Before playing I used sim wiki to compile a list of all careers that had charisma as a skill component. Charisma required:
Pictured below the school (pic's 1 - 3), stadium complex on the original park site, mausoleum (because npc's and one townie are aging and dead sims need to go someplace), fortune teller's wagon, lot next door (totem pole) will eventually become the apothecary. I was originally considering the swamp location for the crime rabbit hole, it however is the best size for a large graveyard, so now the crime syndicate will end up in the docks region. I've decided I need to compile a full list of skills to career's. There's a small handful of careers that have no skill metric. As well as a few that rely on (semi) hidden skills (horse riding for one). An overview (without snow) of the main town portion of Mt Holbston. I'm leaving the two residential loops are reserved for future generations. As I plan with breaking with one of the challenge rules, and having an heir move out and into a new home every so often. Possibly starting as early as generation 5. The big park is now directly across from city hall. Politics lite is roughly half way finished. Deborah has completed her LTW of being a super friend. For reward she and she alone is being allowed the purchase of long distance friend. I've also noticed that despite frequent use of the get to know interactions, she's not really learning traits so I'm pulling the personable (learn 50 traits) from the required for completion list. She still has to complete everybody's best friend skill challenge though. While the larger part of Politics Lite still isn't finished it's time to get Deborah paired off for the purpose of creating simlets, aka generation 5. Which began the quest for a single male, young adult, non npc. After a couple of sim days it became clear that the odds were not in her favor. So I stacked them, by going through my sim bin and adding every single male to one of two houses. Story progression still hadn't filled the home by the beach outside of town so that one got 8 bachelors. The remaining two or so bachelors got placed into the one house that had a single sim living in it. Once the odds were improved Deborah had better luck finding someone to pair off with. Although I did have to have him break up with a romantic interest, roughly 12 hours in game and Clark was already romantically interested in a townie and had a rabbit hole job. Erica (blond, red sweater) and Reyna (auburn brunette, stripped sweater) stuck around until after Deborah proposed to Clark. It gave me a vibe of them making sure she didn't poach their husbands. Although Erica and her husband Lonnie send out two pop ups daily; first one they're fighting and things are terribly amiss, second one they're arm in arm and the cutest couple ever. Welcome Clark. His eyes are mossy/dark green, where as Deborah was the only gen4 sim to inherit Julio's ice/clear/bright green eye color. He had a few books and a car in his inventory. He is already in the sports career, he's been left in it. Clark took measures into his own hands on learning there was no bed. This gave him a place to sleep, and a spot for them to cement the relationship. Note: If a sim starts a snowman zombies will finish it. They received many wedding gifts, four arrived their first day of married life. One has been kept, despite rules stating otherwise. I'm lumping it under allowed for politics lite, because I made 10 best friends part of the goals. The one gift kept was gifted by an old friend, Deborah's first best friend, and it may or may not help a future generation. Simlet one: Monroe ... decidedly not the heir. (hazel eyes, can't recall where the hazel came from) (Behind the Name was used for all simlet names.) Deborah is not a fan of child birth. (Clark's ltw is surrounded by family, sorry Deborah but his ltw is getting filled.) Simlet two: Cormac ... maybe (same shade of green eye color as Deborah.) Here we go again. Fingers crossed, come on multiples. Hey look, they finally have a bedroom with bed. Simlet three: Isa ... maybe (same shade of green eye color as Deborah.) As one can see time was not wasted. Twins (finally): Deirdre (yes after Deborah's older twin) and Wisdom Another bit I allowed under politics lite was the one time addition of another 16 squares of floor space as either an extra 4x4 room or a 2x8 porch. The wedding gift kept decided which one of the two it was going to be. Deborah became an adult the day she and Clark paired off. It was an additional three days after before they had a grill to cook with. Under the house is extra storage. With the upstairs still unfinished there's no place for the simlets to sleep. Almost finished. There was a moment of panic. He showed up the day the upstairs was finished and the first bunk bed was acquired. The burglar was at the door set to walk inside, and then vanished. Mentally I storied it as the burglar taking pity and not wanting to get beat up, Clark is at level 8 athletic skill. It takes a lot of micro maintenance to keep the kids from working on their home work. It took a few days to complete that last bit