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Good evening and welcome back, dear reader. Come, let us check in on young Betty and gander at what she has been up to in our absence.

Betty decided to return to the beach to comb for trash. In doing so, she found piles of it, left carelessly by tourists. It pained her to see such a beautiful sight ruined by the carelessness of sims.

As she walked along the shoreline, her eyes scanning the sand, she spied a local in the waterfall. Quite a normal thing, she’s realized, but this local dropped to the earth and started doing pushups under the water raging over him.

Peculiar, she thought as she tilted her head. She was convinced that she would never come to understand how a sim’s mind works. It seems to be much more complex than that of a mermaid since mermaids generally think only of the sea and its inhabitants. That’s not to say that there are not those that wish to do harm and have a most dastardly mind.

Betty spies a cave farther on the island and decides to explore. The cave went deep into the earth, curving left and then right before opening up into a small pool of water which filtered in through a small tunnel that led deep under the ocean. To the right of the pool lay a small opening upon which she found a rather large pile of seashells and various other items.

Curious, she carefully picked up the items, checking for any trash that may be amongst the pile. As her hand moved aside a rather large shell, she felt a painful sting upon her finger. With a cry of surprise, she yanked her hand back, curiously looking over the large, red crab that clung to her finger for dear life, its other claw snapping furiously as it dangled back and forth in the air.

She could sense its fear, its aggressiveness presenting as a means of survival. Despite the pain, she smiled at it before gently lowering her hand until its little legs fell to the top of the pile. “Fear not, little one, I won’t harm you, nor will I take your home from you. You are safe,”

The crab tilted its head and let out a series of chitters and clicks as it debated with itself on whether to trust her. Finally, it released its hold on her finger and buried itself back under the debris.

Now, with her finger throbbing painfully, she heads off to school.

Just as Betty is about to enter her classroom, she spies one of her classmates down the hall. Her name is Malia and she’s crying, tears streaming down her face. Betty looks back to the classroom door, where her teacher is ushering in the last of the students. He looks at her expectantly, waving his hand toward the door.

Her eyes shot toward the end of the hall, where the female had disappeared. Shaking her head, she rushed off down the hall despite the yells of her teacher. She turned the corner and nearly ran into Malia, who was leaning back against the lockers and crying her eyes out.

Without hesitation, Betty threw her arms around the girl, gently petting her hair and asking what was wrong. As it turns out, Malia and her childhood friend had gotten into an argument – the worst they ever had, according to her – and she was sure that their friendship was over.

Betty did her best to console the girl, assuring her that if the friendship is true, they will work it out and rekindle the relationship. When her words did not ease the girl’s tears, she sung a soft melody to calm her and, slowly, her sobs started to cease.

The school contacted her father about this.

Colin knew it was wrong for his daughter to skip class – if she wanted to achieve her dream of being a marine biologist, education was a vital step in getting there. However, he also knew how selfless his daughter is and how important helping others is.

For this, he would not punish her, instead choosing to praise her for helping a sim in their time of need.

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