Hello and welcome to days seven, eight, and nine of the simselves' confinement into the asylum! Several rather exciting things occur in this segment, which you will soon see. One thing you may notice is a couple of tiny changes in 'décor', so to speak. One of those changes is the color of the walls in the bedroom. I grew tired of the green not because, even though I found it hideous, but because the green made it almost impossible to see the cloud of green fog trailing around stinking Sims. Another change is I made the living room a couple of grids larger. I did this not for the comfort of the residents, but for my own enjoyment. The 'napping' spots (sofas) were basically useless because of the stereo and my hack that stops Sims from turning it off. The music is for my enjoyment, not theirs…lol, therefore I added a bit more space and put down a floor divider, so the music can play and the Sims can nap. Anyhow, it doesn't truly break rules because instead of using cheats to build, I actually gave money away. Now, back to the show . . . .

While Holley mopped the puddle on the bathroom floor in vain, I thought about what to do with my day. I didn't have to work until 3:00pm, so I had some time to get a few things done around home. To keep my mind off still not finding an opening in the Oceanography career, I figured I could make Holley's work worth something, so I rose from the love seat and headed for the bathroom.

"Holley" I said gently, "that mopping you're doing will last longer if you'll step aside and allow me to unclog the toilet first!" Holley thought for a moment, and then left the room, smiling. Before I was done, Karima marched into the room, stripped, and then hopped into the shower as if I were not even there!

Holley decided that dancing was a more fun way to get exercise than mopping and Jo practiced painting at the easel. Each of them was making her own fun in her own way. I finished repairing the toilet and headed for the kitchen to make some breakfast, just as Valpre woke and entered the bathroom.

Ashley, in her lovely elf hat, was exhausted and was not too pleased that Valpre had beaten her to the bathroom. So, instead of the luxury of a nice hot shower, she headed toward the bedroom with her green fog stench trailing behind.

As I began preparing Eggs Benedict for breakfast, I once again found Sawyer's nearness quite distracting in a very disturbing way. "Would you mind getting out of my way so can fix breakfast?" I snapped a bit too harshly. Sawyer merely shrugged and moved toward another window.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Crissy exclaimed and grinned as she peered through the bedroom window. It had begun snowing again, and this time it seemed to be sticking to the ground. Crissy simply adored snow!

Her excitement was short-lived, however, when the stench wafting from Ashley's bed reached her nose. Stifling a gag reflex, she rushed into the bathroom, where she found Valpre getting ready to take a shower.

"You should wake up Ashley and let her go first!" Crissy said, scrunching up her nose. "I've caught wind of dead goldfish that smelled better than she does!"

"That may be so" Valpre returned with a smile, "but I will be in that condition soon myself if I don't take a turn, so please move on and allow me to get on with it."

Meanwhile Sawyer had spied Karima outside gazing through the telescope, apparently spying on the Curious brothers yet again. "That woman is obsessed!" he said to himself, laughing.

"Oh no, my beautiful Eggs Benedict" I cried suddenly, horrified to have scorched it so badly. I felt certain I had obtained enough cooking skills to make it perfectly, but apparently I had been mistaken. With a sad sigh, I plated it up and served it anyway.

Somehow Jill knew about my mishap with the stove, even though she lay napping on the sofa. I swear sometimes, I think that woman is psychic! Maybe there was something to her belief in all things magical after all.

"Mmm, what smells so delish?" Karima inquired as she rushed into the house and headed toward the table. I wondered just how far gone the woman's mind was as I silently gazed at my ruined meal with a frown.

"Oh my God" Crissy and Holley said in unison, "I think I'm going to be sick!" Actually, I felt the same as I tried my best to swallow the bite I had stuffed into my mouth.

"What's wrong?" Karima smiled as she raised her own fork to her mouth and began to chew.

It had been a full week since we had moved into Siminsane Sanitarium and I had made only three friends, none of which were my housemates, so I decided that a little 'get to know you' session was in order. It was lots of fun to just hang out with several of the other residents until time for my carpool to arrive. It was also nice that Aussie Karima had come to pay a visit to her sister.

The fun inside the house continued without me as I trudged my way through the deepening snow to climb into the waiting car. I was happy to be working and getting the bills paid, but as long as my chosen career had not come along, I was no closer to getting us all out of this nuthouse. Every day I left and returned home to find everything in order, I felt lucky. I hoped and prayed that luck would continue.

