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The Noble Legacy ~ A TS4 Random Legacy
foxx_fennec
Posts: 761 Member
This is a story thread for a random legacy challenge I am doing.
The Backstory
Ever since she was a child, Amanda Noble had her sights set on the sky - and beyond. No idea seemed too big or too difficult to achieve, and "impossible" was not in her vocabulary. Her ambition carried on into adulthood, when she left home as soon as she could afford to to pursue her dream of becoming an astronaut, a dream many Sims would consider to be too far-off or unrealistic to achieve.
Her brother, Anthony, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. As a teenager, he showed great interest in video gaming and playing guitar, but had very little interest or motivation for anything else, including school and finding a job. This, too, continued into adulthood, and he continued to perpetually put off "adult responsibilities" such as getting a job or even moving out of his parents' house. His parents eventually decided enough is enough and told him he had to move out as soon as he could find a place to live. With no source of income and no motivation to actually find a job, he ended up moving in with his sister rather than finding a way to support himself.
The Household
Amanda Noble
Age: YA
Aspiration: Nerd Brain
Traits: Ambitious, Genius, Family-Oriented
Career: Astronaut (Space Ranger)
Marital Status: Single w/Help
Anthony Noble
Age: YA
Aspiration: Musical Genius
Traits: Geek, Creative, Noncommittal
Career: Professional Gamer
Generation 1 Rules
Goal: Fulfilled (founder must complete first aspiration)
Miscellaneous Fun: Health Nut (Sims may only eat healthy food and must exercise 3+ hours per week)
Children: 2
Succession Laws
The succession laws are going to be randomized every generation, but the following will be used to determine the second-generation heir:
Equality
Traditional
Merit
Brood
The Backstory
Ever since she was a child, Amanda Noble had her sights set on the sky - and beyond. No idea seemed too big or too difficult to achieve, and "impossible" was not in her vocabulary. Her ambition carried on into adulthood, when she left home as soon as she could afford to to pursue her dream of becoming an astronaut, a dream many Sims would consider to be too far-off or unrealistic to achieve.
Her brother, Anthony, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. As a teenager, he showed great interest in video gaming and playing guitar, but had very little interest or motivation for anything else, including school and finding a job. This, too, continued into adulthood, and he continued to perpetually put off "adult responsibilities" such as getting a job or even moving out of his parents' house. His parents eventually decided enough is enough and told him he had to move out as soon as he could find a place to live. With no source of income and no motivation to actually find a job, he ended up moving in with his sister rather than finding a way to support himself.
The Household
Amanda Noble
Age: YA
Aspiration: Nerd Brain
Traits: Ambitious, Genius, Family-Oriented
Career: Astronaut (Space Ranger)
Marital Status: Single w/Help
Anthony Noble
Age: YA
Aspiration: Musical Genius
Traits: Geek, Creative, Noncommittal
Career: Professional Gamer
Generation 1 Rules
Goal: Fulfilled (founder must complete first aspiration)
Miscellaneous Fun: Health Nut (Sims may only eat healthy food and must exercise 3+ hours per week)
Children: 2
Succession Laws
The succession laws are going to be randomized every generation, but the following will be used to determine the second-generation heir:
Equality
Traditional
Merit
Brood
Origin ID: foxx-fennec
0
Comments
The day began as usual for Amanda - wake up, get dressed, make breakfast - but her morning routine was soon interrupted by a knock at the door.
'I wonder who that could be,' she thought to herself. 'I don't often get visitors.' She opened the door and saw that her 'visitor' was none other than her twin brother, Anthony, who was now standing on her front porch with a backpack, a suitcase, and his guitar case.
"What's with all the stuff?" she asked, curious. It wasn't too unusual for him to show up unannounced, but he would never bring more than some handheld games or his guitar with him.
"Mom and Dad said I have to move out. Do you mind if I crash at your place for awhile?" If it had been anyone other than Anthony, it would have been a shock to her how casually they said that, but she knew him well enough that she would have been surprised if he'd moved out of his own accord. She'd always had a feeling he was going to end up living with their parents until they finally kicked him out.
