From Sims to Real Life

In the previous chapter: Inge read the diary she found in the basement, and as she wanted to know what had really happened, she knew she had to explore the cemetery.

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While preparing breakfast, the cleaning service agency had arrived to clean up the basement so she stayed around and waited until they were finished.

They told her that the bad humid smell was from a very dirty litter box…, if though that basement had been used by cats!

‘Wow…! In the diary, Melissa wrote about a cat as well! Now I certainly have to find those graves to be sure!’

She thanked the service team and asked them if they could tell her which way to take to the cemetery.

It was exactly as the diary had said, very nearby. Inge decided to explore every nook and cranny of this graveyard thoroughly.

Then, finally she found them; There they were…; in the far right corner. Two tombstones…; The Tumbeldors’ tombstones!

While thinking about the diary, she took some weeds out around the graves and then walked home again.

– “Hi baby! Do you miss me?”
– “Yes darling, do you already know when you are coming home?”
– “No, not exactly…, I think within three or four days.”
. “Is it alright with you if I buy a washer and dryer?”
– “Sure…, of course, honey.  You don’t have to ask that! Oh…, I have to end now…, I hear the General coming! Love you bunches. *XXX*”

It seemed that she had more time to herself than she had expected.

First she went into town to buy that washer and dryer; she also bought a few books and got some groceries.

She wanted to make use of the basement, but thought it would be wiser to wait with that until Peter was home.

So she spent some quiet days working on her cooking and gardening skills.

From the day she had visited the cemetery, she got a regular visitor. A cat was scratching the door as if he was asking permission to come inside. Inge was not very attracted to the idea of having a cat.

She liked dogs better, but that didn’t mean she disliked cats. So, when she heard the cat, she went outside and petted him on the head.

But the cat reacted in a very nasty way. Since that day she heard him outside, she had to shoo him away more than once. The cat had that nasty habit of scratching the benches in the garden, and she found out that he destroyed the newspaper as well… No, come to think of it, she didn’t like that cat.
‘I must try to find out who the owner of this cat is’, she thought. ‘One of these days, I’ll follow him to where he belongs’.
She pushed the thought of the cat to the background and spent the rest of the evening watching a movie on TV.

That night she didn’t sleep very well. The cat had come back and was meowing all the time near the bedroom window. She was not going to accept that from a cat that wasn’t hers!

Next morning, she did the normal house cleaning and she still had some hours before Peter would return. She had to wait anyway. Today they were supposed to deliver the washer and drier she bought the other day. ‘For heavens’ sake! Where shall I put them? The house is not big enough!’
But wait…! She found some old counters which could use a bit of paint, but for the moment they would do…! Yes, this was good.
‘I will tell them to put the machines behind the house’, Inge smiled.

While looking at her new acquisition, she was surprised by her husband who had approached her from behind and put his arms around her.
– “Oh… Peter! You scared me to death! Hey…What have they done to your hair?!”

– “Don’t worry honey; it’s part of the uniform. The moment I take off my cap you will see my own hair…”
– “I think we’ve been apart for too long. Let’s go back to normal, shall we?”

They spent the rest of the day enjoying each other.

Later, when she told him about the cat, he immediately agreed that she could try and find out who the rightful owner of this cat was.

Peter had gone to work again. When Inge found another newspaper destroyed by that cat, she had had enough. She waited until she saw him. She shooed him away and went running after him to see where he would go.
Then she saw him creeping through some bushes that led into an open space in the forest. Inge followed him there and then saw some caravans that looked like a gypsy camp.

Very soon a colorful elder woman appeared who looked at her inquisitively.
All of a sudden, Inge felt a bit overawed. – “Excuse me madam, is that cat yours?”
– “Yes, it is! Why?”
– “I have to tell you that he has been very naughty. He comes by our house every day and destroys the newspaper, he scratches my garden furniture and he often keeps me awake during the night, sitting underneath the window and meowing. It gives me the creeps!”
–“Young lady…, this cat, Tehther… is like a brother to me, and I don’t want to restrict his wandering and whereabouts. Just send him away when you see him again….

Inge felt her anger growing and said sharply: – “Alright then…, next time I’ll call the Animal shelter and they will come to take him away. I do love animals, but there is something very malicious about this one…, if though he was half human and seems to take pleasure in destroying… as if he just KNOWS how I dislike that! He seems so cruel. If he doesn’t come home one of these days, you will know where to find him. I don’t have to suffer from his lack of not being trained and behaving this bad! Goodbye madam!”

