Chapter2 – Memories
Although it was nearly 30 years ago, I remember it like only yesterday. I had once again been sucked through the time vortex and found myself on a deserted stretch of beach. I immediately went into my standby mode of trying to find where I was and in which time period. The first Sim I met was a fairy wearing a military styled outfit reminiscent of the 1950’s. Tall, dark and handsome, he introduced himself as Leonidas Kalamia.
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Thinking that I’d been dumped somewhere in Greece, I introduced myself as Elias Stavros, the first Greek sounding name I could think of. Shaking his hand, I quickly cast my memory over critical events of 1950’s Greece. All that came to mind was that the Greek Civil War would have ended, there were quite a lot of earthquakes (several quite severe), and the mildly unstable reign of King Paul I should continue until about 1963 or 1964. I had not much to go on as we were standing on a fairly deserted beach and I could see no signs that would indicate my location or time period. Looking at the water it was nowhere near as blue as I’d expected either the Aegean or Ionian seas to be.
I told Leonidas that I had only just arrived and would he recommend a place to stay. When he asked how long I was staying, I said that I wasn’t sure yet. He advised that there weren’t any hotels or resorts in Moonlight Falls but that there were plenty of houses for sale or rent including a cottage across the road from his home on Wood Street. As he was returning home himself he said that he’d show me the house. I went with him to take a look.
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As we drove to Wood Street, he told me that he was married with two daughters. I replied that I was single and had never married. He was certainly friendly and talkative. While I was disappointed not to be in Greece, I had never been to Moonlight Falls before either, so I was not unhappy about my destination. Located in the Pacific northwest, the town was built with the Supernatural Sim in mind. The town and its community were specifically designed for fairies, witches, werewolves, vampires and ghosts. I’d read that there were few human Sim families in the town. While I’d met many vampires and ghosts before, this was to be my first experience with fairies, witches and werewolves.
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Leonidas parked his car in his driveway. He pointed to the house across the road which was available. Together we walked over to take a look. It seemed a nice cottage with a garden. As one of my standard occupations whenever I found myself in the present time, was to become a self employed gardener, I remarked that the house would do nicely as it had a garden. Leonidas told me his wife was a green thumb and would gladly give me some plants to replace the poor quality plants on the property. He asked me to drop by any time after 1:30 p.m. when the plants would be ready for harvesting and I could help myself.
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I thanked him and immediately rang for a taxi to take me to City Hall to enquire about the house and registering my new occupation. I asked the town clerk for a list of all community lots in the town and was delighted to see a lot I particularly wanted. Barney’s Salon and Tattoo had a franchise in the town, so I stopped there on my way back to my new house for a quick makeover and wardrobe change.
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Promptly at 1:30, I went to see Leonidas. At the door a cute auburn haired fairy child directed me to a large greenhouse at the back of the house. Leonidas himself was there fertilising the plants. He told me to harvest as many plants as I wanted to establish my own garden. All the plants I could see were of perfect quality, so I asked him if he was sure. He explained that his wife had long ago achieved her lifetime wish of a perfect garden. He was an alchemist himself and used the plants in elixirs but had plenty of stores. I thanked him enthusiastically for his generosity. He stayed to talk as I harvested the plants.
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Leonidas explained that his family was originally from Sim Kosmo and had only moved to Moonlight Falls recently. He chatted on about his wife and daughters. The elder daughter so like his wife Deborah, and the younger, very like his own mother, Lenore. I could tell he was especially proud of his beautiful and clever daughters. Leonidas then said his elder daughter was having her young adult birthday that evening and asked if I would like to join them. I thanked him but declined. I believed that the coming of age was a wonderful time for a young girl and I speculated she wouldn’t want her father’s new friend intruding on the auspicious occasion. When I had harvested all the plants I wanted, I again thanked Leonidas for the vegetables and left.
I spent the remainder of the day planting vegetable patches with the perfect plants. Tired, sweaty and hungry when I finished, I noted that there was no party going on across the road, so I was glad that I had not intruded on what was obviously only a family occasion. The next morning I tended my new plants then set off to fully explore the town. It was at Aleister’s Elixirs and Sundries that I saw the most beautiful fairy. She looked up from the Alchemy book she was studying and smiled at me. I was captivated by her smile and intrigued when she walked over to me. What followed has been etched forever in my memory.
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“Mr Stavros?” she asked tentatively. I nodded dumbfounded.
“I saw you tending your new garden earlier. Did you get all the plants you wanted?” she asked. She seemed to know an awful lot about my activities but I had no idea who she was.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I didn’t catch your name.”
“Charity Kalamia,” she said mischievously. Holy wow, I thought. This was Leonidas’s elder daughter who had the birthday yesterday.
“Happy birthday for yesterday,” I said feeling tongue tied and awkward.
“Thank you. Have you always been a gardener?”
“No. I’ve had a few careers but I like gardening.” I really did enjoy learning new skills and fortuitously, they had become essential to my survival as I travelled between worlds and times. As I could never predict how long I would be dumped in any one place, I often took different jobs. I achieved my own lifetime wish for Jack of All Trades because of those unorthodox side trips. As I don’t know which place or which time in history I will find myself in, gardening has been my most used skill when I end up in the present time. Finding special seeds has netted me a fortune from money trees and special seeds have also provided me with the Life Fruit which is essential to my survival. Ambrosia works well but Alchemy elixirs and chemistry potions are my lifesavers.
“Really, how interesting. What career would you most recommend?”
“I think that depends on the Sim and the skills you want to develop. What do you want to do that you’ll enjoy doing?”
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“I want to have lots of children,” she replied wistfully.
“Well as a fairy, I’m sure you’ve lots of time ahead of you for that.” My heart sank. She would pick a nice young male-fairy to marry and could pop out nooboos for the next 200 or more years. I’m not sure why I felt so acutely dismayed at that thought.
