#jade araujo

[livinasimminlife]

Chapter 13: The Apology (SDVR)

“Jade… please,” he called, and she hoped he didn’t hear her expletives, though she felt they were justified. “I… I’m sorry… I feel awful… can you slow down? Wow… you… walk fast.”

“When I’m motivated,” Jade snipped, tugging her coat closer to her chest, though she knew he didn’t deserve her animosity. He did nothing wrong. “Please… Sam… I’m tired and I just want to go home.”

“No please,” he begged. “Don’t go home like this.”

“Like what, Sam!?” she whirled and waved her arms. “She doesn’t even know me and she treated me like… like…”

“I know,” he sighed, dropping his head in shame. “Like horse excrement.”

Jade let out a stymied laugh, oddly appreciative of his kind way of saying something mean. “Uh… sure… you could say that.”

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[livinasimminlife]

Chapter 11: Lunch with Marnie (SDVR)

Marnie’s kitchen was cozy, same pale rosy wallpaper as the shop and wooden plank boards, all the essentials, and a sideboard with four chairs. Jade particularly loved all the little personal touches – the blue polka-dotted coffee mug, a bright orange teapot, a collection of silk autumn leaves as a centerpiece, the yellow flowered curtain covering the lower cabinets instead of traditional doors. The table was handcrafted by Robin, Marnie shared, and was the centerpiece of her home.

“Everything happens here…” she said. “Birthdays, anniversaries, family conversations, laughter, tears. The work we do on Good Cluck Ranch is celebrated right here. I believe life is defined by what happens around my dinner table.”

“That’s a beautiful thought,” Jade smiled...

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[livinasimminlife]

Chapter 10: The Nearby Farm (SDVR)

“Hey, it’s Dancing Queen!” Leah called out as she approached from the South.

“Good morning. Yeah, about that…” Jade winced.

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me,” Leah winked. “Only a few of us saw you anyway. I’m glad you got home okay.”

“Sam made sure of it,” Jade replied, the sudden realization that she should reply to his text messages hitting her. Instinctively, she plucked her phone from her pocket.

“Marnie has better reception inside,” Leah said, placing her hand over Jade’s, as if instinctively knowing what Jade needed. “Welcome to Good Cluck Ranch.”

“Oh, thanks,” Jade remarked. “Good… Cluck?”

“Marnie has a thing for chickens… and puns…” Leah replied, her green eyes sparkling.

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[livinasimminlife]

Chapter 7: The Bite (SDVR)

“Hello there.”

Jade peeked over her shoulder and through her long red hair, down around her mid-back instead of in its usual ponytail. She turned beet red as she recognized the object of her instant crush from the night before. The doctor gazed at her worriedly from a black backless stool.

“I… uh…” she stammered. “Have… have… have… you been watching me?”

He held up his hand. “I just got back from lunch. My nurse has been checking on you. Do you know who I am?”

Jade lifted herself out from under the covers, mortified. She could see the yellow wavy lines crawling up her legs as well. They had not disappeared. And this was no dream. She breathed heavily.

“Uh… Dr… Rosenbaum, right?” she grimaced. “Where am I?”

“My clinic,” Harvey said. “It was lucky that Gus found you and brought you here.”

“Gus?” she repeated, bewildered.

“You passed out along the pathway between your farm and his home,” Harvey explained. “He brought you here and we realized you had been poisoned. You really should be more careful, Miss Jade.”

“Poisoned!” Jade shouted, in a panic. “What? How? Huh?”

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[livinasimminlife]

Chapter 4: The Welcome Wagon (SDVR)

“Who am I?” he placed a hand on his hip and gallantly waved his hand. “Who am I?” he repeated himself dramatically.

He introduced himself as Gus Brewster, the proprietor of the Stardrop Saloon in town, open from noon to midnight, the only and best restaurant in town. Of course, he acknowledged his bias.

“Wandering dogs love Papa Jack’s place,” Gus declared. “Oh where are my manners? This is my partner, Sir Gunther Silvian.”

“Sir?” Jade repeated and shook the other man’s gloved hand. “Are you a knight?”

“I wish, good lady, but alas, I’m not,” Gunther sighed, and removed his white hat with a slight bow.

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[livinasimminlife]

Chapter 3: The Farm (SDVR)

“Rustic,” Robin laughed. “That’s one way to put it. Crusty might be a little more apt.”

“Rude!” the mayor grunted. “We don’t want her leaving just yet.”

“Don’t listen to her, Jade. She’s just trying to get you to buy one of her fancy upgrades,” Lewis waved his arms dramatically.

“Hmpf!” Robin crossed her arms.

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[livinasimminlife]

Chapter 1: The Falling Suitcase (SDVR)

The blonde guy in his early twenties came to her rescue. He reached up and pulled down the bag she had wanted and returned the tan suitcase belonging to the aqua-haired teen in the row behind her. He was tall and thin with a thick head of blonde hair and soft features in a boyishly handsome sort-of way. The teen girl passenger stood up and gushed her thanks, but Jade was too mortified. She could barely look at the man, although she did catch his six-pack peeking out from his blue hoodie when he lifted the suitcase back in its place.

“Slippery things, right? Don’t worry, butterfingers, it happens to the best of us,” he quipped, though his blue eyes were kind.

Jade murmured a flustered thanks.

“They don’t build these shelves big enough,” he continued. “You’d think they would but they’re probably trying to cut costs. Probably won’t get around to fixing it. I heard this is one of the last runs from the Zuzu to the Valley. Not enough riders. Guess Abi and I’ll have to cough up the extra coin and take the train next time. Or I’ll have to finally buckle down and get my license.”

Jade nodded politely, as the bus was only about half full. She wasn’t sure how to respond, and felt awkward making random chit-chat. He paused and flashed a childish, but cute grin, trying to put her at ease.

“Here I am rambling again. You probably don’t want to hear me talking about the bus lines. It’s not exactly fascinating opening content material. You should hear my jokes.”

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[livinasimminlife]

Prologue, Pt. 7: Jade (SDVR)

When you reach that day when you’ve had enough, you have two choices: give up or move on. I pulled a long forgotten letter out from my desk drawer. I’m not even sure how it got there. Written on faded yellow paper, torn at the edges, on the back of a leather scroll like some invitation to a quest. That’s where I was – “in dire need of a change.” Papa Jack assured me this happened to him as well, long ago, and he felt as though he lost the things that mattered most in life. My heart physically ached as I read the words he penned all those years ago “real connections to other people and nature…” I didn’t feel real. I didn’t feel whole. I felt trapped in a dead end job that sucked the life out of me, adrift in a polluted sea without my anchor. Would I ever feel together again? Papa wrote that he gave up all the things in life and he bought a place in the countryside valley of Stardew in a coastal community of Pelican Town. It was the place where I was born, but could barely remember.

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