"Sure, make yourself at home." She considered how she could politely explain that she didn't want to be stuck having to provide for her deadbeat brother. She did enjoy spending time with him, and she'd appreciate having his company rather than living alone, but she didn't want to be stuck doing all the work while he contributed nothing and just mooched off of her. "There's some rules you have to follow if you want to live here, though. I'm not going to do everything for you. If you're going to live here, you'll have to help out with the housework. I also don't have much money, so-"
"Wait," he interrupted. "Don't you work at that space-whatever place?"
"Yes," she replied, "But I'm only an intern. Interns don't get paid much. You're going to have to get a job so we can both afford to live comfortably. Promise me you'll look for work?"
"Maybe," he replied, much to her disappointment. She knew 'maybe' meant he wouldn't even bother. He was too predictable.
"Well, it's your loss if you don't. If we can't afford food for both of us, I won't be the one who goes hungry."
Having Anthony constantly around was, as expected, not always a good thing.
"Remind me again how this is supposed to help you with work?" he asked during a game of chess that Amanda had insisted on playing.
"Chess is a logical game," she explained, "And having a good understanding of logic is important if I'm going to be an astronaut someday."
"I still don't get it," he responded. Amanda sighed. It bothered her sometimes how her brother failed to understand simple concepts, such as the obvious connection between chess and rocket science.
"There's a lot of science involved in being an astronaut," she continued. "It isn't just about going into space. You have to know a lot about engineering, aeronautics, spaceflight, astrophysics - all sorts of things."
"And where does playing chess fit into all this?"
"It fits in because it's logical," she repeated.
Even more irritating was his idea of how he could contribute financially.
"Anthony, are you ever going to get a job?" she asked him one day when he was, once again, playing Blicblock. He wasted so much time on that plum game.
"I don't need to," he replied with a smirk. "I've got a better idea."
'Great,' Amanda thought to herself. 'What crazy idea has he come up with this time?'
"Professional gaming tournaments. People win tons of money in those! I'll enter some tournaments, and I bet I'll be earning more money than you in no time!" Amanda briefly wondered if he was actually being serious. Knowing him, he was.
"Get a real job, Anthony." He seemed taken aback by her suggestion.
"Look, I'm sorry if I seem like I'm being rude, but I don't earn enough to support both of us. I need you to get a job. It's for my sake as well as yours."
"I told you, I've already found a way to earn some money," he reminded her. "If it makes you feel any better, you can think of it as a job. That's basically what it is."
"If you manage to get rich by playing video games, that's great, but you can't rely on that. You need to get a real job, one with a steady income. Please, promise me you'll look for a job, at least for now."
"I'll think about it." There was that indefinite reply again, indicating he had no actual intention of following through. Typical Anthony.
Anthony met a nice girl at the lounge! Unfortunately, she didn't seem to interested in hearing him talk about video games...
She was, however, much more interested in hearing about guitar solos.
The two of them really hit it off after that, as they conversed excitedly about their shared love of music. He even promised to dedicate a song to her, and, eventually, invited her over to come visit.
~
"So, who's this?" Amanda asked when her brother returned home with someone new. She was surprised to see he'd brought a girl home with him.
"Amanda, this is Annabelle," he replied.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Annabelle," said Amanda.
"And you," replied Annabelle. "I take it you're Anthony's wife?" She looked as if she was trying to conceal disappointment.
"Are you kidding me?" said Amanda. "He's never taken an interest in girls - or anyone, for that matter."
"So you are...?" She looked confused, like she was having trouble figuring out why the two of them might be living together if they weren't romantically involved.
"His sister," Amanda said. Their conversation was soon interrupted when Anthony offered Annabelle some tea.
"Thanks, but I don't drink hot drinks," she responded. "I'll just have some water instead."
The evening continued to go well, and Annabelle was quite impressed by how well Anthony could play the guitar.
The time seemed to fly by a little too quickly, though, and it was soon time for them to say goodbye when they realized it was already half past four in the morning. Where had the time gone?
When Amanda returned home from work the next evening, she saw that Annabelle was visiting again.
Had Anthony actually gotten a girlfriend? He hadn't mentioned anything about them dating, but they did seem to be awfully close, especially since they hadn't known each other that long. There had to be something going on between the two of them. Amanda sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV, needing something to help her unwind from the stresses of work, but she kept a curious eye on the nearby 'couple' all the while. Something was definitely up between them.
