Hi, everyone! I'm very excited to share a new story inspired by the new #LiveTheSIMSLife contest. I've loved The SIMS ever since I can remember (I used to play the very first version of the game when I was a kid!) and it's such a fun way to live crazy, hilarious and exciting virtual adventures. It was just as much fun coming up with my own SIMS world for this contest!

Head on over to the @Fanfic profile  OR the contest page here for more details about the contest, and submit your entry for the chance to win a digital game code of The Sims 4!

- Leigh

I started off as a newbie in a strange town, with a 20x15 lot and no contacts in my phone. My neighbour was nice, though: a red-haired guy, Sam, who wore a baseball cap and a friendly smile. We hit it off so quickly that I asked him on a date that same evening.

He took me stargazing in the community park, our backs against flattened grass and eyes gazing dreamily upward. Then came the faint green glow and beam of light, and that's where my memory gets a little hazy.

But hey, telling people you got abducted by aliens on your first date makes for great party conversation.

Five dates later and a question was on the cards. Sam's venue of choice was a neighbour's costume party. Let me tell you, it's not easy getting down on one knee in a hot dog costume—and I was willing to marry him just for trying.

After a chaotic courtship, the wedding was supposed to be low-key. A backyard setting, a handful of close friends and family... what could possibly go wrong?

Well, a lot if you don't cross-check your guestlists. If we'd realised that a grandparent and long-lost auntie were mortal enemies, we probably could've avoided the brawl that happened in the middle of the ceremony. It's hard to keep guests' attention on the happy couple when two elderly women are throwing punches in the back row.

Back at home, our starter house didn't stay practical for long. We soon had to add another bedroom... and then two more when surprise triplets(!) came along. From there followed a second storey, three more kids, a pool and two dogs—in that order. We were probably the rowdiest house in the neighbourhood. Between the kids practicing playing drum kits and guitars, the dogs barking, the thunder of footsteps all through the house, it was a constant racket. But we wouldn't have had it any other way.

Really, we didn't get any peace until retirement, when the final kid was barrelled into a removal van on their way to a place of their own. Sam and I sat on the porch, smiling wistfully at each other and wondering aloud when the house was last this quiet.

Even then, it didn't last.

Because soon after, the grandkids descended...

***

I awoke with a start to the sound of banging on the door.

Lifting my head, I realised I was at my computer, with the imprint of the keyboard now pressed into the side of my face.

On the screen was last night's game of The Sims; unpaused, my two characters must have been left to their own devices for several hours. It was almost embarrassing to see them now, in the light of day, one of them a carbon copy of me. But who hadn't created themselves in Sim form, right? It was just a bit of harmless fun. Wish fulfilment.

The banging sounded again, making me jump.

I hurried over to the door. I wasn't expecting anybody, but I definitely wasn't expecting it to be the cute pizza delivery boy I'd been crushing on for several months now.

(I'd ordered way more pizzas in that time than I'm willing to admit.)

My eyes trailed from his baseball cap, to the red hair poking out from underneath, to his nametag: Sam.

"Um, hi," he said, visibly nervous. "This might be really way-out, but... well, we've spoken a few times before, and I think you seem really cool. I was just wondering if... you'd maybe like to go out for coffee sometime?"

From the corner of my eye, I glanced at my computer screen, praying it wasn't visible from the door.

"Sure," I said, witha coy smile. "I'd love to."