Living in the rough, the life of Blue Berry

[seakissed]

My old story ended up being ruined by glitches and bugs so I've decided to try something smaller and in a new town I've never experienced before. I will be running this story here and on my blog http://sims3withseakissed.blogspot.ca/. Let me know what you think! My aim is to create an enjoyable story and I'm always open to suggestions .

Chapter one



There was something heavy about deciding to stay in a park, but Blue Berry told himself it would just be for a few days, until he got on this feet, until he had enough to put a roof over his head. That didn't make him a hobo....just temporarily homeless? That wasn't much better... An adventurer! A camper? Squatter? Whatever, better not to dwell on it.



How had he ended up here? He had once been in the rich city of Monte Vista, living in the center of a caramel warm buildings and tropical climate, but he had followed a gut impulse, he needed to make a way on this own, somehow the bus had taken him here, to Hidden springs, a town of lush green nature.



A dog? Blue was rather uncertain about interacting with strange animals, but this one seemed at home here, and if he was going to stay he would have to try to be nice right? Would it bite?



Thankfully it didn't!



Feeling a little safer Blue took his gear out, he only had a sleeping bag, some matches and a fishing pole



Blue's traits are Neurotic, Loves outdoors, Green thumb, Ambitious and Loner. So he was enjoying his solitude.



Not quite complete solitude. The dog was still hanging around and had brought him an amazing gift, newspaper! He didn't have mind to read it, but it would make an excellent fire starter.



When he thanked the dog he was able to see it wore an old collar under all of its fluff, the tag said "Zeke"



First night sleeping outdoors, of course it was raining



At least they had a nice warm fire to curl up by



The rain had made for a miserable night but they woke up to an amazing rainbow



Blue decided to start the day off by trying to fish again, his stomach was already growling



Success!



He was able to cook his fish in no time, he felt pretty proud of himself. His belly was full, the sun was bright, he decided to take a mid day nap to reward himself



He forgot that the sun was quite strong and he hadn't gotten any sunscreen, he roasted himself like he roasted the fish.
Life outside was going to be rough.

[seakissed]

He decided to fish some more so he'd have the luxury to explore some of the rest of the town



Nothing sounded better than a dip in the water, a relief from the relentless sun



Funny enough, his new dog friend Zeke followed him



They spent the afternoon keeping cool, thankfully no one else was around to protest about a dog being in the pool



The facility came with a bathroom, Blue was shocked by the beating his body had taken, and it had only been a few days! He felt stinky and his sun burn ached



At least the sink provided him an opportunity to freshen up



He must have washed his hands six times before he started to feel like a sim again



On the way home there was the festival, it was too late to enjoy any of the activities but he did manage to snag a treat before the food booths closed



Home again, he was already feeling less sunburnt and the warmth of the fire made the overcast weather a bit more bearable



He had found a bowl to put fish scraps in, Zeke sure had a funny way of eating



Erk, goldfish wasn't as tasty as he hoped.



The rain had started again.

"Zeke!!!"



It was hard to stay mad at his only friend very long, he brushed Zeke off in the hopes that would make the hound a bit more comfortable as they spent another night in the rain.



 Sometimes, sleeping is a blessing.

[seakissed]

Needless to say it is hard to sleep with hungry eyes on you



When he woke up he had the unpleasant experience of dancing around zombies to survive



Zeke spent the night guarding his meal



They hadn't gotten much sleep so they took the time to relax, it didn't take long to teach Zeke to fetch, but the dog did have a bad habit of turning the game into 'catch me', Blue found the game of fetch went better when he played with two sticks, one to make Zeke drop the stick and the other to throw



It was time to better himself, Blue Berry took a trip out to town to learn how to garden, it was expensive but they gave him the supplies to get started



He found a local pool to take a dip in on the way back



He had been dreading actually meeting anyone but Francisca seemed pretty nice.
"Haven't seen you around, are you new?"
"Yeah... I'm new here, just getting... settled. My name is Blue, I have to um... Go to the washroom!"
"Uh, okay, nice meeting you."



He couldn't have made a better choice, the bathroom had pure bliss to offer, a shower.



Ooooooh yeah



Zeke was a bit territorial



He was also an older dog, days away from aging up to elder and his temper showed



"Stay off of my lawn punk!"



Overall, a good day, hopefully they would soon have a bounty of somewhat illegally planted fruit and veggies

[seakissed]

Well, at least Blue could say he made tasty vegetables



And he was never alone during the night...



