Day One

            Only a portion of my gifted land was cleared away enough to do any real living on it. I surveyed the obstructions scattered around the rest of it and was dismayed to see deeply rooted plants, cacti, and large boulders. It would take money and equipment to get rid of those. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers, and I was a lifelong beggar.

            During a primary stakeout of the area surrounding my new home, I discovered a nearby river with the clearest water I’d ever seen. Accustomed to towns brimming with pollution, the actual blue water mesmerized me for a few minutes. I shook myself out of it. It was time to get serious about surviving again; I no longer had Maura’s fridge and support. I dug out the old pole she’d leant to me as a child and tried my luck at fishing. After twenty minutes without a single catch, I gave up. My skill must not have been up to par enough to catch anything there, so there wasn’t a point in trying.

            Perfect excavation spots were scattered all about the town. I first noticed them when eyeing how close my new home was to the neighboring residencies. Being so close to people’s living quarters made me uncomfortable. I’d have to stay smart about the moves I’d make. But anyways, the excavation spots. Maura was the one to show them to me. They look almost like any other rock. Upon closer examination, you can see a glint of color or the corner of something hidden inside. With how many undisturbed ones there were, I figured that the people of Oasis Springs did not know of them. Carefully, I cracked four of them open, finding two broken fossils, a low-quality gem, and a doll figurine. I’d have to find a safe person to hawk them off on.

            Not only did I find things to dig up, but I also found an abundance of harvestable plants, their seeds and fruits ready to be taken. I stripped several flowers and a single onion plant clean. The flowers I would sell, the onions I’d keep to eat, and then I could plant the seeds. Seemed like a smart enough plan. I may have even made a mental comparison between myself and the first sims to move from gathering to farming.

            I filled one corner of my limited space with a garden. I didn’t exactly have a plan when putting them in the ground, and I could almost hear Maura lecturing me about not thinking ahead. Hopefully, they’d be able to manage.

            When finished with my planting, I took a step back to admire my work. Would the little girl who fled as soon as she discovered edible debris in garbage bins be proud of me? I had the feeling that she might be envious, remembering all the miserable days I spent half starved and cold. Finally, I was settling down somewhere. Had that been my goal all along?

            “Enough of the sentimental crap, Lumen. That’s not going to help you any!” I’d gotten so used to Maura keeping me in my wits that I actually had to yell at myself. I tried to stay rational and logical while I thought about what needed to be done next. I analyzed my current needs. In the near future, I’d need to find a restroom, since I didn’t think going out in the open in a neighborhood would yield positive results. I was also getting hungry and actually a bit lonely too. That was strange. I was used to being a loner, not needing the pedantic conversing of others to appease me. Losing Maura must have jarred me more than I thought.

            It didn’t take me nearly as long as I thought it would to find a fence to sell my collected goodies to, and so I had some pocket change to spare. Not knowing my way around town yet, I wasted some simoleons on a cab driver. I didn’t make eye contact with them and they didn’t ask me any questions aside from where I needed to go. I had them take me to a grocery store, and then I spotted a public park along the way. At the store, I picked up the cheapest pack of hotdogs I could find—I tried not to mind the fact that they were probably made with asses and faces. From there, I walked to the park, where it did not take me very long to find a grill to cook them on.

            I didn’t have much experience with cooking, but I managed not to burn my meal. I hadn’t expected there to be a sheltered building at a park. Getting out of the sun would be nice, so I ate my bland hotdogs in there, keeping my eyes down. People came and went, some grabbed books to read and others just hung around to chat. Being around so many strangers, all of them potential threats, made me tense. I got out of there as quick as possible.

            I tried my luck with fishing once more at a small pond. Still nothing, although I felt as though I edged my skill up the tiniest notch.

            There was a man with disheveled clothing sleeping on a bench at the park. Trying my best to be secretive, I’d been rummaging through a trash can. Every once in a while, the disgusting task had proved useful to me during childhood. I was about elbow deep in mushy rummage when he approached the bench next to the bin. He didn’t pay me any attention, just lowered himself down and began to nap. I checked the surroundings. Nobody seemed the least bit disturbed by the scene. Perhaps the town was accustomed to the homeless.

            Needing to pee and feeling grimy, I took my time in the public restroom. No impatient knocks came at the door, so I took some wetted paper towels and wiped down what I could of myself.

            Several times during my visit at the park, I found myself taking steps towards strangers. Part of me was trying to approach them. Did I actually want to jeopardize my freedom by spending time with the dull citizens of town? Why would I want to hear about their families and houses and friends? I chastised myself every time I attempted to talk to someone. What was happening to me?

            To be safe, I returned home. Some of my plants had already begun to sprout. Miraculous. I watered them, the simple activity felt unnaturally laborious. During my exploration, I’d been so caught up in observations of the outside world that I failed to notice that I was exhausted. I had been up a long time, seeing as how I had traveled overnight to reach Oasis Springs.