of charisma skill, but completed it was. Which in turn completed the Politics Lite clear. The only other bonus not already granted for the lite clear is that should Deborah be inclined a wild horse may be adopted. However at least one horse riding skill point is required, no way to learn the skill so that will most likely not be used. Besides the town build up, Deborah is the only one who gets to directly benefit from the lite lift. The twins aged up shortly after Deborah completed all of the goals set for her. There were several days of all five simlets going to school at the same time. I find it semi odd and ironic that all the townies who live right by the school take taxis to school. All five simlets, by age. Monroe, after teen transition. The possible heirs; Cormac and Isa. One has the evil trait, which will be the root used to cover, why the heir moves to a new lot. Twins Deidre and Wisdom I think their blue eye's come from Clancy, Deborah's dad. The pale blond hair does. From here game play focus will be on getting Clark cleared, currently athletic skill level 8, and career level 6. As well as getting the simlets grown & skilled. Now that they have three bunk beds I can get an easel. Final note: I'll be adjusting story progressions settings to ban npc's from moving into town and becoming townie's. I'm learning that a piece of problematic coding that was in ts2 might also be part of s3, which is why worlds eventually become corrupt after moving npc's into empty homes or active families. It's why I stacked the odds with a bunch of single guys for Deborah to choose from. I won't be able to do that for gen5, so fingers are crossed. Although the town is full so hopefully the current ongoing baby boom will give gen 5 good odds. Ps,
When I moved Deborah to the new world I swapped one of the handicaps. I ditched greedy gangsters (two mob pay day's) for fear the reaper (sims must die of old age). This was essential since Deborah didn't have income for 11 days.
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While pulling clothes from between the floor boards a bike was found. The park is the place to be. (While technically Deborah should not be interacting with paparazzi, I sometimes fudge the rule for the purpose of meeting 25 people. Especially if a town isn't populated yet. She doesn't get to call them on communications day.) Erm .... really ... didn't even leave a number to call. Mail is running. (The paparazzi guy with the tricorner hat sent Deborah wall plates valued at 1500. She traded them for a ladder, some wall boards, floor planks, a regular chair, and an end table over several days. Trade and barter for early on seems like a good option. Although all the leftovers went poof on the next bill day as mafia payment. Starting bills were 18, current is 24.) Communications day's along with full moon days, are days to stay home from the park and call people. (I've figured out that the fastest way to make a friend is to call that person or that person plus one other on rotation about 5 or 6 times in a row.) The main part of town is growing. Only a few buildings are actually occupied. I'm letting nraas story progression handle the filling of lots. The loop where the homes are being placed only has 9 residential lots. The commercial lot in front will become the school site. The chamber pot keeps clogging. Which leads to a handy challenge completion. I'm also going to point out that the snow looks textured due to the floral ground cover. Could have sworn I grabbed a screen of the completion of the celebrity skill challenge. The park gets a small make over from the community. The nine lot loop, plus an empty residential outside of town have houses. I might have not gotten my season's set as I meant too, this has been fixed. Deborah has 11 friends, 1 became an elder a few days before the 10th lot was built. That friend has to be dropped from the call rotation. Deborah has 4 to 6 days until she becomes an adult, time to get her a spouse. In addition to city hall and the school, the gypsy caravan has been added along with a mausoleum. Still need to add the business building. I wasn't in a build mood when city hall was placed which is why I just used the sunlit tides building instead of hiding the lunar lakes rh in a basement as planned, with a meeting space and office above.
Home was crowded. Mom kept having babies. Was at the park and heard about a group that was going to try to get to a place called mount holbston. Supposed to be better. Supposed to not be a shanty community. Dad caught up to me. To late to get off boat and take me back. Boat sank. Dad did not make it. Trail to shack I found visible from beach. Not a lot inside. Rocking chair, typewriter, mirror, bowl for toilet, wash basin, rusted fridge, candles. door, broken, does not close. Do not know what rusted metal is. I keep away. I stay out of sight of people. Mom always said unsafe for teens alone. I worry what will happen if found. Woman who helped me get out of the water calls. I lie. I say dad is okay and out. One day wake up feeling different. I realize it's transition day. I realize I like dogs.
