Escaping from Tragedy -- an Immortal Dynasty

[MarianT]

Chapter Four

   It seems that Fernando is older than we thought. I’d always assumed he was the same age as Desdemona because they graduated at the same time. But Desdemona is still a young woman, while Fernando has become an old man.



   Something terrible happened to his hair, and for a while we feared it was permanent.



But I gave him a bottle of the herbal hair restorative that Juliet makes for me, and that brought back some of its color and made it easier to comb.



   Meanwhile, Falstaff has turned out to be quite fond of make-believe.



   What follows is his very first story, which he told to me because he can’t write yet. It’s very simple, but I think quite promising for someone who hasn’t even started school.

   Far from here there is a kingdom called Ganondagon.



It is ruled by a handsome prince, Falstaff.

   (“That’s really me, Great Grandma,” he whispered. “I guessed that,” I said.)



Prince Falstaff lived in a big castle.



He fought with evil bandits.



One day he wrote this story. The End.



   “What a wonderful story!” I said. “Can you tell me any more?”

   “Not right now,” said Falstaff. “I have to go play.”

[lvrugger]

I love how you weaved in TSM! I haven't bought that one yet. Will you be keeping that story up?

[MarianT]

Chapter Five
   Desdemona had a birthday recently and promptly launched a midlife crisis. She’s been muttering about divorcing Fernando (luckily he doesn’t know this), but so far all she’s done has been to get some new clothes.



   Our little kitten, Grimalkin, also has gotten older, turning into a cat. Ophelia wants to see if he can catch deathfish in our pond.



   But the one who seems to be growing the most quickly is Falstaff. He has quite the rich fantasy life, which worries me a little.



   Unlike the others, he didn’t get a little doll to play with. Instead, he dresses up.



   He’s written another little story.



   One day, Prince Falstaff decided he was tired of school holding court. People kept asking him for stuff, and it cut into his allowance budget.



   Prince Falstaff decided to take a vacation. Some people said he should go to Smortlee and see a tournament. Then he heard Luffenting was famous for its ales. He knew that was where he wanted to go.



   He had a great time. When he got home, he wrote and asked them to send him a recipe for their ale.



   They did. It was made of honey, spice, and wheat. He really liked it and wrote them a thank-you letter. The End.

   After reading his story, I knew it was time we had a little discussion.

   “Falstaff,” I said. “You do realize we don’t have ale here.”

   “That’s okay,” he said. “Prince Falstaff doesn’t have a great-grandma who can make delicious ambrosia, so we’re even.”

   To say I was surprised is putting it mildly. I didn’t think Desdemona would have talked to him about it yet. “What do you know about ambrosia?” I asked.

   “It’s what you and Grandma eat to keep from dying,” he said. “And someday Mom and I will eat it, too.”

   “That’s right,” I said. “But don’t talk about it at school, okay?” He left to go play, and I was left scratching my head. Precocious – that’s the word for him, but having a word doesn’t help much.

   

[kattiq]

I love how you incorporated TSM into this story! And I absolutely LOVE Shakespeare! Great Dynasty so far and belated congratulations on your first immortal! Best of luck to the rest. I think it's very smart to start off with more sims than normal just to get that extra boost in help. I wished I would have done that!

[MarianT]

Chapter Six

   I discussed immortality with Falstaff after discovering the following essay on his computer – My Family. After reading it, I was strongly tempted to protest to the school board about his teacher, and I still wonder why she takes such an interest in the private lives of her students. But I realized that protesting would give weight to Falstaff’s statements. She must know by now that he has an active imagination; one can only hope that she’ll read his account as fiction rather than fact.

MY FAMILY by Falstaff Shaxper

   The other night the ghost of my great-grandfather decided to play games on my computer. Our cat Grimalkin came to watch the sight.



This is what he looked like when he was alive. His name was Gavin Pinkerton, and he was a doctor.


   
   This is a picture of my grandfather. His name was Dakota Fox, and he was a soldier. I don’t have a picture of his ghost.



    I live with my great-grandmother, grandmother, great-aunt Juliet, my mother and father, and the cat Grimalkin. My great-aunt Juliet likes to fish, and she is often joined by our magic gnomes.
 


