#sdv linus
May or may not republish some of my AO3 stories here. Let’s start with one based off the prompt: “Write a story with only one character. (Either an internal monologue, spending time alone, anything as long as there is only one character in the actual story (though more can be referenced).)”
Title:Our Friend Linus
Word Count:666
Slowly, Linus stirred at the sound of chirping birds, announcing to the world that, once again, the sun had risen. The sun passed through the yellow tarp of his tent, and deeply, he sighed in content. He grew used to the early sunrises during his summer with the tundra dwellers north of the frozen sea; some days, the sun never set at all. Now, the early sun reminded him of his happy time there.
His back creaked as he sat up from his sleep roll. But it was only because of old age! Many folks thought he was crazy for insisting that he slept better with so few layers separating his back from the ground, but after spending nights in igloos, he couldn’t go back to sleeping on mattresses suspended by a box spring and a wooden frame. It just wasn’t the same.
He opened his cooler and found some grapes from yesterday’s forage. He ate a small bundle, one by one, savoring each sweet bite of his humble breakfast.
And now, to thoroughly enjoy nature as he foraged and fished for more goods.
He started up towards the train station, and made his lap around the train station and spa as he collected mushrooms and fiddlehead ferns. He thought of his most recent time entering the spa, when he finally realized that the thermostat inside the locker rooms also controlled the temperature of the lobby area upon entering the spa. Even more curious, the note taped next to the thermostat asked to keep the building at 60 degrees Fahrenheit when unoccupied during the winter. Although the heating would automatically adjust to 60 degrees at night, the lobby was kept warmer than that during the day, long after the boy who liked to exercise there left. Linus had thought that the boy would forget to switch it back down to 60 when he finished his workout each time.
Linus thought more about the other villagers of Pelican Town as he went through his foraging and fishing routines. He was already close friends with Wizard Rasmodius, who lived in his stone tower in the Cindersap Forest; they often had long discussions about the world and how even magic is connected to nature, thus manifesting more powerfully in Stardew Valley than anywhere else in the Ferngill Republic.
The farmer was also kind to him. Each time Linus sent him the extra fish he caught in a day, the farmer would bring him a scrumptious hot meal in return.
Gus, the Stardrop Saloon owner, was also very kind to him. On winter and early spring days with not enough food to find or catch, Gus would give him food leftover from cooking that day without hesitation. He even tasked him with cooking the roast on a spit during the Luau to have him more involved in the community (and giving him the first pick on its meat).
The kids of his neighbors were quietly polite towards him in their own ways. The daughter made him a less fire-hazardous version of a stove and dutch oven for him, and would wave at him and assist him with his Luau roast. Cooking his own food in his makeshift tin can cookware was made so much simpler. The even quieter son preferred to be left alone, even on his occasional excursion into the mines, but there have been some occasions where Linus heard him shouting angrily at the JojaMart employees that would sneak over at night to spray paint or throw rocks at his tent. That was the only way Linus knew what his voice sounded like.
As he thought of more and more of each villager with each fishing line cast into the lake, Linus realized something: he was more a part of Pelican Town’s community than he thought. Could this truly be?
Linus hadn’t realized he was smiling to himself all day until he took his first bite of his dinner of grilled rainbow trout with a side of mushrooms.
