The giant footsteps approach inexorably, releasing rhythmic detonations.\n\n“You have to leave,” she says without emotion. “Leave now, quickly. You won’t have another chance. The talismans: tear the book apart, smash the picture on the floor, break the clock hands. There isn’t time for anything else.”\n\n“But what about you? Won’t he be angry if he finds you here?”\n\n“What happens to me [[doesn’t matter.|Doesn't Matter]] There’s no point in trying to hide. Let him punish me. I don’t feel afraid.”
<<set $today = "yes">>Today, rather. (You forgot it’s past midnight.)\n\n[[Back.|Living Room]]
<<if visited("Exactly") eq 1>>Your mother was [[watching TV|Exactly]] when you told her the news.<<else if visited("Exactly") eq 2>>Your mother was watching TV when you told her the news.\n\nShe said: [[“That’s great, honey.”|Exactly]]<<else if visited("Exactly") eq 3>>Your mother was watching TV when you told her the news.\n\nShe said: “That’s great, honey.”\n\nYou waited [[three minutes|Exactly]] and said: “What did I win?”<<else if visited("Exactly") eq 4>>Your mother was watching TV when you told her the news.\n\nShe said: “That’s great, honey.”\n\nYou waited three minutes and said: “What did I win?”\n\nShe said: “I’m sorry, honey, [[what were you saying?”|Exactly]]<<else if visited("Exactly") eq 5>>Your mother was watching TV when you told her the news.\n\nShe said: “That’s great, honey.”\n\nYou waited three minutes and said: “What did I win?”\n\nShe said: “I’m sorry, honey, what were you saying?”\n\nThat’s when you went to the [[dining room.|That's When]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Step") eq 1>>[[“Take a step, scaredy-cat.”|Step]]<<else if visited("Step") eq 2>>“Take a step, scaredy-cat.”\n\nYou lower a foot slowly, dreading the inevitable crunch, the prickle of porcelain splinters. Your sole meets a smooth floor. You take a second painless step and something [[shatters again|Step]] nearby.<<else if visited("Step") eq 3>>“Take a step, scaredy-cat.”\n\nYou lower a foot slowly, dreading the inevitable crunch, the prickle of porcelain splinters. Your sole meets a smooth floor. You take a second painless step and something shatters again nearby.\n\n[[“Stop it, you psychopath!”|Step]]<<else if visited("Step") eq 4>>“Take a step, scaredy-cat.”\n\nYou lower a foot slowly, dreading the inevitable crunch, the prickle of porcelain splinters. Your sole meets a smooth floor. You take a second painless step and something shatters again nearby.\n\n“Stop it, you psychopath!”\n\n“I can’t make a door out of thin air, you know. Don’t worry about your [[precious feet.”|Precious Feet]]<<endif>>
Two girls [[whirl|Thank You]] and [[whoop|Thank You]] and [[hoot|Thank You]] and [[sway|Thank You]] crazily beneath the pitching chandelier of the heavens.
<<if visited("Climbing") eq 1>>. . . three hundred and seventy-four, three hundred and seventy-five, [[three hundred and seventy-six . . .|Climbing]]<<else if visited("Climbing") eq 2>>You pause to catch your breath. \n\nThe upper reaches of the library are wreathed in an undulating mist; you can only see as far as ten rungs immediately [[above|Above]] or [[below|Below]] you. Here the silhouettes of winged creatures occasionally streak the fog with sooty comet tails. You have passed nests constructed of paper pulp and leather strips wedged into bookless interstices. The echoes of forlorn, fluting bird calls crumble against the shelf-cliffs like chalk.<<else if visited("Climbing") gte 3>>The upper reaches of the library are wreathed in an undulating mist; you can only see as far as ten rungs immediately [[above|Above]] or [[below|Below]] you. Here the silhouettes of winged creatures streak the fog with sooty comet tails, and the echoes of forlorn, fluting bird calls crumble against the shelf-cliffs like chalk.<<endif>>
<<if visited("Present") eq 1>>“What’s this?” A note of skepticism in her voice. [[“Bring it closer|Present]] so I can examine it properly.”<<else if visited("Present") eq 2>>“What’s this?” A note of skepticism in her voice. “Bring it closer so I can examine it properly.”\n\nYou notice something while climbing up to her. Something maybe she [[hasn’t|Present]] noticed.<<else if visited("Present") eq 3>>“What’s this?” A note of skepticism in her voice. “Bring it closer so I can examine it properly.”\n\nYou notice something while climbing up to her. Something maybe she hasn’t noticed.\n\nSinuous vines are twining around the legs of the throne. Thin [[tendrils|Closer]] encircle her ankles.<<endif>>
(You’ve always felt that if the universe really is infinite, there must be an infinite number of almost-Earths out there, some so similar no one would ever be able to tell the difference: a few blades of grass out of place here, a stone or two there. Of course, the almost-Earths would separated by such immense distances, such unimaginable gulfs of space and time, that they would forever remain unknown to each other.)\n\n[[Back.|Dresser]]
<<if visited("Three Tasks") eq 1>>“I ought to have you locked away forever. I should melt the key to your cell and have you wear it as a ring around your finger! Who would miss you?” She laughs like a jackal. “But, luckily for you, I’m in a merciful mood. Even though you don’t in any way deserve my charity, I will allow you to leave this place if you can perform [[three tasks|Three Tasks]] for me.”<<else if visited("Three Tasks") eq 2>><<set $task = 1>>“I ought to have you locked away forever. I should melt the key to your cell and have you wear it as a ring around your finger! Who would miss you?” She laughs like a jackal. “But, luckily for you, I’m in a merciful mood. Even though you don’t in any way deserve my charity, I will allow you to leave this place if you can perform three tasks for me. The first task: Bring me a book from the library which contains a whole story from beginning to end. Understand?”\n\nYou nod.\n\n[[“Then get out of my sight.”|Get Out]]<<endif>>
The moths vary in size and markings and wing shape but they are all oriented the same way—a multitude of antennae pointing toward the heavens—and are perfectly equidistant from each other. The renderings are remarkably [[realistic.|Realistic]]
[[(here she is a blue ribbon at the science fair, flanked by red and yellow ribbons)|Purpose]]
It’s 12:00.\n\n[[Back.|Get Up]]
<<set $button = 0>>The way out is a rectangular slab of gray suspended in space. You run out of the throne room and [[don’t look back.|Palace Hall]]
<<set $pizza = "fridgefinished">>While trying to stuff the pizza box into the fridge, you accidentally knock a bottle of raspberry vinaigrette from its perch on the shelf. It bounces off the linoleum with a hollow clatter, producing an inordinate amount of noise on account of being nearly empty. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Minus twenty points.)<<set $score = $score - 20>><<endif>> You scoop up the bottle and place it back next to a jar of blackberry jelly.\n\n[[Back.|Refrigerator]]
<<if $curtains eq "yes">><<if $dininglight eq "no">>You’ve drawn the [[curtains|Curtains]] back. A slant of pearly light falls across the [[coffee table.|Coffee Table]] In the corner of the living room the [[television set|Television]] is blinking.<<else>>Light filters in from the [[dining room|Dining Room]] and falls across the [[coffee table.|Coffee Table]] In the corner of the living room is the [[television.|Television]]<<endif>>\n\n<<if $dininglight eq "no">>If you wander to the right you’ll eventually find yourself in the [[dining room,|Dining Room]] which adjoins the kitchen. <<if $eaten eq "no">>You <em>are</em> a little hungry.<<endif>><<endif>> Behind the staircase there’s a hall leading to the guest room and the laundry room: the most boring wing of the house. You have no reason to go back there. You’d rather head back to your [[bedroom|Hall]] and finish up your homework for <<if $today eq "no">>[[tomorrow.|Today]]<<else>>today.<<endif>><<else>><<if $dininglight eq "no">>You can’t see anything here, apart from a blinking blue light on the [[television set.|Television]] The heavy [[curtains|Curtains]] are drawn and your eyes haven’t adjusted to the dark.<<else>>Light filters in from the [[dining room|Dining Room]] and falls across the [[coffee table.|Coffee Table]] In the corner of the living room is the [[television.|Television]]<<endif>>\n\n<<if $dininglight eq "no">>If you wander to the right you’ll eventually find yourself in the [[dining room,|Dining Room]] which adjoins the kitchen. <<if $eaten eq "no">>You <em>are</em> a little hungry.<<endif>><<endif>> Behind the staircase there’s a hall leading to the guest room and the laundry room: the most boring wing of the house. You have no reason to go back there. You’d rather head back to your [[bedroom|Hall]] and finish up your homework for <<if $today eq "no">>[[tomorrow.|Today]]<<else>>today.<<endif>><<endif>>
[[One,|One]] [[two,|Two]] [[three,|Three]] [[four.|Four]] \n\nOne painting per wall. They are all placed at the same height, which is not high, and they are all the same size, which is not large—no larger than a giant’s postage stamp.\n\n[[Back.|Parlor]]
Fob chains hang from the wreckage like tinsel. Metallic lids, broken off at the hinges, lay like halves of clam shells amid driftwood.\n\n[[Back.|Clocks]]
It was gravity, wasn’t it, and not centrifugal force? Suddenly you are less sure. “You must have at least heard of gravity, haven’t you?”\n\n“Don’t be an idiot. Of course I’ve heard of gravity. Everyone knows about that.”\n\nHer curiosity about the globe evaporates and she [[wanders away|She]] from the dresser. “There’s so much water here,” she says. “You must not have a very large forest.”
<<if $kingqueen eq "no">><<if not visited("Table King")>><<set $kingqueen = "queen">>The king and queen are crowned with wreaths of flowers. They are draped in robes the profuse folds of which ripple like poured fudge, and their fingers bristle with filigree rings.<<endif>><<else if $kingqueen eq "queen">>The king and queen are are crowned with wreaths of flowers. They are draped in robes the profuse folds of which ripple like poured fudge, and their fingers bristle with filigree rings.<<endif>> The queen is staring (eyelessly) into her cup, as though trying to read the tea leaves prematurely, as though convinced her future floats somewhere in those depths.\n\n[[Back.|Dolls]]
There’s a lamp on the desk identical to your lamp, but this desk is freighted with none of your desk’s clutter. A coffee mug in one corner is filled with unsharpened pencils. A brand new notebook is open to a fresh page.\n\n<<if visited("Locked Desk") + visited("Locked Dresser") + visited("Locked Bookshelf") + visited("Locked Clock") + visited("Locked Bed") eq 5>>[[Back.|Mother End]]<<else>>[[Back.|Locked Room]]<<endif>>
The clock strikes the hour of [[oblivion.|Oblivion]]
You decide to head back to the [[drawing room.|Drawing Room]]
Lately you have been reading <em>Through the Looking-glass</em>, the one where Alice goes through a mirror and finds herself in a world like an enormous chess board. You’re almost finished: Alice has just reached the other side of the board and become a Queen. If you hold the book by your bedroom window, you might be able to [[read by moonlight.|Looking-glass]]\n\n[[Back.|New Room]]
One by one the eyes begin to [[open.|Face]]
The hollow trunks of grandfather clocks rise up around you like a forest.\n\n[[Back.|Clocks]]
<<if visited("Taking Over") eq 1>>“All the time.”\n\n“Like I said I’m afraid it might be growing, the hole. Lately everything feels so hollow. There’s this awful ticking sound that won’t shut up, like someone’s pounding a nail into my head. Why should I ever get out of this chair? I must be sick.”\n\nThe words appear in your mouth [[unbidden:|Taking Over]]<<else if visited("Taking Over") eq 2>>“All the time.”\n\n“Like I said I’m afraid it might be growing, the hole. Lately everything feels so hollow. There’s this awful ticking sound that won’t shut up, like someone’s pounding a nail into my head. Why should I ever get out of this chair? I must be sick.”\n\nThe words appear in your mouth unbidden: “I think there might be a [[hole|Hole In Me]] in me, too.”<<endif>>
<<set $game = "yes">>The rules are simple: Subtract ten points for every [[small sound,|Small Sounds]] twenty for every [[loud one,|Loud Sounds]] add ten points for [[traps|Traps]] successfully avoided. A positive final score is a victory; a negative score, a loss.\n\n[[Back.|Staircase]]
<<if not visited("Fragile")>>And that's when you first touched the china.\n\nThat was your first time sweeping up china, [[too.|What Do You Think]]<<else>>And that’s when you found out how fragile the china is.\n\nYour mother found out, [[too.|What Do You Think]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Throne Room") eq 1>><<if visited("Vases") eq 1>>Each vase is supported by a marble pedestal. <<endif>>The vases must have held flowers once. Now only bedraggled stems, to which the odd leaf clings like a leech, hang out of their open mouths.\n\n[[Back.|Palace Hall]]<<else if visited("Throne Room") eq 2>><<if visited("Vases") eq 1>>Each vase is supported by a marble pedestal. <<endif>>Dying flowers bow their wizened heads in prayer.\n\n[[Back.|Palace Hall]]<<else if visited("Throne Room") eq 3>><<if visited("Vases") eq 1>>Each vase is supported by a marble pedestal. <<endif>>Fat, waxen <<if not visited("Flowers")>>[[flowers|Flowers]]<<else>>flowers<<endif>> explode from trumpet-shaped throats.\n\n[[Back.|Palace Hall]]<<else if visited("Throne Room") gte 4>><<if visited("Vases") eq 1>>Each vase is supported by a marble pedestal. <<endif>>Countless buds rear up from each vase like the duplicating heads of the Hydra. They are tightly wound, ready to spring open.\n\n[[Back.|Palace Hall]]<<endif>>
<<set $task = 3>>“So what’s the third task?”\n\n“Does it really matter?” She is staring vacantly at a cabal of shadows huddled conspiratorially in a far corner of the room. “Just find the final talisman and be on your way. I’m sick of this game. Don’t know why I wanted to play in the first place.”\n\n“Does that mean I’m dismissed?”\n\n[[She doesn’t reply.|Palace Hall]]
This one here, with the leaves the size of teardrops, is aquamarine; this one sticking out wicked-looking tongues is aloe. You can’t recall what sort of moss is browning along the bottom, though, or the name of the miniature fern with the once-glossy, now-wilted leaves.\n\n[[Back.|New Dresser]]
<<if visited("Pull") eq 1>>You try to open the clock face, but you have [[no hands.|Pull]]<<else if visited("Pull") eq 2>>You try to open the clock face, but you have no hands.\n\nSo, instead, [[you wake up.|Something]]<<endif>>
[[(here she is only a splash of dark hair and a pair of flower-patterned pajamas floating above a bed)|Purpose]]
Where their eyes and noses and mouths should be, there is only blank, unblemished porcelain. Your eyes glide across the absence. Devoid of any distinguishing snag, these unfaces are as slippery as ice.\n\n[[Back.|Dolls]]
<<if $bathroomlight eq 0>>Your mother’s a terribly light sleeper; best tread carefully past her door.<<else if $bathroomlight eq 1>>Your mother isn’t in her room at the moment. Now’s your [[chance.|Mother's Room]]<<else if $bathroomlight eq 2>>Your mother’s sobs ring in your ears.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Finish Hall]]
<<if visited("Footsteps") eq 1>>[[Great,|Footsteps]]<<else if visited("Footsteps") eq 2>>Great, [[lumbering,|Footsteps]]<<else if visited("Footsteps") eq 3>>Great, lumbering, [[thundering|Footsteps]]<<else if visited("Footsteps") eq 4>>Great, lumbering, thundering [[footsteps.|Footsteps]]<<else if visited("Footsteps") eq 5>>Great, lumbering, thundering footsteps.\n\nYou back away from the door and begin to [[run.|Run Away]]<<endif>>
“What about your—what did you call them again? Hours? They can’t always be exactly the same length, can they?”\n\n“Of course they are. They have to be, or everyone would get confused.”\n\nThe girl snorts. “You people really aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer. Do you have a machine that tells you when to use the bathroom? Careful, you might get <i>confused</i> without one.”\n\nYou’ve decided you’d [[rather not|She]] talk about the clock anymore.
