You are wandering in a forest.
[[Why am I in a forest?]]
[[Keep wandering]]
[[Getting hungry, sit and eat]]Don't ask so many damn questions, kid.
[[Keep wandering]]
[[Getting hungry, sit and eat]]It's a nice fall day. Leaves crunch beneath your boots. It isn't so cold as to need a heavy coat, so the light jacket you have is sufficient.
[[You find a cave.]]
[[There is a strange tree in a clearing.]]Finding a stump, you sit down and dig out some food from your pockets. A candy bar, and a pb&j in a plastic baggie.
[[Eat the candy bar]]
[[Eat the pb&j]]
[[Eat both]]
[[You eat neither because you notice a strange tree->There is a strange tree in a clearing.]]
[[You eat neither because you notice a cave->You find a cave.]]
There is a large rock formation and at the base there is a dark cave.
[[Go in the cave.]]
[[F that! I'm going home!]]The tree is strange not only because of it's coloration, paper white bark, and bright red leaves, but also because it seems to have a door carved into it, and various things tied up in it's branches.
[[Inspect branches]]
[[Inspect door]]The cave seems deeper than it should be.
[[You stumble back and the rocks fall]]
[[You stumble forward and slip]]You left the forest and went home.
End.
Restart?
[[Start]]Mom would yell at you for eating a candy bar this close to dinner. You tell yourself you don't care, butyou do. It's why you are doing it. A tiny, petty revenge. As children are want to do. It's the same reason you are wandering around the forest instead of being at 'Afterschool study club'.
[[You lied to get out of it]]
[[You had a friend lie for you]]
[[Maybe they are looking for you?]]You'd originally forgotten about your lunch. You'd been too busy trying to get 'The Gremlins' to give you back your book. They aren't real gremlins, just jerks that pick on you at every opportunity. Were they actual gremlins, you'd have caught them and sold them to science for hundreds of dollars.
If you were still allowed to eat lunch in the library like before, then The Gremlins wouldn't have bothered you. But of course, that's also their fault.
[[Think about the library]]
[[Finish your sandwhich and wander some more]]
[[Finish your sandwhich and eat the candy bar->Eat both]]You feel a little sick to your stomache, having eaten too much.
You decide to go home, because wandering around in the forest while queasy is no fun.
End.
Restart?
[[Start]]As you fall backwards, dizzied by the impossible depth of the cave, you hear a rumble above you. Scrambling backwards, you narrowly miss being hit by falling rocks. The rocks have blocked the cave entrance and startled the hell out of you.
Do you want to keep wandering?
[[Yes.]]
[[F that! I'm going home!]]As you slip, you fall on your belly and begin to slide into the cave. The slope is steep and you can't seem to get a grip on anything. As you fall deeper into the cave, you hear a loud rumble above you and what little light you had before is gone.
[[Plummetting...]]
[[Slide to a stop]]After a couple more hours of wandering, you get tired and decide to head home.
End.
Restart?
[[Start]]Mrs. Quinn tried to stop you from leaving. "But my mom is right there!" you point at a car down the block. "But she didn't send a note saying you were skipping study club," Mrs. Quinn replied. "She did, but I forgot it at home. If I keep her waiting she's gonna yell at me for making her late for work and for forgetting the note..." you say thinking about the actual yelling at you would get if caught.
"Make sure you remember the note next time, or she'll just have to be late."
You scurry off across the field and made your way toward the forest.
[[Eat the sandwhich->Eat both]]
[[Maybe they are looking for you?]]
[[There is a strange tree in a clearing.]]"Jamie, just tell Mrs. Quinn I'm going to your place today."
"Why?" she'd asked, "You know my mom doesn't let people over after school."
"I know, I just don't wanna be stuck in Study club today."
She shrugged, and grabbed your arm and started to drag you past the teacher and out the door.
"Wait," said Mrs. Quinn, "You've got study club," Jaime cut her off
"We're going to my house today, mom said it was ok cuz she's feeling better!" Jaime said excitedly. Mrs. Quinn smiled and let us pass.
Once she returned into the building, Jaime punched you in the shoulder. "You owe me a pudding cup." You nodded in agreement. A pudding cup was a small price to pay to get out of having to listen to Mr. Coldner lecture about standing up for yourself and so on during study club.
[[Maybe they are looking for you?]]
[[Finish the candy bar and wander some more->Finish your sandwhich and wander some more]]You had seen The Gremlins digging around in the field. You didn't know why, and at the time you were mostly just pleased they were leaving you alone.
That is until the 'ant infestation' occured in the library. The jars that you'd seen The Gremlins sneak out during lunch recess were the same that you saw in the library as Mrs. Flanagan told you about the stricter food ban.
"I'll eat in the hallway on the way to the library then. Just please don't make me go eat with them. Please don't make me go outside," you pleaded. But sadly there was nothing that could be done.
So The Gremlins had ruined your hiding spot.
And now you were tromping around the forest looking for a new one.
[[You see a strange tree->There is a strange tree in a clearing.]]
[[You nearly trip on a rock before you notice the cave.->You find a cave.]]You stuff the plastic wrapping back in your pocket, and keep walking around. You find a creek running though the forest. You haven't ever been this far into the forest before.
