Chapter 2.17 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 3.2

Generation Three: Red

Appearance: Red hair, scandalous clothing style
Traits: Romantic, Hot-headed, Art Lover
Aspiration: Serial Romantic
Occupation: Art Critic
House Goal: 30,000 worth

When in Doubt: Swim

Well, here I am. Standing with two suitcases of clothes, one of other stuff, and me. On a very barren stretch of sand .. as long as you don’t count the mailbox. I can see the beach I visited a lot as a child just down the beach in one direction, and in the other – some more homes and a fishing dock. This was my chosen “home” – but I can assure you, other than these three suitcases and what I’m wearing – there is nothing I have that will help me build a house. Spying some thick bushes near my “homestead”, I drag my suitcases there and hide them in the brush. I look over them, and can see the corner of one peeking out – but it will simply have to do. The only other thing I could do is bury them in the sand – and I’m NOT doing that. Feeling overwhelmed, and thinking that I probably should have actually had a bite of that birthday cake before jetting out the door… I decide to do the only thing I can think of: hydrate. When in doubt: swim…. right?

It’s the middle of a day on a weekday, so I’m pretty much the only sim in the water – and definitely the only mermaid, so I stretch out my fins and enjoy the water sliding past my scales. I put on a brave face to mom and dad, but it was just that: a brave face. I have no earthly idea what I’ll be doing with that stretch of beach behind me… and I have even less of an idea how to go about getting a roof over my head before winter’s monsoon season.

…. “Just keep Swimming.” ?? Maybe that old song is useful. At least: it gives me something to do. While splashing around, I notice a debris pile on the beach across from my “home” (I really should stop using quotes for it.. it IS my home for better or worse!) .. and I head over there, an idea slowly growing in the back of my head.

Perhaps I can find some shells so that I can sell them. Then, at least I would be guaranteed dinner at the bar just down the road. I luck out, and under some beach trash, I find a couple of nice shells. Selling them gets me enough money that I don’t feel quite so useless. … Which then reminds me.

.. I needed to check the job forums, to see what I could find. I knew I wanted to do something artsy, but being a painter seemed too… possibly hard to guarantee a paycheck on any given day. Not that I knew much about the painter career. But it just seemed like it might be tough, you know? I scrolled past those postings, and scanned what else there was. Cooking.. heck no. Engineering… didn’t you have to go to school for that?? Acting… not my thing. Bartending, no way. Although meeting new sims might be fun? Then I spy a notice in the corner of the page. It’s from the city, but it does mention that the job can be done mostly online, and from home. (I remembered not to use the quotes!) … A chance to visit the city on occasion wouldn’t really be a bad thing. I do like traveling, and I don’t really mind the bus. Taking a deep breath, I dial the number. A bored-sounding receptionist answers, and quickly ferries my call to the right person. After a whirlwind phone interview, I find myself just standing here – staring at my phone bemusedly.

I had a job! As a critic. I could, apparently, choose between specializing in food or art – and I bet you can guess which one I’ll be going for. Even better, they started me out with a couple promotions, and an assignment. I had to raise my skill in writing, and do a small practice column for them. Guess I should find somewhere that has a computer so I can log in and get started.

I swim across the water, back towards home, wondering where I could go. I didn’t EXACTLY tell my new employers that I was virtually homeless and without a computer – I figured I could find a way. Somehow. While I was still pondering everything in my head, a familiar figure stopped in front of me, and started talking excitedly. My cousin – or whatever he was – Grayson. If I recalled correctly, he had ended up moving from the city where he’d been born and moved here to Sulani with his wife.. who was also my distant relative. Weird… but apparently they were far enough apart for it to be okay with the marriage authorities.

He waved a hand in front of my face. Oops. I had been wool-gathering, and hadn’t heard a word he’d said. He asked (probably again) how I was doing, congratulated me on my birthday, and mentioned that his wife was expecting, and that they lived just down the road. His wife wasn’t coming over today (apparently she felt ill), but Grayson was playing the “welcome wagon” and had brought me some fruitcake from her. I accepted it graciously, deciding not to mention that the thought of fruitcake made ME feel a little ill, too. I gestured to my mailbox, and my lack of anything else, and thanked him and his wife for thinking of me. I excused him early from the “party” .. dubiously shoved the fruitcake and paper plate into the trashcan at the beach next door to my mailbox, and started walking towards the bar.

