(Prosperity) Nevermore: First Fall
Previously, six families moved to middle of nowhere Nevermore, each wanting a fresh start for different reasons. This is a pixel_trade Prosperity Challenge.
Monday
After seeing her niece Nitta and nephews Wander and Zondek off to school, Pixie Bronte spotted neighborhood Amber Angelou passing by. Impulsively, Pixie invited Amber in for "breakfast", or, more specifically, the opportunity to talk motherhood with her.
"I've always wanted children of my own," she told her over their bowls of cereal. "But I haven't found that perfect guy to have them with. So when my brothers asked me to move to Nevermore and help them with their own children, I thought this might be my only shot at being a mother..."
Amber could barely manage to look politely disinterested in the topic.
Pixie managed to elicit some interest from Amber after breakfast, when the conversation turned to Pixie having been pickpocketed at the community center over the weekend.
"Whoever did it should be thrown in jail! If only we had a jail in Nevermore . . . ."
Amber didn't really perk up until she had the opening to talk with Pixie's brother, Conner.
When the teens came home, talking about the other students that are bussed with them from Nevermore, Pixie remembered something she'd been meaning to tell Wander.
"Wan, you know Bilbo Babbitt? He lives in one of the trailers? Well, he told me he thought you were awfully cute..."
Wander tried to play it off in front of his family, but as soon as Nitta was done doing her homework - he knew he wouldn't get her out of the house before that - he asked her to go to the community lot with him. He wanted to get a better look at Bilbo Babbitt.
He liked what he saw.
Bilbo, who's hopeful feelings towards Heidi Alcott had been firmly squashed by her on their first bus ride together, made it clear that the feeling was mutual.
What Wander didn't realize was that he wasn't the only Bronte that enjoyed looking at Bilbo.
Bilbo's unabashed interest in him made Wander bold. The rain only made his first flirtation seem that much more romantic.
The teens weren't the only ones exploring. Zephyr Sendak had managed to tempt Colin Angelou into squeezing into the photobooth with her.
Once inside, Zephyr moved a little too fast, and she found herself alone on the dingy floor of the community center, unceremoniously and very publicly rejected.
And Zephyr wasn't the type to take rejection gracefully.
Nitta's night wasn't going well, either. She was the second citizen of Nevermore to be pickpocketed.
She called the nearest police station, and they told her they would send a car out. She knew that most likely, the thief would be long gone by the time they arrived.
Back at home, Conner had warmed to Amber considerably.
Amber left satisfied, having gotten what she had aimed for when she first started loitering outside the Bronte's house that morning.
Tuesday
Amber hadn't even had a chance to have her coffee yet when Pixie Bronte showed up, wanting to ask her a whole list of questions about adoption. As if Amber would be able to help her - she had had assistants to take care of those sorts of trivial details for her.
All the same, Amber knew she wouldn't make much progress with Conner if she didn't buddy up to his sister, so she gave Pixie her best "darling!" greeting and invited her in for coffee. With her father out for yet another date with Renee Kincaid, Amber needed someone to work the pot for her, anyway.
Her father had gone out for breakfast with Renee every morning since they met, which meant he was rather less help around the house than Amber had expected.
Amber had to get her bakery opened so she could afford a nanny for mornings when her father was gone.
Upstairs, Katamari was so exhausted after a night of the toddlers waking her with their crying that she couldn't even get herself off the floor to catch the bus that morning . . .
. . . a fact which had Pixie, who Amber was beginning to think was a bit of a busybody . . .
. . . so worked up that she planted herself on the couch and said she would wait for Colin to get home.
This was fine with Amber. Now she was free to go back to working out what she could serve at the bakery.
So far the only thing she had managed to make without nearly setting the kitchen on fire was a jello mold, and one jello mold did not a bakery make.
When Colin came home, Amber was nowhere to be seen, and Pixie was in the kitchen with Jocelyn. Jocelyn bounced up and down, waving her hands in greeting, obviously delighted to see her grandpa come home.
"You're such a good grandfather! These children are lucky to have you here."
Colin liked Pixie immediately.
Before leaving, she warned him about the pickpocket who had been robbing people at the community center.
