Strangely enough, there were no eateries in the neighbourhood or any place whatsoever where one could possibly dine out (this was before the days of Expansion). The only source of food available was the refrigerator which, operating on revolutionary alien technology, could automatically restock itself as long as you fed it cash. In the recent event of the fire, this had been destroyed.

So Peter dialled for pizza. But the delivery guy never came. "Is this a bug?" wondered Peter, as he took out the fly-infested trash. After thirty minutes, they were still waiting. After one hour, they were no longer waiting. "I am calling the Goths," said Peter, to nobody in particular. The Goths lived in a maisonette at the far end of the Avenue and had dropped in for a friendly visit on the first day the Sims moved in. Mortimer Goth was a good-natured sort of guy, but the same could not be said of his overbearingly aristocratic wife Bella, and his annoyingly precocious daughter, Cassandra. So it was in 1-in-3 chance really, depending on who answered. Fortunately, that turned out to be Mortimer and a deal was struck - they could join the Goths for dinner over at their place and simultaneously build on their friendship (Bella needed more friends in order to advance her career in politics).

... ...

It was Bella who answered the door. She was dressed, as ever, in a body-hugging blood-red gown and black stockings, and sported the same chin-length Cleopatra-esque bob that set her apart from the rest of the drab neighbourhood. "Come in," she yawned. And they went in. Mortimer was setting the table. "Just in time," he smiled, "Dinner's ready." And he whipped off his apron to reveal a black three-piece suit underneath (the Goths always dressed smartly, no matter the occasion).

"I heard your kitchen got burned down," sneered Bella, in-between small mouthfuls of dinner. "Yes," said Mary sadly, "the microwave exploded." "Ah yes, microwaves," scoffed Bella, "cheap little things - what did you expect? Come into the kitchen and I shall show you our brand new electric standing range." So saying, she dragged Mary into the kitchen.

"It's so easy to use," boasted Bella, "and safe. But then, you wouldn't expect any less from top-of-the-range equipment. Go on, try it." Thus encouraged, Mary fiddled with the dials. "Yes, it does seem marvellous," said Mary, "If only we had this, the fire wouldn't have happened." Bella burst into laughter. And the electric range burst into flames. "What the hell did you do?" shrieked Bella. Mary threw her arms above her head and ran out of the kitchen screaming, "Fire!"

The Sims were terrified. Mortimer went to get the extinguisher, while Cassandra calmly continued picking at her plate. A few moments later, a flame-engulfed Bella stumbled out of the kitchen, arms flailing, and collapsed onto the floor. Mortimer charged into the kitchen and set about putting out the flames. "I did it!" he shouted (a while later), "I saved the range!"

But Bella was dead. The Sims did not know what to say. So they said nothing. "I shall need an urn," said Mortimer. "And I shan't need a new mother!" said Cassandra, and they all joined in the obligatory laughter (even though it wasn't at all funny) which marked the end of another exciting episode.

Next episode: Cassandra gets a new mother. Stay tuned!