Until yesterday, my great-uncle Edmund lived with us, too, but he died.



   The Grim Reaper came for him, and then spent a few minutes chatting with my grandmother about her favorite topic – me.



   I’m not going to die. I’m going to be immortal and the greatest film director the world has ever known.

   Among the topics Falstaff and I discussed were the meanings of the words “immortal” and “discretion.”

   “I know,” he said. “’Discretion is the better part of valor.’”

   Sometimes it’s hard to believe he’s just a child. But then I see him playing pretend-submarine in the bathtub


   
   Or sliding out of his treehouse in the small hours of the morning



And it’s hard to believe he won’t be a boy forever.



   Falstaff had a birthday today. He looks remarkably like his mother and grandfather.





   Too much reading has led to near-sightedness, however, so he has started wearing glasses. His favorite book at the moment is Point Farmer:  the Life of Grant Rodiek. I have no idea what a point farmer is or does; Falstaff says it has something to do with playing computer games.

[ratchie]

Falstaff seems like very a unique young man. He is a handsome devil though.

Rachel

[MarianT]

Chapter Seven

   I haven’t said much about Desdemona lately. Now that her mid-life crisis is over, she’s been back at work on her skills, playing chess and fixing things around the house. She just needs to upgrade one more object and deal with two more plumbing disasters.



   I came home from work last night and found Desdemona giggling in my bedroom.

   “I decided to teach Falstaff how to drive,” she said, “so I sent Juliet and Ophelia off in the Motive Mobiles.”

   “But what did you use for a car?” I asked.

   “The fire engine,” she gasped, and started giggling again.



   “I wish you could have seen it, Granny,” she said. “Cars passing us and shouting things like ‘When’s the fire? Next year?’ because of course Falstaff kept braking every ten seconds. And then I said it was time to teach him how to parallel park.”



   “That’s when he decided he’d had enough, poor lamb,” said Desdemona. “When I got out of the fire engine, I put my hands over my heart and thanked the Watcher we survived. I think he was rather annoyed with me because he took a taxi home.”



   “Poor lamb, indeed,” I said. And then I started giggling myself.

   At that moment, we heard a blood-curdling shriek from Falstaff’s room.



   Desdemona and I rushed to see what the matter was, but Falstaff shooed us away. He was just working on his story, he said.

   Prince Falstaff ruled the kingdom of Ganondagon wisely and well.



   His best friend was the bard Hal. Hal lived in the tavern near the town square.



   Prince Falstaff enjoyed many evenings in the tavern with Hal, drinking and laughing. Sometimes Hal would play the lute. If Hal had any fault, it was that he lacked self-confidence. (Well, he was also a bit stinky, but nobody bathed back then and deodorant hadn’t been invented yet so he could get away with it.)



   One day Prince Falstaff decided to help Hal get over his insecurity complex. He told him he was going to go to Luffenting for a couple of days and he wanted Hal to be his regent. Hal didn’t want the job, but Prince Falstaff talked him into it.



   Hal tried sitting on the throne. He discovered it was more comfortable than it looked, but it got boring after a while.



   He also discovered that Prince Falstaff had given his servant a vacation, too, so he had to make his own gruel.



   Hal went for a walk to the town square to find out what was happening in Ganondagon. When he got there, he discovered a putrid smell floating through the air from the dock. A ship had come in, bringing a load of overripe and odiferous cheese. Everyone in town expected him to deal with it. Even Hal thought the smell was awful.



   He decided to dissolve the cheese in concentrated cider. If it was strong enough to strip varnish off an old lute, he figured it would work on the cheese. He was right. Hal celebrated by playing the lute for a few people in the castle.



   The party quickly grew until Prince Falstaff’s advisor warned Hal that things were getting out of control. “The grown-ups, um, prince, will be returning soon,” he said. “You’d better shut it down.”



   People called him all kinds of names, but Hal did the right thing. When Prince Falstaff returned, Hal told him he really did feel more confident and he might even start taking a bath once a month. The End.

[Deme]

I love these Sims Medieval segments -- they really spice up a chapter!