fredag 23. juni 2017

4.24 Merry band of adventurers


What do you mean you're leaving? Now? What about university? You need an education! This was happening. It was actually happening! This was to soon. Aino wasn't prepared yet!

It's okay mum, I already got a job as a teacher. Optimism was always the best choice when the world was waiting.

You need to go to school! Daniel, say something! She couldn't leave now! And school was important!


What did he have to say? He hadn't gone to university either: I agree with your mum. You need university. You'll be able to start as a teacher right away, and you'll get payed more.

It wasn't all about paying lipservice to his wife; Daniel knew she was right. An education was the way to go. And it was best to have something to fall back on in case something happened. 


Nothing to worry about, I'm going to marry a rich old man and mooch off him! Irena had no idea what her parents was so worried about. She was all set to be an adult. Life as an adult was going to be the best thing.

Dad didn't appreciate what she just said though: What?!

No, sorry. I was just joking. No she wasn't. Or Bård, she could marry him to probably. Whatever.


Unfortunately, mum knew her better than she'd thought: Honey, you can't expect some man to take care of you! What if you break up? Then you'll end up on the streets all alone. And without an education as a backup. Or what if you get fired! Then you'll both end up on the streets.

Nah, then I'll just come back here. Easy peasy.

Had they really been that terrible parents? We're not going to be here forever!

Then I'll just stay with Neda or something. Irena still had everything planned out. Neda was going to be an old maid anyways.


Aino couldn't even think about calming down. When had this happened: You're not going to mooch off your sister!

Mum, I've made up my mind. I'm not going to university. Dad didn't go, and he's doing great! I've already gotten a place to live, so I'm just here to say goodbye to you. 

She was going to ask Bård to move in with her to. That way he could clean the place and pay the bills. Irena was still planning on getting a houseboat, but they were so bloody expensive.

Aino resigned, atleast she'd be close by.


You're sure you want to do this then Irena? Dad had to try one more time.

Daniel didn't believe pleading would work, he knew Irena to well for that. It wasn't that she was stubborn either, she was just very sure of what she wanted.

Yes dad. Everything will be fine. Usually those were famous last words, but Irena tended to always land on her feet.


I'm going to get the keys to my new place. Give it a few days, then come visit. Don't be a stranger. Okay mum? She might as well leave so dad could calm mum down. She'd come around eventually.

Okay honey. Aino didn't want her little baby to leave, she was still a little kid to her. Why couldn't she stay with her mum and dad?


Don't be a stranger, okay? Daniel hugged his little baby before she left. It was going to be empty around here without her. The two of them always had that extra special bond. Of all his kids, she really was the one that was most like him; as much as he hated admitting it at times.

I won't, she lied. She'd probably be to busy living the good life for a while. With no siblings or parents around.

Are you sure you don't want to wait to leave until after your brothers and sisters gets home from school?


I'd rather bathe with a toaster, she smiled. Not having her siblings around was by far the best part.


And just like that Irena was on the move. She'd even gotten a car.


It was a nice little place she had found for herself. A bit worn down around the edges, but nothing that wasn't possible to fix.


The parents might be sad that Irena had left, but for the kids it was positive. She'd been quite a dominating sim to live with.

Neda had her own little project going. Unable to forget what she'd overheard mum and dad talk about in Appaloosa plains, she'd tried figuring out what it was about. She hadn't found anything exciting about dad, but: Niko. What's mums maiden name?

Are you serious? You don't know mums maiden name?

No. How would she know that? Mum never said anything, and she couldn't find their marriagelisence.


Sometimes Niko forgot how much younger Neda was then him: Mallory. Mums' name was Mallory. When she married dad, she took his surname. That's how they ended up with the very common one instead: I think her dads name was Horsth- Mallory or something. Not sure what his firstname was, but it's not common here, so can't be that hard to find.


I'm not sure what her mums name was though; probably Horsth since that was grandpas middlename. Think it's how that works atleast. 

Neda didn't actually care about that, she'd just wanted to have something to search for online. She wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for, but someone was missing, and someone was an ancient old crust. Maybe even both at the same time. So the most natural place to start with was family, right?


Okay. I just wanted to look into mums familytree, so I need her name. Though, come to think about it; most likely it would be that mum had a sister. An older one probably that she didn't have contact with anymore.

Why don't you just ask her then?

If that was the case, it would make her the hero of the family! Reuniting the estranged sisters! Uhm... It's a schoolproject. 


I kind of wanted to do it myself.  She wanted the glory all on her own. Ofcourse she'd figured out that there was someone involved mum didn't want to meet, but she'd be dead now anyway. So her best guess was a missing sister. Or atleast it would be until the next time she changed her mind about who it could be.

Niko knew that she rarely finished anything on her own, usually because she failed before getting there. I get that. Why don't you ask Dragan, he knows where to look these things up.


