At five in the afternoon on Annie's first day officially in charge of the Mineral Town farm, after she had tossed all the wild goods she'd gathered into the magical shipping bin, the strong, muscular, dedicated shipping clerk, Uncle Zac, unexpectedly failed to show up on time. Instead, he'd taken the day off—a rare occurrence.
Then, at five the following afternoon, he still didn't show up!
After Annie went to ask Thomas, the red-nosed old mayor, she learned that the reason he'd been absent for two days in a row was that the idiot had gotten hurt.
After being attacked by a swarm of bees and stung until his face was bruised and swollen, he'd spent two whole days lying at home. It wasn't until the afternoon of the third day—two days after he'd been stung—and after the swelling in his head and face had mostly gone down that he resumed his work as a shipping clerk. At five in the afternoon, he finally showed up at Annie's farm.
Actually, Zac's injuries weren't serious. Doctor Doug, the only doctor in Mineral Town, had given him some cooling, anti-inflammatory ointment. The only reason he'd stayed away for two days was that he'd been hiding at home because he didn't want anyone to see him.
After all, going out with a "fat, swollen" head wouldn't have done much for his appearance.
"..."
However, after arriving at the farm today, Zac didn't hurry over to inspect the shipping bin.
First, he cautiously peeked around the side of the house for a while. Only after seeing that the farm hadn't changed much—that the large field was still a chaotic mess, covered with trash, rocks, and weeds, with no signs that it had been cleared—and noticing that the apple tree in the distance didn't seem