Crissy was not the only one who loved the snow. Valpre, dressed as Aqua Chicken, decided to play outside and build a snowman. "Oh, you are going to be so perfect!" she said as she contemplated what sort of face he would have.

"Too bad you can't grill that stuff, Sawyer!" Val said, having finished her snowman and come in from out in the cold.

"Yeah, right" he replied sarcastically. Crissy, who had wanted Ashley to shower so badly, was now upset that Ashley was occupying the bathroom because now she needed to go!

Sawyer hurt his finger as he prepared the spaghetti, and then grew worried that he was going to burn it. One burnt meal a day was more than enough for him! "Oh, please, please turn out good!" he whispered as he watched the pot.

"Check it out, Ladies!" Sawyer exclaimed proudly. "I present to you a perfectly-prepared plate of spaghetti, just as I knew it would be!"

"Oh . . . please" Valpre muttered as she rose and turned away from the table.

Grabbing her own plate from the counter, Ashley said, "The spaghetti may be perfect, but Sawyer certainly is not!"

"Yeah, he may make a nice best friend but . . . that's it!" Aussie Karima blurted. The women all burst into a wild fit of laughter, not bothering to be concerned that Sawyer was right there in the room, listening.

Upon my return home from work, I came bearing groceries. I was rather tired, so I joined Ashley at the kitchen table and sat down for a nice chat. She was the first of my housemates to become my friend.

As Ashley was saying something about wishing we had windows without bars on them, my eyes widened and my jaw dropped when I saw a penguin waddling across the kitchen floor as if he belonged there.

"Wow, check that out!" I exclaimed, cutting off Ashley's continuing speech about having prettier windows with curtains and no bars. "I wonder what he's doing here" I said as I excused myself from the table to follow the creature.

Mr. Penguin had, apparently, worked his way from the front door, through the kitchen, and then out through the back door to pay a visit to the snowman Valpre had built earlier that day. "You are too adorable!" I whispered softly as I kneeled down to stroke the creature's head. The night air had grown very cold, so I didn't stay outside very long. As I went in to get ready for bed, I heard him begin making strange noises and saw him gesturing to the snow sculpture.

Soon after Mr. Penguin left, 'Aqua Chicken' decided her snowman was lonely, so she went outside to build another one. "You will be even better and stronger than the first!" Valpre laughed as she began forming the first huge ball of snow to create the snowman's lower portion.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Karima decided to lecture Jo about something and, despite the fact that it had a negative impact on their relationship, the pair made best friend status. "Well, it's nice to see you two getting along so well" Jill smiled from her place at the table where she prepared to dig in to the spaghetti piled high on her plate.

Aussie Karima became too tired to make her way home, so she found a bed in which to sleep. Despite the fact that she'd hated the idea of being confined here, she actually had grown to like some of the residents and, obviously, didn't mind spending the night as long as she was allowed to come and go as she pleased.

Asylum Karima, however, was wide awake and wishing Crissy would back away from the telescope so that she could take a turn. Her obsession with 'star gazing' or 'Curious gazing' had become almost like a living, breathing thing.

Aussie Karima rose from the bed and wasn't thrilled by the green fog that surrounded her body. "Where did that come from?" she asked herself with a frown. "And why is it following me?"

More green fog, accompanied by a swarm of flies, infiltrated the kitchen as the crusted food on Asylum Karima's plate became rancid. "Sheesh, Karima" Crissy said, "please get rid of that thing before those flies get on the plates that are still decent enough to eat!"

"Yeah, you'll never impress a man that way!" Holley chimed in with a giggle.

Passing Aussie Karima on my way to the bathroom, we said a quick goodbye and she headed out the door to go home. I hoped and prayed that her first move upon reaching her house would be to take a hot shower!

After retrieving the morning newspaper and discovering the job I wanted was still not listed, I wondered how I should spend my day off work. Seeing as how we had enough money to pay the bills, I didn't feel the need to switch jobs again just because I was off that day. Then I remembered something I had been neglecting due to the lack of time.

Karima had broken the dishwasher and it had been that way for several days, but I had been too busy to repair it. Now was as good a time as any, plus it would help build a few more mechanical skills, whether I needed them or not.