They got the news that Irena had married her boyfriend just a few days after moving out; though the place they lived was far from a pretty one. Aino wondered how her little baby could live in this worn down place. Her and Bård should move back home to them. 

Isn't it a nice place gorgeous? Daniel tried to pretend he didn't know what his wife was thinking. Even if he was thinking the same thing himself.


I know the place is a bit run down mum, Irena knew what she was thinking, she'd thought the same thing: But it's whole and mouldfree. 

She did have a point. The cupboards were whole and the furniture looked pretty new. The wallpaper was terrible, but a fresh layer of paint would do the trick.

Irena continued: We are working and saving simoleons right now, so we'll get it fixed up eventually. Okay?

Okay


That didn't mean that Aino wouldn't go all mum on her oldest daughter, and make sure she had something proper to eat. Bet she only ate frozen pizza and bad food like that!


Daniel tried beeing a bit less paternal: So how are you enjoying beeing married? None of them cared that they hadn't been invited to a wedding. From what they understood, they hadn't had even a small ceremony.

It's okay. Not much have changed really. Bård's a chef, Irena said it a bit to loudly to make sure mum heard it: Between the two of us we're doing well enough finacially. And I've already gotten a promotion. 

That's nice sweety. Good thing her husband was a chef, because Irena couldn't even boil water.


It seemed like Irena was barely out of the house before Niko celebrated his birthday.


He planned on travelling around a bit before settling down somewhere, but for that he needed a better wardrobe; a practical yet stylish one. Damn, look at that. He really didn't have a butt.


Neda didn't want her bigbrother to leave; he'd be gone by the time they came home from school. And mum and dad hadn't let them skip either. That was so unfair.


Don't be upset Neda, I'm just going to Shang Simla first. I'll phone you when I get there okay? 

Shang Simla was like at the end of the world! And probably dangerous!

It's a small place that's full of tombs, and I'll be around several other experienced sims okay? It's perfectly safe. 

She wasn't so sure about that.


Dragan wasn't thrilled either, and did his best to pretend he wasn't crying. That was until his bigbrother hugged him: There there, It'll be okay. I'll call. Why was everyone so upset? Phones existed. Niko had to remind Dragan of that several times as he sobbed into his shoulder, leaving a wet spot on his jumper.


Aino was terrified that something was going to happen to her little babyboy. And why did he have to leave town? And for Shang Simla? That was like at the other end of simplanet! Her husband didn't seem to thrilled either.

Mum, everything will be fine, I'll be together with several other sims; experienced ones, Niko repeated. He hoped atleast, he really should have checked it better out.


Daniel plastered on a smile; why the hell would he be an explorer? That wasn't an actual job: So what are you merry band of adventurers looking for? He kind of imagined Niko with a long wizards robe and a pointy hat; full on covered with stars and a little magic wand with a star at the end.

We're going to try to find whereabouts of Pangus axe. Niko said, giving up on explaing to his parents that he was assisting on an actual excavationsite. He assumed they wouldn't find the actual ax, but that wasn't important to him. He wanted to live a bit before settling down. 

That sounds very dangerous. Aino was sure it would fall from the ceiling and hit her son across the head.


It's not dangerous. Niko laughed: everything will be done properly, it's even funded by a university. Okay? I'm just the help. I'll call you when I get there. 


When you meet a girl....

Niko smiled, mum was hopeless: I'm there to work mum

When you meet a girl, tell us okay. She really wanted to be a grandma.

He sighed: Sure mum. Why did they all assume he'd be back in a few weeks? He'd dreamt about this his entire life.


Aino and Daniel both disliked his decision. But there wasn't a lot they could do about it. He'll be fine right?

He'll be fine gorgeous. Atleast he assumed he'd be. This whole business sounded dangerous.


Just as promised, Niko did call when he arrived and the whole thing did seem safe. He was nice enough to send them some video he'd taken from the tomb. It looked a bit more boring that Neda had thought; it had looked completely empty to her eyes.

She still enjoyed her teenaged life, without any worry about what to do when growing up.


Dragan kept looking up and down, even if he didn't need to look at the keyboard when typing. His thin fingers having a lot of practice, flew over the buttons at a speed Neda couldn't even dream of. She knew how to type at a normal speed ofcourse, but nothing like her twinbrother could.

Here's ours atleast. He kept typing as he looked up at the screen again: And there's Nikos, and... he typed a bit more: And Irena. He bet she had been a fat baby with all that pettiness stuffed inside her: That's it. Just the four of us.


Dragan... Did you remember to look at mums maiden name?

Like any real investigator she hadn't told him why she was looking. She'd just repeated what she'd told Niko, but since they were in the same class; she just said she wanted to make a familytree. Dragan was so gullible at times she almost felt guilty.

He grinned: I forgot. What was it again?

Mallory, or Horsth Mallory.