Determined to get people to stay to grow town. I've moved Deborah, the generation 4 heir to a new world. Deborah is living under fresh apoc start rules, I've already rolled her career - Politics (yay!!!), she however doesn't get to start until she becomes a young adult. She has 11 sim days of isolation ahead of her. Three of which will be summer, then 25 winter. Once the second year starts I'll be readjusting winter to 28 days. I have found that when changing the number of seasons available, that waiting for the new year helps cut down on the holiday slide & glitch that can happen. I'll be posting more note recaps than actual story for Deborah The Forrest family may or may not continue after Deborah. It all depends on if she can clear a skills version of politics and get city hall built. One of the things I realized with the original save was that for different careers that used the exact same metrics or nearly identical metrics; athletics, forensics, super spy/espionage, military, and so on; was that I should have clustered them as groups so that once one sim cleared the initial lite skills only version of the track all of the others would be considered cleared too. That would have sped up the build up of the original world. Which would have meant that gen 3 or gen 4 could have started on the proper clears. Another critical error I made was letting Brandon duplicate the skills from naturalist for science. I should have had him or Julio do a clear with the metrics for the ark builder life time wish. This is another change I'm bringing to Deborah's reboot is career and ltw will semi match. Because I rolled politics for Deborah she will be assigned the super popular ltw. Took a bit but discovered the hidden activity rugs on the ground floor of the original Forrest home. Those pesky nuisances are most likely why my daycare provider had problems with kids being able to enter the house and got their license pulled at level 4. If you look at the map above there is a rusty red roof near the waterfall and river in the upper corner of the world. That is Deborah's 8x8 deserted shack to start in. Generation 5 may or may not move into the, currently empty, 30x30 lot next to the shack. The world has 71 empty lots, about 26 (if I counted right) are residential. Deborah Forrest - mom Buttercup Forrest, dad Clark (Snow) Forrest. Traits: Insane, genius, unlucky, loves the cold, unknown. Her green eyes have come down from Julio Forrest, and her pale blond hair comes from the Snow family. Goals for Deborah Clear Politics Lite and build City Hall Level 10 Charisma Skill and clear these challenges
Because sims 3 game mechanics do not allow a teen to start out on their own Clark was moved with Deborah, as implied at the end of Cassandra's post.
His fate was quick. (tce used) Cassandra only did a few sketches. Neither she nor most of her siblings were able to properly understand the writing left behind by the previous generations. It should also be noted that much to my (the player) disappointment Cassandra never gained any hair beyond her eyebrows. Ps, any and all grammar & spelling error's on this post, Buttercup's post, and future posts are deliberate as none of them have been to school. The daily meal. Upstairs finally finished. New beds. Basement, long way to go. Child to teen transition. We are all insane. Buttercup faded. Crystal watches other peoples children. Cassandra transitioned to young adult. Marries Clark. Twin 2 Deborah has green eyes. Clark trying to get a security patrol started. Forgot food. Fire started. Smile hides pain. Deborah very unhappy. Uncles and Aunts moved away. Deborah mad Dagmar cries always. Deborah missing. Clark went to find her.
They are not back. Buttercup wasn't fond of writing like her brother Benedict. Instead she cobbled together a loose collection of drawings highlighting major events. She used juices from the different plants to add color. Which faded easily. Mom faded. My first sculpture was okay. Got married. Used moms ring. Twins Constance & Charlotte. Neither has Dads green eyes like me. Brothers and sister have been vanishing after announcing done with life goal. Eddie is elder now. Hope this baby has green eyes. Children exited for more space. I have completed 7 new homes. My sixth child Cassandra. Green eyes. Elder soon. Body hurts all the time, words harder.
