Prosperity Challenge - 1 (Days/Years 1-3)
The families are settling in in their first three days (or, I suppose, three years) in Winterfell - pictures behind the cut!
Burkett
Leone and Van got off to something of a rocky start.
It had been many years since they'd last lived together, and Van had forgotten that Leone hated to be hugged. He was somewhat overcome with sentiment on the first morning in the new house, and felt very embarrassed when she shrank back in horror from his embrace. After that, Van left her to her own devices to settle in. They were quietly poring over some cookbooks after coming to the ugly realization that neither one of them even knew how to make spaghetti when several neighbors arrived to say hello.
Marilyn Koepple, Emanuel Thigpen, and Lou Haynes introduced themselves to the Burketts. Leone wondered what Marilyn's problem was. She made snide comments to Emanuel all afternoon before leaving in a huff. But Leone was far more interested in Lou. He had sad eyes and a quiet demeanor, and it wasn't long before she was trying to make him blush by winking at him from across the room.
Van made sandwiches for everyone, and Leone and Lou chatted at the small kitchen table. He was very personable and spoke fondly of his grandson, Eli. Leone noticed he made no mention of a wife. She decided then and there that Lou Haynes was her very first project in Winterfell. As the days went by, it was clear to everyone in the neighborhood that her project was going exactly as planned.
While Leone was wasting no time spinning romantic webs, Van's mind was turning to more practical concerns. Neither of the siblings had jobs, and the money from Leone's divorce wouldn't last for long. The classifieds were depressingly empty, but he decided not to let his pride get in the way and took a job as a dishwasher in a small restaurant down the block. Leone agreed to get a job as a pollster, but it wasn't long before she proposed a new scheme.
"Van, there are no opportunities in this town for senior sims. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of eating TV dinners and looking at our bare walls. What do you think of opening up a sort of business here at the house? We could feed people and let them watch our TV and charge them per hour. I've heard of other people doing this sort of thing before, and I think it's worth a try."
Van thought privately that it sounded like a perfectly ridiculous idea, but he didn't really see the harm in letting Leone give it a shot. As it turned out, Leone had more business savvy than he had given her credit for, and they soon had three or four people hanging around the house at all hours. In this way, they were introduced to more of the local population. Many of them, they were startled to see, had some kind of genetic mutation resulting in perfectly black eyes.
Neither Van nor Leone knew what to make of it, and no one else in the neighborhood mentioned it, so they kept their curiosity to themselves. Eventually, they stopped really noticing.
Running their business took up most of their time, but eventually they started to sense something was missing. Leone had Lou to keep her company, but Van at least sensed that she was not really serious about him. This time, it was Van who came to Leone with a proposal.
"What would you think - now hear me out - of adopting a child? We're doing fairly well for ourselves financially, and there are a lot of children in need of good homes. I never had a chance to have kids, and I know you've been a good mother. Would you think about it, at least?"
Leone did think about it, for some time. She didn't speak to the kids she had now - who's to say this would turn out any differently? And weren't they just too old to take on the responsibility and hard work of a child?
In the end, it was Lou who convinced her. When she asked his opinion, he seemed startled, but he shared with her how raising Eli had become the joy of his life. Leone didn't want to deprive Van of joy, and in truth, she did love children. She made a call to the adoption agency the next evening.
Koepple
Treading water. That's what it was like. The first few years of raising her five grandchildren on her own were a blur of homework, hunger, tears, and arguments. Marilyn was just thankful that she had so far managed to keep all of them afloat. They had their peaceful moments.
When the noise subsided to a dull roar, Marilyn would look around and allow herself to feel proud and happy. Ten seconds later, of course, when Nevada pulled Belva's hair or Rochell snapped the ear off of her toy, she had forgotten those moments completely. She had to admit that she couldn't do any of it without Ria's help.
