing it had been cornered made a run for it, right past her feet. The thing she thought was a mouse, and then an opossum, turned out to be a rat, a large rat.

She screamed, “Son of a bitch!” and jumped as it ran under her. 

She nearly threw one of her pans at it, but it ran to the other side of the basement, into a hole in the wall. Her heart was thumping in her chest. Scratch that, she'd buy traps now. She would finally have to make that trip into town she’d been putting off all week. She could handle a mouse, a rat was a no go.

‘ Pierre’s general store’ can’t imagine they’d sell traps, can’t hurt to check…’

The bell above the entrance chimed as she swung the door open. The inside of the store didn’t seem like anything special. Your typical farmers market at best. A young girl with purple hair was standing with a box on her hip arranging tomatoes on a shelf. 

The girl looked at her for a second, before whipping her head around to the man behind the counter, “ Dad! ” she whisper-yelled.

The middle aged man seemed lost in what he was reading, he looked up from his newspaper. 

“Hm?” He looked at the purple haired girl, his daughter, then to Melissa.

“Oh!” 

He folded his paper and sat it down on the counter, “Welcome to Pierre’s!” He laughed nervously, “I’ve never seen your face around here before, so I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that you’re the new girl I’ve heard so much talk about!”

‘ Oh god, people have been talking about me?’ She thought. S he forced herself to smile.

"I guess so, my name's Melissa."

“Well my name’s Pierre if you couldn’t tell, and I'm the owner of this store! If you’re ever looking to get the ole farm back to its former glory, I’d be happy to help, I've got everything you could ever need!” He boasted.

“You wouldn’t happen to sell rat traps would you?” she asked.

“Um,” he said hesitantly, “Maybe not everything , but you know, I’m sure if you went and asked Willie, the fisherman, he lives by the dock, he may have some old traps you could use, in a pinch.”

“Dad!”

“What? I’m sure Willie wouldn’t mind helping her!”

“With lobster traps?” said the young girl, she turned to face Melissa, “just go to Jojamart, it’s right across the river.”

“Abby!” her dad snapped.

“What?”

“Don’t send my customers to Jojamart, they’re my number one competitor!”

“So? Dad, you don’t have what she’s looking for, and you can’t honestly expect her to use a lobster trap to try and catch rats!”

“How would you know? Have you ever tried it?”

“No Dad, I can assure you, no one has ever tried that.”

Melissa grew increasingly uncomfortable watching the two go back and forth. She started to tune them out. All she heard was something about, ‘you never listen to me,’ and ‘I’m getting sick of your attitude!’ She thought it’d be best to sneak out unnoticed while she could. 

‘What the hell did I walk in on back there…’

Abby was right, it was just across the river. Gosh, this town was small. Jojamart was the last place she wanted to see, the whole point of her moving here was to get away from Joja.

She hated this place, no, hate wasn’t strong enough, she loathed this place. She wasted ten years of her life working for Joja, she never wanted to look back, to never give that place a second of her time. But now she didn’t have a choice. This was the only place in town that might have what she needed. 

‘ Here goes nothing ’

The inside was somehow worse than she remembered. The bright fluorescent lights were blinding, accompanied by the blue walls it made the whole place feel… sterile. Like a hospital, if all the doctors and nurses disappeared. Something was so off putting about the inside. Like it lacked something... soul probably .

‘ This would be a whole lot easier if all Jojamarts had the same layout,’  

She kept her fingers crossed she wouldn’t have to ask anyone for help. She’d either find the traps on her own or walk around the store aimlessly until she got up the courage to ask for help.

She turned down one aisle, she found laundry detergent and dog food, no employee, no rat traps. Next aisle, scented candles and air fresheners, which she was all set on thanks to the care basket her neighbor gave her, Marnie, that was her name right? Next aisle, dry goods. No traps.

‘ Fuck, I’m gonna have to ask for help aren’t I?’

She wasn’t going to seek someone out, but if she happened to cross paths with someone maybe then she’d ask.

The first person she came across was some young blonde man, he must’ve been a janitor, he was pushing around a mop and bucket. He had a pair of headphones on, humming along to his music and quietly mumbling ‘I’m going off the rails on a crazy train…’ into his mop handle like it was a microphone.

‘Right, okay, probably not him…’

“Office supplies… Party supplies… room decor… Jesus Christ, how hard can it be to find a damn rat trap? It should be right beside the ant spray and cleaning supplies…where’s the cleaning supplies?”

The longer she stayed in the store the more uncomfortable she grew. She just wanted to get out of there. 

She eventually found a man cutting open boxes of canned goods and stacking them on the shelf. He was bound know where everything was. He had on a Jojamart shirt, vest, and matching hat. She definitely didn’t miss wearing that uniform. She was going to ask him for help, but her words got hung in her throat. He must have noticed her looking at him.

“Can I help you?”

He sounded like he was absolutely thrilled to be working here, she couldn’t blame him.

“Do you sell rat traps?”

“There’s glue boards in aisle four.”

Fantastic, that's not what she needed.

“Oh, I’m looking for something else actually. Something that could catch something… bigg er.”

“Have you seen the rat you’re trying to catch?”

“Yeah.”

“How big is the bastard?”

“Like really, really big.” She gestured its size with her hands, “I uh, thought it was an opossum at first.”

His eyes grew larger, but he didn’t comment on it, “Try aisle six,”

“Thank you… they are live traps aren’t they? I mean, I don’t wanna kill the thing. I just don’t want it in my house.”

“Yes.” He sighed, like it was stupid question.

“Okay. Okay thanks.”

