A Geeky Bard's SimLit

Chapter 17 A Neighborly Visit One bright afternoon, Keoni and Kapena took a walk down the beach to the Kealoha house -- the families had arranged for another playdate between Keoni and Nani. The Ka'aukai twosome arrived at their neighbors' house and entered. Lilliana Kealoha welcomed them, and Kapena returned a cool but cordial thanks. Keoni was too excited to worry about manners at the moment -- on the way inside, he noticed that since the last time he was here, the Kealohas had extended their side deck and added a huge playspace for toddlers! Makoa and Nani were already outside playing on the playspace and Keoni hurried to join them. While Makoa helped Nani ascend the stairs to the toddler slide, Keoni climbed into a tunnel, crawled up to the top of the playspace, looked out over the beach, and called "Hawwo!" Keoni climbed back down through the tunnels and went over to Makoa. By the time he got there, Nani had reached the bottom of the slide, and now she was drivin...

 Chapter 3 Family Time It was early in the morning, and Valerian opened his eyes, gave a big yawn, and then stretched as much of his little self as he could.   Valerian's new home was starting to feel like a familiar space to him, which made him feel safe and happy. Great-Uncle Alder walked into the room and sat down at the foot of Holly's bed. "Good morning, Valerian," he whispered to the infant, trying to be careful not to wake the rest of the family. Then he hid his face behind his hands. "Where's Uncle Alder?" Alder quickly removed his hands from his face and exclaimed "There he is!" Belladonna stirred in the top bunk of the bunk bed next to Valerian's crib. She got up, climbed down the ladder, and turned around to face her host. "Mister Todd, while I appreciate your assistance in caring for the baby, I would appreciate it even more if you would be so kind as to keep your voice down." "My apologies for disturbing y...

 Chapter 16 Finned and Fantastical Keoni woke up, crawled out of his bed, left the bedroom and toddled across the hall on his way to the bathroom. Leimomi was already up, eating breakfast at the dining table. When Keoni finished using the potty and left the bathroom, Leimomi was waiting for him. "There you are," she commented. "I thought I saw you leave your bedroom earlier. Time for breakfast!" Leimomi picked Keoni up and carried him to the high chair, where a bowl of cereal was already waiting for him. Leimomi placed Keoni in the high chair, and then he started digging in. When he was done, Leimomi released him from the confines of his high chair, and then she took his empty bowl to the sink. Keoni watched her as she washed the bowl. Then she turned around and spoke to him again. "Now it's bath time!" "Yay!" Keoni exclaimed. Leimomi picked Keoni up, carried him into the bathroom, and gave him a bath. When bathtime was over, they went back o...

Chapter 2  The Path of Power   Belladonna fed Valerian his breakfast, and then she propped him up on her shoulder and burped him. Then she carried him outside and gently set him down on his playmat. Valerian was still feeling the effects of having been woken up by Lord Wifflefluff's barking in the middle of the night, so he took another snooze. The sound of his mother's voice woke him up. "Valerian," she cooed, "it's time for your training." She knelt down next to the playmat and rolled Valerian over onto his tummy. Valerian could get his arms underneath him and lift his head up, but he struggled to figure out how to move further than that. "You cannot remain weak and helpless," Belladonna attempted to coach her son. "The weak are useless, good for nothing but to be trampled beneath the feet of the strong. You were born into a powerful bloodline, so you must become powerful yourself." While this was going on, Holly toddled into the te...

Chapter 15  A Day of Lessons   The need to go potty woke Keoni up a bit earlier than usual. He crawled out of bed, and toddled out of the bedroom and into the hall on his way to the bathroom. Kapena hadn't left for work yet. However, by the time Keoni was done in the bathroom, Kapena had already headed off to work. With no grown-ups around, Keoni thought that now would be a good time to add some more variety of color to the hall rug. That is, until his grandmother caught him. Fortunately for the troublemaking tot, Leimomi wasn't a particularly harsh disciplinarian, and they hugged it out. Then Leimomi went to the kitchen, poured a bowl of cereal, and placed it on the tray of Keoni's high chair. Then she picked Keoni up and carried him to the high chair so that he could have breakfast. While he ate, she mopped up his mess before the paint could permanently stain the rug. After Keoni finished breakfast, Hokulani came out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. "Good morning...