You climb into the back of the woman's car. She says you are going home with her.\n\n[[Hear|Radio]]\n[[Smell|Nothing]]\n[[See|Sleep]]

The couple drives you to a place you are all too familiar with. You know where you are even without your sight.\n\n[[The smell|Chemicals]]\n[[The sounds|Barking]]\n[[The feeling|Cold]]\n

You are laying on the floor in your one bedroom apartment. \n\n[[Hear|Newspaper]]\n[[See|DogCrate]]\n[[Smell|Cigarette]]\n\n<<if $visited_First eq "yes">>\nYou get up and walk towards the [[kitchen.|Kitchen]]\n<<endif>>

You smell the fake citrus scent of floor cleaner.\n\n<<timedgoto "Blur" 5s>>

You hear [[footsteps|Gone]] enter the room as you lay on the cold table.

Your mind closes as you fall asleep for the last time.\n\n<<timedgoto "OrchardGraves" 5s >>

You hear the woman say\n\n\n"I think its time."\n\n<<timedgoto "Vet" 6s >>

Back at home, the husband carries your limp body up the hill behind the house\n\n<<timedgoto "OrchardGraves2" 5s >>

For my mother, father, and brother. \n\n\n\n[[Begin|Apartment]]

You [[try to talk|Talk]] to him. \n

You are alone in the house you have come to know as your home.\n\n[[Hear|Breathe]]\n[[Smell|Clean]]\n[[See|Blurry]]\n\n<<fadeoutsound "Between_the_Bars.mp3" >>

You go to [[sleep|Dreams]]\n\n

You smell your way your food bowl. \n\n<<timedgoto "Stairs" 5s >>

You see a [[blur of trees|Trees]] as you pass acres of apple orchards as you lay your head on the seat and fall [[asleep...|House]]

You see the [[bowl of food|Far]] the woman left for you.

You hear the sound of your own breathing reverberate in the empty house.\n\n<<timedgoto "Blur" 7s>>

You miss the first step.\n\nYou fall all the way [[d o w n .|Ache]]

The husband doesn't play with you anymore, he can tell your bones are [[aching.|Walk]]\n\n

You are laying on the floor in your single room apartment. \n\nYou see the door of your dog crate wide open, the hinges are rusting. <<set $visited_First = "yes">>\n[[{<--}|Apartment]]\n\n\n

Out of the window, you see Daniel exiting the restaurant with a [[woman|Vague]].

[[Hear|Footsteps]]\n[[See|NotMuch]]\n[[Smell|Food]] \n

You walk back to the living room, where [[Daniel|Daniel]] is watching TV as he slurps his .10¢ noodles.

You hear the woman say, \n\n\n"There's no one here, quiet down." \n\n\nSo you [[sleep.|Worse]]

"She slept all the way home. She seems very sweet, and was in need of a new home" you hear the woman explain to her family.\n\nHer husband responds "Well Karen, you know the boys and I have always wanted this!" The children nod in agreement and lovingly pet your [[matted coat.|Home]]

[img[trees.gif]]\n<<timedgoto "House" 9s>>

When you wake up, you hear the couple [[talking.|Time]]

You are laying on the floor in your single room apartment. \n\nThe smell of [[cigarette smoke|Smoke]] fills the room.\n<<set $visited_First = "yes">>\n[[{<--}|Apartment]]\n\n\n

The acrid scent of chemicals and latex.\n\n<<timedgoto "Vet" 5s >>

Weeks pass by. You notice your vision getting blurrier.\n\n<<timedgoto "worse" 5s >>

He leaves the windows [[cracked|Breeze]] and goes inside a restaurant.

The screen flickers in his eyes. \n\n[[(try again)|Speak]]

You smell the clean leather of her car and the crisp autumn air.\n\n[[{<--}|Woman]]\n

Orchard Graves

Your bones [[ache.|Slow]]

You hear one of the boys walk downstairs to the basement. You [[follow the sounds of his footsteps.|Down]]

Out of the window, you see Daniel exiting the restaurant with a woman. She looks vaguely familiar, like the cousin at a family reunion whose name you only remember by glancing at her "Hello my name is..." sticker. He opens your door, and the woman welcomes you into her [[car.|Go]]

In your dreams you are young again. You are quick and agile. You bring joy to the boys' faces again. The whole world is clear again [[in your dreams.|Wake]]\n