She wanted to turn around and walk away. She hadn’t met anyone in town yet that hadn’t come to her first. Well there was also the father daughter argument she witnessed, though she didn’t think that counted as a proper introduction. Now was as good a time as any to get acquainted with the locals. Even if he didn't seem like the nicest person around.

Just introduce yourself…You’ve already started a conversation, just tell him your name for Christ's sake!

Evidently he caught wind of her hesitation, “Do you need something else?” He already sounded frustrated with her.

“Um,” She stuttered, “D-do you live around here?”

What a stupid question. Why wouldn’t he live around here? No, he commutes an hour to work everyday to work at a Jojamart in the middle of nowhere.

“Yes?”

“It’s just, I just moved here, like a week ago.”

Ah so this is the elusive would be farmer. The one Marnie claimed he just had to meet, he didn’t see what was so special about her. She seemed lost and confused. As if he hadn’t been there before .

“I haven’t really, uh, met anyone yet. I mean, I met a few people, like the mayor, and this one lady that lives near me, I think…my name's Melissa.”

“Right, I’ve heard about you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” He said, like it shouldn’t come as a shock to her. He continued straightening the cans on the shelf. “That lady is my aunt…you’ve been the topic of every conversation all weekend.”

Melissa shrunk into herself. 

‘ Is there anyone in town who hasn’t been talking about me?’

“Listen, if Marnie sent you to come and talk to me, I’m not interested.”

Well that was a shock, “What? She didn’t—”

He cut her off, “The way I see it, I stay out of your hair and you stay out of mine, got it?”

She couldn’t help but scoff at him, “Yeah got it,” she looked at the name tag pinned to his vest, “ Shane. ”

She turned tail and left the man, Shane, in the aisle stocking canned goods. What an asshole! The audacity. Part of her wanted to laugh, the other part wanted to go back and tell him what she thought.

'Now just why did he have to assume someone sent me to talk to him, like I can’t shop here? Not to mention that’d be one hell of a meet cute, ‘Hey lover boy, I’ve got a rat the size of a small dog living in my basement, can you give me a hand?' What a dick!’

She bought a cheap trap from aisle six, paid for and left, without bothering to talk to anyone else.

Around five that evening Shane came home, and had a word or two he needed to share with Marnie. The front door slammed shut behind him.

“Did you send that girl to come and talk to me?”

Marnie looked up from where she was helping Jas with her homework, “What?”

“Yeah, that girl who moved into the old farm house. Did you tell her to come talk to me?”

Marnie looked confused, and partly offended, “Shane, I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

“She came and talked to me at work today.”

“About what?”

“She asked me— if we sold…rat traps.”

Marnie chuckled as she sipped her tea, “Wow. Sounds like she was coming on pretty strong.”

“ Haha, she told me that she hadn’t met anyone else in town besides you and Lewis.”

“Well correct me if I’m wrong Shane, but it sounds like she was just trying to buy rat traps.”

“Then why didn’t she just leave as soon as I told her where to go, she just had to stop and introduce herself?”

“Maybe she was just being nice.”

“Yeah right.”

“ Shane, is it really completely impossible that someone went out of their way to just be kind?”

Completely impossible? No. Highly unlikely? Yes. 

“In this town, yes.”

“Well she is new. I hope you weren’t too cold with her, she seemed like a nice girl when I spoke to her.”

“Yeah well most people seem nice at first.”

Marnie, sighed, “Whatever you say Shane, but I’m telling you, I didn’t put her up to anything.”

Shane looked at her like he didn’t fully believe her. He didn’t say anything else and instead went to his room to change, without saying anything to Jas.

Shane laid in the lawn chair on Marnie’s front porch. He took a draw off his cigarette. Looking up at the night sky always gave him this weird feeling he couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was existentialism, something about gazing at distant galaxies reminded him of just how small and insignificant he was. How little he truly mattered. 

Just then the screen door creaked open. 

“Uncle Shane?”

Jas stepped onto the porch in her PJs, clutching her favorite bear.

“Shit,” he muttered, and duct his cigarette in his ash tray. He sat up to face her. She was meant to be in bed.

“Yeah sweetie?”

“I thought you quit smoking?”

“I did.” He admitted.

“And you started again?”

“Yeah.” He said sheepishly.

“Why?” she whined.

“It’s complicated.”

Jas rolled her eyes, “I know you hate hearing that.” He said.

“It's gross! And it’s bad for you!”

“I know, kid.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“It’s… complicated.”

“Stop saying that!”

He hung his head “...I’m sorry.”

Jas made a sour face at him, the same one she had always made every time she got mad. Normally Shane thought it was pretty cute, but when it was directed at him, it broke him.

“C’mere.” He motioned her to come sit next to him.

She climbed onto his lap, resting her head just under his chin. He held his arms around her. 

“You should stop smoking.” She told him, “ for good!” She looked up at him and gave him a look that he knew meant she was serious. 

“You’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

Shane laughed, “I dunno about always .”

“Most of the time.”

“Most of the time.” He agreed. 

“Uncle Shane, why were you mad at Aunt Marnie earlier?”

“Y’know that lady that just moved to town? I thought she told her to come talk to me.”

“Why is that a bad thing?”

“Well, Jas, if you were gonna be friends with someone wouldn’t you rather they be friends with you because they like you, not cause someone told them to?”

“I guess so.”

“Aunt Marnie thinks I can’t make friends on my own.”

“I thought you didn’t want friends?”

“I don’t. Marnie thinks that because I don’t have any it means I can’t make any, I can make friends.   I just don’t want to.”

