The Clearys - Round 5

Starring:

Colm Cleary, Adult Popularity Sim, LTW Have 20 Simultaneous Best Friends

Michelle Cleary, Adult Fortune Sim, LTW Become Business Tycoon

Neal Cleary, Child Knowledge Sim, LTW Grow Up Well

~*~*~*~*~

Last time we visited the Clearys, Tara moved out to go to university. Aisling passed away while Neal was a toddler, and the Cleary house got a little makeover. This time, it's just Michelle, Colm, and Neal in the house. How will they do without a grandmother around to help care for Neal?

Michelle, as always, was concerned with making sure her career progressed. Aisling had left them some money when she passed, but Michelle was always worried that it wasn't enough, that one bad turn of luck could drain their savings.


Unfortunately, she made a very poor decision at work that cost her reputation a lot. It seemed since Aisling died, Michelle's head wasn't quite as clear as it had been. This was just the sort of setback she was worried could result in something more harmful for their little family.



A few days later, Colm was struck with bad luck as well, making a poor decision on the spur of the moment about fixing some wiring at a ballgame. Not only were his employers furious, but he had to pay $4000 out of pocket for repairs. The Clearys had never made that much money, and this hit was a painful one.



Despite the ignominy that would linger a while with his bad choice, Colm was still on good terms with his co-workers and got invited to attend a wedding. He was by no means skilled at shopping for presents, but he decided he might try something unusual for this particularly eccentric colleague.


Fortunately, THAT seemed to be the right decision. "At least my co-workers don't hate me too," Colm commented forlornly to Michelle as they headed home from the reception. Unfortunately, that wouldn't replace the $4000 in their savings.


Their family, particularly Neal, was the one thing that kept both Michelle and Colm going in the face of bad luck and worse decisions. He was such a cheerful, loving little boy, always full of things to talk about, that neither Colm nor Michelle could be in a poor mood when he chattered on at the dinner table in the evenings.

He truly inherited a personality that was kinder than anyone else in the family, and he wore his tender little heart on his sleeve. It was amazing to Colm and Michelle how such a little boy could sometimes remind them that they should work hard to be good people, even on those days when they didn't feel like putting in the effort.


Colm's luck improved a bit as the season went on, though at first a twisted ankle wasn't exactly what he would label good luck. All turned out well, though, and he finally felt that he was making up for his earlier error in the eyes of his boss.


Later that month, it seemed as if the Cleary luck was finally turning around a bit. Both Michelle and Colm came home with promotions and healthy bonuses on the same day. Michelle instantly felt calmer knowing they had a bit more cushioning in their bank account.



Neal, being the cheerful child he was, made friends quickly and brought them home from school often. One friend, Guillermo Chan, couldn't get enough of the chess table, so Neal played with him until it was dark and time for Guillermo to go home.


Curious creature that he was, though, Neal's exploration of logic didn't end there. Even after dark, he could be found peering through the telescope, exploring another area of interest and increasing his knowledge.


One day, as Neal got off the school bus, he saw a strangely dressed woman leaving an even stranger lamp on their front lawn. His curiosity ate him up, but he'd been taught to be cautious around strangers and their things, and so he waited until his parents came home to tell them about the lamp and investigate it first.



Colm laughingly rubbed the side of the dented brass, joking that it looked like one of those old fashioned Aladdin lamps. With a gasp as purple gas started to seep from the spout, Colm dropped the lamp to the ground and peered up wide-eyed as a genie appeared out of thin air in front of him.


The genie asked Colm to make a wish, and after very little pondering, Colm knew what he wanted. He'd been lucky enough to marry a beautiful younger woman, and now, he was in danger of turning into a senior citizen while she was still in the prime of her life. He asked wistfully for a longer life and was shocked when, after being surrounded by something he could only think of as "fairy dust," he actually felt YEARS younger! It was a miracle! He quickly thanked the genie and snapped the lid back onto the lamp, hiding it away until Michelle got home from work.



Michelle had had a great day at work and even brought a friend home with her, but when Colm pulled her aside to explain what he had found, she quickly said goodbye.


She'd gotten a promotion that day AND now got a chance to make a wish from a genie lamp. The day really couldn't have been going better.


Still, that lingering fear of running out of money stuck with Michelle, however, and when she faced the strangely imposing genie, she knew right away what her wish would be.


The bag of simoleans nearly crashed down on her head, they came so quickly. But it was TEN THOUSAND of them, and Michelle finally knew she could rest easy. It wasn't exactly a huge nest egg, but it would put Neal through school while she and Colm continued to work their way up their respective career ladders.



It still wasn't the end of their bad luck, though, and $7000 of Michelle's $10,000 was gone with one bad decision from Colm. She could have strangled him, but he looked so pathetically beat down from the poor judgment he'd displayed that she couldn't say much more than sadly commiserate.


The bonuses kept rolling in as Michelle sped toward her goal of becoming a Business Tycoon, though, and that was something.


As long as they were all happy and healthy, and as long as Neal kept brightening their day with his friendly and loving manner, they would keep on plugging along.




Stay tuned for the Tanaka house!

~*~*~*~*~

Scoring:

No new points, I don't think.

[[Author's Notes: Pretty uneventful round other than all the painfully expensive fines they had to pay thanks to bad chance cards. Neal brings home friends so much, you'd think he was a popularity sim, but I guess it's just because he's such a sweetie. His favorite pastime is still playing the piano - he's already maxed out the creative skill points! Another real-life parallel, lol. Anyway, this house was pretty easy and uneventful. No hauntings from Aisling, and I'm hoping Colm can stave off elder-hood a bit longer...

This Entry's MP3:
Old Shit/New Shit by the Eels (from the album Blinking Lights and Other Revelations)

Bloopers:
Aw, Neal fears divorce. // That's cold, dude.]]