A Beautiful Cove: The Prologue
Belladonna Cove is magical.
Or so I've heard. At least, from the stories my mother used to tell me before she tucked me in for the night. Every night, since I was five, she'd come into my room and sit by me on my bed. There must have always been a certain shine in my eye each time she did, because she'd chuckle, her laughter filling the room like bells. She'd brush stray strands of hair out of my face, and ask, "Is it time to pay a visit to Belladonna Cove?"
Most nights she would lie down next to me. I'd bury my head in the crook of her next and listen to the soft hum in her throat as she took me on a journey to my favorite place. On the first night, she sketched a picture for me. And every night following, she'd fill in the unpainted areas, adding splashes of color, swirls and dabs, long and short strokes. The painting was magical. The residents of Belladonna Cove were magical, witches and warlocks with secrets that were meant for me to discover. They went to work on broomsticks and came home to bubbling cauldrons, boiling from the pressure of their magnificent desires. Every night, I lived there, experiencing the magic, wishing I could someday join them.
The painting was left unfinished, however. One night, in 3rd grade, my mother didn't come to my room. The familiar creak of the door, the hinges rusty with old age, was gone, as well as the sound of footsteps padding across the carpet and the dip in the mattress as my mother sat down. My father came in instead, almost tripping over his own feet as he stumbled over to my bedside, and sat me up. Call it my elementary school intuition, but I knew, the moment he embraced me, that the picture I'd treasured for so long would remained unfinished.
When he took me to the hospital to identify the body, I felt my own magic seep out of me just a little bit each time as I walked across the clean hospital floors, until finally, it was all gone.
My father didn't know Belladonna Cove. The first and last time I had asked him about it, he smiled sadly, wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. They'd stay there for the rest of his life. I never bothered after that.
My existence isn't a sad one, despite this all. It's one of discovery and realization, recognizing truths about yourself and everyone around you. When my father passed away, I was just entering my tenth year of reporting for a prestigious, well-known newspaper. After I had returned back to the city from the funeral, my boss had called me into his office to offer his condolences. I'd accepted, and then promptly asked him what he really wanted me for.
The story he'd asked me to cover had not piqued my interest at first. "Woman finds evidence of witchcraft"? What was a writer, with a heart devoid of magic and fairy dust to do with such a story? My boss, however, persisted after my initial refusal.
It was then that I learned Belladonna Cove did exist. Only, it wasn't the one that my mother had carefully constructed in my childhood. As I stepped off the bus, I wasn't overcome with magic. There was no magic, no fairy dust tucked in hidden corners, no witches chanting spells. Instead, I found ordinary people. Ordinary people with their own stories, in which they might have found or lost their own magic, just as I had mine. I learned of a town with a history. One which was covered in scars and bandages and which people told me of as tears formed at the corners of their eyes or as they smiled at old memories.
Who am I? Well, at this point, there's really no point in me telling you that. What matters, right now, is their story. The residents of Belladonna Cove. And who knows? Maybe there is magic here.
----- Author's Note -----
Hi! Thank you for reading! This is the beginning of my story, A Beautiful Cove, which will be a prosperity challenge style story of the residents of Belladonna Cove. The story will be based on the sims' wants and actions and my interpretations of these. As I get farther into this story, I will be posting gameplay notes on how I play the neighborhood, as well as character profiles for all the playable residents.
Comments are greatly appreciated!