Or perhaps Amanda was just jumping to conclusions. Annabelle definitely seemed to be coming on to him, but maybe Anthony was just oblivious to that. That wouldn't be at all surprising, and describing what would happen if hostile robots took over SimNation was not exactly a method of flirting.
Curious, she made up her mind to ask him about this after work the following day.
~
"So, what's up between you and Annabelle?" asked Amanda. "Are you two, you know, dating, or what?"
"What? It's not like that at all! She's just a friend." Yeah, sure. Amanda didn't believe that one bit. Still, he insisted. "Where the plum did you get that crazy idea from?"
"I've noticed how sweet you've been on her," she explained. "Inviting her over, chatting for hours, holding hands, serenading her - you've got a thing for her, haven't you?"
"I told you, Sis, we're just friends. Nothing more. Nothing at all."
Amanda still was not convinced.
By this point, it had been awhile since Anthony had moved in with Amanda. The two of them were over halfway through their YA years by now.
"Anthony, how much longer are we going to be stuck in this plum house?" she asked one day, clearly not happy. "We've been stuck here for years. I never liked this house to begin with. It's too small. There's always a draft coming in when it's cold out. Everything keeps breaking. The roof leaks. The front door hardly even shuts properly. I'm tired of living here! We need a decent place to live."
"Are you even listening?"
"Huh?" How typical. He'd been so engrossed in his computer games that he hadn't even noticed she'd spoken a word.
"Can't you ever listen when I'm speaking to you?" she responded, annoyed. "I said we need to get a decent place to live."
"What's wrong with this place?"
"You just don't get anything, do you?" She could not comprehend how he could see nothing wrong with living in such a run-down house. "There's nothing not wrong with this house!"
"I think it's pretty okay," he replied.
"It's 'pretty okay'? What does that even mean? What's so 'okay' about this place?" She shivered suddenly as a cold draft blew in from the window. "It's freezing in here! Honestly, how does it not bother you to live like this?"
He just shrugged. "I'm not the one wearing shorts."
"Anthony, we are moving," she said sternly. I don't care if you don't see a problem with this house, because I do, and I don't want to live here any longer."
"Why didn't you just say that from the get-go?" he asked, finding her ranting to be unnecessary.
"Because there's a problem," she answered. "I was hoping you would see why we need to move, so that maybe you'd actually try to pitch in and help."
"So what's this problem?" he asked her.
"Well," she began explaining, "I've found a house for sale in Oasis Springs. It isn't a great house, but it's a step up from where we're living now, and it even has a backyard!" Talking about the new house quickly shifted her mood from irritated to enthusiastic. "I haven't been to see the house yet, but the description and the pictures in the real estate listing make it seem promising. There's just one problem... we can't afford it."
"Is that really a surprise?" he asked rhetorically. "We don't exactly have much money. We should just stay here. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" Her expression shifted back to one of annoyance.
"We can still afford to eat and pay the bills," he clarified. He was right; they were financially stable, despite being somewhat poor. However, Amanda's main concern at the moment was not whether they had enough money for necessities - they could afford that - but having enough to afford a nicer house.
"Yes, but we need a better place to live," she replied. "I've found us a place, but we're nearly 27 thousand simoleons short."
"Twenty-seven thousand?!" he repeated with shock. "That's way too expensive!"
"It's only 'way too expensive' because you don't work," she told him. "I've calculated how long it would take me to save up the money we need, factoring in costs for food, bills, and miscellaneous expenses. At my current salary, there's no way I could even come close to affording it in my lifetime."
"Then it is too expensive," he said again. "That's it, we're not moving. We can't afford it." He searched for a way to end the conversation before his sister uttered the phrase that inevitably awaited him.
"You need to get a job." There it was: the dreaded j-word. While Amanda didn't understand how Anthony could be so nonchalant about their living situation and his unemployment, he didn't understand why she had to be so uptight about it. They were poor, but not dirt poor. They could afford to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. He didn't see why he should be expected to earn more money when they already had what he saw as enough. Still, he decided not to argue on this. He knew that would get nowhere with her.
"I'm trying, okay?" he replied, desperately hoping his vague response would satisfy her for the time being. Of course, it didn't.
"Oh, really?" she responded. "Are you still thinking entering gaming competitions counts as a 'job'? I don't consider wasting my money on entry fees for competitions you keep losing counts as trying to get a job." She had hit the nail right on the head there. Despite putting in his best efforts, he had lost more money than he had won. The fact that he'd had to borrow money from her to enter those competitions surely only aggravated her further.