The shower had also been in desperate need of a good scrubbing for the past few days as well. After completing all the work around the house I had been neglecting, I decided it may be time for a bit fun, so I got on the phone and invited over a few neighbors. Besides being fun, I would have the chance to build on a few of my relationships.

While Jilly, Paxton, Chad, and I munched on open-faced mozzarella and tomato sandwiches, Holley and Valpre were hanging out chatting in the living room. Several other guests were still making their way inside while Amylu boogied to the beat of the music blaring through the house.

I had invited the Sanity family over again, minus Chanel because there was something about her that I didn't particularly like. Dario Sanity seemed to have a real attraction toward Amylu as he passed her on his way inside while Darcy Sanity seemed to enjoy chatting to another random passerby I had invited in that day, Gary Walton.

Jo grabbed an opportunity to chat up the handsome Chad Sanity. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere else?" she said with grin, without giving a thought to how old and tired that pick-up line was.

"Uh, I don't think so" Chad replied with a smile that could make any girl's knees turn to butter.

As I cleaned up my plate, Dario decided to make his move on Amylu, while Chad had turned his attention from Jo to the saucy redhead, Jilly. Holley seemed to be considering to whom she should speak first. Gary Walton was a strange character and seemed to just hang around in my way as I tried to clean up the kitchen a bit.

It wasn't long before Karima went for 'a piece of the action' and grabbed Dario all to herself. Their conversation was a very satisfying one for her and she soon moved on to a subject of great interest to her. "So Dario, I've heard a lot of tales about ghosts roaming around while you lived here. Is it all true? I would absolutely love to hear your version!" Dario seemed to become uncomfortable at her query and told her he would rather not discuss it right now, so she let it drop . . . for now, although she wondered what exactly was his story and knew she would find out someday.

Chad made his usual rounds and wandered into the bedroom and was immediately disgusted by the stench of Ashley's green-fog aroma. Holley, lost in her own world of daydreams, seemed to not notice the man standing nearby. The door opened and Chad whirled around to see who had entered the room behind him.

"Eww, gross" Karima complained about the odor wafting through the room as she entered. She did not, however, allow that to deter her from her mission. Noticing the handsome bachelor entering the bedroom, she had followed closely behind and she quickly took the opportunity to corner him and 'put the moves' on the man. Chad seemed to enjoy her playful flirting and gave back as good as he got.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, an opposite interaction was occurring as Dario and Paxton shared a heated exchange of a different sort. Brittany Sanity, trying to prevent things from escalating into a full-fledged fight, quickly pulled Paxton to the side. "Hey, I thought you and Dario were ok now and that it is Chad with whom you have problems!"

The weird guy, Gary Walton, made his own trek into the bedroom to complain about Ashley's stench. "Man, don't these folks ever bathe?" he asked himself as he stifled his gag reflex.

When Chad had found his way back into the living room, I found my chance to chat with him for a few moments while Holley noticed how attractive Dario was. "Don't worry" Chad said to me with a smile, "I'm sure the job you seek will come along any day now!" At that moment, Crystal Vu, who seemed to be a bit mean-spirited with a nasty attitude, came over to pull an ugly prank on Chad. He was offended, but I managed to pull him away for a dance. He may have been dancing with me, but I got the feeling his mind was on something else.

"Oh my God" Ashley screeched as she woke with a strange man standing over her. "Who the hell are you?" she asked as she eye-balled him with a puzzled expression plastered onto her face. The creep said nothing, so she shoved him to the side as she stood and pushed past him on her way to the bathroom.

For some unknown reason, Sawyer took an immediately dislike toward poor Darcy Sanity. "Look" he sneered furiously, "I don't know who you are and I don't care, but just stay out of my way, ok?"

"What did I do?" Darcy asked as Sawyer turned and moved away from her.

I was completely exhausted and had partied enough for one night, with having to go to work the next day, so I subtly left the others and found an empty bed. As Crissy snored softly in the bed next to me, I soon drifted away into my own land of dreams, aspirations, and hopes for the future inside my head.

"What's that?" Crystal Vu asked Karima as she pointed at her abdomen. Chad and Holley looked on, each wondering what that woman's problem was. She seemed to be making her way around to everyone and pulling the same dumb gag on everyone she could.

