1. Opal! The Ryman Legacy Chapter 3B – Family Holiday! It’s called parental supervision, people! Gordon! Underpaid By Mzyra Waiter!
2. Although the children did come back to the campsite every now and then to sleep, there was little parent-child interaction, replaced instead by much parent-parent interaction… Both appropriate and inappropriate. It was probably for the best that the children did go out – the mental scarring could have been truly awful.
3. But the kids were running out of places to go and things to do – Three Lakes was a lot smaller than it looked. Some of the hotels they passed looked good though…
4. “Oh my gosh, I have found actual perfection in building form…” M: “Come on Sean, we can’t stop here.” “But-! But it’s so beautiful… Swimming pool, a gym, TVs…” M: “We can’t afford it, Sean!” “It sucks not being rich. I’m going to be rich and come here one day!” K: “Yeah, when hell freezes over and we’re best friends. Or when they start paying people for being stupid – then you’ll be rich!” “Shut up, Kimmy!”
5. Eventually they found somewhere new however, even if all it had to do was darts. S: Must. Not. Throw. Dart. At. Sister! So hard to resist…! K: “Come on, miss already! Fail like you have with everything else! Like you did with Opal!”
6. T: “Isn’t it unfair to be mean to Sean about not getting his first kiss when you haven’t had one either, Kimmy?” S: “Yeah, you’d fail if you tried to kiss anyone – heck, guys probably run screaming if you come within 10 feet of them!” K: “I could get my first kiss easily if I wanted it.” S: “Oh yeah sure, it’s easy for you to say that, you just know you’ll crash and burn, even worse than I did. The guy would probably puke at the thought!” K: “We’ll just see about that, Seany…”
7. Kimmy took her anger out on the appearance of the lodge they were in, but it was probably better than taking it out on the staff. *Grumble* “Stupid brother… I could easily have any guy I wanted, but who’d want them? They’re all almost as stupid as he is anyway… Oh, this isn’t helping! Where’s my family?!”
8. K: “Yeah, this is much better!” M: “Kimmy, get the heck off of me! I’ll tell Mum and Dad when we get back!” K: “And what are they going to do about it? They’ve never done anything before!” M: “They’ll take away your fridge and grilled cheese privileges!” K: “Pfft, I can create sandwiches out of thin air, fool, I need no fridge!” M: “…. Guys? A little help here?”
9. M: “Seriously? Sean…? You owe me so many times it’s not even funny!” S: “Just stand here and smile kids, we can pretend we’re not related to them.” N: “But Terry looks too much like Kimmy!” S: “Fine, we’ll be part of a two-child family then. Like I’ve always dreamt of…” M: “Ugh, you guys suck so much!”
10. The younger kids weren’t much better behaved though. The Ryman children as a unit were demolishing the lodge so badly it was surprising nobody came and asked them to leave and never come back… But the sibling bonding on most parts was great.
11. “Heat! Finally!” Living in tents in a permanently autumn/winter climate was getting to Sean. K: “If you set the building on fire I’m going to tell everyone at school you’re a pyromaniac!” “Well everyone knows you’re a psycho already, so it’ll only put me level with you! Probably less so, since I’m not obsessed with freaking sandwiches!” K: “NEVER diss the sandwiches, fool!”
12. It was at this point that Gordon Nott, who somebody had brought home from school once before, strolled in and Kimmy saw her chance to prove her twin dead wrong. “Hiiiiii Gordon, how are you? It’s me, Kimmy, from school, remember?” G: “Um yeah, the last time I saw you you spent three hours insulting me…” “I wasn’t insulting you, I was just lightly teasing… I guess my flirting ability isn’t quite as good as I thought it was…” G: “You- you were really flirting with me…? I thought you hated me…” “Don’t be silly…”
13. “In fact, I think you’re dead cute – andthefactthatyoulookjustlikemytwinbrotherdoesn’t creepmeoutatall!” G: “Um, thanks. I never really got the cheese thing, but it kind of adds to your mystique – you’re like one of those unattainable people that make you want them even more…” “Well maybe – for you – I am attainable…” Kimmy struggled to stop her skin crawling. And not just because it was creepily like chatting up Sean – urrrrgh.
