The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Hello Friend! Welcome to my Twine game, The Boy Who Cried Wolf. This is a role-playing game in which you play a teenage boy living during the Enlightenment Period. Unfortunately, you also live in a very secluded, rural area, so boredom is a serious threat you face everyday. Your goal is to amuse yourself as much as possible while also fulfilling your familial obligations before the end of the week. If this sounds like fun, then click [[here->Day 1]] to start playing!

You are a shepherd boy of about 14 years living in the rural hills of Germany in the mid eighteenth century. You are the oldest child of a peasant family and as such it is your duty to care for the sheep your family raises. This is a boring job. You long to venture out to one of the nearby cities and make your own way in the world. Perhaps someone else can tend the sheep? When you return home at the end of the day you ask your [[mother]] / [[father]] / [[little brother]] to take over the responsibility of tending the sheep.

At the end of the day you herd the sheep back into their pen and head into the 1-room house where your family lives. You see your mother hunched over a black pot sitting atop a small fire next to a window. The smell of mutton soup and smoke fills the cottage. Your little brother is is cleaning off the table where the family will sit for dinner. You walk past your little brother and stand near your mother to ask her about tending the sheep. Without looking up she snorts and asks, "Oh ya, and then I suppose you will clean out the wool your father sheers and spin it into thread and weave it into cloth and then take it into town to sell will you? And when you and your brother start outgrowing your britches I suppose you will set aside some cloth for yourselves and make some new pants for the both of you?" You are despondent. Herding sheep is boring, but you are suddenly glad you weren't born a woman. You ... [[try asking your little brother]] [[sit and wait for dinner]]

At the end of the day you herd the sheep back into their pen and head into the 1-room house where your family lives. You see your mother hunched over a black pot sitting atop a small fire next to a window. The smell of mutton soup and smoke fills the cottage. Your little brother is is cleaning off the table where the family will sit for dinner. You go over to help your brother with the table. As you do so you begin to tell him about all the excitement of herding sheep and how great it feels to be out in the open air and away from the confines of the house. After a minute or so of setting this scene do you [[continue to regale him with stories in hopes that he will offer to tend the sheep->mother jumps in]] or do you go for the more direct route of [[asking him to take over the responsibility->mother jumps in]]?

You sit at the end of the table closest to the door and make funny faces at your brother as he finishes setting the table. Once he is done he sits opposite you and waits for dinner. Shortly after your mother brings the pot of mutton soup over to the table just as your father walks in the door. Your father looks tired. You can see streaks through the dirt on his face left behind from flowing sweat. He sits at the head of the table, the family prays, and then everyone begins to serve themselves soup. You [[ask your father about tending the sheep]] [[know a lost cause when you see one]]

You go over to help your brother with the table. As you do so you begin to tell him about all the excitement of herding sheep and how great it feels to be out in the open air and away from the confines of the house. After a minute or so of setting this scene do you [[continue to regale him with stories in hopes that he will offer to tend the sheep->mother jumps in]] or do you go for the more direct route of [[asking him to take over the responsibility->mother jumps in]]?

Before you can even finish your thought your mother turns around and wags her laddle at you. In the voice she only uses when she's mad she says, "Don't you dare trick your little brother like that! He is only 8 years old and I will not have him running around the hills on his own just yet! Now [[sit down->sit and wait for dinner]] and don't say another word 'til dinner!"

Your father laughs at your joke. When you inform him that your question was not a joke, he sends you to [[bed->Day 2]] for being ungrateful.

You sit quietly and finish your bowl of soup. After you are done eating you excuse yourself from the table to go to bed. [[Day 2]]

You are once again out in the hills tending your flock. You are once again bored. Suddenly, your wondering mind has a flash of genius! Wouldn't it be funny to [[cry wolf]] and watch all the panicked villagers come running up this hill?

You cry out as loud as you can, "WOLF! WOLF! THERE IS A WOLF COMING AFTER MY SHEEP!" Almost immediately you see several men from the village running up the hill to come help you. You cannot help yourself and burst into laughter even before they reach you. The villagers scold you, but at least today you had some fun. [[Day 3]]

The next day you are back out in the fields. Last night the men of the village told your father about what you had done. He sent you to bed without supper, but you feel it was worth it because going hungry for a couple of hours is better than being bored all day long. In fact, you had so much fun yesterday that you consider crying wolf again, to see if the villagers will come running again...Then again, you also know that it might cause trouble for your whole family to anger the villagers. What do you want to do: [[Cry Wolf]] or [[be good]] and do your job?

You quietly go about the boring business of watching the sheep, then go home for dinner and then to bed. You are bored with life. Would you like to try for a happier ending tommorow? [[Yes->Day 4 Good Boy]] [[No, I want to be a good boy!->Day 4 Good Boy]]

You fidget idly with a twig as you walk about the edges of your flock of sheep. Suddenly you hear rustling in a nearby bush. You look over and see a wolf! And this doesn't look like any ordinary wolf - no, this is the biggest wild animal you have ever seen in your life! The next few seconds will mean life or death - what do you do? [[Scream for help!]] [[Take on the wolf!]]

You know you will have to be really convincing this time in order to trick the villagers again. You run about the top of the hill waving your arms in the air and shouting, "WOLF! OH MY GOD WOLF! HELP ME! PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME!]] One of the men from the village looks up to see you running about. He motions over to the other men and they all come running up the hill. You are laughing so hard that you start to choke a little. This time the men are furious and yell at you long and hard, "You think we have nothing better to do than run up here all the time? You are too old to be acting like this!" The men eventually go back to their work and leave you be. You finish another successful day of tending sheep without hating your life. [[Day 4->Day 4 Bad Boy]]

You scream <b>WOLF! WOLF!</b> while running towards the village. Several of the men see you and come running out to help. They successfully chase the wolf away while you reign in your flock which had start to flee in a panick. The wolf did manage to get one sheep, but the rest of the flock is secured. You thank the village men and bring the sheep back in for the day. Everyone has had enough excitement for today. [[Day 5]]

Look I know you wanted a little excitement in your life, but this is going a little far. I hate to break it to you, but you are dead. Unfortunately, this also means you lose the game. Remember, your goal was to //amuse yourself as much as possible while also fulfilling your familial obligations before the end of the week.// Well, you sure did amuse yourself, but you didn't survive long enough to fulfil your obligations to your family. Better luck next time!

You scream <b>WOLF! WOLF!</b> while running towards the village. Some of the villagers shake their heads and turn their backs to you as you pass by. You realize that no one is going to help you. No one believes you. You grab a hoe and charge back towards your flock, but you get there all you find is the partial remains of one sheep. The rest of the flock and the wolf are both nowhere to be seen. You have lost the game. Remember, your goal was to //amuse yourself as much as possible while also fulfilling your familial obligations before the end of the week.// You may have amused yourself, but you lost your family's entire flock of sheep and it is only Day 4.

It is almost the end of the week. You have had quite a lot of excitment recently. How are you feeling? [[I have had enough excietment thank-you!]] [[Maybe if I cry hedgehog ..]]

You finish off the week tending your sheep while daydreaming about running off to Weimar ... someday when you are older and more ready. Congratulations! You have won the game. You learned to amuse yourself with daydreams and fulfilled your duties to your family.

Stop it already! Seriously! Haven't you learned your lesson yet?! Now go [[tend your flock->I have had enough excietment thank-you!]] or else stop here and lose the game!