Karima looked down at where Crystal was pointing and asked, "What?"

"Gotcha" Crystal Vu laughed harshly as she brought up her finger and flicked Karima beneath her chin. Karima found it anything but amusing, however.

"I just don't understand some people" Holley remarked to Chad. "Why do anything to prevent ever being able to become best friends with someone? I say make friends, not enemies!"

Chad sighed sadly, "I have no clue, but I agree with you!" he replied as he looked at Sawyer picking on Darcy behind them and Crystal's bad attitude with Karima in front of them. "People should just try to get along in most cases."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Karima asked the mean woman. "Don't ever try that again!" she warned.

"If you ever do that again, I'll do something to make you very sorry!" the normally mild-mannered, happy-go-lucky, Karima warned Crystal Vu in a dangerously low tone. Something in her eyes made Crystal know she was serious.

"I just can't stand you for some reason!" Sawyer growled from between clenched teeth at a puzzled Darcy. "I don't even want to look at you, so stay out of my way!"

"Check out that guy" Brittany giggled to Paxton. "He can't stand Darcy and keeps telling her to stay out of HIS way, but he's the one who seems to be following her! It makes me wonder how he'd feel about Chanel. Chanel would probably really pull his strings!"

"I don't know who you are, Creeper, but I really don't think you should be in this room" Amylu said stiffly to Gordon Walton. "Besides, I really have to use the toilet!"

Jill mumbled something in her sleep about the horrors of using rat poison to get rid of rodents, but Amylu didn't stick around to hear more as she left the strange man staring after her as she headed toward the bathroom.

"Oh God" Amylu sighed softly. The last thing she had expected was to find Paxton in the bathroom with a strange girl. Did that mean she had even more competition when it came to winning the man's affections? She stood in silence hoping they would both leave and allow her to do her business in private.

In the kitchen, just outside the bathroom door, Dario felt a sudden urge to serenade Brittany, so he did. This, in turn, caused the desperately-lonely, family-seeking woman to develop a serious crush on him almost immediately. She was hopelessly hooked and wanted to have his baby!

Ashley was oblivious to the whole exchange as she raided the refrigerator.

When Ashley rummaged through the fridge to gather the makings for a meal, she realized the food supply was low so I had to call for some groceries to be delivered right away. The large number of residents, with the added factor of lots of visitors, really had put a dent in our food supply.

Amylu was appalled to be ushered out of her own bathroom, in her own residence, by the strange girl she had seen with Paxton in there. If she had known of Sawyer's hateful attitude toward the girl, at that moment, she would have understood and possibly joined him those feelings.

Damn, he's hot! I thought as I ignored Gordon Walton and sat down to join Paxton and Brittany at the kitchen table. I was relieved to find myself feeling that way about someone other than my housemate, Sawyer, for a change.

Amylu, having been unable, as of yet, to shower and get rid of the green stink cloud that hovered around her, gazed out the kitchen window hoping that no one would notice. Oh please let the bathroom be free soon! She prayed silently as she enjoyed the aroma of the delicious burgers on the counter.

The doorbell rang and I donned my outerwear to meet the delivery person. She was quite nice as she handed over the basket of groceries to me, barely even looking strangely at me in my pink Gorilla suit. I assumed that, as a delivery person, she was used to coming in contact with all sorts of unusual people.

Everything inside seemed to be going well so far as I placed the food into the fridge, although the usual line had formed outside the bathroom door. The burgers smelled delicious as well. "Great job, Ashley" I remarked, smiling. Fatigue seemed to have overtaken me again, so I slipped away and found a bed in which to sleep.

In the living room, Holley took her chance to rope Chad into a dance. There was a certain attraction obvious between the two of them. Valpre merely sat on the sofa and watched the pair in silence.

"My God, Sawyer, do you mind?" Jo screeched as the man boldly walked in on her in the shower.

"Actually, no" he replied absently as he gazed out the window. "I don't mind one bit!"

"Lady, what exactly is your problem?" Chad asked the annoying Crystal Vu as Brittany silently watched the exchange between the two. "You have been annoying everyone at every opportunity this evening! Don't you know how you should act as a guest in someone else's home?"

