Skycrawl Copy for Extract

Attempting a short-cut, you briefly lose your way. You find it, eventually. But it is still quite dark by the time you, Maisie and Noriko [[set up camp|Mr Come-Lie-By-You 2]].

It should be Noriko's watch, but Noriko is nowhere to be seen. Lucky then that [[you are awake|Mr Come-Lie-By-You 3]].

Did Noriko go to shoo away a night-robin, or were those dreams too? Behind the black hill, the beck runs turbulently. Between you and the camp embers, [[Maisie unhappily stirs|Mr Come-Lie-By-You 4]].

Maisie crawls in a circle, stumbling to feet lit by faint last cinders. Against the beetling darkness of the ridge, her silhouette squats and slips from sight. You lie calmly at the edge of sleep. Overhead, a shaggy stipple of starlight. You feel strangely refreshed. Poised, alert, but not necessarily wakeful. As if, in one instant, you could leap up into the dreamless world or leap away into the centre of dreams, as requisite. A fairy called [[Mr Come-Lie-By-You|Mr Come-Lie-By-You 5]] comes and lies by you.

Mr Come-Lie-By-You tugs Maisie's blankets up to his chin. You remember the rule. You've known it since you were a child. All you have to do is behave like everything is normal. Behave like you have not noticed that it is Mr Come-Lie-By-You, that you think it is still Maisie. And he will do you no harm. Starlight stipples his enormous eyes. [[His smile twitches and spins.|Mr Come-Lie-By-You 6]] (set:$temp to 0)

You feel you want to cough. (link:"Cough")[(set:$temp to 1)(goto:"Mr Come-Lie-By-You 7")] (link:"Clear your throat")[(set:$temp to 1)(goto:"Mr Come-Lie-By-You 7")] (link:"Keep it down")[(goto:"Mr Come-Lie-By-You 7")]

{(set:$eventtrack2 to 8) }(if:$temp>4)[Mr Come-Lie-By-You knows that you know that he came and lay by you. That's it, then. Everything is over and done. Or perhaps it is all just elsewhere. Something carries on. But what carries on is not you, and it is not the world.{ }](else:)[Maisie is lying next to you. She got up in the night, for a minute. But that was hours ago. Noriko is up on the ridge, keeping watch. If you need to tell yourself it was just a dream, that's okay.] [[Next]]

(if:$temp > 1)[Mr Come-Lie-By-You may not have liked what you just did. Or perhaps he did. ](else:)[He is still there.] He shifts a little, so his shoulder lies against yours. It feels like a fire. (link:"Roll away")[(set:$temp to $temp+1)(goto:"Mr Come-Lie-By-You 9")] (link:"Stay as you are")[(set:$temp to $temp+2)(goto:"Mr Come-Lie-By-You 9")] (link:"Embrace Mr Come-Lie-By-You")[(goto:"Mr Come-Lie-By-You 9")]

(if:$temp is 1)[You think Mr Come-Lie-By-You looks a little sadder. But it is hard to tell. ] Your nose may be itchy. You think it is. But would it normally be itchy? (link:"Scratch")[(set:$temp to it+2)(goto:"Mr Come-Lie-By-You 8")] (link:"Wrinkle")[(set:$temp to it+3)(goto:"Mr Come-Lie-By-You 8")] (link:"Stay still")[(goto:"Mr Come-Lie-By-You 8")]

You don't want to shut your eyes. But maybe you should. They feel heavy. Maybe you should shut them. (link:"Shut them")[(goto:"Mr Come-Lie-By-You 10")] (link:"Not yet")[(set:$temp to it+(random:-1,1))]

That was a fragment from a work-in-progress called Skycrawl. Happy October.