Eyelet was out gathering minerals and rocks as usual, unaware that Daphne had gotten a visitor back home.
Tangerine from the colonies were back:
Tangerine: Congratulations on the little boy.
Neither Daphne nor Eyelet knew exactly how the colonies got all the information on their family, but they had realzied by now that they didn’t need to send their own updates because the information got there anyway.
Daphne: Thanks. His named Pastel.
Tangerine: Pastel. Cool. Must be nice to know that you’ll have one of them potentially sticking around after Primrose goes Drifting. I mean, sure, it’s a privilege but potentially also dangerous. It’s great of you to do this.
Tangerine: As you can see, I’m expecting too, but I guess that’s easier in the safety of the colonies… Oh, and I almost forgot! Happy birthday to Primrose! We’ve brought another gift, a little violin for her. We want the Drifters to have a good start, any help we can provide for their life skills is positive. I hope she’ll like it.
Daphne: You think it’s dangerous to have kids here?
Tangerine: Of course. It’s an unknown world, none of us knows how life in the long-run will cut it here.
Daphne: We’re doing just fine!
Tangerine: I hope so. Actually, I’ve considered sending my own child down here once it’s born. As long as everything keeps going as smooth as it seems. Perhaps we could arrange a marriage between Pastel and this little one?
Daphne: Arrange marriage? You really don’t believe in a child’s free will do you? I think it’s enough that we’re forcing Primrose to go Drifting in Waffle Creek!
Tangerine: Right right… But maybe introduce them at least?
Daphne: What’s that smell? Is that… It’s a fire! PRIMROSE, OUT OF THE HOUSE!
Daphne discovered that there was a fire in the kitchen and she got the whole family (and Tangerine) out of the house and to the street.
She held Pastel in her arms and watched in sadness how the flames hungriky devoured their little kitchen. There was no use in calling a fire department because they never would make it there in time, and she couldn’t very well leave her children out here on their own while she tried to put the fire out.
Tangerine was panicking next to her, not exactly doing wonders in keeping Primrose calm.
When Eyelet came home, she found the family jumping in panic outside the house. FIRE screamed Primrose and Tangerine at the same time.
There was no time to spare, Eyelet ran straight in to the house and pulled out an extinguisher, doing the best she could to put the fire out.
She had worked hard for this house, she wasn’t ready to see it burn to the ground.
When the fire was put out the entrance mat was nothing but a pile of ashes and the stove was definitely non-functioning.
Eyelet still drew a breath of relief. The stove was brand new and it had been expensive, but thinking of what the result could have been, this was definitely better. Everyone was doing okay, and they still had a house.
Daphne: I’m sorry. I panicked, I didn’t even try to put it out!
Eyelet: You did the right thing Daphne. You kept our children safe.
Daphne: I could have left them with Tangerine and at least try to do something. Maybe I could have saved the stove, I know you worked hard to get that for us.
Eyelet: Don’t be silly. You potentially saved their lives. We can get a new stove. You did right. We’re okay.
They got some extra money from the colony to cover some of the cost of the lost things and with the extra work Eyelet put in they were soon able to put up a new wall in their bedroom, turning it into two rooms so the kids could have one to share.
It was definitely not big, but it was better than sharing a room the whole family.
Primrose especially liked the toy box they had bought and she played a lot with the different toys in there.
Pastel enjoyed the big teddy bear.
Just a pic because I adore that hat Pastel is wearing.
Eyelet is making sure to make time to play with her kids in-between gardening and gathering.
Primrose has the childhood aspiration “Motor” so the family got a jungle gym so maybe she could reach some of the aspiration and she really loves it and plays there all the time. She doesn’t seem to think it’s very easy, though.
The house is really starting to shape up.
Author’s Note: The house is really starting to look good! The landscaping needs loads of work still but the house itself is as big as it’s going to get. The kids will have to do with a shared (small) bedroom and the bathroom is really small as well. But I like it!
Right now it’s worth 27k, so it’s quite close to the goal now. I think that as soon as Pastel ages up and demands some new furniture we’ll be set. Besides, the landscaping will bring up the worth as well.
Eyelet and Daphne continued to hang out in Eyelet’s house, which was starting to become more and more furnished and decorated.
When Daphne moved in, they decided to re-paint the house’s exterior.
At least they had each other. When you’re in love it’s easy to forget about struggles you might have in other areas of life.
Oasis Spring. A warm, deserted place with only a few greens being the only sign of life whatsoever.
Eyelet stood in her new home looking out over the empty land before her. Here, she was supposed to start building a community. It felt like a big challenge, but she was certain she would manage.
She started by heading towards one of the fishing spots nearby. With nothing in her pockets she hoped both to catch some fish for dinner and to get some extra to sell off. She had been promised simoleons for whatever things she could send back home to the colonies.
She fished for a couple of hours and caught a few fishes. Not enough to get a toilet so she needed another plan. I
Just as she had thought, she found patches of loose soil around her new street and when she dug through them using her bare hands she found pieces of pipes and electronics probably used in the old-world’s appliances. It was a thrilling thought to think that once these lands were all inhabited and lively.
She also found bigger rocks to dig through, which turned out to contain minerals and capsules with left-overs from that old world. She was feeling really lucky to have been chosen as the first ever Drifter.
Turned out she wasn’t the only living thing around. In some of the old water pumps she found frogs that she could send back to the colonies for examination.
All the things she gathered up on her first day had soon earned her enough money to actually get a toilet on her lot.
She felt that there was still work to be done so after installing her toilet she headed out for another round of fishing.
It was getting dark, and she was starting to get tired so she would soon have to wrap this first day up.
On her way home she found more diggable rocks, but she was way too tired to work on them so that would have to wait until after a night’s rest.
On her second day she continued digging through the mineral rocks and collecting frogs. She was already starting to smell and felt like she was in desperate need of a shower. That had to be her focus for the day – earn enough to be able to get herself a place to freshen up.
This day she also found some harvestables that she brought home. She contemplated wheter to sell them for simoleoans or plant them for future income, and decided on the latter.
After her second day she had managed to fill her little plot of land with a really big garden, a shower and a bed. It was actually a really good start!
The Rainbow Drifter Challenge 