Author's Note and Introduction

This is an accidental story. It was never meant to be blogged, but it insisted on being given life, so here it is.

I had the idea to play my own simple little challenge. I would take a single sim through a normal life span and see if I could make a living as an artist - that is to say, without a job - while maxing out my painting skill and getting good enough to have my own art gallery. To make it a little harder, I'd have to build and furnish my own house as I went. Eventually, I'd build and stock the gallery.

I prefer letting my free will sims loose and watching what happens to them and how they react, rather than scripting out a story for them. I'll keep their needs met and their wishes fulfilled. If and when something interesting happens, I'll nudge them into following through, and see if a story develops. I had no intention of turning it into a blog, but the first day was so much more interesting than I expected, that I thought, "Holy cow. I should be taking screenshots and documenting this!"

I made a teen sim and gave her a grandmother, because you can't start a household without an adult. In order to make them related, I had to create the intervening generation too, so here came the mother. I figured I'd kill her off the first day, so Grams could have the raising of the girl. Little did I expect that the shock of seeing me kill off her daughter before her very eyes would give Grams a fatal heart attack! Even stranger, the girl, after one brief wail, simply turned and walked casually to her home lot, leaving the Grim Reaper to conduct his business without an audience. I was immediately intrigued.

I supposed it was a case of delayed reaction, because she was a wreck for the rest of the day. It amazed me how heartbreaking it was to watch this youngster break down sobbing every couple of minutes.  Suddenly here was this teenager on her own, with an actual personality, and things were suddenly looking MUCH more interesting. 

Most of my pictures in the first chapter are tediously similar, but that's because the whole idea of documenting this adventure was an afterthought, and I had to improvise with what screenshots I could get of the one remaining family member.

I hope, if anybody is out there reading, you'll comment and let me know if it's interesting enough to continue.

Cheers

~ Sue