"Don, you CAN'T say things like that!" Cassandra admonished during dinner on Monday evening. Although her father Mortimer had left the table, her younger brother Alexander was still eating, and listening intently to Don Lothario's tale of having fun in the open air.
"Whyever not?" Don asked. "Alex probably hears worse things at that school of his, and anyway he'll be a teenager soon!"
"That's beside the point. I don't want to hear stuff like that when there are children present." Cassandra said, knowing that Mortimer would've said the same. As Alexander cleared his plate from the table, she heard strains of Beethoven coming from the hallway. Since his retirement, her father had spent almost all his waking hours at the piano.
"Dad... I know you like tickling the ivories, but could you play something else for a bit?" she asked, on her way into the lounge. "I'm sick of Beethoven; maybe a little Mozart?" Mortimer ignored her, and carried on playing. He happened to like Beethoven!
Cassandra went over to the chessboard, got out the pieces and set up a game. She actually found playing by yourself more challenging than playing someone else, probably because you had to think of two strategies at once!
"Brr, brr... brr, brr..." the phone was ringing. Mortimer had put the loud pedal down on the piano, and Alexander had taken himself off to bed, so with a sigh Cassandra put away the chess pieces and went to answer it.
"Mum!!" It was Bella Goth on the other end. The last time any of the family had seen her was before she'd been abducted off of Don's roof. Bella didn't want to talk for too long as it was getting late, but gave Cassandra her phone number so she could call back sometime.
Alexander was the first to awaken the following morning. Cassandra had stayed up a little too long studying, and Mortimer, well he was still glued to the piano! After a quick bath, Alex shoved his glasses onto his nose, pulled on his very smart school uniform and slicked his hair back. He didn't care that he looked like a geek; they all did at Desiderata Private Academy!
That afternoon, Mortimer took a break from playing the piano to trim the bushes in the garden. He also started raking leaves, and discovered to his surprise that he rather enjoyed it!
Cassandra meanwhile had picked up the phone. Digging in her pocket for the scrap of paper she'd written her mother's number on, she dialled and invited Bella over for tea. She was sure Mortimer would be pleased to see Bella again, not to mention Alexander!
"Dad... will you help me with my maths homework?" Alexander asked. "I'm stuck on questions 3, 6 and 14." Mortimer had a head for figures, and readily agreed. Soon Alex had grasped long division and felt confident that in future he'd be able to manage alone. Just as he put down his pen, the doorbell rang. Bella had arrived!
Cassandra wasted no time in getting her dad downstairs. One look at Bella and he'd want to re-marry her. She wasn't wrong. Mortimer pulled Bella to one side, and immediately pulled out the rings! A chance phonecall had given him his lovely wife back! However, he noticed that she seemed VERY young... younger than she should be.
"Bella, how old are you?" he asked, lowering his voice so that Cassandra didn't hear him.
"How old should I be?" Bella asked playfully.
"Well, seeing as our daughter is approaching 30, I'd've expected you to be somewhere around 50-odd."
"But...I feel like 27!" Bella said. "Can't I be 27?" Mortimer knew he'd have to rectify this, and turned to the magic pot-plant in the corner (aka the SimBlender).
"Hey, I love my wife and all, but she's a bit young for an old codger like me. I'd feel a bit odd sleeping with someone younger than my own daughter! Is there anything you can do?"
In a flash of light coupled with a fanfare, young Bella turned into older Bella. She was now an elder like her husband. Bella herself wasn't too happy about it, but Mortimer was overjoyed. Okay, so she'd lost some of her good looks and was no longer wearing her tight red dress, but she was at least a good bit older than Cassandra! He'd have no problem in the bedroom now!
Wednesday passed in a haze of gardening, work and school. Alexander felt himself getting nearer to teenhood, and put all his efforts into studying hard. He was desperate to hit the top of the class before he grew up and went to the private grammar school associated with the Academy. Cassandra managed to snare a promotion, adding yet more simoleans to the already bloated bank account, and Bella would've retired had she not been in line for one herself!
Homework completed, Alexander crept upstairs to the telescope on the roof. It was a clear night and he had heard that Saturn was clearly visible if one knew where to look. Placing his little stool on the floor, he jammed his eye to the telescope and began gazing into the cosmos. Before long he had not only found Saturn, but had discovered a new star, netting him §500.
Cassandra had got tired of all the old newspapers lying about the house, and so put them into the compost bin, but there was one person about that night whom she HADN'T expected to see! A couple of dearly-departed family members were wandering about the grounds, and one of them had decided to say hello. Cassandra shrieked, jumped high in the air, dropped the newspaper and ran indoors. She hated it when the ghosts jumped out at her!
The next most exciting thing that occurred was Alexander's birthday on Thursday. Now a fresh-faced teenager whose clothes had caught up with the times a bit, his birthday present was a nice new telescope! He also got told over dinner that he was to be the heir to the estate when both Mortimer and Bella died, and Cassandra was asked to look after the place while he went to college.
Friday was a sad day. Mortimer had again been playing the piano all day, trying to fulfil his wish of hitting a high note (ie level 8 creativity) but had to break off as he was exhausted and went to bed. Waking up later on, he found a shadowy figure standing by the bed, wearing a pink lei and accompanied by two hula girls. It was Grimmy, come to collect him.
"It's my time?" Mortimer asked, a little upset that he hadn't managed his last wish. Grimmy nodded, and handed him a ghostly pina colada. The hula girls danced, and Mortimer decided that if they were going to be with him in the after-life then death wasn't all bad. Still in his pyjamas, he picked up his suitcase and faded from existance, leaving behind his cremated remains and rather a lot of cash. Cassandra was devastated.
So was Alexander, but as he hadn't seen the decent send-off his father had got he was in danger of a complete breakdown! He consoled himself by stargazing, and before long had achieved yet another logic point, which averted a call to the shrink.
To be honest, after all this the weekend was pretty uneventful. Bella brought home a funny-looking chap she thought might be a potential suitor for Cassandra, but Cass couldn't stand the sight of him! To be honest, I didn't think much of him either!

So, will Bella survive to see Alexander graduate from college? Will Cassandra find her perfect man or will she stick with Don? Will Alexander get his first kiss? Watch this space to find out.
7/24/2010 01:08:29 am

Lazlo Curious reproduces quite well with Cassandra.. ;)
Another nice update!

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