Fernweh (German)

A crave for travel; being homesick for a place you've never been. An ache for distant places. Literally "farsickness," or "longing for far-off places," as contrasted with heimweh: "homesickness," longing for home."

Annabelle sat at her desk and contemplated just walking out, leaving her inconsiderate assistant to deal with the company on her own. Working for Joja Corp. was never in her long-term plan, but it just became too convenient to leave; well, that and it filled her bank account nicely. Her father had gotten her an entry-level position at this particular branch right after her graduation from college; she knew he was only trying to help, but she couldn't help but wonder if he knew what special kind of hell the place really was before handing her the position.

'Probably not,' she decided, 'he was only trying to help me pay off those god-forsaken student loans as quickly as possible.' However, her loans had been paid off just a week ago, and yet she was still here. She felt trapped- she was successful here and had even worked her way up to assistant manager; however, she was unhappy. Every day was the same; go to work, stare at a computer, go home, and sleep. Even hanging out with friends from work was the same! They all either stared at their phones or were too intoxicated to even have a conversation with. And if a conversation did somehow take place, it almost always revolved around money, possessions, or social status.

She was tired of it all. As she leaned back in her chair, thinking about how to escape the monotony of her life, she suddenly remembered the letter her grandfather had given her upon his passing almost three years ago. It mentioned something about how the gift enclosed would come in handy if she ever needed a change of scenery, which she most definitely did. She pulled the letter out of the drawer to her right and grinned as she read:

My dearest Annabelle,

If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change. The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life... real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.

I've enclosed the deed to that place… my pride and joy: Florelsia Farm. It's located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It's the perfect place to start your new life.

This was my most precious gift of all, and now it's yours. I know you'll honor the family name. Good luck.

Love,

Grandpa

She stood from her desk with the letter and property deed clutched to her chest; squealing, she danced the piece of paper around the room.. With one final look at her tiny cubicle, she gathered her remaining personal belongings and exited the building, thankfully, for the last time. After flagging down a taxi and giving the driver her address, she sat back and admired the piece of paper in her hand. She would never have guessed that the mysterious gift her grandfather had given her would end up being the saving grace she needed. She wondered just how much she should bring with her to this new place and finally decided that since she wanted a fresh start, she would just bring the basics: clothes, her toiletries, a few pictures, and her laptop, phone, and camera.

Packing took only an hour, thanks to her decision to pack light. She sent a quick text to her mother asking if she would pick up the rest of her things and keep them in her garage for now, and settled into bed after receiving a confirmation. For the first time since her promotion, she fell asleep quickly and slept soundly through the night.

At 5am Annabelle's alarm went off, signaling the start to her new journey. For once, she hopped quickly out of bed and into the shower. She was looking forward to this day more than she had ever looked forward to her career with Joja Corp. After getting dressed and brushing her teeth, she packed up her remaining toiletries and looked around her room once more, making sure she wasn't leaving anything important behind. After confirming that she had everything she needed for her trip, she locked up and waved down a taxi to take her to the bus station.

There weren't many buses headed to Stardew Valley due to a decline in tourism, but she lucked out and there was a bus departing in just 15 minutes. Rather than sit on the bench and wait like a normal person, she opted to excitedly bounce on her heels and triple check that she had the deed to the property with her. She wondered briefly why she wasn't nervous, but decided it was likely due to her love for adventure and spontaneity; while most people hated last minute plans, she loved them. She lived for trying new things and was ecstatic that she was making such a big change; to let herself fall into such a boring routine was more than a little surprising.

The rumbling of an engine snapped her out of her ramblings and reignited the excitement of her adventure. After boarding and finding a seat near the front of the bus, Annabelle took out her phone and decided to research what it took to run a farm- she knew the basics from what her grandfather taught her when she was younger, but times had changed and she figured agriculture was a slightly different from when she experienced it in her childhood. After taking notes in a separate app, she noticed the time and figured that they'd be arriving in Stardew Valley at any moment. After putting her phone away she looked up and noticed a sign in passing that read, "Stardew Valley .5 mi."

Bouncing excitedly in her seat, Annabelle made sure she had everything she needed in her small carry-on bag and pulled out the deed to her grandfather's farm. When she felt the bus slowly come to a stop, she immediately stood and rushed off of the bus. After retrieving her larger suitcase from the holding area under the bus, she turned and faced the sign that read, "Welcome to Stardew Valley!"

A woman of average height with bright orange hair walked up to her and smiled brightly, "You must be Annabelle! I'm Robin, the local carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me here to fetch you and show you the way to your new home! He's there now, tidying things up for your arrival. The farm is right over here, if you'll follow me."

Annabelle fell into step next to the cheerful woman and asked, "I don't mean to sound rude, but how do you know my name?"

Robin laughed heartily and quickened her stride, "Mayor Lewis received a call from your mother last night telling us about your decision. It seems to me that your grandfather asked your mother to do this so that the house would be ready for you when you decided to make the trip out here!"

Annabelle smiled softly, "He always did think ahead!"

Soon enough the two women walked onto what Annabelle assumed was her new farm. It was in quite a state of decay, but she wasn't surprised; it had been years since her grandfather had been alive, and even some years before that since he was physically able to keep up with the workload needed to keep the place in top shape. After walking up to small farmhouse Robin stopped and spread out her arms, "Well, this is Florelsia Farm! I know it's a bit overgrown, but there's some good soil underneath that mess! With a little dedication you'll have it cleaned up in no time."

At that moment an elderly man walked out of the front door and smiled in greeting at the two women, "Ah, the new farmer! Welcome! I'm Lewis, the Mayor of Pelican Town. You know, everyone's been asking about you. It's not everyday someone new moves in. It's quite a big deal!" He walked up to Annabelle and stuck his hand out, after giving her hand a firm shake he continued, "So… you're moving into your grandfather's old cottage. It's a good house, very rustic."

The carpenter laughed at the old man's attempt at talking up the place, "Rustic? That's one way to put it… crusty might be a little more apt though."

The mayor scoffed at her declaration, "Rude! Don't listen to her, Annabelle. She's just trying to make you dissatisfied so that you buy one of her house upgrades." Robin harrumphed, crossing her arms in disagreement, but the mayor continued, "Anyway, you must be tired from the long journey. You should get some rest. Tomorrow you ought to explore the town a bit and introduce yourself, the townspeople would appreciate that!" Mayor Lewis started to walk off before he turned around suddenly and pointed to an old bin beside him. "Oh, I almost forgot! If you have anything to sell, just place it in this bin here. I'll come by early in the morning to collect whatever you've placed inside. Well, good luck!"

With that the mayor exited the farm with Robin close behind, leaving her alone on the farm. She walked into the farmhouse and set her baggage down in the entryway; the house wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Sure, it wasn't going to win any awards for interior design, but it had everything she needed to live comfortably! After unpacking her few belongings she looked through the kitchen to see if there was anything left from when her grandfather lived there; to her surprise, her cabinets and fridge were fully stocked. On the counter was a note that read, "Welcome to Pelican Town! We figured we could get you started with the basics. Enjoy!"

After eating a salad that she threw together using ingredients from her newly stocked fridge, she decided to brush her teeth and hop in bed. With how much work she knew the farm was going to need in order to get running, she figured a lot of sleep was needed. After sending a quick text to her mother letting her know that she arrived safely, she flicked off the lamp next to her bed and drifted off to sleep.