Ria was very good with the younger girls, and Marilyn usually didn't have to ask her to help out. Marilyn knew that Ria was sacrificing her grades and possibly her health to ensure that her sisters were fed and had finished their homework. It worried her, but she didn't know what more she could do to ease Ria's burden.
Things improved somewhat once Rochell transitioned from a barely-potty trained toddler to a neat, quiet child.
Rochell moved from her crib in the living room into the dormitory style bedroom her other four sisters shared. Around this time, Marilyn started spending time with Van Burkett, the scholarly gentleman who lived down the street with his sister, Leone. Marilyn did not really care for Leone, especially after she and Ria nearly came to blows one day when Leone made fun of her holey shirt.
Anyway, Marilyn did enjoy spending time with Van. She had always liked men, and her first few years in Winterfell had been very lacking in male companionship. Van seemed happy enough to come over for lunch, but he never made a move to take things farther. Marilyn thought perhaps she'd lost her touch.
She figured she didn't have the time for romance, anyway. She had much more pressing concerns, like how to stop Nevada from swinging from the refrigerator door...
Thigpen
Whatever else you might say about the Thigpens, you would never accuse them of not knowing how to have a good time.
Sure, Emanuel and Glen didn't get along, Lise was working herself to death, and Marguerite was becoming increasingly eccentric, but at the end of the day, the family could always be found dancing and joking with each other.
It was a good thing, too, because their first few years in Winterfell were not a walk in the park. Glen couldn't seem to hold down a job.
And Emanuel actually managed to set the kitchen ablaze one memorable evening.
Everyone in the house feared Lise's reaction once she recovered from the shock, but in the end she only had the energy for a half-hearted scold. She'd taken a job in the army and had no energy to spare.
The kids, Bob and Shena, were doing pretty well in school. Bob had started to show some interest in the paper girl, and conveniently managed to get up early enough to greet her several mornings in a row. He got a job after school and started socking money away in his underwear drawer - for what, no one was sure.
Even Shena was making friends - little Nevada Koepple was an almost constant presence after school. The girls were always whispering and giggling about something or other.
Marguerite was the designated baby-sitter, but her attention often wandered. She took up painting, telling Lise that she'd use the money she made to add rooms to the house. No one held out much hope that her artwork would ever bring in any cash, though.
Haynes
Lou Haynes would not consider himself a superstitious man. Nor was he, until now, a believer in the supernatural. Now, however, he didn't really have a choice. It all started when a few neighbors came by to visit, shortly after Lou and Eli moved into their modular home in Winterfell. Eli was playing with his rabbit toy.
Lou had been a bit taken aback by the woman's pure black eyes, but it was true he hadn't traveled much in his life, and he didn't want to seem ignorant, so he didn't mention it. Gabe, the red-head, seemed perfectly normal. The visitors were very taken with Eli, and played with him all day. Lou went to take a nap before dinner. He was awakened by a cold feeling of dread.
He rushed to Eli's room, where he found Gabe crumpled to the floor, and the black-eyed woman gone. As he bent over Gabe, he heard an utterly otherworldly voice behind him.
"Is this your friend?"
Then the strangest game Lou had ever played in his life began. Somehow he knew that Gabe's life hung in the balance.
It all happened so fast, that Lou was never certain afterwards what he believed had happened. At any rate, he must have lost, because all that was left of Gabe was an urn. Lou's main concern was for Eli. What had he seen?
The toddler did not seem upset - he was his usual sunny self. In his small world, he didn't know yet what was normal and what wasn't. Astonishing things happened every day, so the cloaked skeletal figure made no more of an impression than a new food.
Lou tried his best to forget the incident. No one came looking for Gabe. His time was largely taken up with Eli and his part time job. Leone was another big distraction. The time soon came for Eli to transition to childhood.
He was so like his father...
*NOTES*
I think I'll probably experiment with different styles as I update this. Writing little vignettes is fun, but there's no way I can keep it up indefinitely.