[[The clock has no hands.|What?]]
<<if visited("Card Table") eq 1>>The card table stands on four wooden paws. Laid out across its surface of soft felt is a jigsaw puzzle from which a single piece in the [[lower right corner|Lower Right Corner]] is missing.<<else>>The card table stands on four wooden paws. Laid out across its surface of self felt is a blank jigsaw puzzle from which a single piece is missing.\n\n[[Back.|Drawing Room]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Scratching") eq 1>>You have been inching down the hall for a few minutes, or a few hours, when you first discern a [[scratching|Scratching]] sound.<<else if visited("Scratching") eq 2>>You have been inching down the hall for a few minutes, or a few hours, when you first discern a scratching sound.\n\nMaybe there are mice in the walls. You don’t know what, apart from mice, would make such a tiny, fussy rasping. You stand still and wait for the sound to grow louder; instead, it stops. You take a deep breath and [[resume|Scratching]] your walking.<<else if visited("Scratching") eq 3>>You have been inching down the hall for a few minutes, or a few hours, when you first discern a scratching sound.\n\nMaybe there are mice in the walls. You don’t know what, apart from mice, would make such a tiny, fussy rasping. You stand still and wait for the sound to grow louder; instead, it stops. You take a deep breath and resume your walking.\n\nThe scratching starts up again shortly, louder this time, though not too loud to be, plausibly, the product of mouse feet. But very close nonetheless. The [[source|Source]] of the noise must be nearby.<<endif>>
“Where <i>is</i> your home?” you ask. “Where did you come from?”\n\nEither the mirror grows or the girl’s silhouette shrinks. “None of your business,” she says. A bud of silence ruptures. The surface of a bottomless pool shivers. “Anyway it’s a place you haven’t heard of. It’s a [[long way|Long Way]] away from here.”\n\n“Could you show me on the globe? I’m pretty smart. I know the names of lots of different countries.”\n
<<if $librarykey eq 0>>The door is locked.\n\nBelow the handle there is a tiny keyhole.\n\n[[Back.|Library Door]]<<else>><<if visited("Enter Library") eq 1>>Below the handle there is a tiny keyhole.\n\n<<endif>>You turn the key in the lock and twist the handle. \n\nThe door opens. You step <<if not visited("The Library")>>[[inside.|The Library]]<<else>>[[inside.|Atlantis]]<<endif>><<endif>>
<<set $motherkey = 1>>You flick on the lamp and begin to rifle through the drawer without quite knowing why. Nothing inside seems to be of much significance: paperwork, pay stubs, old Christmas cards. Your mother’s wedding ring. You fear your intuition has failed you. But then, under a manila folder, you discover a [[key.|Toilet Flush]]
When your mother comes down the stairs you are not sure what you will tell her. Maybe you will blame everything on the girl. But then the girl will be gone, will have hidden away in a hole in the sky when you weren’t looking, and your mother won’t believe you; she will say, “Not again,” and there will be nothing you can say in return because even you have to admit you look guilty; you even feel guilty. Maybe you will blame everything on your mother; maybe you will start crying again and maybe you will [[hit her|Finished]] like the last time.
You climb the lowest step of the dais and [[pause.|Pause]] “But—won’t your father be angry?”\n\n“Of course not. He won’t find out.” She’s beheaded by a triangle of shadow. “Besides, he hardly ever comes here.” \n\n[[You step back down.|Step Down]] “I’m sorry. I don’t even know how to play this game. [[I can’t be king.”|Can't]]
<<if visited("Closet") lt 4>>Three long-necked pendulums stick lollipop-heads out of the boot. The weight-end-up position seems unnatural for them, as if they are performing headstands.<<else if visited("Closet") gte 4>>Halfway down the path is a black riding boot. Three long-necked pendulums stick lollipop-heads out of the top. The weight-end-up position seems unnatural for them, as if they are performing headstands.<<endif>> \n\n[[Back.|Closet]]
A cocoon woven from fine white filaments lodged in a confluence of branches.\n\n[[Back.|Paintings]]
The hourglasses have been smashed, leaving hollow wooden stands behind and a gritty layer of sand on the narrow path. The possibility of broken glass makes you nervous. \n\n[[Back.|Clocks]]
<<if visited("Boom") eq 1>>You take her hand. Vines writhe like eels and flowers hiss venomously. They try to weave her back into their leafy loom. There is a thunderous pulse beating in the walls. “I don’t know my way to the forest,” you say. “I’ll need your help. This throne is blinding you to what’s right in front of your eyes. Step down from there and you’ll see. [[I promise.”|Boom]]<<else if visited("Boom") eq 2>>You take her hand. Vines writhe like eels and flowers hiss venomously. They try to weave her back into their leafy loom. There is a thunderous pulse beating in the walls. “I don’t know my way to the forest,” you say. “I’ll need your help. This throne is blinding you to what’s right in front of your eyes. Step down from there and you’ll see. I promise.”\n\n[[Boom.|Boom]]<<else if visited("Boom") eq 3>>You take her hand. Vines writhe like eels and flowers hiss venomously. They try to weave her back into their leafy loom. There is a thunderous pulse beating in the walls. “I don’t know my way to the forest,” you say. “I’ll need your help. This throne is blinding you to what’s right in front of your eyes. Step down from there and you’ll see. I promise.”\n\nBoom. [[Hush.|Boom]]<<else if visited("Boom") eq 4>>You take her hand. Vines writhe like eels and flowers hiss venomously. They try to weave her back into their leafy loom. There is a thunderous pulse beating in the walls. “I don’t know my way to the forest,” you say. “I’ll need your help. This throne is blinding you to what’s right in front of your eyes. Step down from there and you’ll see. I promise.”\n\nBoom. Hush. [[Groan.|Boom]]<<else if visited("Boom") eq 5>>You take her hand. Vines writhe like eels and flowers hiss venomously. They try to weave her back into their leafy loom. There is a thunderous pulse beating in the walls. “I don’t know my way to the forest,” you say. “I’ll need your help. This throne is blinding you to what’s right in front of your eyes. Step down from there and you’ll see. I promise.”\n\nBoom. Hush. Groan.\n\n[[“Come with me.”|Come]]<<endif>>
All of the pictures in the gallery are of [[you.|Gallery]]
<<if $gallerykey eq 0>><<if visited("Enter Gallery") eq 1>><<set $idea = $idea + 1>><<endif>>The door is locked.\n\nBelow the handle there is a keyhole.<<if $idea eq 3>><<set $idea = 4>>\n\nYou are suddenly struck with an idea.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Gallery Door]]<<else>>You turn the key in the lock and twist the handle. \n\nThe door opens. You step [[inside.|Gallery]]<<endif>>
[[King,|Table King]] [[queen,|Table Queen]] and [[princess.|Table Princess]] The dolls are life-sized, their tableau lifelike. They could perhaps pass as a real family frozen in the midst of a meal, except that they do not have [[faces.|Faces]]\n\n[[Back.|Parlor]]
“But what’s the difference between day and night?” she asks.\n\n“Well, the Earth is turning all the time,” you say, rotating the globe slowly, “so the side facing the sun is always—”\n\n“If it’s turning like that all the time, how come we don’t get flung off?”\n\n[[“Gravity,|Gravity]] obviously.”
<<if $cupboard eq 0>><<set $cupboard = 1>><<set $glass = "yes">>The first cupboard contains a number of drinking glasses. Higher up is an assortment of mugs and tea cups, and then a tier of wine glasses. The wine glasses in particular have seen a lot of use lately.\n\nYou take down one of the heavy glasses and set it—lightly—on the counter beside the sink. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Potential hazard sidestepped: Plus ten points.)<<set $score = $score + 10>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Kitchen]]<<else if $cupboard eq 1>><<set $cupboard = 2>><<set $container = "yes">>The second cupboard holds a jumble of plastic containers for storing food. On the highest shelf, out of reach, veiled in shadow now but plenty visible during the day, is a vast and colorful array of pill bottles.\n\nYou take down a plastic container and set it on the counter near the refrigerator.\n\n[[Back.|Kitchen]]<<else if $cupboard eq 2>>The third cupboard contains <<if $bread eq "no">>half a loaf of [[bread,|Bread]]<<endif>> a bunch of <<if $peanutbutter eq "no">>[[bananas,|Bananas]]<<else>>[[bananas|Bananas]]<<endif>> <<if $peanutbutter eq "no">>a jar of [[peanut butter,|Peanut Butter]]<<endif>> and a box of [[granola bars.|Granola]]\n\n[[Back.|Kitchen]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Get Up") eq 1>>The bathroom is at the end of a long hall lined with tilted towers of moon. You drift out of bed and down this corridor, counting the livid stripes on the carpet as you pass them—one, two, three—past the door to your mother’s room, past the door that is always locked. But when you finally arrive at the bathroom and twist, your hand slips on the knob as though made of butter, and you realize you are still in bed, your eyes are still shut, [[you|Eyes]]<<else>>You were having a dream when you woke up, but the moment your eyes opened, it diffused through the room like a drop of blood in bathwater. Now it’s indistinguishable from the real shadows surrounding you, the shadows of your desk, your dresser, your bookshelf, the clock on the wall. The darkness flickers rhythmically with the swinging of the pendulum. If you squint at the clock you can just barely make out the [[hands|Midnight]] as you pass by on your way to the [[door.|Hall]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Table King") eq 1>><<set $idea = $idea + 1>><<endif>><<if $idea eq 3>><<set $idea = 4>>Looking at the doll-king, you are suddenly struck with an idea.\n\n<<endif>><<if $kingqueen eq "no">><<if not visited("Table Queen")>><<set $kingqueen = "king">>The king and queen are crowned with wreaths of flowers. They are draped in robes the profuse folds of which ripple like poured fudge, and their fingers bristle with filigree rings.<<endif>><<else if $kingqueen eq "king">>The king and queen are are crowned with wreaths of flowers. They are draped in robes the profuse folds of which ripple like poured fudge, and their fingers bristle with filigree rings.<<endif>> In one hand the king clutches a sandwich, out of which he has taken a single, half-moon bite. <<if $idea gt 3>><<if visited("Pen")>>With<<else>>In<<endif>> the other he <<if visited("Pen")>>pretends to hold a pen;<<else>>holds a [[pen;|Pen]]<<endif>> he is poised to scribble something on <<if visited("Napkin")>>a nonexistent napkin.<<else>>his [[napkin.|Napkin]]<<endif>><<else>>In the other hand he holds a <<if $idea eq 3>>[[pen;|Pen]]<<else>>pen;<<endif>> he is poised to scribble something on his <<if $idea eq 3>>[[napkin.|Napkin]]<<else>>napkin.<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Dolls]]
You always assumed there was something showing on TV at all hours of the night. But there is nothing on this channel, not even the news, just a blizzard of static. The girl stabs at the power button and the pandemonium is sucked back into the portal from which it escaped. Vivid inkblots flare up before your eyes while the silence sews itself up like a wound.\n\n[[“What was that?”|TV]] The girl sounds a little shaken.
