Round 2 - Arnoud Storm

Winter has come. It's cold outside, there even was snow, which is rare for these islands. The ferry did not go for a couple of days. I was glad that I had stocked up some food in my freezer. 

It's nice to have Kaylynn around, but she is often very busy with her new shop. She promised to help me paint my house, but till now she did not have the time. I could have started myself, but... Well... let's say I am bit lazy. 

I am still feeling lonely. Days are short, the nights are very dark. The house is not very warm. Sometimes there are tourists, they arrive with the ferry and leave again at night, because there are no hotels or restaurants. I think if there were more places for them, they would stay longer. Most of them are bird watchers. I have seen quite a few birds here that I had never seen before. 

One day I went for a walk and there was a house, almost like mine, that also had been for sale, but now the sign was gone and there were people at work. I met my new neighbor, his name is Paul Kievit and he is a plumber. 

He has just bought the house, it was in the same state as mine, but look what he did in a couple of weeks. 

I wish I could do that with my house too... 

Paul told me he has a son and as that is why he is working so hard, because he wants him to come over as soon as possible.
Well, that is another new 'alien' on this island. I think Paul and I could become friends. I hope so. Maybe I should not have moved here, I had such romantic dreams about living in the country, but reality is very different. Life is hard here. 

I was glad when Kaylynn came over to play a game of chess. She does not seem to feel lonely at all, she is quite happy, living in the village and she is making lots of new friends. 

Kaylynn said she noticed that I like to talk about the history of the island. She says I am a good teacher who can tell interesting stories. Me? A good teacher? Oh well, if there are people who really want to listen, then I like to tell stories yes. But not to those teenagers in the classroom, who are half asleep or throwing pellets at me. Sometimes I still have nightmares about this. 

But, she made me think and I decided to create a website about the island, it's nature and also mentioning my house as a place to visit and offering myself as a guide to show tourists around. Let's see what comes of this...

I was only halfway the website when the phone rang. It was my aunt Janny from Rotterdam. I was very pleased to hear from her.  

But she did not bring good news. She told me that Cynthia, my cousin, has had a car accident and is in hospital. She asked me to come over. So I asked Kaylynn to look after my greenhouse, took the ferry and the train and went to Rotterdam. My cousin was in a coma. There was not much I could do for her. She was attached to machines and there was no sign that she could hear me. 

Cynthia has a daughter, Brenda, who is seven years old. She was staying with the parents of a schoolfriend now. Aunt Janny is too old, she is in a wheelchair and lives in home for the elderly. Cynthia is not married and she never told anybody who Brenda's father is. 

The parents of Brenda's friend are going on winter sports vacation, so she could not stay there. Aunt Janny asked if Brenda could stay with me during the christmas vacation. 

So... when I came back to the Kraaienplaat island, I stepped from the ferry together with Brenda. I had only seen her as a baby, and I did not know her very well. I was a bit worried how to keep such a young child busy for two weeks, but I should not have worried, because it was her who kept me busy. 

Fortunately, Kaylynn did know how to get along with children, they became friends the same day. I wonder if Kaylynn is not feeling cold in those clothes in winter. But she said that in Denmark it's much colder than here. 

I gave Brenda my bed and slept on the sofa. In the middle of the night Brenda called me. She said that the wind was howling and she was scared. And she missed her mummy. I felt so sorry for the little girl. But after I read her a bed time story, she went to sleep again. 

I did not feel too well in the morning. My back was broken. 

In the morning I went to the beach with Brenda. It was very cold, but she did not mind. She was running and collecting sea shells. We came home with sand in our shoes. There was sand everywhere in the house. 

The next day it started snowing and we had lots of fun. 

Brenda wanted to have a christmas tree and I borrowed Kaylynn's car and went all the way to the main land to get her one. It was a bit too big for my small living room. Now we had sand and needles on the floor. But the house smelled of pine. It felt more like a home now. 

Kaylynn bought a children's oven for Brenda as a christmas gift and taught her how to use it. She could bake real cookies in it. 

At night we watched christmas movies that I downloaded from the internet. 

We even had a real christmas dinner. Kaylynn did most of the cooking and she brought a white table cloth, which made my old kitchen table look much better. We also invited my neighbor Paul, with his son Alan. Paul made the dessert and I did the soup, that is the only thing that I can do well enough to offer it to guests. 

We celebrated New Year together and then it was time to bring Brenda back to Rotterdam. I was feeling a bit sad. Well, not a bit. I was growing quite fond of Brenda, she is such a lively child, always talking, always laughing. And I was worried too. Cynthia was still in a coma and aunt Janny could not take care of Brenda. Where would she go? 

Then Paul said: "Why can't she live here with you till her mother is better? She can go to school with Alan, there is a school bus that will pick her up at the Kanaalweg. 

I said I had no place for Brenda, my house is too small. But Paul said: "Why don't you make a bedroom for her at the attic? I will help you."

So then I went back to Rotterdam with Brenda, to visit her mother again. She was very upset when she saw Cynthia and I don't think she should see her again like this. 

I talked to aunt Janny about my plans. And she said she was so grateful. She said: "I can see that Brenda has had a nice time during the vacation."

I left Brenda in Rotterdam with that schoolfriend and went back to Kraaienplaat, where Paul and some of his friends helped me with the attic. It was all dust and cobwebs and there is only a small window. But it looks really nice now, I think. I only hope she won't fall off the ladder... 

So, it took us two weeks to make this and then I went back to Rotterdam to pick up Brenda and some more of her clothes and toys. This time I did not go by train, but I borrowed Paul's car. 

And now Brenda is sleeping in her new room and tomorrow she will go to her new school. I hope she will like it there and that she will be happy here. 

It feels so good to have this little girl in my house. I never knew that children could make a person so happy. 

-o-o-o-o-

Households: 4
Playable Sims: 6
CAS Sims: 2
Businesses: 1
Careers unlocked: none
Fires: none
Burglaries: none
Sim Multiplier: 2
Population: 12