14. Outside: *Grumble* “This was so not in my job description. What part of ‘waiter’ do they not understand…? And since when do we get animals around here anyway?”* * I’ve had sims dig holes on vacation community lots while looking for maps before, but assumed they just disappeared when you left and came back again, not that anybody had to fill them in!
15. Back inside: Kimmy’s internally vomiting. G: “Wow, how do you manage to do that so well?” “It’s the amount of time you spend kneading bread – perfect for developing a massage technique.” G: “Wow. You grilled cheese sims deserve much better publicity than you get, huh?” “Damn straight!”
16. G: “I’d love to stay some more Kimmy, but I have to get back. See you around, right?” “Yeah, sure…” Dammit! Now I’m going to have to act all romantic again…. Somebody really needs to invent real brain bleach…
17. Kimmy returned to find her family being all lovey-dovey as well. Again. It was sickening. What was wrong with the world?! “Can we go now? Otherwise I’m grabbing the darts and throwing them at you.”
18. T: “This holiday’s so much fun, Mummy!” C: “I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Terry. No problems with your big brother and sisters?” T: “Not really. Me and Nicky had a pillow fight in the middle of a lodge! It was great!” C: “Um, right. I hope you weren’t annoying the staff and other visitors?” T: “Nah, probably not!” C: “Well okay… How about you go off with your siblings some more then? Your father and I need to… talk some more…” T: “Yay!”
19. Whilst out again, Kimmy ran into another familiar face. “Opal! How have you been?!” O: “Um, okay… My head stopped bleeding since the last time I saw you.” “Yeah, good times…” O: “What do you want, Kimmy?” “Well you know my stupid twin brother’s here as well and I’m sure if he saw you it’d tear him up all over again, which would be really funny-”
20. O: “It’s not happening, Kimmy!” “Oh come on, it’s not like you like him-!” O: “I may not feel that way about him, but I don’t dislike him and I’m not about to ruin his whole holiday just so you can laugh at him! I put him through enough already.” “Oh go on-!” O: “NO, Kimmy.”
22. K: “You’re a loser, Sean!” S: “Ah, Kimmy get off of me!” K: “No! I’m going to noogie you so hard that you get worse brain damage than you were already obviously born with!” S: “Marina! Help!” M: “Ah, don’t the flowers smell nice here, kids?” N: “I don’t think she’s going to help you, Sean. Maybe you should have helped her before.” S: “I can’t do anything about that now, can I?!”
23. T: “Nicky, why is Kimmy so mean to Sean?” N: “I don’t know, she’s mostly like that to everyone. But she picks on Sean a lot because – did you hear? – he got rejected for his first kiss!” T: “Really? I don’t remember that…” N: “You were just a toddler then.” K: “Yeah and then Sean cried his wussy little eyes out for the rest of the day, like the pathetic baby that he is!” S: “You still haven’t had your first kiss either, you repulsive witch!”
24. S: “OW! You hit me!” K: “You deserved it!” S: “What for?! You’re always insulting me and I don’t punch you!” K: “You deserve it for being a loser and existing! And I’m going to have had my first kiss by the end of this holiday, unlike you!” S: “Yeah, sure, whatever. Keep dreaming…” M: “Happy thoughts, kids, happy thoughts. Violence is bad for you and all that…”
25. N: “I think you can get your first kiss, Kimmy, Sean’s just bitter. Can I have a hug?” K: “Eww, heck no. You’ll give me… child germs or whatever.” N: “But you’re my big sister!” K: “So?” N: “We’re meant to love each other!” K: “Look, you can love me if you want to, but I don’t do the whole ‘love’ thing, kay?” T: “Whee! Having no parents around is great!” N: “I AM going to hug you Kimmy!”
