As dusk settled on the island, a gust of wind blew across the beach.
There was a strange wailing sound...
...followed by faint sobbing.
"Zoe", a voice could be heard. "did I come back too late?"
"I wanted to tell you it's going to be alright."
"But you're not here anymore."
"Maybe we'll meet again soon."
And the sound of a guitar drifted across the water.
(ping @Nini - this last thing was an autonomous action and I will flat out admit I almost started crying when it happened!)
It was Christmas morning. Lisa and Parker had just finished decorating the tree by the entrance.
"Happy Holidays, mum", Parker said as he hugged Lisa.
"Thank you, darling", she replied. "It's going to be strange without mum and Zoe here for the first time."
John and Lee were inspecting the presents around the tree.
"Did you get mum and dad that thing we agreed on?" Parker whispered to Lee at breakfast.
"Yes, it's the big round box."
"What's this whispering about?" John teased the boys.
"We were just saying how pretty the tree was looking", Parker lied.
As Parker got up to get dressed, both he and Lee froze.
"Is that nutcracker moving?" they both said.
It did indeed appear that the nutcracker was hovering above the floor.
"No silly tricks now, boys!" Lisa warned them as she sat down to eat breakfast.
She didn't see the shadowy figure standing by the tree.
Armeleia's ghost stood there for a while, breathing in the smell of Christmas in the air.
Then she quietly slipped out the back door as the morning light grew stronger.
After breakfast Lisa went to look at all the presents. That's funny, I swear I put the nutcracker in a different place, she thought while Jonas slept soundly in his crib.
They all watched some morning television.
Parker thought about his meeting with grandma earlier that morning. It had made him so happy to see her again. But he had promised not to tell anyone about it. Grandma didn't know if she could come back again and didn't want to disappoint anyone.
He picked up one the crackers and made a secret wish.
Maybe his wish would come true.
A little later Jonas woke up and Lisa picked him up.
"I'm so glad you're here, my little darling. I only wish you could have met your grandma."
Jonas smiled back at him, almost as if he understood what she was saying.
"All things considered, this Christmas isn't too bad after all!" John laughed.
Isn't it silly how attached you can become to animated characters?
I think that this will be the last we'll see of them in this story, other than as memory glimpses. But you might be happy to know that I haven't deleted them in my game. They're actually living in the original - now refurbished - Life of Lisa house in Oasis Springs. Suitably, the lot has the haunted trait, so they get visitors from The Other Side every now and then. Last time it was Bernard who came over for a chat, while the neighbour was there.
"Ma'am", Ms Webber of Child Services said. "Witnesses say this is the house your son broke into."
"I'm sure he didn't break into it. He is not that kind of boy. Ms Liu is a colleague of my husband's."
Upon further discovery both Lisa and Ms Webber found that the front door was open and a certain Ms Liu was fast asleep on a couch.
"Well, then!" Lisa said. "I'll just find my darling and we'll be off."
Ms Webber grumbled something about crazy artists and llamas in the night.
"See, everything is fine", Lisa said as she found Jonas playing in the living room.
"Ms Bramble, this is not appropriate behaviour!"
"Jonas, honey", Lisa began. "Tell us why you are here. Did you come to visit Ms Liu because you heard daddy talk about her?"
Secretly, she hoped this was the truth.
"No, I came to see grandma", Jonas said. "She lives across the street from here."
"We have a secret club that I can't tell you anything about."
"And they have the best monkey bar in their garden!"
This is worse than I anticipated, Lisa thought to herself. But Ms Webber seemed to believe Jonas.
"So, you just walked across the street to see how Ms Liu was doing?"
"I found a rhinoceros in her garbage can", Jonas beamed.
"Quite", Ms Webber replied. "Well, I think we're done here, Ms Bramble. Just a misunderstanding."
"I am so glad we could clear that up", Lisa said.
And so, they all marched out of the house, Ms Liu still fast asleep.
Why am I always sent on these ridiculous cases? Ms Webber thought as they left.
"Are you coming, honey?" Lisa called to Jonas. I wonder if I should tell John about this. It might be awkward for him at work otherwise.