[[Go home.->F that! I'm going home!]]
[[Follow the creek]]After a moment, you don't feel like you are sliding anymore, but you can still feel you are moving. You are falling. Panic fills your head. What if you die? What if you don't die and starve? What if your mom finds out? Man, you wish you'd died instead.
[[You scream...]]
[[Suddenly there is a bright light...]]Sliding to a stop, you can feel mud beneath you. Feeling around you find a rock wall and use it to slowly stand up. You can feel mud all over your clothes. your mom is going to skin you alive when she sees this. You need to find a way out and home before she gets back from work at 11pm.
[[Check pockets]]
[[Listen.]]
[[You feel a breeze...]]You feel a little guilty about making them worry. But they should worry. They don't do anything about the bullies. They don't do anything about your mom being mad and yelling all the time.
[[Go home.->F that! I'm going home!]]
[[You find something odd...->There is a strange tree in a clearing.]]And you have stopped falling. You aren't even in a cave anymore. You look around the room and notice...
[[It's a giant old library]]
[[You are in the forest again, and there is a strange tree in this clearing...->There is a strange tree in a clearing.]]Screaming...
In your bed.
Confused for a moment, you stop. Your mom comes in and turns the light on.
A nightmare. You apoligize for startling her and try to go back to sleep.
End.
Restart?
[[Start]]Following the creek leads you to an old stone bridge. This bridge is familiar, you've walked on it during school field trips. You could easily get home from here.
[[Go home.->F that! I'm going home!]]
[[Check under the bridge.]]In your pockets there is a glow-in-the-dark compass, a cheap flashlight that was nearly dead to begin with, and whatever snacks you brought with/have left.
[[Turn on the flash light->You feel a breeze...]]
[[Consult compass]]
You don't hear anything out of the ordinary.
[[Check pockets]]
[[You feel a breeze...]]Feeling a breeze, you pull the nearly dead flashlight from your pocket and switch it on. The cave is much larger than you thought possible. You look behind you and see the long slide you came down, a few specks of light peaking through the rocks at the top.
The flashlight flickers as you sweep it through the large cave, and you notice the breeze is coming from one of two openings.
[[opening with breeze...]]
[[opening without breeze...]]The compass is hard to read, but from what you notice, the needle keeps spinning in different directions...
It must have been broken in the fall...
[[Turn on Flashlight->You feel a breeze...]]You follow the opening with a breeze and continue down a tunnel. The flash light flickers periodically, so you decide to turn it off to save power. You also decide to slow down and feel the ground with your feet as you move forward. You don't want to fall down a hole again.
[[You see a light ahead...]]
[[You narrowly escape falling down a hole again...]]The openign without a breeze is filled with jagged rocks. Even with the flashlight, it would be hard to navigate through without getting hurt.
[[opening with breeze...]]Walking around the gigantic old library, you see shelves upon shelves of books. More books than you could ever read in your entire life time. Shelves taller than your school.
At the very top of the room is a stain glass image of some sort, but you can't make out what it is.
Looking around you see several work tables with various things on them, and a large comfy chair with a massive open book next to it on a special table for it.
[[Look for a ladder to look closer at the stain glass]]
[[Inspect the tables]]
[[Make your way to the chair]]In specting the branches, you see there are various parcels, packages and bags tied on to the branches.
[[Climb the tree to try and get one]]
[[Walk around the tree and inspect]]
[[Look for something to knock one down]]
[[This has been weird enough, I'm out.->Go home.]]The door is shut. (Was it open before? You can't remember...)
The wood is a deep red, but not painted red.
The door knob is a black metal, and has a key hole for an old timey kind of key.
[[Inspect branches]]
[[Open door]]
[[Go home.->F that! I'm going home!]]Carefully heading forward you make your way to the light, a way out.
The opening is a open door. Crossing the threshold you find yourself in a clearing, the door having been inside a strange tree with things tied in it's branches.
[[Go Home.->F that! I'm going home!]]
[[Inspect branches]]You feel the ground disappear and barely manage to not fall in.
You switch the flash light on to see, it's just a small hole.
You climb around it anyways, just to be safe.
[[You see a light ahead...]]The door is locked.
[[Go home.->F that! I'm going home!]]
[[Inspect branches]]Beneath the bridge is mud and muck and...
you think you see something glinting ...
[[Inspect]]
[[Go home.]]Getting closer you find that the glinting is coming from a particularly shiny key. It's a very old style of key though.
[[Take key]]
[[Go home.]]You left the forest and went home.
End.
Restart?
[[Start]]Taking the key in your hand, it is ice cold to the touch. Colder than the water.
[[Try to find where the key goes...]]
[[Take the cold key home and come back another day...]]The tree is too thick for you to climb it.
[[Look for something to knock one down]]
[[Walk around the tree and inspect]]Walking around the tree, you find planks nailed into the back side of it, making a ladder up into the branches.
[[Climb up]]
[[Look for something to knock a parcel down instead->Look for something to knock one down]]Find the branch on the ground, you go and knock a parcel down.
