Huffman Legacy 1.1: I Owe What?!

Arturo looked around the empty lot, a smile on his lips. “Mine,” he thought, “all mine.” He hadn’t expected getting here to be such a challenge.

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Arturo Huffman been planning to leave his hometown as soon as he’d saved up enough money and so the letter from a distant aunt had been more than welcome.

Dearest Artruo,

You probably don’t remember me, but I met you when you were just a little toddler. I still remember your adorable laugh fondly to this day. I know, that town isn’t very accepting, and in case you want to leave the same way I did, I thought I could help. I’ve just retired and am going on a tour of the world. I have land in Windenburg that I’m gifting you. If you want it, please come by the end of the year.

Love, Aunt Mattie

He’d asked his mom about Aunt Mattie and learned, not entirely to his surprise, that Mattie was actually his mother. She’d been determined to leave though, and so he’d been left with her sister soon after his birth. Arturo hadn’t been too surprised to find he’d been adopted, he didn’t fit in at home at all. So he’d decided to accept the gift. The mother…he’d think about it.

The train to Windenburg wasn’t too expensive, although it did eat into his meager savings. And he arrived in Windenburg Sunday afternoon. The city hall was closed on Sundays.

That left him homeless in a strange town, but he had enough money for a late lunch of fish and chips.

Arturo wasn’t going to let a little thing like homelessness stop him. He visited the camping supply store. It was too soon for him to afford anything there, but he saw that tents weren’t too expensive. Then he drooled over the guitars at the music store. “Someday,” he promised himself, “someday I’ll be a famous musician, like Dylan Thomas or Simon Garfunkle.” He hummed to himself as he walked back down the street, “The answer is somewhere in the sky.”

He found a comfortable bench to spend the night in. Morning came all too soon.

He cleaned himself up the best he could in a nearby lavatory. It was not pleasant. Arturo tried not to think about the others who’d been here. The germs…he shuddered.

He headed back to the city hall. The clerk was able to confirm that the land was his, but he would have to pay a tax of 200 Simoleans before he’d be given the deed to the property.

“But where am I supposed to get that money?” he asked. He checked his bank account on his phone, only 82 simoleons.

“Here,” the clerk handed him a flyer. “They pay good money for rocks and stuff. You can make that kind of money in no time if you go to Oasis Springs. There’s a bus that leaves daily in a half hour.”

Arturo looked at the flyer as he was shooed away from the clerk’s desk and headed back into the city.

Looking for some extra cash? Willow Creek Museum now accepting fossils, crystals, and metals. The rarer the item, the better the pay. Call Anna for details.

He called Anna and learned that they were collecting for the local university for experiments. He was be guaranteed anywhere from 20 to 200 simeleons depending on what he found. Arturo took the bus to Oasis Springs. It only 10 simoleons, but it was eating up a little more of his precious cash. Perhaps his dinner last night had been a bit too luxurious?

Unlike Windenburg, Oasis Springs was dry, dusty, and the sun burning hot. “I’m gonna get sunburned,” he realized. He pulled his hat out out of his knapsack, jammed it on his head, and headed into the hills just outside town.

As the clerk had promised, there were quite a few rocks, gems, and metals just waiting to be picked up. Before too long, his bag was getting comfortably full. He wasn’t the only one exploring the hills though and he met several folks that afternoon.

One group was even kind enough to invite Arturo to share their lunch. Stomach rumbling painfully, Arturo agreed. He hoped they washed their hands before they’d prepared the frank and beans.

Earlier, he’d attempted to fish for his super, he even caught a perch. But one look at those vacant glossy eyes and slimy scales….ugh. He shuddered his skin crawling at the memory. He’d passed it on to another sim for 7 simeloens and scrubbed his hands twice. He still felt unclean. Fishing was not going to be his thing.

He dropped his finds off at the collection point in Oasis Springs and waited for the tally. Would it be enough? 258 simoleons were transferred to his bank account. Hot, dirty, exhausted, but elated, Arturo climbed onto the bus back to Windenburg. He had the money he needed for the taxes now. Of course when he arrived in town he learned the office was closed for the day. Would he never get to even see this land he’d inherited?

The gym had a 150 monthly fee for membership, or for 20 simoleons he could use it for the day. Arturo paid for the day, there went 20 precious simoleons. But he was dreaming of those showers. He was covered in dust, sweat, and-he tried not to think of it-probably fish scales.

The showers were heaven.

Another night in the rough.

Despite the hardships, Arturo never though of going back. The less said about that place the better, homeless and filthy was better than living there. The next morning, the clerk accepted his money and handed over the deed. He had a home now!

“Um, where is it?” He asked just as she was going to shoo him away.

“Oh, it’s in the island, there’s a ferry that runs every half hour, free to islanders,” she assured him when he started to panic, he only had 58 simolons left after playing the taxes and his stomach was starting to rumble painfully. “Your place is the big lot on the hill top, can’t miss it.”

She was right, it was impossible to miss. 64 simacres of grassland stared back at him. No house, no bed, no nothing. But it was his, and he figured a pretty good place to start a legacy.

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Next

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Author’s Note: Yes, I started another legacy. I think perhaps I can’t live without one? Despite our founder’s appearance, this is NOT a Prettacy. I’m more interested in see what features of his we can keep – as well as other interesting features we can add. Once again, I’m scoring this. Right now I have a score of 2 since I got the bonus point for the Extreme start which requires you to purchase one of the 64×64 lots on Windenburg and then save up enough to buy the knight before you do anything else. Also I did charge Arturo 20 simoleons to use the gym showers. It felt right.