I Benedict Forrest am the eldest. Not sure what I am supposed to say about myself. I have my mom's reddish hair and blue eyes, my chin might be my dad's. I like to help out, dad calls me good. I learn stuff fast, mom calls me a genius. I get moody, dad says I am grumpy like mom. I make everyone laugh, and laugh at all the elder jokes no matter how many times I have heard them. Mom's hair went white over night. She sometimes ask's me who I am. The way dad fusses over my little sister, and her eyes being the same as his, I think I'm glad I don't have to be in charge of eventually adding to the family tree. It wasn't to long after mom went white that Buttercup and Buster became teens too. I had everyone help me move the chess table and chairs downstairs so we could have more room upstairs. Mom and dad do not seem to mind the cold. We will move it back inside soon. We all take turns working in the garden. I want to take the others to the park. Mom made it clear to never travel alone. Especially as a teen. She said always have one adult with us if away from the house. Uncle Scott does not come by anymore. I can't ask him for help. Besides mashing berries onto wood for painting practice as mom had called it. We take turns practicing with the old typewriter. I wrote about dad because I remember him best. Brandon and Buttercup both typed up points on why they should be in charge. Bridgette typed up something about mom. Buster did not type more than his practice husks. We also practice introducing ourselves and doing what mom called warm ups. When the moon gets really full we stay inside. Some of the valley residents become mindless from hunger. They try to eat anything they can. Then they get sick everywhere because their tummy can not handle eating frozen tree bark. When dad died we did not know what to do with him. So we left the small box in the garden room. To keep our minds busy we take turns playing chess against each other. Mom spends a lot of time cleaning the counter even though it does not look dirty. I Benedict Forrest am now a full young adult. It has taken me forever on my own, but I finally understand dad's handwriting, which has helped me decipher the books mom said I needed to learn from. The day after I became a young adult I took everyone down to the park mom had shown me. I think a few of the people she started talking to are family, but I'm not sure. I told Brandon and Buttercup that we would have to figure out who was and wasn't related to us before any pairing was done. Brandon wrinkled his nose and reminded me that he wasn't heir. I pointed out that he was the backup if anything happened to Buttercup. He spent the afternoon chasing everyone away from Buttercup, because he did not want her to get sick and die. A woman with a clipboard walked up to me and asked me who I was. I asked her who she was to be asking us that information. She said she was the self appointed census counter. I asked her what a census counter was. She told me that it meant that she counted how many houses were occupied and how many people lived in them. I countered that that couldn't be a very hard job. She admitted it wasn't, and that it was done only once in awhile. A man with a ragged tie and another clipboard approached me. He pulled a random slip of paper off his board and said that since I liked to ask questions I could be a journalist. He then wandered off to hand out more slips of paper. Staring at the slip of paper the word on it, jarn-all-list, was badly handwritten and poorly spelled. I noticed that some of the folks at the park made fun of both of them for what they were doing. I didn't, and when clipboard guy started to get upset I tried to reassure him that I saw the value of what he was trying to do since we still didn't have any definitive leadership. It's really not much but it's work. I don't think that anyone cares that I do most of my writing at home. I've been typing up reprints of dad's pamphlets on how to grow basic plants. I've also been retyping his handout on edible fish. I've tried talking to the people who show up, but so far no one is warming up to me. Every once in a while stuff gets dropped as pay for my supposed work. Since I'm not trying to have our home stand out I have used most of the materials on the lot with the cart. Every so often Buttercup will snag something and figure out how to fix it to the walls or floor. Bridgette and Brandon had their big transition day. Bridgette has mom's reddish brown hair and blue eyes like me. She spends a lot of time at night wrapping sticks around the ends of her hair to make it curl. She's like me and will laugh at any of mom's tired and old jokes. She gets really fussy about how she, and the rest of us look, and will go on for hours about how we're first founding families and have to measure up to dad's achievements. If the guy at the park hadn't handed her a job assignment she would probably spend her time jumping from one idea to the next. Fortunately for me she was assigned to work at what is theoretically a law enforcement station. I walked past her on the way to my work site, hopefully her clumsiness won't be to much of a hindrance in the long run as she improves her body strength. I will give Bridgette credit for being disciplined enough to stick to a routine. She wants to see if she can find a way for people to trust each other more. Brandon, who has murky green eyes, and dark brown hair was overly excited in my opinion when clipboard guy handed him a slip of paper with science on it. Brandon declared that this gave him a chance to try to build on what dad had started. He wasn't worried about wandering around the valley alone, and like Bridgette he had no problems staying focused on certain tasks. Although he tended to leave his bedroll all over the place and liked to lick even the molded bits of mre up from meals. Brandon's biggest hang up was if Buttercup tried to create pictures, using the berries for paints. I really can't tell if he just hates anything labeled as art or is worried about not having fruit for mashing onto our food. I don't know where he found the headphones that he hangs around his neck, but he thinks he can figure out how to make the old technology work if he tinkers with it enough. After what felt like an endless cycle of time Buttercup and Buster finally became young adults too. I don't know why our sisters insisted on hiding in the bathroom for their big transitions but they did. Buttercup has mom's reddish brown hair that she keeps trimmed short, which I've learned is called auburn, and dad's crystal clear green eye's. She wakes up at the slightest bit of noise, and is constantly humming. For some reason she thinks that some of the towns odder residents are the coolest, but hasn't broken any taboos about approaching them. She also tends to cry over the littlest thing, which makes playing chess against her awful. On her first solo foray to the park she came back with a slip that read "art-ee-tect". I looked through the pocket dictionary I found, along with the few books from dad, and help her decipher Architect as the job title. When we found a description of the job in the back of the book on plumbing and basic lumber applications her eyes lit up. Buster has dad's jet black hair and mom's blue eyes. He also has dad's nose.
