Chapter 1.41

Chapter 1.41- Intruder

                           It’s three days before Snowflake day and in her warm bed,

            Helen is dreaming: visions of clean houses filling her head.

            While unbeknownst to her there creeps into her house

            A daring young burglar as quiet as a mouse…

            They’re prime targets really. Living out away from the main body of the city with few neighbors. There is no alarm, and the police station is far away. The best part for this particular burglar is the trees all around the house provide plenty of cover for when she runs to her rendezvous point along the road out of town.

            Dreaming of the increasingly hair-raising bus rides to school with the driver Layla has christened the “Blooming Idiot” Galen groggily thinks it’s the bus driver coming in his bedroom, foolishly turning on the lights at 2am.

            The Burglars had watched the large and expensive computer make its way into the house this week. They’d love to be able to get the information off of it. Steal a few identities. Totally freak Helen out. Obviously they don’t know Galen. Galen can’t remember his own sims security number, much less his address most days. So the best they’ll find is the small collection of topless celebrity pics Layla put on it last night hoping to freak her brother out. But the burglar doesn’t know this. She just wants the computer.

            Dammit! Galen had been hoping to at least graduate while still owning a computer. All along he’d figured Helen would finally crack and he’d come home one day to find it in pieces, or charred if she kept her original threat to use fire on it.

            All the lights on in the middle of the night disturbed Layla enough that she had to come investigate. Meeting Galen at his door with a strange woman inside his room startles her enough to set her squawking, which wakes up Helen. Though strangely, Buck is still passed out.

            The burglar stands silently in the room, overly confident upon hearing the girl talking to her “Mama.”

            ‘Mama’s coming,’ she snorts, baby-like in her head. ‘Mama comin’ to protect ‘er babies. This’ll be a laugh!’

            “Layla, back to bed,” Helen is a little angry that Galen has snuck Arden into his room and having Layla standing their spluttering about it isn’t helping.

            Coming face to face with a masked burglar Galen claims took his beloved computer is finally what wakes Helen up properly.

            “Galen!,” Helen whispers, she doesn’t know why. “Galen call 119.”

            Pouting and thinking that he’d just like to go back to bed with his computer still in his room Galen doesn’t immediately register what he just heard.

            “Galen!” This time, Helen didn’t whisper. “119!”

            ‘That was my computer! And I just got it! No fair!’ Galen laments in his head, frowny-faced and sad.

            The burglar finally registers that the woman in her underwear whom she was mocking in her head just moments earlier has a rather frightening look on her face. She backs up just as Helen recoils herself.

            ‘No fair! Not at all!’ Now Galen is bewailing the fact that he’s really tired too. He’d stayed up too late trying to overclock his computer.

            “Galen!”

            There is an odd grunting and scuffling noise at his feet. Now his feet are cold.

            His feet are cold because his door is open and so is the front door.

            The front door is open because of the burglar.

            The burglar is here to steal his computer.

            Dammit! Why his computer?

            And why does the burglar smell so bad?

            “GALEN!” Helen has pounced on the woman. “GALEN DIAL 119! LAYLA!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME!!! GET IN HERE!!! BUCK!!!! HEEEEELP!!!”

            But no one comes. However, Galen finally looks down. And there he stands for a full minute, Helen struggling with the burglar.

            “Oh, $#!+!”

            Finally, Galen runs to the side of his bed, punching the numbers frantically on his phones screen, making enough mistakes that he has to dial it over, and over, and over before getting it right.

            To make himself heard over the yells coming from the corner of his bedroom, (The burglar joined in Helen’s cries once Helen started using her elbows on her) Galen has to yell also, covering the mic of his phone with one hand.

            Once the dispatcher releases Galen with a promise that someone will be out very soon, he turns back to see what is going on behind him.

            “Mom,” Galen’s voice has returned to calm. The dispatcher told him to calm down, right? “Mom, the dispatcher at 119 said they’re sending someone out right away. She said we should stay calm and not try to apprehend the intruder ourselves.”

            “Fine, Galen!”

