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...)