Buster hates being outside for long, has never won a game of chess, gets overly excited over the tiniest things, and swears that everyone is out to do him wrong. I've caught him trying to spot the wild dogs that run loose, and made it very clear as did Buttercup that we didn't have any way of caring for animals, and that it was better to let them be. I asked Buster if clipboard guy had given him a slip of paper. His response was a paranoid litany of how the guy was just trying to make everyone look bad, and how he would be just fine without the fake job assignment. Later that night Buttercup slipped me the shreds of a slip, that once pieced together read bad guy master. We decided that clipboard guy meant a criminal mastermind. We also agreed that if anyone of us was cut out for something like that it might very well be Buster given his neurotic tendencies. With Jullio going senile shortly after his last birthday it is now up to me to document our lives. I'll be honest I don't understand his drive to record what has been happening here in this valley we call home or the world beyond. Part of my daily routine besides trying to understand the way chess pieces are supposed to move is tending what's left of Jullio's garden. I put everything I harvest in the cupboard, and keep it packed with snow. I have vague memories of a hot food called a tamale from street vendors, wrapped in corn husk. I have no understanding of how to take the corn from the cob to a paste, but I did figure out how to dry the corn husks. They are easier for me to write on and store than the big banana leaves. As my belly grows getting up and down the ladder gets harder. Yet I do it if for nothing more than one or two fresh berries to mash into the mre for our daily meal. I don't think my mom explained this to me properly. Holy hellz! Why did I agree to four children if possible before Jullio passes on. A son. I'm naming him Benedict. I wish I could talk to Shavonne to compare pregnancy and birth notes, but my brother Berjes lost track of which house she is staying in. I'm not sure of what to add or not add to this about our daily life. Everything is the same from day to day. Same sandwiches, same lure routine to get Jullio to bed, same chess moves over and over, same plant care. The only thing that changes is our sons diaper. On the upside Jullio loves rocking with Benedict. Really not in love with the whole sick while pregnant. At least I'm helping add to the next generation and the bio diversity of the community. I'm going to try some basic warm up's from when I used to go to pe daily to see if they help with the labor this time. We get a slightly warmer period of time. I discover that Jullio must have planted something outside, when two rows of trees sprout up. No wonder I was so tired with this pregnancy. Twins. I've named them Bridgette and Brandon. I think Brandon might have Jullio's green eyes. I'm starting to understand why Jullio uses the rocker so much. Hopefully only one more time. I'm not really sure Jullio understands what I'm asking about this being the last pregnancy. I only have one book for the babies to share. I wonder if they sleep so much from a lack of stimulation and hunger. Benedict transitioned to what I'll call child stage. It's clear that his eye are from my family. Hellz! Do twins run in Jullio's family?! This makes five babies, no more! Jullio practically snatched Buttercup from me and started cooing "My princess Buttercup". Given I was in the middle of pushing out her twin brother Buster I didn't argue. The only thing I'm sure of besides my complete exhaustion is that there are no doubts that Buttercup's eyes are green like Jullio's. Brandon's are too, but not the clear crystal green, his are more of a muddy green. I can finally try to figure out the chemicals that were brought into the valley from the station at the pass. I wonder how long the fall like weather will last? The weather hasn't shown any signs of warming further. That Jullio is enamored with Buttercup is beyond obvious. When she's to big to cuddle Jullio always responds to her questions with "as you wish". I wish I knew why our youngest daughter makes him remember an old movie, that was a classic before we were even born. With floor space limited I carefully moved the rocking chair downstairs to the garden. Given Jullio still sleeps in it all the time, and the children daring each other to sleep in the garden, it was a good move. Benedict is finally in what could be called his teens. I'm showing him all the stuff his dad showed me when I first moved in. Although the fish are just bone remains now. The annual cycles of warm weather destroyed the snow preservation that Jullio had spent so much time on. Knowing that my time is short. I take Benedict to the park, and try to explain about not talking to everyone. I also take him to where Jullio had set up the cart for sharing produce. I explain that while we don't actually own it or the lot it's on, we're the only family that does maintenance work on it. I point out the small flowering shrub that I'd managed to grow. Time has been flying past me, and before I realize it Bridgette and Brandon are teens too. I make sure to give them all of the same instructions that I gave Benedict. I'm finding myself more and more exhausted each day. I have so many questions with no answers.
