Chapter 1: Living Life

          It didn’t take long for Finley to come to the conclusion that the world was a beautiful place. The sun rose faithfully every day to share its brilliant warmth. New discoveries awaited her just around every corner. And the weather was always perfect. Though as opposed to what, she didn’t know. Finley cheerfully spent her first few days simply wandering around her neighborhood. Between digging for interesting rocks and hunting for frogs, there was plenty to be done. And she couldn’t neglect her new favorite hobby of fishing.

          Taking what she could, her house became homier with each of her uncovered treasures. Frogs could be found on nearly all empty counters at one point in time. This was especially true when she found that one could breed the amphibians, occasionally producing an offspring even more intriguing than its parents. At some point, a correlation came about in her head between breeding frogs and her creator’s supposed fascination with her becoming pregnant. That put a damper on the fun, and she sold all but a few of her amphibian friends.

          After making a few simoleons off her frogs, Finley realized just how close she was to being broke. She had a touch less than a thousand in her account, which sounded like a lot until she got her first set of bills. Like normal people, she knew that she should have gotten a job. Not much in the listed career fields she saw interested her though.

          Not much internal debate went into her decision to try to stick it out jobless for a while longer. Some might have been terrified, but she still saw only saw the possibility in the world she had been plopped down into. Her fishing skills were slowly improving. And she was able to get a good deal on some planter boxes. Those were two ways she could make a few extra simoleons, and they both provided her with much more fun than some job.

          It was on her fourth day that Finley realized that she had yet to speak to another person. Sometimes she mumbled things out, little thoughts that she hoped her creator could hear. And she talked to her captured frogs and fish at times too. They left something to be desired conversation-wise. When the loneliness finally got to her, she went to the park for some real socialization.

          The first people she approached were a man and woman sharing a picnic of hamburgers. When they caught her eyes lingering on the amazing smelling food, they invited her to join them. Finley slipped onto the bench across from them, not at all sure what to do with herself. When a break came in their conversation, the two looked at her expectantly.

“Oh, uh…” she mentally groped around for something to say. A joke was the only thing she could pull up. “What do you call a frog with a broken leg?” Neither of them supplied an answer, so she continued, “Unhoppy!”

The corny joke was met with two different reactions. The woman shot Finley a distasteful look, but at least the man chuckled. He then proceeded to flash a crazy face at her. She tried to muster up a laugh, but it came out strangled. For the rest of the meal, the three ate in silence.

          She had been about to flee the park in favor of the library or perhaps a bar, but someone caught her attention. A man sat alone at one of the chess tables and he appeared to be decked out for some fishing. Finley couldn’t resist.

          “Heya!” she greeted with a wave. Her voice had come out a lot louder than she expected it to and she wasn’t able to pull her hand back down as fast as she would have liked. He stared at her, one brow arched. “Do you mind if I join you?”

Before replying, he looked her up and down three times. “I guess not,” he said flippantly with a shrug. “You should know that I’m a ranked player, so don’t feel too bad when I beat you.”

“Uh, sure okay.”

          Finley did not have a chance to bring up fishing before he suddenly pointed at something behind her. “Look at that!” he exclaimed, a streak of urgency contorting his features. “What is that?”

She took the bait and slowly twisted around in her seat. Finley couldn’t find anything though. “All I see are some people.”

“I must have mistook one for some kind of land monster. Don’t worry about it; I was only looking out for you.”

That made her giggle. They returned to the game, and she failed to notice her pieces had been swapped around.

          The man, who she learned to be named Manu Frazier, beamed with his entire body when Finley finally brought up her budding interest in fishing. He happily rattled off all the dozens of rare catches he pulled in, each more unbelievable than the last. Finley listened with rapt attention, truly in awe of the man. She hadn’t been around long enough to learn of exaggerated storytelling.

          They parted ways after several hours, both leaving the conversation feeling satisfied.

          Finley returned to the park the next day. Her intention had been to visit a fishing spot there for a few hours, but she became distracted by the playground. She studied the faux pirate ship, imagining children hollering about, all while the implanted desires of her creator festered. The only thing that pulled her out of the hypnotic fascination was someone loudly cursing to themself while storming her way.

          The upset citizen turned out to be none other than Manu. Finley walked towards him once she recognized his overalls. His mood appeared to turn a little less sour when he saw her.

          “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You seem really upset.”

“It’s nothing. Just dealt with some idiot.” He didn’t say anything more about it and she didn’t want to push. Instead, she quickly got him to join her in some deep breathing, taking in the fresh scents of the blooming park.

 “Gee, uh thanks. That actually helped.”

“It’s no problem!” She grinned brightly.

       

           The two decided to exchange phone numbers and he added that he’d call her up some time. Before they parted, Manu suggested that they take a picture with each other. “That way I’ll be sure to remember who you are.” Finley wasn’t sure about whether or not to be offended that he wouldn’t just remember her by name, but quickly gave up caring when he pressed his stubbly face against hers. She tried to best to smile like a pretty person would, but she felt as though she probably messed this up.

          Mr. Frazier did eventually call Finley. To ask her on a date. Her heart began to speed up like a jellybean addict when she heard this. And on the day of their plans, she couldn’t force herself back to sleep when she accidentally woke too early. To pass the time, she thoroughly showered and then prepared a homemade breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon. “Success!” she happily clapped after taking her first bite. Normally she decimated whatever she planned to create in the kitchen, but that breakfast actually tasted pretty good. She took it as a positive sign.

          Manu took her out of town, to a bar in the desert. As soon as they crossed through the door, he left her side to go join some people in watching a sports game on TV. There weren’t any seats left over there, so she settled on brewing herself some coffee. From having woken up too early due to excitement, she found herself starting to get tired.

          The man she had shared hamburgers with in the park joined her while she sipped her coffee alone. She appreciated the company. That is until he started making eyes at her, wedding ring bouncing off light. She excused herself and struggled for something to do.

          A stereo played mild music in the corner. At first, Finley simply entertained herself by listening to it for a song. Her body soon began to react organically to the low rumbling beat and she found herself dancing. She wasn’t sure how good her moves were, but they managed to catch Manu’s attention. He left his sport buddies and joined her.

          When the music faded into a commercial, the two were breathing harder than usual. Caught up in the moment, Manu pulled her in for a hug. “You’re such a good sport,” he murmured into her ear.

Finley didn’t quite catch that though. She was too far gone from being able to nuzzle her face into his shoulder. It was her first hug and it was magical! Being so close to someone felt amazing. It felt safe and warm and a thousand times better than pulling weeds out of her garden.

          If it hadn’t been before, the attraction between them became quite evident after that.

          Finley caught her body acting strangely. Her hip popped out and her lips curled into a coy grin. What was coming over her?

          Just as she began to learn her first motions of flirting, it was all flushed down the drain. A blonde woman budged into their private conversation, mimicking Finley’s poses. Manu didn’t ask her to leave or even to stop. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it a good bit. She took this as her sign to ditch the date.