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Chapter One: Salt Water Does Not Agree With Me

Something wasn't right. This didn't feel like my pillow, my bed, and where were the blankets? In fact now that I thought about it, with my eyes still tightly shut, I wasn't even inside. Was I sleep walking again? No, I could hear the ocean. That was weird, I lived no where near the ocean, because I had an extreme dislike of it (well, that's how I describe my fear)


I opened my eyes to slits, getting a very blurry view of the scenery, a very, very wrong scenery. Where the heck was I? But something nagged at me - it felt like I'd been here before.


So, I opened my eyes further, to get a good look at it, and was smacked in the face with that gag-worthy briny ocean scent. I was definitely by the sea. Crap. The familiar feeling didn't go away, and the nagging increased. There was something- some essential fact sitting just below the surface of my conscious mind - some missing key to my situation, but I couldn't figure out what.


Panic growing, I surveyed the empty land. Everything looked strangely cartoonised, surreal, yet so friggin' familiar... And that's when it it hit me...


"I- I'm stuck in The Sims??!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" It was the only explanation. I knew this place only too well, because I had played on it before! Why me?!


"This is so wrong..." My sim-self was disappointing. I wasn't even skinny, and I still had the same straggly, boring hair, which was now frizzy from the breeze. Great. And what was I wearing? Something from the Martha Stewart shopping channel? (Is there one of those?) Yes, this was definitely wrong.


Before I had a chance to even consider shopping, I was accosted by some overly friendly 'neighbours', if that's what you can call sims living in close proximity. They asked my name, and at least that was correct, Kit Simons. Then one sim-man with a really red face decided to play a little prank on me.


Suffice to say, I didn't find it very funny. Even though it was warm, I did not appreciate being soaked. Obviously courtesy means nothing to these people (or should I say pixels?)


The female came to introduce herself as Natalia. She was pretty and skinny. I disliked her immediately. There was another guy called Benjiman, who had a massive nose. None of them particularly inspired any hope in me about their intelligence.


I was apalled to discover I only had a pitiful 4,500 simoleans in my possession in order to build a shelter, and of course, get a new wardrobe. In the end I could only afford one outfit, for goodness' sake! It was like living in poverty...


I had to improvise on the whole shelter thing too... After purchasing the all-essential wardrobe, mirror and a bathroom, there wasn't much left for anything else.


After all my hard work, I decided I needed comfort food, in the form of delicious, sugary doughnuts. They are very theraputic for a stressed woman like me. It's not everyday that you discover you're trapped in a pixel world.


Once I changed into my new clothes I felt a bit better, more like myself. I didn't know what to do with my hair, so I left it for now.


And, reluctantly, I decided to look for a job, in the newspaper which was so handy for my sims. Besides, being dirt poor wasn't fun. What happened to motherlode? Turns out I can't cheat! What fun is that?! I have to become a millionaire the old fashioned way...


After a long and difficult day, I retired to my cheap and uncomfortable bed, and fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow, barely having time to wonder how to make friends with pixels, and *sob* if I was ever going to get out of here.

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