Colin agreed with her; without local law enforcement, they were like sitting ducks way out in Nevermore.
Once Pixie was gone, Colin started making dinner. Soon the house filled with the smell of hot, home cooked food, and Amber reappeared.
"Dad, this soup... it's really good!"
"I'm glad you like it. It's my grandma's old recipe."
To herself, Amber thought, Maybe my bakery will be open soon, after all.
Wednesday
Since moving to Nevermore, Leonardo Alcott had adopted a strange schedule. After school, he went straight to bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, he would get out of bed and spend the rest of the night looking through his telescope.
His sister, Heidi, was a little worried about his new practice. She wasn't sure it was okay for a young kid to be awake and outside in the middle of the night. But she had to confess that she had her reasons for appreciating his being out of her hair every afternoon.
Well, one reason, actually. Nathan Sendak. They had met on the bus one morning, and he had found a reason to stop by every afternoon since.
Heidi was smitten, but she couldn't be sure that Nathan felt the same way. Sometimes she thought he was flirting with her, but then he would pull back suddenly. Still, he did come over every day, and she was sure that had to count for something.
"Did you hear about Nevermore's crime wave? We just moved here and already there's a burglar on the loose! My aunt Zephyr said he attacked a girl at the community center."
"That's terrible!"
"Maybe I should stick around a little later tonight. You know, make sure you're safe . . ."
Heidi was happy to have him stay.
That night, when they said goodbye, he kissed her suddenly, like he was afraid if he paused he would lose his nerve.
Dear Diary,
I still don't know what planet Zondek is from.
Every night I look through my telescope at all the possibilities. But you can't see aliens through a telescope, so I can't tell from here what planet is his.
I could sit on the lawn and look at the sky for hours.
Someday, I'm going to go up into space and see all those planets up close. And I'll stay up there until I can home and tell Zondek I found a planet full of people just like him. Then he won't be so lonely, and I'll be a hero.
Thursday
Zephyr couldn't believe what was happening to her life. She was sleeping in a tent on her sister's lawn, for starters. She started the day reminded of the state her life was in. She was still in a state of shock at having been rejected by Colin. He was elderly! He should have been grateful. Having been punted out of the photobooth had been bad enough. But then Zephyr had seen him making out in public with a woman twice Zephyr's age. It was almost too much for Zephyr, who had made an entire life out of being beautiful and desirable, to see that she had been rejected for someone old enough to be mother, if not her grandmother.
Even worse, everywhere around her people were smitten with each other. Her nephew, Nathan, couldn't stop talking about some girl, Heidi, who lived in a trailer with her little brother.
And the last time she had been at the community center, she had seen Amber Angelou and Conner Bronte making a show of "sneaking" into the photo booth together.
When she saw Heidi and Nathan headed for the photo booth, she made a point to tell Nathan she looked forward to seeing the picture they would be taking. Not that she really cared what they got up to; she just didn't want her nephew to get laid before she could. The humiliation.
Then out of the blue, Dag Bronte called, full off all the words she needed to hear.
But that didn't mean for one second she was giving up on Colin Angelou.
Friday
Nitta, who had been nursing a crush on Bilbo since she met him, decided to try her luck when she just happened to run into him outside his trailer. Bilbo was not amused.
"What are you thinking? I'm interested in your brother!"
"Oh, god. Bilbo, I'm so sorry."
"I don't know what I was thinking. Stupid, stupid, stupid..."
"Nitta, wait." Bilbo was remembering how he had felt when Heidi had very firmly squashed his hopes of their getting to know each other better, and he felt a rush of compassion for Nitta. From what Wander had told him, the girl was very shy and sensitive, and Bilbo knew it must have been hard for her to try and share how she felt. "Do you want to stay a little while and hang out? Just as friends," he added quickly.
Relieved, Nitta stayed and soon she and Bilbo were talking with ease. They talked about everything from school, to the move, to what it was like to lose a parent.
"Bilbo, do you think maybe you could not mention this to my brother? I don't mean us hanging out, I mean . . . ." She left her voice trail off.
"Nah, don't even worry about it, Nitta. It's like it never happened."