The look of disgust the now unzombified sim gave at his actions was satisifying to Blue, enough so he allowed the sim to leave without a lecture or a fight.



First step to any good morning was breakfast, and thankfully the zombies hadn't gotten to the applesFirst step to any good morning was breakfast, and thankfully the zombies hadn't gotten to the apples



Bleh, or not such a blessing after all.



Zeke's food was starting to run down lower faster than before...



Rain, rain, rain! At least the puddles make for moments of fun.



There was a local place that Blue had heard word of, some sort of cabin that locals used as a hunting and fishing lodge. It sounded like a pretty good place to stay out of all the damp weather, it was up on the dirt L shaped road by the water.



He took himself and Zeke to go check it out, it was nice and warm as promised, it even had a fridge so he could enjoy his first real meal in a few weeks.



Zeke was less focused on his hunger and more on getting dry, right beside locals!



It was only right to apologize for Zeke's behavior.



The flowers may have been over selling the 'horrific act' his dog had done, but he couldn't help but feel a spark of hope, Carly Ruiz seemed to be enjoying the attention.



Sure, he was awkward, and a little crazy from all the time outdoors, but after spending time inside the cabin talking, he found Carly was bringing him out of his shy shell. She invited him to take the conversation outside to make him more comfortable.



This was nice.



It kind of just slipped out "Want to date?"



Some how he got the impression she did.



They stayed for the rest of the night, there was something comforting about being so close to a properv shelter that lead to peaceful rest.



For the first time since moving Blue got to end the day with a smile and a bath!

[seakissed]

The next few days were great, he took calls from Carly, it seemed like her interest was genuine. He tried to still keep his best friend company when he could.



He couldn't help feeling like Zeke was getting a little lonely, often he took long walks on his own, sniffing out goodies. Which Blue appreciated but he felt like Zeke didn't thrive as much on being alone as he did.



So it was awfully convenient when a little fluffy mutt started come around to play with Zeke



It gave Blue more time to work on his garden, secretly he had a dream of having the perfect garden but he was awhile away from that yet.



He even was taking an interest in non-edibles, he hadn't found a use for them yet but perhaps he could make a profit by selling off what he couldn't eat.



He couldn't help but notice that Zeke's new playmate seemed to be sticking around longer than most strays



He decided to tentatively give her a name, Raz. She seemed to be open to having him take care of her as well.



It had been raining all morning which was good for the gardening and even wasn't so bad for fishing but it but a damper on the mood, he decided to head out to a near by diner to keep dry



Zeke and Raz already seemed like a pair, they both came along for the trip



The decor was a little loud but anything is bearable when your soaked to the bone for the third day in a row



The people on the other hand...Oof.



Raz seemed to have a mischievous side, that was immediately obvious



Zeke was just Zeke of course.



Always time to smell the roses! But he wouldn't be letting Carly know about this surprising social interaction



Finally the rain stopped so they were able to head home to enjoy the last moments of sunlight



Blue was able to provide them with their first treat, a proper dog house! He had found it on the side of the road and was able to hide it behind bushes well enough he didn't feel guilty for making additions on public property.

[Magz from Oz]

I just stumbled across your story.  It's very engaging.  I wonder where Blue Berry will end up?  Surely he can't live in the park indefinitely? 

[lonelygoddess42]

I'm enjoying your story so far, I've always wanted to try something similar. Btw hobos are people who hop on trains illegally and travel around not having a home and they haven't been around since the 1930's. Just an interesting little tidbit of information.

[seakissed]

Thank you both for the interest in the story , its motivation to keep working on it! I don't imagine he'll be able to live at the park during the winter, you'll soon see why! But I am going to do my best not to use money cheats or take easy ways out so hes going to have a tough time. I'd recommend trying it, it really challenges the way you play, you can start to see the temptation of being a 'disrespectful guest' after your sim has gone days without a shower and a nice bed. Interesting, funny how its adapted, thank you for sharing .

[seakissed]

Night time was always a good time usually



However this night was colder than most



Zeke is no Lassie.
It wasn't until this moment that Blue realized just how alone he was in this park, even if they noticed, the dogs could do nothing to help



This would be how he would die, alone, homeless, cold.
There was nothing worse than this helplessness he felt.



Finally the unbelievable happened, he thawed, he lived!