<<if $outofbed eq "no">>There’s a tall bookshelf leaning over the bed, glowering down at you, threatening to topple itself.\n\n[[Back.|Bedroom]]<<else>>You run a finger over the spines of your [[books.|Books]] You don’t know why you feel compelled to read now, with your bladder so insistent. Lately you have been reading <em>Through the Looking-glass</em>, the one where Alice goes through a mirror and finds herself in a world like an enormous chess board. But you can’t seem to find the book on your shelf at the moment.\n\n[[Back.|Bedroom]]<<endif>>
<<if $dininglight eq "no">><<set $refrigerator = "yes">><<if visited("Refrigerator") eq 1>>You hold your hands out in front of you, catching yourself before you collide with the island counter, clinging to its edges as you continue toward the refrigerator. After a while you reach out, feel for the handle, and pull. White light wells up in the broadening crack and spills into the kitchen.\n\n<<endif>>The contents of the refrigerator are scant: three ivory eggs, half a stick of butter, cartons of grapefruit and orange juice, a bag of baby carrots, a few browning sticks of celery. You don’t find any of these options particularly appealing for a midnight snack. \n\n<<if $pizza eq "yes">><<if $container eq "no">>You consider sticking the pizza box [[directly|Directly]] into the refrigerator, but then you think it might be better to [[search for a container|Kitchen]] first.<<else>>However, you now have a perfect [[container|Put Away]] in which to store the leftover pizza.<<endif>><<else>>[[Back.|Kitchen]]<<endif>><<else>><<if visited("Refrigerator") eq 1>>You open the refrigerator door and milky light spills out into the kitchen.<<endif>> The contents of the fridge are scant: three ivory eggs, half a stick of butter, cartons of grapefruit and orange juice, a bag of baby carrots, a few browning sticks of celery. You don’t find any of these options particularly appealing for a midnight snack.\n\n<<if $pizza eq "yes">><<if $container eq "no">>You consider sticking the pizza box [[directly|Directly]] into the refrigerator, but then you think it might be better to [[search for a container|Kitchen]] first.<<else>>However, you now have a perfect [[container|Put Away]] in which to store the leftover pizza.<<endif>><<else>>[[Back.|Kitchen]]<<endif>><<endif>>
You peer down; the dumbwaiter has disappeared; the cable plunges into a pitch black pit. A delicious mixture of scents wafts up on plumes of warm air. If you look up through the shaft (to get a decent view, you must turn around and lean backwards) you can see the pulley on which the cable hangs.\n\n[[Back.|Dumbwaiter]]
Though, when you think of that reflection in the bathroom mirror, the reflection that wasn’t you, not you at all, you can sort of understand Moby’s agression.\n\n[[Back.|New Dresser]]
<<set $refrigerator = "no">>The contents of the fridge are scant: three ivory eggs, half a stick of butter, cartons of grapefruit and orange juice, a bag of baby carrots, a few browning sticks of celery. <<if $pizza eq "yes">>You don’t find any of these options particularly appealing for a midnight snack.\n\n<<if $container eq "no">>You consider sticking the pizza box [[directly|Directly]] into the refrigerator, but then you think it might be better to [[search for a container|Kitchen]] first.<<else>>However, you now have a perfect [[container|Put Away]] in which to store the leftover pizza.<<endif>><<else>>You don’t find any of these options particularly appealing for a midnight snack, and you are concerned about wasting electricity, so you [[close|Kitchen]] the refrigerator door.<<endif>>
In one portrait her hand rests on the hilt of a sword; the moth-mask is marbled like a salamander.\n\nIn another she is riffling the pages of a book; her mask is striped like a lionfish.\n\n[[Back.|Portraits]]
<<if $darkplanet eq "yes">>You crawl into bed, pull the covers up to your chin, pull your legs up close to your chest, and squeeze your eyes shut, concentrating your body into a single quivering point of heat. Your room melts at once into candle wax, ceiling and walls and floor and furniture running together. A phoenix-feathered Earth is cleaving space in two. You swing recklessly on an endless pendulum; you cut a swath through the stars at thirty kilometers a second. The hurtling makes you weightless, threatens to lift you out of bed. The planets all around you are ticking [[. . .|Ticking]]<<else>>You’ve tried lying in bed with your eyes closed until you fall back asleep before, and it’s not the most effective method. Unless you are truly tired, your mind will just run in restless circles, as though making up for the lack of movement in your legs, only your mind takes much longer to exhaust itself than your legs do, and before you know it, it’s three in the morning and you’re still wide awake, wondering about some bizarre topic like phantom limbs and how it’s possible to feel something that isn’t there anymore, and whether that means it’s also possible to feel someone’s pain if the person isn’t there anymore. \n\n[[Back.|New Room]]<<endif>>
[[“No, don’t. You’ll wake up—”|What Are You Doing]]
“Fine, crybaby. I was just playing.”\n\nYou hear a [[thud.|Thud]]
You [[open|Drink]] to the last few pages.
<i>The girl guessed that her grandmother must have been an artist, although no one on her father’s side of the family talked about her grandmother much, so she had yet to confirm this hypothesis. The girl had never once eaten from <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The Page Two]]<<else>>the<<endif>> plates or drunk from the cups. They’re [[too|To Page Three]] valuable, her mother always said; they’re [[too|To Page Four]] fragile.</i>\n\n[[Back.|Three Spines]]
[[“Take a step, scaredy-cat.”|What Are You Doing]]
“Don’t lie because you feel bad for me. Look at you: You’re perfectly normal. No missing pieces. Not a flaw in sight. So leave me here. Go back to the world of sleep where you belong. Live a real life, not some weird, parasitic shadow of one like me. I can’t choose. You can.”\n\nShe can’t see the hole. A dagger of sadness slips unexpectedly between your ribs. The vines around her wrists narrow like arteries. Pearly buds in a string around her throat unfurl themselves. You don’t want to leave her like this, but she’s right: you have to [[go home.|Go Home]]
“That’s what a library is. Looks like I know a word you don’t know.” She pulls out an anonymous paperback, riffles the pages, lets it fall to the floor. You flinch, though the book makes only a wisp of sound on impact. “You should see my father’s library. You wouldn’t believe your eyes.”\n\nMidway through a second book—one you [[borrowed|Borrowed]] not long ago—she stops flipping abruptly. In the caverns of her eyes a struck match flares. “There’s a story here,” she whispers. [[“A whole one.”|A Whole One]]
You take three soundless steps across the starless chasm and realize you do not know where she is, you cannot hear her feet on the staircase, you cannot hear your own feet, you do not know where you are. She could be standing behind you or she could be tucked contentedly in your bed, or maybe, like the lamps and the rugs and the pictures on the walls, she has dispersed to fill the darkness and now the air you breathe is teeming with particles of her. A [[satellite|Satellite]] streaks past.
<<if $dininglight eq "yes">>“What’s the matter?”\n\n“If you think I’m going out there, you’re crazy. I can barely see.”\n\n“I told you before, if I turn out all the lights, then <i>I</i> can’t see. Come on.” You hesitate a moment before extending a hand. “I’ll guide you.”\n\nThe girl is resolute. [[“Make it darker first,”|Girl Living Room]] she says, sitting down on the bottom step.<<else>>“What’s the matter?”\n\n“If you think I’m going out there, you’re crazy. I can barely see.”\n\n“But there aren’t any lights on! It’s just the moon. Come on.” You hesitate a moment before extending a hand. “I’ll guide you.”\n\nThe girl is resolute. [[“Make it darker first,”|Girl Living Room]] she says, sitting down on the bottom step.<<endif>>
<<if visited("Poem") eq 1>>“There’s an eye that opens when everyone else is asleep,” she says as though reciting something from memory. But her voice is not her own; it is many voices. “And the name of that eye is [[Eidolon.”|Poem]]<<else if visited("Poem") eq 2>>“There’s an eye that opens when everyone else is asleep,” she says as though reciting something from memory. But her voice is not her own; it is many voices. “And the name of that eye is Eidolon.”\n\nShe slouches rudely in the throne, grips the armrests with hands like talons. “There’s a seed that sprouts in midnight soil, and the seed spawns a forest, and the name of that forest is [[Eidolon.”|Poem]]<<else if visited("Poem") eq 3>>“There’s an eye that opens when everyone else is asleep,” she says as though reciting something from memory. But her voice is not her own; it is many voices. “And the name of that eye is Eidolon.\n\nShe slouches rudely in the throne, grips the armrests with hands like talons. “There’s a seed that sprouts in midnight soil, and the seed spawns a forest, and the name of that forest is Eidolon.”\n\nA hundred unblinking eyes are fixed on you. “There is a hole in the sky, and the name of that hole is [[Eidolon.”|Uproariously]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Different") eq 1>>Not something. [[Someone.|Different]]<<else if visited("Different") eq 2>>Not something. Someone.\n\nYou sense the someone’s presence intuitively, moments before you notice their [[reflection|Shadow Girl]] in the dresser mirror.<<endif>>
[[Smash another plate.|Angry]]
It can’t be your own reflection. The angle is all wrong, and you are sitting absolutely still, and the reflection is moving restlessly. The reflection is dangling dark legs from the edge of your dresser; the reflection is drumming fingers on the dresser top. The reflection is not, in fact, a reflection at all, but you have no time to think of a better word for what it is, because the reflection is [[speaking to you.|Speaking]]
Behind his horn-rimmed glasses your father’s eyes are a dark brown. They are the color of seeds. Sadness grows out of them like a strange plant and stretches tendrils toward you.\n\n<<if visited("Family Photo")>>[[Back.|Family Photo]]<<else>>[[Back.|Portrait]]<<endif>>
<<if $dumbwaiter eq 0>><<set $dumbwaiter = 1>><<endif>><<if visited("Dumbwaiter Button") eq 1>>You press the button and the entire cupboard-like cavity, with a squeak and a lurch, begins to descend on a cable.\n\nThe creaks of the dumbwaiter’s labored descent rise up through a long shaft like coughs in a throat. \n\n[[Back.|Dumbwaiter]]<<else>>You press the button and the dumbwaiter begins its descent.\n\n[[Back.|Dumbwaiter]]<<endif>>
<<set $pizza = "yes">><<if $paperplates eq "no">>As you approach the table the floorboards groan beneath your feet <<if $game eq "yes">>(minus ten points)<<set $score = $score - 10>><<endif>>, like the sound of a door swinging on old hinges.\n\nYou ate half the pizza yourself. Your mother mostly stared at the other half, until you asked her if she was hungry, at which point she took a bite and said she was tired and excused herself from the table. She hasn’t cooked in a while.\n\nYou should put the leftover pizza in the refigerator. You pick up the box.<<else>>This time you craftily avoid the creaky floorboards. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Plus ten points—take that!)<<set $score + 10>><<endif>>\n\nYou ate half the pizza yourself. Your mother mostly stared at the other half, until you asked her if she was hungry, at which point she took a bite and said she was tired and excused herself from the table. She hasn’t cooked in a while.\n\nYou should put the leftover pizza in the refigerator. You pick up the box.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Table]]
<i>She gave <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The]]<<else>>the<<endif>> handle on the tap a gentle push, hoping to produce the gentle possible sound, but instead the water made a raucous, arrhythmic spattering when it struck the sink bottom, a sound like a serrated knife<<if $game eq "yes">> (minus twenty points)<<endif>>. So she pushed the handle a little farther and filled her glass, which no doubt would have taken forever the other way anyway. Strange, she mused, how a steady flow is infinitely quieter than a dribble. She [[gulped down|Drink Page Two]] the water.</i>\n\n<<if $spines eq 0>>[[Back.|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[Back.|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[Back.|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[Back.|Three Spines]]<<endif>>
And you were violently hungry: fingers trembling, brain buzzing, your whole body damp with sweat. You crept down to the kitchen and ate two slices of rye toast spread with peanut butter and a tall pillar of crackers before returning to your room by 12:52. You’ve always suffered from fits of hunger like this, which strike at the most irrational times.\n\n[[Back.|Clock]]
<i>She allowed the breeze to usher her through successive sheets of billowing darkness, her hands held out to cushion <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The Page Two]]<<else>>the<<endif>> impact in case she should encounter a wall. \n\nBut she never did. When she called out again she found that her [[voice|Your Voice Page Two]] had transformed: its shape was now curiously oblong.</i>\n\n[[Back.|Three Spines]]
There is a plaque set in the door. The plaque reads: <<if visited("Writing Room")>>[[“Writing Room.”|Writing Room]]<<else>>[[“Writing Room.”|Enter Writing Room]]<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Closet]]
<<if visited("The Library") eq 1>>The library is [[quiet,|The Library]] as a good library should be.<<else if visited("The Library") eq 2>>The library is quiet, as a good library should be. But not [[merely|The Library]] quiet.<<else if visited("The Library") eq 3>>The library is quiet, as a good library should be. But not merely quiet.\n\nIt’s as if sound long ago [[ceased to exist|The Library]] within these walls.<<else if visited("The Library") eq 4>>The library is quiet, as a good library should be. But not merely quiet.\n\nIt’s as if sound long ago ceased to exist within these walls.\n\nThe silence [[stuffs|Atlantis]] your ears with wads of cotton.<<endif>>
<<if $curtains eq "no">><<if $dininglight eq "no">><<if $kneebump eq "no">><<set $kneebump = "yes">>You bump your knee on the coffee table on your way to the TV and cry out involuntarily. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Small sound plus loud sound: minus thirty points.)<<set $score = $score - 30>><<endif>> You had a reason for coming over here, you’re sure of it, but it’s darted off into the night and left you alone with your knee injury. You certainly aren’t going to risk watching TV at this hour.<<else>>You aren’t going to risk watching TV at this hour.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Living Room]]<<else>>Your mother has decorated the television console with [[one of her potted violets|Violet]] and a [[family portrait.|Portrait]]\n\n[[Back.|Living Room]]<<endif>><<else>>Your mother has decorated the television console with [[one of her potted violets|Violet]] and a [[family portrait.|Portrait]]\n\n[[Back.|Living Room]]<<endif>>
[[What’s the point?|The Page Three]]
(Traps include creaky steps, creaky floorboards, the dining room table, the coffee table, the living room rug, the ottoman, any door, any cupboard, any chair, any light switch.)\n\n[[Back.|Game]]
<<if $outofbed eq "no">>Along the walls you can make out the silvery ghosts of your [[desk,|Desk]] your [[dresser,|Dresser]] your [[bookshelf,|Bookshelf]] the [[clock.|Clock]]<<else>>By the light of the lamp you can see your bedroom more clearly. Unfinished [[math homework|Desk]] is spread across your desk. In the corner of your room nearest the bed stands a slender [[shelf|Bookshelf]] stuffed with vertical, horizontal, and diagonal stacks of books. A little to the right hunches your untidy [[dresser;|Dresser]] farther away, by the bedroom door, hangs the wall [[clock.|Clock]]<<endif>>
But you do continue: “And even if he were a king, he doesn’t rule this country. He doesn’t have any power here. If I called the police right now there’s nothing he could do to save you.”\n\nA galaxy collapses, a thousand eyes open. The silver mirror trembles.\n\n“Shut up,” the girl says softly. “Shut your worthless mouth, you piece of filth.” Her whole body has gone rigid. Her eyes burn white-hot holes into your head. Her voice quakes. “Apologize. Apologize to me [[now.”|Apologize]]
<<if $dininglight eq "yes">>The dining room is dominated by a squarish table, over which an [[electric chandelier|Girl Dining Light]] hangs.\n\nAnd, of course, the china hutch: the reason you brought the girl downstairs in the first place.\n\n[[Back.|Girl Living Room]]<<else>>The blinking eye of the television beckons you to the [[living room.|Girl Living Room]]<<endif>>
The books remind you of bricks particularly because their <<if $spines eq 0>>[[spines|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[spines|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[spines|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[spines|Three Spines]]<<endif>> are completely uniform. All of the books are of the same height and appear to be of roughly similar page length; all are bound in the same iron-gray leather tooled with dull silver. The knotty, leafy pattern embellishing each spine is identical.\n\n[[Back.|Atlantis]]
