<<set $look = true>>I can't help but turn just a little bit. My eyes catch something shooting through the quickly greying sky. It plummets into the side of another building. Plumes of smoke and fire gush out the other side and a piece of it shoots all the way through and lands somewhere below. The rest blows up inside with a loud ka-boom. The crowd starts to scream. My mom yanks my hand to keep me moving.\n\n<<display '6'>>

[img[http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/152/7/9/crumb__link_in_description__by_thegouldenway-d7kohzu.jpg]]\n\nCRUMB\n----------\nAn Interactive Story\nby Tom Gould\n----------\n[[Begin|1]]

"To see Daddy at work," I say. "He hasn't seen me be six, yet. I wanna surprise him."\n\n"He's probably busy today," Mom says, "but we'll call him and see, alright?" I nod to show her that that's okay with me, then I go back to eating my crumb cakes.\n\n<<display '2'>>

"Out of town to Grandpa's house," I say. "He'll probably make me a cake for my birthday."\n\n"Oh, so crumb cakes aren't enough?" Mom asks, smiling.\n\n"They're good," I explain, "but Grandpa's cakes are better."\n\n"I guess there's no arguing with that," Mom admits. "Grandpa's it is." I nod to show her that I agree, then I go back to eating my crumb cakes.\n\n<<display '2'>>

<<set $stay = true>>"I promise."\n\n"Good," she says, smiling softly as she stands and jogs out the front doors of the store. I try to watch her, but she gets blocked by the crowd. I'm kind of afraid to be by myself right now.\n\nThe guy at the coffee shop counter turns the channel on the television to see the news. I can't see what's going on because more people are crowding around the screen, but their faces are really scared.\n\n"What happened?" one of them wonders.\n\n"Was it a bomb?" another person asks.\n\n"It's close, right?" someone else says. "Are we safe?"\n\n"That's it," the coffee shop counter guy says, putting up his hands and turning off the television. "I'm sorry, folks, but I'm closing up for the day. If you haven't paid yet, don't worry about it. It's on the house. Just go home to your families." Everyone starts moving out of the shop, and I don't want to get in trouble for staying, so I wrap my crumb cakes in a napkin, take one more big sip of my milk, grab Mom's newspaper, and [[head outside|4]].

<<set $stay = false>>"But I want to come with you."\n\nMom sighs. "Alright, let's go, then." She pulls out a ten dollar bill and drops it on the table for the coffee shop guy. I wrap my crumb cakes in a napkin, take one more big sip of my milk, grab Mom's newspaper, and follow her outside to where the crowd is getting even bigger. I can't see what everyone's looking at, but I can see some of their faces. They look scared.\n\n"What kind was it? Did you see it happen?" one person says.\n\n"No, I just heard it," another answers.\n\n"Stay close," Mom says, but when look ahead to where she was, I can't see her. I can feel my heart suddenly start pounding faster as I try to [[look for her|4]]

__''Coffee Shop - 8:45am''__\n\nTwo little crumb cakes topple to bits as I pick away at them. I'm six now -- a big girl -- and that's why Mom brought me to her coffee shop, the one she goes to on the way to work, and she even got us a booth like important people. She didn't let me get any coffee, but she says I wouldn't like it anyways. She usually knows what I like, and that's why she got me crumb cakes and milk. They're the best.\n\n"Almost done, Abigail?" Mom asks as she reads through the comics in the newspaper and takes a sip from her coffee.\n\n"Yup," I answer with my mouth full.\n\n"Since it's your birthday, where do you want to go after this?"\n\n[["To see Daddy at work."|1q]]\n[["Out of town to see Grandpa."|1w]]\n[["The toystore for a birthday present."|1e]]

I say. It was kind of scary. Then I notice Mom looking toward the coffee shop window and I turn to see what she's looking at. There are a lot of people in the street. Some of them are running, some are standing still, but all of them are looking up at something.\n\n"Abby," Mom says, putting the paper down on the table and grabbing my hand. "I'll be right back, alright? I'm going to go see what's happening. Promise me you'll stay right here 'til I get back."\n\n[["I promise."|3q]]\n[["I want to come with you."|3w]]