He didn't look at her before he started typing again. She assumed it was legal, it was just that she didn't know how or what to look for. Besides, she needed birthcertificats. Because any other papers wasn't necessarily correct. Atleast she thought so.

He stopped typing after a while and started rubbing his chin: Here's an Ian Horst- Mallory... Parents Dominic Mallory and Nanette Horsth

Probably mums dad and his parents; you know; grandpa, Dragan. 

He didn't answer for a while again: Yeah, it's pretty old so... He kept rubbing his chin and staring at the screen, sometimes tapping a button with one finger.

Neda bet he'd forgotten what he was doing: Dragan, let's keep looking


He kept rubbing his chin without answering

Dragan. Neda loved her brother, but he was a massive airhead

Yeah, I found something. It's a birthcertificate for a Catherine Mallory. It's a bit before Irena was born.

What? Holy shit! They'd actually found something? Had she actually had an idea that turned out to go somewhere?! Because mum was an only child, that she was certain of! And that was probably how this worked, right?


Neda jumped up from the seat to look for herself: Dragan that's amazing. I can't believe you found something!

Yeah I'm really good. He had the same ammount of belief in his own skills as the rest of the family. 

What else does it say?! This could be the start to finding every answer she was looking for!

Nothing... It doesn't say anything. Nothing about who the dad is, nothing. But mum's the mum. Obviously.


What? She looked over his shoulder, seeing the clear "unknown" where the fathers name should be. How was that possible: I don't get it. Why hasn't dad signed it?

Because he's not the dad. She knew she was lost when even Dragan pointed out the obvious. 

He could be the dad, maybe he just doesn't know about her. But, if this was what mum and dad talked about, he did know about it. But maybe he just didn't know about it back then?


Nah, he's not the dad. Dragan insisted: If he were the dad, she'd be living with us. Doesn't make sense any other way. 

Sometimes Neda wondered how it was to have such a simple view on simlife.

He continued: Dad wouldn't not know about a kid he has, especially with our mum. They're married after all. And she's not a lot older than Irena, so he'd know about her. 


Dragan turned the computer off. He had such an easy time finding things online, he wasn't always sure when he crossed over into hacking: I think you should let it stay where it is Neda. I'm not helping you anymore.

At the back of his mind he hoped Neda wouldn't think about looking for a deathcertificate or adoptionpapers. If dad didn't know about this, it was best not to say anything. And if he knew, it was still best not to say that they knew. Sometimes secrets should stay secrets. Not that he got what this had to do with Nedas project, wouldn't she want to know the name of mums mum and her parents again? Then he forgot to think deeper about it.
-----------------------------------------------------
Irena and Niko grew up. I realise that there's not a good picture of Niko, but he looks exactely the same as earlier so I figured it wasn't a big loss; he's just a bit taller than before.

And yeah, Neda and Dragan are still a lot younger than their sibling, so it's not without reason she doesn't consider the most obvious things. Or even why her thoughtprocess isn't completely coherent all the time.

Thanks for reading

søndag 18. juni 2017

4.23 Stand by your man


Listen kids, when your mum said she wanted to take a trip, we all knew it was going to be some place no one wants to be. Daniel tried not to sigh. He got why they didn't want to be here. As much as he loved his wife, her idea of a good vacation with the kids weren't the best. Kids needed something to do, mainly so he could've been alone with his wife.

But, your mum wanted to surprise us, which means that you'll pretend that you don't want to go and jump off the nearest cliff with your heads first. 

But dad!!!


No but! He interrupted the kids whining before it even started, they were a bit selfcentered: Your mum was down, this will make her feel better. If any of you complain, I'm leaving you out of the will. 

But it's so boring here!


Ofcourse it's boring, we're old and old sims only do boring things. But she wanted to see some of the artshit they have in this hellhole, so that's what we're doing! It's for a few nights, you'll live! 

He wasn't going to complain though, if Aino wanted to be here then they were going to be here. The important thing was that she was happy. 

But....

No but! And I don't want to hear one complaint. Have I made myself clear? Fucks sake, just try not to argue for three days. Now, get out of here already!

They started scuttling almost as soon as he'd finished the sentence: Yes dad.


Where's the kids at? Aino had finally gotten up. They had arrived pretty late the night before, so she'd slept in a bit.

I sent them away. They don't think it's fun beeing with us oldies anyway. He stroked her cheek, enjoying the feel of her soft skin.

Oh... I just thought that we could spend some time together as a family....

We can do that later today. They could do adult stuff whilst waiting, like sleeping. Or other stuff ofcourse. Hopefully other stuff.


Okay. She didn't seem to happy about it. But she didn't seem angry either so it was probably all good.

Aino thought it might be for the better anyway, because she didn't just have a little thing to tell him either. But not yet. She wanted to wait til tomorrow. For some reason she assumed it would be better. she just hoped she wouldn't divorce her when he found out.


