Winter 2009/2010: Jessica Craig is 24 (Glenda Craig is 65, Marcus and Jill Craig are 27, Tucker Craig and Cynthia Morris are 22, and Lucas Craig is 2)
*Music: When You Come Back Down – Nickel Creek
Jessica Craig tries to look away from the picture in front of her, staring back from the newspaper page, but she can’t. She knows she should close the paper, throw it away, or maybe even burn it, but she still sits and stares, reading the words for what feels like the hundredth time.
Carol Poole announces her engagement to Zared Smith, both of Pine Hollow. Ms. Poole is a 2007 graduate of Pine Mountain Business College and is currently employed as a music teacher at Pine Hollow Public School. Mr. Smith is a 2004 graduate of Pine Mountain Business College and is currently employed as a chef at The Willow. A spring wedding is planned.
“Maybe I’m just not the marrying type,” Jessica tells her brother. Marcus and Jill have called Jessica and Tucker over to their house, saying they have an announcement to make. Jessica isn’t sure she can handle any more announcements today, but she shows up out of sisterly duty. Besides, even Cynthia Morris is there, who technically isn’t family, since she and Tucker aren’t married, but then again, she is now eight months pregnant with the newest little Craig.
“You just haven’t found the right person yet,” Marcus says.
Nearby, Lucas begs “Aunt” Cynthia to play with him. Cynthia says, “What? Just because I’m pregnant, you think I like kids?”
“No, seriously,” Jessica says. “I can’t even picture myself married and having babies. It’s just doesn’t even fit, like it’s a life that belongs to someone else. I think I’m meant to be single forever.”
“Don’t let Mom hear you say that,” Marcus warns.
It’s just so weird, Jessica thinks. Marcus has been married for years now and has a son. Now Tucker is about to have a baby too. Meanwhile, Jessica is exactly where she’s been for the last few years–single, alone, and not likely to be buying diapers and baby bottles anytime soon.
“How does it feel to almost be a dad?” Jessica asks.
“Not too bad,” Tucker says. “I’m actually getting excited. We’ve got the baby’s room all ready.”
“Soon you’ll be a boring old dad, home on Friday nights,” Jessica teases.
“Hey, I may be having a baby, but I am far from boring,” Tucker tells her.
“You should be worried about being far from marriage,” Glenda says as she walks by. “I don’t see a ring on Cynthia’s finger yet.”
Tucker rolls his eyes. “Mom, we’ve been over this. Cynthia and I do not want to get married! Isn’t it enough that we’re living together?”
They gather around the table a little later, waiting to hear why Marcus has called them. “I wish Suzie and Julie could have come by today, but that’s okay, I’ll talk to them tonight and let them in on the news.” He looks at Jill. “Do you want to tell them?” he asks.
She grins and says, “We’re pregnant! We just found out yesterday. I’m due early next fall.”
Tucker says, “All right, bro! You scored again, huh?”
Cynthia says, “Tucker is so hot. If someone had to knock me up, I’m glad it was him!”
“Did you hear that, Lucas?” Glenda asks her grandson. “You’re going to be a big brother! It’s about time!”
Jill has to leave the table suddenly. This morning sickness is killing her!
Tucker asks his sister, “Yeah, I really am hot, aren’t I?”
Jessica has been quiet since the announcement, which no one else seems to have noticed. She gets up to go sit in the living room to get away for a moment.
“Now you just need to find a man and get knocked up too, Jess,” Cynthia calls after her. “Then we could have our own Craig baby boom!”
Marcus notices his sister sitting alone. He saw the engagement announcement in the paper too and he knows Jessica is probably thinking about it constantly.
“Why don’t you get away for a little while?” Marcus asks.
“Yeah, sure,” Jessica says. “I’m just supposed to pack up and go where exactly?”
“The beach house. Dad left it to me and I still have it. I haven’t even used it.”
The beach sounds nice, especially since it’s the middle of winter and snow covers the ground outside. “I can’t just take off,” she says.
“Go. I’m serious. People can deal with not exercising for a few days while you clear your head. Besides, the beach house is just sitting there. Someone needs to go use it.”
###
Jessica tries to put the idea out of her mind, but it won’t go away. She spends her time after work looking up travel sites about Twikkii Island. She hasn’t been there in years. It would be nice to see it again. But she can’t just drop everything and take off thousands of miles away.
Can she?
“Um, yes,” she says, when someone at the travel agency answers, “I’d like to book a flight to Twikkii Island.”
###
Dear Zared,
I’m here in Twikkii Island. The flight was uneventful, which is always good for a flight. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the beach house, but it looks exactly like I remembered it.