I don't know what the heck happened to Gabe. He managed to starve to death while playing with the rabbit toy with Eli. Neighborhood's first ghost...sigh.
Burkett
Leone and Van got off to something of a rocky start.
It had been many years since they'd last lived together, and Van had forgotten that Leone hated to be hugged. He was somewhat overcome with sentiment on the first morning in the new house, and felt very embarrassed when she shrank back in horror from his embrace. After that, Van left her to her own devices to settle in. They were quietly poring over some cookbooks after coming to the ugly realization that neither one of them even knew how to make spaghetti when several neighbors arrived to say hello.
Marilyn Koepple, Emanuel Thigpen, and Lou Haynes introduced themselves to the Burketts. Leone wondered what Marilyn's problem was. She made snide comments to Emanuel all afternoon before leaving in a huff. But Leone was far more interested in Lou. He had sad eyes and a quiet demeanor, and it wasn't long before she was trying to make him blush by winking at him from across the room.
Van made sandwiches for everyone, and Leone and Lou chatted at the small kitchen table. He was very personable and spoke fondly of his grandson, Eli. Leone noticed he made no mention of a wife. She decided then and there that Lou Haynes was her very first project in Winterfell. As the days went by, it was clear to everyone in the neighborhood that her project was going exactly as planned.
While Leone was wasting no time spinning romantic webs, Van's mind was turning to more practical concerns. Neither of the siblings had jobs, and the money from Leone's divorce wouldn't last for long. The classifieds were depressingly empty, but he decided not to let his pride get in the way and took a job as a dishwasher in a small restaurant down the block. Leone agreed to get a job as a pollster, but it wasn't long before she proposed a new scheme.
"Van, there are no opportunities in this town for senior sims. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of eating TV dinners and looking at our bare walls. What do you think of opening up a sort of business here at the house? We could feed people and let them watch our TV and charge them per hour. I've heard of other people doing this sort of thing before, and I think it's worth a try."
Van thought privately that it sounded like a perfectly ridiculous idea, but he didn't really see the harm in letting Leone give it a shot. As it turned out, Leone had more business savvy than he had given her credit for, and they soon had three or four people hanging around the house at all hours. In this way, they were introduced to more of the local population. Many of them, they were startled to see, had some kind of genetic mutation resulting in perfectly black eyes.
Neither Van nor Leone knew what to make of it, and no one else in the neighborhood mentioned it, so they kept their curiosity to themselves. Eventually, they stopped really noticing.
Running their business took up most of their time, but eventually they started to sense something was missing. Leone had Lou to keep her company, but Van at least sensed that she was not really serious about him. This time, it was Van who came to Leone with a proposal.
"What would you think - now hear me out - of adopting a child? We're doing fairly well for ourselves financially, and there are a lot of children in need of good homes. I never had a chance to have kids, and I know you've been a good mother. Would you think about it, at least?"
Leone did think about it, for some time. She didn't speak to the kids she had now - who's to say this would turn out any differently? And weren't they just too old to take on the responsibility and hard work of a child?
In the end, it was Lou who convinced her. When she asked his opinion, he seemed startled, but he shared with her how raising Eli had become the joy of his life. Leone didn't want to deprive Van of joy, and in truth, she did love children. She made a call to the adoption agency the next evening.
Koepple
Treading water. That's what it was like. The first few years of raising her five grandchildren on her own were a blur of homework, hunger, tears, and arguments. Marilyn was just thankful that she had so far managed to keep all of them afloat. They had their peaceful moments.
When the noise subsided to a dull roar, Marilyn would look around and allow herself to feel proud and happy. Ten seconds later, of course, when Nevada pulled Belva's hair or Rochell snapped the ear off of her toy, she had forgotten those moments completely. She had to admit that she couldn't do any of it without Ria's help.
Ria was very good with the younger girls, and Marilyn usually didn't have to ask her to help out. Marilyn knew that Ria was sacrificing her grades and possibly her health to ensure that her sisters were fed and had finished their homework. It worried her, but she didn't know what more she could do to ease Ria's burden.
