Winner, Winner!

Most of the sims were up early on the twentieth morning, tense and excited about the end of their competition.  Some breakfasted (on hotdogs, of course) at dawn on the back porch. 

Many felt sure that the final scores would be revealed at Morning Meeting, but Deb, attired in Super Sim headgear for the second day in a row, had to break it to them that in fact they were still being scored on their activities that day, and that the big revelation wouldn’t occur until that evening.  There would be a closing barbecue at the park, during which one of the Directors would make the announcements.   Deb admitted that she was feeling almost ill  with nerves at having to wait for the remainder of the day.

Next, Keira had to present the remaining books or forfeit her job points. 

The volumes received varied receptions.

Aileen was scornful about her book, titled Aileen Is Just Another Word For Alien.

Alysha pointed out that if she wasn’t a laid-back kind of woman, her book, Alysha, Alysha, Not A Fisha, would be grounds for some serious response.

Braylen was anything but pleased at being given Accent On The Ridiculous: Braylen’s Story.

Somewhat to the surprise of the rest, Efrain’s volume  was inoffensively titled Minstrel of HRS:  Efrain’s Book. Efrain was enthusiastic, and Keira seemed almost conciliatory as she presented it to him.

However, the greatest uproar came when Keira revealed the title of her own book:  Princess Keira Saves the Day! 

After the books were distributed, the discussion turned to plans for the following day.

 

After a day filled with often tense and distracted activity, the HRS sims gathered at the park in Willow Creek for the announcement.

The representative for the Directors, Kayleigh Nevarez,  called all the sims over to the gazebo for the formalities.  She welcomed everyone and congratulated the House of the Rising Sim household for successfully completing the competition. 

She began by calling Alysha up, and announcing that she was the third place winner, and would receive 10,000 simoleans as her reward.  “Sweet!”  Alysha exclaimed.  “I feel like I really put up a good fight and I’m very pleased with my performance.”  It was noticed that Aileen, who had been putting out a huge effort in the hopes of overtaking Alysha, had to turn away to hide the tears which sprang to her eyes.

Next, Kayleigh called Reece up to the stand, and congratulated him on taking second place.  His prize, she announced, would be a cool $25,000.  Reece, his habitual gloom completely missing, responded with gratitude and a beaming smile.

Now came the moment of truth, not that any of the HRS sims were in any doubt of the results. 

Called up to the stand to be recognized as the grand prize winner, Braylen made a brief speech.   

He scoffed at the idea that the results had been determined solely by his ability to gain points through selling his paintings, and instead attributed his win to his charisma.  Kayleigh announced that his prize would be $50,000 plus the House of the Rising Sim property! 

Some of his soon-to-be former competitors couldn’t resist mocking his dramatic self-congratulations.

Now, Kayleigh announced that the remaining contestants would each receive a consolation prize of one hundred simoleans for each point he or she had accrued throughout the contest!  Each sim was given an envelope with a breakdown of their total point tally, and therefore the amount which they would be taking with them upon leaving the HRS. 

Once the presentation was finished, the sims enjoyed one last barbecue together.  They relaxed with friends who had come to see the dénouement of the contest.

Some sought one another out for some tentative future planning.

Aileen didn’t eat or chat.  She sat alone inside the gazebo, pretending to look at her book while striving to regain her composure.

At 11 pm, the household returned to the HRS in their customary state of exhaustion.  It had been a long, stressful day and they were all glad to see it end.

They climbed into their now familiar beds, reflecting that they were at last finished with sharing rooms.

Keira, perhaps succumbing at last to the strain of the past 20 days, sobbed quietly into her pillow for a while, then at last fell asleep in the tub while taking a relaxing bath.

Final Rank	Contestant Name	Final Score	Prize
1	Braylen Baxter	87	$50,000 plus HRS property
2	Reece Britton	82	$25,000
3	Alysha Salas	81	$10,000
4	Aileen Starkey	46	$4600
5	Deborah McMahan	46	$4600
6	Hunter Lyons	45	$4500
7	Keira Bryan	31	$3100
8	Efrain Pruett	29	$2900