I came home one night after a hard day putting out fires.
And this was what was waiting for me.
“Allison!” Hetal came running down the stairs. “Where are we going for my birthday?”
I just stopped and stared.
Hetal’s eyes narrowed. “You DID remember my birthday, didn’t you?” she asked.
“Of course I did,” I lied. “You have the best birthday present ever waiting for you.”
Hetal clapped her hands greedily. “What?”
“A new house!”
“You have to be kidding me.”
That wasn’t the kind of response I was expecting, but it was too late now.
I got the family together, and we said goodbye to our cramped little duplex. I was so glad to be getting out of this place.
I sent Hetal ahead with the kids, and I walked the kitties to their new home.
Kitties have a rough time with change. They just need a little bit of extra loving care at a time like this, you know?
Our new house was waiting for us.
Sure, it looked a little bit creepy, but it was nighttime. I would look a whole lot better in the morning.
While I was still walking to the new house, Hetal had her birthday.
Her mom was there to greet her to middle age, but I missed it. She was never going to let me live that down, new house or no new house.
The kids explored the new yard while they waited for me. Such a lot of space to run and play!
When I showed up, I brought a cake with me from the store so that we could at least have a little something to celebrate Hetal’s age up.
Hetal wasn’t terribly grateful. “I am not sitting here” she exclaimed. “This chair has something growing on it!”
“Then don’t,” I said.
So we all sat in the living room.
Hetal said that living in a dump like this was going to turn her to a life of crime.
“I’m going to fix it up,” I said. “It’s going to look amazing. You’ll see.”
Jin and Caitlyn knew better than to say anything, so they just ate their cake.
Branden, meanwhile, got really attached to Raspberry.
And we seemed to have mislaid Deanne.
Christof appreciated the dining table at least. He’s not scared off by a little bit of scuzz.
“I can’t believe I’m sleeping in this,” Hetal whimpered as we curled up together in the damp, creaky bed.
“We’ll be living in the lap of luxury,” I said. “You’ll see.
Jin and Deanne slept on the upstairs landing with a lot of old clutter.
And the kids got bunk beds! See! Just as good as at the old house.
And everything looked better the next morning.
Hetal and Jin went to explore the shed at the back of the property. They almost needed a machete to get there.
I headed to City Hall to receive another award for capturing gnomes, but something went very wrong.
Fortunately, when I got home, Hetal found my new look a real turn-on.
Not that I’m complaining.
At least the kitties liked the new place.
Caitlyn and Christof got used to it and played hide and seek in the waist-high brambles.
I put Deanne’s potty out in the dirt-floor garage.
At least it kept the stink away from the house.
And then it was Branden’s birthday!
We all cheered while he transformed….
…. into some kind of horrible, distorted monster.
Then the kids all climbed up through the floor.
To sleep in the air over my bedroom.
Even the monster-that-was-Branden.
And then I woke up.
“Allison? Allison? Are you ok?” Hetal was shaking me awake.
“Uh, what?” I mumbled.
“You were crying out in your sleep. Are you ok?”
I blinked. I was in our shabby, but comfortable, bed in our cramped but comfortable duplex. It had never looked so wonderful. “I think I just had a nightmare,” I said.
Hetal pulled me close. “Oh, baby!” she said. “Let me scare the monsters away,”
Whew.
Now that I had a chance to do this over, I was NOT going to forget her birthday.
———-
So here’s a little bit of retcon from the lot and the playtime I lost. Plus all the messed-up glitch shots I was able to take. I didn’t bother to track fails. Branden peed himself once, and that’s the only one I’m sure of.
Allison used a LLAMA to go to City Hall to collect an award, and she got the fail that turned her into a tragic clown for a day. It was pretty funny. She stumbled around everywhere, but I couldn’t catch it in a screenshot.
And it occurs to me that I never went back to get that award since I restored from save. The opportunity has been sitting at City Hall for about a sim-week. I need to go do that.
Oh, I can't tell you how much I loved this glitched house! I like how you made it part of the story so that we could see it. Those pics are fantastic! (And, the more I see of the house, the more it reminds me of my own house.)
Also, clown-Allison! I didn't even know that could happen! (Is that Seasons? I need Seasons.)
Why did Allison have to carry the kittens to the new place? Can they not ride with the adult cats?
The Gllitched house looks pretty messed up! I have the floor sleeping mid-air problem too usually it is because you moveobjects on a person and they think even when you turn it off they can still go though stuff. Make sure to wish Hetal and Branden a happy birthday from me ;)Great chapter even though it was all a "dream" 😀 😀 😀
I really want to know more about your real house now!
Actually the tragic clown thing is from Supernatural. They have that transporter booth called the LLAMA that you can make yourself if you're a high-level supernatural something. There are several of them around Moonlight Falls. One of Twallan's mods makes them general routing objects, so when Allison goes to City Hall, sometimes she uses them. There's some small chance that the spell will backfire and turn the victim into a tragic clown.
I have no idea why Allison walked to the new place with the kittens. Branden and Caitlin each carried one in the car.
That house was fabulous.
Stupid Blogger ate my reply. Let me see if I can reproduce it, because I'm stubborn.
Good grief. I HOPE I didn't glitch the house myself. I DID use moveobjects on some of the sims while I was remodeling because with a household this large, someone is always standing in the exact place you want to put something. However, this particular visual glitch reset itself after I reloaded. The big problems I couldn't get a screen shot of, which was that sims sank through the floor in the middle of the house rather than using the stairs, and then the disappearing into the unroutable oubliette.
My current theory is that I put the lot on some kind of world object or spawner that screwed something up. Which is sad. The house might be fine if I put it someplace else. But for right now I'm going to play and not try to move again.
Actually, the house looked pretty nice from the outside. The inside was a little creepy, but fitted the family. Too bad they lost it. But like it's already been said, I love how you made that a part of the story. Re-reading this chapter partly makes it sound like a dream, too! It really does 🙂
What a great way of showing the nightmare house whilst staying true to the story. Is it bad that I'm almost glad you had so many glitches because this was hilarious!