I noticed a very handsome sim wandering down the beach, and stopped to say hello. Turns out he was an ex-classmate of mine, and still a teenager. (Darn. … Well, I suppose I can wait, right? He IS a senior in school…) He showed off some photos on his phone, and I played along for a while, enjoying the conversation.. until I noticed the sun was starting to head for the water again. That.. and.. well, to put it delicately.. I was starting to notice a problem.

I had to pee. Quite badly. Remembering that the town gathering spot had a public bathroom, I waddled that direction. Turns out, there was a celebration in the works. Gotta love Sulani. Any excuse for a party – and people turn out en masse. I sneak past them, use the facilities (which, lucky for me.. are free!) .. and then wander back out to say hello.

Some thoughtful being had cooked a feast in the community pit. I snatched up a plate and started mingling. Free food! No way was I passing THAT up. I was nearly done eating when some strange man in cat ears mentioned that he had to work the next day, and needed to head home. I ruefully mused that I needed to find a computer to do my daily work task, and he perked up. Apparently they had a laptop at the bar that was connected to the internet that people were welcome to use, so long as they were paying customers. I thanked him VERY much for the information, thanking the heavens that I had been able to sell that little cache of shells for some cold, hard cash – and headed down the beach again.

To my surprise, it was bear night. And apparently alien night, too – the bartender was … um…. very blue. She certainly wasn’t hiding her differences. I purchased myself a drink (woohoo! I was old enough to buy them on my own now!) and settled at the computer at a table, watching the bears wander by bemusedly. Some of them said hello, other just watched me curiously, but I was busy.

Apparently the cat eared guy from the party either wasn’t THAT worried about work in the morning, or he was enamored with me.. because he showed up without a bear costume to spend some more time flirting with me. I mostly ignored him…. and kept working on the mock column for work. I was nearly done with it when a welcome face suddenly appeared next to me. I’m not sure what mom was doing at the bar – and quite frankly, I forgot to ask – but man, was it good to see her. She didn’t ask many questions, sensing in her own “mom” way that I wasn’t ready to be grilled about my new situation, but she gave me a huge hug and congratulated me on already landing a good job. I bit my tongue on the questions of how to get a roof over my head at my beach – I was still too proud to ask something like that… and simply asked after the family.

After finishing my juice, my conversation, and my column… I headed home, feeling very tired, and more than a little bit overwhelmed. I nearly tripped over a pile of shells. Looking around, I notice that there really wasn’t anyone around. So the shells had just been abandoned here? Hesitating only for a moment, I started picking them up. Some were pretty valuable… and I was desperate enough in my living situation that I wasn’t too proud to look a gift… er.. shell in the mouth. (Wondering briefly about where that statement about gift horses ever came from?) .. I collected all I could carry, toted them home, and hid them under the bushes. I could sell them tomorrow. Meanwhile, my eyes were definitely trying to close. I needed to find somewhere to sleep. Tomorrow was most definitely another day…. but this one was overdue to end.

… “Just Keep Swimming”… I chuckled at my little song, and floated in the glowy water. Before long, I was sound asleep… and my concerns were forgotten. The joy of the ocean lulled me into a deep, happy, RESTFUL sleep… and it wasn’t until the sun came up the next morning that I again opened my eyes. Another day was here. Time to get back to figuring stuff out.

Author’s Note: Yes, I’m back!! And as much as I want to dive straight back into some of my more difficult challenges (like my Decades War) – I figured starting with some of my older, simpler challenges to get back into the “swing” of posting things was a good idea. I can’t honestly say how often posts will be coming out – I mean, I HOPE they’ll be daily or every other day – but we’ll see how far the muse takes me. Meantime… welcome back to Sulani. *smile* And I hope you’ll like Kali Naiades as much as I’m starting to!

Chapter 2.17 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 3.2