1.0 - Prologue

Simon didn't want to look.

He stood outside his apartment building in front of the mailboxes for a long time, pep talking himself into facing another day without word, or worse, a disappointment at being rejected... The neighbors were probably used to seeing him talk to himself like this by now...

"Maybe I shouldn't look, maybe it got lost in shipping...maybe..."

Finally he steeled his nerves and talked himself into opening his box and peering inside...

There's a big smashed up envelope in here!

The package he had been waiting on had finally arrived!! He didn't waste a second tearing it open in excitement.

A dark brown legal sized document folder inside a somewhat dog-eared overnight express envelope had been folded in half and crammed into the tiny mailbox contained the fate of his entire future.

He scanned the words carefully and scratched his head for a moment. This was certainly unexpected news!

"Hmm, this is definitely going to be interesting..."

Simon ran inside to show his wife Emma, who was up to her elbows in suds, washing off from a bucket of potting soil which had gotten all over the kitchen floor of their tiny downtown studio flat.

Emma's always growing new houseplants.

"Look Emma, it's HERE!! The response to my graduate studies internship application!!"

Simon showed Emma, and as she read, her eyes got wider and wider...

"Err, wait... Appaloosa Plains?? Simon! This is kinda crazy. Weren't you supposed to be signed on with the city zoo's internal veterinary department?"

Simon starts to explain how this would be a great opportunity...

"Yes but, apparently my particular animal husbandry focus is needed elsewhere and they have a severe lack of well educated biologists out in this part of the country... and, well, that's the thing, its the country Em, we can finally live our dream of breaking free of consumerism and wasteful living! We can be completely self sustained on an ecological level of independence our urban lifestyle prohibits. And the government won't be tracking us down and feeding us chemical laden food, we'll live simply and grow our own!"

Emma just stared at Simon, a little glassy eyed while he started another one of his semi-paranoid rants

"Well now wait a minute. That last bit is entirely yours Simon, but of course I want to live more naturally and have some land to grow a garden and all that. I guess I just wasn't expecting it to be right now, that's all.

I mean, this is great news you finally have been assigned and we can get our life started away from this cramped University apartment building. I was just hoping we could live near my parents over in historic Bradford, you know?"

Emma really loves Simon and she wants to have a happy idyllic life together, so of course she tries hard to cover up her less than excited feelings about moving to some country bumpkin town out in the middle of nowhere...

"Congratulations sweetie, I'm really excited for our future together!"

This is exactly the reassurance Simon needs to hear. He's always been a bit of a worrier and penny pincher, but other than that he was a super great guy Emma had known since their early college years. She had dropped out of the botany program at their University, but Simon had pursued her relentlessly until she agreed to marry him his final year of under-grad studies and their new young adult status. They had only been married a few months and living in a tiny 1 room studio apartment while he pursued graduate studies and the hoped for internship studies program that would give him Animal Husbandry and Veterinary medicine experience out in the field.

Simon feels a lot better knowing his new wife is behind him in support of his career move

After a nice vegetarian curry and rice dinner, the couple decided to head out to Oak Park in Bradford where a Simfest was in progress.

Simon was a very eco-friendly Sim, and refused to even use taxis (sometimes to Emma's annoyance) and they took public transit everywhere in St. Claire.

Fortunately the subway system in St. Claire was great and could get you out to Bradford in no time flat!

Emma's best friend Isabel was running the Simfest show and performing as an acrobatic fire dancer. Emma had a lot of quirky friends she met through the various local "hipster" coffee shops she frequented for lattes and talking about urban composting and other stuff like that.

Isabel the "Firefly" performs at a St. Claire Simfest

During the performance, everyone was enjoying all the amazing feats of acrobatics, but all Simon could do was worry about his new job and how much he wanted to succeed and how they would make ends meet moving to a new town. Emma had been born into a wealthy family and when she dropped out of college her parents had cut her off financially, leaving their rather entitled daughter to rack up a lot of credit card debt that Simon was now left carrying the burden of as Emma only worked part time at the local plant nursery.

"I've gotta make this work, I can't let Emma down after asking her to move away from the city she loves!"

After the performance, the couple walked to their favorite 'lookout' spot from near one of Bradford's beautiful parks that looked out over the bay onto St. Claire downtown.

Simon seemed lost in his own thoughts while Emma dreamed of shopping for their new home...

"Just think Emma, soon we'll be moving to a whole new town and lifestyle. This city is great but I'm ready to get away from all the noise, crime, and wasteful materialism, aren't you?"

Emma watched her husband and listened to his daydreaming with her own concerns...

Finally Emma let Simon know that she was happy for their new opportunity and that she wanted to learn all of the things they held valuable, like recycling and gardening and sustainable living and would check out books from the library immediately to start reading up on how to grow organic fruits and vegetables. Both she and Simon had long ago decided on vegetarianism during college and she hoped to be able to support their diet with lots of homegrown food, and maybe make some money on the side selling her produce.

When Simon heard all of this, he actually started to cry! He wanted Emma to know how much this meant to him.

"This is going to be such an amazing opportunity Emma, I promise we can do this together!"

They discussed their future and how important it was to Simon that they live simply and efficiently without wasting more simoleons on frivolous spending. Emma knew this was a sore point because of her shopping habits and hoped this move would overcome her penchant for expensive things, or at least just only a short shopping spree back to the city from time to time...

Emma comforted Simon during one of his anxious moments and wondered what she was getting herself into!

There was only a few short weeks to get organized and find a place to live. They agreed mutually to sell off everything they had of any value and use all their savings to find something affordable and comfortable in Appaloosa Plains. Anything had to be more affordable than the tiny studio apartment they were currently leasing with high rent every month! Emma already had a plan as she knew an old college friend who had moved to Appaloosa Plains years ago. She'd contact him right away!

And so the story begins.


Click HERE to go on and Read Chapter 1 - "The Welcome Wagon"