Day at the Park

Anisia looked around the park impatiently, waiting for an idea of what to do first. It had been so long since she’d been outside, she wasn’t sure exactly what to do once she got there.

Mick didn’t want to spoil Anisia’s day, so he contented himself with sitting down instead of causing trouble. They hadn’t been out long when a girl he knew walked by and started at the sight of him.

“Mick?!” she squawked.

“Hey Abbey,” Mick smirked. Perhaps he’d be able to cause some mischief after all. “Its certainly been a while. What’re you doing here?”

“Well, it’s really none of your business,” the girl started, “but I just got out of school. I was helping a teacher grade papers for extra credit.”

“School?” Mick’s eyes widened.

“That’s right,” she said haughtily, “and I heard the teacher talking about the people who had re-opened up the diner.”

“Job? Where?” Mick was baffled. Was she trying to start trouble?

“Here,” she motioned to the nearby restaurant. “I figured they might need waitresses or some sort of extra help, since it looks like more people are coming in.” She frowned.

“Dad know about this?” Mick asked smoothly.

“Nope,” she said indifferently as Mick scoffed, “- don’t tell.”

“You should really do your research before wasting time. They won’t hire teens,” he snorted, “Especially if they’re still in high school.”

“What? Why?!” she exclaimed, her temper rising up.

“This town has hardly any people in it, meaning they’re making very little money. If they have to pay someone for serving customers, they better be prepared to cook and clean too,” he replied, enjoying the expression of outrage on Abbey’s face, “That being said, I seriously doubt they’re hiring right now. These diners are usually employed by family anyway.”

“Genius sims,” huffed an irritated Abbey.

“That’s another thing,” Mick continued, “hot-tempered teens aren’t really waitress material, don’t you think?” Even Anisia would admit to that.”

“Where is Anisia anyway?” Abbey said glumly, “and what’re you doing out here?”

“Some lady came to our house and started causing trouble, and then dad came home early,” Mick sighed, “So we went to the park. With permission, by the way,” he added pointedly.

“So, where is she?” Abbey frowned.

“In the bathroom, I think. She’s been there a while actually,” Mick reflected.

“Wait – You let her go? ALONE?” exclaimed a suddenly alarmed Abbey.

“Well, geez, what, did you expect me to follow her in there??” Mick said indignantly.

“Haven’t you noticed? There are…” – Abbey’s voice dropped to a whisper – “STRANGERS, around!”

Mick couldn’t help but look incredulous as he smiled.

“I’m serious, Mick!” she said angrily.

Their quarrel was stopped short when Anisia returned.

Abbey let out a relieved sigh. Skeezix’s constant – and overexaggerated – warnings of the dangers of the ‘outside world’ had affected her, whether she wanted to admit it or not (On Mick’s part, however, it had only further encouraged him).

“AAABBEY!!!” Anisia hadn’t seen her older sister for a long time either. “Where’ve you been?”

“Aah, around,” she replied nervously, “I missed you! How’s my favorite sibling?”

“Ha-ha.” Mick said scathingly.

“What is this? How come I’m the only one who doesn’t get hugs?” Mick said resentfully.

“I can hug you now if you want,” said a muffled Anisia.

“So I’m an afterthought, am I?”

After admonishing Mick and ordering him to keep a closer watch on Anisia (“When I say ‘watch’ Anisia, I mean Abbey will kill you if you don’t watch Anisia”), Abbey left them to try looking for an open business around town.

“Micky,” Anisia called from the playground, “climb up the ladder and sit here with me!”

“Mmk.”

“It’s really high up here, isn’t it?” Anisia said earnestly.

“Yup,” said Mick with some forced enthusiasm, “Super high.”

He wondered how long Abbey had been going to school. She seemed a lot more rebellious lately.

“You know, Abbey said that when she got enough money, and when she grew up, that I could live with her if I wanted,” Anisia said cheerfully.

“What?” said Mick, startled.

“Yup,” she replied, “she said I wouldn’t have to stay ‘cooped up in the house’ anymore.”

“Huh,” Mick muttered resentfully. He hadn’t heard of this. Why hadn’t she asked if he wanted to come?

Maybe Anisia really is her favorite sibling, he fumed silently.

***

Abbey biked around town until she found the old plaza she had heard about. There was a park nearby, though the slides and swing-sets were decaying from the rust. Maybe she’d play with Anisia there if she ever brought her to work.

She didn’t bother trying the bistro – like Mick said, they probably wouldn’t be interested in hiring someone as unskilled as her (she made a dirty look intended for Mick).

“Uh oh,” muttered Paula. She hadn’t been back in Emerald Harbor long, but she already knew about the McGruber’s reputation, and their rivalry with the McGormicks. And one of them was standing nearby.

Abbey caught sight of her and immediately panicked. She didn’t want word about her being out to travel to her father, so she tried to run past before she could catch anyone’s attention.

Abbey wasn’t scared of the McGormicks, and she didn’t hate them as much as the rest of her family did – with the exception of Anisia of course. However they’d all been raised to dislike them, and grew up with stories of how the McGormicks had somehow ruined their lives. As a result, Anisia was somewhat frightened of the McGormicks, and would avoid them. Mick, as usual, would intentionally cause trouble, and attack them on sight, especially if a family member was near. Abbey felt she had no choice but to see them as an enemy, who meant harm to her family. If they caused trouble, she saw herself as playing defense.

She breathed again when Melanie was out of sight. However, there was another surprise when she turned the corner.

There were people everywhere! The sight of them startled her. What were all these strangers doing here? When had Emerald Harbor become so crowded?

Come to think of it, the buildings looked like much cleaner than before. A lot of businesses had been opening up. And at school, new students seemed to be coming in everyday, though she tried not to socialize with them too much. She wondered what was going on in Emerald Harbor that was attracting so many people….

Back at the park, Mick was wondering the same thing.

Something Abbey had said was echoing in his head.

“There are STRANGERS around!”

There were a lot of strangers around. He’d seen two or three people at the park today, and a couple of others walking in the distance. It seemed a lot noisier these days too. Before he had thought people were driving through the town because something exciting was happening nearby, but the faces he’d seen would reappear, along with new ones.

The thought that the town was no longer empty was somewhat unnerving.

Anisia slid down the pole, and Mick woke up from his reverie.

“Nisi?” he called out, looking around.

“Down here,” she called back.

“It’s getting dark, isn’t it?” said Anisia.

“Yep. We should probably go home,” sighed Mick.

“Aww, can’t we stay a little longer?” Anisia pouted.

“I didn’t even get to go on the slides,” she added.

“Is this you being persuasive? Fine, one time, then we go,” he said.

“Don’t get scared,” he warned.

“Why would I get scared?” she retorted indignantly.

“Yeah, well….” his voice trailed off. He had caught sight of the Diner.

“What’re you looking at, Micky?” Anisia wondered absent-mindedly.

“Mm…nothing. I’m kind of hungry,” he replied.

“Well,” she said as she reached the top of the slide, “why don’t we eat over there? The open sign lights are on!” she marveled at the last realization.

“…Eat over there?” he frowned. He remembered Abbey saying that there were some new people who were re-opening the diner. That’d have to mean they were moving into the neighborhood!

In any case, he’d find out if he went inside.

“Good idea Nisi. Lets go,” he took off.

“Wait Micky!” Anisia called after him.