Reminder: This is my very first Sims 4 family, which was originally posted starting in 2015. I’m in the process of moving these posts over from my Tumblr page. See more info here!
Ajay wakes up to some news that makes him feel like someone has ripped his insides out and buried them in the snow. His g-ma Abbie has passed away. Ajay almost can’t believe it. It feels like someone is playing a very cruel joke on him. It was just last night that she texted him to find out of he was safe…now she’s gone forever.
Even being outside does nothing to numb the pain that Ajay feels building up inside of him. Why has this happened to him? Why now?
Ajay turns away from the water and begins wandering aimlessly. He doesn’t even notice when Brownie the Bear comes trotting past him. He feels like his life has been knocked off-course…completely thrown astray to have lost the one person that always brought order and consistency to his sometimes chaotic world.
Ajay continues to walk as if the extremely cold temperatures cannot touch him. He pulls out his phone; realizes that he automatically shut it off after receiving the call. There are 15 unanswered text messages there…mostly from his dad and his mom begging him to text them back. He ignores those and scrolls past. There’s only one message there that he wants to read and it’s the message from his g-ma that was sent last night…
Abbie’s Text: Hey grandson. I’m missing you this Winterfest…and a bit worried. Why in the world did you choose to wander the wilderness for your birthday? Don’t worry…I’m not fussing – just missing you! Text me back and let me know you’re okay. Love you forever and always…g-ma Abbie.
Ajay can’t help but smile. His response back made her extremely happy…although he kept it short and vague.
Adwin-Jamie’s Text: Don’t worry…warm and doing fine!
Abbie’s Text: Good! So good to hear. Stay safe baby and come see me as soon as you get back!
Ajay almost chokes on a sob as he reads her last words to him. He wipes a few tears, then puts the phone away before stepping into the deeper part of the woods.
Sorrow fuels Ajay’s need to keep stepping forward. He barely pays attention to his surroundings…not at all concerned about losing his way. A few hours later…Ajay steps out into a clearing. He has no idea how close or far away he is from his original campground, so there’s no sense in turning back. He keeps going forward instead. He climbs a small hill and spots a small house below once he gets to its peak.
Ajay can’t imagine who would be living way out in the woods alone. He probably never would have bothered trying to find out, but he forgot to eat breakfast so he’s starving and has to pee really bad.
He slowly walks forward until he sees an elderly woman standing next to a grill. At first, he doesn’t think she’s seen him, but suddenly she speaks out.
Elderly Lady: Don’t just stand there staring! If you came this far…you might as well say hello!
Ajay comes closer still and gets a closer look at the woman. She has long gray hair and is wearing tattered and patched together clothes…but the thing that stands out to Ajay the most is that she’s completely bare foot…standing there unbothered as if she’s standing in warm beach sand rather than snow.
Elderly Lady: *kind, amused tone* So…are you going to speak or continue standing there like some type of museum exhibit?
Ajay finally finds his voice.
Adwin-Jamie: Uh…sorry. I – uh…I was wondering if you had a bathroom.
This makes the lady laugh out loud.
Elderly Lady: Of course I do! I may live alone, but I’m still civilized. Just enter the house…it’s the first door you see.
Ajay walks passes the lady and enters the house…following her directions to find the bathroom.
Ajay quickly uses the toilet and is startled by the ghostly reflection staring back at him in the mirror. Sorrow is written all over his face and has taken up residence in his eyes. Ajay remains in the bathroom until he hears the lady call out to him…
Elderly Lady: Are you still alive in there?!
Ajay washes his hands and finally leaves the bathroom. He finds the lady in the kitchen…
Elderly Lady: You okay? Are you hungry? Want something to eat?
Ajay takes a moment to look quickly around the lady’s home before responding.
Adwin-Jamie: I’m starving.
Elderly Lady: Come and make yourself a sandwich.
Ajay walks into the kitchen and glances into the pot as the lady alternates between stirring and adding more ingredients. She responds to his glance as if it’s a question…
Elderly Lady: This isn’t food…it’s one of my special herbal remedies.
Bryanna: My name is Bryanna Mares by the way. *continues tending to her pot*
Ajay is almost surprised to hear that she has a normal name.
Adwin-Jamie: I’m Ajay.
Bryanna: Nice to meet you. Most people who find me are afraid of me. They just stand off in the distance and stare. Some are even rude enough to take pictures…like I’m some animal in the zoo.
Ajay walks over to the nearby dining table and sits down with his sandwich.
Adwin-Jamie: I’m not afraid of you. I admire you…and I’m glad I found you!
Bryanna seems very happy to hear that.
Bryanna: *overjoyed* You might be just who I’m looking for then! Stay right here…I need to grab a few more herbs, but I’ll be right back. We need to talk! *steps out the front door*
Bryanna does what she has to do outside, then quickly returns. Rather than returning to her herbal remedy that’s still simmering on the stove…she sits down across from Ajay.
Bryanna: I want to tell you my story.
Adwin-Jamie: Okay…sure.
Bryanna: I didn’t always live out here all alone. I used to be an accountant in my younger days. It can be a thankless and boring job and at times I feel like I wasted my youth. Day in, day out I woke up, went to work…came home after working long hours plus overtime – and was usually too tired to do anything but sleep. That was my life – rinse and repeat for years and years. Eventually, I realized that I wasn’t really living…I was just existing.
Ajay nods…that’s what his life at home often feels like, and he can imagine it being even worse now that he’s done with school and expected to go out and get a job.
Adwin-Jamie: So…how did you end up here?
Bryanna: My office decided to send us here to Granite Falls on a ‘company’ retreat…hoping it would motivate us and re-inspire us to return to work and be more productive. Well…it worked…I returned to work feeling renewed, but those good feelings were wasted in an office. I wanted to feel the way I felt during the camping trip all the time. So…I decided to quit, right then and there. I returned here to Granite Falls; thinking I’d only stay for a few days. Well…those few days turned to weeks. Eventually, I stumbled across this house…just like you did. I befriended the guy who lived here and he told me his story…which is not unlike my story that I’m telling you now.
Bryanna: *continues* Long story short…the guy passed away not too long after that and I ended up living here. *extra animated* I’ve been free ever since! I wake up and every day is like a new adventure. I grow my own food, I fish, I live completely off the land. My work has meaning because it’s about my survival and I love it. I can do what I want and I don’t have to answer to anyone. But I’m getting older now…and I’ve been waiting for someone to come along so I could pass down this knowledge before I die. And now…here you are! I’ve lived out my destiny!
Ajay thinks about what she’s told him for a moment.
Adwin-Jamie: But…as much as I understand what you’re saying – I couldn’t live way out here alone. I have a family back home that loves me… *realization* and I love them too! I have my dad and my mom and my step-mom and two little brothers…
Bryanna: *disappointed* Oh
Adwin-Jamie: But…I promise to take what you’ve told me and apply some of that to my life. I want to live free too…just not here.
Bryanna: *re-animated* Well…I’ve done my job then!
Ajay continues eating his sandwich as Bryanna continues telling him about some of the survival tips that she’s learned over the years.
(Generation 7 Chapter Summaries)
