Random Simming: Lemming 8: Go Fish

I planned on visiting J and Zoe today at the house they moved into, but I get drawn to this mysterious tree. Something about it is...different. It shimmers, and the fungi on and around it are made up of many colors. The more I stare at it, the more mesmerized I become.

After staring at it for who knows how long, I get an overpowering urge to water it. So, pulling a watering can from that mysterious place where everything goes, I do just that.

I jump back in shock when a doorway opens up in the trunk! I can't help but think of Peter Pan and his hideout.

Feeling a bit like Alice going through the looking glass, I, probably foolishly, decide to see if the doorway goes anywhere.
It does! It's the entrance to a large cavern under the tree. Some things don't make sense, but I eventually come across a strange mist. Figuring I've gone this far already, I decide to walk through it.

And that's the day I died.

Kidding!

Um, sorry if that joke wasn't quite up to my usual speed. What can I say? I'm depressed.

    I have stumbled upon the legendary Sylvan Glade.
    I used to hear stories about this place when I was a boy. Lots of times, they were frightening tales about fairies abducting unsuspecting children to steal them away, never to be seen again.
    In actuality, the place is deserted. Well, there are fish. And more fish. Oh, and did I mention fish? My fishing skill is nil, so I don't even bother trying.

Yes, the place is completely deserted. Now that I'm here, I don't quite know what to do with myself. The plants aren't even ready to be harvested yet.

    Upon further inspection...perhaps it's not quite as deserted as I once believed. Something doesn't look too pleased with my presence in its glade.
     I decide I've overstayed my welcome and find my way back to the more ordinary/not-so-purpley world.

    More weeks pass, and I visit bars occasionally, never really finding what I'm looking for.
    Today, I need to run by the library to look at a research book. I'm working on a routine involving snails. Yes, snails. But, I need to know more about them to give it that "it's funny because it's true" feeling.
    When I arrive at the library, I start making my way to the research section. They have a few computers set up for people to use, and a woman sits at one of them with widened eyes and pursed lips. Before thinking, I ask her what's wrong. Then I wince, thinking she probably thinks I'm being impertinent.

"I can't get it to do anything I want it to do. I've tried everything I know to try, and nothing works!" she yells as loudly as she feels she can get away with in a library.
Being a sim in sims 4, I sit down in front of her to talk without being prompted. "Did you try turning it off and turning it back on again?"

     She snorts. "Right. That whole 'turn it off and turn it back on again' thing. Gee, why didn't I think of that?" she asks sarcastically.
     I bite my lip to keep from laughing at the aggravated look on her face. I can't figure out why it's so funny, but it is. When I trust myself to speak normally, I ask, "Well, did you try it?"
     She looks both ways like she's looking for something or someone before she turns back to me to say, "No." I catch a whiff of sheepishness in her tone.

     "Well, then, you didn't try everything."
     "I don't think it'll work. It rarely does for me even though everyone says it's the magic cure," she says, and I wonder if she's fighting herself to keep from rolling her eyes. I guess it's good that she doesn't want to be that rude to someone who's trying to help.
     Turning it off and then back on again works like a charm.

    She grins in spite of her earlier frustration. "What are you, some kind of computer genius?"
    I smile back. "No, but my son is. He frequently has to go to his mother's house to fix her computer," I tell her, noticing that I'm sure to clue her in that although I have at least one child, I do not live with their mother.
    "That must be nice to have a son that's good at that sort of thing. My daughter is all about what's going on with so-and-so with her friends, trying to be in the middle of everything, and my son...I'm worried his brain cells are getting knocked out of his head with all that football he plays." She laughs quietly at her little pun.
     She has kids too. That means she's probably married or with someone. I feel my posture slacken as I sit in the chair. Yeah. Of course she is. She's beautiful. Why wouldn't she be?
   Snails. I'm here about snails.
     "Their father was good about fixing the computer...when he was around." She appears to vanish back to an earlier time in her mind. "He didn't bother taking that piece of crap when he left us," she mumbles. Suddenly, her eyes open wide as she looks at me again. "I'm sorry! I don't mean to keep bothering you. I'm sure you came here to do more than just help hopeless me to get the computers to work."
     I can't help the grin that breaks out on my face as I do my best to assure her that I don't mind a bit.
     We sit and talk...and talk...and talk some more. I don't even know what we're talking about half the time. We just...talk...about everything. I learn that she had been married at one time to a man that never held down a job for more than a year, and when he did get some decent money, he'd go and blow it all at strip clubs or worse. She tells me that when he left her, it took her a long time to convince herself that he wasn't coming back. She knew he wasn't dead because he'd call their daughter. Eventually, she had someone track him down to hand him divorce papers.
     They make an announcement over the speakers that they're going to close the library in fifteen minutes.

     We both look at each other and laugh before getting up to slowly make our way to the exit. We only make it a few steps when I turn around because she asked my name in question.
     "Yes, Katherine?" I ask, happy I remembered her name. I'd picked it up when she'd told me of how she'd convinced herself her ex wasn't coming back: "I said, Katherine, he's not coming back. Stop thinking he is, 'cause he's not. Now what are you gonna do?"
     "I wanted to thank you again for your help, for your helping me do something that should've been real simple," she tells me with a pretty smile.

     "No problem at all. Helping beautiful damsels in distress is my specialty," I say cheekily, knowing I'm full of bull.
     Is she blushing?! Her cheeks are definitely pinker! I think with a thrill that I haven't felt in what feels like a lifetime. It's either that or indigestion. It's not indigestion.
     She looks down, probably trying to hide her face for a minute behind her bangs. "Well, I was about to boil over if something good didn't happen soon."
     I tell myself not to read too much into that statement. Surely, she's only meaning this afternoon.
     "Sometimes boiling over isn't so bad. You know what they say: How do you make holy water? Boil the hell out of it."
     Aw, Mitchell! That was terrible! And old!

     She laughs anyway. "I'm just glad you knew at least a little bit about computers."
     "Nah. I really don't. I've spent countless hours on the phone with various tech supports." I'm telling a white lie to build up my next statement. "And I learned from them. Honestly, I'm not computer savvy at all. The first time I heard 'You've got mail,' I went out and checked the mailbox."
    She laughs a bit harder now.

"You can't be serious," she says in the midst of her laughing.
"I'm not, but I got you laughing," I say happily.

"Yeah, you did," she agrees and wipes under her eyes.
They make a five minute announcement. We both mumble about how we should get going. She passes me as we get closer to the door.