This... this is the reason why bullies exist. Niko had problems not staring at that... thing that stood infront of them.

Yeah, Irena agreed: I'm surprised a bully hasn't just physically manifested infront of him, drawn by all that "beatmeupness". That was no doubt a word.

He's like a nerd- cowboy; a cownerd, a nerdboy, a nerdcow.... No matter how you try to put it together, it just says: Please beat me up. Dragan was usually an easygoing sim, but this nerd was to much for his good nature.


Stop it! Neda whispered loudly; He's looking at us. He knows we're talking about him! Poor guy, it wasn't his fault he couldn't do "nerd" properly. Well, it kind of was his own fault, but she didn't want to think it was funny.

Ofcourse he knows we're talking about him, Irena said: look at him! I bet he's the village idiot. 

Someone just throw a shoe at him already. Niko said, which made them all laugh; even if it wasn't remotely funny.


Any of you remember how long we were going to stay? Dragans sharp mind had turned into a teens and thus had ended up a classic airhead. So he tended to forget thing almost as soon as he heard them.

Just four days. Four days in this waste of space; fucking Appaloosa plains. What a hillbilly hellhole.

So, two more nights?


Yeah, as far as I got atleast


Didn't you want to look at the horses Neda? But that he remembered.

Neda nodded; There's no one here though. She'd kind of hoped there were some tame ones that she could pet. But for now it was empty. She hadn't checked the stable yet though. They had horses at home to, but they were usually racing horses. And they were worth a lot, so asking to pet one rarely resultet in a "yes".


Oh no, look. Now he's reading. What an idiot. Someone needs to put him out of his misery. Irena jumped straight back to bullying the poor nerd- cowboy.

Wonder what he's reading? To Niko it was more clear than ever that the guy was more nerd than cowboy; the book was thick and heavy.

Irena was more than happy to answer anyway: I bet it's called "yeehaw- the guide to be a looser". What an aweful nerd. She bet even nerds would beat him up.
 

As entertaining it was listening to her siblings, Neda finally saw a horse and tried talking to it. But it made a derpyface at her. Even the horse thought she was a looser. She had sat in gum the first day of school and had been called "bubblebutt" ever since. So once again, she failed at the simplest task.


Disappointed, Neda went back to the rest. Now that the nerdcowboy was gone, they didn't have anything to do again: The horse derped on me, I hate horses, hate this place and I want to go home. Even if it was nice and warm here, it just made the smell of horsedung more intense.

There's still two more nights Neda. Irena was beeing very nice for a change. Either that or she enjoyed her little sister beeing annoyed.


The adults were enjoying some time away from the kids at a place the dungsmell wasn't present: Aren't you worried about the kids? It won't be long before Irena and Niko leaves us, and then we'll just have Dragan and Neda left. Aino thought time had flown away to fast. What if they left and never wanted to see them again?

Nah, they'll be living close by. With their luck they'd probably all end up living in their basement or something.

I'm not so sure about that. I think Niko is planning to travel around the world. That sounded awefully dangerous to her.

 
He kept stroking his wifes hand: Then he'll come back when he's done.

But what if something happens to him? What if he disappeares to? What if he goes on a journey and the plane crashes, or he gets eaten by sharks or...


He'll be fine gorgeous. Everything is fine. Nothing big has happened for ages. The most exciting things that happens is Irena not beeing able to keep a boyfriend for longer than a week. 


It was a bit strange sitting at the beach in Apaloosa plains; the water didn't make a single sound, no waves, no wind, nothing. It was just a shiny, blank surface.

I bet Irena is going to keep mooching off us and her siblings and Niko meets some girl after a few weeks, knocks her up and comes back home. He's a mommys boy, you know that. And Dragan and Neda still needs us. 

What had gotten in to her these last days? There was probably something she wanted to tell him.

I hope you're right. 


Is... is that a shark? He watched in shock when the blacktipped triangle broke the ponds surface.

Dragan wasn't a big fan of going to the cemetery for recreational purposes. Like most cemeteries it was open and well taken care of, but he still hadn't expected it to be this inviting.

Obviously. Why would anyone have sharks in a small lake at a cemetery? Niko didn't mind, so he decided to try to fish it up instead. It probably wasn't a shark, but this place was clearly full of weirdos, so it wouldn't surprise him to much.


Doing his best to catch the shark, Niko noticed his siblings laughing; probably at him. He should be allowed to dream about living a simple life without beeing mocked by them. Feeling a bit offended, he was so busy focusing on the others that he didn't catch any fish at all.


Neda couldn't stand listening to Irena and Dragans chatting about how the fish in that lake definitely swam around in corpsewater, so she decided to take a look inside the mausoleum. Ofcourse she should avoid it, but she'd never been inside one before.