I don't think any of our children have a doubt that Jullio intends for Buttercup to be his heir, the way he always addresses her as his princess. Although he's never neglected any of them or treated them any differently than her. Today I caught myself remixing combinations I already knew, and writing notes as if I'd just discovered the combination. I don't think I'm going to be the one to clear up any of the medical mysteries that landed us here, or cause some residents to turn mindless during the full moon. Autumn was at the park before me, which meant that I didn't have to wait around for her for a change. When I greeted her she seemed surprised to see me. She then explained that she'd forgotten she had agreed to meet with me today and was expecting Howard Beclan or Bedar, whatever his name is. I lost my temper and shouted at her "He's married!" That Autumn was taken aback by my outburst was an understatement. She shouted back that at least Howard and the others payed more attention to her than I did. As far as she could tell all I cared about was plants and fish. Realizing that there might be more truth than lies to the rumors I'd been hearing I asked Autumn between gritted teeth if she was seeing anyone else. She rattled off a list of almost six names, all of whom I knew to be married. My stomach churned and I told Autumn that I would no longer bother to court her since she clearly preferred married men with no prospects of a commitment. She had retorted something about being promised horses to ride, and all I wanted was to slap her for her stupidity. Instead I gritted out a terse see you around, and went to work an hour early. Imagine my shock when Annette's eldest son Scott showed up. He was there on official business Annette and his dad, Kevin, had developed dementia so he wanted to make sure that we had their details before they kicked off, as he put it. I got everything down and then asked if there was anything more that needed to be noted. Scott paused a moment and then said yeah and handed me a slip of torn that gave me the exact address of their home. My hand froze, addresses were not given out, and people were decidedly not invited over. Yet that was the very clear implications of what Scott had just done. I looked up at Scott, and he made a wry sort of face. "Look man, as eldest I know about mom's bargain with you. I won't hold you to it, not with how Autumn's behaved, but I think she might have actually cared about you. She's been in bed all evening bawling her eyes out. She's never done that before." Scott took a deep breath and then blurted "Just give her a second chance please. Our mom felt you would be a good match for Autumn, and I'm inclined to agree with her." Before I could respond he turned on his heals and was gone. The rest of my night was a bit blurry as I got lost in my own thoughts. Before I could make up my mind on whether or not to visit the Davilla home Autumn showed up in my yard. She was mad at me, and understanding what she was saying wasn't easy between her yelling and crying every other breath. Somehow I was supposed to have known that she wasn't serious about the other guys. I wasn't dealing with her outburst well and told her to go, and turned to go inside since it was way to early to go to work. Suddenly she stopped cold, the silence paused me in my tracks, and I glanced over my shoulder to make sure she wasn't about to attack me. What I saw was complete and utter defeat. "What was I supposed to do? I knew about mom's arrangement. I wasn't supposed to, but I over heard her telling dad and Scott about it before she introduced us. Yet you acted as if you weren't all that interested in me, or Carole for that matter why do you think she accepted Topher." I watched as her shoulders shuddered from her ragged breathing before she continued. "Mom used to have connections on the outside before everything went belly up, and they shoved groups of survivors into unpopulated areas. She told dad that she saw a lot of promise in you and what you were doing, and wouldn't let me accept any other offers. Now I'm an old maid and besides you the only ones who pay attention to me are the married men. So tell me what was I supposed to do, wait until we both died of old age." I was speechless and stunned, before I could reach out to her she was gone back down the hill. Grabbing my pole I went to the beach below me where I knew there wouldn't be any fish and watched the line wiggle with the waves while I did a lot of thinking. I waited a couple of days before braving the Davilla house. Fortunately Annette was having a rare lucid moment and came down the ladder to greet me and welcome me in. Scott interrupted his workout to keep a very close ear and Autumn and I. I kept circling back to what a nice house they had, because I wasn't sure how to say what needed saying in a room full of people. I suspect that Autumn was feeling the same way because she suggested that we move the conversation outside. I was hoping for a proper conversation, instead she started up again on how much I'd hurt her. I couldn't take it again. I'd been prepared to apologize, instead I snapped at her and told her that her choices had hurt me too. That I'd been ready to apologize, but that if she'd prefer to play the victim and wallow then I was gone I had