Stories Forum Specific Guidelines:
Using lots of images or hitting us with an absolute novel? Please be courteous and use a spoiler tag for your post. Thanks!
Using lots of images or hitting us with an absolute novel? Please be courteous and use a spoiler tag for your post. Thanks!
Don't miss the For Rent Developer Deep Dive Stream this Friday, December 1st! We've got a watch along thread here, so come on over, neighbor!
November 24th - It's time for our Friday Highlights! You can check them out here!
Moving Mountains - The Dumont Legacy (updated 05/20)
Asaoyoru
Posts: 247 Member
Hi there!
I finally decided to hop onboard the legacy challenge train and wrote the first chapter - others are already in the making - of my very first attempt at a legacy challenge. I will be following some of the traditional rules, but I'm mostly doing this to finally get into writing a bigger project. I am aware of the fact that the beginning is very cliche and probably not the best, but as I said, I'm practicing my hand at writing at the moment. Especially since I'm not a native speaker, I tend to make mistakes. Hopefully you don't have to cringe too hard.
For anyone who might be interested, here is the link to the blog I set up for it: Moving Mountains - The Dumont Legacy
Otherwise, I will also post it in here, so let's get started!
1.01. Welcome to San Myshuno!
It was a bright day when Amélie Dumont stepped out of her bus and into the new and terrifying city of San Myshuno. Remembering the green fields and the soft hills of Champs Les Sims, her hometown, she had to admit that the big city was something else entirely. A big knot of doubt and panic began to build inside her chest and she frowned, gripping her suitcase more tightly in her small hand.
Am I doing the right thing? I know so many have done this before, but …
She had traveled nearly across the whole world just to see the amazing site of the spice market before her. The sounds of people speaking and yelling, the incredible, bouncing cacophony of life that was vibrating from each colorful inch her bright blue eyes could see and the delicious smell of foreign delicacies just waiting to be tasted. It was everything she had ever dreamt of. The city was the right place for her, but was she good enough for it?
Amélie had never been much of a shy girl. Being both girly and a bit on the geeky side, she usually had no problems finding contacts and building a group of friends, no matter what label they decided to put on themselves. Some would even go as far as calling her an insider, because while she wasn’t naturally outgoing, she somehow managed to be part of everything and would end up right in the middle of amazing people. That was also part of the problem. She wanted to be an amazing person, too. Being surrounded by her friends, who knew what they wanted to do with life was great and so inspirational and she loved everyone she had to leave behind so dearly, but she had always felt that she was trapped. How could she learn to shine and test her talents when everybody was so sure what they wanted? She was never able to find a label that was big enough to suit her.
While Amélie liked makeup and beauty, she wasn’t much of a doll and usually dressed in casual clothes. Growing up at her parents’ farm the attire came natural to her and while she was able to apply a killer eyeliner she also had no problems digging in the dirt and getting her nails dirty. Enjoying her mother’s awesome homecooking, she had developed a fine taste early on, which later blossomed in her becoming quite the foodie, especially concerning nectar. Only later, during her teenage years, she found a new passion in music and called herself a music lover. Sometime she would be able to play an instrument, but for now, she could afford barely anything.
Nearly all of her funds were used up when she bought a plot of land in the middle of the city – renting prices were ridiculous! She had barely enough to afford basic living and knew that her first days would consist of being one of the hobos roaming the streets. But at least she was only a few steps away from the spice market.
After she had unpacked everything and managed to get her shower, her cooler and her tent set up, she felt a bit less like she was going to throw up any moment. Stroking the smooth texture of her tent, she took a big gulp of breath and took a few steps away from her “house”, deciding to spent her afternoon in the spice market. Her hands were shaking and she desperately tried to remember everything from her lessons in Simenglish, so that she would be at least able to order some food she was so desperate to try. She didn’t come far, however, because right after she took a few steps in, clutching the money in her pockets because she was a bit afraid of pickpockets, she heard the loud voice of a woman calling over to her.
“Hey, you! What do you think you are doing here?”