Lisa remembered that time when Jonas was still a toddler and she took him to a paediatrician for evaluation, because she had noticed he was different to the other two boys.
There had been other children in the waiting room.
Jonas had played happily with them.
But then she had gone in to see the doctor.
Granted, the doctor himself wasn't really very forthcoming.
Jonas had waddled off towards the play area...
...and proceeded to destroy the dollhouse.
Lisa had secretly wondered if there was such a thing as inheriting a hatred of dollhouses.
The doctor had wanted to observe Jonas in various "normal toddler situations", so Lisa read him a story.
It was quite boring, she had thought. No character development and no narrative consistency.
"Ms Bramble", the doctor had said. "We are not here to analyse literature."
"Let's try physical contact", the doctor had suggested.
"Well...he's usually very friendly and outgoing", Lisa had said.
But Jonas wasn't having any of it!
"How about giving mummy a hug, then?" Lisa had tried.
"Ms Bramble, clearly he would be more inclined to give physical affection to family members", the doctor had scoffed.
"Is he intending to do number two on my carpet?" the doctor gasped.
"I assure you, he's fine with using the potty", Lisa had said.
"Quite", the doctor had replied, unconvinced.
"Ms Bramble", the doctor had finally said. "I will be analysing the information I have gathered today and get back to you within a week."
"But to be quite honest, I think little James-"
"Jonas", Lisa corrected him.
"Jonas here is quite a normal little boy. Just give him a football and he'll be fine."
The doctor followed them out to the reception.
"Ms Bramble, there's nothing to worry about."
"Thank you", Lisa had said, but she still had a nagging feeling there was something the doctor had missed.
But by then Jonas had fallen asleep in one of the chairs and the doctor had called another parent and child into his room.
Just my luck they introduced toddlers right after I aged him up from baby! So now I'm stuck with flashbacks only for him. But yeah, he is adorable! As are all toddlers.
Just my luck they introduced toddlers right after I aged him up from baby! So now I'm stuck with flashbacks only for him. But yeah, he is adorable! As are all toddlers.
Definitely but it is even cuter to see him as I've been following your story for a while now
Comments
There was a strange wailing sound...
...followed by faint sobbing.
"Zoe", a voice could be heard. "did I come back too late?"
"I wanted to tell you it's going to be alright."
"But you're not here anymore."
"Maybe we'll meet again soon."
And the sound of a guitar drifted across the water.
(ping @Nini - this last thing was an autonomous action and I will flat out admit I almost started crying when it happened!)
A corruption so profound, that going insane may be the only sane thing to do.
Origin ID: Sims4Girl202
Looking forward to it! Merry Christmas hun! xx
Better get inside!
Oof! This had better be worth it, she thought to herself.
Oh, it was! It so was.
"Welcome, baby Jonas!"
"Who's an itty bitty baby, then?" John squeeled.
Even Lee couldn't help but make silly noises when he saw his new baby brother.
Lisa sat down to share the news on Simsbook.
Later that evening someone approached the house.
She seemed to be searching for someone.
Her tears could be heard by the pool.
And then Parker felt her presence.
"Aunt Zoe, is that you?" he said.
"I am so sad", Zoe cried. "I thought we would meet, but..."
"You have to be patient", Parker said. "Maybe she hasn't found the way yet. You know how bad grandma was with maps."
"If I see her, I will tell her that you are looking for her. It's going to be alright", Parker continued.
And with that Zoe's ghost disappeared.
Armeleia's ghost sat down beside Parker's bed.
"Grandma", Parker said as he woke up. "How are you doing?"
"Well...it's different, this being dead thing. But it's not bad."
"I saw Zoe the other day. She misses you and is waiting for you to come find her."
"Oh, I found her urn on the beach! But she wasn't there."
"Haha!" Parker laughed. "Isn't that just typical. You'd still walk past each other on an empty town square."
"Have you met Jonas, yet?"
"Who is Jonas?" Armeleia asked.
"It's our new baby brother."
