✎ No Pants (A Sims 4 Short Story) ✓

Genre: Slice of Life, Family, Comedy 🦙
Word Count: 666 🦙
Series Tie-In: None 🦙
Warnings: None 🦙
Prompt: “Is there any particular reason you’re not wearing pants?” “The monster under my bed had a date.” 🦙
Written: 01/03/20 🦙

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I’ve looked everywhere for the pic that this prompt came from but I can’t find the soure. There’s no watermark on the image and I tried an image search and a text search but I just couldn’t find it If anyone knows the source, please let me know! Harley was created by CXonor13 but I changed her a bit for this story because I really liked the thought of Domestic! Harley from Suicide Squad.

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Harley hummed in tune with the classical music that filled the room, letting her brush stroke across the canvas, covering the white surface with various shades of grey and blue. She had no vision in mind for the piece – she just had the urge to paint something, anything.

When she isn’t working, she’s taking turns with her husband to raise their two kids – a twelve-year-old boy named Jacks and a three-year-old girl named Hayley. Because of this, she rarely has time for her own hobbies.

For the first time since she was born, little Hayley went down for her nap without a fuss and actually stayed there. Harley nearly had heart failure after five minutes passed without the toddler sneaking from her room. The great creator had gifted her with this chance for some much needed alone time. How could she possibly refuse?

Light footsteps padded the carpet and her son appeared in the doorway. “Mama, I’m heading to the park now.”

“Have fun, darlin’. Remember to be home before -” The woman’s words stopped dead when she turned, seeing her son without any pats on. “You do know it’s the middle of winter, right?”

“Yeah,”

She forced a smile. “Then, is there any particular reason you’re not wearing any pants?”

“Huh?” He glanced down before rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh yeah. Carl had a date and spilled pasta sauce on his, so he asked to borrow mine.”

Paint dripped from the tip of her brush as she stared at him blankly. ‘I… I have so many questions…’ She cleared her throat. “And who is this Carl?”

“He’s the monster that lives under my bed,”

‘I have more questions…’

“Well, technically, he lives under all of our beds. He hops around, see? But my bed is his favorite!”

“Jacks -”

A high-pitched cry pierced the air.

Almost instantly, the woman dropped rushed down the hall toward her daughter’s room but quickly backpedaled to look at her son. “Put some pants on! You’re going to get sick!”

“‘Kay!”

Harley rushed into her daughter’s room, seeing the toddler pressing herself back against the dresser and sobbing loudly. “What’s wrong, darlin’?” She cooed, kneeling beside the small girl and pulling her into her arms, completely missing the sight behind her.

Hayley clung to her mother, tears soaking the red shirt she wore. “Ma-ma,” she sobbed. “There’s a – a monster under the – the bed! He – He’s wearing… Jacks’ pants! Mama, he – he ate Jacks!”

‘I’m beginning to question what is wrong with my children,’ Harley smiled, gently rubbing the girl’s matching blonde hair. “There, there, darlin’. I just spoke to Jacks, he’s just fine. You just had a bad dream,”

“N-No, the monster… he’s real!”

Harley opened her mouth to reply when she sensed movement behind her. Whipping her head around, her eyes narrowed at the bed.

‘I coulda swore I sensed somethin’, but there’s nothin’ there. How strange,’ Harley frowned, letting her eyes scan the room.

The door creaked open and in walked Jacks. “Mama, all my pants are dirty. Can I just wear shorts?” he paused, his eyes glancing toward the bed. “Oh hi, Carl.”

Harley looked from her son to the bed and back again. ‘An imaginary friend?’

“Jacks!!” Hayley cried, rushing over to him as fast as her little legs could carry her. She threw herself into his arms and sobbed harder than before.

“Gross~ You’re getting snot on me!” Jacks’ nose wrinkled in disgust before he returned the hug. “What’s wrong, shrimp?”

“I thought – the monster – a-ate you!”

Jacks tilted his head as he looked down at her. “Carl? He’s a friendly monster!” The boy pulled away from his sister, ignoring her cries as he approached the bed, kneeling down beside it. “Hey, Carl, how’d your date go?”