Delusions, Chess, and a Toddler

            I’m not going to pretend I’m the world’s greatest mother; there’s only so many things in which one person can excel. Still, I was a bit upset when I saw that Aspen got her kicks from jumping around in a puddle. It was even a subpar puddle! I could barely see it.

            I didn’t want to be caught with a child who plays in dirty water for fun, even if nobody in town knew my illustrious career. I bought an outdoor chess set for Aspen to keep her attention. I had some simoleons saved up (so purchasing it did little to hurt me), but did not want to do any remodeling until I could afford a complete bedroom oasis for myself.

 Of course once she saw it she begged to play with me. I threw her a bone and let her be the first person to have ever finished a game with Vienna DeMarco.

            Aspen became too aggressive over the silly match. She nitpicked about rules and cheating, so I left her to play by herself.

            I’d much rather look in the mirror and imagine my old flawless face.

            Odessa aged into a toddler when nobody was around to catch it. To be honest, if I ignored her bizarre skin tone, then I thought she stood a much better chance than her sister. It must have been because it was love that brought her into the world, or some other line like that.

            Aspen was the first to notice, promptly feeding the toddler and then putting her to bed.

            Meanwhile, I found a new use for her chess table. It was a much better dining area than the bathroom.

            To wrap up my final hours of forced maternity leave, I treated myself to a day of whatever fun I could scrap up in the hick town. This meant going to the festival for a snow cone and a few flowers.

            Unbeknownst to me, I’d been earning tickets with all my days at the park. I looked over the prizes and saw shaved ice carts listed. That was something that could actually make my horrid shed livable! Without enough tickets yet, I entered a hot dog eating contest as a way to get a step closer.

            One day, I would be able to enjoy snow cones to my heart’s content right at home!

            When evening came it was back to work, and I was just as content with this as last time. Something about sucking up spirits made the time fly by.

            I also conquered a few hauntings, which launched me into another promotion. When I stopped in to deliver a load of trapped spirits, Dr. Allison (who seemed to be at the lab no matter what time of day) told me I could call myself a Ghost Grabber. It wasn’t as good as Beauty Queen or Unbelievable Actress Extraordinaire, but it cause me to hold in a smirk.

            Did I mention the slightly more fashion forward uniform she gave me?