Easily bored, the kids saw the gallowstree at a distance, and decided to go and take a look. Disappointed that they didn't see any mandrake roots under the branches, the kids still hoped for some gruesome details from the plaque instead. But it just said how old the tree was and a lot about the type. No notorious criminals beeing hung and nothing. Boring.


I want to take a look at that old abandoned dino- park. Niko had decided he was to bored to keep this up already.

What? 

I think I saw an abandoned dinopark or something on the way here. I want to look at it. Go with me. He wasn't scared of going alone, but a bit of company was never to be turned down.


Nah Dragan. I saw a karaokebar! We can laugh at the sims singing there. And I bet they have aracadegames there. She was so done walking around and looking at stuff. She was bored and just wanted the time to pass already.

Games sounded a lot better than some dusty old park. If he wanted dusty, gross and old; he'd just use the subway at home.


Neda had been scared off by some really aggressive moths in the catacombs and gave up exploring almost as soon as she'd gotten inside. Just to find that her siblings had abandoned her. That was so typical, she might as well have been invisible to them. Maybe they'd be back in a little while? She could just wait at the cemetery for them, right? In the meantime she could just read on the tombstones or something. 


Niko had seen right. An old abandoned building with a large dinosaur outside was welcoming him. Why would someone close this place down anyway? He'd thought everyone liked dinosaurs. Maybe Appaloosa plains was just to far away for anyone to know about?


He wasn't able to get inside with the way the building was barred. But at the backside there was a large casting of a triceratops. He was pretty sure it was a triceratops atleast. Maybe there had been an exhibit outside here? Or maybe it was supposed to be thrown away and whoever was supposed to pick it up, just never did.


A small pathway behind the building led to something that looked like an excavation site. Was this a real dinosaur skeleton? No, it couldn't be. There were actual dinosaurs in Appaloosa plains? For real? No, it had to be a mistake of sort.


Niko wasn't the only one that was enjoying himself. Irena and Dragan had found a karaokebar, and they had gotten just what they wished for.

I can't believe this. This is to good to be true. Irenas heart was filled with cruel joy.


They had refound the nerdcowboy; it had to be some sort of destiny, so Irena walked up to the singing men and started pretending to cheer: Hey, sounding good there guys! They sounded aweful. Why didn't anyone ever tell them, that they had no talent or skills?


Dragan was far from as polite as his sister: Moooooo! Mooooo! He thought it was more suiting in this place that going "boo". Not that the nerdcowboy seemed to care.


After bullying two grown men off stage, the dynamic duo decided to play some games together. Just like they could do any other day.


Niko decided to keep following a larger dirtroad up into the hills. From afar it looked like an old fortress of sort. But he doubted it was the case. The watertower for instance. Though, what did he know about fortresses. Maybe he should read something about it just to be a bit more prepared. He'd never really thought any further than just wanting to travel a bit around after school was over.


Turned out it was an old spot for fishing that seemed to be abandoned. Yet it was fully operational. How odd, but there was a lot of things about this place that seemed strange to him to be honest.  Maybe he could come back here after he aged up and learn a bit more? His heart nearly stopped when he realized what he'd just thought. No. Never back here.


They went home as the sun started setting, just to be met with the most obvious question: Where's Neda? 

Mum seemed to remember her kids a bit more, than the kids remembered their siblings: She's not home yet? Dragan asked.

Last time I saw her, she was exploring the mausoleoum. Irena was happy to help.


You left your sister in a mausoleum?! Dad sounded angry at her again. Why was it always her job to look after the younger kids? Why not Niko? Just because she was the oldest one it was expected that she acted like it? Completely unfair.

But, she could've just called one of us. Irena defended herself. It wasn't her fault that Neda was stupid and failed and couldn't do anything right. Or think for herself.


You kids are so irresponsible, Daniel grunted as he got up. he'd promised his wife not to argue with anyone, but they were really getting on his nerves right now. Go and do something, he growled at them. Which translated to "get out of my sight".


What if something's happened to her? Aino was up before he'd even managed to blink three times: What if she's gone to...

She's fine. Daniel wondered what had gotten into her lately. As the kids got closer to leaving home, she got more and more upset: She's either waiting for them at the cemetery, or she's on her way her. And this place is really a safe place to live. Unlike the bigger cities: Just stay here with the kids. We'll be back soon. Okay?


 It looked like the statue was pointing straight at her. It was an omen of sorts. It said: You're going to die today. You're barely a teenager, but you'll die right this night. This is your last hours on simplanet.

Neda didn't want to die now, especially here in a place she didn't even know! Weren't it enough that their cats and dogs died left and right? And mum and dad didn't want any more because they got so sad when they died.


Why had they just left her here? Neda wasn't surprised that Irena and Niko did, but Dragan? Her own twinbrother? They had shared a womb for crying out loud, and he just left her? Weren't they supposed to have some special twin- bond or something? Because she'd seen that on tv- that twins felt eachothers pain and sort. But she never felt anything. Maybe if she focused really hard on sending mental messages to Dragan he'd noticed that she was scared and come and get her?


