Isolated (Stardew Valley)

Chapter Sixteen

A PAIR OF eyes stared at me like two sweet blueberries you'd pluck right at harvest.

These were the kind of eyes that always held happiness, of joy like the swirling waves you'd see at the beach. When everything seemed to go south, when everything seemed so wrong and miserable in life, they were the kind of eyes you'd turn to and see hope. They were always Sam's.

But as the blonde boy looked to me with a paled face and widened eyes, suddenly it seemed like someone had sucked the life out of him that he could no longer radiate energy. They were like blueberries that had lost its juice, its flavour, and ready to shrivel into rot.

"Sam?" I confusedly asked. "First Abigail, now you. Why is everyone barging into my house?!"

This was the part where he'd crack up some joke about having to lock my doors or being such a heavy sleeper. The part where he'd make an unnecessary comment that would earn a glare from me, to which he would only chuckle. This was the part where he'd usually say something. To my surprise, the guy who could barely keep his mouth shut for a second, said nothing.

I got up and stood next to him by the bed. He always stood tall and proud for whatever pride he shed himself in, but now he only slumped in defeat, staring down at the floor sorrowfully. "Sam."

There was something in his hands, clutched so tight that it seemed like it would tear to shreds. Parchment paper. I took it from him; he made no effort to stop me anyways. "A letter?" I said as I looked at the familiar scrawled writing. A quick glance outside told me he had raided my mailbox.

Sam again said nothing, like he was incapable of speaking, instead looking at the words with a distant look.

I brought the paper close to see few words written on them, but they were as clear as the day looming on the nearby horizon:

Dear June,

Join the town in celebration of Abigail and Sebastian's wedding ceremony in three days time.

Regards,

Mayor Lewis

Now I understood why Sam had clutched the letter so tightly to his grasp. Maybe if I held onto it forcefully, the words would somehow change and merge into something else. They didn't.

Both Sam and I stared quietly at the words. They were so few of them yet breathed and whispered and mocked the same chant into our ears.

They were getting married. Abigail and Sebastian–they were really doing it.

"Since when?" I whispered.

"Today. Yesterday? I have no clue!" Sam looked away and I wondered if he was on the verge of crying.

I should have comforted him, but I didn't.

For a while, we stood there in silence, contemplating the news. We imagined the distant future that went just like this: Abigail would come back from her adventures to a two story home nestled deep in the woods that Robin built for them. She would open the door and spot Sebastian spread on the couch with a comic book, kissing his cheek and relaying her stories during dinner. Abigail would try to convince him to join her one day, that it would be fun, but Sebastian would only smile and nod no, that he was not the adventurous type but that maybe one day he would. She would fuss at him for being too soft, but her sour mood would only turn into laughing fits and she'd murmur an "I love you" to which Sebastian would shyly say one back, and they'd live like this until their days grew old, hand in hand, just waiting for a new adventure to embark on.