“ Why don’t you want any friends?”

“I just don’t need ‘em.”

“So? You don’t need to smoke either.”

“...Touche,”

“Wassat mean?”

“It means, you’ve got me there.”

“So you’ll make new friends.”

“Still no, it just means you’re right, per usual.”

“Told ya. I’m always right.”

Shane chuckled, “You should be in bed.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“How come?”

“I dunno… Can I stay here with you?”

It was well past her bedtime, and she had school in the morning, he really should tell her to go to her room and shut her eyes… but he couldn’t.

“Just for a little while, then you’ve really gotta go to bed, okay?”

“I will.” She said, she clutched her bear to her chest and shut her eyes, “I love you Uncle Shane.”

He wasn’t sure why. He never felt like he was any good for her. Especially lately. He brushed her hair from her face and kissed her on the forehead. “I love you too Pumpkin.”

Chapter Text

Wednesday

Melissa had practically worked her fingers to the bone on her farm all week long. Inside and out, she had scrubbed her house from the floors all the way to the ceiling, and set up a trap for her new friend in the basement. Of course there was only so much she could do without hiring help, she could put it off as long as she wanted but eventually she would have to hire a contractor. She hadn’t had a steady income since she quit her job, and had been coasting by on her savings all month long, so dishing out a few hundred for a repair job was out of the question. The handyman alone was already going to set her back quite a bit, it didn’t help that she’d also likely need to hire a lawn service, that is if she can’t find someone with a bush hog that wouldn’t mind lending a hand out of the goodness of their heart.

She spent the better part of her morning cleaning brush from around her grandfather’s old shed. She had almost made a path from it to her porch. There was a scythe and pair of hedge trimmers left in the basement when she arrived, which is what she used to make the small dent in the overgrowth of her lawn, though it was proving to be exhausting. She stopped and sat on her front porch step to catch her breath. She wiped sweat from her forehead, before taking a long gulp of her bottle of water. It was the middle of spring, the air still had a cool bite to it, but she was burning up from exhaustion.

She had never done such strenuous physical labor. The closest thing to heavy lifting she had ever done at her office job was carrying a few boxes from time to time. Nothing compared to this. She was completely out of her field, she had never even used a lawn mower before, how did she expect herself to use a tractor?

She didn’t like sweating, she didn’t like mosquitoes, she didn’t like sunburns… It’s not as if she didn’t like nature, she loved nature, she loved animals and plants, she loved watching the sun rise, she loved the ocean, and lush green trees, but in the summer time… Nature was to be appreciated from the other side of a window, where there was air conditioner.

By then it was eleven a.m. Melissa sat back on her step looking out over her yard, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ She thought.

The thrill of her rash decision began to wear off, she was starting to think she may be in over her head, ‘Oh God, how am I gonna do this all by myself?’  

She couldn’t exactly clear off a few acres of land with just a scythe, setting it on fire was out of the question, as old and dry as most of it was, it would go up into flames in seconds, and likely set the woods on fire with it. 

But then she closed her eyes, she felt the soft spring breeze blowing against her wet skin, which sent a chill all over her body. She smelt the air, and it smelt like… nothing. Sweet, glorious, nothing… Not smog, not asphalt, or a burning landfill, if anything it smelt like dirt, like Earth. And where was she? Her home. Hers. She owned the land, and the home. Here, she didn’t have to pay thousands in rent each month. She didn’t have to waste hours a day sitting in front of a desk in an office with no windows, for a place that did even have a health plan. She didn’t have to deal with her snide coworkers or cruel boss anymore. She was never going back. Just the thought of having to step foot in that damn building again made her sick. It didn’t matter how long it would take, or how hard it would be, she’d turn this run down old hunk of dirt into a home. And she’d never look back, not even for a second. 

‘I’ll get this place fixed up, one way or the other, even if it takes all year…’  

Still though, she felt she deserved a break. She wasn’t too keen on meeting anyone else just yet, given what happened the last time. It wasn’t just the spat she witnessed between father and daughter that put her off, but that ass-hat at Jojamart. Which she still couldn’t believe. She wanted to be offended, but it was just too damn funny. It hardly made any sense.

‘What kind of a self deluded prick do you have to be to think someone is hitting on you because they asked you where to buy rat traps?’

He would be easy to steer clear of, she didn’t plan on shopping at Joja unless it was one hundred percent absolutely necessary, regardless of him. And he didn’t strike her as a social butterfly, so running into him in town probably wouldn’t be a problem.

Where should she go now though? She didn’t want to sit at home all day, even someone like her gets cabin fever after a while, well barely anyways. There was a bar in town, of course it wasn’t open at this hour, and she wasn’t a drinker. Didn’t the mayor tell her there was a library in town? Maybe she could go there. She was in the mood for a new book to read anyways. 

After cleaning herself off and changing into clothes that weren’t covered in sweat and grass stains, she found the library on the other side of town. She noticed a couple of people staring at her on her way over. She kept her fingers crossed none of them would stop and talk to her, and luckily none of them did.

The library was this little green building by the river. Since it was a rather small library, it likely didn’t have the best selection to choose from; but the smell of books made her feel nostalgic, so she couldn’t complain. There was an older gentleman in a blue suit sitting behind the counter. He looked up from his novel when she came through the door and simply smiled at her before going back to his reading. That was the kind of greeting she liked. 

She walked through the library overlooking the shelves, scanning what options there were. She was correct in there not being much to choose from. The shelves were arranged like normal, fiction was sorted first by genre, then by the author's last name. She scanned the romance section and grabbed the first book she saw. While reading the back of it she heard a faint voice speaking. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but the voice suddenly grew agitated.

