Pelican Town Gossip

So, that's your task! Go out and meet everyone in town!" Mayor Lewis said to you.

You unfolded the town map he gave you. It was new and glossy, but the font was tiny, making it hard to read. If you squinted, you could just make out the names of landmarks, like Pierre's Shop, and The Saloon.

"Don't look so afraid! Everyone's kind..." Mayor Lewis said, rubbing the back of his neck with a rough looking hand. "Well... almost everyone. But don't let that get you down!"

"Uh, okay." You said. You glanced over at the overgrown fields. Yesterday you had planted 15 parsnips, and aside from that, the field was absolutely wild. You jumped back as you noticed a frog leap out of a particularly tall patch of grass. "I kind of have other things to do..." You thought to yourself, but smiled politely at the Mayor. "Will do." You said, cursing yourself silently for being too nice. 

"That's the spirit, y/n!" He smiled, his moustache furling up on either side of his nose. "Well, I'll be off then. I look forward to hearing about your progress!" He said.

You watched him walk away, back to the path by the broken down bus stop, the same path you arrived through just two days prior.

You sighed as you turned to your parsnips. You had already watered them, and were running low on energy for the day. You didn't feel like you had a great excuse to stay home though, since you felt like you had a bit more power. Not enough to chop a tree, but maybe enough to go get acquainted with your new neighbors. You sighed as you thought about your cozy bed, and vowed to return to it as soon as you could.

You walked down the bus path, and into Pelican Town. You saw the giant cross signifying a hospital. "Well, this is about a good place as any to start" you thought, knocking on the door.

"Come in!" You heard a female voice.

You tentatively swung open the heavy door with a bell that chimes upon your entry. Inside was about what you expected, a clinic waiting room, with sterile uncomfortable-looking couches and magazines. The TV was turned on to a bright cooking show. You turned to see the woman at the counter smiling at you with bright brown eyes and hair that was tied out of her face. Her bright red glasses stood out against her dark skin.

"Hey!" She said.

"Hi. Um... I'm the new farmer." You said.

"I figured. You have dirt on your clothes." She grinned. "I'm Maru. You met Robin, she's my mother." She fiddled with a little screw that was on the counter.

"Cool." You stood there awkwardly for a moment, hands deep in your overall pockets.

"Harvey!" Maru called over her shoulder, her ponytail swinging. "Come meet the new farmer."

The door behind Maru swung open, revealing a tall looking man in a white coat, signifying his status as a doctor. His hair was brown and cropped short, but was long enough to style it up with gel at the front. His bushy brown eyebrows that matched his moustache raised kindly.

"It's farmer y/n! Glad to meet you. I'm Harvey, the resident doctor." His eyes squinted as he smiled.

"Yeah, likewise. I'm happy to know there's a doctor in this town. It feels like Pelican Town is so removed from other places that..." Your voice trailed off.

"You were worried that if something went wrong there would be no medical facilities." Harvey reasoned, nodding his head. "That's part of why I'm here. Rest assured, anything you need, any time of day, I'm here."

"Thank you." You smiled.

"So, are you doing the rounds and meeting everyone?" Maru asked. I nodded, and she groaned in response. "Sounds tedious."

"You guys were only my first stop." You said.

"You better get going then. Let us know if you need anything." Harvey said.

"Will do. See you!" You said.

You walked out of the clinic wondering where to go next. You glanced over at the shop, and then to the wooden building in front of you to the left.

The building had dark wood. It was almost like your apartment that you lived in through college. You smiled as you remembered your roommate, and then felt guilty about the last time you had talked to her. Cherise was wild. She forced you out partying way more than you had liked, and made you accompany her on many adventures, like stealing a small statue from the college library at 3am. It had been too long since you'd seen her, but you had never been good at keeping up with people.

The guilt in the pit of your stomach deepened as you remembered your grandfather. Mom made you call him once a year on Christmas, and his face had long disappeared into your memory. But, somehow, you were still important enough to him that he left you all that he had. That's why you were standing here, in dusty clothes, with a surprise plan B from your corporate job. 

