The Hunt

            To protect my eyes from the sight of Aspen using the toilet, I scrounged up enough simoleons to build some walls, along with expanding one, for a proper washroom. I also purchased a window, making my shed less shed-like.

            It looked terrible, but functioned well enough, even serving dual purposes as a dining room.

            After the bathroom, I discovered I had just enough left over for a bed for Aspen.

            I kept her baby crib. I did not want to put all my bets on her, so hopefully I would be able to convince another simpleton to impregnate me.

            In the meantime, the house was filled with more than enough childish imagination with just Aspen. She’d always go on about the monsters living under her bed. Of course I knew it was silliness, although she wouldn’t believe me since I refused to get on my knees to look. It took her a few hours to sleep after supposedly seeing glowing red eyes and claws, but she vowed to vanquish it one day.

            Perhaps I told her too much about my job. She was fascinated whenever I came home from work with a spirit, and asked about my awards uncountable times.

            Saturday night, Aspen had stayed up far too late. She was snoring when I readied myself to go out Sunday morning.

            So I left her behind, looking forward to a day not spent with a needy child.

            I had plans to meet another man to conceive again. I started these by returning to the potion shop and asking about my secret weapon. They were out—what a shocker.

            Magic should have been easy enough for someone like me. After all, the witch that cursed me looked quite simple. I decided to teach myself alchemy.

            Despite being a fast learner, I could not figure out any relationship boosting elixirs. I did not have time to muddle around, and so I moved on to option B.

            I went to the salon, prepared to save money by styling my hair myself. I’d always felt extra confident after a makeover session, so perhaps that charm would work again in this life.

            Unfortunately, there was not much I could do to gain any attractiveness. I mussed up some bangs and tossed the rest around, hoping it could pass for grunge chic.

            Oh the horrors of being hideous!

            There was a bar across the street, which I reasoned to be just as good of a place to hunt for a man as any other.

            I was starving, and so I passed time by eating nachos. Male or female, no patrons came through. It was getting late; I decided to try some place else.

            Out the doors, I caught a strong whiff of juice. I discovered it to be coming off the bouncer, who, indeed, appeared to be swaying slightly as he stood guard. I pushed past the fact of how irresponsible he was as a worker, instead concentrating on his pretty hair and passable face. His muscular arms were a thing of beauty.

            Having nothing to lose, I decided to dust off one of my old tricks. It once proved to be infallible, but I highly doubted its success with me looking like a freak. With a giggle and a hair flick, I got his attention, and then lightly touched one of his biceps. Something in my chest jumped as his hard arm twitched. “Hey there,” I tried to say seductively. “I thought I should let you know that I’m Vienna DeMarco.”

            I prepared to be pushed off and insulted. The man shocked me by leaning forward instead. He chuckled and smiled. The sour smell of juice came at me. “I’m not sure who you are, but I’m Dequan Clifford,” he replied. Or had he said David Lassie? Curse, my inability to learn names!

            We flirted back and forth, and I could not believe it was happening! He might have been someone that I would pursue back in the city. Why on earth would he give this version of me the time of day?

            When he complimented me on my good looks, I realized just how very juiced he was. Oh well, at least it was something.

            I treated him to one of my very exclusive and extraordinary massages, hooking him, I hoped.

            Dequan (or Daniel or Darnell) moved past the obstacle of my appearance, allowing me to treat him to my famous kissing skills. While we made out in front of the tavern, I thought back to my movie, The Diary. The very well-known and sought after Rider Garrett had enjoyed our kissing scenes so much that he personally made sure I played opposite his next two roles.

            I wanted to show off my other talents that very night, but there was nothing close by to give us privacy. And he did not want to come back to my place since he was working. We exchanged phone numbers. I took a quick snapshot with him, just so that I could having something to remember him by if he decided not to have anything to do with me after he sobered.

Midlife Crisis

            When I woke up the day after becoming an adult, I was greeted by my two awards. The medal and the trophy just stood in place, reminding me of all the actual awards that I had won in the past. Would I ever see them again? Would this life—if you could call it that—as a hideous monster really be my end? But the worst question of all was: how had I settled into such a life?

I found myself wishing for any kind of change and wanting to buy a car that, in this new life, I could never afford. Anything to separate from the mundane routine I was living.

            I did not have the money for any satisfying change though, and so I settled for aiding Aspen’s life. She could do everything a toddler needed to do except speak. Talking was a long process with her. Perhaps she knew that I wasn’t really listening whenever she did babble something.