“ Vincent! Stop blowing bubbles in your juice, you’re going to make a mess!” It must’ve been a young woman, she sighed, “as I was saying, do the two of you remember what we talked about last week during vocab? T-H and S-H words? Do you remember the sounds they make?”

Melissa peered over the book shelf, there sat a young girl with auburn hair, and two little kids, a boy and a girl. The woman looked like she couldn’t be more than twenty two or so. She must’ve been tutoring them. The boy was squirming in his seat and fidgeting with his pencil. The girl seemed perfectly behaved. 

The adult woman sighed, “Either one of you? What sound does S-H make?”

The little girl had blue doe eyes, when she answered her teacher, her voice was barely above a whisper, Melissa couldn’t hear what she said.

“What was that?”

“Shhh like in ‘ship.’”

“Yes, shh like in ship, that’s correct. Do you remember what T-H says?”

The little girl's voice was inaudible again.

“Jas, sweetie, you’ll have to talk louder I can’t hear you.”

“Thh like in ‘thank you.’”

“Yes, I’m glad you’re paying attention.” She said and smiled.

Melissa didn’t want to interrupt their lesson, she’d scoot by, grab her books and hope no one wants to introduce themselves.

She held the romance book in her arms. She picked a few more of various genres, enough to keep her occupied a week or two. Once she had what she wanted, she tried to scoot past the woman and kids unnoticed, to no avail of course.

“Hey!” She heard from behind

‘Damn it…’

“Yes?” she turned around.

“Are you, uh, the new farmer?” She asked.

“I don’t know if I’d call myself a farmer exactly… I’m the girl if that’s what you mean.”

“Sorry to bug you, it’s just, we don’t get a lot of new people here. So it’s kind of a big deal when we do.”

“So I’ve gathered.” She said nervously

“I’m Penny by the way.”

“Melissa.”

“If you come to the library often you’ll be seeing a lot of me. I tutor Vincent and Jas here on weekdays.” She pointed her pencil to them respectively. 

“I probably will, I take it there isn’t much to do in this town?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then I guess I’ll stick to the library. Besides, I’m not big on crowds, or bars so I’d probably wind up here at some point anyhow.”

“I’m not really a bar person either.” Penny said, with a somber look in her eyes that Melissa recognized all too well.

“Well, I really hope you enjoy it here.”

“I’m sure I will.”

“I’ve lived in Pelican Town my entire life. I’ve never gone anywhere else and I can’t complain.”

Suddenly, Vincent let go of the juice box he had been blowing air into, the pressure inside caused the grape juice to squirt out of the straw. Shooting clear across the table.

Penny gasped, and stood up from the table suddenly.

“ Sorry Miss Penny! ” Vincent pleaded.

His grape juice had splattered all over Penny’s yellow shirt.

“Shhhhooot!” she laughed nervously, trying not to swear or lose her temper.

“Vincent, dear, I told you, you need to be more careful with your food and drinks!” Penny looked around seemingly for something to clean herself off with, but was surrounded only with the children’s work sheets.

She looked up at Melissa, “I’m going to the restroom to try and clean myself off. Would you care to sit with them until I get back? Make sure they don’t run off or cause any more trouble.”

“Uh— Okay?” Melissa didn’t have time to think let alone respond before Penny ushered herself off to the bathroom.

Both of the children’s eyes followed Penny to the bathroom, and as soon as she closed the door behind her, they darted towards Melissa. Both of them were wild eyed. Of course, they didn’t like being left alone with a stranger. They had never met her before, it made sense they didn’t know what to think of her.

“Hi.” Melissa said meekly and waved. She made herself smile. The silence felt awkward. She didn’t dislike children, it was just that she hadn’t been around kids much and didn’t know how to interact with them. Eventually the little boy grew brave enough to speak up.

“Do you have any piglets on your farm?” He asked excitedly.

She chuckled, “I don’t have any animals yet.”

“Jas has a bunch of animals at her house! She’s got pigs, and bunnies, and cows and goats and horses and—”

“It sounds like she has a lot of animals!”

“Chickens! She’s got a million chickens.”

Jas was shooting him a look that could kill, Melissa couldn’t tell whether it was from embarrassment or anger. Jas didn’t like being the center of attention, not with people she didn’t know. 

“Do you live on a farm too?” Melissa asked.

Jas stayed silent, Vincent chimed in, “Uh-huh! She does!” Melissa smiled at Vincent, but looked back at Jas. There was something about her, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something told her that that little girl had so much going on behind those big blue eyes.

“Do you like living on a farm?”

She shook her head yes.

“That’s good, maybe one day my farm will be as big as yours. What about you? I’m guessing you don’t live on a farm.” She asked Vincent.

“No.” He said disappointedly, “I just live in a stupid house, with my mom and my brother, ‘cause my dads deployed. Jas’ dad and my brother work together.”

“He’s not my dad.” She whispered. 

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Jas lives with her uncle.”

“Shut up!” she whisper yelled.

“What? I don’t live with my dad either.”

Melissa could tell that Vincent was making Jas uncomfortable. Children had this gift of never knowing when to hold their tongue, or what was and was not socially appropriate. She tried to shift the subject, “So what does your brother do for work?”

“He’s a janitor at Jojamart, sometimes when he comes home from work he brings home a bunch of empty boxes and we make forts with them!”

‘Jojamart? If his brother was the janitor then that probably means… oh God, that asshole has a kid? Who’s bright idea was it to leave their kid with him? No wonder she seems so shy.’