Today I sat on the beach, watching the waves for a long time. Remember how we used to talk about coming here one day? I wanted to take you here, to show you this island and the water.
This is a vacation destination and it’s winter, so of course the island is far from deserted, but even though I had company on the beach with me, it felt like I was the only one for a hundred miles. I just feel so distanced, so outside of everything and everyone around me.
I suddenly had the urge to dig in the sand. I dug and dug, not knowing what I was really looking for. Shells? Lost jewelry? Or myself?
I didn’t find anything more than a few broken shells and a quarter someone had dropped. I sat back, letting the golden grains of sand slip through my fingers and disappear back into the beach.
I don’t know what I’m doing here. I don’t expect to find any answers I’m looking for.
Love,
Jessica
Dear Zared,
I learned how to fire dance on the beach. At first, I was terrified of the roaring flames, certain that I’d catch my skirt or my hair on fire. Wouldn’t that be a fittingly tragic end to my pathetic existence? Go on vacation, set self on fire, and poof, gone. End of story.
But the guy that was giving lessons was patient with me and he told me to trust myself, to trust the fire. I know it sounds cheesy, but at the end of my lesson, when I finally lit the baton and watched the fire arc through the air as I twirled it around, I could almost feel the fire become a part of me. As if it were burning away all the bad things and the darkness that was taking over.
I smiled a real smile tonight for the first time in a long time.
It’s so warm here and the stars are so bright in the sky. There are more stars visible here than back home. I got the crazy idea to sleep outside in the hammock so I could look at the stars until I fell asleep. My mom would probably have a stroke if she knew I was sleeping outside, alone, with no one to protect me from any wandering tigers or bears or whatever meat-eating creatures live on a tropical island.
But it was perfect. You would love it.
Love,
Jessica
Dear Zared,
I decided to play tourist today and booked a helicopter tour around the island. The tour guide assured me that I’d have a great time.
I should have known better than to trust anyone that perky at eight a.m.
The helicopter was old and I was certain it would suddenly stop working while we were two thousand feet in the air and send us all plummeting into the golden sand. We survived, by some miracle, but the ride was so bumpy that I was absolutely stiff and sore when I got back on solid ground.
I found a masseuse who could do amazing things with hot rocks. I really need to get me some hot rocks. Maybe I should offer massages at the gym for after workout relaxation?
You probably won’t believe me, but I learned the hula today. Yes! I actually danced with a bunch of other dorky people and this island girl showed us how to move our arms and hips.
Should I be ashamed to admit that I actually had fun? It’s so stupid, but actually, it felt good. I danced and laughed, one of those really good laughs from deep inside.
Love,
Jessica
Dear Zared,
There’s one thing I left out of my last letter that I need to come clean about. I met a guy.
His name is Jim. I asked him what kind of an island name is Jim and he said it’s the kind of island name your parents give you when they’re from Wisconsin.
So Jim the Island Boy offered to show me around the island. I didn’t tell him I’d done a good job of showing myself around the island for the last few days. I knew that he didn’t really mean show me around the island, but actually “show me around the island”–in quotation marks.
I really need someone to “show me around the island” so I said yes.
We ended up at the beach as night fell, sitting around a little campfire Jim set up. We talked for a while, about ourselves, our lives, and eventually our past loves.
“What do you do when you’ve lost yourself?” I asked him.
“You keep looking,” Jim told me. “Until you find the missing piece and become whole again.”
He was gone when I woke up this morning. But that’s okay. I never had any fantasies that Jim the Island Boy and I would fall madly in love on this vacation and I’d decide to live here forever with him in his grass hut. I just needed Jim the Island Boy for one night to remind me to keep looking.
Love,
Jessica
Dear Zared,
I’m way too old to play pirate, but I couldn’t resist climbing up the crow’s nest of that old pirate ship on the beach. When I got to the top, I closed my eyes, letting the wind flutter my hair and the sun warm my skin.
When I climbed down, I dug in the sand a little bit, lazily letting the grains fall from my hands. I didn’t find anything, but that’s okay.
I’ll keep looking.
Love,
Jessica
###
The last day of her vacation, Jessica decides she can’t go back home without a tan. So she spreads out a blanket and lays down, letting the sun wash over her.
The sound of the waves crashing onshore are so relaxing that she can’t help falling asleep.
She awakes hours later, in agony. “Great,” she moans. “Perfect way to end a vacation!”
Jessica starts back toward the beach house to find some aloe gel, but she’s stopped by a face that looks strangely familiar.
“Jessica Craig?” he asks. “I thought that was you. You haven’t changed a bit. Well, except you’re a little redder than I remember you.”