"You'd have better luck if you spent that money at a casino," she added. Ouch. That comment went too far.
"I've won a couple times..."
"Oh, big deal," she said sarcastically. "You've won, what, 60 simoleons total? Must I remind you you've spent more than that for all the entry fees? I don't blame Mom and Dad for kicking you out. I give you a free place to live, free food, and I even lend you money when you ask for it. I keep the house clean, I fix things when they break, and I cook most of our meals for both of us. What do I get in return? Nothing! What do you do to help out? Nothing! You're just a good-for-nothing deadbeat loser who never does anything useful! If you want to keep living here, you need to get a job - a real job - and start pulling your own weight around the house. I'll give you a week. And I'm not lending you any more money until you repay what you already owe me - with interest."
With that, she stormed out of the room, without even giving him a chance to respond.
After she'd had some time to cool down, Amanda found herself feeling guilty about her earlier conflict with her brother, feeling that perhaps she had been a bit too harsh with him.
'Was it right for me to threaten to kick him out?' she wondered. 'He doesn't even have anywhere else to go, does he?' To make things worse, she'd let her words add insult to injury. 'Why was I so rude to him?' It was unlike her to speak so rudely to anyone. She could come off as rude at times by speaking too bluntly, sure, but to be intentionally rude was something she almost never did. Anthony had pushed her too far this time, though, and she'd allowed her emotions to get the best of her and said things she now regretted. Her scathing comments echoed throughout her mind:
'You'd have better luck if you spent that money at a casino.' That was not even true. She'd had no reason to say it, and she hadn't even truly meant it. That comment would definitely have been better left unsaid.
'I don't blame Mom and Dad for kicking you out.' While it was understandable why their parents had kicked him out, that was not the sort of thing that should be said in anger. That surely only made him feel worse.
'You're just a good-for-nothing deadbeat loser who never does anything useful!' True as that statement was, it was unnecessary and just plain rude. She had already gotten her point across clearly enough; there was no need to heap a load of insults on top of everything else she had already said.
Amanda knew she would have to apologize if she wanted to have any hope of making things right. Facing him so soon after their recent confrontation and having to own up to her mistakes would be difficult, but it had to be done. She got up and knocked on the door to his room. "Anthony?" No response, just loud music blasting from the other side of the door. She knocked louder. "Anthony, can I talk to you?" Still no answer. He must not have wanted to talk to her just yet. She couldn't blame him for that; if he had treated her the way she'd last acted toward him, she wouldn't want to speak to him, either.
'What have I done?' she asked herself. She knew she had messed up big time.
~
Amanda attempted to make conversation with Anthony over breakfast the next morning. He acted as if she wasn't even there.
Anthony didn't know what to do. He invited Annabelle over after his sister had left for work, hoping she could perhaps help him out or offer some guidance for his predicament. Unfortunately, this was not the case. When he explained the situation to her, she kicked over the trash can.
She went on to angrily explain that she should not be expected to provide for him, either.
"Is that all you ever saw in me? That I have money and you don't? That's shallow, Anthony. You should never lead a woman on when you just want her money." Annabelle was definitely jumping to some hasty conclusions there. He had never been after her for her money - or even after her, really. He only saw her as a friend. A friend he'd had a brief love affair with, which hadn't really gone anywhere anyway, but still just a friend nonetheless.
"Annabelle, I didn't-"
"I don't want to hear any excuses." She cut him off before he had a chance to explain what was wrong with her reasoning. "I've had it with you. Goodbye."
Anthony was left feeling disappointed that Annabelle had not been willing to help him, and a bit upset by the loss of a friend, but mostly just confused as to why she had acted this way all of a sudden. Was it really that big of a deal to her if he was once again in the predicament of needing a place to stay and had no money of his own? At least he was wise enough to not pursue a serious relationship with her when he had the chance. He knew that would've only meant even more trouble down the road.
Anthony realized he really didn't have any option now but to get what his sister would call a "real job". Reluctantly, he took to the internet to search job listings.
He was thoroughly disappointed with his job search. What options did he have? Work in a mailroom? Work as a store cashier? Flip burgers at McSim's? Everything he could do sounded so boring and unfulfilling. Anything that looked remotely interesting required qualifications he didn't have. There had to be a better option than any of this.
