The sims woke up on the 21st day with a sense
almost of unreality. After 20 days of
living together in the House of the Rising Sim, 20 days of scoring and
competing, being observed and monitored every second and following detailed
directives, it was all over.
Of course, they’d all given a lot of thought to what they
would do when the competition ended. But
somehow, now that the moment had actually arrived, it felt so much more
challenging—so portentous, almost frightening.
For the first time in 20 days, no wake-up calls came. Some sims woke early, others late, but all on
their own timetables.
Finding Hunter in the upstairs hall, Deb hesitated to bring
up the discussion they’d had the previous evening at the park. Perhaps he hadn’t been serious? Perhaps he had changed his mind? She knew that after the extended togetherness
of the competition, he was longing for some time alone….
Tentatively, she flirted a little.
His response was gratifying.
She brought up her goal of pursuing her career as a chef,
and he countered with his idea of trying the tech field while working to get
into better shape.
When she asked where he’d live, now that he could choose
anywhere he liked, he just smiled. “Where is that restaurant of yours going to
be?” he asked lightly. “That’s where I’m planning to try first.”
They embraced joyfully.
Nothing was certain—their relationship had had plenty of ups and downs
and awkward moments, but they were both eager to start anew in a home of their
own, where they could figure things out without the constant presence of other sims.
While Deb hadn’t made the big stake she had hoped for, to
allow her to start a restaurant of her own, she had definitely become
comfortable cooking for others and had refined her skills and developed some
recipes she felt excited to show off.
The Directors had forwarded an offer from a restaurateur right there in
Willow Creek, asking her to join his staff.
While she would be starting at a humble level, she felt confident that
she could advance quickly and do well.
The cash both she and Hunter had received for their participation would
be a welcome buffer, allowing them peace of mind while they became established
in their careers.
Just then, Alysha wandered into the hall. Deb wholeheartedly congratulated her on her
third-place finish and, when queried, explained her plans.
Alysha hugged her warmly and wished them both
well. “Keep in touch, bro! I mean, we’re like a team, right! We’ve got to have each other’s backs!”
Downstairs, Hunter ran into Reece. “Way to go, man! You really charmed those Directors!”
“What are your plans, Hunter?”
“Well, Deb is planning to take a job at a restaurant here in
Willow Creek. We’re going to try living
together."
"It could be good, right?”"
“But we’ll stay in touch.”
Reece grabbed a bowl of cereal, then continued into the dining room, where he found Braylen
in the former Super Sim chair, chatting with Aileen, Alysha, and Efrain. Pointedly sitting at the far end of the
table, Reece silently addressed himself to his cereal.
Even so, his presence seemed to anger Braylen, who very soon
got up and stalked out of the room.
“Don’t worry about me!” Reece smirked. “With the prize money, I don’t have a care in
the world.”
“I think that Hunter and Deb might have wedding bells in
their futures, though!" he continued. "Not for me, I don’t want to get shackled yet!”
He and Alysha laughed together.
“I’m going to get a new car right away,” Alysha said. “At least, as soon as I can figure out where
the car dealerships are. I haven’t seen
one, the whole time we’ve been here in Willow Creek. Weird, isn’t it?”
“What are you planning, Efrain?” Reece asked. The others were aware that Efrain had come in
last, score-wise, and therefore had the least amount of simoleans to start his
new life with.
Efrain looked at Alysha and Aileen for a moment, and then
said, rather awkwardly, “Well, you know, Braylen asked us if we’d like to stay
on here in HRS for a while. He said it
was a big house, too big for just one man, and he’d be glad of some company,
and wouldn’t charge us much rent.”
“And I said I’d do some cleaning,” Aileen agreed.
“We thought it was a good deal,” said Efrain, “and so we
decided to go for it. It doesn’t have to
be forever, but I didn’t have any firm plans and it seemed like it would work
out well for now. So we’ve reached an agreement.”
“What about you, Reece?” Alysha asked.
“You know, that whole ‘whiny baby’ thing has really got me
thinking,” Reece answered. “That was
really embarrassing, knowing it was airing on national TV, and everyone would
see it. I’m going to move to Oasis
Springs, I think, and spend some time thinking about my future before I make
any firm decisions.”
“Keep it real, bro!” Alysha said, giving him a hug.
“And Efrain’s going to try to make it as a musician,” Aileen
added. “He and I might even work
together if I get a job tending bar at the Lounge.”
“What about Keira?” Efrain asked. “I haven’t seen her at all this morning.” But none of the others could answer him.
No one had been around early that morning when Keira woke
from her troubled sleep. Still feeling
tense and uneasy, she started her solitary breakfast in the hall, then, feeling
as if she was still being watched, moved into the library to eat at the
bar.
She was alone in the room—but the voices wouldn’t stop.
After a while, she started answering them.
It turned out that her intuition had been right—she was
still being observed.
The ambulance
pulled up quietly, with no sirens, and Keira was half-persuaded, half-forced to
get in. No one would hear from her for
several months, while she “rested” at a facility outside of Oasis Springs,
still under 24-hour surveillance.
Gradually she began to recuperate from the stress of her time at
HRS. With good care and carefully chosen
medications, she began to feel stronger than she had done for a long time, and
to gain a sense of mental clarity which had been sadly absent from her life. After careful thought, she agreed not to sue the HRS directors, and to accept her six months of care in lieu of further settlements.
Six months after Day 20, she climbed out of a taxi in front
of her own small, rented home in Oasis Springs.
Although her grandiose ideas had dissipated, she still felt determined
to make her way as an author. Would she
have it in her, to succeed?