The conversation picked back up, and before they knew it, evening had come and Lie was calling for them to come eat some dinner. She left two plates on the table outside Bilbo's trailer, and ate alone in her own. Clearly, Bilbo thought, Lie had a misconception about him and Nitta. He'd have to set her straight later.
After dinner, Nitta said she needed to get home before her family worried. The reluctance in her voice was clear. Bilbo thought she was still nervous because of what had happened earlier in the day.
"Nitta, look, I'm sorry for jumping on you like that earlier. I overreacted." Nitta started to protest, but Bilbo cut her off. "Really, it was my fault. I'm sorry." He moved in to give her a hug.
Later, alone in the trailer with his lips still tingling, Bilbo would replay the scene. He still wouldn't be able to explain what happened next. One minute he went to give Nitta a friendly hug and the next she was in his arms and they were kissing until Bilbo felt dizzy and short of breath.
Saturday
Renee Kincaid knew her family thought she was taking things too fast. She didn't care. When you got to be their age, she figured, you couldn't afford not to move quickly.
In fact, she had hoped to move things along a little more quickly.
Unfortunately, that thief that kept robbing people at the community center had decided Colin looked like a good mark at the worst possible moment.
Phenelope not only thought her mother was moving too fast with Colin, but with her mother over at the Angelou's or out on a date nearly every morning and night, the work of the gardening was falling squarely on her shoulders. It was supposed to be something they worked on together; that was why they had chosen the farmhouse.
Brianna, meanwhile, was thrilled with how things were working out. Although initially, she had been bothered that her grandmother didn't have as much time with her as before, now she was enjoying both her and her mother being so busy.
With the two of them occupied, once Winter and Frankie were in bed, Brianna finally got to spend time with her stepfather. Ever since Bernard and her mother had decided to patch things up, they had been disgustingly ooey gooey with each other. She had missed joking and laughing with him.
Sunday
Conner Bronte found an exciting announcement in his mailbox. For a limited time, loans would be available to Nevermore citizens interested in opening a local business.
Conner immediately went to the phone to start the process of applying.
Outside, Zondek was playing with their neighbor, Morrow Sendak. Zondek felt like he was suddenly overflowing with friends.
But his cousin Wander was worried he was losing one of his. He was trying unsuccessfully to get his sister Nitta to come with him to the community center to play some video games. They had always been close, but for the last few days she had been quiet and withdrawn, not wanting to spend time with him or go anywhere.
Finally, Wander gave up and went without her.
Once he was gone, Nitta, feeling guilty and confused about her kiss with Bilbo, began working on Wander's homework.
Notes:
-----------------------------------------------------
I know this one is a little disjointed. I think it's a combo of the fact that I'm still tweaking and refining how I'm dealing with time, and that every time I started to play I would get interrupted and have to turn the sims off. There's not a single family who I got to play even a day uninterrupted.
The Unsavory Charleton won't go away and he's driving me insane. The sims call the police, they say he won't be back for a few days, but the very next day there he is, robbing the sims blind. All they want to talk about anymore is crime. Nevermore needs to get a law enforcement system quickly.
Once agains, sims featured in this story are from:
_simplyrandom: Pixie Bronte (Honeyblossom), Rika Sendak (Honeyblossom)
abbycat900:Phenelope Kincaid (Dale)
dothesmustle:Nathan Sendak (Peet), Heidi Alcott (Piper)
dragancor: Jocelyn Angelou (Latrodectus), Brianna Kincaid (Latrodectus)
gotaluvsims: Leonardo Alcott (Bellagio)
haughtysims: Renee Kindcaid (Wormwood)
iliketoplaygod: Amber Angelou (Fusion), Marcus Angelou (Attwater), Nitta Bronte, Colin Angelou
katu_sims: Wander Bronte (Dork), Katamari Angelou (Dork), Bilbo Babbitt (Dork)
madame_ugly: Zephyr Sendak (Pleasure), Morrow Sendak, and Zondek Bronte
racetrackd: Frankie Kincaid (Dorsey), Winter Kincaid (Dorsey), and Conner Bronte (Dorsey)
scarredid: Lie Babbitt (Reenboog)
selzi: Bernard Kincaid (Stanley), Dag Bronte (Christensen)
simsforaranya: Bellatrix Sendak (Forest)
Monday
After seeing her niece Nitta and nephews Wander and Zondek off to school, Pixie Bronte spotted neighborhood Amber Angelou passing by. Impulsively, Pixie invited Amber in for "breakfast", or, more specifically, the opportunity to talk motherhood with her.