Before you could decide where to go next, two young men started walking down the path towards you, catching your attention. One was tall and blonde, wearing a jean jacket and matching blue jeans, and the other almost matched the blonde's height, but wore all black to match his dark hair. They were shoving each other and laughing wildly, as boys often did when no one watched.

"Stop, Sam. That one hurt." The one with black hair rubbed his arm.

"Oh, yeah? What you going to do about it?" The blonde snickered.

The boy with black hair swung his arm over to playfully punch his friend, but froze as his eyes wandered over to you. Your eyes looked into his, and he dropped his arm.

"What...?" The blonde said, looking over at his friend and following his gaze to you.

"Hey. I'm the new farmer, I'm just going around introducing myself." You said, feeling like you had to somehow validate your existence. Your eyes wandered towards the ground, the dirt on your work boots making you feel suddenly self conscious. 

"Oh, cool! I'm Sam!" The blonde rushed towards you and offered his hand to shake.

You shook his hand and looked over at the dark haired one.

"I'm Sebastian." The other boy offered, his dark eyes staring moodily into yours as his smile faded. 

"You're younger than I thought you would be." Sam smiled, his blue eyes twinkling playfully. "Hey, you want to meet us at the saloon tonight? We meet there sometimes with Abby, Pierre's daughter. Have you met her yet?"

"No... I haven't met Pierre either." You smiled through gritted teeth. 

"Oh, they live there." Sam pointed at the shop. "Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. But you'll meet us tonight, right?"

"Sure." You said, surprising yourself at how quickly you agreed. Maybe it was that you were happy to be offered friendship so quickly from someone. Maybe it was something else. 

You gazed over at Sebastian, and he smiled at you quickly before looking back at Sam.

"She's probably busy, man." Sebastian suggested, tugging on Sam's arm. 

"Oh! Sorry, dude. You've probably got a ton of people to meet, hey?" Sam asked. You nodded in response. "Okay, Seb, let's go. But you're still meeting us later." Sam said.

You agreed and Sam and Sebastian walked away, and you were left wondering how you could possibly meet everyone in one day. You hoped everyone would be as nice as Sam. 

At the end of the day you hadn't met everyone. You met Pierre and his wife (even though you couldn't remember her name yet). You met Evelyn and George and their grandson Alex. Alex seemed eager to impress you, but you chose to ignore that. You met Penny, who you instantly clicked with, and vowed to meet with her the next day for coffee and to chat about books. You met her mom, Pam, and felt sorry for her. You met Sam's mom, Jodi, and his brother, Vincent, and that's as far as you had gotten when you realized you were supposed to meet Sam and Sebastian at the saloon in half an hour.

You walked into the saloon, the bell chiming. You saw Pam sitting on a stool nursing a beer. Behind the counter was a kind and round man who carried a smile almost as wide as his handlebar moustache. "A new face! Doesn't happen every day." He said. "You drink?"

"Sometimes." You answered. You took in a deep breath, smelling pine scented cleaner and something deep fried. It took your eyes a moment to adjust to the warm lighting emanating from the hanging fixtures.

"Your first beer is on me, then. Welcome to Pelican Town. Are you the new farmer I've been hearing so much about?" He asked as he poured you a mug.

"I am. I'm y/n." You said. You took a quick glance around, wondering about the wooden walls and the framed paintings of forests.

"a lovely name. I'm Gus. Short for Augustus, actually, but that doesn't suit me, does it?" He chuckled, sliding you a beer on top of the slick counter.

"I could see it." You smiled.

"Nah, Augustus don't suit you." Pam laughed from the side of the long wooden counter.

"Maybe it would've if I became a lawyer. Got halfway through the training and dropped out to buy this bar." Gus said.

"The corporate world is overrated. I used to work for Joja." You said. You took a sip of the foaming beverage and the fluffy foam melted on your tongue. The bitterness of the beer stung at your tastebuds, mimicking your own bitterness towards your past.

"No kiddin'." Pam said. "What did you do there?"

"I was in advertising. You're better off here, Gus. I already feel so much lighter." You said. You opened your mouth to say more but caught yourself. You didn't believe you were opening up so fast to a stranger. "He truly is a bartender, the way he pulls out secrets" you thought.