“That’s what my mother says. Are you married Mr Stavros?”
“No. I have never found someone who wanted me,” I replied.
“Are you sure that she didn’t want you. Did you ever ask?” she asked guilelessly.
“Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I haven’t yet met anyone who I was ready to make that commitment with.” Actually I’d begun to think that I should not marry because of the complications of the time portal. Disappearing for five minutes wasn’t the problem, returning after five minutes with a different set of life experiences, may be difficult for a wife to deal with. I have also gotten used to deferring to no one and not having to consider what my partner would want when I make important decisions. I think I would find that hardest of all to give up. I had never found anyone who I was willing to make those necessary adjustments for.
“Perhaps, you’ll find that special someone here in Moonlight Falls,” she said as the clock in the corner of the room chimed the hour. “I’m really sorry I have to go. I promised Faith I would take her to the Festival. It’s been a pleasure talking to you Mr Stavros. Enjoy your stay in Moonlight Falls.”
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To say that I was left standing there with my jaw hanging open and smiling like a besotted idiot would have been an understatement. I think from that moment on, I fell head over heels in love for the first time in my life. I was enchanted. I was also realistic. At no time did she intimate by word or gesture that she’d like to be that special someone I would be willing to make adjustments for. She was a mere slip of a child, newly adult certainly, but still childlike. I was twice her age and not so foolish to think that she would find me ideal husband material or father material for those nooboos she yearned for. Besides Moonlight Falls was her home but not mine. Anytime soon I may get sucked through the time vortex back to Sunset Valley. I vowed at that point to immediately come back to Moonlight Falls and find the beautiful Charity Kalamia. Maybe then, things might finally work out for me.
Over the next few weeks and months, I was sure that I had been right. Charity wasn’t interested in me as anything but her father’s good friend. She started a career in the music industry and dated all the eligible bachelors in the town. I become BFF’s with all the Kalamias in time and regularly was invited to their rare parties. My stay in Moonlight Falls was longer than I had ever been away before. I began to wonder if the time vortex had given up on me and intended to strand me here forever.
I thought I’d heard the buzzing of time vortex once or twice during that time, but the blinding headaches never developed. I did see the strangest thing once. Another Sim in the town, either a new arrival or a tourist, clasped his hands over his head and fell to the ground. He then completely disappeared leaving a shadowy wispy form on the ground that dissipated like ghosts do after sunrise. I wondered if I’d just seen a fellow time traveller getting sucked through the vortex. I waited the five minutes but he didn’t reappear. If he had been a fellow time traveller, maybe Moonlight Falls wasn’t his home town either.
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I was still stuck in Moonlight Falls when Deborah Kalamia aged up to an elder. I saw in reverse what it must be like for a long living fairy to marry a human. I was also still there to see little Faith age up into a beautiful teen.
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Exchanging her long braids for short curls, she was every bit as lovely as Charity although not as lighthearted or as naturally engaging.
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My chess partner for the past few years now sought out my company to jam with her to increase her music skills.
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Charity would join us after work to give pointers to Faith about finger placement or chord structure.
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When Faith aged up to a young adult and went to work as a Cook, I was surprised. As she’d already maxed out her lifetime wish to be a One Sim Band, I expected her to follow her sister into the music career. But no, she loved to cook more and I became her willing test subject.
Not long after that Deborah Kalamia died of old age. Leonidas, my closest friend was inconsolable. I tried my best to be there for him but I could do nothing to diminish his grief.
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A short time later Leonidas heard that his own mother in Sim Kosmo was also gravely ill and returned to Sim Kosmo to be with her. Both Leonidas’s daughters preferred to stay in Moonlight Falls. Unfortunately Charity began to turn a little unpredictable. I believe in an effort to suppress her grief, she began clubbing, dancing at the various nightclubs till the late hours whenever her work schedule permitted it. At Faith’s insistence, she and I set up a schedule of who would accompany Charity to these sometimes less than satisfactory venues to watch over her.
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Regrettably, it was on my watch that Charity met a new wizard in town, Myles Kyrios. He was indeed charming but in a smarmy kind of way. He too was captivated by Charity but I was astonished to see her dance with him. Usually she was more discerning about her companions on the dance floor. Myles asked me if I minded making us all a cool drink. I acquiesced. While making the drinks I observed her interactions with him. I deduced that while she wasn’t averse to his attention but she wasn’t encouraging him either. I knew just about her every mood. She was being polite and careful but not playful. I secretly applauded her excellent manners.
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Myles came over to take one of the drinks and told me I wasn’t needed anymore. I told him that I would stay as long as Charity wanted me to stay.
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I took a drink over to Charity who said that we were leaving just as soon as she came back from the restroom.
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I saw Charity talk to Dahlia Goodfellow at the top of the stairs. I thought nothing of this as women often seemed to go to the restroom in pairs. But Dahlia then walked over to me and asked if I could make her a refreshing drink too. I said that I didn’t mind. Dahlia chatted as she drank her drink and then left. I noticed that Myles must have left while I was distracted by Dahlia’s chit chat.
Immediately I went in search of Charity but could not find her downstairs. I asked another female patron who I knew, to see if Charity was hiding in the restroom. My friend came out and reported that the restroom was empty. I then asked the bouncer if a pink winged fairy had come this way and the bouncer confirmed my worst fears, that Charity had left the building but not alone. I went outside to see that her car was still in the parking lot. So I went around the back to where I knew some of the dancers often gathered around a fire pit only to find Charity and Myles in a clinch.
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Charity came running up to me, her eyes shining overly bright. “You can be the first to congratulate us,” she said breathlessly. “Myles and I are getting married!”
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