<<if visited("Silently") eq 1>>A darkness more complete than you have ever known. The only [[cord|Silently]] binding you to the universe is her hand.<<else if visited("Silently") eq 2>>A darkness more complete than you have ever known. The only cord binding you to the universe is her hand.\n\nAnd then the cord is severed, and you are [[adrift|Silently]] with only the memory of her.<<else if visited("Silently") eq 3>>A darkness more complete than you have ever known. The only cord binding you to the universe is her hand.\n\nAnd then the cord is severed, and you are adrift with only the memory of her.\n\nAfter a while you become aware of your [[feet.|Feet]]<<endif>>
You’d rather not disturb them. Whoever mounted all of these might not appreciate it.\n\n[[Back.|Moths]]
<<if $task eq 1>><<if $book eq 0>>You haven’t completed your task yet.\n\n[[Back.|Palace Hall]]<<else>>You open the door and [[enter.|Throne Room]]<<endif>><<else if $task eq 2>><<if $tasktwo eq 0>>You haven’t completed your task yet.\n\n[[Back.|Palace Hall]]<<else>>You open the door and [[enter.|Throne Room]]<<endif>><<else if $task eq 3>><<if $taskthree eq 0>>You haven’t completed your task yet.\n\n[[Back.|Palace Hall]]<<else>>You open the door and [[enter.|Throne Room]]<<endif>><<endif>>
<<if visited("Hug") eq 1>>[[She doesn’t speak.|Hug]]<<else if visited("Hug") eq 2>>She doesn’t speak.\n\n[[You don’t give her the time.|Hug]]<<else if visited("Hug") eq 3>>She doesn’t speak.\n\nYou don’t give her the time. \n\nYou run to her and hug her tightly around the waist and stand there, stock-still, unmoveable, [[inseperable,|Finish Room]] while her silent tears dampen your hair.<<endif>>
A perfect pearl of an egg, all alone, against a wild-veined wilderness.\n\n[[Back.|Paintings]]
You usher the girl into the dark dining room. Far away the phosphorescent display of the microwave clock floats and flickers like a will-o’-the-wisp. “Look at this,” you say, gesturing toward the cherry wood <<if visited("China") gte 1>>[[china hutch.|Plate Story]]<<else>>[[china hutch.|What Do You Think]]<<endif>>
You recognize some of the books you used to read when you were younger; most of your old picture books are here. You had always assumed they were stored away in boxes somewhere. \n\n<<if visited("Locked Desk") + visited("Locked Dresser") + visited("Locked Bookshelf") + visited("Locked Clock") + visited("Locked Bed") eq 5>>[[Back.|Mother End]]<<else>>[[Back.|Locked Room]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Throne Room") eq 1>>Your eyes are <<if visited("Soundlessly")>>most definitely<<endif>> adjusting.\n\nA throne rises up from a lake of ink. At first this is all you can make out—but then, beneath the throne’s stilletto legs, a dais begins to paint itself in slow, smoky brushstrokes. As you approach (the girl still leads you by the hand) you notice that the arms and seat and back of the throne are studded with nodules which might be jewels except they do not shine.\n\n“All right, let’s start playing,” the girl says, giving you a push towards the dais. “You pretend to be [[king.”|Angry]]<<else if visited("Throne Room") eq 2>>She is staring absently into space. She doesn’t seem to have noticed you. You linger by the door.\n\n“I haven’t got forever, you know,” she barks suddenly. When you arrive at the foot of the dais her mouth widens in a carnivorous smile. “Oh, wait.” She twists a lock of hair around a finger. “I suppose I do.”\n\nYou fall to your knees and [[present the book|Present]] to her.<<else if visited("Throne Room") eq 3>>You hurry to the base of the throne and bow. And wait.\n\nWhen she doesn’t acknolwedge your arrival, you glance up.\n\nVines bind her legs. They [[fasten|Fasten]] her arms to the armrests.<<else if visited("Throne Room") eq 4>>The vines are flowering. A cluster of stamen-tipped tongues lolls out of each laughing mouth, the petals curled back like canine lips. Flowers bloom from her arms and legs and neck, around which a fibrous noose has been wound repeatedly.\n\nYou gather the book, the family picture, and the clock hands together. You [[don’t bother|Don't Bother]] to bow.<<endif>>
<em>Alice considered. ‘The bone wouldn’t remain, of course, if I took it—and the dog wouldn’t remain; it would come to bite me—and I’m sure I shouldn’t remain!’\n\n‘Then you think nothing would remain?’ said the Red Queen.\n\n‘I think that’s the answer.’\n\n[[‘Wrong,|Wrong]] as usual,’ said the Red Queen: ‘the dog’s temper would remain.’</em>
And your mouth was horribly dry, and you did not fall back asleep until sometime after 1:48, after three separate trips to the kitchen for glasses of water. Perhaps if you kept a record of these times, an Insomniac’s Logbook, some meaningful pattern would emerge.\n\n[[Back.|Clock]]
You’re staring again now. You’re in the [[forest|Forest]] with them.
<<if visited("All the Clocks") eq 1>>[[. . .|All the Clocks]]<<else if visited("All the Clocks") eq 2>>. . . [[Hush now.|All the Clocks]]<<else if visited("All the Clocks") eq 3>>. . . Hush now. [[Listen closely.|All the Clocks]]<<else if visited("All the Clocks") eq 4>>. . . Hush now. Listen closely. Snow is [[falling.|All the Clocks]]<<else if visited("All the Clocks") eq 5>>. . . Hush now. Listen closely. Snow is falling. Stars are [[dying.|All the Clocks]]<<else if visited("All the Clocks") eq 6>>. . . Hush now. Listen closely. Snow is falling. Stars are dying. <<if $almostearth eq "yes">>All the clocks on all the almost-Earths are ticking [[. . .|Silently]]<<else>>All the clocks in the world are ticking [[. . .|Silently]]<<endif>><<endif>>
<<set $bathroomlight = 2>><<if visited("Hide") eq 1>>From under the bed you watch your mother’s feet depress the fleecy carpet. The springs of the mattress stretch and groan in agony, and then all is still. You [[wait.|Hide]]<<else if visited("Hide") eq 2>>From under the bed you watch your mother’s feet depress the fleecy carpet. The springs of the mattress stretch and groan in agony, and then all is still. You wait. After a while, your mother begins to quietly [[sob.|Hide]]<<else if visited("Hide") eq 3>>From under the bed you watch your mother’s feet depress the fleecy carpet. The springs of the mattress stretch and groan in agony, and then all is still. You wait. After a while, your mother begins to quietly sob.\n\nYou listen to your mother’s crying for an [[eternity.|Hide]]<<else if visited("Hide") eq 4>>From under the bed you watch your mother’s feet depress the fleecy carpet. The springs of the mattress stretch and groan in agony, and then all is still. You wait. After a while, your mother begins to quietly sob.\n\nYou listen to your mother’s crying for an eternity. When she finally falls silent, you wait another, infinitely longer, eternity before crawling out from underneath the bed and [[sneaking out|Finish Hall]] of the room.<<endif>>
The shimmering is the work of the wind, which rustles the leaves, which glint a silvery gray in the starlight. The sound of the rattling leaves is like television static, or the sea, or the rain. The forest extends in every direction: colorless, endless.\n\n“You’ll have to grab a branch and climb down from here,” she says between breaths. You are both winded. “Don’t worry, I’ve done it millions of times. It’s not hard. But once you enter the forest, you’re on your own. You have a long journey ahead of you. Be careful, okay?”\n\n“You mean you’re [[not coming|Not Coming]] with me?”
<<if visited("Memorize") eq 1>>You draw a [[map|Memorize]] in your head like an endless maze.<<else if visited("Memorize") eq 2>>You draw a map in your head like an endless maze.\n\nSometimes you spend days reconstructing the map, tracing the curling streams, dotting the hollows and caves, recalling every inch of the forest you have tread. Sometimes, when you wonder how much of the forest you have yet to explore, you feel a terrible hopelessness, and the [[moths|Memorize]] come.<<else if visited("Memorize") eq 3>>You draw a map in your head like an endless maze.\n\nSometimes you spend days reconstructing the map, tracing the curling streams, dotting the hollows and caves, recalling every inch of the forest you have tread. Sometimes, when you wonder how much of the forest you have yet to explore, you feel a terrible hopelessness, and the moths come.\n\nJust a few, at first, fluttering around your face, alighting on your legs. Then a few more settle in your hair and on your arms, and suddenly you are at the center of a [[storm of wings,|Forest Door]] and you streak through the forest, batting them away.<<endif>>
[[(unless white has traded places with black and is now the absence of color)|Gradually]]
<<if $writestory eq 0>>You don’t have any idea what you would write.\n\n[[Back.|Rolltop Desk]]<<else if $writestory eq 1>><<set $drawers = 1>>You sit down at the desk, uncork the bottle of ink, and dip the quill. You think for a moment, and then you begin to scrawl:\n\n<i>The king went to his clock to check the time. But the clock had no hands. Someone must have stolen them. But how? Perhaps they had used his own echanted desk against him.</i>\n\n[[That ought to do.|Writing Room]]<<endif>>
“What’s that?”\n\nWhen you tell her the girl does not seem to understand. “A map,” you clarify. “Of the world.” You hold the globe out to her and she touches a finger to its rugged surface. It’s a raised relief globe. She traces a vertebral basin, gives a push with her fingertip. Rapt silence as she watches the planet spin.\n\nFinally: “What do all the [[lines|Lines]] mean?”
<<set $tasktwo = 1>><<if visited("Here") eq 1>>You dig your fingernails into the cracks between the frames and [[pry|Here]] the picture loose from its place on the wall.<<else if visited("Here") eq 2>>You dig your fingernails into the cracks between the frames and pry the picture loose from its place on the wall.\n\nExcept there is no wall. Behind the picture there is only a rectangular [[portal|Here]] of darkness like a missing tooth.<<else if visited("Here") eq 3>>You dig your fingernails into the cracks between the frames and pry the picture loose from its place on the wall.\n\nExcept there is no wall. Behind the picture there is only a rectangular portal of darkness like a missing tooth.\n\nYou decide to bring the picture with you. You think you may have found your [[moment.|Gallery]] <<endif>>
<<if visited("Palace Hall") eq 1>>The door slams shut behind you.<<endif>> You stand at the center of a three-way junction. <<if visited("Palace Hall") gt 1>>The door to the [[throne room|Throne Room Door]] is at your back.<<endif>>\n\nTo the [[left|Left]] and to the [[right|Right]] a hallway stretches into dim infinity. \n\nStraight ahead a shorter hall, lined with [[vases,|Vases]] ends in a [[door.|Button Door]]
<<if $toasting gte 1>><<set $toasting = $toasting + 1>><<endif>>The silver [[faucet|Faucet]] gleams faintly. On the counter beside the sink sits the [[toaster.|Toaster]] Down below the basin is the cupboard where the [[garbage bin|Garbage]] is kept.\n\n[[Back.|Kitchen]]
Eidolon
“How do I open the door?”\n\n“Destroy the talismans. There should be enough energy in them to make a tear wide enough for you to slip through. I brought the both of us over here with only three, after all. Although those talismans were especially powerful.”\n\n“But the book. I thought you could—I wanted to—”\n\n“Sorry. I shouldn’t have taken it in the first place, but there’s no other way now.” Her blink is a faucet drip. [[“Unless—”|Unless]]
<<if visited("Ascends") eq 1>>She settles in, crosses her legs. \n\nThe throne [[shivers.|Ascends]]<<else if visited("Ascends") eq 2>>She settles in, crosses her legs. \n\nThe throne shivers. The nodules [[flutter.|Ascends]]<<else if visited("Ascends") eq 3>>She settles in, crosses her legs. \n\nThe throne shivers. The nodules flutter. \n\nOnly now do you [[realize|Begin to Open]] what they are.<<endif>>
You like to think they are made of a substance more delicate than eggshell. A sharp tap from a fingernail might disintegrate a tea cup into shards no bigger than salt crystals, or turn a plate into a web of wrinkly lines like a map of the Amazon Basin.\n\n[[Back.|China]]
<<if visited("Realistic") eq 1>>They are realistic, you discover as you examine them more closely, because they are [[real.|Realistic]]<<else if visited("Realistic") eq 2>>They are realistic, you discover as you examine them more closely, because they are real.\n\nIn fact there is no wallpaper on the walls. Hundreds of moths have been pinned painstakingly to soft wood panelling. Beneath each specimen is a paper label on which the name of the species is printed in letters so miniscule you cannot read them even if you squint. The room is a giant [[display case.|Drawing Room]]<<endif>>
<<if visited ("She") eq 1>>She is still only the suggestion of a girl, a fringe of frosty light surrounding her like a pale halo, as if the moonbeams were warping to avoid her. You see she is wearing a sort of gauzy gown which falls to her shins.\n\nShe gestures with a skeletal arm, indicating the whole room: the [[desk,|Girl Desk]] the [[dresser,|Girl Dresser]] the [[bookshelf,|Girl Bookshelf]] the [[clock.|Girl Clock]] \n\n“So what is all this stuff?” her gesture asks.<<else>><<if visited("Girl Desk") eq 0>>[[Desk,|Girl Desk]]<<else>>Desk,<<endif>> <<if visited("Girl Dresser") eq 0>>[[dresser,|Girl Dresser]]<<else>>dresser,<<endif>> <<if visited("Girl Bookshelf") eq 0>>[[bookshelf,|Girl Bookshelf]]<<else>>bookshelf,<<endif>> <<if visited("Girl Clock") eq 0>>[[clock.|Girl Clock]]<<else>>clock.<<endif>> You can’t imagine how these mundane items could be of interest. \n\nBut is there <<if visited("Girl Desk") + visited("Girl Dresser") + visited("Girl Bookshelf") + visited("Girl Clock") gte 4>>[[anything|House]]<<else>>anything<<endif>> of interest in your house?<<endif>>
<<set $hall = 2>>You don’t intend to disturb your mother in the middle of the night for no good reason. The woman’s a terribly light sleeper; best tread carefully past her door.\n\n[[Back.|Hall]]
The dresser is much more neatly kept than your dresser. There is a picture here of your parents on their wedding day, and a neatly arranged row of nail polish bottles, and a fishbowl with a fish-shaped shadow suspended its transparency. \n\n<<if visited("Locked Desk") + visited("Locked Dresser") + visited("Locked Bookshelf") + visited("Locked Clock") + visited("Locked Bed") eq 5>>[[Back.|Mother End]]<<else>>[[Back.|Locked Room]]<<endif>>
<<set $outofbed = "yes">>You slip out of bed. The floorboards are frigid under your bare feet. \n\nYou tiptoe to the lamp and, after a moment’s fumbling for the switch, a funnel of light falls like an anchor onto your desk. Your math textbook is open to a page of [[square root problems.|Square Roots]]
“But you must have some way of dividing up time. Some sort of standard unit, like days or hours or seconds.”\n\n“Oh yes, plenty of those. For short times I say a ‘fruitfall.’ ‘Petalfalls’ are a little bit longer, of course. One ‘newleaf’ is the time it takes a leaf to grow in place of one I’ve torn off. When you look in the sky and all the stars are in different places than when you looked last, that’s a ‘starhop.’ I’ve got lots of others. I’m always thinking up of new ones.”\n\n“But none of those will really help you keep track, will they? They don’t seem very—[[precise.”|Precise]]
The final picture is blank.\n\nSlightly lower on the same wall is <<if visited("Dumbwaiter Explanation")>>a [[dumbwaiter.|Dumbwaiter]]<<else>>what appears to be a [[cupboard.|Dumbwaiter]]<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Paintings]]
[[No luck.|Drawing Room]]
<<if visited("End") eq 1>>When you wake up, [[something|End]] is passing through the dawn sky.<<else if visited("End") eq 2>>When you wake up, something is passing through the dawn sky.\n\nBut you can’t for the life of you seem to remember its [[name.|Start]]<<endif>>
<<if $outofbed eq "no">>You can’t make out the hands of the clock from here. \n\nYou’ve begged your mother for a digital clock but she says she doesn’t “believe in them.” Personally you don’t find the existence of digital clocks to be a matter of dispute, but your mother can be stubborn.\n\nThe first time your sleep was interrupted this week it was [[12:37.|First Time]] Last night when you woke up it was [[11:23.|Last Night]]\n\n[[Back.|Bedroom]]<<else>>The pendulum is swinging silently behind its little glass door. You squint at the [[clock face.|No Hands]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Granola") eq 1>>You shake the box. It’s empty. <<if $game eq "yes">>(You suppose that counts as a trap avoided. Ten points.)<<set $score = $score + 10>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Cupboard]]<<else>>The box is empty.\n\n[[Back.|Cupboard]]<<endif>>
Your mind is a grotto of melting icicles. Drip drop. Tick tock. “Wasn’t there anything else you wanted to see?”\n\nThe girl fixes you with her faceless gaze, and you regret interrupting her. But she isn’t angry. “Can I have this? It’s incredible. I need to know what happens next.”\n\n“Well, I haven’t read all of that one yet.” You don’t think you have the patience, at the moment, to explain to her the concept of a lending library. “I could give you [[some other book.|Fine]] They’re all whole, you know. No missing pages.”