Gaming competitions were out of the question. If he could win one of the professional competitions, then maybe he could prove to Amanda that he didn't need a "real job", but he'd need money for the entry fee, and she'd already made it clear she wasn't going to lend him any more. If anything, asking her for more money would just get him kicked out even sooner.
'What else is there...?' He nervously scanned the room, hoping to notice something, anything, that could help him make some income besides working a dead-end job. He found his answer.
How hard could it be to establish a career as a professional musician? All he needed was for the right person to recognize his talent.
~
Soon after, Amanda returned home from work. Her boss had promoted her to Technician for her hard work. However, while most Sims would be excited about getting a promotion, Amanda was not so satisfied. Before she even entered the house, she re-did her calculations.
'Still not enough!' she thought to herself, frustrated. Despite getting the promotion, the new house remained an unachievable goal. Perhaps she should have been happy about being promoted, but, to her, it was yet another reminder that adult life was not nearly as great as she'd once imagined it to be. When she first left home, she had imagined a future with her dream job, a nice house, and a good husband and children. Now, over a decade later, she was still stuck doing low-paying, mundane jobs for the people whose jobs she wanted, her house was barely habitable, and she was living with no one but her brother, whom she could hardly stand to live with at times. She had not had the time to focus on finding a relationship, and she definitely had neither the time nor money to raise a family. When she was younger, her dreams had seemed so achievable, but it had become increasingly obvious over the years just how unrealistic her goals were.
'It's okay, I'm still young... kind of. I still have over half my life ahead of me,' she mentally reminded herself, trying to remain rational, but her attempts to frame her situation in a better perspective did little to ease her troubled mind. She understood now why so many adults were dissatisfied with their lives, something she'd failed to understand when she was younger. It had become increasingly clearer to her that hard work alone was not enough to ensure a successful and fulfilling life. It would take some incredible stroke of luck for her life to become anything more than mediocre.
'Maybe I'm just overthinking this too much,' she realized. Maybe she just needed someone to talk to to help her realize that she was being overly pessimistic right now and that everything would turn out okay after all. Unfortunately, she had been too focused on her career over the past several years that she had neglected to have any sort of social life. The only person she'd had who she could confide in was Anthony, and now even talking to him wasn't an option, with the rift she'd created between them with her outburst yesterday.
Amanda hadn't realized it before, but she was, effectively, alone in life.
Trying to talk to Anthony was probably her best bet. She only hoped he would be willing to listen. Fortunately, he was. He didn't seem to care much about what she had to say, but at least he wasn't completely ignoring her like the last time she had tried to speak to him.
So she talked, and she complained. A lot. She complained about work, about finances, about the house (again), about her lack of a social life, about pretty much everything she could think of to complain about, besides his lack of employment. As important as it was for him to find work, she did not want to risk causing more conflict between them right now. When she had finished, she did feel a bit better. Not a whole lot better, but letting out the years' worth of frustration and dissatisfaction that had been building up inside of her did help to alleviate her stress a little.
Anthony didn't know what to say. He knew he should say something to her; she seemed rather stressed out and unhappy. He just didn't know what he could say to help her. It didn't help that he'd hardly paid attention to anything she had said. Talking about his job search wasn't going to help; he knew she wasn't going to be happy with him until he actually had a job, so that was out of the question.
He remembered the comment she had made yesterday about having to do most of the cooking. "Would you like something to eat?" he asked, hoping she would appreciate the gesture.
"Are you offering?" she answered, sounding tentatively optimistic. "If you are, I'll have... whatever you know how to make, I guess."
Anthony was determined to make his sister the best macaroni and cheese dinner she'd ever tasted. It couldn't be too hard, right? After all, there were directions on the back of the box.
"Don't burn down the kitchen!" she called to him as he poured the pasta into the saucepan. He wasn't sure if she was just teasing him or if she genuinely didn't trust him to use the stove.
"So, how is it?" Anthony asked her when he had finished cooking.
"It's actually pretty good!" Amanda replied. She couldn't help but smile. Not only had Anthony offered to cook a meal for her, but the meal he had prepared went far beyond her expectations. Granted, her expectations were quite low, but his food honestly was not bad like she had anticipated. "Have I ever told you how grateful I am to have you here?"
