The Sims 2 Presents: Foster's Valley!

[Cassini90125]

Frankie watched the waves for some time, then shook her head. "What's the point of just watching?" she said to herself. "This is a beach, dang it. I want to swim!" A quick stop in the changing room followed, and a moment later she headed for the surf:



She stayed in the water for over an hour, sometimes diving, sometimes riding the waves, often just floating quietly, letting the gentle current of the sea move her around aimlessly. Eventually she spied a group of children on the beach, all armed with shovels, digging all over the place. Curious, she got out of the water and approached them. "Whatcha doing?" she asked amiably.
"Digging for pirate treasure!" the kids exclaimed. "Wanna help?"
"Sure!" she laughed, getting into the spirit of things. Frankie grabbed a shovel and got to work:



And in a short time she found her prize:



She laughed again and decided to keep it. It would be a fun souvenir.
It was late in the afternoon at that point. Back at Foster's she'd be working on dinner now. Not on this day, though, no; she was going to kick back, relax, and watch the sun set. A number of chairs were set out for just that purpose; she headed for the nearest, lazily flopped ito it, and basked in the last rays of the day:



She fell asleep for a short time. When she awoke the sun was gone for the day and her stomach was starting to growl. "Time to find dinner," she thought. There was a food stand on the Boardwalk for that, so she changed back into her everyday outfit, headed up the stairs, and ordered something called "Pineapple Surprise". Rather good, too, she discovered. She soon had company as well, a local woman named Tracy and another tourist, a teen by the name of Lainey:



The topic of conversation was the recent crime wave. Sort of.
"Thieves on my island!" Tracy exclaimed. "So hard to believe. What is this world coming to?"
"Your getting upset over nothing," Lainey said, shaking her head.
"What happened, exactly?" Frankie asked. The last thing she wanted was someone burglarizing her hotel room.
"Nothing," said Lainey. "You'll see. Go ahead, Tracy, tell her what happened."
Tracy looked a little embarrassed as she spoke. "A child tried to steal a bicycle."
Frankie raised an eyebrow. "That's all??"
"See?" said Lainey. "Like I said, it's nothing."
"Today it's a bicycle, tommorrow it could be a car!" said Tracy. "And there's more, too." She lowered her voice and glanced around before continuing. "I've heard that the Unsavory Charlatan has been seen on the island."
"The who?" asked Frankie.
"The Unsavory Charlatan," Lainey said. "A notorious card shark and pickpocket:



"He wanders around in disguise, looking for easy marks to charm and con. He prefers tourists, too; he got my dad the last time we came here." Lainey shook her head. "Keep your wits about you; he's pretty slick."
"Thanks, I will," Frankie said. Just what she needed; a con artist on the prowl. She smiled for a moment as Bendy and Bloo came to mind. The conversation turned to other topics for awhile, and Frankie paused to reflect for a moment:



Unsavory Charlatan or not, she was having a great time. She was about to head for home when she spotted something on the beach; a man twirling a burning stick. This was something she had to check out. Back to the beach she went, and sure enough, there he was; an authentic native fire dancer:



Frankie watched, mesmerized, as the man danced, spinning, twirling, tossing the fiery stick in the air and catching it without even looking. He never missed a beat, not even once.
"That was amazing!" She said when he was done. "I wish I could do that; we have nothing like that at home."
"Perhaps you can be the first," the man smiled. "You're the only one here right now. I have time to teach, if you have cash to pay. $75.00, and my art is your art. Shall we dance?"
Frankie stood there in wonderment for a moment:



She smiled broadly and pulled out her wallet. "We shall dance," she said. He tossed her a stick. "Now, to begin with..."

Three hours later, Frankie was exhausted and smelled like soot as she headed back to her hotel:



Wave watching, swimming, a beautiful sunset, new friends, exotic foods... and now she could call herself a Fire Dancer, too. It had been an amazing day.

She had no way to know that very soon, everything would change. Everything. And it would change with the utterance of a single word.

(To be continued...)

[Lynnie]

Cass, you're so good at cliff hangers, my goodness! I think it would be amazing to see Frankie fire dance. As long as she's very, very careful, of course.

*sigh* I could sure use a vacation like that. Looking forward to the continuation.

[Howard]

I definitely concur with Lynnie; I look forward to the next episode. The bathing suit was a very nice touch; the other comments I will withold until I see my sailor buddies.

[Mac-a-lacka]

Oh, no! Is that the con-man disguised as a fire dancer?

I wonder if that rock Frankie had found has something to do with the ghost captain's "Little Buddy".

Perhaps it's his "petrified pet".

[frankie_fan]

Originally Posted by Cassini90125

Very nice, Cass!

[WiltsAKGirl17]

Okay, now I see where the eyebrows comment came into play I think. I quirked an eyebrow in consideration for about two seconds before saying to myself, "Frankie looks very pretty in that swimsuit and that's a very nice color on her."

Awesome installment, Cassini-- can't wait for more.

[Cassini90125]

Originally Posted by Lynnie

I think it would be amazing to see Frankie fire dance. As long as she's very, very careful, of course.

I may try to record her doing the fire dance when she gets home; at present I don't want to risk using the game camera, which adds additional stress to the system (not to mention the already frazzled Simmaster).

Originally Posted by duck2k

I definitely concur with Lynnie; I look forward to the next episode. The bathing suit was a very nice touch; the other comments I will withold until I see my sailor buddies.

For the record, I chose that particular swimsuit because it was the closest match I had to the one she wore in Squeeze The Day. Accuracy is absolutely critical. Don't expect to see it again, though; I only used it this time because it was a beach story.