<<if $outofbed eq "no">>The oval dresser mirror is reflecting moonlight, a blank face atop a squat torso upon impossibly stubby legs. \n\nCollections of candles, jewelry, and seashells have accumulated on the dresser like sunken treasure half-buried in silt. You know there’s a globe lurking there, too, and a music box, and a terrarium made from a fish bowl, but you can’t distinguish them; all the junk forms a single amorphous mass.<<else>><<set $almostearth = "yes">>You find your globe nesting in a tangle of hair scrunchies and headphone cords: an old globe, one your mother had when she was young. Some of the country names have changed since then, and some of the shapes don’t quite match those on the maps at school. Sometimes you imagine the globe isn’t Earth at all, but a planet a trillion lightyears away that [[just so happens|Almost Earths]] to be like Earth.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Bedroom]]
[[(from a <i>real</i> library)|Library]]
<<if $curtains eq "no">><<set $curtains = "yes">>You manuever around the coffee table by memory and gently tug the curtains along their steel runners. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Small sound, minus ten points. Avoided trap, plus ten.)<<endif>> Moonlight pours into the room.\n\n[[Back.|Living Room]]<<else>><<set $curtains = "no">>You draw the curtains closed again. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Subtract ten points for the sound of curtains sliding along runners.)<<set $score = $score - 10>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Living Room]]<<endif>>
It is only the blinking light of the television.\n\nAnd just like that, the spell is broken. The smallest sensation always sends the thing-ghosts scrambling back to their daylight disguises: a jewel of sound, a needle of light, a pillow’s touch. The house will shrivel instantly to its ordinary dimensions and it will be as though nothing [[ever|Girl Television]]
<<if visited("Eidolon") eq 1>>There’s an eye that opens when everyone else is asleep, and the name of that eye is [[Eidolon.|Eidolon]]<<else if visited("Eidolon") eq 2>>There’s an eye that opens when everyone else is asleep, and the name of that eye is Eidolon.\n\nThere’s a seed that sprouts in midnight soil, and the seed spawns a forest, and the name of that forest is [[Eidolon.|Eidolon]]<<else if visited("Eidolon" eq 3)>>There’s an eye that opens when everyone else is asleep, and the name of that eye is Eidolon.\n\nThere’s a seed that sprouts in midnight soil, and the seed spawns a forest, and the name of that forest is Eidolon.\n\nThere is a hole in the sky, and the name of that hole is [[Eidolon.|End]]<<endif>>
<<set $peed = "yes">>You let the water in the sink run for thirty seconds to make sure it’s hot when you wash your hands. In the mirror there’s an apparition that moves whenever you move—but it couldn’t possibly be you. You are solid: You have skin and bones and there is blood rushing in your veins. The thing in the mirror is barely there, a loose bundle of shadow stitched ineptly with spider silk. You don’t like looking at it, or it looking at you with its nothings for eyes.\n\nYou shut the door quietly behind you and find yourself again in the [[hallway.|Hall]]
<<if visited("Hug")>><<if visited("Finish Room") eq 1>>[[Later, she tucks you wordlessly into bed.|Finish Room]]<<else if visited("Finish Room") eq 2>>Later, she tucks you wordlessly into bed.\n\n[[The door clicks shut behind her.|Finish Room]]<<else if visited("Finish Room") eq 3>>Later, she tucks you wordlessly into bed.\n\nThe door clicks shut behind her.\n\n[[Your mind slowly unspools.|Finish Room]]<<else if visited("Finish Room") eq 4>>Later, she tucks you wordlessly into bed.\n\nThe door clicks shut behind her.\n\nYour mind slowly unspools.\n\n[[You whisper to the shadows:|Eidolon]]<<endif>><<else>><<if visited("Finish Room") eq 1>>[[The door clicks shut behind you.|Finish Room]]<<else if visited("Finish Room") eq 2>>The door clicks shut behind you.\n\n[[You slip soundlessly into bed.|Finish Room]]<<else if visited("Finish Room") eq 3>>The door clicks shut behind you.\n\nYou slip soundlessly into bed.\n\n[[Your mind slowly unspools.|Finish Room]]<<else if visited("Finish Room")>>The door clicks shut behind you.\n\nYou slip soundlessly into bed.\n\nYour mind slowly unspools.\n\n[[You whisper to the shadows:|Eidolon]]<<endif>><<endif>>
<<if $flowers eq 0>>Two flowers spring forth, alien jack-in-the-boxes, from the vase’s fluted, narrow, flare-rimmed neck. <<if visited("Flowers")>><<set $flowers = 1>>You slip the stem of the flower you procured in the hallway into the slender vase and hear a miniscule click.<<endif>><<else if $flowers gte 1>>Three flowers spring forth, alien jack-in-the-boxes, from the vase’s fluted, narrow, flare-rimmed neck.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Rolltop Desk]]
[[Moths with tails like twin tear tracks,|Rather Not]] [[moths with abdomens as thick as thumbs,|Rather Not]] [[moths in drab camoflague,|Rather Not]] [[moths spattered with paint,|Rather Not]] [[moths textured like tree bark,|Rather Not]] [[moths with origami wings,|Rather Not]] [[moths mottled like ocelots,|Rather Not]] [[moths striped like lionfish,|Key]] [[moths swathed in bulky furs,|Rather Not]] [[moths with eyes as wide as owls’,|Rather Not]] [[moths wearing human masks.|Rather Not]]\n\n[[Back.|Drawing Room]]
The china and the hutch both used to belong to your grandmother—your father’s mother, that is—when she was alive. She painted all the china herself by hand; you guess she must have been an <<if visited("Forest")>>artist,<<else>>[[artist,|Artist]]<<endif>> although no one on your father’s side of the family talks about her much, so you have yet to confirm this hypothesis. You have never once eaten from the plates or drunk from the cups. They’re too valuable, your mother always says; they’re too [[fragile.|Fragile]]\n\n[[Back.|Dining Room]]
<<set $librarykey = 1>><<if visited("Key") eq 1>>This one is different. You pull out the pin; it’s slightly heavier than you were expecting. Behind the moth, hanging from the pin, is a tiny key. You take the key and slide the pin carefully back into its hole in the wall.<<else>>You already have the key. No reason to risk breaking its wings.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Moths]]
<<set $darkplanet = "yes">>There is a hole in the sky.\n\nIt’s quite a large hole, three or four times the size of the moon at least. <<if visited("Window") gte 2>>You aren’t sure how you missed it before.<<endif>> You [[wonder|Black Hole]] what it could possibly be.
<i>the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("Shadows Page Four")>>[[the|Shadows Page Four]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("Your Voice")>>[[the|Your Voice]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("To Page Two")>>[[the|To Page Two]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("Shadows Page Two")>>[[the|Shadows Page Two]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("To Page Four")>>[[the|To Page Four]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the</i>\n\n[[Previous Page.|The]] [[Next page.|The Page Three]]\n\n<<if $spines eq 0>>[[Back.|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[Back.|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[Back.|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[Back.|Three Spines]]<<endif>>
--Let the player undo moves? (on / off)\n--In Sugarcane, this enables the browser's back button.\n--In Jonah, this lets the player click links in previous\n--passages.\n\nUndo: on\n\n--Let the player use bookmarks? (on / off)\n--This enables the Bookmark links in Jonah and Sugarcane\n--(If the player can't undo, bookmarks are always disabled.)\n\nBookmark: on\n\n--Obfuscate the story's HTML source to prevent possible\n--spoilers? (swap / off)\n\nObfuscate: off\n\n--String of letter pairs to use for swap-style obfuscation\n\nObfuscateKey: wamxkbfctjuodqevipzlsgnrhy\n\n--Include the jQuery script library? (on / off)\n--Individual scripts may force this on by\n--containing the text 'requires jQuery'.\n\njQuery: off\n\n--Include the Modernizr script library? (on / off)\n--Individual scripts/stylesheets may force this on by\n--containing the text 'requires Modernizr'.\n\nModernizr: off\n
You don’t think it’s a black hole, or you and the rest of the earth along with you probably would have been sucked into its vortex by now. Besides, it’s moving. If you stare long enough and don’t blink, you can see the dark spot drift horizontally across the sky, absorbing the protozoan stars like a baleen whale straining the depths of the ocean.\n\nIt’s impossible to tell how far away the dark spot is, whatever it is. It could be floating just over the roofs of the houses, or it could be on the opposite side of the galaxy.\n\nYou feel faint and slightly giddy as you [[back away|Hall]] from the window.