It was hard to feel joy at brushing up with death, he had a good cry.



The decision to live in the cabin for the next few days was an easy one







And so, they slept as if it belonged to them

[Magz from Oz]

Ha ha nice update.  Blue you might want to consider wearing something just a bit warmer in winter given that you're sleeping rough!  Just saying 

[seakissed]

You made an excellent point! so here is his new sleep gear, he'll also be wearing his winter jacket more often from now on. Sorry its been a quiet week, I updated the blog before I left on vacation and forgot to update here! I'll have more posts in the next few days since I had some time to play .

[seakissed]

For the first time since arriving at Hidden Springs Blue was starting to feel welcome, he was invited to a party by one of the locals who visited the cabin.



Nothing better than a halloween party of course!



He ended up finding an unexpected guest, his girlfriend Carly



Mating rituals of goofs



They spent almost the entire night together, gossiping, enjoying each others company. Blue learned that Carly lived near by. The way she described it made it seem homey and Blue could picture himself visiting some day, apparently she had two boys she was watching over until their parents came back.



They said a sweet good bye and parted ways



Or so he thought.. It seemed like Carly got too curious about seeing Blue's home after sharing so much about her home, she quietly followed him back



"Uh, hi"
It was hard not to feel awkward now she had caught him here, at least she had given him privacy while he had changed out of the tiger outfit



"This is unexpected..." Blue cautiously stated
"I wanted to join you for the night! I thought you'd be going home"



Before he had time to think up a reply Carly had moved on in the conversation.

"Ugh, whats this?"
"Thats Zeke, my dog"



"What is the dog doing in such a dump?"
"He lives here..."



"Do you sleep here? Do you live here like the dog?"




There was no use in lying now.
"I do"
Carly looked at him with a weary look in her eyes
"Well come on then, if I can look after the boys I can look after you"



"No! I don't need looking after. We are over, stay away from me"



 "Blue!"
She cried after him as he ran off with the dogs.



He hadn't fought this hard to be independent to be treated like a child again, he would survive one way or another. It was hard to put the thoughts of Carly away but he did and got some rest.

[Nettlejuice]

Interesting story, I've never played a homeless sim before. Hope to see an update soon.

[seakissed]

A goods night sleep was appreciated by the dogs



But Blue couldn't help beating himself up. The scene with Carly would have never had happened if they had enough money to support themselves. With winter nipping at their heels they would need to work hard to do more than just survive.



He decided the best way to survive with the dogs would to enlist their help, he taught Raz how to hunt
"Go out in the woods, sniff out stuff, follow Zeke"



And so she did.



Zeke was quickly becoming an old pro, he sniffed out 3 feathers his first couple of times, it was something.



He set himself to fishing, he decided that since they had such a great apple harvest he would sell some of the excess for profit.



It was hard not to be optimistic, they were surprising successful and he had enough to buy himself a tent and some new clothes to keep warm, which could provide him with more protection from the weather




While Blue was enjoying his success Zeke and Raz were celebrating as well



However their luck was rather limited, a burglar came to the park to steal odds and ends that night



They had him cornered, but as Blue stared at the burglar, he realized they couldn't fight him without creating a stir, it wasn't worth losing their home over



So the bandit saw them and was free to take off running.




Disappointed, they tucked in for the night



Soon, they would have a home to call their own, Blue swore to it.

[seakissed]

Raz was an adventurous dog, even with her newly announced pregnancy



She seemed to take her responsibilities as a hunter more seriously than Zeke, these trips took her far and wide but she always found safe places to rest



She saw amazing things...



Zeke slept through them.



It was fitting that he also slept through the birth of their single pup, Mateo



It was officially winter, Blue woke up to that surprise



He had been attending one of the many parties he was invited to. He couldn't say he liked people, but he felt a bit more normal every time he attended a function



This house happened to give him the unique opportunity to check out his expenses and local houses. He knew that Raz was going to have her puppy any moment (and had) and prayed for somewhere to live other than the cabin. Finally he found it, a shack just under 5K, exactly what he had saved with fishing and the dogs foraging!



The previous owner pressed the keys into his hands and left.
They had a home at last.



Just in time for Mateo



It wasn't much, didn't even have electricity but it is warmer than the outside.



(*Heres a better look*)



Blue couldn't help smiling, he would be able to start a business with this little house. He had signed himself up for daycare duty, he wasn't qualified for anything else. That would be fun right?



Right?