Melissa smiled, “That sounds like lots of fun.”

She was running out of things to say, and it was clear that Jas didn’t like having to sit there with some lady she had never met before. She wondered which one of them was more uncomfortable, her or the girl. She couldn’t wait for Penny to come back from the bathroom. Just then, as if she read her thoughts, the bathroom door creaked open. Penny’s shirt was still stained purple, but she had dried herself off with paper towels.

“So sorry I had to leave you with them. I just wanted to make sure they didn’t get into any they weren’t supposed to while I was gone, I didn’t mean to hold you up, you can go now if you want, it was nice meeting you.”

“You too, I think I am going to head out, I only came to maybe grab a couple of books.”

“I’ll see you around!”

She sat her books on the counter, “Find everything alright ma’am?”

“I think so. I wanted to check these out, but I need to set up a library card first.”

“Absolutely! Do you have a form of ID and proof of your current address?”

“Umm… no. Gosh, I haven’t got my address changed on my license yet.”

“That’s fine, do you have a piece of mail?”

“Not with me.”

Gunther tapped his fingers on the counter. He clicked his tongue, “You’re that new lady aren’t you?”

“Yes?”

“Ah hell, just take ‘em. It’s not like I can’t find you if they’re overdue, small town y’know?”

“Thank you!” She said bewildered, “I promise I’ll bring these back in time! And when I do I’ll bring everything I need with me to open my card!”

“You have a great day Miss!”

Melissa left the library carrying the books in her arm, that was the first nice interaction she’d had since moving here. Well the lady who came and brought her a goodie basket was pretty nice, but she could do without the unexpected visits in the future. The people in this town were proving themselves to be more and more… unique the longer she stayed here.

“Okay kid, what do you want for dinner?” Shane asked, leaning one arm on the counter. 

She tapped her pencil on her chin, chewing her lip “Hmm…Grilled cheese!”

Shane sighed, “You’ve ate grilled cheese for dinner three days in a row, you need to eat something else.”

“Why?” She groaned.

“ Because, you need some variety! You need proteins and fruit and… other stuff.”

“But I like grilled cheese.” She remarked.

“I know, c’mon now, there’s bound to be something else that you’re willing to eat.” 

He popped open the door to the freezer, “We’ve got everything a kid could dream of in here,” He pulled the items out of the fridge one by one offering them to her, “Dino nuggets, pizza rolls, tater tots, kid cuisine… my parents never got me kid cuisine, that’s fine dining right there kid!” he joked, Jas’ face suggested she was less than interested.

“What’ll it be?”

“I want a grilled cheese.”

“What’s up with you and grilled cheese?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “I dunno.”

“If I make you half a grilled cheese and dino nuggets will you eat them?”

She made a sour face, “Mmm… no .”

“What’s it gonna take for me to get you to eat something different?”

“I don’t want anything different.”

Shane rubbed his eyes, “If I make you a grilled cheese tonight , will you eat something different tomorrow?”

“I guess…” She pouted.

“You promise?”

She shook her head.

“Okay, I’m gonna remember that, when tomorrow night comes if you’re still insistent on a grilled cheese, I— tsk, guess you’ll just have to starve.” He said sarcastically.

Jas cut her eyes at him, “You think I’m kidding, if you get hungry you’ll have to go outside and hunt down your food, like a caveman.”

It was an empty threat and she knew it. It would take her all of five minutes of making puppy dog eyes and begging ‘ pleeeease’ to have him make her whatever she wanted. She had him wrapped around her finger.

He pulled a skillet out from the cabinet and began heating up the pan. He asked her about her day while he assembled her sandwich.

“What did you do at school today?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? You didn’t learn anything?”

“We just talked about a bunch of stuff I already knew.”

“Oh really? Like what?”

“Letter sounds.”

“Oh psh, you’ve got that down pat, you’ve been reading since you were three and half.”

“I know, I’m really good at it.”

“Thanks uncle Shane for teaching me to read!” He said mockingly.

Jas giggled.

He dropped her sandwich into the pan, the butter made a loud sizzle sound, “What else did you do?”

“Mm not much… We went outside… we talked about math a little bit… I met the new lady that just moved here.”

Shane whipped his head around, “You what? When— did she talk to you?” 

“At the library, Miss Penny said hi to her ‘cause she was getting books.”

“Yeah? Did she say anything to you?”

She shrugged her shoulders. 

“Jas, did she talk to you?”

“Well Vincent squirted grape juice on Miss Penny on accident, so she had to go to the bathroom and Miss Penny asked the lady to stay there with us until she got back. And when she was gone Vincent started asking her about her farm and wanted to know if she had any pigs on it.”

“ Okay , but what did she say to you?”

“I’m getting there! She said that she didn’t have any animals yet, so then Vincent told her that I had a whole bunch of animals at my house cause I lived on a big farm too. And she asked me if I liked living on a farm.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, I just shook my head.”

“Did she say anything else?”

“Not really, Vincent talked mostly.”

Shane turned back around, flipping her grilled cheese over, which almost burnt because of his distraction. 

“Mm, I’m sorry if she scared you, or made you uncomfortable."

“She wasn’t mean.”

“I know, but I know that you don’t like talking to strangers, I’m sure you didn’t like being left alone with her.”

Jas shrugged, she wasn’t really sure how she felt. Her and Shane were alone for a long time before coming to the valley, she didn’t get to be around kids her own age often, and Shane didn’t have much of a family to bring her around, that accompanied by the fact that she’d been bounced from one babysitter to the next before coming to the valley, made her unsocialized. She didn’t like being left in the company of strangers. Shane was the only consistent person in her life. And the only person she could truly open up to, though she was slowly warming up to Marnie.