As Jo stepped out of the shower, another traffic jam formed in the bathroom. "If everyone doesn't leave right now, I'm going to do something that will make you want to leave in a hurry!" Paxton grinned with an evil glint in his eyes. Jo and Darcy wasted no time in heading toward the door, but Sawyer remained steadfast. Soon, someone else entered, but it didn't stop Paxton from keeping his promise.

"Good Lord man" Dario remarked with a wave of his hand. "Did something crawl up inside you and die?"

"I gave fair warning, but if no one listened, it is not my fault!" Paxton replied as he continued doing his business while casually reading the newspaper.

Waiting just outside the bathroom door was Brittany, sporting a smelly green fog of her own. Even though she had just developed a crush on Dario, she still had trouble deciding between him and Paxton. They each had a thing for that nasty Chanel, though, and that riled her anger quite a bit!

Crissy and Ashley had somehow managed to become best friends and that made me realize just how distant I had been from most of my housemates. I still had only managed to befriend one of them, but I was determined to rectify that situation as soon as possible.

Karima managed to squeeze in a fairly satisfying dance with Chad. "Oh, I simply love the way you move!" she giggled in her dainty, fairy-like way.

"You move pretty well, yourself!" Chad grinned sheepishly back at her.

"What are you doing?" Jill smiled at Sawyer upon entering the bathroom while it was already in use.

He grinned up at her. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Don't be a smartass!" she snapped. "Whatever you're doing, it's time to get out and let me have a turn!"

Several others hung out in the bedroom as Jilly showered. Gordon Walton seemed the least happy about Jilly's occupation of the bathroom, while Sawyer greeted Amylu, and Brittany chatted with Dario as her green fog trail swirled and wafted through the room.

"Let me take that off your hands" Darcy said to Crystal Vu.

"Damn girl, go home and take shower or something" Crystal remarked vehemently. "I've known skunks to smell better than you do at the moment!"

The hour had grown late and, instead of heading home, some of the guests made themselves at home and decided to make use of some of the beds. Paxton and Darcy were a pair of very bold guests, indeed!

Gordon Walton was another bold guest who decided to take up space in our bedroom. Meanwhile, the family-seeking Brittany decided to check him out and learned that he was her type as well. Apparently, if it wore pants and had the ability to create a baby with her, it was her type!

"Damn Dude" Dario commented quietly as he walked into the bathroom, interrupting Sawyer's private time. "You'd think with all the showers being taken around here, less green fog would be floating all about!"

While I was in bed sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware, a vicious fight broke out in the kitchen. Several people hurriedly scrambled to move out of the way. "Hey look!" Brittany yelled excitedly. "It's a fight!"

The animosity between Chad Sanity and Crystal Vu had finally reached its boiling point and the pair had thrown caution to the wind and they jumped on each other, full force.

Brittany and Holley were both on Team Chad and cheered him on while Dario seemed horrified at the situation. Karima dropped her plate to stand and join the cheering section, while Jo and Crissy danced in the living room as if everything was as normal as usual around the place.

"I have had just about enough of your poking and prodding at me every chance you get" Chad growled, seething with fury. "It seems all you ever do is go from person to person, harassing each one as you please!"

"Woohoo" Holley encouraged loudly, "Get her Chad! Kick her ass! Kick it good!"

"What in the world?" Jilly inquired as she entered the room, shocked to see such a display of violence.

"Get her, Chad!" Karima chimed in from the other side of the table.

In her confusion, Jilly turned and left the room for a moment while the fight raged on. "I'll teach you to mess with me, as well as others!" Chad hollered as the two continued to pummel each other with punches and kicks.

"That's telling her, Chad!" the cheering section called out in unison.

"What is wrong with you people?" Crystal Vu sneered nastily. "Can't anyone around here take a little joke?"

Jill came back into the room seemingly unconcerned about the fight. She was more concerned about the cleanliness of the kitchen. "I knew that floor should have been cleaned better! Just look at all that dust!" she remarked calmly.

"Take that, you man wannabe!" Crystal screamed as she stood and flung Chad violently off of her. Jill wondered why Karima hadn't cleaned up her own dinner plate as she moved to do it herself.

"Oh no" Holley gasped, shocked to notice that Chad seemed to be losing the fight.