"I've always wanted children of my own," she told her over their bowls of cereal. "But I haven't found that perfect guy to have them with. So when my brothers asked me to move to Nevermore and help them with their own children, I thought this might be my only shot at being a mother..."
Amber could barely manage to look politely disinterested in the topic.
Pixie managed to elicit some interest from Amber after breakfast, when the conversation turned to Pixie having been pickpocketed at the community center over the weekend.
"Whoever did it should be thrown in jail! If only we had a jail in Nevermore . . . ."
Amber didn't really perk up until she had the opening to talk with Pixie's brother, Conner.
When the teens came home, talking about the other students that are bussed with them from Nevermore, Pixie remembered something she'd been meaning to tell Wander.
"Wan, you know Bilbo Babbitt? He lives in one of the trailers? Well, he told me he thought you were awfully cute..."
Wander tried to play it off in front of his family, but as soon as Nitta was done doing her homework - he knew he wouldn't get her out of the house before that - he asked her to go to the community lot with him. He wanted to get a better look at Bilbo Babbitt.
He liked what he saw.
Bilbo, who's hopeful feelings towards Heidi Alcott had been firmly squashed by her on their first bus ride together, made it clear that the feeling was mutual.
What Wander didn't realize was that he wasn't the only Bronte that enjoyed looking at Bilbo.
Bilbo's unabashed interest in him made Wander bold. The rain only made his first flirtation seem that much more romantic.
The teens weren't the only ones exploring. Zephyr Sendak had managed to tempt Colin Angelou into squeezing into the photobooth with her.
Once inside, Zephyr moved a little too fast, and she found herself alone on the dingy floor of the community center, unceremoniously and very publicly rejected.
And Zephyr wasn't the type to take rejection gracefully.
Nitta's night wasn't going well, either. She was the second citizen of Nevermore to be pickpocketed.
She called the nearest police station, and they told her they would send a car out. She knew that most likely, the thief would be long gone by the time they arrived.
Back at home, Conner had warmed to Amber considerably.
Amber left satisfied, having gotten what she had aimed for when she first started loitering outside the Bronte's house that morning.
Tuesday
Amber hadn't even had a chance to have her coffee yet when Pixie Bronte showed up, wanting to ask her a whole list of questions about adoption. As if Amber would be able to help her - she had had assistants to take care of those sorts of trivial details for her.
All the same, Amber knew she wouldn't make much progress with Conner if she didn't buddy up to his sister, so she gave Pixie her best "darling!" greeting and invited her in for coffee. With her father out for yet another date with Renee Kincaid, Amber needed someone to work the pot for her, anyway.
Her father had gone out for breakfast with Renee every morning since they met, which meant he was rather less help around the house than Amber had expected.
Amber had to get her bakery opened so she could afford a nanny for mornings when her father was gone.
Upstairs, Katamari was so exhausted after a night of the toddlers waking her with their crying that she couldn't even get herself off the floor to catch the bus that morning . . .
. . . a fact which had Pixie, who Amber was beginning to think was a bit of a busybody . . .
. . . so worked up that she planted herself on the couch and said she would wait for Colin to get home.
This was fine with Amber. Now she was free to go back to working out what she could serve at the bakery.
So far the only thing she had managed to make without nearly setting the kitchen on fire was a jello mold, and one jello mold did not a bakery make.
When Colin came home, Amber was nowhere to be seen, and Pixie was in the kitchen with Jocelyn. Jocelyn bounced up and down, waving her hands in greeting, obviously delighted to see her grandpa come home.
"You're such a good grandfather! These children are lucky to have you here."
Colin liked Pixie immediately.
Before leaving, she warned him about the pickpocket who had been robbing people at the community center.
Colin agreed with her; without local law enforcement, they were like sitting ducks way out in Nevermore.