She could have phoned them ofcourse, but then they'll just call her a crybaby again. And she wasn't one! They should know that she was alone, and they should care about it. She'd care about them if they had been left somewhere. But she'd never leave them to begin with! Why were everyone so mean to her all the time. Neda felt very sorry for herself at the moment. This was highly unfair. But worst was the feeling of beeing betrayed by her twinbrother; that was something she'd expected of her older siblings.


Your mum has a very odd fascination with the reaper to. Daniel had seen her as soon as he entered the place. She must have heard him, because she didn't even jump at him or anything.

Neda wasn't sure what to say about that information, to her mum just seemed as boring as any other adult: I was just looking. She didn't want to say that she'd worried that the statue was pointing at her: Can we go home soon? I miss home. 

Well leave soon. Mum wanted some time away.

Yeah, Neda had got that if mum wanted something, dad got it for her.
 

She grabbed dads hand when they walked away, she thought she was still young enough for that: Look dad, it's a deer. She'd never seen one so closeby before; especially one standing still.

Yeah, those little shits eat up all the flowers and bushes as cemeteries. Costing everyone a fucking fortune.

Dad, don't talk like that! How could he say that? Deer were so cute and innocent.

I'm sorry, but they are little shits.

 
Do you believe in ghosts dad? Neda wasn't sure what to think of it, sometimes she wished they existed, because they could have great stories to tell. 

Nah, but if the did, they'd probably eat the shrubbery here to; the little shits.

Dad...

Don't tell your mum I called deers little shits, okay?

Okay dad.
She kind of wanted magic to be real.


I'm sorry I forgot you at the cemetery yesterday Neda. Dragan had forgotten that he was supposed to feel sorry, so it was good that he remembered it today.

It's okay, Neda answered- it was a bit to much to assumed that Dragan would remember stuff. And she was the older one of the two, so technically it was her that should look after him.


Please, Niko interrupted: Neda's already over it, she knows it was an accident. Don't you Neda?

Well, when it was Niko that said it, she'd usually disagree, but for now she just nodded in agreement. They had taken the day in the park to have something for breakfast, whilst mum and dad was at the museum. Neda kind of wanted to go with them, but mum had said she had to go here. 

Let her be a crybaby if she wants to Niko, Irena was way to happy to join in whilst swatting after some insects- they thrived with all that horsedung around.


I'm not a crybaby Irena! Just because she got a bit scared when they'd left her in the middle of a bloody cemetery, didn't make her a wiener!! It was a gravesite! With dead sims buried in the ground!

Fine, whatever. 

Irena was so annoying, she couldn't wait until she left. Bet she'd go live on a boat or something, and when she did; Neda hoped the boat sank and she'd get eaten by the kraken. Or taken by a mersim. Though not a hot merman, she wanted a hot merman.


So what do you crazy kids want to do today? Dragan asked. Not that it wasn't a dream come true, sitting at a park that smelled like boiling horseshit.

Well, I was thinking we could sit here and hope to get hit by a meteor. Niko said.

He was already bored with this place. Not that he missed Jericho either. He'd atleast hoped for some tombs to explore, but it was nothing. Yesterdays interest in dinosaurbones was also gone, since Dragan had told him that there were no dinosaurs in Appaloosa Plains. Ofcourse he just dug it out from interenett in a few seconds. The nerd.


Irena started laughing a bit to loudly, and throwing her hair around. That meant there was a boy at the premises. She tended to flirt around a bit when she got bored. Good for her but didn't she have a boyfriend?

Irena, you have a boyfriend already! Neda just couldn't understand why she kept running around with boys. They were so boring.

So, I just want to flirt a bit! I'm bored.


But.... You're already with Bård. She tried to avoid mentioning that it was pronounced pretty much the same way as "bored".

I think she's with Kyrre... Niko said, just at the same time Dragan said: Matias, his names Matias

No, I'm with Bård. He was so hot, and kind and so easy to manipulate. She was really lucky to have bagged him: But what he does't know, doesn't kill him. 
 

EEEEW!!! Dragan and Niko couldn't keep it in when they saw that thing their sister was chatting up. Then they laughed a bit, they'd make sure she'd never hear the end of that.

I bet my arse he's from Bridgeport, Niko said, they always look like fucking idiots. 

He looks like a douche extraordinaire. Dragan had to agree, and as much as Neda didn't want to, he had a point.

All Bridgeportians are douches, it's in their blood. Niko had never met one, but everyone knew they were. Beeing judgemental was a vital part of city- pride.


In a few years, he's going to start drinking and beating his wife. Niko was good at this: Her name is going to be... like, Zelda Mae or something. 

Poor Zelda Mae, Dragan chimed in: Everything she earns at the diner, is going to go to his drinking habit. Like a good old country song. 


