David and Kacey arrive at the mine entrance and can hear Reid laboring inside. Kacy is still spooked by the feeling of dread that is hovering around her and she clings to David as they make make their way carefully into the maze of broken beams and fallen rubble. David can see a light ahead through gaps in the fallen boulders. A rhythmic clanking sound echoes through the impossibly narrow entrance. Reid seems to be chipping away at the already unstable cavern walls. Their careful navigation in almost total darkness takes quite awhile as they try to avoid disturbing the creaking wooden … Continue reading Chapter 2.20 – Madness

Julian and Bebe offer their polite congratulations to David and Kacey after announcing the engagement.   David has always assumed that his parents came to dislike Kacey after they found she was sneaking into the house to be with him when they were both teens. Yuki was never shown that particular skeleton in the closet, so she is excited to have Kacey as her future sister. But his parents clearly, were still not keen on the idea. He wished he knew what it was about her that still bothered them. David had wanted to invite Reid over to share the … Continue reading Chapter 2.19 – Accusations

Bebe insists on a small celebration for her birthday. She wants to be with family rather than a big crowd of people, as she delicately states, to become an old battleaxe.   The four of them spend the evening by the fire talking about good times of the past. Both Julian and Bebe share stories about their own childhoods. Bebe talks a lot about playing around the old cabin as a little girl. David is somewhat surprised that he shares such a common childhood with his mother. He too spent most of his childhood playing on the bluff overlooking the … Continue reading Chapter 2.18 – Emotion

Author’s note: The time-crunch that happens during this post spans somewhere in the neighborhood of two or three years. It is key to understand that David is not doing well during this time. — David finds himself back home in Sunset Valley feeling unsure of what he should do next. Ciara spent the better part of two days with him sightseeing. It was just like it used to be. But the time goes far too quickly for them to savor any of it. While David respects the conviction to her faith, he has some difficulty comprehending it. Her choice to sacrifice … Continue reading Chapter 2.17 – Time

The flight to Paris is long, and David’s nervousness about the reunion makes it even longer.   He brought a few medical books he has to study for his job interview at the hospital. The sooner he can get out of bedpan cleaning, the better. The jet touches down and David is taken by taxi to the resort where he is staying. It is a beautiful city with more to see than he can fit in this trip. His first stop is a visit to one of the more upscale shopping locations to purchase gifts for his ladies. The gifts … Continue reading Chapter 2.16 – Reunion

David has been an interesting sim to play. His traits (Loves the Outdoors, Excitable, Angler, Great Kisser, Easily Impressed) do not really reveal any glaring character flaws, but I have come up with a few neat little quirks. Angler is the family trait. Paired with Loves the Outdoors, David just loves to hike, fish, and explore. I have used Excitable and Easily Impressed together to form slight flaw. David is gullible, naive, and is easily swayed into going along with whatever his friends ask him to do. He normally plows headlong into these situations without thinking of the consequences. He … Continue reading Chapter 2.15 – Heartache

David’s birthday arrives too fast for Julian. It seems like just yesterday that Bebe first took him to the cabin on the bluff. He recalls the night of his own birthday, when David was conceived. That night changed his life, and now David was entering into manhood. But he just cannot find the happiness through his concern over what he has seen unfold.   The usual suspects are present for David’s birthday. There is his best friend, Reid, who is something of an social misfit, and his ever-present sister Kacey. Reid is scary smart. And Julian gets the sense that he is … Continue reading Chapter 2.14 – Ancestors

David starts to become nervous as Kacey’s late night visits occurr more and more frequently.   She seems to thrive on the danger of getting caught more than she does on seeing David. But her nighttime excursions always seem to find her crawling through David’s bedroom window. He reminds himself that it could be somebody else’s window, or worse. David knows that despite the thrill she seems to get from sneaking out, she would not risk the consequences for any other reason.   Then the morning comes when they both become a little too reckless for their own good. Kacey comes over very late. She … Continue reading Chapter 2.13 – Reckless

Yuki finishes her first day of school and sees David sitting alone on the playground. She darts to the playground and climbs the side of the tower with ease to hang out with her brother.   Having spent so much time with Bebe and David in her formative years has given her an acute sense of empathy. And she can sense that David has been working through some kind of problem. She also knows that there has been some kind of problem with her mom and dad as well. But while the empathy is there, she is still a child and … Continue reading Chapter 2.12 – Affections

The idea of Julian returning to the lifestyle of roaming from town to town, stealing what he wants and sleeping on park lounge chairs sickens Bebe.   She realizes in an instant that what she’s been doing to Julian has accomplished nothing. The concept of forgiveness is at the very core of her beliefs, and she gains a sudden new appreciation for how difficult such a thing can really be. Deep inside, she believes it was grace that brought her and Julian together. By claiming she has forgiven him while continuing to hold on to her anger and denying him … Continue reading Chapter 2.11 – Legacy

David cannot stop thinking about the pictures of the old cabin he found at the library.   He has captured every page of the diary with his cellphone camera and moved the images to his laptop. He has been studying the entries and other photos to find out who they were. Since his discovery contains no new information about the abandoned mine, Reid seems uninterested. But David continues to read the diary. It had apparently been written by a girl about his age, whose family helped establish Sunset Valley.   It is a week of birthdays for the Barimen household, … Continue reading Chapter 2.10 – Forgiveness

David and Ciara exchange letters frequently over the fist weeks of her “exile”. He can only imagine what life is like for her, stuck living at school. Writing letters is no substitute for talking on long walks or hiking together through the woods, and although the tone of their writing may not reflect it, they miss each other terribly. One thing is for certain, their common birthday is still far away. He wonders sometimes whether their young relationship can last that long.   The situation at home has improved, but still is not normal. It makes him angry to see … Continue reading Chapter 2.9 – Settlers

The situation at the Barimen home is not well. Julian immediately talks with David to explain and apologize for creating more turmoil in the family. David is old enough to understand the ugly facts involving Yuki.    But what he does not understand is the whole drama surrounding how she ended up living with them. Based upon what he has pieced together through eavesdropping on his parents’ ice-cold conversations; Yuki is Julian’s daughter, and Pauline Wan somehow conned him into caring for her. It takes time, but the worst of the turmoil eventually subsides. Bebe is a Good sim, and … Continue reading Chapter 2.8 – Exiled

I found Ciara’s traits fascinating (unlucky, loves the outdoors, loser, hopeless romantic), and so made sure that David falls head-over-heals for her. With both unlucky and loser traits, she is just a tragedy waiting to happen. Weeks turn into months for David and Ciara. David learns firsthand that misfortune really does follow Ciara around. But he finds ways to compensate for her terrible luck and inability to succeed. Ciara’s sister, Fiona despises her younger sister and accuses her of purposefully breaking things around the house and just generally being a loser. But David knows that none of it is intentional, … Continue reading Chapter 2.7 – Consequences

Three o’clock Friday arrives and finds David a jumble of nerves. He has spent countless hours with Ciara, and so he asks himself why tonight is any different from any other time. But it doesn’t change the feeling of butterflies he has in his gut. Obviously, it is because he took their friendship to a new level in asking her out on a date. He wishes he could be as calm and confident as his dad, Julian. But even as a small child, he had always been prone to get over-excited about things.   David takes a cab to Ciara’s house … Continue reading Chapter 2.6 – Dinner