Once Pixie was gone, Colin started making dinner. Soon the house filled with the smell of hot, home cooked food, and Amber reappeared.
"Dad, this soup... it's really good!"
"I'm glad you like it. It's my grandma's old recipe."
To herself, Amber thought, Maybe my bakery will be open soon, after all.
Wednesday
Since moving to Nevermore, Leonardo Alcott had adopted a strange schedule. After school, he went straight to bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, he would get out of bed and spend the rest of the night looking through his telescope.
His sister, Heidi, was a little worried about his new practice. She wasn't sure it was okay for a young kid to be awake and outside in the middle of the night. But she had to confess that she had her reasons for appreciating his being out of her hair every afternoon.
Well, one reason, actually. Nathan Sendak. They had met on the bus one morning, and he had found a reason to stop by every afternoon since.
Heidi was smitten, but she couldn't be sure that Nathan felt the same way. Sometimes she thought he was flirting with her, but then he would pull back suddenly. Still, he did come over every day, and she was sure that had to count for something.
"Did you hear about Nevermore's crime wave? We just moved here and already there's a burglar on the loose! My aunt Zephyr said he attacked a girl at the community center."
"That's terrible!"
"Maybe I should stick around a little later tonight. You know, make sure you're safe . . ."
Heidi was happy to have him stay.
That night, when they said goodbye, he kissed her suddenly, like he was afraid if he paused he would lose his nerve.
Dear Diary,
I still don't know what planet Zondek is from.
Every night I look through my telescope at all the possibilities. But you can't see aliens through a telescope, so I can't tell from here what planet is his.
I could sit on the lawn and look at the sky for hours.
Someday, I'm going to go up into space and see all those planets up close. And I'll stay up there until I can home and tell Zondek I found a planet full of people just like him. Then he won't be so lonely, and I'll be a hero.
Thursday
Zephyr couldn't believe what was happening to her life. She was sleeping in a tent on her sister's lawn, for starters. She started the day reminded of the state her life was in. She was still in a state of shock at having been rejected by Colin. He was elderly! He should have been grateful. Having been punted out of the photobooth had been bad enough. But then Zephyr had seen him making out in public with a woman twice Zephyr's age. It was almost too much for Zephyr, who had made an entire life out of being beautiful and desirable, to see that she had been rejected for someone old enough to be mother, if not her grandmother.
Even worse, everywhere around her people were smitten with each other. Her nephew, Nathan, couldn't stop talking about some girl, Heidi, who lived in a trailer with her little brother.
And the last time she had been at the community center, she had seen Amber Angelou and Conner Bronte making a show of "sneaking" into the photo booth together.
When she saw Heidi and Nathan headed for the photo booth, she made a point to tell Nathan she looked forward to seeing the picture they would be taking. Not that she really cared what they got up to; she just didn't want her nephew to get laid before she could. The humiliation.
Then out of the blue, Dag Bronte called, full off all the words she needed to hear.
But that didn't mean for one second she was giving up on Colin Angelou.
Friday
Nitta, who had been nursing a crush on Bilbo since she met him, decided to try her luck when she just happened to run into him outside his trailer. Bilbo was not amused.
"What are you thinking? I'm interested in your brother!"
"Oh, god. Bilbo, I'm so sorry."
"I don't know what I was thinking. Stupid, stupid, stupid..."
"Nitta, wait." Bilbo was remembering how he had felt when Heidi had very firmly squashed his hopes of their getting to know each other better, and he felt a rush of compassion for Nitta. From what Wander had told him, the girl was very shy and sensitive, and Bilbo knew it must have been hard for her to try and share how she felt. "Do you want to stay a little while and hang out? Just as friends," he added quickly.
Relieved, Nitta stayed and soon she and Bilbo were talking with ease. They talked about everything from school, to the move, to what it was like to lose a parent.
"Bilbo, do you think maybe you could not mention this to my brother? I don't mean us hanging out, I mean . . . ." She left her voice trail off.
"Nah, don't even worry about it, Nitta. It's like it never happened."
The conversation picked back up, and before they knew it, evening had come and Lie was calling for them to come eat some dinner. She left two plates on the table outside Bilbo's trailer, and ate alone in her own. Clearly, Bilbo thought, Lie had a misconception about him and Nitta. He'd have to set her straight later.
