…a child …HIS child He has come full circle now. He understands that he has been guided to this place; to Bebe. And he was shown his own ugly past for the sole purpose of preparing him for this moment. But despite all the strides he has made over the weeks, he is not ready for this. He can understand Bebe’s hesitation in telling him. The deeds of his past open up like a book in front of him. He can see every broken family, every jilted lover, every callous rejection of friendship. It has lead him down a desolate road. And … Continue reading Chapter 1.15 – Crossroads

Much has changed since Julian’s revelation at the graveyard. He left that night with a mental image that still haunts him. It is not of the reaper, or of his mother’s last moments. It is the memory of his father’s tarnished smile upon discovering his wife’s demise. It was nothing short of evil. But that, in itself, is not the issue. He had no control over his father’s actions. The thing most haunting him is the reailzation that with every passing town, he is becoming more like his father; self-gratifying, cold, and unfeeling. He has lived his life drifting from … Continue reading Chapter 1.14 – Revelation

Bebe just isn’t feeling herself.   Her normal workout has been cut short over the past few days as fatigue sets in much sooner than normal. Parts of her body hurt that ought not hurt, and it begins to concern her.   To make matters worse, her daily visit to her parent’s house has become more stressful now that her dad has become an elder. His mind, which was put together wrong to begin with, is slipping even more. Her mother also suffers from her own brand of insanity, making the visits even less enjoyable.   It is in Bebe’s nature … Continue reading Chapter 1.13 – Illness

Julian stands frozen in time before the statue of the reaper. The statue itself is not particularly shocking; sims walk past it every day. This is a graveyard, after all. But for Julian, it has the same effect as walking into a busy street without paying attention to the cars. Even as a statue, sight of the reaper is enough to unsettle an unsuspecting sim. And he realizes, rather suddenly, that this sighting was not his first. He had seen it once before, when he was a small child. The part Julian does not realize is the nature of the … Continue reading Chapter 1.12 – Memories

What I have been trying to convey with Julian is this battle of the mind against the heart. Many times we experience this same thing in our own lives; going with what we want rather than what we need. Every home has that one place where all the “junk” is tossed. Sometimes it’s a drawer. Some folks need a whole closet. While others still, fill up an entire garage with junk. The problem comes when it’s time to find that one thing among the clutter. Julian’s memories have been treated much like that somewhat-important might-be-useful-later stuff. The issue, it seems, is … Continue reading Chapter 1.11 – Clutter

When Bebe first did her research on the house, she uncovered Julian’s birth records. His birthday, for some reason, was one of those unusual things that just stuck. At one time it might have been useless knowledge. But for today, it turns out to be a blessing. Julian’s night shift ends in the early morning hours while Bebe is asleep. But tonight, she makes an effort to stay awake so that when he gets home, she can surprise him with a birthday cake. But Julian is some weird kind of silent, and when she gets out of bed to look … Continue reading Chapter 1.10 – Surprise

What happens when a sim who has always followed his instinct decides to second-guess it? And if his instinct has always lead him to disappear before forming the bonds of friendship, then how would ignoring it, just this one time, possibly change things? Julian is a sim who fits that description exactly. For the first time in his life, Julian decides to stay despite his instinct telling him it is time to leave. Of course, he dismisses the possibility that he may actually be becoming attached to Sunset Valley. Nevermind the compelling window to his mostly-forgotten past; that property on … Continue reading Chapter 1.9 – Instinct

For Bebe, the sudden appearance of Julian in Sunset Valley has brought memories from her childhood back into the forefront of her mind. They are wonderful memories. She and her friends would spend entire days running in the huge field where the tiny log home sit perched on the vista. To a child, this is the stuff of high-romance and love stories. But what follows after Julian’s gracious invitation to live there quickly brings her crashing back down to reality. There is a decidely dark side to Julian that sometimes gives her the creeps. Almost like a light-switch, he will … Continue reading Chapter 1.8 – Reality

I have been saving two of Julian’s wishes for this post; to fight Hank, and have WooHoo with Pauline. I thought they would make for a revealing continuation to the Hank/Pauline subplot. Many days have passed since Julian’s encounter with the couple, and Julian learns that they have since reconciled and had a baby. Since the concept of family carries very little meaning in Julian’s life, he has no problem getting past the moral consequences of what he is about to do. Plus, he knows that both Hank and Pauline share the same commitment issues as he. And the times … Continue reading Chapter 1.7 – Infidelity

It is nearly dark by the time Julian and Bebe arrive at the cottage.   It is a tiny log structure built at the far back corner of an enormous lot. The vista is spectacular and Julian, still speechless, can only stand in slack-jaw wonderment.   Bebe can see he is awestruck and replies as if he has spoken. She says in a nearly whispering voice, she believes, somehow, that this place is being saved for something miraculous. Julian tries to speak, but his head is spinning, and he thinks it best to just listen.   Bebe opens the door and … Continue reading Chapter 1.6 – Home

Julian’s flight from the public pool ends back at the beach. Running had become something of a lifestyle, so it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But he really doesn’t like how this was going to make him look – like a guy with serious issues. But it doesn’t matter. Hank, Paula, Sunset Valley, and that nutcase, Bebe …all meaningless to him. Besides, what kind of kid would waste time dreaming about living in a worthless shack? He decides to spend the rest of the day here at the pier. The fish are biting, and he’s … Continue reading Chapter 1.5 – Flight

News travels pretty fast in a small town like Sunset Valley. And before long, Julian the drifter had every ear buzzing with gossip. But the news isn’t all bad for him. Promotions within the mob have come easily as a result of his brazen exploits, and he now works at night; switching between the public pool and the beach to sleep the day away. Bebe, a regular daytime visitor to the pool, seems to have taken an unusual interest in Julian. She is somewhat younger than him, probably just emerging from her teens. It wasn’t an attraction thing, he decides. … Continue reading Chapter 1.4 – Throwback

Julian spends a few hours in the Sunset Valley jailhouse while he’s processed for burglary by the local do-good-er, Hank Goddard. Afterwards, he scopes out the museum for his next gig. This gives him time to try and figure out where he had made a mistake. But more importantly, it gives him time to build up a lot of negative vibes toward Hank. Being nabbed from work was a huge embarrassment, and Julian had to reestablish his credibility within the mob. And he already had the perfect plan. Hank and his fiance, Pauline Wan, live directly across the street from the beach. Pauline was … Continue reading Chapter 1.3 – Revenge

Julian wants to spend all of his time fishing. But since that would make for some pretty tedious story telling, I push him along to begin accumulating some wealth. When he returns to the beach from his first day of “work” as a thug, he finds that he is not entirely alone. An attractive young lady sim practicing chess on the beach has found her way into Julian’s sights. I imagine she, like Julian, enjoys her favorite passtime surrounded by the hypnotic crashing of the waves on the shore. But she would have been better off practicing somewhere else tonight. … Continue reading Chapter 1.2 – Crime

Creating a story for Julian was a lot of fun. The Challenge rules of random character traits gave me virtually no chance of conceiving a predetermined back-story. Everything had to be done after his creation. He ended up with the following traits – Commitment Issues, Daredevil, Angler, Kleptomaniac, and Absent Minded. Not a great mix of personality traits. I immediately paired the Absent Minded and Fishing traits to form a character flaw. Julian loves fishing. He loves it so much that it preoccupies his mind most of the time. He will forget what he is supposed to be doing as … Continue reading Chapter 1.1 – The Challenge