Who is that green woman, and why is she running?
Let’s back up first.
Gray was thrilled, for today, his favorite Sims of all time were coming: the Alien Family!
“Do you know who’s coming this evening?” he enthused. “Thrintun and Charlie and their kids! I’ve been wanting to meet them, like forever!”
“Fanboy, huh?” I asked.
“Abso-plum-utely!”
Gray and I headed over to greet them shortly after their arrival.
We found Charlie, Thrintun’s husband, doing sit-ups in the driveway.
I was making my way to the kitchen to whip up a snack, when I saw Horta, Thrintun’s daughter, standing with a puzzled look.
“Something’s not right,” she said. “I can sense it. Plus, there’s the smell of smoke.”
Just then, the game gave us the warning that there was a fire nearby.
Holy plumbob!
Dr. Jasmine was at the grill with flames flicking up her shirt.
I had to fight every line of coding inside of me that was screaming “Route to safety!”
When faced with extreme danger, one can panic and react, or one can steel oneself and respond. With Dr. J’s life at risk, I dug deep and responded.

“Hang in there, Dr. J. and for plum’s sake, get your hand out of the grill! That tofu dog’s not worth saving.”
Fortunately, everybody else reacted to their coding and got the heck out of there. Horta’s twin brother, Tholian, took a moment to process what was happening and then ran out the front door.
By the time Elder raced out of the house, the fire was extinguished. It felt pretty awesome to have put out a fire. And it felt even more awesome to know that Dr. Jasmine would be ok. And, I gotta admit, it felt pretty cool that Elder had shot me that smile on his dash out.
What a way for the Alien family to start their Plum Day visit!
Gray finally got a chance to meet his idol. “Hey, I know it’s not under the best circumstances,” he said. “But sul, sul! I’ve always wanted to meet you!”
“I know you, Gray! You’re always ‘liking’ our posts and leaving those witty comments, right?”
I was feeling very confident after putting out the fire, but I could sense that everybody else was tense. I thought maybe a little Brahms might help them all to calm down and relax.
Not long after, the sound of the twins’ laughter drew me back into the living room. What a perfect bookend to close Plum Day the way we opened it, inspired by happy kids enjoying the simple pleasures of stories and jokes.
Vulcan joined us, too, and I had a chance to meet the first-born of gen 3 of the Alien legacy.
Dr. Jasmine joined us after her shower. She was hungry and tired, but otherwise fine.
We enjoyed a special feeling of contentedness that evening, drawn together in closeness through having survived the fire. We knew it was a story we’d tell again and again, how we survived a roasting on Plum Day.