            There was a bench just off to the side of my land. That man had been okay, so I dared to lie down in the late afternoon. Before I lost myself to sleep, I’d heard plenty of people—talking, walking, traveling by car. Not one of them woke me up. As long as I kept myself from being a nuisance, maybe they would leave me alone. Was everyone there the type to leave a problem so long as it wasn’t blatantly shouting in their face?

            When I woke, it was dark outside. The neighborhood was still. In the picture like setting, I could clearly hear a croaking sound. I tracked it to an old water pump. I dared myself to reach inside, retrieving some type of striped frog. It was probably worth some simoleons, so I kept it to sell.

            My garden was in no need of tending and I didn’t want to extinguish all of the excavation sites so early on into my arrival, so I further explored the neighborhood. To my delight, there was a picnicking area off to the very edge. At least I wouldn’t have to travel all the way to the park for a grill.

            And by the tables and grills, there was a bridge across the river. I followed it and came to a fishing spot. Third time being the charm, I threw my line in. Finally, I was able to bring something in! I caught two small perch. My selling pile was growing larger.

            I cooked up some more of my hotdogs and ate in the nearly silent night. At one point, I would have considered this to be peaceful. All I could find myself thinking about was loneliness though.

            In an attempt to cheer myself up, I wasted some more of my small wallet on another cab ride. This time I asked if there was a gym in town. So late at night, maybe they wouldn’t ask for any proof of membership.

            I was right and they hadn’t. I slipped through the doors without even being noticed. Once safely in, I quickly located the locker rooms and treated myself to a long shower. The water felt brilliant, much better pressure than at Maura’s. I hadn’t even noticed how cold I’d become until I felt the relief of hot water.

            Once clean, I managed to sell off the rest of the stuff I was willing to let go. It may have been childish, but I found myself clinging onto the figurine I’d found earlier in the day. I’d never had a toy before, and I liked staring at its miniature features. Internally, I tried to force myself to get rid of it. “Whatever,” I muttered when this failed. I wasn’t in complete desperation for money yet, so I could hold onto it for a while longer.

            I had the cab driver back drop me off in front of a random house in my new neighborhood. There wasn’t anything to be done at that early hour in the morning, so I settled back down onto my bench, mostly satisfied.

Day One Results:

Traits- Bookworm and Loner

Simoleons- 252 (after 40 spent on traveling and 20 on food)

Skills- Gardening and Fishing to level 2. Cooking level 1. 

Introduction

            Nobody wanted me. Even when I was just a child, I understood this. In the town where I was born, children were as numerous and unwanted as the rats. There were too many of us and not enough people to care, let alone simoleons to feed us. We became remainders of the unpleasant world we lived in, and some even resented us for this.

            Of course, it wasn’t my fault that our town had gone to shit. All of the best jobs, and most of the land, were taken by only a few families. They were ten generations and older. Over all that time, they’d acquired every desirable position, even making extra ones for a family member. Nepotism ran rampant. None of them wanted to work a job they saw as being lower than them, so we became a town of politicians and celebrities. No place needs three mayors.

            Not only were there the legacy families to contend with, but the inhabitants of my old town were also plagued by a recent trend. Women (and a handful of men) had begun to have a lot of children. And not just a lot by big family standards. We’re talking about enough kids to outfit an entire factory with laborers. I even had suspicions that a few mothers (if you could even call them that) were doing just that.

            I was my mom’s thirty-seventh child. Like most of my siblings, I was a bastard. I think she had my dad’s name written down somewhere, but who knows. Being a triplet, I had two full sisters, but the rest of my mom’s kids were just half siblings to me. I didn’t know very many of them well, nor do I care to think about them often. I always hear crap about twins and triplets having a special connection—as far as I’m concerned, my sisters don’t even exist.

            As soon as I could scavenge for food, I got the hell out of that crumbling town. I spent the better of two years wandering from place to place. Some towns were full of twinkling skyscrapers and others had plenty of open grassy fields. They were falling apart though. Every town I visited was under the thumb of legacy families and was quickly running out of space because of sudden population spikes (thanks to ridiculous people like my mom).

            It wasn’t until I got to Willow Creek that I finally found somewhere I could stand to be in. I couldn’t quite tell what it was, but something there was different. Everything seemed fresh. Most of the time, I only hung around somewhere a week. Two tops. But I stayed in Willow Creek for nearly a month before I got noticed.

            There was this public garden area in one of the residential neighborhoods. The place was crawling with people in the mornings and afternoons, so I avoided it then. Couldn’t have anyone reporting me—I had the feeling they actually cared about runaway children there. When the garden emptied out, I took to sleeping on one of the benches. It became like a home to me. 

