1:1 Beginnings In Sunset Valley

1:1 Beginnings In Sunset Valley

“That’s too expensive, that’s too small, eugh that’s some vile paintwork”

The girl behind the computer screen sighed and lent back in her chair. She’d been searching for her next house for three hours and still nothing. If this search turned up fruitless like the last dozen she would have to stay in the dank, soggy flat that had been her shelter for the last four months

Another month and she’d start having conversations about the drawbacks of political hierarchy in the education system with the mould creeping up the walls.

Caroline Caville sighed and got ready to turn the computer off and go back to the flat when a small bungalow caught her eye

“One Bedroom, One Bathroom, Desirable Area, §8650” She read out loud from the screen, to no one but herself as the library was currently empty other than her.

“Might as well...”

Caroline arrived at the house she’d purchased over the internet last night.

 The train journey over night had been dull and long and the last minute tickets for it were extortionate but she couldn’t stand another day in that hellhole of a flat. First impressions were that it was small. Very small. Three rooms. Only the essential furnishings, counters, shower, sink, bog.

Outside there was a fenced off piece of land that she guessed would be good for growing her own crops. Maybe she could get some cheap seeds or there may be a communal garden nearby she could borrow from.

 She would pay it all back when she could but the new house and the train journey had wiped out her savings.

“I need a job”

That would be tricky though seeing as she’d all but failed school. She never saw the point in trying and paid the price for it in her finals. Maybe she could get a little job like cleaning or gardening.

She set off for the library, hoping they had computers there in this quaint little town.

 

There were a few people wandering around the library when she arrived. One of them looked over from the bookshelves at her and smiled.

 She found it hard to tell if it was a welcoming smile or a “the people round here are going to ruin your life and I'm going to stand laughing” smile.

She guesses at the former and strolled over.

“Hi” she said. “I'm Caroline”

“Morning, my name is Dustin, are you new around here?”

Deciding that he wasn’t planning her untimely demise by kidnap and a shovel to the head, she continued to talk with him.

“Yeah, just moved into the little house on that hill” She pointed in the general direction.

“Where’s that accent from?” he asked. “Starlight Shores?”

“Nearly, Bridgeport” she corrected.

“Ah, city girl are you”

“Yeah, how about you, you always lived here?”

“Oh, yeah. I have” he glanced in the direction of a little girl in a black dress who was complaining about some dirty shoes that had been abandoned next to some bookshelves

“Sorry, I gotta go. How about tomorrow I give you the ‘Grand Tour’ since you’re new. She nodded. “Meet my beside the statue in the park at about 11?”

“Cool, yeah, right, Uh Hu, see you there”

He gave her another smile before heading off in the direction of the little girl, who was still looking at the shoes as if they had teeth.

“Bye then” She said to herself