other things to do and other people to see. I didn't on either count, but I hadn't stuck around for her to call me out on my lie. As I walked up the hill I tried to think of who might be eligible for courting and realized that besides Autumn the only other unattached women were either teens or young children, and I was out of time. Autumn wasn't but I was. I decided I'd ended up a troublemaker after all and was going to die without contributing to the gene pool, because there was no way I was going to chase after Autumn, even if she was my only decent choice. Imagine my shock a few days later when I went to leave my protection payment and Autumn said hi. By the large patch of packed and trampled snow she'd been waiting for me to come out for several hours. "I'm sorry" she blurted out. I think she had more she had wanted to say but I could tell that she was cold and I wasn't sure I was up for another of her outbursts. So I stopped her and asked her if she'd like to see the inside of the green house. Being older had it's advantages as Autumn stayed quite while I showed her inside and then gave her a very long tour of the small space and explained how I was only growing the simplest of plants these days. I then showed her the inside of the cabinet, and dragged on for quite another long stretch over each of the 13 fish on the bottom shelf. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her fidgeting and fighting against her grumpy nature. I carefully closed the cabinet while commenting that anyone who decided to partner with me and live here would need to learn how to maintain both the garden and the frozen fish. In addition to bearing children. I stared at her for a second and decided to do something I hadn't done since high school. I loosely grabbed her by the arms and pulled her in for a kiss. I made sure that she could break free at any moment if she chose to. I was prepared for a slap, instead she leaned in to the kiss which was nice. Gently breaking apart our kiss, I asked Autumn to be honest with me and let me know if she had allowed any of the others to be intimate with her, and that I meant if she had allowed them to have sex with her. For a second I thought she was going to explode at me again, but finally she answered. "No, I've never been completely alone with any of them, let alone allowed them any intimacy." Taking a deep ragged breath I asked Autumn if she'd like to see the main part of the house upstairs. She nodded yes. Once we got upstairs I gave her a very brief tour, which did not include the bedroom. I wanted there to be a very clear understanding between us of what would and would not be expected of each other if we did this. I also made it clear that while my choices were limited if I wasn't willing to marry a teen, I knew that her options, including the choice of child without a partner, were larger than mine. I also made sure that she knew I had only a few more moons before dementia would settle in. She pulled me in and wrapped my hands around her waist before grabbing my face and telling me that she already had made her choice when she walked up the hill at sunrise and waited for me to come out. I asked her to hold on as I remembered something I had found while gardening and cleaned up years earlier. I could tell by the shock in Autumn's eyes that she hadn't been prepared for me to have an actual ring let alone get down on one knee and make a formal declaration of commitment. We kept it simple, and promised to look after each other, and to not stray. I told her that if possible I would like up to four children by her, that is if she didn't mind having that many knowing that I probably wouldn't be able to help with their care. We sealed our promises with a kiss and declared ourselves partnered. If there was supposed to be more to getting married I didn't know what it was supposed to be. During our first moon cycle together a few things happened. Autumn hit her middle aged years. Scott and her brother Berjes stopped by to drop off a heavy duffel bag that they said was Autumn's dowry and eventual inheritance from their parents. The duffel contained a tent and a couple of books. To me it was an odd dowry, but Autumn started bawling, and that is how I learned that they'd been on a family trip to obtain a wild horse for Autumn when the world fell apart. The other bit of news was a small group had made it to the pass and found the guard station deserted. Berjes shook his head, not abandoned deserted he clarified rather remains of dead people and no back up sent type of deserted. So with great care to not disturb the dead the group made several trips and brought down enough material to set up what would hopefully become a medical clinic. They just needed people to work it and figure out what the chemical solutions did. Autumn expressed an interest in working at the clinic but felt it might be wise to wait until she had a better grip on methodology and critical analyses first. We had reached our sixth moon together before Autumn became gravid. She hadn't liked the morning sickness, but was glad that now the rumors about her being barren would finally stop. Just like after our third month together the rumors about why we'd partnered had stopped because it had been glaringly obvious that she wasn't pregnant with the weres baby.