Amélie’s breath hitched and she froze right where she was before she gathered the courage to slowly turn around …
I finally decided to hop onboard the legacy challenge train and wrote the first chapter - others are already in the making - of my very first attempt at a legacy challenge. I will be following some of the traditional rules, but I'm mostly doing this to finally get into writing a bigger project. I am aware of the fact that the beginning is very cliche and probably not the best, but as I said, I'm practicing my hand at writing at the moment. Especially since I'm not a native speaker, I tend to make mistakes. Hopefully you don't have to cringe too hard.
For anyone who might be interested, here is the link to the blog I set up for it: Moving Mountains - The Dumont Legacy
Otherwise, I will also post it in here, so let's get started!
1.01. Welcome to San Myshuno!
It was a bright day when Amélie Dumont stepped out of her bus and into the new and terrifying city of San Myshuno. Remembering the green fields and the soft hills of Champs Les Sims, her hometown, she had to admit that the big city was something else entirely. A big knot of doubt and panic began to build inside her chest and she frowned, gripping her suitcase more tightly in her small hand.
Am I doing the right thing? I know so many have done this before, but …
She had traveled nearly across the whole world just to see the amazing site of the spice market before her. The sounds of people speaking and yelling, the incredible, bouncing cacophony of life that was vibrating from each colorful inch her bright blue eyes could see and the delicious smell of foreign delicacies just waiting to be tasted. It was everything she had ever dreamt of. The city was the right place for her, but was she good enough for it?
Amélie had never been much of a shy girl. Being both girly and a bit on the geeky side, she usually had no problems finding contacts and building a group of friends, no matter what label they decided to put on themselves. Some would even go as far as calling her an insider, because while she wasn’t naturally outgoing, she somehow managed to be part of everything and would end up right in the middle of amazing people. That was also part of the problem. She wanted to be an amazing person, too. Being surrounded by her friends, who knew what they wanted to do with life was great and so inspirational and she loved everyone she had to leave behind so dearly, but she had always felt that she was trapped. How could she learn to shine and test her talents when everybody was so sure what they wanted? She was never able to find a label that was big enough to suit her.
While Amélie liked makeup and beauty, she wasn’t much of a doll and usually dressed in casual clothes. Growing up at her parents’ farm the attire came natural to her and while she was able to apply a killer eyeliner she also had no problems digging in the dirt and getting her nails dirty. Enjoying her mother’s awesome homecooking, she had developed a fine taste early on, which later blossomed in her becoming quite the foodie, especially concerning nectar. Only later, during her teenage years, she found a new passion in music and called herself a music lover. Sometime she would be able to play an instrument, but for now, she could afford barely anything.
Nearly all of her funds were used up when she bought a plot of land in the middle of the city – renting prices were ridiculous! She had barely enough to afford basic living and knew that her first days would consist of being one of the hobos roaming the streets. But at least she was only a few steps away from the spice market.
After she had unpacked everything and managed to get her shower, her cooler and her tent set up, she felt a bit less like she was going to throw up any moment. Stroking the smooth texture of her tent, she took a big gulp of breath and took a few steps away from her “house”, deciding to spent her afternoon in the spice market. Her hands were shaking and she desperately tried to remember everything from her lessons in Simenglish, so that she would be at least able to order some food she was so desperate to try. She didn’t come far, however, because right after she took a few steps in, clutching the money in her pockets because she was a bit afraid of pickpockets, she heard the loud voice of a woman calling over to her.
“Hey, you! What do you think you are doing here?”
Amélie’s breath hitched and she froze right where she was before she gathered the courage to slowly turn around …
0
Comments
When Amélie turned around, she saw a woman with brown hair and tanned skin. The young frenchwoman watched her, hands tembling. Did she do something wrong already? But instead of shouting at her, the other woman approached with fast steps.
She’s pretty … Amélie thought as her gaze locked on her. Halfway through the woman’s walking towards Amélie, the stranger’s face burst into a broad and welcoming smile which sent shivers of relief down Amélie’s back. Suddenly everything felt okay again. The woman was about as tall as herself, maybe a bit taller, and her attire screamed San Myshuno. It was modern and colorful and represented the image of the city as a melting pot for different cultures very well. Amélie found herself admiring the light blue earrings in the form of feathers that gently swayed while the woman walked. This is how she had dreamt about the colorful and interesting people who lived here! And now one of them was coming to say hi!
