Gen 01 || Chapter 01.002
Every child deserves parents, but not every parent deserves children. I learned that the hard way growing up the foster system. Orphaned shortly before I became a toddler when a terrible fire burned down my family’s home, I spent pretty much my entire childhood being shunted between families and houses.
Not one of my foster families truly cared about me. They only cared about the money they received from having me in their home. And not a single simoleon of that was ever spent on me or my needs. If I needed new clothes, my foster families would let me borrow hand-me-downs from older foster kids, though I never got anything until my old clothes were literally falling apart. I was rarely fed, and when I did get to eat, I only got to eat quick meals that didn’t cost money. I was never loved the way a child should be.
Growing up, I always wished I had a loving family. Seeing other kids spending time with their families made my heart ache with longing. But my foster families never cared. The money they got was the only reason I was allowed to stay.
As a child, I wished I had money of my own to spend on myself. But when I was a teen, I found out that most of the money the foster families got was actually supposed to be mine. It was my inheritance! Apparently my family had actually been pretty wealthy, and had left a sizable inheritance for me. My foster families, however, decided to spend my inheritance on themselves. By the time I was a young adult, my inheritance had been reduced to §1,800, a heirloom suit of armor, and the empty lot in Willow Creek that my family’s house had once stood.
As soon as I was old enough to live on my own, I moved to the empty lot that I had inherited. Along the way to Willow Creek I bought a few supplies for living on my lot. Some food, a sleeping bag, a camping shower, and a trash can.
When I arrived in Willow Creek, it was raining. Well, this wasn’t the ideal start to my new life, but I could work with this!
There was a river and lake near my ancestral home, so I decided to go fishing for a bit. I’d heard that fish bit well when it rained, so it seemed like a good time to try my luck. There were plenty of fish jumping around in the lake, so it seemed my prospects were good.
Casting my fishing pole, which I’d also purchased with my inheritance, I sat back and waited for a bite.
And waited.
And waited.
Eventually another young woman joined me in fishing. She seemed to be much better at this than I was. Maybe she was more experienced.
I was going to go greet the young woman and ask her for fishing tips, but before I could, I noticed a group of strangers gathered at my home lot. What were they doing there? Curiosity overtook me, and I went to talk to them.
“Hello! Can I help you?”
“Oh my goodness,” the elder lady said when she saw me. “Alysha Cordova? Is that you?”
“Uhm, yes? Do I know you?” I asked, confused.
“You probably don’t remember me, you were just an infant the last time I saw you, but I was your mother’s childhood best friend, and I used to babysit you before the fire,” the elder lady said. “My name is Vivian Lewis. This is my son Eric, and my daughter-in-law Alice Spencer-Kim, and Alice’s father Dennis Kim. We live next door.”
“Oh, well, it’s nice to meet you!” I said, happy to have some potential new friends. “Can you tell me anything about my family?”
“Yeah, there’s so much we can tell you,” Dennis said. “Your mother, Zelda Corales, and your father, Zachary Mendova, were family friends. They were planning on having a big family, but they’d only had you before their untimely deaths. It was very tragic.”
“I think there’s too much to tell you than we can fit in a single afternoon,” Alice said. “Why don’t you come by our place sometime, and we can tell you everything we know. It’ll probably take at least a few days.”
“Sounds good to me!” I said. “Thanks for stopping by!”
“No problem!” Eric said, looking around. “You probably won’t have a shelter for a while. If you ever need a dry place to sleep, or a home-cooked meal, or anything at all, our door is always open to you! And welcome back to the neighborhood!”
Well, that was a promising start to my new life! And the rain had stopped too! I decided to give fishing another try.
The fish still didn’t seem to be biting, but something pulled on my line. With a great deal of effort, I managed to reel it in. It appeared to be some kind of treasure chest.
The lock on the chest was worn and rusted from the water. It only took a few whacks with a rock to break it off. Inside, somehow untouched by the water, was a digital sketchpad.
“Oh… oh my!” I gasped, pressing the sketchpad’s power button. To my delight, the sketchpad turned on.
I’d always been pretty good at art. In fact, I’d even started doing art commissions when I was a teen. Unfortunately, my foster families made me give them all the money I’d earned.
But now, with my newfound adult freedom, I didn’t have to give up my earnings. I logged into my art account, and immediately saw a few requests pop up.
“This is perfect!” I exclaimed as I began drawing the first request. “If my commissions are as consistent as they were in the past, I should have plenty of money in no time!”
Sure enough, the money started pouring in. The best part? It was all mine! I didn’t have to give it up to anyone! I could spend it in whatever way I wished!
I was so absorbed in my commissions that I didn’t realize how late it was getting until I realized I really needed to use the bathroom. I considered stopping by my new neighbors’ house to use the bathroom, but I didn’t think I would be able to make it in time. Then I saw a bush, just on the corner of my property. It would do for now.
The bush was quite an uncomfortable place to relieve oneself, but at least I didn’t have to worry about having a bladder failure trying to make it to my neighbors’ place.
Now I was hungry. I had a lunch box full of quick meals, as much as I hated them. I’d been eating quick meals all my life! But they were available, so I took a ham-and-cheese sandwich out of my bag and dug in.
“Ugh, I’m glad I was so active in gym class,” I muttered as I tossed my trash into the trash can. “I’d probably gain a lot of weight from my unbalanced diet if I wasn’t!”
By now, it was very late, and I was getting quite tired. I needed to get some sleep. At least I had my sleeping bag! It would really suck if I had to sleep in the filthy bush.
As I unrolled my sleeping bag and climbed in, I thought about how my life had gone so far. It had been an awful childhood, but it looked like things were really starting to look up for me now! And with that thought I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Tales From IridianSinclair 
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