That question took Anthony by surprise, but he was glad he'd managed to cheer her up.
"Hey, guess what this is!" Anthony said during breakfast one morning, placing a royalty check on the table.
"A check?" Amanda examined it more closely. Had he actually managed to finally earn some money?
"A royalty check!" he announced proudly. "One of my songs made it on the radio!"
"It's only for 108 simoleons," she pointed out. "That's a quarter of what I make in a day." Anthony hadn't expected her to be so critical of his accomplishment. He thought she would be happy he had finally brought in some income.
"It's better than nothing."
"It is, but it still isn't enough." Nothing was ever enough for her, was it? "I'm sorry, but you do need to get a real job." There it was again, that 'real job' phrase. She was never going to let this drop, was she? Trying to perpetually put this issue off had never worked, and trying to find a job had not worked either. There was only one way out of this now, and that was to have the conversation he'd been continually avoiding.
"I can't," was all he managed to say in response. 'What kind of plum answer was that? "I can't"? Why would she even believe that?!'
"You... can't?" She looked confused for a moment as she tried to make sense of his reply. "Why didn't you say so before? I can help you look for a job if you need help." Clearly, she had misunderstood what he had tried to say."
"It's not that; it's just-" He paused, unsure if he should continue.
"It's just what?" she asked. She looked concerned now.
"Never mind. You wouldn't understand." He hoped enough vague answers would put an end to her questioning and nagging for now. He didn't expect her to understand that he felt he wouldn't be able to hold down a job. He didn't have the same ambition and hardworking attitude that she did.
"What is it?" she asked again.
"Nothing you should be concerned about." He needed to put an end to this while he had the chance. "Hey, did you hear about the sequel to The R.E.F.U.G.E. that's coming out soon?"
"Anthony, don't change the subject. Tell me what's going on."
"It's nothing, really. I'm just a good-for-nothing deadbeat loser who does nothing useful and deserves to be kicked out. You said so yourself." Would that get her to quit asking?
"Anthony, look, I'm sorry I said all that the other day. I didn't mean any of it, honestly. I've felt guilty about it since the day I said it. Please, just... just forget I said any of that. I'll stop bothering you about getting a job, too..." That was unexpected, and she seemed... defeated. What had gotten into her? "I should be heading to work now," she added. "I'll see you later."
~
Amanda didn't seem any happier when she returned home.
"Amanda, are you okay?" Anthony asked her that evening. She didn't answer, but she clearly was not okay. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing..." That was an obvious lie. In truth, she just didn't see the point in going into it. She had nothing to say that she hadn't already complained about too much lately.
"If this is my fault, then I'm sorry. I'll figure out what I can do to make things better, okay?" He wasn't certain what that would entail - what could he really do anyway? - but he could tell she needed the reassurance right now.
"It's not just you," she muttered. "I just need some time to myself right now..."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked before leaving.
"Don't worry about me. That's all."
Twists In Time And Space (Updated December 2nd 2018. New discord server!)
Bob Bobson (Updated August 12th 2019)
"Amanda!"
'What does he want?' she wondered. She wasn't feeling any better this morning than she had been last night, and all she wanted right now was some time alone.
"Amanda, come on out here!" He was going to be persistent until she came out of her room, wasn't he?
"What is it?" she asked, walking towards the main area of the house. The cake on the table caught her eye. "Is this for me?" she asked.
"Happy birthday!" Anthony exclaimed with a smile.
"Thanks..." She managed a small smile as well.
"Come on, Sis, blow out the candles!"
"You have to blow them out, too!" she reminded him. "On three: one... two... three!" The two of them blew out the candles at the same time. For a moment, it almost felt as if they were children again. The memories of childhood birthday celebrations took Amanda back to a much simpler, happier time. For that moment, it didn't matter that they were getting older... or did it?
That happiness was fleeting, soon crushed by the reality of aging. Was it possible her life was already halfway over? She hadn't yet achieved anything she had hoped to! She wondered if perhaps she should focus on starting a family while she still had time. Her career wasn't taking her where she had wanted, anyway. She couldn't quit, of course, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to not dedicate quite so much time and effort toward it.
"Do you think I'd make a good mother?" she asked. "Do you think it would even be reasonable for me to adopt a child? I mean, I don't have a husband, and I have a job I need to keep, so being a stay-at-home mom isn't an option. I want a child, though; I really do. I don't want to be old and childless! I don't know what to do, Anthony; what would you do?" She became more fretful with each sentence she spoke.