"This just isn't right" Karima commented in a worried tone.

"Take that!" Crystal sneered as she dusted off her hands and straightened up. "One of these days, maybe you'll 'man up' and grow a set!"

"Ouch, my back" Chad groaned as he began to stand upright.

"That's what you get for messing with me, little boy!" Crystal Vu laughed nastily. "Wanna try it again?"

"Oh my God" Holley complained in disgust. "Brittany, you reek!"

"I think your odor distracted poor Chad" Holley accused her. "I believe your stench is the reason he lost the fight!"

"Pwuueee" Karima said loudly. "I think you may have a point there, Holley! Brittany's stench is enough to throw a Boeing 747 off course!"

"Oh girl, why don't you head home and shower?" Holley said to the smelly guest.

Chad was livid and seemed humiliated to have lost the fight. "You know, I think you guys are right" he growled furiously. "It was Brittany's stench that caused me to break my concentration in the fight. Between the odor, and the thick, green fog blurring my vision and burning my eyes, I was doomed!"

"Don't worry, Sweetness" Karima encouraged brightly. "I believe you'll take her next time!" She smiled and winked as he went passed her into the living room where others were still dancing, apparently unaware of what had gone down in the kitchen.

"Wow that was some fight!" Holley commented as she said goodbye to everyone. She had been hoping that Chad would win, but it was actually nice to see a woman get the upper hand on a man anyway.

Karima and Dario said their goodbyes and Karima was actually glad to see him leaving, taking his stink trail with him. Most of our guests always stayed way past the time they should have returned home to freshen up.

"Oh my, how exciting that was!" Valpre exclaimed as she doubled over with laughter thinking about how the mean girl had won a fight against Chad. "I thought surely that Chad would have come out the winner in that one!"

"Jill says this magic ball could have told us what would happen if we had thought to ask!" Crissy responded as she turned the ball over in her hands. "Wanna check it out?"

As Jo continued to dance alone in the living room, Karima had a magic ball of her own. "Magic ball" she whispered, gazing at the object in wide-eyed wonder, "will I ever leave this place and marry a fine man like Chad, Dario, or Paxton?" She waited for the ball to answer, but it never did.

"I always get here too late!" Crissy whined as she walked in on Valpre in the bathroom. "Will my luck ever change?"

Valpre sighed and stood. "Well, I'm leaving now, so it's all yours!"

Once Crissy had used the toilet and showered, she gazed out the window absently as Karima paid her no mind while she took care of her own business with 'John'.

Finally, Crissy realized she was no longer alone, so she left the bathroom and headed into the kitchen.

Crissy got a real boost from making omelets for breakfast that morning. She served plates all around and waited for some others to wake and join her for breakfast.

Jill and Jo were too busy dancing the night away, while Holley and Sawyer slept on the sofas, to hurry in to breakfast.

Valpre was exhausted and was beginning to fall asleep on her feet in the bathroom. Finally she decided it would be a better idea to find a bed in which to sleep.

"Oh girl" Valpre exclaimed loudly, "the odor coming from you is enough to re-kill the dead! Please go shower because I'd rather get some normal sleep instead of being gassed to death!"

"I know . . . right!" Amylu laughed as she headed toward the bathroom Val had just vacated.

"Oh yeah, he's pretty hot!" Ashley whispered as she thought about the mail carrier. "I'd like to meet him someday."

I awoke to the delicious aroma of Crissy's omelets wafting in from the kitchen and, almost immediately, Karima and Holley were vying to take my place in the bed I had just made available.

Unfortunately for Karima, Holley got there first. "Sorry Karima" Holley smiled, "but this one is taken!" It was not long before Sawyer had the same idea and was hot on Karima's heels, but he was too late as well.

"Why are you still here, taking up perfectly good space?" Sawyer sneered through clinched teeth as he glared down at the sleeping form of Darcy Sanity in a bed that did not belong to her. "You've just given me one more reason to hate you!" he whispered contemptuously.

"You know, I've been thinking about this ridiculous ghost thing that everyone seems so worried about" I said to Jo over a plate of omelets. "Although I really don't believe in such nonsense, I don't believe we have anything to worry about in that area, as long as everyone who lives here remains alive and well, even if the ghost stories are true."

