Stones and clay took forever to carry to the house. Especially since I could only carry one at a time. It was something I was still deeply frustrated with, simply because of the monotony that it was. I was going to figure out how I could carry more stones and clay. I wanted to make some sort of wheelbarrow, but I had a feeling I couldn’t make anything unless it was part of the suggestions on the clipboard. Considering most of my building capabilities was just stuffing the appropriate building materials into the correct place, I wasn’t sure how this would go. I haven’t seen a hammer or nail, which would make it difficult to actually build something outside what was on the clipboard.

But I figured it was a great thing to stockpile while I waited for the bricks to cook. I did my morning routine of gardening, watering, checking the broken glass and feeling nervous that it wasn’t fixed yet, before moving on to see Daisy and giving her some food and gathering a single egg. I then spent the rest of the morning gathering stones and clay, one at a time.

I could feel it in my arms, however. Strange as it was, I could tell that the more experience I had with building, the more I’d be able to carry two at a time. Two whole rocks at the same time. I tried it once, just because I wanted to see how much stamina it took, and it wiped out half my stamina to walk them from the river to the house. I tried not to get frustrated by the whole thing. Instead, it fueled my desire to start a stockpile of these resources. They were coming tomorrow night. Anytime these resources were needed, it always took a chunk of time. So I took the time now, while I was waiting for the bricks to finish baking.

I had a collection of five stones and five clay stacked by the tool, when I finally took out the bricks and placed them into the tool. I held my breath, bracing myself for what was to come. There was a small part of me that wanted to believe that this was it. That I wouldn’t need anything else, but words appeared above the tool.

0/25 boards

Okay, that wasn’t too bad. I put my leftover boards from storage into the tool before chopping down two trees. After so long waiting for the next item, it was almost euphoric to have the second part of this done in less than an hour.

I waited again, bracing for what was to come.

0/15 stones

Okay. That… might take a little more time. At least I had the foresight to already start bringing those things in. Though if I really had the insight, I would have just focused on stones and would have already had ten of them in there. Instead, I put the five stones in the tool and turned toward the river.

I worked, the roaring sound of the river coming and going. This would be okay. I could do this.

“I’ll be fine. It’s got to be close. Can’t be much more. We can do this.”

When I noticed the wolf timer had a half an hour left, I only had two more stones left. I grabbed two of them and sacrificed a huge chunk of my stamina carrying the stones back to the house. I shoved both into the tool and waited.

“This is it, right?” I asked the tool like it could talk to me.

There was a pause, then words filtered above it.

0/5 firewood

My lips kept the frustrated groan inside my mouth, but it was fine. I still had some boards leftover.

After eating soup to give myself more stamina, I made quick work of the boards and stuffed the firewood in there.

“How about now?” I asked.

There was another pause before new words appeared.

0/5 sticks

“Yeah, okay.” I grabbed some firewood, whacking it with my axe, then grabbed the sticks and placed them on the tool.

0/1 match

“This feels like the end. Is this the end? It’d be really nice if this was the end,” I said after needing to cut down an entire board to get to a match.

The inside of the tool started to burn, and information filled my mind. I frowned, sifting through it.

“Hey, you know. If you need to give me information, games usually just give a notification with words on it instead of downloading information right into my brain. It gives a nice little boost of dopamine, too. That way I can read what’s happening. You make words pop into my head, anyway. This will be nicer to read out exactly what this new tool can do,” I said to the sky.

There was a pause, then words floated in her mind.

Congratulations, you did what was expected of you.

It was so random it made me choke on my laugh. “I’m still under the impression you alien overlords are a bit snarky.”

They ignored me as new words filled my vision.

The tool is now upgraded. You may enjoy the following benefits:

* Make the following resources during the day or night:

* Glass

* Required: 1 bag of sand

* Maximum of five in a batch,

* Time: one day

* Bricks

* Required: baked clay

* Maximum of fifteen in a batch,

* Time: half a day

* Stone blocks

* Required: broken stones

* Maximum of ten in a batch

* Time: half a day

I hadn’t seen stone blocks before. And I wasn’t sure how to break up stones without a pickaxe. Maybe it was something I could buy on the clipboard. I’d have to see.

Stolen novel; please report.

There was a buzzing noise as the lamp turned on, but still a good ten minutes before my wolf timer indicated the wolf was approaching. So, the wolf was inconsistent. Perfect. I could use these ten minutes.

I grabbed the leftover materials from the boards and firewood and headed into the storage area. I started to go down the stairs when something physically stopped me.

Storage too full. Would you like to get rid of some items?

A panic seized me. No. No I did not want to get rid of items. I glanced around. Sure, I guess it was getting full. I was still annoyed at the food shelving. There was so much space to put food, but for whatever reason, the food insisted on being in a certain area and not overcrowding the shelves.

“I could totally fit it all if I wanted to,” I grumbled, taking the boards and firewood outside. I paused, then placed the boards and firewood against the house. Nothing happened. Maybe they’d be fine on the back porch.

My wolf timer started to blink with a minute left. I peeked over the edge of the house to see the lamp post already on, giving a deceptively warm, yet not very bright, glow. I slipped inside, almost happy to spend more time outside than inside this house.