"Whoa, calm down, we're not that old yet," he reminded her, but he didn't know what else to say in response to these sudden questions she hadn't brought up before. "You still have time to figure this out. Don't worry about it for now."
"I guess you're right..." she replied, though she wasn't really satisfied with his response.
~
A few months and one house expansion later, Mariana was welcomed into the family.
"Miss Amanda- I mean, uh, Mama," she began, still adjusting to having someone she could call her mother. "Do you have any books we can read?" Amanda could tell already that she and her new daughter were going to get along well.
"Have you ever read the Lord of the Swings?" Mariana shook her head. "I've got a story you'll love." Amanda fetched the book from the bookshelf and read to Mariana the classic tale set in the faraway playground of Middle School, in a land filled with children and wizards, elves and dwarves, orcs and dragons, and Eduardo Biggins' quest to destroy the One Swing before Byron the Bully could get his hands on it.
"What happens next?" Mariana asked when they had reached the end of the book.
"Next? Um..." Amanda was, admittedly, not very good at coming up with stories, or creative ideas in general, but she couldn't deny her daughter's request, so she began to make up a sequel. Mariana loved it. Some parts of the story were honestly kind of ridiculous - after all, Amanda was just trying to continue it with whatever she could think of on the spot - but these parts simply elicited smiles and laughter from Mariana.
Soon, the story was no longer an attempt at telling a serious story. Amanda and Mariana took turns telling parts of the story, adding in whatever silly and nonsensical things they could think of.
By the end of it, the two of them were nearly in tears with laughter. Having a child and telling silly stories with her was already helping Amanda to re-live the joys of childhood that had vanished over the years. It was amazing how quickly a child could change one's life for the better.
Thank you so much!
Twists In Time And Space (Updated December 2nd 2018. New discord server!)
Bob Bobson (Updated August 12th 2019)
That evening, Amanda decided to teach Mariana how to play her favorite game, chess. She was learning quite well, until...
"You can't move your knight there! Knights move in an L-shape, remember? They can't move diagonally."
"He's not just a knight; he's a Magic Knight!" Mariana declared. "And Magic Knights can move anywhere they want!" Amanda realized that perhaps Mariana was a bit too young yet to take chess seriously for the entire duration of a game, but she tried to get her to stay serious.
"No, he's just a knight, so he can't move there. How about you move him here instead?" She pointed out a valid move that would move Mari's knight out of danger from the queen she had attempted to capture without placing it where it would be threatened by any of Amanda's other pieces.
"Sorry, Mama..." Mariana replied, disappointed. She returned her knight to its original position and considered the move her mother had suggested.
"You know, there is one way he can move there, if he really wants to take my queen..." Amanda added, figuring she could sacrifice one serious game of chess in order to keep her daughter amused.
"What's that?" Mariana asked, perking up again.
"Well, a knight can become a Magic Knight, but only if a Magic Princess shares her powers with him," Amanda explained. "Will Princess Mariana share her magic powers with her loyal knight?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Mari enthusiastically. "And your queen is dead!" she added triumphantly as her 'Magic Knight' swatted the queen off of the table, knocking over a few other pieces in the process.
"Not so fast!" Amanda told her. "Queens don't die that easily. She is now..." She reached under the table to retrieve her 'dead' queen. "A Zombie Queen! And she's coming after your king!" She placed her 'Zombie Queen' on her side of the table and began to slowly move it towards Mariana's king. Mariana quickly reorganized her remaining pieces so that her king was barricaded behind them.
"He's safe! You can't get him!" The Zombie Queen pushed through the wall of pieces guarding the king anyway. "He's, uh... he's hiding! He's still safe!" She placed her king under the table.
"Removing your king means you surrender, remember?" Amanda reminded her.
"Nuh-uh! He's still standing!" Amanda looked under the table to see the king. She gently nudged it with her foot so it fell over.
"He surrendered. I win!"
"No fair!" Mariana retorted. She flicked Amanda's king off the table. "Your king surrendered, too! Now I win, too!"
Having made such a mess, with chess pieces scattered across the front porch, Amanda asked Mari to help her pick up the pieces and put them back in their places for the next game.