A Week of Sadness
I'm not entirely certain that the Steels are in a mood to comment right now. You see they were all ecstatic about their rebuilt house and all it's new and exciting stuff. However, the 120 Sim hours that followed the rebuild were some of the hardest ones this family will ever face. Five days is all it took to shatter quite a few worlds. As this isn't an easy post for me either, the story mode is going to be turned off and I'm going to tell you what has happened.
I've known for quite some time now that Grim would be visiting the Steels. I've been dreading it and waiting for it to be over with. As the rebuild was happening, the thought was in my mind that I would be losing someone from this family soon enough. All of them had been close in age since childhood. About 24 hours after the house had been reopened for them, Shantel Steel went to work to prepare for tomorrow's game. Less than an hour after she arrived, she stepped outside the stadium for the last time. Grim came for our Shantel on her 100th day.
Shantel was the first death to happen from inside this house since Jamie and Chris had died together. All of her boys took it very hard to have her gone after all this time. Coriander, who had wanted her to be there for his wedding, couldn't believe she was gone. However, it was Pepper that missed her most of all. Every call from his agent that involved dancing was turned down. He only left the house to work. He even refused his weekly ambrosia.
Sage and Dill did what they could to help Pepper heal during his time of mourning. They dragged him into the movie room to play video games on the biggest TV in the house. Mike snuck away to Shanika's house to spend time with his beloved. Dill and he were only 4 days younger than Shantel and Shanika was a day younger than him. Time felt heavy.
Grim and Fate are cruel creatures. Twenty-four hours after we had lost Shantel, I received notification that we had lost her sister Lilian Woods as well. Mike had an errand to turn in a sculpture to the police department. He didn't make it inside as his ladylove was coming out.
As I said, they are cruel creatures. Shanika was 96 when she was taken from our lives. She will always be remembered as the spiritual wife of Mike Steel. She brought us three beautiful boys that we were able to watch grow from a distance. In fact, after picking up his love's tombstone, Mike went to visit the Jameson house to console his three sons. He taught them that it was ok to move on after losing their mother. He spoke of when he had lost both of his parents at the same time. He also prepared them for what he could only guess would happen any moment. He made them promise to visit with Pepper and to visit often for whatever they needed.
In the middle of heartache, Mint decided to forego the usual birthday festivities. So it was in the new art room, next to a giant block of stone that he aged up into his adulthood. It's hard to get enthusiastic about getting older when loved ones aren't there to share it.
The sadness over the house has everyone in a funk. Dill goes out to play with the new water slide but in the end it doesn't go as planned. He realizes it's safer to just back into the house and paint like he's used to.
On his 98th day, Grim took another one of our family. It had only been 46 hours since Shantel had left them. Everyone was still in mourning when the air in the art room grew cold. Dill had just finished a sketch on the drafting table and was going to grab the painting he did that morning plus the sketch so he could start another one. Fate decided these two shall be his last.
Dill had never had a family like Mike and Pepper. He had fallen in love with and older Morganna Wolff at a young age and he always told them that she was his one and only. Sage knew the day would come when he would lose his second son. The actual loss was more painful than he could imagine. It had been so long since they had seen Grim come for one of them and now it seemed the Reaper was taking vengeance upon Sunset Valley as three more family friends passed that night.
Coriander left the site of Dill's death with a vengeance of his own. He went to work at two Angry Ghost Invasions. There was no sweet talking the ghosts back into their graves tonight. On this night, he found the room they were hiding in and immediately pulled out his banisher. Somewhere along the way, he received his last promotion. He was now a Paranormal Profiteer. His lifetime wish was fulfilled. He thought he would be happier. Even the city seemed to be more excited than he was. The mayor called him down to City Hall the next morning to give him a Key to the City.
I wish I could end this post now, but I feel I must report all that happened that week now. It's like taking a bandaid off. It's best to do it as fast as possible. Just as the 48 hour mourning period was about to be over, I heard the Reaper again. Mike had just finished the exact same architectural sketch that Dill had done right before his death. I quickly had Mike take the sketch from the table. Something in my mind told me that this was obviously an omen. Turns out I was right. Mike didn't stay very long. He was 100 and he knew what was going on. He had just seen the love of his life and two of his best friends go to the other side. So when the Reaper stopped with all his dramatics, Mike bypassed him and went straight to his urn. No handshake, no begging, no slapping of the scythe.
When the chance to go to her Aunt Lashonda's party popped up, Yusun decided she wanted the chance. It was Saturday night. I still couldn't believe in less than 96 sim hours, I had lost all three of my elders. The newspapers every morning had been full of nothing but death notices. I figured a party would do Yusun some good. Little did I know that Grim needed one more soul before he would be done.
It was then that Yusun called Coriander and told him to meet her at the park in his formalwear with the two moodlet managers. Upon seeing each other, they kissed and gave each other a buzz. Then taking matters into her own hands, Yusun told Coriander to marry her right now. Coriander saw no problem with this as all their reasons for waiting were gone. It was there on the little island where his parents had gotten married in the park where his grandparents had also tied the knot that Coriander took Yusun to be his bride. We had put in the arch during the house rebuild so we could all celebrate together here but this works just as well for me and them.
With the new policy of getting two days off, neither one worried about what time it was. They flitted around the house being frisky. Enjoyed a shower together. Took a trip to the treehouse. It was good to see some people be happy in the house for once.
I am happy to announce that I can end this post on somewhat of an even higher happy note. It didn't take very much at all for Coriander to do his duty to the family. So soon what is now five will become six.
Thank you for reading! Happy Simming!