Inge turned around, gave the grinning cat one more look, and while she walked away, she could almost feel the eyes of that woman and her cat burning a hole in her back.

To be continued….

In the previous chapter Peter and Inge had moved into their starter house after they had it cleaned by a Cleaning Service Agency. They found a basement in the garden, and right down there Peter stumbled upon an old diary. While her husband had already gone to bed, Inge had started to read that diary.

The dairy belonged to a woman, called Melissa Newman who had written about a drama that happened to her and her husband John. Inge’s eyes ran over the text and now and again she had to stop reading to dry her eyes.

It was quite an exhausting read. Reading this diary gave her the creeps. She felt she couldn’t breathe well…, as if she had been locked up in that basement herself.

Her eyes started to ache, and she decided to put the diary away. She would continue later, probably tomorrow.

Before she went to bed, she programmed the coffee machine. Her husband would only have to push the ‘brew’ button when he got up.

When she cuddled up to her husband she let out a blissful sigh… His warm body was always soothing. With him she didn’t need an electric blanket, or hot water bottle to warm her cold feet.

Without waking up, Peter felt his wife’s presence. He turned around and put his hand on her belly.
In that same position he woke up the next morning. Feeling her soft skin and hearing her regular breath, he moved his hand softly over her body. Even asleep, she started purring like a kitten. He felt the urge to wake her… but then, with one eye on the clock, he decided he really had to get up now. He would be late for work and being it his first day at the Hidden Springs Military Base, that would certainly not look good.

He got up and found the coffee brewer prepared to switch on. He smiled while he waited for the cup to fill up. He walked to the living room, sipping on his coffee. He had to hurry. He put down his cup on the bathroom sink and slipped into the shower. The quick shower was refreshing. Time to go…; he finished his coffee and got dressed.

Before leaving the house he had a last look at his sleeping wife and he promised himself something….

When Inge woke up, she had to suppress her wish to continue reading the diary. She knew that if she would sit down and start reading, nothing useful would come out of her hands. So she tried to be a good homemaker and started by making the bed.

She took the empty coffee cup her husband left in the bathroom and put his dirty underwear in the hamper. No…, not enough yet to put into the washing machine. Wait…! WASHING MACHINE…! They didn’t have a washing machine! Was she supposed to wash the laundry by hand? She swallowed air and coughed. O heavens! She would have to talk about it with Peter as soon as possible.

When she wanted to sit down and take the book, she remembered that Peter had told her that he chosen for a warm lunch instead of a warm dinner. There was no way she could take that diary now but then she received a phone call from her husband.
His voice sounded sad when he told her that he had to accompany this General on a trip abroad to write a resume of all the events the General in question had to attend.

– “I’m so sorry honey…; I’d like to be there with you but I cannot refuse this. Remember that I’m new here and I still have to proof myself.”
– “Aren’t you coming home if only to get some more clothes? *—–* “Oh… I see, they provide you with a uniform! Well then…, I suppose that you can buy underwear in the place where you’re going to¡. Of course, I will miss you as well but, don’t worry about me…, I will try and find some other distraction!”

– “What? What kind of distraction do you mean? Honey..., if you really need me by your side, I will tell them ‘no’!”
– “Oh Peter…, stop it! I was just joking!” She sighed. She had noticed before that he still didn’t recognize her sense of humor. – “Peter, when you come back we will have to buy a washing machine and, if possible a dryer! Now…, take care honey and come home soon!”

‘So, it seems that I have an improvised holiday…‘ , she thought.

She made herself a coffee, took the diary and sat down to continue reading.

The sun had set already when she finished it. The diary seemed unconcluded…, being the last unfinished sentence ‘I really don’t know how long we can continue like this but…. OHHH!’

What had happened? You would say that it was something from a horror movie and hard to believe. But… what about the tombstones she wrote about? The ones they found here…? If I want to find out for sure, I should do some researching. According to the diary there must be a cemetery nearby.

The woman, who wrote the diary, Melissa Newman, must have had a terrible time down there. If she was to believe everything she wrote in that diary there had been two dramas that took place in this house and garden.
She decided to have a look at the cemetery. It would be easy to find the graves of the Tumbeldors. Inge wasn’t a coward and she wanted to know what had happened here.

Of course, she wasn’t as foolish as to go to the cemetery at night but she would go there the next morning.

When she got ready for her night rest, she noticed that she hadn’t eaten all day. Canned soup would do fine. With a warm belly she fell asleep.

To be continued…