“Abijheet?” she asks. The memories come rushing back–the boy she fell for on this island ten years ago, the boy she wrote mushy emails to for weeks afterward, the boy she dumped when she kissed Zared in front of him.
They sit down to catch up. “What are you doing here?” Jessica asks him.
“I moved here a few years ago,” Abi says. “I always loved coming here during family vacations. I guess I just couldn’t get enough.”
Jessica laughs. “It is tempting to stay here forever and just forget real life.”
“What about you?” he asks. “What brings you back?”
“Just a vacation. I needed to get away from…well, real life.”
“Everything okay?”
“No,” Jessica says. “But maybe it will be. I’m a bit more optimistic than I was a few days ago.”
“The island has that affect on people,” Abi says, laughing.
“Abi,” Jessica says, “I want to apologize for what happened when you came to visit me.”
“That was ages ago,” Abi says.
“I know, but it was wrong. I shouldn’t have ended things with you like that. You’re such a nice guy and I never intended to hurt you.”
“For a long time, I was hurt,” he admits. “If you wanted to date that other guy, you could have just told me. I felt like an idiot finding you in his arms, after I had traveled that far just to see you.”
Tears sting her eyes a little. “I know,” Jessica says. “And I’m so sorry. I hope you can forgive me.”
“I forgave you a long time ago,” he tells her.
She smiles back at him, feeling like a piece of the missing part has been filled in. Life moves on, wounds heal. All it takes is time.
“So, really, how are you?” Jessica asks. “How are things going?”
“Great,” he says. “I run a surf shop down the beach. And I’m seeing this girl. She’s really great.”
“Is she the One?” Jessica asks.
Abi smiles. “I think so. I think I’m going to propose soon.”
“That’s great,” she says, really meaning it. “I’m happy for you.”
They talk a bit longer, before Abi has to leave to get back to his store. “It was great seeing you, Jess,” he tells her as he hugs her carefully to keep from bothering her sunburn.
“Thanks,” she says. “For the talk and for forgiving me. Good luck on your proposal.”
###
Dear Zared,
I made one last stop before leaving Twikkii Island.
Legend says the old ruins have magical powers and can grant wishes. I took out the coin I’d found on the beach on my first day of vacation.
I made a wish, Zared, for you and for me.
I wished for happiness. In whatever form that takes, whatever path it lays out for us, I wish us both happiness.
You’ll never see these letters I’ve written you, but I hope you know I wish you and Carol all the happiness in the world.
Your friend,
Jessica
————————————————
*I chose this song not to mean that Jessica will wait for Zared, but as a self-reflection on Jessica’s part. The missing part of herself is still there, she just needs to live life, take chances, and find it.
This one is unbelivbely sad. I’m about to cry. Good thing Cynthia showed up and made me laugh for a bit. Good ole Cynthia. I like her new hairstyle.
Glenda always makes me smile with the ver so popular anti-feminists remarks. Typical of Tucker to live in sin rather than get married. I still love you Tuck!
Abi looks good. No, he looks freakin’ hot! I really wanted to see him and Jess get back together! But with their noses I don’t know about the kids. But Abi makes it smexy.
These unsent letters are the pinncale of unrequited old romance. Eric Lloyd was the soap opera star and now Jess has the that title.
What state is Pine Hollow in?
I want to say New York but that is so overused. Along with California. How bout North Carolina or Massachusetts?(I’m a Mass)
I’ll admit I had the option for Abi and Jessica to get together in mind when I aged him up. But they absolutely no chemistry together. Jessica even has a red X over the lightning bolt on his picture, LOL. So, I took it as a chance for her to heal old wounds and piece herself back together instead. But yes, grown up Abi is hot! 😉
I’ve never really thought about what state Pine Hollow would be in. I always write stories set in eastern North Carolina (where I’m from) even though I never specifically say it in the book, but in the case of Pine Hollow, that wouldn’t work because eastern NC doesn’t have mountains. Actually, North Carolina wouldn’t work at all because the downtown area I’m building is located along the ocean and NC’s mountains are too far away from the coast. So I need a mountainous area near the coast that experiences all four seasons. The only other place I’ve lived is Florida, which is also ruled out because there are no mountains (except the ones created by landfills), so I’m open to suggestions!
Pennsylvania? (kidding! That’s where I’m from)
I like to think of BS as New England-ish. But I don’t really ever think of hoods in ‘real world’ terms. It’s a little offputting when people are all ‘simfornia’… what? LOL I like to think of sims as AU.
Yeah. I don’t MA would work. As much as I love my homestate downtown areas near the beach here don’t work. We have them but in my opioin they don’t work. The cold air of beaches make it uncomfertable.
