Delilah watched the road signs through the passing as her sister talked about the future of their day. Signs like Lincoln avenue and Welcome to Santa Monica.

"Well, I think Mom was going to make pasta. And tomorrow I have to go to a commericial...commeric-she-all." Susan cleared her throat. "A commerical. A come-ur-shall. I have to go to film. I mean, I'm going to be in a commercial. For toys." She finally spat out.

"But before dinner we can play marbles or something. Or maybe go to the beach. I mean, if your eye is feeling better and you're OK."

Delilah watched people taking a stroll along the pier as the sunset, that enormous sun inking into the sky. There was an amusement park—perched right on the pier with not-too-scary roller coasters and what looked like classic carnie rides that made a nice mix even for littler ones like Susan. Then there was an incomparable view from atop the pier -- a Ferris wheel.

Somehow Delilah knew that on weekends, adults could join free historical walking tours to learn more about the pier, which was old. And kids knew those tours were boring. And she also knew that there were other, more simpler pleasures on the pier—a creamy thick shake, a simple necklace of seashells—at snack shacks and trinket shops lining the pier. And that there were local fishermen at the docks on Sundays. If you hung out long enough down there, any kid was  bound to hear some good yarns and watch some slippery fish reeled in.

It all seemed so strangely familiar to Delilah. Yet, at the same time, Delilah had no real memory of any of it. It was almost as if the familiarity had been 'placed' there, inside of her head.

"A commercial? Right. I forgot."

Delilah let her head fall against the seatback. It felt heavy with strange knowledge. New memories and names lay atop the old like an oil slick after the rain: iridescent from afar and greasy to the touch. The soul rock wish changed her whole life around, but left just enough of her old self behind to feel bewildered and afraid.

"What kinda toys?" she heard herself asking. She wanted to scream, but then what? What would this other mother do?

"What?" Susan asked, as if she couldn't believe that Delilah could actually ask the question. "You know already!" Susan said, clearly thinking that Delilah was putting her on.

"Boglins." Susan said, mystified that Delilah might not know. "Boglins. What? You don't remember Boglins. You told me to do it. Didn't you?"

"Boglins. You know, the small, monster toys?" Susan probed.

"Boglins. Right?"

"Oh yeah. Boglins're great." Delilah's voice was flat. She remembered something about her sister on tv. And she also remembered not knowing anything about it.

"We can go to the beach, or wherever. Whatever you wanna do." Ordinarily, she would have loved a day at the beach. Especially in such nice weather. Now she just wanted to see it with her own eyes and stop the eerie dejavu playing in her head. "Wherever you wanna go."

The car turned into a development and stopped at a large, black metal gate.  Delilah could see large houses, some with two or three car garages. Even though they were all enormous compared to what she remembered in Minnesota, the houses all had a similar  "cookie cutter" look. They all had well cut lawns, painted colors of blue, beige or red, and each had an accompanying garden. It seemed like they were meant to fit four or three-person families but could easily fit a gaggle of relatives as well.  There were a few children living in the neighborhood and they were playing outside games of soccer and baseball in the hot sun.

"The beach! The beach!" Susan answered Delilah with excitement. And then...

"What are ya' lookin' at?" Susan asked, still clearly mistified by Delilah's strange behavior and questions.

Delilah stared in awe at the huge homes behind the black gate. She saw them already in her new memories, but they were impressive in person. Some of them even had a three car garage. She knew families like Roger's had more than three cars, but they were always out on the lawn and all busted up. She didn't know anyone with three cars nice enough to be kept in a garage all at the same time. They looked like houses on tv. The people who lived there probably looked like they belonged on tv, too.

"I, uh, it's just... Them!" Delilah quickly pointed at the kids playing ball. She scrambled to think of something on the spot and came up short.

The Mom-Thing adjusted the mirror and Delilah couldn't see anything in the rear view. Suddenly, the car pulled up to the curb and stopped. The Mom-Thing opened the car door and Susan jumped out onto the pavement, slamming the door behind her.

