[Sara, a single mother, and Mike, her son, are homeless and living in an abandoned park in The Sims 3.  You can backtrack to the first two (1, 2) entries, or hop right into their continuing journey.]

With a full stomach, generous neighbors, and a 6 a.m. sunrise, Sara picks up her guitar again.  Mike admires his mother's talent and seems to appreciate her tunes that range from soft-bellied folk to more bluesy rock riffs.  Mike runs to catch the bus to school, his mother still lost in the music.

Taking a cab, I send Sara to Central Park.  Unfortunately, the time-honored tradition of busking (performing music in public places for tips and gratuities) isn't an option for her yet.  Dorie and Gus Hart, two of her neighbors, arrive at the park, too, but they don't acknowledge Sara.  Well, almost they don't.  Dorie gives Sara the "gas face" behind her back and, almost immediately, the Harts turn around and go home.




Sara takes it easy by sitting alone at the fountain, then she starts an hours-long singleplayer game of chess.  The long-haired Abraham Finkle eventually sits down across from Sara, but he never pulls his nose out of his book.  With Sara steeped in her game, Abraham eventually leaves without comment.




After school, Mike wants to hop off the bus at Bella Bachelor's pad.  He follows her, still grungy, tired, and generally miserable from a full day of having too many people around for his taste.




It turns out that Bella lives right across the street from the abandoned park where Mike lives.  Bella at least appears amused by her decision to bring Mike home.  Mike is polite and doesn't even walk on Bella's grass.  She doesn't invite him in, but she brings her homework outside onto the porch.




With a sudden change of heart, and without a word to Bella, Mike sprints home across the street.  Head swimming with exhaustion, all he can think about is getting a little sleep.




Back in Central Park, Sara helps herself to a picnic basket and eats a hot dog so fast she neary chokes. 




She then admires the statue presiding over Central Park until late afternoon.  She either greatly admires the town leadership this man's statue represents, or she appreciates its sculpturing on an artistic level.




At sundown, Sara leaves Central Park and heads back to the abandoned park.  As she waves gently to her already-sleeping son, Sara wishes that she could buy him a toy box.  She falls asleep on a distant bench.  Still, it's surprising to see that, despite the usual gripes (tired, grungy), Sara and Mike are both happy.




Mike wakes up to the sound of his mother working towards her lifetime wish of Mastering the Arts.  In the middle of her practice, Sara seems to notice her admiring son, and suddenly Sara adds a stuffed animal to her list of things she wishes she could provide for Mike.  And as Sara gets progressively better at the guitar it drives her to want to practice more and more.  Taking advantage of her good mood and relatively high level of energy, Sara practices late into the night.




As morning approaches, Sara and Mike chat about the usual:  art, books -- and they even sprinkle in a little neighborhood and schoolyard gossip.  What she'd probably like to avoid talking about is how she just peed herself.  Still, considering the Twilight Zone they'd created with their obsessive-compulsive toothbrushing rituals, I still find it hard to regret my previous decision to bulldoze their public restroom.




Mike doesn't seem to mind.  He walks through it to continue the early morning chat with his mother before school.  And apparently for Sara, nothing screams "artist" like discussing the finer points of the color wheel while standing only inches away from your own puddle of pee.