Things improved somewhat once Rochell transitioned from a barely-potty trained toddler to a neat, quiet child.
Rochell moved from her crib in the living room into the dormitory style bedroom her other four sisters shared. Around this time, Marilyn started spending time with Van Burkett, the scholarly gentleman who lived down the street with his sister, Leone. Marilyn did not really care for Leone, especially after she and Ria nearly came to blows one day when Leone made fun of her holey shirt.
Anyway, Marilyn did enjoy spending time with Van. She had always liked men, and her first few years in Winterfell had been very lacking in male companionship. Van seemed happy enough to come over for lunch, but he never made a move to take things farther. Marilyn thought perhaps she'd lost her touch.
She figured she didn't have the time for romance, anyway. She had much more pressing concerns, like how to stop Nevada from swinging from the refrigerator door...
Thigpen
Whatever else you might say about the Thigpens, you would never accuse them of not knowing how to have a good time.
Sure, Emanuel and Glen didn't get along, Lise was working herself to death, and Marguerite was becoming increasingly eccentric, but at the end of the day, the family could always be found dancing and joking with each other.
It was a good thing, too, because their first few years in Winterfell were not a walk in the park. Glen couldn't seem to hold down a job.
And Emanuel actually managed to set the kitchen ablaze one memorable evening.
Everyone in the house feared Lise's reaction once she recovered from the shock, but in the end she only had the energy for a half-hearted scold. She'd taken a job in the army and had no energy to spare.
The kids, Bob and Shena, were doing pretty well in school. Bob had started to show some interest in the paper girl, and conveniently managed to get up early enough to greet her several mornings in a row. He got a job after school and started socking money away in his underwear drawer - for what, no one was sure.
Even Shena was making friends - little Nevada Koepple was an almost constant presence after school. The girls were always whispering and giggling about something or other.
Marguerite was the designated baby-sitter, but her attention often wandered. She took up painting, telling Lise that she'd use the money she made to add rooms to the house. No one held out much hope that her artwork would ever bring in any cash, though.
Haynes
Lou Haynes would not consider himself a superstitious man. Nor was he, until now, a believer in the supernatural. Now, however, he didn't really have a choice. It all started when a few neighbors came by to visit, shortly after Lou and Eli moved into their modular home in Winterfell. Eli was playing with his rabbit toy.
Lou had been a bit taken aback by the woman's pure black eyes, but it was true he hadn't traveled much in his life, and he didn't want to seem ignorant, so he didn't mention it. Gabe, the red-head, seemed perfectly normal. The visitors were very taken with Eli, and played with him all day. Lou went to take a nap before dinner. He was awakened by a cold feeling of dread.
He rushed to Eli's room, where he found Gabe crumpled to the floor, and the black-eyed woman gone. As he bent over Gabe, he heard an utterly otherworldly voice behind him.
"Is this your friend?"
Then the strangest game Lou had ever played in his life began. Somehow he knew that Gabe's life hung in the balance.
It all happened so fast, that Lou was never certain afterwards what he believed had happened. At any rate, he must have lost, because all that was left of Gabe was an urn. Lou's main concern was for Eli. What had he seen?
The toddler did not seem upset - he was his usual sunny self. In his small world, he didn't know yet what was normal and what wasn't. Astonishing things happened every day, so the cloaked skeletal figure made no more of an impression than a new food.
Lou tried his best to forget the incident. No one came looking for Gabe. His time was largely taken up with Eli and his part time job. Leone was another big distraction. The time soon came for Eli to transition to childhood.
He was so like his father...
*NOTES*
I think I'll probably experiment with different styles as I update this. Writing little vignettes is fun, but there's no way I can keep it up indefinitely.
I don't know what the heck happened to Gabe. He managed to starve to death while playing with the rabbit toy with Eli. Neighborhood's first ghost...sigh.