26. K: “We’ll just see about that, shall we?” N: “Uh, what are you doing? Ahhhhhh! Put me down, Kimmy!” K: “I can’t put you down when we’re going this fast- I could let go though…” N: “Noooooo!” K: “Promise to stop trying to hug me and stuff?” N: “Yes, yes, okay!” T: *cough* “These bubbles don’t taste as good as they look…”
27. N: “Kimmy’s mean, Terr…” T: “Yeah, well she’s not so great…” *whispers* “You know how she’s meant to be great at cooking and stuff? She once burnt a meal!” N: *Giggle* “No way, really?!” T: “Yeah it was really crispy and black and stuff!” K: “I can hear you over there, brat!”
28. The ‘sibling bonding’ continued into the daylight hours, much to Kimmy’s chagrin. T: “I want to see the flowers!” K: “Get the heck off of me, you little brat! Do you know how long it takes me to do my hair like this?!” T: “Well that’s silly, I never have to do anything with my hair!” K: “You never do anything with hygiene, brat – that’s one of many reasons you’re NOT allowed to touch me OR my hair!”
29. Meanwhile… S: “Opal!” O: “Sean…” S: “Why do you have to be everywhere I go? Is it not enough that you humiliated me in front of my family – and especially my sister – but you have to follow me around, reminding me all the time, making me feel bad?!” O: “Oh, you think I’m following you, do you?” S: “Well it’s a bit too much of a coincidence, so yeah, I do!”
30. O: “Well let me tell you something, Ryman! I didn’t want to see you here either! Maybe if you’d spent longer talking to me before you tried it on, you’d have known that I live in Three Lakes, so of course I’m around! I didn’t mean to hurt you when I didn’t let you kiss me, but maybe you deserved it after all, if you’re this big a self-centred jerk!” S: “Oh yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses…” O: “Ugh, you’re pathetic, I’m glad I didn’t kiss you, I just wish I hadn’t gone to your house at all!”
31. S: “Yeah, walk away!” O: “I am, but don’t think for a second that my best friend Margaret or any of the other Three Lakes girls are going to go anywhere near you after this!”
33. S: “Go ‘way.” M: “Look Sean, I’m not going to pretend I didn’t just see – and hear – everything that just happened. I think you ought to talk about it.” S: “Can you please tell me that I didn’t come off as a complete jerk?” M: “Not exactly, no. And you didn’t come across particularly mature either.” S: “Great…”
34. S: “Why does my life have to permanently suck, ‘Rina?” M: “Oh come on, it’s not that bad…” S: “It is, from the very start. Kimmy for a twin! We aren’t well off, none of the girls like me – or apparently ever will now…” M: “Oh come on, you could live in the townie orphanage. And still have Kimmy for a twin! You have friends – we’re friends and you get on with Nicky and Terry, stop focusing on the negative all the time!”
35. S: “I just really want… To go to university and stuff. Grow up and be more mature. Get away from Kimmy and meet girls who haven’t already been turned against me.” M: “That’s a big step, Sean, and you haven’t been a teenager for long. And I’m sure Opal can’t or won’t have turned all the high-school girls against you, I mean some are so desperate I’m sure they wouldn’t mind…” S: “Great. I have my pick of all the most desperate girls that none of the other guys want.” M: “Don’t be so harsh! Some of them are nice… Look, I need to keep an eye on the kids now, but we can talk more later before you make a decision, okay?” S: “Okay…
36. Meanwhile (anybody got any brain bleach?): K: “Hey Gordon, I hoped I’d be seeing you again after yesterday…” G: “H- hi Kimmy. I’d kind of thought yesterday might have been a dream ha ha, though it was a very good one…” K: “Hey Gordon?” G: “Y- yeah?”
37. K: SUCCESS! In your face, world! I am going to make Sean soooo miserable now…
38. G: “Wooow, that was amazing… K- Kimmy?” K: “Yeah, sorry, I’m off – twin brother to torment somewhere. Now where did he go…?” G: “B- but, um…” K: “Just treasure that moment Gordy, because you aren’t getting any more.” G: “But-!” K: “Buh-bye now!” Where is Sean?!