After dinner, Nitta said she needed to get home before her family worried. The reluctance in her voice was clear. Bilbo thought she was still nervous because of what had happened earlier in the day.
"Nitta, look, I'm sorry for jumping on you like that earlier. I overreacted." Nitta started to protest, but Bilbo cut her off. "Really, it was my fault. I'm sorry." He moved in to give her a hug.
Later, alone in the trailer with his lips still tingling, Bilbo would replay the scene. He still wouldn't be able to explain what happened next. One minute he went to give Nitta a friendly hug and the next she was in his arms and they were kissing until Bilbo felt dizzy and short of breath.
Saturday
Renee Kincaid knew her family thought she was taking things too fast. She didn't care. When you got to be their age, she figured, you couldn't afford not to move quickly.
In fact, she had hoped to move things along a little more quickly.
Unfortunately, that thief that kept robbing people at the community center had decided Colin looked like a good mark at the worst possible moment.
Phenelope not only thought her mother was moving too fast with Colin, but with her mother over at the Angelou's or out on a date nearly every morning and night, the work of the gardening was falling squarely on her shoulders. It was supposed to be something they worked on together; that was why they had chosen the farmhouse.
Brianna, meanwhile, was thrilled with how things were working out. Although initially, she had been bothered that her grandmother didn't have as much time with her as before, now she was enjoying both her and her mother being so busy.
With the two of them occupied, once Winter and Frankie were in bed, Brianna finally got to spend time with her stepfather. Ever since Bernard and her mother had decided to patch things up, they had been disgustingly ooey gooey with each other. She had missed joking and laughing with him.
Sunday
Conner Bronte found an exciting announcement in his mailbox. For a limited time, loans would be available to Nevermore citizens interested in opening a local business.
Conner immediately went to the phone to start the process of applying.
Outside, Zondek was playing with their neighbor, Morrow Sendak. Zondek felt like he was suddenly overflowing with friends.
But his cousin Wander was worried he was losing one of his. He was trying unsuccessfully to get his sister Nitta to come with him to the community center to play some video games. They had always been close, but for the last few days she had been quiet and withdrawn, not wanting to spend time with him or go anywhere.
Finally, Wander gave up and went without her.
Once he was gone, Nitta, feeling guilty and confused about her kiss with Bilbo, began working on Wander's homework.
Notes:
-----------------------------------------------------
I know this one is a little disjointed. I think it's a combo of the fact that I'm still tweaking and refining how I'm dealing with time, and that every time I started to play I would get interrupted and have to turn the sims off. There's not a single family who I got to play even a day uninterrupted.
The Unsavory Charleton won't go away and he's driving me insane. The sims call the police, they say he won't be back for a few days, but the very next day there he is, robbing the sims blind. All they want to talk about anymore is crime. Nevermore needs to get a law enforcement system quickly.
Once agains, sims featured in this story are from:
_simplyrandom: Pixie Bronte (Honeyblossom), Rika Sendak (Honeyblossom)
abbycat900:Phenelope Kincaid (Dale)
dothesmustle:Nathan Sendak (Peet), Heidi Alcott (Piper)
dragancor: Jocelyn Angelou (Latrodectus), Brianna Kincaid (Latrodectus)
gotaluvsims: Leonardo Alcott (Bellagio)
haughtysims: Renee Kindcaid (Wormwood)
iliketoplaygod: Amber Angelou (Fusion), Marcus Angelou (Attwater), Nitta Bronte, Colin Angelou
katu_sims: Wander Bronte (Dork), Katamari Angelou (Dork), Bilbo Babbitt (Dork)
madame_ugly: Zephyr Sendak (Pleasure), Morrow Sendak, and Zondek Bronte
racetrackd: Frankie Kincaid (Dorsey), Winter Kincaid (Dorsey), and Conner Bronte (Dorsey)
scarredid: Lie Babbitt (Reenboog)
selzi: Bernard Kincaid (Stanley), Dag Bronte (Christensen)
simsforaranya: Bellatrix Sendak (Forest)