And so, Armeleia went downstairs to say hello to Jonas.
"Hi there, little one. I am your grandma."
"You and I will be best friends. I will always protect you."
"Good night. I'll see you soon again."
"Happy Holidays, mum", Parker said as he hugged Lisa.
"Thank you, darling", she replied. "It's going to be strange without mum and Zoe here for the first time."
John and Lee were inspecting the presents around the tree.
"Did you get mum and dad that thing we agreed on?" Parker whispered to Lee at breakfast.
"Yes, it's the big round box."
"What's this whispering about?" John teased the boys.
"We were just saying how pretty the tree was looking", Parker lied.
As Parker got up to get dressed, both he and Lee froze.
"Is that nutcracker moving?" they both said.
It did indeed appear that the nutcracker was hovering above the floor.
"No silly tricks now, boys!" Lisa warned them as she sat down to eat breakfast.
She didn't see the shadowy figure standing by the tree.
Armeleia's ghost stood there for a while, breathing in the smell of Christmas in the air.
Then she quietly slipped out the back door as the morning light grew stronger.
After breakfast Lisa went to look at all the presents.
That's funny, I swear I put the nutcracker in a different place, she thought while Jonas slept soundly in his crib.
They all watched some morning television.
Parker thought about his meeting with grandma earlier that morning. It had made him so happy to see her again. But he had promised not to tell anyone about it. Grandma didn't know if she could come back again and didn't want to disappoint anyone.
He picked up one the crackers and made a secret wish.
Maybe his wish would come true.
A little later Jonas woke up and Lisa picked him up.
"I'm so glad you're here, my little darling. I only wish you could have met your grandma."
Jonas smiled back at him, almost as if he understood what she was saying.
"All things considered, this Christmas isn't too bad after all!" John laughed.
He likes playing on the beach.
And telling stories to himself.
One morning he told Lisa about that time when he met grandma.
"She came to say hi again. Just like she did when I was a baby."
"We did some fishing together."
"Then she played the guitar for me, while I played. She's really good, mum. Did you know?"
"Jonas", Lisa said in a serious voice. "It's not nice to lie."
"Yeah", he sighed. "Grandma said you wouldn't believe me if I told you I met her."
Lisa didn't know just what to think.
Little did she know that the same evening Jonas had met his grandma, Armeleia and Zoe finally found each other on the beach.
Armeleia declared her undying love for Zoe.
And then she popped the question - again!
"Will you be my wife in the hereafter?" Armeleia asked.
"Yes, of course!"
MC CmD is available at https://deaderpool-mccc.com/
Origin ID: Sims4Girl202
Hehe.
Isn't it silly how attached you can become to animated characters?
I think that this will be the last we'll see of them in this story, other than as memory glimpses. But you might be happy to know that I haven't deleted them in my game. They're actually living in the original - now refurbished - Life of Lisa house in Oasis Springs. Suitably, the lot has the haunted trait, so they get visitors from The Other Side every now and then. Last time it was Bernard who came over for a chat, while the neighbour was there.
"Knock, knock. Who's home?"
Strangely enough, the house appeared empty and unlocked...
...so Jonas took a nap on the big, comfortable bed.
When he woke up he sat down by the computer.
"Hello, how are you today?"
Then he found a bottle of bubbles.
"Beautiful!"
"I'm hungry! What's to eat?"
He sat there for a while until...
"Hello, little boy", the police woman said. "Have you been enjoying your stay in this showroom?"
"Uh-huh", Jonas replied. "I live here now."
"I like it very much here", Jonas said as a matter of fact.
"Is that so?" the police woman said.
"Please don't take me back home. My mother beats me and my father is insane!"
"We'll see about that."
"I'm going to look you up in the missing children register. Can I have your name, please, little boy?"
"It's Stephen. Stephen Rouge", Jonas lied.
But while the police was busy at the computer, Jonas snuck out.
After a while of wandering around the area, narrowly avoiding bumping into the police woman again, he found another home to "enter".
And it was a little unnerving with all the candles.
Jonas tried hard to sleep in the bed.