You blink three times. You set the family picture back next to the [[television.|Television]]
<<if visited("Fairytales") eq 1>><em>After that they went up into the two great rooms, where was the best and richest furniture; they could not sufficiently admire the number and beauty of the tapestry, beds, couches, cabinets, stands, tables, and looking-glasses, in which you might see yourself from head to foot; some of them were framed with glass, others with silver, plain and gilded, the finest and most magnificent ever were seen. And sister Anne said: ‘I see nothing but the sun, which makes a dust, and the grass, which looks green.’ Next morning he asked her for the keys, which she gave him, but with such a trembling hand that he easily guessed what had happened.</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 2>><em>He travelled one day, he travelled two days; at daybreak on the third day he saw a palace grander than the first two, and near the palace stood an oak, and on the oak sat a raven. But the moment he had driven the mares afield, they cocked up their tails, and away they tore across the meadows in all directions. The raven sprinkled them with the Water of Death—the pieces joined together, the body became whole. The Prince arose and returned home. Another year went by. Down flew the raven from the oak, smote upon the ground, turned into a brave youth, and cried aloud:</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 3>><em>One lovely summer evening, as they sat together on a shady lawn shaped like a star, from which radiated twelve splendid avenues of trees, the Queen looked round and saw a charming peasant-girl approaching by each path, and what was still more singular was that everyone carried something in a basket which appeared to occupy her whole attention. ‘I thought,’ said she, ‘that my little daughter had changed into a bouquet of roses, and that as I held it in my hand a bird swooped down suddenly and snatched it from me and carried it away.’ And then mounting again into her chariot she swiftly disappeared.</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 4>><em>One night, when she was lying in her pretty little bed, an old toad crept in through a broken pane in the window. Next night she crept out again to him. In the middle of the path lay a dead swallow, his pretty wings pressed close to his sides, his claws and head drawn under his feathers; the poor bird had evidently died of cold. The sun shone brightly down upon her, and the swallow asked her if she would go with him; she could sit upon his back. ‘Perhaps it was he that sang to me so prettily in the summer,’ she thought. ‘Tweet, tweet!’ sang the bird, and flew into the green wood.</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 5>><em>Shuddering with horror at his discovery he turned back into the village street, hoping to meet some one who could tell him of the days of old. But scarcely was he seated firmly on the shell, when the turtle proposed that they should not return to the shore at once, but go under the sea, and look at some of the wonders that lay hidden there. He held the empty box in his hand, and as he looked he saw that the fresh hand of youth had grown suddenly shrivelled, like the hand of an old, old man. He hid the box safely in his garments, seated himself on the back of the turtle, and vanished in the ocean path, waving his hand to the princess.</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 6>><em>Whilst they were discussing the subject, one of the chamberlains appeared to inform the queen that the bay was covered with ships. She took him in her arms, and after playing with him for a little put him down again, when he started off in front of her, looking round from time to time as though begging her to follow. She sank right through the earth and found herself in a desert place with nothing but rocks and trees and no sign of any human being. She spent the whole day near the fountain, but as night drew on she wondered what she should do, when she noticed that the little dog was pulling at her dress.</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 7>><em>She was so unhappy that she felt as if the walls would stifle her, so she wandered out into the garden, and threw herself down on a grassy bank, under the shade of a lime tree. Then she vanished, and was never seen again, nor the wonder-working basket either. The guests were coming thick and fast, when suddenly there drove up a splendid coach drawn by six cream-coloured horses, and out of it stepped a young lady dressed in garments that shone like the sun. The old woman stood thinking for a little: then she drew something from the folds of her dress, and, undoing a number of wrappings, brought out a tiny basket made of birch-bark.</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 8>><em>The trees were so thick and the wood so dark, that he paused for a moment and listened, straining his ears to catch some sound to break a silence which almost frightened him. When he woke up he saw something strange lying on a bank a little way off, amidst long trails of pink roses. Two eyes of flame came creeping nearer, nearer, and two fiery tongues were stretching themselves out closer, closer, to the little birds who were trembling and shuddering in the farthest corner of the nest. The prince instantly gave chase, and where the stag led he followed, till at length he found himself in the depths of the forest, where no man before had trod.</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 9>><em>‘Where is the princess?’ ‘Here, in my arms,’ replied the fox. All day long the boy stood at the window, looking over the sea by which the princess must travel; but there were no signs of her, not even the tiniest white sail. And, as he stood, soldiers came and laid hands on him, and led him up to the cask, where a big fire was blazing, and the horrid black pitch boiling and bubbling over the sides. ‘Kiss me,’ said the Sister of the Sun; and the youth obeyed her, but still without looking up. And she took him to a wild heath, where the dead were lying as they fell, waiting for burial.</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 10>><em>Quite by accident he caught sight of her white skin shining through the bushes, and at the same instant she heard a twig snap under his feet. Gently stooping over him she kissed his forehead, and at her touch he awoke. ‘She shall not escape me again,’ cried the prince. The queen had never before heard an animal speak, and was struck dumb with surprise. Then she opened her mouth and let her tongue hang out, as if she were dying of thirst, and the prince, as she expected, hastened to the stream to get her some more water. The queen hastened to the marble tower, and told her daughter of the sad state of the prince. ‘How would you like to have a husband like that?’ asked the queen, laughing.</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 11>><em>One day, as he was sitting in the summer-house in the garden, making his ball run all along the walls and catching it again, he noticed an old woman with an earthen pitcher coming to draw water from a well which stood in a corner of the garden. He stood speechless for an instant before he ventured to touch her hand, when, to his amazement, he found that she was fashioned out of wood. Suddenly his eye fell on some pieces of wood in a corner and, being very clever with his fingers, he had soon set up a perfect statue of a girl about fourteen years old. She was sitting before her mirror, combing her curls, when amongst her raven locks she found a long white hair! ‘Once upon a time,’ said the nightingale, ‘there lived a woman who was so beautiful that every man who saw her fell in love with her.’</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") eq 12>><em>So, taking her son on her arm, and hanging a little earthen pot for cooking round her neck, she left her house with its great peacock fans and slaves and seats of ivory, and plunged into the forest. For seven days she wandered about, eating only the fruit that hung from the trees above her, and every night she climbed up and tucked herself safely among the creepers which bound together the big branches, so that neither lions nor tigers nor panthers might get at her. Of course the neighbours had a great deal to say about the house which had been built so quickly—so very quickly—on the outskirts of the town, and invented all kinds of stories about the rich lady who lived in it. Then the people of the town cut off her hand, and turned her into the forest.</em><<else if visited("Fairytales") gt 12>>The other books are too far from the ladder for you to reach them.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Above]]
<i>She took down a book with a brown binding and opened to a random page. There was a story about a boy who tries to steal a golden hen from a maiden dressed in sunlight; later he pricks her palm with a pin and [[drinks|Drink Page Three]] a bead of her blood and marries her and they live happily ever after.</i>\n\n<<if $spines eq 0>>[[Back.|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[Back.|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[Back.|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[Back.|Three Spines]]<<endif>>
When you flip the switch nothing happens. Then the light bulb throbs and spits and sputters out. The darkness glows the color of cinders for a moment, cools to an ashy gray, and fades into a black several shades deeper than the one before.\n\nWell, you can always [[use the bathroom|Use]] in the dark.
[[“This way,”|Two Girls]] a voice whispers in your ear.
<<if $dininglight eq "yes">>You can feel the heat of her glare. Better turn out the light.\n\n[[Back.|Girl Living Room]]<<else>><<if $curtains eq "yes">><<if visited("Girl Dining Light") gte 1>><<if $curtaintalk eq "no">><<set $curtaintalk = "yes">>“How about now? Is that any better?”\n\n“No, not especially,” she says peevishly.\n\n“But I turned off all the lights. It’s just moonlight now.”\n\nShe doesn’t respond or shift; her eyes continue to emit rays of starry heat. [[You sigh.|Girl Living Room]]<<else>>You can feel the heat of her glare. Better close the curtains.\n\n[[Back.|Girl Living Room]]<<endif>><<else>>You can feel the heat of her glare. Better close the curtains.\n\n[[Back.|Girl Living Room]]<<endif>><<endif>><<endif>>
[[“He’s coming.”|He's Coming]]
<i>You cried out and recoiled from <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The Page Three]]<<else>>the<<endif>> light, and then you were gone. Before she could glimpse your face, before she could glimpse you at all, you fled with the rest of the [[shadows|Shadows Page Four]] beneath the bed where the lamp’s amber beams could not penetrate.\n\n“What did you do to me?” [[Your voice|Your Voice]] was smothered by the shadows huddling with you, shielding you with their feathery moth wings.</i>\n\n[[Back.|Three Spines]]
<<if not visited("Girl China")>>You have never eaten from the plates, or drunk from the cups, it’s true. \n\n<<endif>>But you have <<if not visited("Fragile")>>[[touched|Exactly]] them before.<<else>>touched them before.\n\nAnd although you like to think they are made of a substance more delicate than eggshell, you know that isn’t really the case.\n\nYou know [[exactly|Exactly]] how fragile they are.<<endif>>
[[A plate shatters.|Angry]]
<<if visited("Two Girls") eq 1>>[[. . .|Two Girls]]<<else if visited("Two Girls") eq 2>>. . . Two girls [[run|Run]] hand in hand, laughing, through the empty halls of a dead king’s palace.<<endif>>
<<if visited("Where Did You Go") eq 1>>[[You are alone.|Where Did You Go]]<<else>>Darkness.\n\nA pleasant [[breeze|Breeze]] is blowing.\n\n<<if visited("Static")>>In the distance, the sound of wind through trees.<<else>>In the distance, a sound like [[television static.|Static]]<<endif>><<endif>>
<<silently>>\n<<set $outofbed = "no">>\n<<set $books = visited("Books")>>\n<<set visited("Something")>>\n<<set $peed = "no">>\n<<set $darkplanet = "no">>\n<<set $hole = 0>>\n<<set $hall = 0>>\n<<set $game = "no">>\n<<set $score = 0>>\n<<set $curtains = "no">>\n<<set $clock = 0>>\n<<set $homework = "no">>\n<<set $reading = "no">>\n<<set $click = 0>>\n<<set $dialog1 = 0>>\n<<set $dininglight = "no">>\n<<set $paperplates = "no">>\n<<set $pizza = "no">>\n<<set $refrigerator = "no">>\n<<set $cupboard = 0>>\n<<set $glass = "no">>\n<<set $container = "no">>\n<<set $thirsty = "yes">>\n<<set $watered = "no">>\n<<set $bread = "no">>\n<<set $peanutbutter = "no">>\n<<set $toasting = 0>>\n<<set $eaten = "no">>\n<<set $today = "no">>\n<<set $offdresser = "no">>\n<<set $kneebump = "no">>\n<<set $curtaintalk = "no">>\n<<set $almostearth = "no">>\n<<set $button = 0>>\n<<set $palacehall = 0>>\n<<set $librarykey = 0>>\n<<set $task = 0>>\n<<set $book = 0>>\n<<set $tasktwo = 0>>\n<<set $taskthree = 0>>\n<<set $kingqueen = "no">>\n<<set $sandwich = "yes">>\n<<set $emptyplate = "no">>\n<<set $dumbwaiter = 0>>\n<<set $dumbnapkin = "no">>\n<<set $idea = 0>>\n<<set $gallerykey = 0>>\n<<set $note = "no">>\n<<set $spines = 0>>\n<<set $flowers = 0>>\n<<set $finish = 0>>\n<<set $bathroomlight = 0>>\n<<set $motherkey = 0>>\n<<set $writestory = 0>>\n<<set $drawers = 0>>\n\n<link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Gentium+Basic' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'>\n<<endsilently>>[[Eidolon|Something]]\nby A.D. Jansen
<<if $dumbwaiter gte 1>><<if $dumbwaiter lt 3>><<set $dumbwaiter = $dumbwaiter + 1>><<endif>><<endif>><<if visited("Parlor") eq 1>>You push open the door and step [[inside.|Parlor]]<<else>><<if $dumbwaiter eq 3>><<set $dumbwaiter = 4>>Somewhere, a bell dings.\n\n<<endif>>Four high back chairs<<if visited("Dolls")>>, three of which are presently [[occupied,|Dolls]]<<endif>> surround a square [[table.|Tea Table]] Four square [[picture frames|Paintings]] adorn the four walls. <<if visited("Dumbwaiter Explanation")>>To your right is a [[dumbwaiter.|Dumbwaiter]]<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited("Parlor") gte 3>>The door at your back leads to the [[hallway,|Palace Hall]] <<if visited("Gallery Door")>>while the other leads to the [[gallery.|Gallery Door]]<<else>>while the other leads [[somewhere else.|Gallery Door]]<<endif>><<else>>Across the room, another [[door.|Gallery Door]]<<endif>><<endif>>
<<if visited("Hello") eq 3>>“Hello?”<<else>>[[“Hello?”|Hello]]<<endif>> you call out to her. [[“Where did you go?”|Where Did You Go]]
Your eyes are drawn to a simple equation she has sketched in the margin: \n\n√-1 = -1\n\n[[Back.|Eye-marked]]
The bin contains several wadded up [[sheets of paper.|Sheets of Paper]]\n\n[[Back.|Writing Room]]
All the dishes in the world are blinking at you. You sink to the floor.\n\n“Come on now,” says the voice. “They don’t bite. They don’t even feel pain! You’re good at breaking things, I can tell. It’s probably all you’re good for. So go ahead. Smash the whole lot.”\n\nYou curl into a ball. [[“No.”|No]]
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<<if visited("Bananas") eq 1>>You snap one banana off from the bunch <<if $game eq "yes">>(should have seen that sound coming—minus ten)<<set $score - 10>><<endif>> and examine it under the light. It’s all mottled with brown spots; there’s hardly any yellow left. You aren’t fond of brown spots. You put it back with the other bananas on the shelf.\n\n[[Back.|Cupboard]]<<else>>The bananas are covered in brown spots. You’d rather not eat them.\n\n[[Back.|Cupboard]]<<endif>>
Under the dark canopy of the lampshade is a pair of reading glasses, a novel sticking out a bookmark tongue, and an analog [[alarm clock radio,|Clock Radio]] the dial aglow. The side table has a single [[drawer.|Side Table Drawer]]
<<if not visited("China")>>The china and the hutch both used to belong to your grandmother—your father’s mother, that is—when she was alive. She painted all the china herself by hand; you guess she must have been an artist, although no one on your father’s side of the family talks about her much, so you have yet to confirm this hypothesis. You have never once eaten from the plates or drunk from the cups. They’re too valuable, your mother always says; they’re too fragile.\n\n<<endif>><<if visited("What Do You Think") eq 1>>[[“Well?”|What Do You Think]] you ask.<<else>>“Well?” you ask. “What do you [[think?”|Perfect]]<<endif>>
<<if $motherkey eq 0>>Still locked.\n\n[[Back.|Finish Hall]]<<else>>You turn the key in the lock and twist the handle. \n\nYou step [[inside.|Locked Room]]<<endif>>
<<silently>><<if $button eq 0>><<set $button = 1>><<else if $button eq 1>><<set $button = 2>><<else if $button eq 2>><<set $button = 0>><<endif>><<endsilently>>You press the button and the bottoms of your feet tingle.\n\n[[Back.|Button]]
You lead the girl into the hallway where the moon topples heavy silver ingots across the carpet. But you can’t linger here; the girl will wake your mother if given the chance. You make your way to the staircase, glancing once over your shoulder to make sure the girl is [[following.|Following]] \n\n<<if $curtains eq "no">><<if $dininglight eq "no">>[[“Down here,”|Down Here]]<<else>>[[“Down here,”|Girl Living Room]]<<endif>><<else>>[[“Down here,”|Girl Living Room]]<<endif>> you whisper. “Watch out for creaky steps.”