“I hope she’s nice.” Jas said.

‘Don’t count on it.’  He thought.

“I hope she’s nice to you.”

Chapter Text

Two years ago,

Shane had combed over the entire arcade searching for play cards that kids had dropped or forgotten, in hopes that they’d have a few dollars left on them. He kept peering over his shoulder to check on Jas, who was playing in the ball pit. He found a handful here and there, one under the ski ball machine, one on the air hockey table, one underneath Mrs. Pacman, etcetera. He found the card machine and checked the balance on each and every one of them. Each card only had a dollar or two left on it and a handful of tickets. The play cards weren’t just for the arcade games, they could be used like gift cards at the buffet to get “free” pizza. He combined them all on to one card, so he and Jas could eat dinner that day. He was in between paychecks and his local food pantry only allowed one visit per month, the food they gave was hardly enough to sustain them for a week, let alone all month. Not to mention, he had already blown through the measly fifty bucks worth of food stamps by then, so once the end of the month rolled around he was finding pretty creative ways to keep food on the table.

After consolidating all of the play cards together, he had twelve dollars on one card and ninety seven tickets, hopefully it was enough for Jas to play a couple of games, and maybe pick out a trinket or two from the prize case. Probably one of those cheap plastic rings like you’d find in a Cracker Jack box, or a bouncy ball or a finger trap. Jas never seemed to care, she was a pretty happy go lucky kid all things considered, he was thankful for that.

He stood over the edge of the ball pit, searching for Jas’ curly dark hair, “Jas, where ya’ at pumpkin?” 

He spotted her in the corner, clearly trying to hide, but not doing a very good job. He decided to play along. 

“Jas? Where’d you go? Jaaas … Oh well, I guess she must’ve went home.” He sighed, “I’ll just have to eat this cheese pizza all on my own…”

Just then she popped her head up from the ball pit, “Boo!” She screamed, “I got you!” she giggled.

“ Hehe, Yeah got me. C’mon kiddo, I got us some pizza.”

“Pizza!” She trudged through the chest high ball pit like she was fighting the tide.

He lifted her out of the ball pit with one arm and sat her down. She followed him to a table and climbed into the booth. She tore into her pizza while Shane sat across from her. 

“Uncle Shane?”

“What baby?”

“Are we gonna play games after this?”

He had about six dollars worth left on the play card after buying their pizza. Which at this arcade was only good for about four plays, five if you were lucky. Fingers crossed he found some more play cards she could use.

“Of course. Eat your dinner first.”

“I wanna play air hockey!”

“I’m not sure if you can reach the table.”

“ Yes I can!” She retorted.

Shane chuckled, “If you say so.”

After hastily swallowing her pizza, Jas dragged Shane out of the booth and back to the play area. She spent her first two plays on air hockey. And a third one on whack-a-mole.

“ Ooo what’s this one?” She asked.

Jas stopped in her tracks staring up at the machine in awe, Big Bass Wheel. Pull the lever, watch the barrel spin and spin, ‘till it slows down just enough to stop right before it hits the jackpot, leaving the player with a puny prize of three tickets.

“You don’t wanna play this one honey, it's rigged.”

Jas pouted, “but why not?”

“Because it’s a game of chance, they make it so that it’s impossible to win, like a claw machine.”

“But you won a claw machine one time when you got me my bunny.”

“That was luck.”

“What if we get lucky this time?”

“I don’t think you will kiddo.”

Jas frowned, “ Please Uncle Shane! Please please please please please—”

“Okay! Okay. You can play this once, but you have to understand that you probably aren’t going to win okay?”

“We could win.” she said sassily and put her hand on her hip.

This kid was gonna kill him in her teen years. 

Shane sighed and swiped their card. He lifted her up so she could reach the lever, and helped her pull it down.

“You got it? Three… two… one!”

Jas watched anxiously as the barrel spun, the arrow clicking past all the prizes, two tickets, fifty tickets, ten tickets, one thousand tickets . The lights flashed a million colors and the barrel began to slow. Skipping past one hundred, thirty, and two hundred tickets. Sandwiched between two giant sections labeled four was a teeny tiny sliver labeled jackpot; five thousand tickets. He knew how this game worked, it would slow down just enough to make you think it was actually gonna land on the jackpot, but then stop just a millimeter away from it, that’s always how it worked. The arrow clicked past the pegs stopping on the last one separating the four tickets from the five thousand. It hung there for a second, he was getting ready to tell Jas not to fret about it, that they could play another game, one that didn’t steal their money and laugh in their face, when click . The machine’s lit up with colorful lights, somewhere from the speakers played winner winner winner.  

She hit the jackpot, this kid hit the damn jackpot. 

“ I told you so! ” She shouted. 

Shane looked at the card reader, sure enough, five thousand tickets had been added to their card. He turned to look at her, she had a smug look on her face, “You little shithead!” 

Jas giggled. “What exactly are you gonna do with five thousand tickets?” He asked.

“I want the big pink bear!”

He glanced over at the prize counter, hanging next to the X-boxes and the Mega Stations, which were the golden tiered prizes was an absolutely gigantic pink stuffed bear, in the silver prize section. 

“That thing is bigger than you!”

“I know!”

“You already have a million stuffed animals.”

“I don’t have one that big!”

Shane sighed, “Are you sure that’s really what you want?”

Jas grinned widely, “ Uh-huh!”

“What am I gonna do with you?” He joked. 