39. K: “Hey ‘Rina – where’s Sean gone?” M: “Oh we’re going out to chat in the park, so I need to ask you a massive favour…” K: “You are kidding, right?” M: “I just need you to keep an eye on Nicky and Terry for a little while, we’ll come back when it gets dark.” K: “I repeat my previous statement.” M: “Pleeease? I think Sean really needs this.” K: “Why on earth would I ever want to help Sean out or want to babysit brats, never mind both?”
40. M: “Look, Sean’s thinking about going off to university as soon as we get home unless I can talk him into staying for a little longer. How do you expect to torment him if he’s miles away? He’ll block our phone if he has to and you don’t want to go to uni.” K: *Grumpy sigh* “Fine, whatever. But if one of the kids winds up hurting themselves you’re going to have to explain it to Mum!” M: “Well we won’t be gone long, there shouldn’t be any problems. See you in a bit!”
41. N: “Are you really looking after us?” K: “Apparently. You can blame Sean for being a drama queen.” T: “Hey Kimmy, I heard some villagers talking about a bigfoot who lives around here, isn’t that cool?” N: “There’s no such thing as big foot, Terry.” T: “Yeah there is! There are meant to be maps and paths and everything!” K: “Who cares? What’s your point anyway?” T: “Pleeeeease can we go find him?! It’ll be really super cool and everything!”
42. K: “Hm. You know what, Terry? I think you’re right. Interacting with another species could be highly educational. Maybe we should go and find this bigfoot.” T: “Really? Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you Kimmy!” K: “Aha, sure kid. Anything for a little sibling.”
43. Over at the park… S: “It’s easy for you to say, ‘Rina. You’ve got your perfect relationship and your future all mapped out… What do I have?” M: “You may not have found love yet, but I thought you were more about money, Sean? If you go to uni you’ll have to give up your part-time job before you’ve even reached the top. How are you going to afford everything you’re going to want while you’re there?” S: “I can work in the cafeteria.” M: “Yeah, that’ll be fun. Why not hang around a little while longer and earn more scholarships? Keep your head down studying and you can avoid Kimmy and angry girls.”
44. S: “Yeah, I guess you’re right, ‘Rina. You always have the best logical advice.” M: “Just happy to help, bro. But it’s getting dark, we better go find Kimmy and the kids, I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave them alone too long…” S: “We probably should have left them with Mum and Dad.” M: “Oh, it’s only been a couple of hours, they can’t have gotten into too much trouble, even with Kimmy.”
45. N: “Hey guys! Look at this amazing piano!” S: “My gosh, that piano alone makes this holiday worth it… I’m definitely getting one some day, and my gorgeous wife can play it. Or do I play it with her lying on top…?” M: *Sigh* “Oh Sean… You’re very good at it, Nicky. But where are Kimmy and Terry now?” N: “I think they’re in another room, they said something about a widescreen TV…” S: “Widescreen TV?!”
46. S: “Oh my gosh, it’s even more beautiful than I imagined…” K: “Hello Sean – anybody told you how I had my first kiss earlier today? You know, there was no epic rejection and consistent crying like a baby – on my part, at least – or have you never seen a successful first kiss?” S: “What? Oh, I’m sorry, I was too distracted by the beautiful TV to listen to your catty comments, what was that?” K: “I said-” S: “Oh my gosh, an arcade game too!” K: *Sigh*
47. M: “Enough of the teasing, Kimmy. We’ve seen Nicky, where’s Terry gone?” K: “Hm? Oh right, yeah. He went off to find bigfoot.” M: “He what?” K: “Yeah, he heard a rumour that there was one, so I let him go find it.” M: “You let him go off on his own?!” K: “Well I went with him at first, but then I got bored and left him to it.” M: “So… Do you know where he is now…?” K: *shrug* “Forest somewhere, I guess…”
48. “K- Kimmy…? Big sister…? Are you there…? Nicky…? Bigfoot…? Anybody…?! I- I don’t know where I am… It’s dark and cold and I want to go home! KIMMY!”