Neda wanted to do the right thing, but it was hard when the boys were beeing so funny: Domestic violence isn't funny guys. she laughed.

Yeah I know. But you got to admit that's going to be his future. 

Dragan didn't think domestic violence was funny either ofcourse, but sometimes their older brother was right: Think about Zelda Mae here Neda.
 

The museum was a lot bigger than they had anticipated, so they'd already spent a bit of time there. And Daniel hadn't hated it as much as he'd thought he would. It was just a bit to much country and western themed for his liking.


Aino had been unusually quiet until now, so he wasn't all to prepared: So, this is it. Do you like it?

It was probably okay, looked like all the other painting to his eyes: It's beautiful, gorgeous. What's it called? It was probably some favourite of hers or something. 

Monologue at yourself

Oh my, that was deep: It's pretty. Is it famous or something?

It's one of the most famous in simnation. This is the original. It's on loan from one of the bigger museums....


Aino started chewing her nails, she had to tell him now. She had to tell him now, or she'd never find the courage. Everything they had would be gone, but she had to do this. She should have told him sooner, she should have said no, but they really needed the simoleons.

It's mine. She whispered, well aware of the high security measurments around it: It's mine, I painted it and aged it. It's mine. I'm a forgerer; I forge art. I'm a criminal... It's mine. I get payed for making fake pieces, then someone takes them and switches them out with the originals. Then the originals gets sold to wealthy sims. 


Daniel took another look at the painting; shit looked old to him. He'd expected her to have something completely diffent on her mind, so this came as a surprise. For a second he'd love to pretend that he'd seen that coming, but he hadn't. This was way out of the blue for him. Though it did make sense. She worked for a few days a week. Probably so that whatever prosesses she used had time to work.

I really wanted to be a good sim... He heard her say.


I really wanted to do the right thing. But we needed the simoleons, and... I can go to jail for this. She was still whispering. And here he'd thought it was all about her missing daughter, but it was this. His wife was a master forger. It was incredible and ridiculous. His lovely and innocent wife was a massive criminal. She was even worse than him: Maybe beeing criminal runs to deep in my blood to make any other different outcome possible. 

You're not terrible Aino. It's just a piece of old shit that hangs here so sims can gawk at.

  
So what if it's not the original? The painter's dead and don't they make like a gazillion different versions of them anyway?

Aino nodded. She had hoped for a reaction like this of sort. She should have known that morale wasn't his strongest side.

What have they ever done for the two of us anyway? And if you go to jail, I'll wait for you, he whispered with a teasing grin: Besides the ones that takes the brunt of the punishments are the fences and buyers anyway. 


You're a master forgerer, I'm a charlatane. I always knew the two of us were meant to be together. This really was a match made in heaven: No wonder their kids were horrible. They were like the criminal masters that no one would ever know about, because he worked with an accepted version, and she was one of the invisible ones.
 

Irena would never stop wondering how flirting with boys were so easy. This guy already couldn't get enough of her. For a second she was a bit disappointed that they were leaving just the next day.


Oh no! It's Zelda Mae! Niko could tell that this was going to end bad for his sister. Unfortunately that meant he would have to step in. Didn't it? Or could he pretend he didn't notice.

Don't do it Zelda Mae. He's bad news that one! Dragan didn't seem to be to interested to butt in either, but unfortunately Neda was there to: Guys. Do something!


Bitch! What you think you're doing with my man?!  


Irena did not appreciate beeing interrupted by this cow'ho, but got disturbed by Nikos sarcasm first: Zelda Mae don't! He's not worth it! Don't stand by ya' man! He'll take all 'ya earn and buy whiskey! 

What the hell are you talking about citydork?! Damn, Zelda Mae had a temper on her.

Let me do the talking, Dragan interrupted: I speak a bit of farmer


Dragan went closer to the blonde: Zelda Mae, I aint sayin' y'all shant' crash, but' y'all gotta know this man aint' good fo' y'all.

What the hell are you talking about?!! And who the fuck is Zelda Mae? My name is Benni!

Like a dog?
Dragan blurted out.


Ofcourse she had a dogname, Irena hissed: It has to suit her dogface! She'd called her a bitch, her! Why wasn't Zelda Mae here angry at her boyfriend?


As Benni started yelling at Dragan to, Neda decided that the right thing to do was to get their parents: I'll go get mum and dad. She said quietly to Niko, who nodded at her. She didn't want to take the chance of having a bunch of countryside teenager ganging up on them. Or maybe they just did that back home.


Ofcourse it was more than one thing that bothered his wife. She tried to pretend she wasn't crying, but she wasn't very good at it.

It's okay gorgeous, everything is going to be fine

But what's going to happen when I'm not there to protect them anymore. She couldn't bare the thought of having her little babies going out in the big scary world without her watching over them.


