"Pelican Town to Sims Town" - A Stardew Valley, Sims 3 Fanfic
*UPDATE 7/29/2022* This is no longer an active story - it has been completed. YAY! 😁 - so reading from here on out you will get to enjoy all the Chapters at your disposal without waiting for more up...
Hey friends. :) Sorry it took SO long to get this out, but...you can understand with how crazy everything's been the past month. I'm glad I'm feeling better enough to write. <3
Hope y'all enjoy! :blush:
When we last left off, Harvey, Alex and Shane just discovered that the cashier lady at the Grocery Store is an Android or...something. :grey_question:
Pelican Town to Sims Town Continuation of Chapter 5...
Meanwhile, Abigail, Leah and Maru loaded themselves up into one of the vehicles that was also provided for them and made their way toward the hills behind their home. If there was any place to go foraging and find various rocks and soil, it would be in those hills.
The sky held a salmon pink glow as they followed the road up into the hills, which would soon become a cerulean hue once the sun made its way above the horizon.
The road came to an end before a medium sized lake, surrounded by a dusty terrain spotted with rocks and dead grasses, with a skinny, multi-colored waterfall, much to the girl’s surprise, raining down into it from three giant boulders. Whether the water came from a natural source or was the work of magic they couldn’t be sure and didn’t think too hard on it. They just stood in awe over its glimmering beauty.
“Is that...rainbow water?” Leah asked curiously with peered eyes. “It’s breathtaking!” Abigail whispered. This world is spectacular! “No, not literal rainbow water,” Maru answered, studying the whole scene very carefully, “or else the water in the lake would also be rainbow colored. See how the water falls into a rainbow glow on the surface of the water,” she pointed, “yet the colors do not spread. Interesting…” “Fascinating,” Leah breathed. “It could be the way the light is reflecting off the water droplets, therefore producing a rainbow effect,” Maru intelligently concluded. But wait...the sun hasn’t fully risen into the sky yet...Hmm? “That or it’s a magical waterfall,” Abigail continued to admire. “I wonder if it’s really even water or just an illusion. I’d love to get a closer look!” “That may be dangerous,” Maru cautioned, snapping out of her thoughts. “Look how steep the slope is below those giant boulders. I wouldn’t recommend it.” Abigail did notice and curled her lower lip between her teeth in disappointment. If I could just get close enough, she thought, then I could...no. There’s not enough cover. Nevermind. She sighed.
“Let’s get to work,” Maru directed, “we’ve got a lot to collect.” The other two nodded, pulling out a crumpled up grocery bag from their pockets. “Okay, you two will be collecting plants, grasses, seeds, and any other bits of vegetation that you feel might aid us,” Maru began. “If something looks neat or even odd, grab it. We don’t want to miss anything. We’ll work on collecting insects after we do that.” The two ladies nodded in acknowledgement again. “While you two are foraging I’m going to collect soil samples, and a sample of this lake water, as well as do a little fishing,” she smiled. This was the one time she was thankful her dad took her out fishing as a kid. Abigail took a quick look around and noticed a fence behind the waterfall that stretched out many feet on each side. “I think I might sneak over that fence and collect stuff too,” she said. “Lots of greener vegetation over there; should be some good stuff.” “Sounds good,” Maru nodded. “We’ll hit up some other areas around the countryside too, but for now let’s get to work as quickly as possible here while still being thorough in our search.”
When Maru turned her back to the girls for a moment, Abigail leaned towards Leah and whispered in her ear, “She’s starting to sound like Harvey.” “Oh I know!” Leah whispered back with a snicker, thinking the same. “She’s been working with him for WAY too long!” “Almost to the point that they’re starting to look like each other!” “Just like an old married couple!” Their chuckles got louder. “You know, I bet those two will--” Abigail started.
“What’s so funny?” Maru asked them. Instantly the ridiculous grins appeared. “Nothing,” Leah replied. “We’ll...uh...get to the foraging now.” “Yup!” Abigail chimed in. “Don’t want to waste anymore time!” “Okaaay,” Maru acknowledged, shooting them a questionable look. She watched them gather for a few seconds and then turned and made for the car.
She pulled out a handy little scanner doo-dad from the backseat that she found resting on the chemistry table in her bedroom she shared with Abigail. She wasn’t sure how to use it, but after fiddling with it a bit she was able to figure a few things out.
“Okay,” she whispered, stepping closer to the lake. “Let’s see what kind of reading I get from the lake water here.”
