Chapter 6 – Summer’s Dawn.
Having enough money to build a house was a great feeling, and Kahlee wanted to get started immediately, but she knew there were various legal requirements she had to get out of the way first. She was still clean and somewhat respectable, so a visit to city hall was the first item on her agenda for the morning.
Clerk: “May I help you?”
Kahlee: “Morning. I need to register as a citizen, for permission to build a house and as a self-employed gardener. In that order.”
Clerk: “Alright. Well I need name and where you live to start with.”
Kahlee: “Kahlee Watkins, Isla Romantica.”
Clerk: “Oh! You’re the one that’s been camping over there and growing fruit and vegetables!”
Kahlee: “That’s right.”
Clerk: “Well… you’ve lived there so long and actually made the land useful that we can forego the usual fee. Let’s get the rest of the paperwork done.”
No longer than an hour later, she was all done. Kahlee was now a registered citizen, with a self-employed job and permission to build a home on the scrap of land she had claimed. A quick phone call was made to some local contractors to make a start on building her new home. Next was a trip to the gym, she did need to freshen up but she also fancied the idea of using the exercise equipment… and she actually could now! It was only for citizens of the island, and she’d just dealt with that, so hitting the treadmill seemed like a good idea.
Meanwhile, her order for work was being completed. Unfortunately, Kahlee had her priorities entirely the wrong way around. When you have enough money to build a house… you build a house…
She got a greenhouse sorted out first and just had her tent moved into it. The basic shell of a house was completed, but she would need more money to finish it off. Kahlee figured that looking after the plants first meant she’d have money all year round, so it was a good idea in one respect. After exercising and showering, she decided to swing by the junk yard to see if she could pick up any items to repair for her new home. She managed to find a few rocks…
…and a dryer!
It went cold that night… very cold. While most people would have criticised her decision to look after the plants first, Kahlee was very pleased.
They would now continue to flower and produce harvests no matter how cold it went. Of course, her first stop the next day was the supermarket to drop off another load of produce.
Shopkeeper: “Wow! That’s a lot today!”
Kahlee: “I had a greenhouse built.”
Shopkeeper: “What about, y’know, an actual house?”
Kahlee: “Well… they made a start on that, but ran out of money. I figured the plants were more important.”
Shopkeeper: “I can see why.”
And Kahlee walked out 3000 simoleans better off. That was enough to get a few more bits put in her new home, and she bought herself a MultiTab 6000, since she figured treating herself was very much overdue. The greenhouse had some sprinklers installed to make things easier for her, and the poor house got neglected again. It took a couple more days of selling harvest before Kahlee was able to kit out her new home with some necessities, like a working kitchen, bathroom and a bed.
It was nice to be able to cook proper food…
…and without any classes, online tips or anything else, it turned out she was actually quite good at it!
Being able to sleep in a proper bed was a luxury that Kahlee had been looking forward to for quite a while now.
So was having a shower in her own home!
Of course, she didn’t forget to have a burglar alarm installed.
Love day soon rolled around, which meant everyone had the day off. Kahlee didn’t though, she went straight out to her garden as soon as she’d eaten her breakfast. The plants wouldn’t wait just because everyone else was having the day off. Then she took a quick trip to the main island to grab herself some new clothes and sell her harvest. While there, she missed a call from Guillermo, who apparently remembered Kahlee from her homeless gardening days. She’d taken him some fish quite a while back.
Despite that, he invited her to his party, which she happily accepted… and spent most of it just dancing.
The party ended early, but she wasn’t done yet… so she went straight to the spring festival and just carried on dancing until she was exhausted…
…though perhaps she should’ve changed out of the swimsuit first.
Thing were certainly starting to pick up for the woman who had just been left on a beach in scorching hot weather. After breakfast, she needed to share her good fortune, and there was only one person that she wanted to tell.
Akoni: “Morning Kahlee.”
Kahlee: “Hey! How are you doing?”
Akoni: “Older, not much wiser, but otherwise alright. Thanks for the advice you gave me.”
Kahlee: “Not a problem.”
Akoni: “How about you? I heard you finally registered as a citizen.”
Kahlee: “I did! Even got a house built!”
They chatted for close to an hour, with Kahlee giving him all the details about her new home, and Akoni just talking about what retired life was like. It was nice to be able to share some good news with a friend, especially the first friend she met in this place. For the first time, Kahlee was actually enjoying her life. As soon as the call was over, she went out to the garden to look after her plants. Her phone buzzed and she whipped it out to check what the message was.
Kahlee: “ANOTHER party? You have more money than sense, Guillermo…”
Of course, she went to the party and ran into one of his relatives, a charming young man by the name of Everado.
He was nice enough, and they spent most of the night swapping stories. He seemed both surprised and impressed that this woman had done so well for herself, starting out with nothing but a tent and managing to raise enough money to build a house. Apparently she made something of an impression, because he called her for a chat first thing in the morning.
That didn’t last very long, since she really didn’t have anything else to say. Neither did he, actually, but it was nice to hear a friendly voice at least. She got a call off the local restaurant later that day, asking her to take over some cheese that she’d homegrown. Now, that might sound odd, but she had been taught how to plant cheese, so a trip to the store was made, and she planted 5 pieces of cheese that night.
Kahlee: “This can’t possibly work…”
The next day was boring by comparison. She simply got up, worked on her garden and then sold her produce. That was enough to finish her house to a basic standard, however.
Summer started the next day, and Kahlee mastered her fishing skill thanks to the MultiTab she bought. So, that evening, she went to the graveyard to see if she could catch any deathfish.
That didn’t go well, but she did make a new friend… sort of.
Kahlee: “AUGH! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
Glenda: “…sorry.”
Apparently even her home was having a few problems of the spiritual variety…
Burglar: “…I told you I was hungry.”
Kahlee: “Oh get back in your urn…”
Exactly one year to the day of being dumped on the island, and Kahlee could say she had done very well for herself. Now, what would the next year bring…