Killie was curled on the couch in the entertainment room, asleep. I sighed as I settled into the recliner, staring at the bowl of mints. I took another bright pink mint and sucked on it. I kept a careful eye on my stamina, but it looked like this food source didn’t give stamina. Oh well.

I leaned back, thinking about the day. The tool was updated, and I still had a full day to finish my to-do list. I pulled it out to check what I still had left.

Repair all damages caused by them

Strengthen the wall around the house and greenhouses

Buy a chicken

Upgrade brick tool

Make glass

Declutter pink room on second floor

As soon as I figured out how to make glass, I’d be ready to repair the damage. I was quite sure the only damages left was the 0/8 glass on the greenhouse. I felt a small prickle of realization. It would take a full day to make glass. They were coming tomorrow night. Despite everything, I still would not be able to finish repairing all the damages. Maybe if I had found sand before I came in for the night it would have worked, but where was I going to find it?

The obvious answer was at the river. From what I recalled, though, it was mostly stone and clay. I couldn’t see any sand. Maybe I’d have to dig.

It was a problem for tomorrow. One of these days I was going to finish my to-do list and go to bed early.

As though on cue, I heard the child giggling upstairs. I closed my eyes, holding in a gasp as a small chunk of sanity disappeared. Killie remained asleep on the couch.

“Not that big of a deal,” I whispered. “Killie’s not reacting. The ghost child is harmless. Completely harmless. I should not be freaking out, and I should not be losing sanity over this.”

Saying it did not make it happen. This was the night before they came. I could not drop below fifty percent, or else I wouldn’t recover my full sanity.

Just thinking about it, I mentally chose to get into my nightgown as I heard muffled talking in the room above the living room.

“Fine. It’s fine. It’s fine.”

I opened my eyes and saw the huge, nineties style tv. It was dark, but I still saw someone standing right behind me.

My heart stuttered as I flipped around. There was no one there. Why was I so surprised no one was there. I glanced back at the tv to see the figure moving toward the couch with some sort of wooden spoon over their head, aiming right at Killie.

“No!” I shouted.

This woke Killie up, who looked directly at the figure I couldn’t see and started hissing. I leapt out of my chair and grabbed Killie, running into the living room. I could have sworn I heard the echoes of a shrieking woman as I did so. My sanity shivered before it dropped.

“Fine. I’m fine. Fine,” I stuttered. I hesitated at the entryway of the kitchen. I did not want to see those footprints. But the echoes of the shrieks forced my hand. Instead, I ran into the bathroom with Killie and shut the door.

There were no windows in this bathroom. With no electricity, it was pitch black. There wouldn’t be any hauntings in a bathroom, right?

I had my back against the door with Killie in my arms. She was meowing, sounding distressed. I turned on the light, giving us something to look at. Killie was walking around the bathroom, stretching. I held the flashlight, hearing nothing but my breathing. The shrieking was gone.

“Did you sense her at all, girl?” I asked, petting my cat. “Is that the ghost you hiss at all the time? That shrieking ghost grandma? From what I could see, she doesn’t particularly like cats.”

Killie meowed, then kept circling around the small bathroom. I leaned the back of my head against the door, assessing the chunk of sanity that was taken out of my sanity bar. I was still a little over seventy-five percent. It was okay. I would be okay. I had less than an hour before-

Killie’s back arched as she stared at the wall, making warning noises. I grabbed the flashlight, shining it toward the back wall, even though I knew I wouldn’t find anything. Only Killie could see them. I was about ready to stand up and get out of the bathroom when a force rammed into the wall, shaking the room.

I screamed in shock. This was a physical dull thud on the house. This couldn’t be caused by ghosts.

As though in answer, I heard the wet snarling of the wolf way too close. Killie shrieked, backing away from the door, pupils dilated.

I gasped, backing away. The door was in the way. The wolf never got in the fence unless I was outside. But this time was different. I heard snarling and tearing, and panic seized me.

“No, not the brick tool. Leave it alone! I just updated it!” I screamed into the darkness. Like the wolf would ever listen. The thought of the wolf responding by trying to break into the house made me stop screaming.

I scrambled out of the bathroom and back into the living room. Killie was shaking, no doubt from the encounter with the wolf creature. I triple checked the locks on the front door, then did my checking on the back door quickly. I didn’t like the kitchen at night. And I refused to go to the second floor.

I was panting in the living room as I kept hearing the wolf snarling in the back. Killie kept her back arched, staring wide-eyed at the back of the house, her eyes darting back and forth.

The snarling finished, and I heard the wolf running away. I sighed, dropping my head. For a while, the only thing I heard was my fast, yet uneven breathing. My heartbeat pounded in my ear as I tried to calm down.

I then heard those two ghosts talking again in muffled whispers. A male and a female. I covered my ears, hoping that if I couldn’t hear it, then it would hurt my sanity.

Tonight was crazy. I could not have a crazy night like tonight. Not the night before they arrived. It was supposed to be like any other night, where I just hopped from room to room to avoid my sanity getting a hit. There was something about reflective surfaces that made me see ghosts. The mirror, the tv reflection. I needed to stay away from those.

As soon as I felt the pull to go to bed, I abandoned the living room and ran to the bedroom. I saw something flicker out of the corner of my eye in the mirror, but I forced myself to not look.

As soon as I hit the bed, I forced myself to go to sleep. This day needed to end.