Nothing. Nothings going to happen. Daniel wasn't all to sure how to proceed, but sometimes truth might be the best thing: She's dead, she has to be. There's no way she can still be alive today. 

What if she found a way to live forever?

She hasn't. No one lives on forever. That only happens in bad fairytales. She's dead and gone. And he was never going to live out his dream of dancing on her grave.


And even with the small chance she's not dead yet, it doesn't matter. Irena will be a young woman, and Niko will be a young man. There's nothing that ancient hag could to. They'd be healthy young sims, and she'd be a fragile old lady. He saw that it was sinking in. She was just scared of the change that was about to come. Which he got, because he wasn't looking forward to it either.


No, that was dads and mums voices alright. What were they talking about? What fragile old lady? The only old lady she'd known was auntie Angie, but she was dead. and to be frank, she'd been a viper up until the very day she died.

She heard dads voice again: There's nothing she can do anymore. Absolutely nothing. 

You think so? Mum sounded almost like a little kid beeing comforted by a grown up.


Neda had no idea what they were talking about, but she sure wanted to find out more. A part of her felt a bit guilty for eavsdropping, but this was interesting

I know so. It was dad again

But what if they disappear, like...

No ones going to disappear. No one. 


Who had disappeared? The old lady? Or someone else? This was intriguing.

I just wish I knew what happened to her.... To who? Happened to who mum?

I know. Someday maybe we will. Try not to think about it, okay?

Okay. Damnit dad, she wanted to know what was going on. Since when did her parents have a life outside beeing parents?


Neda was far from as dumb as the kids in school though; she got this was something they didn't want her to know about. So she snok back to the entrance and waited a bit: Mum? Dad?  

They stopped talking, almost immideately mums heels were clacking against the wooden floor.


If she didn't know better, she'd think they just hadn't shared something secret: Uhm, hi. Sorry, but Irena flirted with a boy, and then his girlfriend was there, and then Dragan and Niko started acting like idiots.

They actually sighed, like they were tired of them. But what had they thought was going to happen when they brought all the kids to this boring place with them.

Take Neda back to the rental Aino. I'll be right there. Fucking kids never beeing able to be nice to anyone.


Neda did her best not to look at her mum in the cab. To think that her boring parents had secrets. Mum and dad never did anything, they just ran around and smooched on eachother all the time. That was all that they ever did. And now a secret. Wonder if they suspected that she'd overheard them? Mum didn't say anything atleast.


You're always such a nice girl Neda. There's never any trouble with you. Mum finally said. That meant she wasn't in trouble, but that the others were.


Daniel came to find some bloke with a cowboyhat already broken the entire thing off. He barely understood the countrywestern- jibberish he was saying, but assumed it translated into: We don't tolerate that behaviour here in Appaloosa Plains. He didn't care if anyone yelled at his kids when they were beeing arsehats. There were no other kids here, so maybe they'd already been picked up by their parents.

Look at those little bastards sitting there pretending to be little angels.


Howdy partner. Cowboy- mans accent was thick, but he seemed friendly enough.

Daniel bit back a laugh when he realized the guy was serious: Hey

These are yours? I took the liberty to breaking them up before things got out of hands. Them kids here been mighty bullying towards poor young Benni and Cruz?

That didn't seem like his kids at all. They were mean to sims usually: My kids were mean to dogs?


Cowboyman drawled out another sentence: Boy, I do understand that you cityfolks have a diffent sense of justice than us here, but calling kids dogs' not okay. 

What? He barely understood what the guy was saying.

Now I understand that a man aint always keeping his kids under control, but I've seen the way you let your wife dress there newcommer... 


... and I got to say, we don't approve of such things here in Appaloosa Plains. Here, the women are wholesome farmersgirls and housewives, not dem citydwellings ladies of the night.

That old feeling of going all cold came back through Daniel. Had he just said what he thought he'd said? Oh yeah, he had. He really had: Are you the ....sheriff? 

No sir, just a concerned citizen

Good
 

That was for talking about his kids and wife like that. Atleast he was pretty sure it was an insult. The translation he'd made in his head might have been the wrong one.


Nice right hook dad. Dragan was a bit impressed, he'd thought dads old bones were to brittle.

See, Irena smugly said: I told you dad was going to end up punching you. That's what happened when you called mum a whore.

Can we go home now, like really home? Niko just wanted to get out of here. 

Yes, yes we're leaving this dungsmelling hellhole. Best get lost before the hillbillies ganged up on them. They probably did that, with pitchforkes and shit. Okay, maybe he was a bit judgemental.
---------------------------------------------
I live pretty much in pure farmingplace myself, and it's all true: We do gang up on outsiders, chasing them away with pitchforks.

First thing I thought when I saw Benni, was Zelda Mae for the record. It was all the hairs fault. And Aino is a forgerer in the artcritique careere. It suits her.

Thanks for reading