49. M: “I can’t believe she’s done this… TERRY! TERRY, can you hear me?!” S: “TERRY! Come on, mate, you’re missing some decent TV! It’s not really surprising that it’s Kimmy who’s done it if anybody was ever going to, but…” M: “Leaving a little kid out in the dark on his own… She is seriously twisted. TERRY! It’s no good, we’re going to have to go search…” S: “If only we could afford cell phones!” M: “Not sure that would help, apparently the signal out here’s awful anyway… TERRY!”
50. “W- w- what was that sound? What if there are bears or wolves or lions or things? Do bigfoots eat people? I don’t know! KIMMY! COME BACK! PLEEEASE! I’m scared…”
52. M: “TERRY! Oh gosh, Terry…” T: “’Rina! It got so dark and so cold and Kimmy disappeared and I want to go home…!” M: “Don’t worry, come on, I left Sean and Nicky by the road, let’s go back to them before I get lost too…”
53. T: “Please can we go home now?!” S: “Don’t worry kiddo, we’ll get the witch- sorry, Kimmy, and go back to the campsite.” T: “No, I want to go home home. I don’t like this place any more.” M: “Talk to Mum, see what she says. You were having fun before, weren’t you?” T: “Don’t care, want to go home and sleep in a bed indoors with lights and warmth and everything.” N: “We’ve done everything here anyway, I’ll back you up Terry. We’ll be home tomorrow.” M: “Yeah, nothing to worry about.”
54. M: “I knew you were mean and cruel and had all the ability to empathise of the average household plant, but I can’t believe that even you could leave an innocent 5 year old child out on his own in the dark and the cold in a foreign land.” K: “Somehow I get the feeling you might be angry with me, Marina.”
55. M: “HAVE YOU GOT ANY IDEA WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED?! There’s a half-frozen lake out there – what if he’d fallen in?! What if there are wild animals roaming around?! Anything could have happened!” K: “Well he’s fine now, isn’t he? So what does it matter?” M: “He’s not physically hurt, but that’s no thanks to you! He’s probably mentally scarred forever, stood out in the dark on his own, CALLING FOR YOU! And do you even care in the slightest?!”
56. K: “You know what? I don’t! It’ll teach him to believe in stupid childish things and trust in people! ‘He could have fallen in a lake’ – only if he was stupid enough to try to walk on the ice! Maybe he could have been hurt in other ways, but it’ll just teach him that life’s a b***h! And as for you, dear angelic sister of mine: our parents gave YOU responsibility for the children and YOU left them with me, even though you say you ‘knew’ I was mean and cruel and whatever else! It’s as much your own stupid fault as it is mine! So tell our parents if you want, see where it gets you – there’s no way to punish me for anything anyway. I hope you’re happy with your own bad – possibly life-threatening – decisions.”
57. M: “I can’t believe you’ve actually managed to twist this to being all my fault. I’m not sure you even have a conscience. Just an extremely black heart. But you’re going to end up miserable and all on your own with nobody to love you and that will be your punishment for all the bad things you do and how little you care.” K: “Ha, I don’t need people. Grilled cheese from thin air, remember?” M: “Maybe you’ll be okay for now, while you’re young, but you’ll get old and you’ll need somebody to look after you and nobody will because nobody cares about you if you don’t care about anybody else. You’ll die of old age in a single-person flat and nobody will even notice until the smell becomes too much. Have fun with that, because I certainly won’t care. My parents may be your parents, but we are NOT sisters.”
58. A little time later: C: “Hey Terry, what’s wrong? My gosh, you’re freezing! What happened?” T: “C-can we please go home, Mummy? I don’t like this place any more…” C: “But you were so happy earlier, sweetie…” T: “I know, but we’ve done everything and I want to go home where it’s warm and dry…” C: “I guess so then. Go have a hot shower while I call and we wait for the taxi, though, you don’t want to get ill before you start school!”
59. Carla got the feeling that she may have missed something important happening today and that she possibly should have been there, but all the kids were in one piece, so surely it couldn’t have been that bad. Well, there was nothing to do about it now but go home.
60. *Deathly and tense silence* B: *Whispers* “Carla, are we missing something?” ~~~ End of Chapter 3 ~~~