            I spent a lot of days at this huge park in the middle of town. It was always so bustling that I doubted anyone would pay me attention. I never played on the playground for fear of drawing eyes, but I liked to just watch other kids from afar. The place was also good for a quick wash in the public restroom, and sometimes picnickers left behind food. 

            Maura first called out to me at the park. She’d been making hamburgers on a grill, and I’d been enjoying the smell down by the water. “Girl!” she’d yelled. I didn’t turn towards her or anything, but she still went on. “Yes, you! Get up here now and get some food.”

            I approached, the smell being too good to pass up. When she handed me a plate, I made a move to take off with it, but Maura put an end to that pretty quick. For being such an old lady, she was strong and loud. She had me sit down and eat next to her.

            “Where do you live?” she asked, voice drenched in suspicion.

Over the years, I’d gotten pretty good at lying. “Just outside of town. We moved into that red house, the one with the big tree in the front yard.”

Maura was smart and recognized my fib for what it was right away. “Don’t you lie to me now. I’ve been watching you, and I don’t think you live anywhere. You’re too young to be out on your own.”

Hearing this, I panicked and took off, leaving half a burger behind.

            I knew that I should have gotten out of Willow Creek, but something kept me around. It was only a few days after meeting her that I accidentally discovered where Maura lived. She yelled at me to come inside, threatening to call the authorities if I didn’t.

            I’ll come out right now and say it, Maura never took me in. She never offered to and I wouldn’t have wanted to anyways. However, she was always on her porch watching for me. I’d come by nearly every day, since she let me use her shower and eat her food. 

            I knew that I should have gotten out of Willow Creek, but something kept me around. It was only a few days after meeting her that I accidentally discovered where Maura lived. She yelled at me to come inside, threatening to call the authorities if I didn’t.

            I’ll come out right now and say it, Maura never took me in. She never offered to and I wouldn’t have wanted to anyways. However, she was always on her porch watching for me. I’d come by nearly every day, since she let me use her shower and eat her food. 

            I could kind of guess why Maura and her kids didn’t get along. You could tell she loved her family, but she was a hard woman. She was harsh and demanded respect in return. I spent a lot of time listening to her scolding me about stupid stuff. 

            Then again, I gave it right back. I was an unruly and distrusting child, used to having no one telling me what to do. She and I got into it on a regular basis. Our fights usually ended with me storming out or her telling me to get the hell out of her home. More often it was the latter. I always came back though, and she was always waiting for me on the porch.

            When we weren’t fighting or watching TV, sometimes Maura would take me out. She never said it, but I think she had a childhood similar to mine. She was always going on about the things I needed to learn, usually calling me a damn fool for not already knowing them. This included skillful things like fishing and harvesting wild plants. One day she even showed me a few ways I could sell things without getting too many questions.

            For my birthday, Maura made me a cake. I told her that I wasn’t ready to be a teenager and she just scowled at me. By that point, she was already losing her fighting spirit. This made me sad to see, so I blew out the candles without any more of an argument.

            As a present, she let me dig through her daughters’ old clothes, telling me to keep whatever I wanted. Not much fit, but I found enough to get by on. I grabbed a hat from her son’s old room, which nabbed me a dirty look. 

            The Maura I knew faded quickly after that. Mostly she slept. When she was awake though, she lost that spark of tenacity in her eyes. She would apologize to me weepily, saying that she didn’t want me to live with her, because she’d known she was dying and didn’t want to make me soft if she wasn’t going to be around. I still don’t know if I like knowing this or not. Part of me just wishes I could remember her as the old asshole she was.

            I was the only person around to take care of Maura in her dying days. I changed her and fed her and kept her company. It made me uncomfortable, but I owed her. Right at the end, she started talking about the land she owned over and over again. It was a small plot she’d inherited when she was a girl. It was in her former name, and she didn’t think anyone even knew it belonged to someone. “I used to stay there, you know. Back when I was a young thing like you.”

“Oh yeah? Is it half as good as the mansion you’ve got here?” I crankily replied, not wanting to see her being the way she was anymore.

“I want you to go there. When I die, don’t stick around here. Don’t let my kids find out about you.” I didn’t give Maura an answer to this, but I don’t think she wanted one. “They’d just cause trouble.”

            When she finally died, I took her suggestion and got out of town. Once I got to Oasis Springs, it didn’t take me long to find Maura’s plot of land. It was just as she described it, including the makeshift fence from when she had dreams of building a house on it. “Well, looks like you’re getting your wish. At least for now. If I find somewhere better, then I’m getting out of here,” I said to the object I had secretively tucked into my pack. Nobody but me was around when Grim showed. Normally one would leave the ashes for the family. Not me. I swiped Maura’s urn and brought it along for the ride. If anything bad happened, then it was her fault and she should have to witness it.

            And I just really missed her.

            My name is Lumen. Just Lumen. My mom only saw me as another tally, so I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of using her last name. I guess you could call me a teen runaway.