Daniel is making [[dinner|Noodles]] for himself. He never fixes you meals anymore, or bothers to ask what you would like to [[eat.|Hunger]]

You eat. \n\nBy the texture of the food, you estimate it has been out for over a week. \n\n[[...|TV]]

Your vision [[worsens.|Bark]]

Apple orchards stretch as far as you can see. You are reminded that your hunger still isn't satisfied.\n\n<<set $visited_Second = "yes">>\n\n[[{<--}|Car]]\n

Fear.\n\n[[{<--}|Apartment]]\n

You wake up in the backseat of his car.\n\n\n[[Smell|Air]] \n[[Hear|Wind]]\n[[See|Orchard]]\n\n<<if $visited_Second eq "yes">>\nYou ride for hours[[...|aMeeting]]\n<<endif>>\n\n

Years pass by in a blur.\n\n<<timedgoto "Blur" 5s>>

Your bones ache. Your movement [[slows.|Sleeping]]\n\n

[img[dog.gif]]\n\n\n

The same smell of stale smoke that fills your apartment clings to the fabric of the seats of the car.\n\nBut the windows are down. You put your head out the window. The smell of the pavement after a warm rain.\n\n<<set $visited_Second = "yes">>\n\n[[{<--}|Car]]\n

He leaves the windows cracked, just enough so you can't get out but can still enjoy the breeze, and goes inside a [[restaurant.|Return]]

You are laying on the floor in your single room apartment. \n\nThe smell of cigarette smoke fills the room. The distinct smell of old smoke that is stuck in the carpet, the couch, the curtains from smoking inside. \n\n[[{<--}|Apartment]]

As the days turn into weeks and the weeks to months, you feel more at home here than you ever have before. \n\nThe boys go on walks with you through your new neighborhood, the woman gives you almost too much food, and when the husband isn't working he takes you outside to play.\n\n[[You are content here.|Later]]\n

You are laying on the floor in your single room apartment. \n\nYou hear the [[thud|Fearful]] of a rolled up newspaper hitting the ground outside the door. <<set $visited_First = "yes">>\n\n[[{<--}|Apartment]]\n\n

You can't see much of anything anymore.\n\nBlurred shapes. Movement. Light.\n\n<<timedgoto "Worse" 7s >>

You hear the [[family's footsteps|Play]] echo throughout the house. \n\n

Your vision worsens. You can barely tell the boys apart anymore.\n\nYou bark to alert the family that [[someone unfamiliar|NoOne]] is coming to the door.

You hear a man on the radio talking about "the game", muffled by the sound of the wind at 65mph. \n\n<<set $visited_Second = "yes">>\n\n[[{<--}|Car]]\n\n

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You feel a hand part the hairs of your matted coat, and feel a needle [[enter your skin.|Gone2]]\n

The incessant barks and yelps of fearful animals.\n\n<<timedgoto "Vet" 5s >>

You can't remember the last time you felt full. There is a [[bowl of stale food|OldFood]] on the floor next to a pile of [[recycling|Recycling]] that needs to be taken out.

You wake up in the woman's house. Her husband and two young boys [[greet you enthusiastically.|House2]]

[img[cans.gif]]\n\n<<timedgoto "Hunger" 5s >>

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The boys don't take you on walks anymore, they only open the door to let you out and let you back in.\n\n<<timedgoto "Worse" 6s>>

"She slept all the way home. She seems very sweet, and was in need of a new home" you hear the woman explain to her [[family.|Welcome]]\n\n

You see the bowl of food the woman left for you. It seems further away [[than you remember.|Vision]]

You hear a song on the radio.\n\n\n[[{<--}|Woman]]

Back at home, the husband carries your limp body up the hill behind the house\n\nand burries you at the edge of the apple orchard.\n\n<<timedgoto "Dog" 7s >>

Should you go with this [[woman|Woman]] or [[refuse|Apartment]]?

Brian William Dove

Daniel reaches for the newspaper. \n\n\nYou leave the room and go to [[sleep.|Car]]

Daniel is making [[dinner|Noodles]] for himself. Those cheap noodles again, the ones that come in a cardboard box, 10¢ for a hundred. He never fixes you meals anymore, or bothers to ask what you would like to [[eat.|Hunger]]

The cold table they [[lay you on.|Doctor]]

He yells at you to leave him alone, he is watching "the game".\n\n[[(try again)|Fear]]