Introduction: The First Day

Royce and Kylie arrived at their new "home" midday on Monday. This was the first time they could see the extent of decay first-hand. The sun shone beautifully for five minutes, illuminating the gaping hole in the house roof, the weeds and broken fences everywhere, and the ruins of an old family chapel in the back yard.

Then everything clouded over. They unlocked the front door, yanked the creaky thing open, and took a couple of tentative steps into the main room.

"Well." Kylie breathed slowly. "Well. This is certainly... something."

"Hey, there's a fireplace!" Royce tried to sound positive. But his heart was pounding. Did they make a mistake? Where was the second floor??? He knew it would be bad, but he'd been hoping there'd at least be a sturdy interior.

Venturing further inside would have been foolish, so they went back out to the fresh country air. Nearby, a flock of birds landed and twittered happily in an old tree. Kylie's face lit up.

"At least we have music!" she laughed. "C'mon, let's see what's around back!" She shot down the length of the house, Royce following slowly behind. Kylie was such an optimist. He loved that about her.

"There's a chicken coop!" Kylie screeched. "We'll have fresh eggs every day!" She twirled a giddy dance around Royce. He had to laugh.

"We'll raise the finest chickens in all of Henford-on-Bagley," he declared, trying to sound more sure of himself than he was feeling.

They quickly rounded the property - a murky pond, a couple of old sheds, a ramshackle cow paddy and a desperately neglected area that looked like it once could have been a garden completed the picture of the property they now owned.

It didn't take long to unpack - a couple of sleeping bags and a cooler were plopped down, and while Kylie dragged an old garbage can closer to their "home base", Royce set up a fire pit so they could cook.

Hauling rocks and logs to make their fire pit did Royce some good. He worked out those anxious thoughts and started to think clearly again. It helped that Kylie was humming cheerfully as she set up the cooler and garbage near the old sink by the cow paddy. Royce even found a couple of hay bales they could sit on in the old cow shed.

"First things first: I think we need to work on the garden. Get some plants growing, for food and to sell at the markets", he declared as Kylie plopped beside him.

"Agreed!" she nodded. "I believe we can get some seeds in the town square. And a few gardening tools. We have enough money for that."

"We'll sleep here, by the fire, until we can make the house safe. And there's a clean pond just down our hill, so I'll catch fish to eat - and sell!" Royce found himself getting more excited. He loved fishing - imagine doing it "for a living"?

"And one day, I want to get a llama", Kylie pitched in breathlessly. "Then I want to shear the wool and make thread and yarn. Then I want to knit and cross-stich and.."

"Whoa, hold on there!" Royce laughed. "Let's just work on surviving first!"

Kylie giggled and handed him a sandwich from their cooler for supper. They enjoyed the fire, talking and planning until it had died down quite a bit.

Snuggling down finally into their sleeping bags, they whispered "good-night".

Royce lay thinking about their simple wedding a few weeks earlier. Kylie's pretty pink summer dress and simple daisy bouquet had suited her. And the look in Kylie's eyes as she said "I do"... It took his breath away.

"I love you, Kylie Renfield", Royce whispered.

"I love you, too, Royce Renfield", she whispered back.

Royce smiled. As long as that continued, things were going to be just fine.

== == == == == == == ==

Author's Note

These two are so much fun! A couple of minutes after arriving at their new lot, the game declared that they had a new family dynamic - Jokesters! I loved that for them. Despite all they've been through, they find joy in each other and in life, and can have fun together. I decided right then that this was what was going to get them through all the tough work that was coming up for them.

Because this lot is Off the Grid, we have a lovely shimmer around most of the time! They may not have a roof yet... but there is still beauty here.

I especially like the picture below. You can't tell how bad the lot looks from here, aside from an old ruin in their back yard. I like to think that they were out picking mushrooms and searching for frogs, looked up, and took this picture for their album. A wee vision of a beautiful family home. 💗