Sims 3: Athena Sparks 3

I decided to take a walk. For the first time in a long time, a book is not enough to satisfy me.  I believe that I am at a point in my life where I need something more than the imaginary world of books. 

Just once, I’d like to experience a real kiss or hug from a man, rather than just read about it.

I’m almost embarrassed to admit it, but I am a woman in my thirties that has never been truly kissed.  Now before you start hearing melodramatic music in your head, I’ve been on dates and I’ve enjoyed the company of men, albeit a very few, but I have never felt the passion that I’ve read about in books and I’ve certainly never felt that I was in love…

…until now.  This is Desmond’s house and no I’m not stalking him.  He just happens to live down the road from me and I just happen to have found that out after taking a walk one evening.  So, I now just so happen to enjoy taking walks around that same time every day since then with the tiny thought in my mind that maybe I’ll catch a glimpse of him.

I’m disappointed that he’s not outside.  I wonder if he’s home and what he’s doing.  I keep walking.

Again, I feel ashamed.  I am way too old to walk around hoping to catch a glimpse of a man that I find attractive.  Most people outgrow this type of behavior during high school, or college at the latest.  Me…I guess I’m a late bloomer.

Desmond is not the only reason that I enjoy my evening walks, although it may sound like it. 

I don’t know how many ways I can say this, but this town is absolutely beautiful. 

If there was any place for a woman like me to come out of her shell and pursue love for the first time…Hidden Springs is it.

This place is pure magic and I can imagine myself standing here with Desmond as the moon trades places with the sun.

I can imagine him whispering in my ear as we stare at the mountains and the cool breeze off the lake caresses our skin, just before he pulls me close and kisses me.

I stand and imagine.  I imagine and hope, but the truth is…

The only way any of it will ever happen is if I take that first step.  I’m going to have to speak to him.

The thought scares me, but I didn’t move here to allow fear to paralyze me.  I moved here for a new start.

But how do I take the first step?

I’ll go and knock on his door and introduce myself.  What’s the worst that could happen?

I walk toward his house with the intention of marching up to his doorstep and knocking, but the closer I get, the more my heart pounds.  I can’t even walk on the same side of the street without feeling like I’m going to pass out. 

I’m determined to go and knock on his door…

…eventually.

But now is not the time.  I know that I’m not ready.

Instead I find myself back at home preparing a salad for dinner.

The nights are the worst.  Being lonely during the night is a totally different animal.

Here I am, eating dinner alone.

Blessed with a great imagination, I stare at the empty chair across from me, imagining Desmond’s smiling face; praising me for a great home cooked meal.

But all the imagining in the world doesn’t cover up the fact that the chair is empty and will remain so unless I take the first step.

I crawl into bed, knowing full well what I’m going to have to do.

Tomorrow, I will introduce myself to Desmond.

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Sims 3: Athena Sparks 2

Although books are my life…my whole life…like literally, I’m not here to read today.  My eyes go straight to the computer across the way.

I walk over to it and just stand there staring for a few moments.  This one electronic device just may be the key to me living the life I want to live…a successful professional writer.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, ‘aren’t you a little old to just now be beginning a new career?  What have you been doing all of this time?’  Well, I started out as a teacher, only I wasn’t so good at it.  The kids ran all over me and that was just the preschool kids.  I shudder to think what teaching high school would have been like. 

I decided to leave teaching to the professionals and do something that is actually suited for someone like me.  Me…alone in a room with an electronic device that will never stare at me when I commit yet another social faux pas.  Let’s just say I’ve never been a social butterfly.  To be honest, social situations with people I don’t know stress me out. 

I figured that since I love books so much, it would be right up my alley to contribute to the literary world.  The only problem…so far, the only thing I’ve managed to write are entries into my diary and who would want to read that?

Well, today is the day that I start my novel…my potential best seller…you know, my Bridgeport Times Best Seller.  A girl can dream, right?

Okay, so maybe that thought process is premature.  First, I need to begin with a letter, that leads to a word, that leads to a sentence.  If I’m lucky, maybe I can get a whole page typed.

Just as the words begin to flow, the computer freezes.  Panic fills me as I press button after button praying for a miracle.  When was the last time I saved?

I resist the impulse to punch the computer screen as I realize that I hadn’t saved.  I’ve been writing for over 20 minutes and completed two whole pages and hadn’t saved once.

Realizing that these are the type of set backs that cause many a potential writer to give up writing all together, I decide to keep moving forward and start over.  Maybe this will be even better the second time, I attempt to convince myself.

I type a few words and suddenly hit a road block.  My sentences are choppy and my ideas are weak.  Every author interviewed that I’ve ever read or seen on TV says that the key to completing a novel is to just keep writing, even when everything that you type sucks. I decide to follow that advice.