Knowing that I'd be an elder with full blown dementia by the time our child was born, I showed Autumn how I cured the banana leaves to use for writing, how I used the berries for ink, and where I kept all of my notes on my experiences. I made her promise me to teach our child how to write and keep journals of our own. I apologized for not figuring out certain things, like loving her, so much earlier. Tonight was my last birthday, at least that I would remember. Have I mentioned I'm not big on being fake. Two people being fake ended up in a huge row at the park one day. I'd already noticed that certain groups refused to mingle with others. Not sure of all the details, but the row had something to do with a Howell getting one of the odd glowing folks pregnant and lying about being married. Marriage, or in the current case permanent partnering, is something that is being pressured onto all of us who are single. There's also a fair bit of talk about having everyone contribute at least one child to the gene pool even if their preference is same gender. I'm really not sure how I feel about this, and have been regretting sleeping through bio classes. I've spent more than one afternoon trying to understand the importance of what some of older folks are talking about. I need to really emphasize the try part of that. Ms. McClutchy got frustrated with my repeated questions on bio diversity, heritage tracing, and avoiding inbreeding. Carole Funke understood it and tried to help me understand it better, but even she had her limits on repeated questions. The bits I understood I applied to the plants in my garden. With really good results, so while I still didn't get all of it. I understood that for the future health of our community, and possibly the world, I would have to do my part to contributing to the next generation. I've spent more than one afternoon trying to understand the importance of what some of older folks are talking about. I need to really emphasize the try part of that. Ms. McClutchy got frustrated with my repeated questions on bio diversity, heritage tracing, and avoiding inbreeding. Carole Funke understood it and tried to help me understand it better, but even she had her limits on repeated questions. The bits I understood I applied to the plants in my garden. With really good results, so while I still didn't get all of it. I understood that for the future health of our community, and possibly the world, I would have to do my part to contributing to the next generation. While there were no obvious changes in the seasons or years, beyond moon cycle counting. At some point I realized I'd hit middle aged status. I suppose that was something that would have been celebrated with a party at one time, instead I told the garden about all the things I had wanted to do as a teen. While realizing I really needed to knuckle down on the work I'd been doing. The nice thing about having a perfect garden. I'd figured out, okay I accidentally smashed some fruit one day, how to use some of the berries with the mre stuff to make it slightly more palatable. I still didn't really know what to do with the fish I was catching. Some of the smaller minnows I just hooked back onto the hook and used as bait. Every so often I'd catch a fish that was a perfect specimen. Through trial and error I found that by packing them with just the right amount of wet snow so that an ice crust was formed kept the fish in a form of stasis. Without any tanks or bowls it was the best I could do. I had dedicated the very bottom shelf of the cupboard to the fish and once a day packed fresh snow in. I'd already learned the hard way that the fish would die and stink up the garden if I didn't. There was an unexpected, by me, bonus. Having a snow layer below the seeds and harvested plant produce was helping with their preservation. While it was one more chore to do daily it also helped with freeing up time, which was usually spent repairing plumbing. With an eye towards future decisions to be made. I bartered, traded, and scrounged over several moons until I was able to have a double bed, which was so uncomfortable I still slept in the rocker, and walls to separate it from the rest of my shelter. I officially had a bedroom. Now I needed someone to share it with. I was continuing to meet with both Autumn and Carole. Although Carole had let slip that she'd promised to Harold. Rumors about Autumn were starting to reach my ears, but I was unsure if they were true. I knew eventually I'd have to ask Autumn what was up for now I stick to writing the usual notes, but there's only so many times you can write about finding a perfect toad or fish before you get a note back that says don't write me again. As has happened a few times. Truth time, finding enough stones let alone wood for my big project had not been easy but I did it. With a few test runs at home before taking the cart down to the corner lot near the largest group of homes, yeah that still feels weird all these years later calling these shelters homes. I determined that fruits and vegetables could be safely kept out indefinitely, but fish and the odd plants that I suspect might be herbs could not be.
I even managed to get the typewriter working and using berries for ink and banana leaves for paper put together a couple of pamphlets that people could take. One was on how to grow the very common plants, the other was on how to identify the edible fish. My movements were getting stiffer and sometimes I found myself forgetting tiny details, all indicators of elder hood and dementia. Time was running out and it was past time for me to partner up with someone. Just as Carole had already done. Checking on the stand on my way to the park, and I discovered that not only were people picking up produce, but they were leaving stuff behind in exchange. This boosted my spirits up, the community was honoring an unspoken code of cooperation and reasonable sharing. I also replenished the two fliers I'd made. |
Founder - Jullio Forrest
Generation 3 - Cassandra
Generation 4 - Deborah
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