Again, Amylu obsessed over the puddle on the bathroom floor, even though the broken shower just kept putting it right back almost immediately after it was mopped up.

Crissy leaned forward to rest her arms on her thighs as she asked, "What are you doing, Sawyer?"

"I'm going to check the paper to see if the job Tina needs is available today" he smiled.

Karima yawned, "I really don't give a flying flip right now. I'm just too tired to care about anything but sleep!"

"Well, you really need to care, Karima!" Sawyer reminded her sternly. "If she never finds that job in the Oceanography Career, we are liable to be stuck here forever!"

While I was in the bathroom, Ashley was struggling to hold her water and whining to herself. "Oh, hurry please! I can't hold it much longer!" Finally, she could stand it no longer and burst through the bathroom door.

I thought that I would finally have a chance to fix that broken shower, but no such luck for me. "I'm sorry, but I really need to go . . . now!" Ashley told me and I turned away from the faucet with a heavy sigh.

"Well, I guess I'll just come back to this later" I replied with a forced smile as I graciously left Ashley to her privacy.

Entering the bedroom, I was surprised to see that Amylu had finally worked up the nerve to try some light flirting with Paxton. Darcy Sanity had passed me on her way out of the bedroom, sporting a horrific green fog, and I noticed that Sawyer had taken the bed she had finally vacated.

"Good morning Jo" Darcy said brightly as she joined her at the kitchen table. Gordon Walton had also risen from the bed he had used the night before.

Jo simply wished that everyone would go home and leave her alone, especially the girl who was filling the entire kitchen with her hideous green stench.

"Hey, look at me!" Crissy announced proudly. "I am now the fittest pirate in town!" Even though Sawyer had already done so, I checked the paper as usual only to learn my job was still not listed. That meant I was doomed to work in the dance career at least one more day. Not having to go in until three o' clock in the afternoon meant I may be able to get a few things done around the house before leaving to go to work.

As soon as the bathroom was free again, I pulled out my trusty wrench and got back to work on the shower. I had barely gotten started when someone burst through the door to interrupt my progress.

"I'm really sorry, Tina" Jill said, "but I really have more urgent business in here than you do at the moment."

"If you say so" I sighed heavily as I exited the shower and then the bathroom to leave Jill alone.

"I'm telling you it's all a conspiracy" Jill said to me once she re-entered the kitchen. "Those guys in Washington are all crooks, I tell you!"

"I think our flag should be yellow with a black asterisk instead having stars and stripes" Gordon stated to Darcy.

"Oh, I wouldn't give up seeing you in your 'tightie tannies' even for a huge sack of simoleons!" Amylu said to Paxton.

It was Amylu who interrupted me on my next attempt at repairing the shower. Once again, I sighed and left the room, thinking the shower would remain broken forever.

Deciding it was time to empty the house of guests who had overstayed their welcome, I said goodbye to Darcy and everyone else as well. At least I would not have them disturbing me if I got the chance to work on the shower again!

Finally I was able to work on the broken faucet as Amylu worked on cleaning up the puddle it was making on the floor. This time, however, something else happened to interrupt my repair job. I heard the other woman crying and muttering to herself, so I turned to see what was wrong.

"Oh dear, oh my" Amylu said fretfully as she frowned and wrung her hands nervously. "What . . . what if I never get to have the family I dream of because I'm stuck in here forever?"

Though I tried my best to reassure her, I'm not sure I was successful and I probably never would be until a career change came along.

Jill, meanwhile, had another method of dealing with the stress and strain she was feeling. "Big deal" she mumbled to herself as she took a huge sip of her beer. "At least it's afternoon instead of morning like is Sawyer's habit!"

Day nine continued as usual as I headed off to work that day. Now I was feeling more confident that my housemates would take good care of themselves and the house in my absence. After hearing the horror stories of horrific happenings to other residents of this asylum, I felt quite lucky that things had gone so smoothly thus far, although I had still managed to develop a friendship with only one of my housemates.

Jo dreamt of kissing and if it would be possible to kiss someone while wearing her pumpkin head as Crissy snored softly in the bed next to her.

Val voraciously devoured a whole bag of potato chips while Sawyer and Holley shared an apparently very satisfying dance together in the living room.