He brought her to the prize case, she very proudly handed over her card and politely asked for the large pink bear hanging from the ceiling. The man working the counter handed her bear and she wrapped both of her arms around it. She was completely on cloud 9. The bear was so large she couldn’t even walk while carrying it, yet it took a lot of convincing from Shane to let him hold the bear for her. She still had a couple hundred tickets left on her card, Shane informed her that she could use them to buy a dessert from the kitchen and she immediately wanted a chocolate sundae. He of course obliged, what started as a desperate attempt to feed the two of them for the night quickly became the best day of her short little life. He hoped it stayed that way for her. That these fun adventures they took to the arcade when there was nothing left to eat at home stayed exactly that, a fun adventure. 

Present day,

Shane was woken up around eleven a.m. Saturday morning. Jas insisted on waking him earlier, but Marnie wanted to let him sleep in. She was going to let him sleep as late as he wanted but by then they had both grown impatient. After getting the go ahead from Marnie, Jas flung open the door to Shane’s room and climbed onto his bed.

“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” She shook him with all her might, “It’s your birthday wake up!”

Shane jerked awake suddenly, wild eyed. 

“Geeze kid , I’m awake!” He sat up slowly, “What time is it?” He groaned.

“Almost noon.” Marnie said.

“I wanted to wake you up earlier but Aunt Marnie made me wait.”

Shane rubbed his eyes and yawned, trying to come to life.

Jas climbed down off his bed and grabbed him by the hand pulling him with her, “C’mon, c’mon! We made you something!”

He threw his covers off as she tugged on his arm. “ Come on!” She yelled.

“Okay, alright I’m coming!” 

She didn’t even give him time to get dressed, she made him come to the kitchen in just his sweat pants. She led him to the kitchen table and ushered him to sit down. There was a covered dish in front of him. 

Jas pulled the lid off and shouted, “Tada! We baked you a cake!”

“When—” He said mid-yawn, “did you do that?”

“Yesterday, when you were at work, Aunt Marnie hid it in the fridge.”

“I hope you still like chocolate cake. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you on your birthday. I wasn’t sure if it was still your favorite, but Jas swore it was.”

“Everyone likes chocolate cake.” Jas said. 

“Thanks Marnie, thank you too sweetie.”

Marnie opened a package of candles, popping a three and a one on top of his cake. 

“Do we really need to do candles?”

“Don’t be like that, you only get to turn thirty-one once.”

“ Yippee. ” He said in a sarcastic tone.

Marnie sighed, and flicked the lighter. She lit both candles.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to sing now?”

“I’m not that cruel. Sure I’ll bake you a cake on your birthday and buy you some candles for it, but singing, that would be down right mean.” 

Shane’s sarcastic comments tend to shock Marnie, it shocks Shane that she has no idea where he gets it from.

“What are you gonna wish for?” Jas asked, grinning from ear to ear.

He wished for a lot of things. 

He wished he could skip this stupid fucking day every year. 

He wished that by his birthday next year he wasn’t still working at the shit hole he was at now. 

He wished he could get out of the fucking rut he was in, and finally get himself out of bed without being dragged out. 

He wished that the days didn’t run together, he wished he wasn’t living paycheck to paycheck, he wished that he had the strength to hold on. 

He wished that his best friend in the entire fucking world , and the only human being to ever truly understand him and take a chance on him didn’t fucking die.

“I wish that I had a million dollars…You wanna help me blow out my candles?”

Jas smiled and agreed. She helped him blow out his candles and was eager to help Marnie cut the cake. 

Shane had taken Jas outside, they both stood out in the yard while Jas held onto his arm, hanging off his side, “We gotta do something fun for your birthday— We should throw a party! ” She gasped.

Shane laughed, “Trust me honey, I don’t want a party.”

“Well we gotta do something!” She groaned.

“I just wanna spend some time with you. Seems like I’m always working. I never get to see you.”

Jas had a thoughtful look on her face for a moment, “Well… what do you wanna do?”

“Why don’t you pick?”

“It’s your birthday!”

“I know, but it doesn’t matter to me kid, I promise, what do you want us to do together?”

Jas chewed her lip a minute, she tried to come up with something that both of them would enjoy.

“What if we went to the arcade?”

“Which one?”

“The big one! The one with the pizza buffet!”

Shane chuckled, “I know the one you’re talking about, O'Mainnin's? You’re sure that’s what you wanna do?”

“Uh-huh! We both like video games and pizza! It’s perfect!”

“ Hehe. That is true.”

“And maybe we can get enough tickets that you can get a new Mega Station!”

Shane laughed, “Kid, I wish . That’s a lot harder than you think though.”

“Well we still gotta try!”

How did she get to be so optimistic? She didn’t get it from him, that’s for certain.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“Yes!” Jas said.

“Go get your jacket.” 

Jas let go of his arm and skipped into the house. It was settled. They’d spend the rest of the day at the arcade. Where Jas could stuff her face with cotton candy and blow a raspberry in Shane’s face when she beat him at air hockey. (Not realizing he had let her win.) 

It was all he could really ask for, to spend time with his girl. There were a million things he wanted. But the only thing he needed from Jas was for her to be happy. 

Shane sat at the bar, propping his head against his hand, staring at the last drop of beer in his mug. He hated his birthday, despised it even. Not only did it bring back unpleasant memories, it was just a reminder to him of everything he had yet to accomplish. Another year passed and what did he have to show for it? Here he was, thirty one years old, still living with family, still working a dead end job, still not in a serious relationship, still not fucking happy. He wished he could skip it entirely. But Marnie always made such a fuss about him, and it made Jas happy, she was a sweet kid, he didn’t understand why she liked him so much, the way he saw it, he was one shitty replacement parent. His train of self loathing thought was suddenly interrupted.