There’s a spindly lamp craning its neck over the [[math homework|Homework]] you were trying to finish before you went to bed. The other objects cluttering the desk are swallowed up in shadow.\n\n[[Back.|New Room]]
Fine—the last three times.\n\n[[Back.|Homework]]
<<if $bread eq "no">><<set $bread = "yes">>You take down the loaf of bread and set it on the counter by the toaster.\n\n[[Back.|Cupboard]]<<endif>>
<<set $click = visited("Click")>><<if $click eq 1>>The door clicks shut behind you.\n\n<i>[[There is a hole in the sky.|Click]]</i><<else if $click eq 2>>The door clicks shut behind you.\n\n<i>There is a hole in the sky.</i>\n\nYou whisper the words [[once,|Click]]<<else if $click eq 3>>The door clicks shut behind you.\n\n<i>There is a hole in the sky.</i>\n\nYou whisper the words once, [[twice,|Click]]<<else if $click eq 4>>The door clicks shut behind you.\n\n<i>There is a hole in the sky.</i>\n\nYou whisper the words once, twice, [[three times.|Click]]<<else if $click eq 5>>The door clicks shut behind you.\n\n<i>There is a hole in the sky.</i>\n\nYou whisper the words once, twice, three times.\n\n[[The shadows drink your voice to the last drop.|Bed]]<<endif>>
She is stooped; her hands are withered; her hair has gone white, the only [[color|White]] here that is not gray. You have been walking for too long and are very tired. Maybe you, too, have grown old. You don’t dare look at your hands.\n\nThe four planes still extend endlessly, funnelling you [[forward.|Forward]]
<<if visited("Tea Table") eq 1>>It would seem you are intruding on a meal.\n\n<<endif>>The table is laid like a solar system in miniature, the bulbous teapot a sun, the four plates planets, the moon-colored saucers moons. The cups on the saucers are filled with steaming tea, the plates decorated with crustless sandwiches.\n\n<<if visited("Dolls")>>A place at the table has been [[prepared|Place]] for you.<<else>>Around the table sit three [[dolls.|Dolls]]<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Parlor]]
<<set $curtains = "no">>Through the living room window you squint up at the night sky. The stars sway almost imperceptibly, like ropes of kelp in an underwater forest. No hole in the sky. You’re looking from the wrong angle, or else what you saw before was some kind of hallucination. The [[curtains|Girl Close Curtains]] hang down with the leaden solemnity of a funeral pall. \n\n[[Back.|Girl Living Room]]
<<if visited("Living Room") gte 1>><<if visited("Girl Living Room") eq 1>>The living room is as you left it.<<endif>> <<if $dininglight eq "yes">>Light filters in from the [[dining room|Girl Dining Room]] and falls across the coffee table. In the corner of the room the television set is <<if visited("Girl Living Room") eq 1>>still<<endif>> blinking.\n\n<<if visited("Lingers") eq 0>><<if visited("Girl Living Room") gte 2>>The girl [[lingers|Lingers]] in a triangle of shadow at the foot of the stairs.<<else>>The girl doesn’t follow you into the room. She [[lingers|Lingers]] in a triangle of shadow at the foot of the stairs.<<endif>><<else>>The girl sits [[stubbornly|Stubbornly]] at the bottom of the stairs.<<endif>>\n<<else>>The [[curtains|Girl Curtains]] are <<if visited("Girl Living Room") eq 1>>still<<endif>> drawn back. A slant of pearly light falls across the coffee table. In the corner of the room the television set is <<if visited("Girl Living Room") eq 1>>still<<endif>> blinking.\n\n<<if visited("Lingers") eq 0>><<if visited("Girl Living Room") gte 2>>The girl [[lingers|Lingers]] in a triangle of shadow at the foot of the stairs.<<else>>The girl doesn’t follow you into the room. She [[lingers|Lingers]] in a triangle of shadow at the foot of the stairs.<<endif>><<else>>The girl sits [[stubbornly|Stubbornly]] at the bottom of the stairs.<<endif>><<endif>><<endif>>
You spread flat a<<if visited("Sheets of Paper") gt 1>>nother<<endif>> sheet of paper<<if visited("Sheets of Paper") eq 1>> covered in a fluid, florid script.<<else>>.<<endif>>\n\n<<if visited("Sheets of Paper") eq 1>><i>She was shocked to discover that the clock had no hands. But how could this be? She had had the clock since childhood; she had used it to tell the time almost daily for the greater part of her life. But what, then, had happened to them? Clock hands did not simply up and disappear.</i><<else if visited("Sheets of Paper") eq 2>><i>But the clock did not have hands. Odd, she thought, in her half-dreaming state, but she did not stop to question where they might have gone; instead she continued past the clock to the door. But when she tried to open the door her hand slipped on the handle as though made of butter, and abruptly she awoke.</i><<else if visited("Sheets of Paper") eq 3>><i>She wondered if someone had stolen the hands. She could not imagine how else a set of clock hands would vanish. Yes, someone must have slipped into her room, opened the clock face, and taken them. But who? And, perhaps more importantly, why? It was such an absurd thing to do.</i><<else if visited("Sheets of Paper") eq 4>><i>The clock had no hands. No—the clock had hands, she was sure of it. She would not even entertain the absurd notion that they had gone missing. Considering the illogic of the situation, she was almost certainly dreaming—and with this realization, she woke with a start.</i><<else if visited("Sheets of Paper") eq 5>><<set $writestory = 1>>The king opened a drawer of his desk and retrieved his newest prize: a cleverly purloined set of clock hands.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Garbage Bin]]
You have no memory of your father’s face. Looking at his picture is like looking at a picture of a [[stranger.|Stranger]]
<<set $hall = 2>><<if $darkplanet eq "yes">>If you stare a long time and don’t blink, you can see the hole, the dark spot, drift horizontally across the sky at the speed of a slow sunset, absorbing the protozoan stars like a baleen whale straining the depths of the ocean.\n\n[[Back.|Hall]]<<else>><<if $peed eq "yes">>You peer out one of the hall’s narrow windows. The snow drapes over the dozing houses like a shroud. A lone tree is spreading wild white fractals over the street. All the lights in all the houses are out.\n\nThere is a [[hole|Hole]] in the sky.<<else>>The world outside the window is entombed in white. The shrubs in the yard, the cars in the driveways, the roofs of the hibernating houses: everything is encased in cold, glittering amber. Only the penetrating glare of the snow illuminates the street. Overhead the stars are bobbing in black, arctic waters.\n\n[[Back.|Hall]]<<endif>><<endif>>
Along the walls you can make out the silvery ghosts of a <<if not visited("Locked Desk")>>[[desk,|Locked Desk]]<<else>>desk,<<endif>> a <<if not visited("Locked Dresser")>>[[dresser,|Locked Dresser]]<<else>>dresser,<<endif>> a <<if not visited("Locked Bookshelf")>>[[bookshelf,|Locked Bookshelf]]<<else>>bookshelf,<<endif>> a <<if not visited("Locked Clock")>>[[clock.|Locked Clock]]<<else>>clock.<<endif>> And a <<if not visited("Locked Bed")>>[[bed.|Locked Bed]]<<else>>bed.<<endif>>
“How do <i>you</i> tell time without a clock?” you snap back.\n\n“Simple. You just think about how much has passed, and then use your fingers.” She holds her thumb and index finger about an inch apart. “See? That’s how long since we met each other.”\n\n“That isn’t telling time! How do you know when it’s time go to bed, or if you’re going to be late for school?”\n\n“School? Me?” She laughs incredulously. “I’m not just some [[commoner,|Commoner]] you know.”
“Take the square root of a positive number. You can only do that with negative numbers, stupid. Here, let me fix it.”\n\nWithout waiting for permission she selects a pencil from a jam jar you’ve stuffed with assorted writing implements and begins to scribble in the notebook. “Wait,” you say, “what are you doing?”\n\n“These questions don’t make any sense.” Still scrawling furiously. “They’re all impossible.”\n\n“Let me see what you’re writing, at least.” You reach for the [[lamp.|Freakout]]
You’ve used this clock to tell the time before.\n\nPractically every day since you were old enough to tell time.\n\n[[The clock has hands,|Hands]] you’re quite sure of it.
“Finished.”\n\nA hot hand clasps yours and a luminous wind sweeps through the room. Through a broadening crack in the darkness a fountain of stars is boiling.\n\n[[“Come with me.”|Through the Door]]
<<if visited("Gallery") eq 1>>The walls of the gallery are coated in [[picture frames.|Picture Frames]]<<else>>Here in the gallery you are a shattered mirror. You are surrounded by <<if visited("Shards") eq 5>>shards<<else>>[[shards|Shards]]<<endif>> of yourself.<<if visited("Shards") eq 1>>\n\nThe pictures are not in chronological order.<<else if visited("Shards") eq 2>>\n\nThe pictures are not in chronological order. They are not in any order that you can discern.<<else if visited("Shards") eq 3>>\n\nThe pictures are not in chronological order. They are not in any order that you can discern. But there must be some secret structure to their organization, some taxonomy dividing these varied moments into different species of you; otherwise how could they be arranged so neatly?<<else if visited("Shards") eq 4>>\n\nThe pictures are not in chronological order. They are not in any order that you can discern. But there must be some secret structure to their organization, some taxonomy dividing these varied moments into different species of you; otherwise how could they be arranged so neatly? If you are wrong, and there is no method to this madness, then—<<else if visited("Shards") eq 5>> \n\n<<if $task eq 2>><<if $tasktwo eq 0>>[[Who are you?|Family Photo]]<<else if $tasktwo eq 1>>There is a [[hole|Portal]] in the room where the family photo used to be.\n\nBehind you, the door to the [[tea room.|Parlor]]<<endif>><<else>>Who are you?\n\nBehind you, the door to the [[tea room.|Parlor]]<<endif>><<endif>><<if visited("Shards") lt 5>>\n\nBehind you, the door to the [[tea room.|Parlor]]<<endif>><<endif>>
She shakes her head. “This is my home. It’s not so bad here, really, when you’ve lived here as long as I have. I’ll deal with my father. Most of the time I’ve got him wrapped around my little finger. And if I need a little company, I suppose I’ve got your book now, haven’t I?”\n\nYou nod. “It’s yours. I’ll bring you more when I come back to visit. I’ll figure out how, I promise.”\n\nShe laughs. “Good luck with that. It’s not as [[easy|Easy]] as I make it look, you know, traveling back and forth.”
Your grandmother’s designs are baroque and strange, nothing like the pastel-pink floral sprays that usually decorate china. She uses bold colors—emerald, crimson, copper, plum—and the vegetation she paints is sinuous and thorny, with birds and insects and spiders nestled in the snarling vines, species you’ve never seen anywhere else, not even in your illustrated encyclopedias. \n\nBut by far the oddest thing about your grandmother’s painting is her fixation on [[eyes.|Grandmother's Eyes]]
The sort of button you might [[press|Push Button]] to summon an elevator.\n\n[[Back.|Button Door]]
<i>The insistent throb of the faucet—or was it the clock?—made reading difficult. Drip drop. [[Tick tock.|Drip Drop]]\n\n“Fine. I’ll let you borrow it. But you have to promise to return it when you’re finished, okay?”\n\n“Deal,” you said, rising sharply from the bed and [[closing the book|Closing the Book]] with a crisp rifle crack.</i>\n\n[[Back.|Three Spines]]
A coffee cup rests on a stone coaster beside a stack of gardening magazines. Weak-necked flowers hang moon-drunk heads out of a fluted vase. Crumpled cigarette stumps crowd a brass ashtray. A folded [[paper|Letter]] sticks halfway out of an envelope.\n\n[[Back.|Living Room]]
You stand on a broad balcony enveloped by a shimmering [[immensity.|Shimmering]]
<i>The the <<if visited("To")>>[[the|To]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("Shadows Page Three")>>[[the|Shadows Page Three]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("Your Voice Page Two")>>[[the|Your Voice Page Two]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("Drink")>>[[the|Drink]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the</i>\n\n[[Next page.|The Page Two]]\n\n<<if $spines eq 0>>[[Back.|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[Back.|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[Back.|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[Back.|Three Spines]]<<endif>>
[[(here seven candles stand trembling before an oval mirror reflecting nothing)|Purpose]]
<<if visited("Slim") eq 1>>As she drags you deeper into the labyrinth, your chances of finding your way out begin to seem very [[slim.|Slim]]<<else if visited("Slim") gte 2>>As she drags you deeper into the labyrinth, your chances of finding your way out begin to seem very slim.\n\nA door swings open [[soundlessly|Soundlessly]] and the girl pulls you inside. [[“Here we are,”|Throne Room]] she announces.<<endif>>
<em>‘Manners are not taught in lessons,’ said Alice. ‘Lessons teach you to do sums, and things of that sort.’\n\n‘And you do Addition?’ the White Queen asked. ‘What’s one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?’\n\n‘I don’t know,’ said Alice. ‘I lost count.’\n\n‘She can’t do Addition,’ the Red Queen interrupted. ‘Can you do [[Subtraction?|Subtraction]] Take nine from eight.’</em>
It’s <<if $clock lte 4>>12:0<<print $clock + 5>>.<<endif>><<if $clock gte 5>><<if $clock lt 55>>12:<<print $clock>>.<<else>> after one o’clock.<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Side Table]]
<<set $finish = 1>><<if visited("Wandering the Forest") eq 1>>You wander the forest for many years, [[alone.|Wandering the Forest]]<<else if visited("Wandering the Forest") eq 2>>You wander the forest for many years, alone.\n\nYou stop to rest beside star-speckled pools and on cushions of satiny moss. You curl up in abandoned nests as large and round as coffee tables and close your eyes. But [[sleep never comes.|Wandering the Forest]]<<else if visited("Wandering the Forest") eq 3>>You wander the forest for many years.\n\nYou stop to rest beside star-speckled pools and on cushions of satiny moss. You curl up in abandoned nests as large and round as coffee tables and close your eyes. But sleep never comes.\n\nYou eat dangling orbs of pumpkin-tasting fruit and small, black, explosively bitter berries. You clamber, catlike, to the tops of the trees and thrust your head out into the open air and squint up at the stars and [[memorize|Memorize]] their positions.<<endif>>
<<if visited("Doesn't Matter") eq 1>>[[The room rumbles.|Doesn't Matter]]<<else if visited("Doesn't Matter") eq 2>> The room rumbles. [[The king draws near.|Doesn't Matter]]<<else if visited("Doesn't Matter") eq 3>>The room rumbles. The king draws near. [[Your decision is made.|Doesn't Matter]]<<else if visited("Doesn't Matter") eq 4>>The room rumbles. The king draws near. Your decision is made.\n\n“No. I’m [[not|Doesn't Matter]] leaving you here.”<<else if visited("Doesn't Matter") eq 5>>The room rumbles. The king draws near. Your decision is made.\n\n“No. I’m not leaving you here.”\n\nYou climb the steps to the throne and begin [[clawing|Tearing]] at the vines.<<endif>>
“Absolutely perfect.” \n\nYou hear her smile spread wider and wider like the crack in a door. \n\n“Just what I was looking for, as a matter of fact.”\n\nA cabinet [[clicks|Come With Me]] softly open.
