<<set $picked_up_diary = "yes">>\nThe thought crosses your mind: I [[whine|table]] a lot.\n\n\n

If only you had listened.

Warm light seeps through the blinds. You shiver.

<<silently>>\n<<set $picked_up_diary = "no">>\n<<set $visitedTable = 0>>\n<<set $bodyParts = 0>>\n<<endsilently>>\nYour journal lies on the [[desk|table]].

Dear Diary,\n\nThere's this girl at school and she wears pants with [[chains]] on them.\n\nI think her bookbag has a [[bloodstain|table]] on it.\n\n

"Dear diary," you write, the chains of your pants clacking as your leg shakes in absentminded impatience. As you scrawl your soul in waxy, primary red, the clock chimes 3.

<<set $bodyParts = 4>>\n\nThe buzzing in your ears is louder now, and you cannot see through the darkness in this musty, damp attic. The soft [[squelch]] and splash beneath your foot tells you all you need to know. \n\nYou never meant for [[this|down]] to happen.

<<set $visitedTable = $visitedTable +1 >>\nThe pages are worn from frequent usage. You [[sigh]] as you flip the pages, looking for a new spot to write.\n\n<<if $picked_up_diary eq "yes">>\nOh well. [[Pen]] or [[Pencil]]?\n\n<<else>>You wonder if it is time for a new one.\n\n<<endif>>\n<<if $visitedTable gte 5>>\nThe back [[door]] creaks open.\n<<endif>>\n\n<<if $bodyParts eq 5>>\nIgnoring the door, you pick up your [[crayon]] instead.\n<<endif>>

James Owens

Mesmerized, you watch the water from the faucet wash the blood from your bleeding nose down the drain. Your beeping watch tells you it's nearly 7 in the morning. Better [[eat|kitchen]].

<<set $bodyPart = 3>>\nA scalp with short and spiky hair.\n\nYou head for your [[bedroom|down]].\n\nYou head for the [[study]].\n\n

[[She|in bed]] had this purse, black with skulls on it. Probably from Hot Topic or something. The twenty was just hanging out of it.

Hugging your sheets to your body, you wish you had listened to [[her]]. It's [[3 am|bathroom]].

<<set $pen_visit = "yes" >>\nI'm kind of into [[it|table]].

The door is wide open. A glance down reveals something [[terrible]]. You [[ignore]] it.

Today was shitty.\n\nI lost my [[wallet]].\n\nI heard a [[gunshot|table]] next door.

You miss the call.\n\nYour notification icon flashes blue. There's a [[voicemail|down]].

You meant to [[replace|down]] that light in your closet years ago, but you never got around to it. You rummage through the darkness now, ignore the [[cuts]] from the sharp mysteries within.

You let your fingers glide [[lovingly]] over the fingernails you've glued into your journal. You hear the flies buzzing in your mind, but you know they aren't real, you've [[checked|down]]. You totally checked...right?

That was....weird.\n\n\nShaking it off, you notice the light is on at the end of the [[hall]].\n\nYour [[phone]] rings.

A pile of fingernails glint in the dingy hallway light.\n\n[[sweep away|down]]\n[[scoop up|in bed]]

The kitchen wallpaper gleams yellow from years and years of your mom's cigarette smoke. You wonder vaguely if it's a [[Cheerios|down]] or [[Pop Tarts|desk]] kind of morning.

You could still turn [[back|down]].\n\nThe metal of the chain wrapped around your [[wrist]] feels cold. A scrap of fabric is still attached to one end. You rub it nervously between your forefinger and thumb.

<<set $bodyParts = 1>>\n\nDisembodied arm.\n\n[[Pass out|down]]\n\n[[Pass out|awaken]]\n\n

Returning to the desk, you realize that your journal is gone and the back door is still [[open|down]].\n\n

That twenty I snuck out of that girl's purse last week was in [[there|table]].

Over the maddening buzzing of the flies in your mind, you realize it's storming outside. The clock at the bottom of the stairs chimes 3, and you suspect it must be 3am, from the lack of light. Your diary lies open at your side, and you just need to reference that one [[page]], if only you could stop [[vomiting|down]].

<<set $bodyParts = 5>>\n\nThere is a small drawer in your entertainment stand, just beneath the televison. A flash of lightning from the storm outside illuminates the room as you [[open|down]] it. The eyeball within gleams as if it's laughing at you. Rolling it idly between your palms, you catch a [[glimpse|table]] of your reflection, warped in the old CRT televison.