When it lands on the ground, it disappears instantly.
[[Knock another one down and try to catch it.]]
[[That's enough weirdness for me, time to go home!->Go home.]]Searching around the bridge results in no key holes. You begin to make your way back down the creek, when you notice something that wasn't there before. Or you don't think it was?
[[There is a strange tree in a clearing, and on it there is a door.]]You make your way home. Mom won't be home until much later, so you have time to wash the clothes you've dirtied.
They key isn't as cold as before, but still colder than it should be. Tomorrow is Saturday, so you can come back out with supplies and better explore what lies beyond the door in the tree.
When you get home, you take the key, and hide it in your secret stash beneath your bed, just to be safe.
To be continued...
Start again?
[[Start]]Going up to the tree, you notice something in the branches, but what really has your attention is the door.
It's red, but not painted red, and the door knob is a silver metal with a key hole for an old timey key, like the one you have in your hands.
[[Take the cold key home and come back another day...]]
[[Unlock the door]]The key fits in the lock perfectly, and practiaclly turns itself.
The door makes a loud click noise, and begins to open soundlessly into a vast room beyond.
[[Weird.. weird... weird... Time to go home. ->Go home.]]
[[It's a giant old library]]Climbing up the ladder you find it is no more easier to try and reach the parcels. However you do manage to knock a branch down that might work.
[[Go knock down a parcel->Look for something to knock one down]]
[[Keep trying to climb higher]]No ladders can be found... How do they get the books down from the shelves then?
[[Make your way to the chair]]
[[Inspect the tables]]The tables are covered in various books, flasks full of weird things, and other stuff that looks like it fell out of a fantasy novel.
[[Try to grab something off the tables]]
[[Make your way to the chair]]The book next to the chair is enormous. The piano in the music room at school is smaller. The book is open to a page with strange writing all over it that you can't make any sense of.
In the middle of the page is a hand print, painted in green.
[[Sit in the chair]]
[[Touch the hand print]]Climbing higher up the tree leads you to a set of stairs that seem more than a little out of place. For one, they are in a tree. For two, they are made of white marble.
[[Climb the stairs]]
[[Climb down the tree->Look for something to knock one down]]
[[This... this is too weird, time to go home.->Go home.]]Catching the parcel proves more difficult than you though it'd be.
You try taking your coat off and laying it on the ground to see if that will work.
The parcel hits your coat and shimmers a second before disappearing like before.
[[Try catching again]]
[[Try grabbing from coat]]Try as you might, it proves fruitless to try and catch one. You never were one for sports, least of all baseball.
[[Try grabbing from coat]]
[[Wait... these things are DISAPPEARING. I think it's time to go home...->Go home.]]The parcel falls from the branch. You drop the branch you'd been using to knock them down and lunge for the patch of cloth.
The parcel hits the coat and bounces ever so slightly. The shimmering doesn't start until it sits on the coat for a few seconds. You reach and manage to grab the parcel and rip open the brown paper exterior before the shimmering starts.
Inside is a bunch of straw and a black metal key.
[[Take the key]]
[[Try to knock down another parcel]]Taking the key in your hand, you notice it is colder than you'd expect.
You put your coat back on and hold the key wrapped in your sleeve. You make your way to the door.
[[Unlock the door]]
[[Take the cold key home and come back another day...]]
The rest of the parcels have vanished.
[[Take the key]]Climbing the stairs, you suddenly come to a door. The front door of your school.
Confused you turn around and find a vast void. You slip and fall.
[[You scream...]]Try as you might you can't ever reach anything on the tables. It's like they keep fidgetting out of the way. But you don't see them move.
[[Make your way to the chair]]Sitting in the chair, ti feels oddly familiar. It's unsettling really. And your eyes keep being drawn to the book and the handprint. You are very interested in the books and everything else, but like a magnet you keep looking at the handprint in the book.
[[Touch the hand print]]
[[Close the book, it's unnerving you]]Touching your hand to the print, you blink once.
Looking at your hand it is still your hand, just not the hand of a child anymore. A bit dizzy, you sit down in the chair.
The pieces start coming back quickly. You'd built this spell to look at your past, to remenice on the way things were before.
You'd forgotten that they'd sucked, and that being a Wizard was actually a pretty awesome thing. Getting up from the chair, you draw a wand from your robes and touch the text on the page and peel it away from the paper it was written on.
You ball up the ink, and take the oozing, sticky mess to a basin to be recycled for some more useful spell later.
With that business taken care of, you decide to take the rest of the afternoon off, and lock up your laboratory and head out for some dinner.
End?
Start over ?
[[Start]]As you go to close the book, you keep looking at the print. The book is super heavy, you aren't sure you can actually lift it to close it.
As you begin to heave, a voice in your head says 'Stop!'
[[Ignore it and close the book]]
[[Touch the hand print]]
[[Listen to the voice]]
Closing the book with a heavy thud, you feel successful for a moment and then convinced that something terrible has happened.
The floor evaporates from beneath you and you fall
[[You scream...]]You stop and listen for the voice. It doesn't say anything.
[[Touch the hand print]]
[[Close the book, it's unnerving you]]