The Parker Saga

Chapter One: Family Heritage

The actress Belinda Parker has died age 76, her agent has confirmed.

https://imgur.com/vVemEv6.jpg

Although she never made the leap to films, she was a popular star in shows such as Growing Up Crumplebottom and The Urbz. In her spare time she enjoyed meditating and yoga, often making posts on Simstagram about her latest routines, which also earned her fame.

https://imgur.com/v8d5pls.jpg

She leaves behind former actor-turned-politician husband Adam and a son, although the son's current age and whereabouts are unknown.

https://imgur.com/dLNc90v.jpg

***

"How was school?" Lydia asked; the twins were in separate classes.
"It was alright," Hazel replied. "Loads of people were talking about this actress who died. Someone even said I look like her."
"Who are you talking about?"
"Belinda Parker. I've never heard of her. But we do have the same surname. And we don't know anything about Dad's parents."
"Well," Lydia said, leaning forward to make a move on the chessboard, "you do a bit. But brown hair and brown eyes are very common. And Parker's not exactly an uncommon surname."

https://imgur.com/ihhj7OR.jpg

As Hazel went upstairs to start on her homework, she couldn't help thinking about the comments. She'd never heard of any of the TV shows Belinda had been in. More importantly, having quickly checked her phone on the bus home from school, she'd discovered that Belinda had had a son, who'd been unnamed in the Simpedia article. Her dad had never mentioned his parents.

https://imgur.com/Fq0YojM.jpg

Later, she found her father tinkering at his robotics table.
"Hey dad," she said. "Some girl at school was talking about seeing her grandparents for Winterfest. How come we never see ours?"
"Well," Joshua replied, "my parents have always been... very busy people. We simply never got the opportunity to meet up."
"That's a shame," Hazel said. "I bet they would've been nice."

https://imgur.com/apYaLcB.jpg

That evening, Joshua sighed as he sat down at his computer. It'd been easy to avoid mentioning his parents when the girls were small, but now they were at school and could ask proper questions. He'd seen the news articles about Belinda's death on his phone, and guessed that some of the children at the girls' school would have talked about it. Hazel had never mentioned her grandparents before, and he wondered if people had mentioned her resemblance to his mother, framing her enquiry as a more general one about grandparents. He wouldn't have had a problem confirming that she was indeed related to Belinda, but the real issue was why he'd never mentioned them.
"This does it," he muttered. "I need to find a counsellor."
Thousands of results popped up; counsellors specialising in all sorts of issues. Anxiety, depression, PTSD, personality disorders... all those and more were covered. Who to choose? NHS waiting lists were notoriously long, and he had the money to pay for private sessions.

https://imgur.com/yabAk9i.jpg

Meanwhile, now that Clara and Katie had grown up, Emily had decided to take them to the Magic Realm.
"Wow! What is this place?" Lydia wondered in awe. Everything around them seemed to be glowing, and the sky looked not unlike Hazel's t-shirt.

https://imgur.com/nMvCDUq.jpg

"This is the Magic Realm," Emily explained. "This is the spiritual home of spellcasting."
"Wow! Does that mean we're Spellcasters?" Lydia asked excitedly.
"It does," Emily smiled. "My parents are Spellcasters, and I was born one too."
"COOL! I can't wait to cast some spells!"
"Not so fast," Emily replied. "I'm afraid you can't do magic yet. Spellcasting is a difficult and sometimes dangerous art, and magical law says you can't practice until you're a teenager."
"Boo," Lydia pouted.
"I know how you feel," Emily laughed. "But it won't be too long until you're old enough. Maybe when we get home I'll show you a spell."

https://imgur.com/llh0j6x.jpg

"How cool that we're Spellcasters," Lydia said.
"Yeah, it is," Hazel replied. "At least we know a bit about Mum's family."
"Yeah. Try not to worry too much about Dad. I'm sure he'll give us answers at some point."
"Fair enough," Hazel smiled. "Hey, look at Katie doing schoolwork!"
"She's smart like Dad," Lydia grinned. "Getting ahead on learning makes sense. What do you fancy doing when you grow up?"
"I haven't thought about it yet," Hazel said.

https://imgur.com/hajSXPY.jpg