„Sorry, did I spook you? I just saw you walking away from that camping site. My name is Jesminder Bheeda. Are you new here?“
Jesminder. Her voice was smooth and she spoke without accent, which was something Amélie struggled with. She opted for a polite nod and smiled. How exciting!
„Hello. My name is Amélie. I have just moved in. Well, so to speak. Excuse me, but why did you approach me?“
Her smile didn’t fade even though Amélie thought that the question might be rude. Maybe unusual curiosity was normal in the spice market, after all? „Well, I’m just nosey as that I suppose. I live in one of the apartments here. Always glad to meet new neighbors. Do you want me to show you around? Teach you the ropes?“
Amélie couldn’t believe her luck. Maybe her friends were right and she really was a bit of an insider, meeting the most interesting people right away wherever she went … The first stranger was not only really nice, but also offered to show her around.
„I would be glad if you could.“
Amélie spent the afternoon together with Jesminder, who was excellent at showing her everything there was to know about the spice market. Jesminder taught her all about the food vendors and told her about her own family. Apparently, she was married to someone named Arun Bheeda who worked at a software company that was just starting up. As soon as Amélie mentioned that she liked to program in her spare time, Jesminder’s eyes lit up and she promised that she would get Amélie a job … Which was something Amélie appreciated, even though she had secretly wished to start out as a chef somewhere, as she would love to open her own restaurant one day. Well, for the time being, she shouldn’t be picky about where the money for that dream came from, right?
Jesminder also told her, quite excited, that she was pregnant and therefore not on the job for a while. That job was as a mixologist who usually worked in bars. A pregnant belly was not really good for attracting customers and promoting alcohol, however. Amélie understood that, of course. But that also meant that Jesminder had a lot of freetime and was bored a lot … which meant she would spend a lot of time with Amélie and show her everything about San Myshuno! Hopefully Amélie didn’t seem too eager, but she was really fascinated …
Just because Jesminder couldn’t go didn’t mean that Amélie shouldn’t go to a bar, though. The young lady was actually quite excited to see the nightlife of San Myshuno. She opted for the karaoke bar as she saw an arcade machine there when she passed through with her new friend. Jesminder had told her that she should shine at her job interview tomorrow with programing AND gaming skills. The latter was a bit rusty, so why not try mixing it with socializing?
Turns out that she was quite popular with the guys … A lot of them came and talked to her. One of them was especially persistent: His name was J Huntington III. That sounded kind of weird to Amélie, almost royal. She wasn’t really interested in him, however. Romance was not why she came to San Myshuno. She wanted to make friends, sure, but she didn’t need relationship drama to tie her down for now. So far, she was happy and content on her own.
After the disastrious and annoying pick-up lines she had been thrown at, she decided that maybe she should try somewhere else. Jesminder had told her about a cool lounge with live music and she was itching to hear all about the musician culture in San Myshuno firsthand. Amélie headed home to dress up and found herself suddenly on top of the world …
I love this place! The view! The wine! The music! I’ll definitely come here as often as possible.
From here, she could oversee the wide townscape of San Myshuno with its suburban neighbour Newcrest. Amélie had heard that there were plans for settling and building in that town, too. Maybe it would soon also be part of the colorful landscape she saw here? Sitting at a modern glass table, with a glass of wine in her hand and her bright eyes overlooking the horizon, she suddenly had no doubts about her stay anymore. This was the life she always wanted to have. And she experienced it all on her own. A little sting of homesickness poked her heart, but she shook it off, feeling fresh and brave once more. Just how she felt when she set foot into the plane that brought her to San Myshuno. There were so many things to be seen, heard, felt and done! And through it all, she would build herself a new life and become one of the amazing people she had admired all her life!
The next morning, after a few too many glasses of wine, she also thought that maybe next time she should take care not to party too hard. Her first day at work would be great with her head pounding and her throat feeling like she ate about ten pounds of hay. Hopefully Arun wouldn’t mind her frequenting the water-cooler … But what exactly happened last night?
Oh yeah. That.
~ Generation 2: Abbey Conway ~