67 Simdays, 2014

Resar, fall, 2014
Jorge and Jolie are 47, Ashlee is 16, Esther is 12, Chase and Amyra are 11

Esther stared at the empty bed. It had been 67 simdays. It's amazing how a little number like 67 could be so significant.

They tried to live as if things were the same, but things hadn't been the same for simyears now. It was as if Grace Elise's death had collapsed their fragile house of cards. 

Everything kept crumbling down, yet there was a quiet sense of hope...that one simday it would get better.

She was in high school now, in fact, she was in honors classes. Getting accepted into the honors program had brought some joy during the last 67 simdays. She was enjoying the classes and the challenge of figuring out some tough subjects.

Another source of joy had been Breckin. They had started talking more at The Pulse, the new teen hangout in the hood. It was fairly innocent. He said that she had wonderful eyes and she giggled.

Since then they have taken to chatting and hanging out whenever possible and Esther was enjoying her first crush. She couldn't date, there was no way in hell her papi would allow her to date at this age, but at least he wasn't threatening to kill Breckin, especially after what happened with Bryant.

During the last 67 simdays so much had changed. 

Jorge had gotten a promotion, but he couldn't talk about his job much. 

Jolie had signed another endorsement deal and brought another bonus home. 

That family vacation was on hold...considering the circumstances they wanted to stay put for as long as possible...just in case.

Esther sometimes wondered if it was her fault. She should have stopped her, should have said something. Instead she listened as the window opened, as it usually did as nights, and Ashlee crawled out into the darkness.

She remembered crawling from her bed and peeking out, watching her sister glance back at the house, before taking the familiar route to the university. She climbed back in bed, expecting the sound of scraping metal in a few hours as Ashlee crawled back into the house...except this time, she never returned.

Now her parents spent days walking around the hood, asking if anyone had seen her. They spent hours at the police station, checking on leads and following the investigation.

The police had moved on, putting Ashlee's file under a huge pile of unsolved cases. They thought she was a typical runaway and Esther knew it was true.

Ashlee had taken her favorite jewelry and there was a sighting of her at the train station, boarding the #4553.

It had been 67 simdays since that night Ashlee crawled into the darkness and never returned and as each simday passed, hope that she would come back languished.

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Teen Hangout made by Pru

ROS-Runaway, Ashlee

Jolie got another chance card for $20,000.