New Orleans Instrumental No. 1

Wake up.

Huh? Where am I? Oh... I'm in the limo. The ceiling is shaking? Hmmm... we seem to be traveling down a highway. Wait... where is my uniform? Hang on... someone's lying on my chest... and there's a blanket covering us..?

Oh, it's Deanna. Oh wait, I remember now... we've left that hellhole. I lift the edge of the blanket and peek under it briefly. Oh yeah, I remember that, too. Cool.

HEY! We've gotten this far without getting hit with an adult rating!

You again? What is it now?

Shh.... don't wake her, she's been through a lot.

Heh... well, that's certainly true enough...

Don't MAKE me come down there!

Almost as if in response, Deanna stirred slightly in her sleep. My right arm was wrapped around her, so I rubbed her back lightly, and listened to her breathing slow down as she slept a little deeper. What is it this time?

"What is it this time?" You sound somewhat ungrateful for someone whose just left an insane asylum challenge with a fully-healed love of your life.

Well, to be fair, it did seem like you were toying with us for a moment there. Like turning Free Will off. Why was that necessary?

Because I get tired of people wandering off to play the electric guitar or clean the shower when I'm trying to talk to them. It made for good drama, too.

Well, glad to be of service... anyway, why are You here?

I figured you would have some more questions... even though you left with Me still standing there in the middle of the asylum.

It didn't occur to me that the Creator would have needed a ride. Anyway, yes, I do have some questions.... the big one being... who am I? Who was I?

Who you are, is Brian Patience. You are the head of the Simprano crime syndicate, and you're currently on your way... somewhere with the woman who loves you asleep on your chest, who looks very comfortable, even though certain articles of clothing somehow left via the sunroof. You're on your way to whatever life the two of you choose for yourselves. What more do you need to know?

Well, regarding this challenge... I just found it curious that my Lifetime Want was to become a Criminal Mastermind, instead of something like a Business tycoon, or chief of staff.

What's your point? The exit condition was chosen more or less randomly.

I find it odd that the want I had to fulfill to escape that place, was to become the head of the crime family that has a hit out on a woman who is now my girlfriend... I became the one person; the ONLY person, who can save Deanna from her fate.

Do you remember, what it says for a caption, on those "Weird paintings of the Creator"?

Um, yes, actually... "I determine when you are born. I determine how you live. I determine how you die. I determine *if* you die."

Yes. All I will say is, you're not the only one I watch over. That's partially why I gave you such a hard time back at the asylum.... I had to make sure of her recovery.... and of yours.

My recovery? But... I don't remember anything before the asylum...

Let me fill in the blanks. You were a man, a Sim adrift. You felt like the world didn't need you. You didn't have many friends, and you didn't have a lot of ambition. You had a family, but they were well enough established that they really didn't "Need" you... no situations came up that couldn't be handled by someone else before it got to the point were they "needed' you. You once thought to yourself, in your depression, that perhaps you needed to be responsible for someone else. You needed someone to need you.

The asylum served both purposes - Deanna gained her savior, and you gained the purpose in life you were seeking. You moved heaven and earth to keep seven women alive, and I know you will do what ever it takes to keep one in particular happy and safe. You and she; you are each other's reward.

I'm speechless. As if on cue, Deanna stirred again, and I unconsciously ran my fingers lightly through her hair. You.... You'd planned this all from the start, haven't you?

I don't know if planned was the right word, because there was a very real risk you would not survive the challenge. That's why it was called a challenge. But yes, these are the results I had hoped for.

Wow... one question.... if I am her reward, and she is my reward... what was in it for You?

To see yours and Deanna's life together, that will be My reward. She's about to wake up, so I have to leave now. There are others I need to check on.

Wait! Wait! Will we ever see You again? Will we ever speak again?

I don't know exactly what the future will bring for the two of you, and I do not interfere where I do not need to. But I will tell you, before I go, what I told you once before....

I am everywhere. I am watching.

And with that, I felt the Creator's presence leave. I didn't have time to think about it, for Deanna stirred, and lifted her head sleepily, looking around while she remembered where she was. Seeing me, she gave a smile.

"Were you talking to someone?" she asked.

"Just... just saying goodbye to a friend, my love."