How bout South or North Dakota? They have mountains right? (never going to be a geography teacher)
Awww, poor Jessica. It’s not easy watching everyone around you get married (your former flame, included) and having nothing and no one. Hopefully she can find some happiness in herself and then, maybe, someone will come along to help the process a long a little. 😉
Awww, Shana, this one made me cry like the big sappy dork that I am! 🙂 I just want to hug Jessica. I’m glad she got a hug from Abi, I think she needed that. And what a pretty song too!
I love this family, and I’ll be so sad to see Glenda go when it’s her time. She’s a riot!
How fun to think about where our towns might be set. I definitely see some mid-west in Pine Hollow, and I’d probably guess Pennsylvania too, or Ohio gets pretty hilly (not exactly mountainous though) near the Penn. border – you could do what I’ve done, and instead of an ocean, imagine it one of the Great Lakes.
Lakeside Heights is set in Michigan, of course 😉
i always like seeing the vacations. Jessica should have never dumped Zared. I liked how it was in the form of a letter.
You chose the perfect way to express Jessica’s feelings, wow. I still feel sad for her, but now there is hope that she will recover and carve out a life that’s not spent listening to the details of other lives in agony.
Yay! It’s about time Jessica. I must be the only one here who may sound cold hearted, but seriously, I’m glad she’s finally moved on. I know she wanted a “break” with Zared. But really? Did she actually think he would wait around for her.
But I know where she’s coming from. I had my high school sweet heart. We were together off and on for two years, he was one grade ahead of me. I really did love him, in my own way, the way I knew how at 15 and 16. I even concidered giving him my virginity. (TMI!) LOL But it wasn’t meant to be. I met my hubby and we got married, and the rest is history.
Jessica will find someone new. She will find that “perfect” someone and she will be happy. She just needs this time to find herself, have the time to herself. And when the time is right, she will find that certain someone (or her Controller will ;})
Great update! I love seeing vacations. They are always awesome!
I love your story, Shana, and your custom content rocks, too. Do you know where, besides All-About-Style, I could get some good clothes for elder guys? Dustfinger’s stuff at MTS2 isnt working for me, it makes errors of some kind. Any ideas? Thank you, and I love your story.
Keladry
Thanks for the comment! I have a hard time finding good elder male clothes too. It seems to be the age group that is most ignored! I think almost all of my elder male clothes are from All About Style, with a couple of pieces I’ve managed to find from MTS2 thrown in as well so I’m not sure where else to find some. It’s a great question though! I’ll make a post asking if anyone has any suggestions.
I have to come out of lurking for this one! It felt real, reading through her transformation, great job. :o) I’m happy that she can finally grow into herself. As far as setting if you are looking for mountains right near the beach…how about a state/province in the great Pacific Northwest?! Washington’s coast would work really well, as would Oregon. But what would work even better is British Columbia. Just a suggestion. Have a lovely weekend.
I did think about the Pacific Northwest when I was trying to think of a state. I thought that the mountains there were pretty close to the coast, but I wasn’t sure. I’ve never been there so I’m not entirely familiar with the area, but it seems to be the area that would work best. 🙂
That was so sweet and sad at the same time. I hope she is able to move one for Zared.
Did Abi actually live on the island and grow up there? If so what mod did you use to make that happen?
No, Abi didn’t actually grow up on Twikkii Island. He was a townie, so to make him grow up I teleported him to Jessica’s home lot using the teleporter bush from Simlogical. Then I used boolprop to move his age bar all the way up and make him age into an adult, then I just sent him back to being a townie.
I could have bet money I commented on this update but it looks like I’m wrong. I really enjoyed this because I think Jessica needs the time to heal and get to know herself better. It must be hard to watch everyone around you move on with their lives while you stay the same. Hopefully she’s on the right track now
Err… Cynthia is pregnant? When did this happened? And how could I miss it? *confused*
Hi Shaera 🙂 She announced it to Tucker when they graduated college: A Study in Anatomy and Heartbreaks, Part 2.
Thanks, I remember now as I read it.
What a pivotal moment for Jessica. I hope things start to look up for her from here. It’d be lonely with everyone else moving forward even the guy she took a break from, and for him to be happier with the new girl… eek. that could crush some esteem there.
I really like Jessica’s features.
It looks like I might be in the minority but I actually thought this update was quite hopeful. Everyone else seems to be moving on without her but Jessica seems so much more positive than she has for the last few years. Maybe she’s ready to let go of Zared now.
I love this its like a Soap Opera. Everyone knows their names and I basically know who they are but I forget a lot!