Delilah looked through the window from the back seat, gaping at the large mansion that set beyond the sidewalk, towering over her as if attempting to intimidate her. The cream coating of the paint shined as the sun beat down on it, causing Delilah to have to squint, even through the window. Uniquely twisted fencing kept the house enclosed, neatly trimmed hedges surrounded it. The roof was peaked, slanting down at an angle. The windows had royal purple curtains hanging on the other side of them, drawn so that the sunlight could stream through.

As she watched Susan run up the sidewalk, Delilah noticed a marble fountain sitting towards the right side of the lawn. An angel holding a flower was perched on top, looking up towards the sky. Water spurted from its other hand, which lay gently out in front of it, as if waiting for someone to take it in return. The water fell gently towards the crystal blue pool beneath it, causing ripples to form and wave out until they were no more.

Bushes trimmed into all sorts of green animals and green people littered the parts of the lawn that was not taken up by the fountain: cats, dogs, rabbits, giraffes, elephants, penguins, birds, snakes...All life-size. In the distance, Delilah could see the beach lay just beyond the backyard, grass forming into sand, bushes and hedges. turning into sand dunes.

OOC: Delilah adds to character sheet the Merit "Deep Pockets"

"No way."

Delilah sucked in a deep breath. The manse loomed over her. The biggest house she could ever hope to see. And she lived here. She looked down from the peaked roof to the stone angel and the fountain. A fountain! surrounded by hedges trimmed into animals. Delilah had never really thought of money before. They weren't poor and they weren't wealthy. Just normal folk. Now, they had a tv life. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

She hopped out of the car and followed her family inside, gawking at every luxury along the way.

Susan stopped in front of the huge, double front doors. There were large potted plants with fresh purple, yellow and red flowers on each side of the ornate, white molding that was so clean and crisp it looked like marble outlining the doors to heaven.

"What?" Susan said. "I swear, you sure are acting strange Delilah. Are you sure that your eye is OK? I mean, sheesh, you're looking around like something is wrong." Susan said as the Mom-Thing jangled the keys from her large, leopard-print, oversized, carry bag.

Susan looked so small in front of the stately double doors. If she didn't know her sister's temperament, Delilah would swear she was looking at a princess.

"It's just the...the glare. Gonna need my shades today."

She knew in the back of her mind where to find her room, but it was all so strange. And a bit heady. She was afraid of finding the pig man in her room. Or another golden handshake. But she was a little excited, too.

After the door opened, Susan rushed through all excited and happy, leaving the Mom-Things' gaping, unmoving and overstretched smile behind her. Two spiral staircases of white marble met at the top of the second floor, a small ornate table decorating the vast lobby of the McMansion like the opening scene from 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.'

"Come on! First one to get in their bathing suit is the winner!" Susan said. "And the second one is the Chump!" she announced, already running up the the left staircase.

Delilah walked inside without watching her step. She nearly collided into Monster Mom, then bumped into the delicately carved table in the foyer. Susan shouted a challenge and Delilah put her game face on.

"You're on!"

She sprinted up the right staircase. Her own grin widening with each step.

Delilah Rolls Stamina + Athletics vs. Susan's Dice Pool of 3. The Race ends when one participant accumulates 2 Successes.

17:07, Today: Delilah Gray rolled 1 success using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((8,1,5,2,3,2)).

Delilah slowed down when she caught sight of the chandelier hanging above the double staircase. It had to be made of glowing diamonds. She couldn't think of anything else that would shine so. Across the way, she saw Susan running at full tilt.

06:26, Today: Delilah's Sister - Susan Gray rolled 2 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((10(+1),3,9)).


It was clear that Delilah was winning until she stopped. Susan, moving her somewhat pudgy lower body, threw herself at the doorway of her room with one final effort, crossing the threshold with a loud thud that was muffled by the carpet.

"I won!" She announced. "You're a chump!" she said.