Instead of making lunch, Ashley stuffed her face at the refrigerator, wishing she had the ingredients to make her milk chocolate instead of having to drink it as it was straight from the carton.

Holley and Jo later had a conversation in the kitchen that gave Holley a nice boost in her mood. Afterward, she decided to make dinner for everyone.

First, she was horrified to see the black smoke drifting up from the pot on the stove, but then she was totally devastated to see that she burned the meal she had been preparing. If she were to get a man and keep him, she would have to do better than that!

"Oh noes" Sawyer cried miserably as Karima barged into the bathroom and didn't hesitate when she reached the toilet, "you are NOT going to do that in front of me? Are you?"

"Then you'd best hurry on out of here!" Karima giggled.

"You know" Ashley commented, as everyone sat down to eat the spaghetti that Holley had managed to burn, "I'll bet if we used these crusty meatballs to play tennis, they'd bust right through the racket!" Everyone burst into fits laughter at that, except Holley. She was clearly not amused.

That evening, I had earned a promotion to Sim Jazzercise Instructor and got a hefty bonus, so I decided to bring home a pizza. Once a got a good look at Holley's spaghetti, I was doubly glad I did! My hours had changed to day shift, from 8:00am to 3:00pm, so I ate a slice and went straight to bed so that I'd be ready for work in the morning.

Of course, there was the usual pile up in the bathroom as Jill, Ashley, and Valpre all needed to use it at once. Val gave up easily with a sigh and left, but Ashley decided to hang around and actively 'fight' for her turn.

Of course, Jilly won 'The Battle of the Bathroom' as per usual, so Ashley turned away and left. Valpre, however, didn't stay absent very long and returned shortly to do her own thing, paying no attention to Jilly as she did hers.

Jill read the morning paper as Val tackled the filthy soap scum and mold attached to the shower walls as she dreamt about the family she yearned to have someday. Soon, Ashley could wait no more, so she burst into the bathroom again, rushing right past Jill and straight toward the toilet.

Jilly conceded and allowed Ashley to relieve herself, but then she returned and promptly asked her to leave while she showered. Ashley balked only a bit, but then learned it was useless, so she left the bathroom.

While Sawyer relaxed and Amylu slept on the sofa, Jo, Valpre, and Crissy had a dance party all their own to help lighten the mood and relieve the tension in the house.

Having been shooed from the bathroom before using the shower, Ashley entered the kitchen sporting a trail of smelly green fog behind her. She loved elves and little green men, but this sort of green was ridiculous!

Soon, I awoke from a decent night's sleep and went into the living room.

While Crissy and Ashley conversed quietly at the kitchen table, Jill and I got wild in the living room. Finally, I realized I had only an hour before my carpool was due to arrive, so I stopped dancing and headed toward the bathroom.

Unfortunately, poor Amylu was having a crisis in the bathroom. She was so near, yet so far from, the toilet it seemed to her. For some reason, instead of using it, she was only able to stand there and complain about her pain.

"Look, you need to either piss, or get off the pot!" I snapped rudely. "I have to go work soon and I need a shower. If you don't wanna take care of your business, then please leave so I can take care of mine!"

The hot water pelting my body felt awesome and I released a sigh of contentment as I washed all the grime from my body. Amylu had left without another word, and while I felt bad for her, I had my own needs to worry about as well. No sooner had I turned off the shower, Amylu returned begging to use the toilet.

After dressing, I left the bathroom with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. I had managed to take care of my most dire need before work, while Amylu had successfully held her water and made it back to the bathroom before having an accident on the floor. Jo and Ashley were having a friendly conversation as I passed by them on my way to retrieve the morning newspaper.

"Well Crissy" I sighed sadly as I folded the paper, "my job is still not listed, so I guess I'm stuck in the dance career a bit longer. At the worried expression on Crissy's face, I added quickly, "I'm sure it will turn up soon!" I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt. Soon, a horn could be heard honking from the street.

Day ten of our 'forced' confinement was just beginning as I rushed toward the old beater that had arrived to take me to work. I was ready to live my first day as a Sim Jazzercise Instructor, but I sure wished it had been a position in the Oceanography career waiting for me instead. Before hopping into the car, I turned to look back at the house for a moment. Gazing at the others gathering in the living room, I had the feeling that it would turn out to be a fine day.