            “Alright Galen,” Helen shouts. “I think I’ve about got her. You block the door and I’ll keep her in here until the police arrive! On the count of 3!”

            “Mom? The dispatcher-

            “One!”

            “-Said to NOT try-”

            “Two!”

            “-To apprehend the intruder!”

            “THREE!”

            “-By ourselves. That the police would do it when we got here. Someone could get hurt if we try to do it.”

            How on Sim Planet did she give birth to him? How??? Helen hung her head. Anger and adrenaline still causing her heart to pound as she watched the intruder race out the open door.

            “Well,” Galen said, turning toward his bed. “That sucked. I’m going back to bed now, I’m just a little tired. ‘Night mom.”

            Chewing her lower lip, Helen stands there biting back the angry diatribe she’d love to spew at him. But he’s her son. And he’s a little slow sometimes. Sometimes, Buck is a little slow. How on Sim Planet did Buck sleep through all of that?

            And finally, Helen feels it too. The tussle with the burglar has left Helen smelly and exhausted. She’s just going to go to bed, too.

            ‘Night, Galen.’

            But it’s not meant to be. Helen had fallen on top of her bed completely unable to get a shower first and had been snoring for 5 minutes when the lights again blazed and a police officer walked into her room without so much as knocking.

            “Are you Mrs. Sixkiller?”

            “Aurrrrrrr-urrrrrr?” Helen’s tongue and lips refused to work in her sleepiness. All she could do was grunt through her nose.

            “Nice night clothes, and normally I’d give you time to get dressed, but we should talk.”

            “Aurrrrr?”

            “Dear PlumbBob, please grant me the patience to deal with this woman without drooling or passing out. Please?”

            “Mrs.Sixkiller?”

            Helen sighed, turning to make her bed. She couldn’t leave it wrinkled like that.

            Buck chose that moment to let out a particularly loud grunting snore. Helen glared. How did he sleep through that? Why didn’t he come and help her? Oh wait. He would have just passed out in front of the door. Which would have blocked that scumbag from leaving! PlumbBob dammit!

            The police officer had a grin bright enough to light the entire house as Helen finally managed to make her way over to her.

            “Well, Mrs.Sixkiller,” said the woman. “It looks like your intruder had an accomplice who drove them both on a road that leads out of town. So I doubt we’ll apprehend them or recover your stolen goods.”

            Helen nodded dismally, hoping to return to bed soon.

            “But there is one bright spot,” continued the officer.

            Helen looked at her, hoping she could see the sleepy in her eyes and just shut up already.

            “This burglary tonight was my 20^th investigation while on the job!”

            A dead feeling creeped across Helen’s brain making everything go a little fuzzy. She really couldn’t figure out what this woman was trying to say.

            “And because I’ve done such a great job, I just got promoted! And really it’s all thanks to your house being broken into!”

            Feeling as though she’d just been hit with a frying pan, Helen attempts a smile. 'Geez, thanks lady.' she thinks.

            “Congratulations. Now get out of my house. Good Night!” Is what she says instead.

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This totally wasn’t supposed to be an entire chapter. But really. How could I not? Sims are SO stupid sometimes and Helen really did nearly die so I had to just because it was almost traumatic for me.

            Seriously, Helen almost died. The moment the burglar ran out the door Helen's Hygiene and Energy levels both bottomed out-like 10 sim minutes after the fight was over. To begin with, her Hunger motive was already low, so in a weird way the officer waking her up saved her because I could make her take a shower before letting her sleep. Once I got her energy level up a little bit I got her up, made her eat then put her back to bed.

            But the officer announcing her promotion was priceless. 'So the burglar got away, but screw that. I’m a Lieutenant now!'

            Actually, that’s what happens with Sha Sha (Zazzy) Black all the time. As the town’s only pyromaniac and the town’s only firefighter she creates her own work, and often her own promotions. I love getting the SP notification that Zazzy has started a pyro burn. Then I get “Oh no! I can’t reach the fire! Hopefully it will burn out on its own.” Followed by “Sha Sha Black has recently been promoted to Fire Chief for her dedication to keeping the city safe from fire!” Makes me lol. Anyway. Onward!