Suddenly there's a loud zoom coming from the sky outside, then a ka-boom that sounds really close. I notice the milk in my glass moving as the ground shakes a little. Mom looks up from her comics. Everyone is very still for a while.\n\n[["It sounded like an earthquake."|2q]]\n[["It sounded like a missile."|2w]]\n[["It sounded like something bad."|2e]]

"To the toystore!" I say. "Then we can find a present for me."\n\n"What about the crumb cakes?" Mom wonders with a smile. "Don't they count as a present?"\n\n"Yes, but that's only one present, Mom," I explain. "I'm six now."\n\n"Oh, I see," she says, but I don't think she quite understands. That's okay, I'll explain later. For now, I go back to eating my crumb cakes.\n\n<<display '2'>>

__''Street - 9:00am''__\n\nI push through the crowd, but my mom is nowhere around. I'm getting more scared every second, and my stomach is starting to feel funny. I look in the direction everyone else is looking, then I look the other way.\n\n[[(Move toward front of crowd)|4q]]\n[[(Move toward back of crowd)|4w]]

"You're strong, Abby," she says. "Like a real big girl."\n\nI don't really want to talk, so I just [[look out the window|8]].

When we finally reach the car, my mom pulls open the passenger door and sits me inside. She doesn't normally let me sit up front.\n\n"Right where I can keep an eye on you," she explains with a smile as she helps me buckle myself in. I nod. Then she moves around to the driver's side, gets in, and starts the engine. As we pull away from the corner, she takes out her cellphone and starts dialing a number. She puts the phone to her ear while the car slowly inches its way down the street, through the crowds of people going forward and back.\n\n"Hello?" she says into the phone. "Honey, we're okay. We're going to your father's house right now, alright? Meet us-- Okay. I love you. We'll see you soon." She hangs up and turns to me. "Daddy's going to meet us at Grandpa's, okay? We'll sleep over for a little while. That'll be fun, huh?"\n\n[["Yeah."|6q]]\n[["Is everything going to be okay?"|6w]]\n[["I saw people dying."|6e]]

__''Highway - 10:00am''__\n\nThe trip feels like it's taking forever. When we finally make it to the highway that we always take to Grandpa's, there's one more loud rumbling sound behind us, back where the buildings are. I turn to look out the rear window of the car. The two tallest buildings -- the ones that always stood high above the rest when we saw the city from far away -- are gone now. All that's left is a big cloud of pummeled concrete spreading over the surrounding streets. The sky isn't clear like it was just this morning. I can tell that the city will never be the same again.\n\nThis was a bad birthday. I don't want to be a big girl anymore.\n\n[[END]]

Thank you for playing "''Crumb''".\n\n//Dedicated to those who lost their\nlives and to those who lost loved\nones in the September 11 attacks//.\n\n__''SOME OF YOUR CHOICES:''__\n<<if $stay eq true>>''Promise'': You stayed in the coffee shop while Mom went outside<<else>>''Together'': You left the coffee shop with Mom<<endif>>.\n<<if $crowd eq true>>''Witness'': You saw a gruesome sight at the front of the crowd<<else>>''Observer'': You saw the whole terrible scene from the back of the crowd<<endif>>.\n<<if $look eq true>>''I Need to Know'': You looked back to see the second crash<<else>>''I Can't Watch'': You didn't look back to see the second crash<<endif>>.\n\nThis short story is the first\nof many projects that I will be\nusing to improve my interactive\nwriting skills. Stay tuned to\nmy stories and other ventures at\nTheGouldenWay.deviantart.com.