It was a scene that had played out many times before. But it was usually Delilah winning and calling Susan a chump. Delilah was not usually in the position of losing to her younger sister. The world was clearly upside down.

Susan thundered up the stairs and crowed her victory. Delilah jogged up behind her, not quite believing that she lost.

"NUH-UH! You said first to get in their swimsuit. You're not dressed yet, Chump!"

She pushed by her sister with a huff.

Susan didn't say anything to this gesture. Delilah could feel the weakness of her younger sister as she pushed by here. Perhaps Delilah had eyes behind her head or something sixth sense, though it was more than likely she just knew from experience. It was probably true as Delilah marched towards her room that her younger sister's lip was quivering. True, Susan had gotten better over the last two years or so at keeping it in. 'Toughening Up' as Dad might have said before....

Delilah looked up at the huge, vast space that was her own room. Bright white curtains. A large pink bed with a canopy adorning it. Huge puffy pillows. There was even a separate table with chairs all made out for a tea party.

It was a princesses' room.

Delilah didn't look back. As long as no one saw Susan cry, then no one could tease her about it. It was hard, but Dad treated her just the same. Maybe harder as Delilah had a yen for sports.

She looked at the doorknob. Things seemed normal so far. As normal as living in a castle could get. She held her breath and tip-toed into her room. When she saw the décor and the playspace, she was the one likely to cry. Everything she could ever want all decked out in blush pink and white lace: a four-poster bed with a gauzy canopy, a rose china tea set, huge mirror and a heavy, silvery brush for her hair. She knew without looking that she'd find heart-shaped sunglasses on her dresser. There would be a stash of leotards and swimsuits inside. One for every day of the week, so she never had to rush to wash one before practice.

A little girl's dream come true.

Close to the mirror on the pink cushioned chair embroidered with golden-threaded flower designs, there was large envelope. Scrawled in large, sloppy letters read:

DEE-LI--LAH

Delilah skipped over to the envelope. Susan must have left the note. She decided to read it now and give her sister boogies later.

Delilah felt the cool envelope in her hand. She opened it and pulled out a piece of paper that wasn't folded as much as stuffed into the envelope. It was clear that whomever had written her didn't have Mom's cursive flourish. Worse yet, it appeared that the writer had little more than chicken scratch as handwriting.

Dearly DEE-LIE-LAYH

Good news! Got that eye all fixed up for ya! I found a way to infiltrate the wish system. It's my first time doing it. So I might have messed up a few things in your world. Hope you don't mind! 'Yucca, Yuckka!'

Best of Luck with your new face and life!,

-Mr. Clayton

Delilah smoothed out the paper and read the note. Her lips moved quietly. The handwriting was so scribble and bad. She wondered if the puppet master wrote it himself, or if he jammed The pen into the dummy's molded hand. Still! He really did it! (Or the person behind him. Whatever.) He rigged the wish to get her home! Or this Ritchie Rich version of home. She owed him (them?) big time.

"Whatcha readin?" Susan asked from the doorway.

Susan had changed clothes. She was sporting knee-high socks with stripes at the top. The band of color ran around just below the knee. The shorts were a yellow color, outlined with a white stripe around the edges and seams. Her shirt had a picture of Scrooge McDuck with his hands outstretched. He was holding a cane in one hand, while sitting in a pile of gold. Above the picture was the caption: Duck Tales.

Before she could answer, Susan said "Let's go outside!" and then she dissappeared from the doorway, footsteps heading down the strairs.

"Uh..." Delilah was startled and pressed the letter to her chest. She recovered by shouting "Git outta my room!" but Susan was half out the door by then.

She shoved the letter into her enormous wardrobe and pulled on the first swimsuit she saw. Snatching a large T-shirt for a cover up, then hurried to catch up. Susan had plenty to gloat over today. She'd never hear the end of it.

OOC: Delilah Join's Thread

Delilah: Sea, Sand And Surf!