Foster's Valley - "A Single Word"

Tired but happy, Frankie hit the shower to get the smell of soot out of her hair and promptly went to bed:



She dreamed of spinning sticks of fire, of white sands and blue waves. She also dreamed of the Valley, subconsciously wondering what was happening there while she was gone. She dreamed of snow falling at Foster's, and of Mr. Herriman complaining about having to shovel it while she lounged on the beach. She smiled at that as she slept.

And then the nightmare came.

It was always the same; she found herself in her old neighborhood, running frantically, desperately searching for something in dark fields and streets choked with fog, hearing a voice calling to her, begging her for help. The same nightmare she'd been having since she was a child. She opened her mouth to scream a name in anguish and loss-

-and woke up gasping for breath. Was she awake? She wasn't sure. It was unusually dark; something didn't feel right. Frankie stumbled out of bed to get a glass of water. As she passed the balcony door she saw something that caught her off guard; she dressed hurriedly and went out to stare at the sky in awe and wonder:



She remembered seeing Saturn once before - the only memory she had from the time between leaving the Pacific Northwest and arriving in the Valley - and how it had scared the living hell out of her. It was different this time though; it seemed almost warm in an odd way. Frankie stared at the ringed planet awhile longer and finally made up her mind. "I'm still dreaming," she muttered to herself. She went back to bed and slept soundly for the rest of the night. She was never certain if it had been a dream or not.

The next morning she awoke refreshed and full of energy, ready to have some fun. After a quick breakfast in the hotel restaurant she tracked down a tour guide:



"Looking for adventure?" he smiled as Frankie approached.
"Sure am," she smiled back. "Whatcha got?"
"A little bit of everything. Parasailing, glass bottomed boats, helicopter-"
"A helicopter tour? Really?"
"Yep. On a clear day you can see the entire island at once." The guide looked at the sky and laughed. "And it's always clear. Next chopper arrives in ten minutes. Interested?"
Frankie grinned and reached for her wallet. Ten minutes later a helicopter landed in front of the hotel:



And away she went.

Two hours later she was back, with a load of pictures and a story for everyone back home. She didn't have anything in particular planned at that point so she picked a direction at random and headed out again, stopping here and there for photographs:



And souvenirs:



And finally stopping for lunch and a chat with Damion Wade:



The topic was once again the recent "crime wave".
"The Unsavory Charlatan struck again," Damion said. "Walked right up to John Reece, charmed the socks off him, and made off with his wallet before he knew what hit him."
"Sheesh, can't the police catch this guy?"
"John's the sheriff, so I'd have to say no."
Frankie burst out laughing. "Maybe he should stick to trying to catch that kid who steals bicycles."
Damion laughed, too. "Yeah, I heard about her. No more bicycles, though; now she's digging up people's lawns."
"What?" Frankie was both amused and confused. "Why on Earth would she do that?"
"Treasure, I'd say," said Damion. "The ancient civilization that used to live here left all sorts of stuff behind all over the island. Old maps, pottery, carvings, things like that. Some of it's valuable. Everybody here digs now and then, just to see if they get lucky."
"Huh. I tried; I found a rock." She laughed again, then grew serious. "What's the girl's story? Parents work and leaver her unsupervised?"
"No family, as far as I know. I've never met her. Ah, but this might interest you; I heard she mentioned something about Foster's. She might want to adopt one of your Imaginary Friends."
"Really?" Frankie hadn't expected that. "Wow. Maybe I should talk to her." She smiled. "Seems my work is never done, vacation or not. Who told you that she mentioned Foster's?"
"Tamara Kalson, another tourist. She's staying at your hotel."
"Okay, I'll look her up. And thanks!" It never ends, Frankie thought. She'd take care of the matter later; right now the sun was setting and she wanted a nap:



It was a long nap, close to three hours. When Frankie awoke it was nearly 10:00 PM. "Time to figure this out," she said. She headed back to the hotel and tracked down Tamara Kalson who, as it turned out, was looking for her as well:



"You're Frankie Foster, from that Imaginary Friend place, right?"
"Yes, that's me. Tamara Kalson, right?"
"Uh-huh. Guess we've been looking for each other."
"Yeah. I understand you talked with a girl who wants to adopt an Imaginary Friend?"
"Huh? Where'd you hear that?"
"Damion Wade. You didn't meet her, then?"
Tamara shook her head. "Damion's confused. I did meet her, but she doesn't want to adopt an Imaginary Friend; she is an Imaginary Friend."
Frankie was stunned; she hadn't expected this at all. "She is? Are you sure?"
"Very sure. And she definitely wanted to go to Foster's."
"Wow. Just... I need to talk to her. Did you get her name?"
"No, sorry."
"Can you describe her?"
"Sure. Child-sized, blondish hair with a lot of purple and blue streaks, blue antenna, slightly pointed ears, and big blue-green eyes. Dressed kind of like you, actually." Tamara's cell phone rang. "Excuse me, I've got to take this." Tamara went back into the hotel; behind her, Frankie stood in a state of shock and disbelief, with her hand on her chest, trying to steady herself as she whispered a single word:



"Miri..."

(To be continued...)

[Lynnie]

*gasp* Frankie had an imaginary friend? Dare I say this gets more interesting with every chapter.

And that's an impressive view of Saturn. I wish it were closer to earth so we could see it like that on a regular basis. It's probably my favorite planet (I love the rings).

Keep it comin' Cass, I'm loving every word.

[Mac-a-lacka]

That view of Saturn is awesome indeed. It looks so realistic.

Could this "Miri" be a long-lost imaginary friend of Frankie's?

Whatever happens, it's getting really good.

[Howard]

Got me on edge, and I know where the name "Miri" came from