“Hm?” He poked his head up.

“I said, are you feeling okay?” Asked Emily.

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine.”

“You sure? You seem extra… stoic today.”

“I’m alright.” He said bluntly.

“Hm, well… I have something for you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Emily had a suspicious grin on her face, she pulled a plate out from behind the counter, there was a white cupcake sitting on it.

“Boom! Happy birthday!”

“How the fuck did you know it was my birthday?” He said completely shocked.

“Well I had to card you the first time you came here, so I marked your birthday down on the calendar so I’d remember it.”

He stared at her blankly, “You realize that’s creepy as fuck right? Writing down someone’s personal information like that?”

“ Psh, I know everybodies birthday here.”

“Riiight. Well, thanks for the cupcake. Marnie and Jas kind of already baked me a cake.”

“Take it anyways, you can never have too much cake on your birthday!”

“Like I said, I’ve already had cake, and a bunch of other junk.” He pushed the plate away.

“So? That doesn't matter.”

“Yeah right, I’ve gained like thirty pounds since I moved here. The last thing I need is more cake.”

“Who cares!”

“I care. I used to be an athlete, I actually took care of myself! I used to work out and eat healthy and now look at me! I look like a piece of shit.”

Emily shifted her weight to one side, “Take the damn cupcake.” She pushed it back to him, “Even if you don’t eat it. I’ll be offended if you don’t.” 

When did he ever give her the impression that he cared who he offended?

…Though Emily seemed to be the only person in town who tolerated him. He couldn’t afford to be on her bad side.

“ Fine. ”

“Perfect. I’ll wrap that up for you.” She said with a smug grin.

Melissa sat at the end of the dock overlooking the ocean. She came out here to read her book in peace, but got distracted by the sunset. She’d always loved when a cool breeze hit the sore and the smell of salt water filled the air. The sounds of the waves crashing against the beach were almost therapeutic. She didn’t have nights like this back in the city. There was no such thing as quiet in Zuzu. You couldn’t go to bed at night without some sort of noise keeping you awake, usually traffic. You’d think it would slow down around two in the morning, but no, nothing was ever slow in Zuzu. Her life was quite different now. She never thought she would miss the sounds of the bustling city that never slept, but here she was. Bouncing around town after midnight, since she couldn’t sleep, all because it was too quiet. 

The sky was a dark void, littered with specs of stars. More stars than she’d ever seen in her lifetime. She knew the light pollution in Zuzu was bad, but she didn’t realize to what extent. She was dumbfounded, to say the least. How could she even begin to put to words how it made her feel. Tiny, it made her feel like an ant. But what a lucky ant she was to be able to sit back and marvel at the universe. 

As much as she loved gazing up at the stars, the sound of crashing waves was going to put her to sleep. One a.m. was creeping up on her and she knew she’d better get home, she had a full day's worth of work ahead of her.

She grabbed her book and began to walk back through the sandy beach, her feet kept sliding with each step. There was a cozy looking little cabin near the head of the river. She noticed it when she first got there. Had its lights been on before though? She stopped in her tracks. Almost instantly the light coming from its window flickered off. 

‘Great, that’s not creepy at all.’

She walked a little bit faster, if there was some creep spying on her she wasn’t going to stick around waiting for them to show their face. She was in a new place she wasn’t familiar with yet. Coming out to the beach at midnight was already scary enough, running into a person, possibly a man, possibly a big scary man, whilst in an unfamiliar place after dark was terrifying. 

She made it across the bridge, being aware to take into account her surroundings. She walked past the graveyard and was just about to cut through town square when she noticed two people walking together. A man and a woman. Some young lady with blue- ish hair and… that rude guy again, whatever his name was. They were talking about something. She couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, not that she cared. Just that the woman was all smiles and laughing. They stopped in front of a tan house. It must be where she lived because she pulled her keys out of her pocket. She hadn’t unlocked the door before she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. Which was Melissa’s cue to stop spying on them. She didn’t wait around to see what happened next. She was eager to get home and go to bed anyway. 

“I’m not really much of a hugger Em.” Shane said.

“I know, but you're my friend, and it’s your birthday!”

“Yeah well it’s after midnight, technically not my birthday anymore.” He said as he weaseled out of her embrace. 

“Y’know Shane, I know you don’t want to make a huge fuss out of your birthday, but you really should get more. Me and my girlfriend Sandy like to sing karaoke sometimes. We go to this one bar in Zuzu that's really amazing, they’re really inclusive and the food there is—”

“Emily, look, I appreciate what you’re doing really. But I don’t have the time for any of that. I work forty or more hours a week, and when I’m not working I’m taking care of Jas. And beside, you don’t want me singing karaoke, I might make a few people go deaf, or at least wish they were.”

“Who cares? No one who sings karaoke is good at it, and everyone watching is gonna be too drunk to care anyways.”

“Still, it just isn’t something I’d want to do. And y’know I don’t really like meeting new people either so…”

Emily sighed, “I understand. I can’t force you to go, but I think you’d have a great time. Really. Happy Birthday again.” 

“You’re not gonna hug me again are you?”

“ No .” She said, sounding offended, “G’night Shane.” She fiddled around with her keys until she found the right one and unlocked her door.

“Night, thanks for the cupcake.”

“You’re welcome!” She said with a smile, and went inside. Leaving him alone on his walk home.