"I saw people," I say quietly. "I saw people dying." \n\nMom looks at me with wide eyes. She didn't know. She thought she'd gotten to me before I saw the people that jumped. She stops the car and leans over to hug me. She doesn't say anything else. Just a hug.\n\nI hear her sniffle as she pulls away from me and keeps driving. I don't know what to say to make her feel better.\n\n<<display '7'>>

"Yeah," I say quietly.\n\nI like sleeping over at Grandpa's, but this time is different. This time I'm scared. I don't feel good.\n\n<<display '7'>>

"Is everything going to be okay?" I ask.\n\nMom is quiet for a second. "Yes," she says. "It's going to be okay." She looks forward. Her smile is gone. "I promise."\n\nShe's not telling the truth. Something very bad happened today. Something that can't be fixed. I can tell, and it's making me not feel so good.\n\n<<display '7'>>

"It sounded like a missile," <<display '3'>>

"It sounded like an earthquake," <<display '3'>>

<<set $crowd = false>>I squeeze through the people to try to get to the back of the crowd. My mom must have gone backward to get out of the crowd and see what's happening. I have to find her. I have to--\n\nBut just as I reach the back of the crowd, I hear a loud crash and I stop. At first I think that it's a trash bin being hit or maybe a car accident, but when I turn around to see where the sound came from, the newspaper and coffee cakes slip out of my hands and it gets hard to breathe.\n\nThere's smoke and fire everywhere. One of the tall buildings has a hole in it, and there are little dots dropping from the walls. At first, they look like parts of the building, but then I can tell: they're people. Every time one disappears behind the crowd, there's a loud crash.\n\n"M-mom," is all I can say. Where is she? Where did she go? I need her. I need her right now.\n\n"Abigail!" I hear a frightened scream from somewhere within the crowd and I look just as my mom emerges from the sea of people. She runs over and hugs me. "<<if $stay eq true>>Abby, didn't I tell you to stay in the coffee shop? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone.<<else>>Abby, I'm sorry. I should've held your hand. We need to stay together<<endif>>."\n\n"I'm sorry," I whisper back to her, hugging her tight.\n\n"Come on," she says, grabbing my hand. "We'll get back to the car, then I can call Daddy and have him meet us at Grandpa's house, okay?" Her voice is shaky.\n\n"Are we evacuating?" I ask. That means leave the city. That's what you do when really bad things happen. She doesn't answer, she just holds my hand tighter and starts pulling me farther down the street towards our car.\n\n"Don't look back, alright?" she says. I don't think she knows what I already saw. I feel like I'm going to throw up. Suddenly, I hear another zooming sound behind us.\n\n[[(Look back)|5q]]\n[[(Don't look)|5w]]

<<set $crowd = true>>I squeeze through the people to try to get to the front of the crowd. My mom must have gone forward to see what's happening. I have to find her. I have to--\n\nBut just as I reach the front of the crowd, I hear a loud crash and I stop. At first I think that it's a trash bin being hit or maybe a car accident, but when I look down at the street ahead of me, the newspaper and coffee cakes slip out of my hands and it gets hard to breathe.\n\nIt's a body. A body just fell. Right in front of me. Right down the street from the crowd. I can hardly move, and when I do, I can only look up to where it fell from. One of the tall buildings. There's smoke and fire everywhere.\n\n"M-mom," is all I can say. Where is she? Where did she go? I need her. I need her right now.\n\n"Abigail!" I hear a frightened scream from behind me and I turn just as my mom runs over and hugs me. "<<if $stay eq true>>Abby, didn't I tell you to stay in the coffee shop? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone.<<else>>Abby, I'm sorry. I should've held your hand. We need to stay together<<endif>>."\n\n"I'm sorry," I whisper back to her, hugging her tight.\n\n"Come on," she says, grabbing my hand. "We'll get back to the car, then I can call Daddy and have him meet us at Grandpa's house, okay?" Her voice is shaky.\n\n"Are we evacuating?" I ask. That means leave the city. That's what you do when really bad things happen. She doesn't answer, she just holds my hand tighter and starts pulling me back through the crowd towards our car.\n\n"Don't look back, alright?" she says. I don't think she knows what I already saw. I feel like I'm going to throw up. Suddenly, I hear another zooming sound behind us.\n\n[[(Look back)|5q]]\n[[(Don't look)|5w]]

"It sounded like something bad," <<display '3'>>

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<<set $look = false>>I keep hold of my mom's hand and try to cover my ears with my other arm as the sound gets louder, then the zooming stops with another loud ka-boom. People scream. What's happening? Why are the tall buildings being hit? Is it bombs? Is it a monster? I try not to think about it. I don't look back, just like my mom said.\n\n<<display '6'>>