            When she finally mastered her last skill on my day off, I was desperate to do something different. Anything! I called her father. He still seemed to be under my spell, because he agreed to meet me at the festival.

            I got to the park and stood around in the cold for hours. Elliot never showed, so I returned to my shed, crying about my miserable situation.

            It wasn’t until I was changed back into my tacky nightgown—it seemed to be all that I wore when not at work—that I noticed Aspen was a little different. She’d aged into a child, and not an attractive one at that.

            She watched me clean up the toilet spill before I retired to my bed. I wanted to complain that she could do more than just watch, but did not have the energy.

            To my surprise, she started on the grimy sink all on her own.

            Then she took out her last usage of her training toilet.

            Perhaps Aspen was not all that bad after all.

Aging

            Aspen spent most of her time with her creepy doll, although she did seem to hold a lick of distaste towards it as well.

            Even if I wasn’t exactly the typical image of proud parent, no child of mine would go through life not learning its basic skills. I started her lessons with walking and using the toilet. Hopefully there would be no more diapers in my near future.

            More money would be needed once she grew older. Our living situation could only become more awkward.

            Thankfully, I was promoted to being a séance holder. This meant that I not only had to take care of the wispy spirits, but also ghosts that were possessing furniture.

            Some, more cowardly, sims might have been frightened by this. Not me though. If anything, I found it quite boring. Although, people in the city might be curious about my profession. Perhaps I could bring my new expertise to the silver screen once I was returned to my proper life.

            I returned to the potion shop nearly every night after I hung up my banshee banisher. They always seemed to be out of my magical friendship elixir, but I was building a nice little acquaintanceship with the cashier. And I still enjoyed light chatter with her even after she got old.

            Despite her being a toddler, Aspen had still not grown out of spitefully crying when I was resting.

            Because of her, I was usually exhausted when heading towards a job. Especially when it including scanning every inch of a rich hick’s property for ghosts. Seeing a lovely sequestered nursery made me think the world was jeering at me.

            I was a professional though, and was always able to conquer my lack of sleep in order to get the job done. Ghosts could not hide from me.

            And once I located them, I’d zap them up. Dr. Allison suggested topics I could try discussing with them to convince them to move on to the correct afterlife. I found sucking them up into a canister to be a much quicker process.

            Besides, some of them could be dangerous. And I just didn’t feel as if I could spare the time to pretend to be interested in a hick, let alone a dead one.

            I could really feel the pinch of my own mortality when I aged into a full adult.  I’d always imagined that there’d be a specialty hour on television to welcome me into adulthood. It’d be filled with famous guest stars and expensive juice and a general air of admiration. Instead, I was outside the ‘secret’ criminal base of some stupid town all by myself.

Back to Work

            It is insane to think about how thrilled I actually was to return to my bizarre job. Aspen did not make for a good companionship, and that is really saying something when the alternate company was a bunch of ghosts.

            I nearly left my first gig before even starting it though. The woman coming out of the house was styled like a witch and it left a bad taste in my eyes.

            All it took to get me to work was a mental reminder of baby screams.

            I collected my spirits for the night and brought them all in to Dr. Allison’s office immediately. There was no point to growing sentimental towards them at all; something would happen to cause me to be in a stretch for simoleons. Might as well get it over with when the babysitter had been paid either way.

            I returned to Aspen tired from working, but a bit fresher faced than the previous days with her. Having not been around babies, I did not know how to play with them. She seemed to like it enough when I bounced her a bit though.

            The next night after I finished my ghost catching duties, I was called to city hall. This time I was given a medal for something. The only person around to award it to me was a janitor, so I did not consider it prestigious enough to be worn. Perhaps I’d hang it on the wall.

            While I was out receiving my bum award, Aspen aged into a toddler. The expensive teenager I paid to sit around and do close to nothing was kind enough to send me a picture.

            Seeing Aspen’s new face on my screen inspired me to take a peek at the potion shop once again. I was hoping they’d have more of that friendship elixir in stock, and then I could try for another child with an even better looking man. The woman told me they were out though, and I dejectedly returned to my shed.

            Aspen greeted me as a tot greets their mother, but I found it a bit hard to look at her. She ditched my greenish skin color, which was the only improvement I noticed. Hadn’t she inherited any genetics from her father?

            It was going to take at least a dozen generations to wear this curse off!

            Aspen shared in my laments.