I reread what I’ve written so far.  Terrible!   This is absolutely terrible.


I am now totally unmotivated.  I’m no fool, I know a lost cause when I’m confronted with one.  I’ll try again tomorrow.

For now, I leave the library and head home.

If I hurry home, maybe I can catch a passing glimpse of Desmond as he heads home for the day.  This thought puts a bit of pep in my step.

The taxi passes the hospital and of course I look, hoping that he’s still there.  No such luck.

Back at home, with nothing to do, I head to my book shelf searching for any book there that I haven’t read yet.

I open the book and immerse myself into another world.

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Sims 3: Athena Sparks

Meet Athena Sparks, created especially for Hidden Springs.

Athena is a shy, clumsy, nurturing bookworm who aspires to become a professional writer. This hopeless romantic has her eye on a particular guy, but too often allows the introvert in her to block any chance she may have to pursue him. Can she ever get passed her shyness, tap into her natural beauty and capture the heart of the man of her dream?

My whole purpose for moving to Hidden Springs was to escape craziness.  Instead, I moved into crazy’s backyard.  Only this isn’t the bad, chaotic sort of crazy.  This craziness makes me feel good…at least when I get to see him…

His name is Desmond and it is absolutely crazy how in love with him I am.  Why?  Because he doesn’t even know I exist.  Want even more proof of the lunacy of the situation…I’m crazy enough to think that I’d ever have a chance with him.

I see him from time to time when he passes my house in taxis.  I can only guess where he may be going. 

Would you think that I’m totally out of my mind if I told you that I sometimes hide behind the bushes in front of my house so that I can get a good view of him without him knowing? 

It’s okay if you think so, because I sometimes think so.  “What is wrong with you Athena?”  I ask myself after he has passed by and I stand up brushing the branches and leaves out of my hair.

What makes my story even sadder is that I can look all I want, but I’m too afraid to even speak to him. I’m just a shy, thirty-something, wanna be writer, living in a small shack in the middle of the woods.

I’ve been told that I’m attractive.  “If you just open up a little Athena and invest in some contacts, you could have any man you want!” Is what my good intentioned friends used to tell me.

Not that I don’t appreciate their advice, but just how do I change who I am?

I leave the house, heading for my favorite place when the peaceful tinkling of my wind chime catches my attention. This brings a smile to my face.  These wind chimes are the only thing that I brought with me from my past life, before I moved to Hidden Springs.

Now before you jump to conclusions, no I didn’t have some traumatic past that brought me to Hidden Springs.  I moved here to pursue my dream of becoming a writer.  So yes, I’m a cliché…an aspiring novelist who escapes to a small shack in the woods to write a bestselling novel.  Ha!  If only it was that easy.

I want to be writer, but a novel that hasn’t even begun will not pay the bills and put food on the table.  I need to get a job.  After all, I don’t even own a computer yet. A writer who can’t afford a computer…my dream is starting out just right…not. I jump into a taxi when it arrives.

As the taxi passes the local hospital, my stomach suddenly feels as if I swallowed rocks.

I can see Desmond standing right in front.  I stare as long as I can, until the taxi passes him.  I wonder what his voice sounds like.

It’s not until I completely pass the hospital that I begin to get the sensation that I am going to pass out. I realize that I’ve been holding my breath since we passed the hospital.  What is wrong with me? I ask myself as I take a breath and resupply my brain with much needed oxygen.

The taxi stops in front of the bookstore and I am finally relaxed as the bookworm in me sings with joy.

As I approach, I can see a “help wanted” sign in the window.  Perfect! I tell myself.  The bookstore is the perfect place for me to work until writing begins to bring in the dough.

The books beacon to me as I enter the store.  I wonder if Desmond likes to read.

I leave the bookstore with a new part-time job.  Now I decide to begin writing an outline for my first book.  My next stop is the library or should I say the “home for books” across the street.  No joke…that’s really what it’s called, Eloise C. Vanderbury’s Home for Books.  Eloise must have been a genius.

I walk out into the street and as always, I am overwhelmed by the beauty that is Hidden Springs; with its picturesque mountain views and breathe taking lakes and forests.

Of course this place would be beautiful…it is a tourist town.  Actually, it’s become sort of a celebrity get-a-way.

Have you ever vacationed at a gorgeous location and wondered to yourself, what lucky soul gets to live here all the time? 

Or maybe you’ve wondered…what is their life like, living in such a gorgeous place?  It must be incredible!

Well, I live in that type of town, and where do I spend most of my time…

…At the house of books.  No wonder Desmond has no idea that I’m alive.

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