The handheld device’s ability to collect various amounts of informative and scientific data on whatever it was being aimed at, even at a far distance, was beyond fascinating! The budding little inventor that is Maru, found herself geeking out all over it. It was a relief to see that many things from this world were made up of the same molecular structure as things similar to it in their world back home. That would certainly make doing research and studying much easier! I must pass this info on to Harvey, she thought, it should ease his mind a bit.
She knelt down and gathered a hefty sample of water into one of the test tubes she carried in her pocket, sealed it, and then went on to collect different colors of soil from all around the lake. With all of the tubes safely placed in the car’s backseat cup holders, she grabbed the fishing rod - also found in her room - and stood near the edge of the lake and cast the line.
While she fished, Abigail picked up some fallen leaves from a large crimson colored tree. In the corner of her eye the rainbow waterfall continued to flow and greatly called out to her, but she would have to ignore it for now.
When she made her way to the fence line, she took a quick look from the left to the right, making sure no strangers were around to witness her jump over it.
When the coast was clear, she stepped up onto the middle fence post, carefully swung her other leg over, and landed on the other side with ease. She smiled while gazing at all the clusters of pine trees and went right on collecting the needles, cones, a long piece of bark, and even a solid drip of sap.
The forested area seemed unusually quiet. Normally there’d be the random sound of a bird chirping, cicadas singing, or a gentle breeze rustling the leaves. There was none of that, only silence and there was quite a vast forest spread out in front of her. It felt a little unsettling, but at the same time she didn’t sense an air of danger. The dried pine needles cracked beneath her feet, piercing the silence, as she inched her way deeper into the trees to collect whatever else she might find. She stumbled upon a patch of mushrooms, hoping they weren’t poisonous, even some growing on the trees producing little platforms, but one thing she knew for certain is that some could be used for medicinal purposes so she collected as much as she could store.
As she continued on her way she suddenly crashed into some unseen force that sent her flying backward and landing onto her back. “Ow!” she cried out, even though the collision didn’t hurt much. It felt like she ran into a gel padded wall. Carefully getting back onto her feet she peered ahead, still seeing the vast forest, but knew better than to keep walking forward. She reached out her hand, her forefingers raised, inching forward until they indeed met with something solid. It felt like a soft, invisible sheet and her touch created a ripple that spread out far into the treetops. Her mouth dropped in awe and question as she watched. Is this some kind of a barrier? Why is it here? Then her heart really pounded. Are we living in a giant bubble? But...why!? Breathing heavily now she whipped out her phone and called Harvey.
When he answered she started off by saying, “You’re not going to believe this...but I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.”
Meanwhile on the other side of the fence, Maru finished fishing, capturing three different kinds of fish, and then went on to forage as well.
It seemed more like a pod, perhaps containing other smaller seeds in it, but she couldn’t be sure. She was tempted to pry or crack it open to see, but figured she better not and just dropped it into her bag. Then she sighed, staring off towards the town. Is it really necessary for us to gather all this stuff? Surely the stores have all that we need. I wonder what kind of information Elliott has gathered from the computer? She smiled and closed her eyes, thinking of her love and missing him once again. Maybe I should call him?
“Maru! Leah!” Abigail called out. “You girl’s have gotta see this!”
I guess I’ll just see him when we get back.
*******************************
Back at the guy’s house, Elliott was completely immersed in the "World-Wide-Web," finding all sorts of information on the history of the world and town where they currently resided.
His eyes glued to the screen, he returned to some notes he’d been taking in a separate word document and naturally he wrote it all up like a story. He read it aloud to himself in a whisper to refresh his mind, “The town of Appaloosa started out as a cowboy ranch town in the Midwest of Deserta - southern continent of Simthaer - on the edge of a major highway. As time passed, the town degenerated into nearly a ghost town when a few city slickers arrived turning the area into a bustling hub of activity. With their bags of gold they retrofitted the town with modern amenities while eagerly believing they’d acquired their own slice of country paradise. The clash between the old and the new is relatively apparent, with some elderly die-hards clinging to the remaining vestiges of life as they knew it.”
Hmm, he stopped to think, glancing up and staring at the blank wall. A bustling hub of activity? I’m really not getting that vibe here, but...maybe it’s just me.
His concentration and thoughts were continually being disrupted by the sound of music coming from the room next to his.
Sebastian and Sam were jamming out on the various musical instruments in their room, getting familiar with them, ultimately settling on the electric guitar and drums. The drums were Sam’s favorite instrument to play, next to the guitar. Sebastian normally played keyboard and only recently learned to play guitar due to the fact that Sam had been wanting to start a band with him and Abigail for a while and expressed sometimes wanting to play the drums depending on the song. Sebastian also wrote up a couple of songs for their soon to be band and Sam wrote out the guitar and drum parts, leaving Sebastian to figure out the keyboard part later. They practiced the songs so much back home that they had them memorized and couldn’t wait to jam them out in this new world. The two were indeed a talented pair of virtuosos.