But it just didn't work.
So, he took a bath instead.
Coming down the stairs, it appeared that the lady of the house had arrived.
She doesn't seem to mind!
"Who are you?" the lady asked.
"I am your nephew", Jonas said.
"Marcus?" the lady said absentmindedly.
"Yes, that's me."
"Why would my sister send you over without a warning first?"
"She has a bad cold. She can't speak."
"You are lying!"
"No, you are lying!"
"Oh, give me strength", the lady moaned. "I am not good with children."
On the patio outside the house, Jonas decided to dig for treasures in the trash.
It just resulted in a pile of trash on the ground.
When he came back, the lady had fallen asleep.
But there was a closet to play in!
Is she awake yet?
How about now?
What to do, what to do...
"I'm sure he didn't break into it. He is not that kind of boy. Ms Liu is a colleague of my husband's."
Upon further discovery both Lisa and Ms Webber found that the front door was open and a certain Ms Liu was fast asleep on a couch.
"Well, then!" Lisa said. "I'll just find my darling and we'll be off."
Ms Webber grumbled something about crazy artists and llamas in the night.
"See, everything is fine", Lisa said as she found Jonas playing in the living room.
"Ms Bramble, this is not appropriate behaviour!"
"Jonas, honey", Lisa began. "Tell us why you are here. Did you come to visit Ms Liu because you heard daddy talk about her?"
Secretly, she hoped this was the truth.
"No, I came to see grandma", Jonas said. "She lives across the street from here."
"We have a secret club that I can't tell you anything about."
"And they have the best monkey bar in their garden!"
This is worse than I anticipated, Lisa thought to herself. But Ms Webber seemed to believe Jonas.
"So, you just walked across the street to see how Ms Liu was doing?"
"I found a rhinoceros in her garbage can", Jonas beamed.
"Quite", Ms Webber replied. "Well, I think we're done here, Ms Bramble. Just a misunderstanding."
"I am so glad we could clear that up", Lisa said.
And so, they all marched out of the house, Ms Liu still fast asleep.
Why am I always sent on these ridiculous cases? Ms Webber thought as they left.
"Are you coming, honey?" Lisa called to Jonas. I wonder if I should tell John about this. It might be awkward for him at work otherwise.
There had been other children in the waiting room.
Jonas had played happily with them.
But then she had gone in to see the doctor.
Granted, the doctor himself wasn't really very forthcoming.
Jonas had waddled off towards the play area...
...and proceeded to destroy the dollhouse.
Lisa had secretly wondered if there was such a thing as inheriting a hatred of dollhouses.
The doctor had wanted to observe Jonas in various "normal toddler situations", so Lisa read him a story.
It was quite boring, she had thought. No character development and no narrative consistency.
"Ms Bramble", the doctor had said. "We are not here to analyse literature."
"Let's try physical contact", the doctor had suggested.
"Well...he's usually very friendly and outgoing", Lisa had said.
But Jonas wasn't having any of it!
"How about giving mummy a hug, then?" Lisa had tried.
"Ms Bramble, clearly he would be more inclined to give physical affection to family members", the doctor had scoffed.
"Is he intending to do number two on my carpet?" the doctor gasped.
"I assure you, he's fine with using the potty", Lisa had said.
"Quite", the doctor had replied, unconvinced.
"Ms Bramble", the doctor had finally said. "I will be analysing the information I have gathered today and get back to you within a week."
"But to be quite honest, I think little James-"
"Jonas", Lisa corrected him.
"Jonas here is quite a normal little boy. Just give him a football and he'll be fine."
The doctor followed them out to the reception.
"Ms Bramble, there's nothing to worry about."
"Thank you", Lisa had said, but she still had a nagging feeling there was something the doctor had missed.
But by then Jonas had fallen asleep in one of the chairs and the doctor had called another parent and child into his room.
Just my luck they introduced toddlers right after I aged him up from baby! So now I'm stuck with flashbacks only for him. But yeah, he is adorable! As are all toddlers.
Definitely but it is even cuter to see him as I've been following your story for a while now