"You're a philosopher, hey?" Pam smirked. "Just like Gus." She said, chugging the rest of her beer and then burping loudly. "Another!" She demanded.

Gus sighed and took her tankard, readying another glass for her. "I think we'll get along well, y/n. I mean it." He smiled warmly at you.

"Likewise." You said. You couldn't help it, but something about Gus felt like a warm blanket that was wrapping you up, forcing vulnerability through comfort.

The door chimed and you turned your ahead around to see Sam and Sebastian strolling in. Sam came in first, and Sebastian trailed behind.

"Hey, Gus!" Sam called. His eyes landed on you. "Oh, you're already here. Great! Come play pool with us!"

You looked to Gus, as if for approval.

"Careful, y/n. Those boys can be trouble." Gus chuckled, his eyes shining knowingly. "Go have fun." He shooed you off playfully.

You picked up your heavy glass and followed Sam and Sebastian into the next room. You were surprised to see a couple of arcade machines and a worn looking pool table.

"Didn't think arcade machines were Gus's speed." You remarked to Sam.

"Tell me about it." Sam rubbed the back of his neck with a pink hand. "Nah, Gus likes to cater to everyone. He's really nice."

"Ready to get destroyed?" Sebastian asked, tossing a pool cue at Sam.

"No way. I'm winning this time! I feel like because y/n is here I'm going to win." Sam smirked.

Sebastian walked over to hand you a wooden pool cue. "You in?"

"I suck at pool." You admitted.

"Aw, come on." Sebastian smiled kindly. You were taken aback by how genuine his smile felt. He seemed cold, or at least shy earlier, but suddenly he smiled at you with ease. Almost as soon as you thought that, Sebastian's eyes left your gaze and turned to the floor. "You can't lose worse than Sam, that's for sure."

"Fine. Bring it." You smiled.

You spent a nice evening with lots of laughs with your new friends. They introduced you to their other friend, Abigail, who insisted you call her Abby. It seemed they were eager to let you into their closed friend group. Abby kept asking you so many questions about the city, and asked if she could still wander around your farm like she had done when it was barren. You were glad to have something to offer her in exchange for her new friendship.

The night eventually fell on the saloon, and people were packing up and going home.

"Let me walk you home." Sebastian offered. "There's a shortcut from your farm to my house. It's faster for me anyways."

"Thank you." You said. You were secretly relieved by this gesture, seeing as how you were afraid of getting lost.

You and Sebastian said your goodbyes to Sam and Abby, and headed towards your farm.

"Everyone here has been so nice." You smiled, the night air feeling crisp and new on your skin. You gazed up at the night sky and were amazed by how many stars you could see here compared to the city.

Sebastian didn't say anything, just looked up at the sky.

"The stars are gorgeous here. In the city I could see maybe half of these."

"I don't get why you left." Sebastian said. "If I lived in the city I would never trade it up for life in this dumb town."

"Dumb town? I've loved being here."

"You've been here for two days. Just wait. Nothing new ever happens and every day feels like it goes by at a snails pace." He said.

You both stopped walking as you approached the door to your house. "You don't like it here?"

"Of course not." Sebastian scoffed.

"But your family is here, and your friends."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "My mom is my only true family. And Sam's cool, I guess, but sometimes Abby..." He shook his head. "No, I don't need to go there."

You stood awkwardly for a moment. "Um, do you want to come in? My house isn't anything special but I have a TV and some soda."

"Ah, what the hell. Why not." Sebastian smiled.

Sebastian insisted on showing you an anime that he said him, Sam, and Abby liked to watch. He explained there were like, 1000 episodes, and they were on episode 34, so you had to get caught up if you wanted to watch with them. Somewhere, around episode 4, you started to drift off.

You woke up early in the morning to the sound of a faraway rooster crowing. You shot up, realizing you slept on the couch in your work clothes. There was a blanket around you that you didn't remember putting there.

A sticky note had been affixed to the TV in scrawly handwriting.

"Sleep well, farmer. -Sebastian"