“The extra strings on this guitar are so flippin’ sweet!” Sebastian expressed to his buddy, lightly plucking at them. “More notes for us to learn and experiment with.” “Fo sho!” Sam concurred. “Let’s see how we can add those extra notes into your ‘Nutcase’ song.” “Yeah! Let’s do it!”
“Time to wing it!” Sam declared, raising his drumsticks in the air. “You ready?” Sebastian positioned his fingers and nodded. Then Sam counted while hitting the sticks together, “One, two, three, four…”
The sounds from the guitar strings instantly permeated the room, producing a catchy Rock tune as Sebastian began singing the lyrics. He wouldn’t call himself a great singer, but he wasn’t terrible. Soon Sam would join in on the drums.
The first few bars of the song sounded pretty good to Elliott through the wall, but after hearing it being replayed over and over and over again during his research, the key changing each time, began to wear on his nerves. Nevertheless he pressed on. He was just too darn curious about this world and didn’t wish to cause any contention in the household on their second day here, even though it would surely happen. He still shuddered to think about living for months with these guys when he was so used to living on his own.
“Okay that time it didn’t sound so good,” Sebastian expressed with a grimace. “Yeah, the verse notes sounded alright, but the chorus suc’ked,” Sam said. Looking thoughtful, Sebastian then said, “The time I played it in this new E-flat major sounded righteous!” He re-positioned his fingers over the guitar strings. “Let me see if I can remember...” “True!” Sam pointed with his drumstick. “Alrighty, from the top then?” “Yeah.”
Thinking the guys had finally taken a break in playing, that ever familiar Rock sound once again rang in Elliott’s ears. His fingers slammed down onto the keyboard with his forehead nearly following suit. He’d had enough!
He jumped up from his chair and headed straight for the other bedroom door. Raising his fist to knock he suddenly stopped himself. Something within him told him to chill because he was somewhat of a musician himself and could respect a good jam while trying to experiment with a song. And obviously the two young men weren’t trying to bother him. It wouldn’t be fair or kind to just burst in there and yell at them, especially when he really had no authority to do so. This is something he would just have to learn to get used to.
He lowered his head with a sigh and thought, I swear those boys act like teenagers and it drives me nuts! Or am I just turning into an old man prematurely? He cracked a smile. Nah...let them keep thinking Harvey is the oldest and authoritative one here. I refuse to get too involved in anything, especially drama. Standing up straight and clearing his throat he calmly opened the door, approaching the situation in a different manner now.
“Hey,” Elliott addressed through the music. “Could you guys maybe take a break from playing for a bit? I can’t concentrate on my research.” He paused, seeing the guys acknowledge, but choosing to finish the song before stopping. “Besides...we’re all supposed to be exploring and discovering all we can about this place today.”
“We are discovering something about this place,” Sam spoke in between drum beats, “the musical instruments!” He threw out a cheesy grin. “They’re pretty much the same as they are in our world,” Elliott retorted. “No,” Sebastian corrected, “they are quite different. For example, this guitar has six strings instead of four. Can you believe that!?” That prompted Elliott to glance over at the keyboard to study and see if it too had more keys than his piano back home. “That means there’s more musical notes to discover,” Sebastian went on with a grin. “And that's so rad!” Sam added. “Wait until I get my hands on that guitar!” “Besides Elliott, this is enlightening ourselves is it not?” “What he said!”
Elliott just stared at them both with his mouth in a hard line and a raised bow, not willing to give them the pleasure of admitting they are right, but rather...doing something else. “I’ll show you two what key this song belongs in.” And he headed straight for the keyboard, sitting himself down.
Sam and Sebastian shot each other some bright-eyed looks of wonder as they kept on playing.
They didn’t even have to start the song over, Elliott jumped right in on the keyboard, knowing exactly when to, leading it into a key change that hadn’t been attempted yet and the other two naturally followed suit. The more Sebastian played in the new key the more he began to approve of it and soon...he began to love it. He and Sam now jammed louder and with more feeling than before. “Fantastic!” Sebastian gleefully voiced.
“Wow Elliott,” Sam began, “I’d heard you played the piano some, but I didn’t know you were this good!” “You should totally join our band!” Sebastian blurted out in excitement, without fully thinking about that first. Sam rapidly shook his head ‘no’ at him. “Not on your life kid,” Elliott said, secretly loving the feeling of the music pulsing through his soul from each fingertip. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment, smiling. It’d been too long since he played and he missed it more than he realized.