The lower right corner from your perspective, that is. The puzzle is not a picture of anything—it is entirely blank—so any corner might just as well be the lower right one, depending on which way you look at it.\n\nYou [[check|Check]] under the table and below the two low-slung sofas for the missing piece.
As you lie in bed wondering, your eyes slowly [[adjust|Bedroom]] to the dark.
You walk. Her back straightens and her hair darkens. Here she is spreading a fan; here she is holding a locked box; here she is looking through a telescope. Her skin smooths. Here she is pricking her palm with a pin. She begins to shrink.\n\nYour body floods with energy and you [[run.|Palace Hall]]
It’s the same size as your bed, with the same flower pattern on the sheets and pillowcases.\n\n<<if visited("Locked Desk") + visited("Locked Dresser") + visited("Locked Bookshelf") + visited("Locked Clock") + visited("Locked Bed") eq 5>>[[Back.|Mother End]]<<else>>[[Back.|Locked Room]]<<endif>>
“What’s next? I have all three items. How can I go home?”\n\nShe sits very still and stares into nothing with nothings for eyes. Only her lips move when she speaks. “I really hurt you, didn’t I? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I was only playing. I guess I got carried away. I was so excited to finally have you here with me, after all that time. I’d been waiting for so long. I must be getting tired. Seems like I’ve been awake for literally forever. It’s funny, I was so excited to finally meet you, and now I just want everything to over, so I can forget about you.”\n\n“You don’t have to [[forget.|Forget]] I don’t want to forget about you.”
<<set $reading = "yes">>The book is reminding you too much of your math homework, so you slot it back into its place on the shelf.\n\n[[Back.|New Room]]
<i><<if visited("Living Room") eq 0>>Her throat was dry. She wished she’d gone downstairs for a [[glass of water.|Drink Page Three]]<<else if $thirsty eq "yes">>Her throat was dry. She wished she’d gotten a [[drink|Drink Page Two]] of water when she was downstairs.<<else if $thirsty eq "no">>Her throat was dry despite the water she [[drank|Drink]] when she was downstairs.<<else if $thirsty eq "two">>Her throat was dry despite the water she [[drank|Drink]] in the kitchen. She didn’t dare reach for the glass on the nightstand.<<endif>> When she did finally form the words, they seemed to come from somewhere distant, as though she were a ventriloquist able to cast her [[voice|Your Voice Page Three]] across the snowy crests of the houses, across snow-cloaked peaks impaling snowdrop moons, across <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The]]<<else>>the<<endif>> snow-spattered churning of onyx oceans.</i>\n\n[[Back.|Three Spines]]
[[You smash your mother’s face.|Can't]]
“Of course nobody is very hospitable right now. Everyone’s asleep.” Your fear trickles away like the syrupy gold sand in an hourglass. “Even if it wasn’t the middle of the night, no one would just welcome a stranger into their house. Is that really normal behavior where you come from?”\n\n“No idea.” The girl shifts and something falls from your dresser with a muffled plunk. “This is my [[first time|Usually]] traveling, so pardon me if I’m not the expert. I’ve never even left [[home|Home]] before. Can’t say this experience has made me eager to go off gallivanting again. Had more the opposite effect, in fact.”
<<if visited("Tearing") eq 1>>[[Boom.|Tearing]]<<else if visited("Tearing") eq 2>>Boom.\n\n“What are you doing? You’re throwing away your only chance to escape. I’m not worth it. [[Leave me alone.”|Tearing]]<<else if visited("Tearing") eq 3>>Boom.\n\n“What are you doing? You’re throwing away your only chance to escape. I’m not worth it. Leave me alone.”\n\n[[Boom.|Tearing]]<<else if visited("Tearing") eq 4>>Boom.\n\n“What are you doing? You’re throwing away your only chance to escape. I’m not worth it. Leave me alone.”\n\nBoom.\n\n“You were about to tell me something. Something about another way to get back home. [[What was it?”|Into the Forest]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Last Book") eq 1>>All the pages of this book are [[blank—|Last Book]]<<else if visited("Last Book") eq 2>>All the pages of this book are blank—except for the [[last|Last Book]] page.<<else if visited("Last Book") eq 3>>All the pages of this book are blank—except for the last page.\n\n<i>When the girl woke up, [[something|Last Book]] was passing through the night sky.</i><<else if visited("Last Book") gte 4>>All the pages of this book are blank—except for the last page.\n\n<i>When the girl woke up, something was passing through the night sky.</i>\n\nThere’s [[nothing else|Three Spines]] written here.<<endif>>
<i>She was having a dream when she woke up, but the moment her eyes opened, it diffused through the room like a drop of blood in bathwater. Now it was indistinguishable from the real [[shadows|Shadows Page Two]] surrounding her, the <<if visited("Shadows Page Four")>>[[shadows|Shadows Page Four]]<<else>>shadows<<endif>> of her desk, her dresser, her bookshelf, the clock on the wall. The darkness flickered rhythmically with the swinging of <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The Page Three]]<<else>>the<<endif>> pendulum. She could just barely make out the hands as she passed by on her way to the door: it was midnight.</i>\n\n<<if $spines eq 0>>[[Back.|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[Back.|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[Back.|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[Back.|Three Spines]]<<endif>>
You wonder if the girl can read. <<if visited("Girl Desk") gte 1>>(Maybe she reads backwards, the way she does math.)<<endif>> Even if she can’t, you have a few picture books you could show her. As you search the shelves for something with suitably impressive illustrations, she comes floating over to you, ribbons of grainy light unspooling behind her like the veil of a drowned bride.\n\n“What a pathetic little library,” she says, giving the shelf a push as though expecting its imminent collapse.\n\n“It’s not a [[library,”|Library]] you say. “It’s just my collection of books.”
The draft is at your back, tugging your loose pajama sleeves, inviting you to [[follow.|Follow]]
Now, on the rare occasions when she enters your room, she doesn’t even give the terrarium a disappointed glance.\n\n[[Back.|New Dresser]]
The booming, tinkling cascade builds to a deafening thunder. And then, abruptly, there is no sound but an anxious hum.\n\nIn this lull like a rope pulled taut you realize, without understanding, what she is planning to do.\n\n“No, don’t. [[You’ll wake up—”|Shatter]]
You set off to the <<if visited("Right") gte 2>>right [[again.|Portraits]]<<else>>right.\n\n<<if not visited("Left")>>A series of [[portraits|Portraits]] hangs on the wall.<<else>>The same [[portraits.|Portraits]]<<endif>><<endif>>
<<if visited("Forget") eq 1>>“Somehow I find that hard to believe. Anyway, it’s useless trying to forget. Everything’s useless with this [[hole|Forget]] in me.”<<else if visited("Forget") eq 2>>“Somehow I find that hard to believe. Anyway, it’s useless trying to forget. Everything’s useless with this hole in me.”\n\nIt’s quite a large hole, as large as a heart. It’s in the region of her solar plexus. You aren’t sure how you [[missed it|Forget]] before.<<else if visited("Forget") eq 3>>“Somehow I find that hard to believe. Anyway, it’s useless trying to forget. Everything’s useless with this hole in me.”\n\nIt’s quite a large hole, as large as a heart. It’s in the region of her solar plexus. You aren’t sure how you missed it before.\n\n“I hope it isn’t growing. I don’t want people to notice. It’s kind of embarrassing. I’ve had it since I was little. Sometimes I do things that I don’t understand. It’s like someone else is taking over. Does [[anything like that|Taking Over]] ever happen to you?”<<endif>>
All kinds of clocks: [[grandfather clocks,|Grandfather Clock]] [[cuckoo clocks,|Cuckoo Clock]] clocks for mounting on the wall, clocks for the mantelpiece, [[pocket watches.|Pocket Watch]] And not just clocks: [[hourglasses,|Hourglasses]] too, and [[clepsydrae.|Clepsydra]] All of the timepieces are [[broken.|Broken]]<<if visited("Clocks") eq 1>> \n\nYou pass a [[black riding boot|Boot]] stuffed with severed pendulums—strange vase, stranger bouquet—and arrive at a [[door.|Writing Room Door]]<<else>>\n\n[[Back.|Closet]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Portraits") - visited("Mask") eq 1>>In the first of the portraits she appears to be about three years old. She is dressed like a doll and perched on a cushion.\n\nIn the next she is perhaps a year older and sits in a velvet chair embracing a bouquet of flowers. \n\nIn each painting she is posed differently and her clothing has changed, but always she wears a [[mask.|Mask]]\n\nAs you continue down the hall she ages [[gradually.|Gradually]]<<else>>Again you watch <<if not visited("The King")>>the [[girl|The King]]<<else>>the girl-king<<endif>> grow older until she begins to grow younger. But this time she does so in fast foward; after ten or fifteen minutes of walking you find yourself back where you [[started.|Palace Hall]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Don't Dare") eq 1>>“But enough jokes,” she says. “I don’t have [[much time.”|Don't Dare]]<<else if visited("Don't Dare") eq 2>>“But enough jokes,” she says. “I don’t have much time.” \n\nHer dark shape glides toward [[the bed.|Don't Dare]]<<else if visited("Don't Dare") eq 3>>“But enough jokes,” she says. “I don’t have much time.” \n\nHer dark shape glides toward the bed. You pull the blanket [[tightly|Don't Dare]] around you.<<else if visited("Don't Dare") eq 4>>“But enough jokes,” she says. “I don’t have much time.” \n\nHer dark shape glides toward the bed. You pull the blanket tightly around you.\n\n[[“Well?”|Don't Dare]]<<else if visited("Don't Dare") eq 5>>“But enough jokes,” she says. “I don’t have much time.” \n\nHer dark shape glides toward you. You pull the blanket tightly around you.\n\n“Well? Aren’t you going to [[show me around?”|Show Me]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Forest Door") eq 1>>After a lifetime of searching you find yourself in a virgin [[clearing.|Forest Door]]<<else if visited("Forest Door") eq 2>>After a lifetime of searching you find yourself in a virgin clearing.\n\n[[Birds are whooping.|Forest Door]]<<else if visited("Forest Door") eq 3>>After a lifetime of searching you find yourself in a virgin clearing.\n\nBirds are whooping. [[Beetles ratcheting.|Forest Door]]<<else if visited("Forest Door") eq 4>>After a lifetime of searching you find yourself in a virgin clearing.\n\nBirds are whooping. Beetles ratcheting. [[Moths mobbing swollen flowers.|Forest Door]]<<else if visited("Forest Door") eq 5>>After a lifetime of searching you find yourself in a virgin clearing.\n\nBirds are whooping. Beetles ratcheting. Moths mobbing swollen flowers.\n\nWheeling leaves like a [[kaleidoscope.|Forest Door]]<<else if visited("Forest Door") eq 6>>After a lifetime of searching you find yourself in a virgin clearing.\n\nBirds are whooping. Beetles ratcheting. Moths mobbing swollen flowers.\n\nWheeling leaves like a kaleidoscope. Barbed tongues [[loll|Forest Door]] in yawning mouths.<<else if visited("Forest Door") eq 7>>After a lifetime of searching you find yourself in a virgin clearing.\n\nBirds are whooping. Beetles ratcheting. Moths mobbing swollen flowers.\n\nWheeling leaves like a kaleidoscope. Barbed tongues loll in yawning mouths. \n\nA bulbous, pulpy fruit [[bursts|Forest Door]] at the seams<<else if visited("Forest Door") eq 8>>After a lifetime of searching you find yourself in a virgin clearing.\n\nBirds are whooping. Beetles ratcheting. Moths mobbing swollen flowers.\n\nWheeling leaves like a kaleidoscope. Barbed tongues loll in yawning mouths. \n\nA bulbous, pulpy fruit bursts at the seams and a greenish will-o’-the-wisp [[flickers.|Return]]<<endif>>
You try to locate her in the darkness but her voice is always coming from a different direction as if she were orbiting you rapidly and you begin to feel dizzy and unmoored from the earth. Even if you were to catch her, what would you do? She would slip through your fingers more easily than a minnow.\n\n[[Another crash.|Another Crash]]
When you asked her what she’s storing in there, she said, “Knickknacks.”\n\n[[Back.|Locked Door]]
Actually, you’ve read about something like this before. You think it’s called a [[dumbwaiter.|Dumbwaiter]]
<<if visited("Source") eq 1>>You follow the glistening snail trail of the sound down the hall to a vertical plane of polished [[wood.|Source]]<<else if visited("Source") eq 2>>You follow the glistening snail trail of the sound down the hall to a vertical plane of polished wood.\n\nThe scratching is coming from behind a [[door.|Source]]<<else if visited("Source") eq 3>>You follow the glistening snail trail of the sound down the hall to a vertical plane of polished wood.\n\nThe scratching is coming from behind a door. As you listen the sound stops, and starts, and stops, and [[starts.|Source]]<<else if visited("Source") eq 4>>You follow the glistening snail trail of the sound down the hall to a vertical plane of polished wood.\n\nThe scratching is coming from behind a door. As you listen the sound stops, and starts, and stops, and starts.\n\nYou stand with your ear pressed to the door and your fingers tightened around the handle while time [[stretches.|Twist]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Pen") eq 1>><<set $idea = $idea + 1>><<endif>>You pry the pen from the doll-king’s stubborn fingers<<if $idea eq 6>><<set $note = "yes">> and test it on a corner of the napkin. It works. \n\nYou scrawl a brief [[message.|Message]]<<else>>.\n\n[[Back.|Table King]]<<endif>>
She died a long time before you were born; you’ve only seen her in pictures. <<if visited("Father") gte 1>>(Another stranger for a relative.)<<endif>> You aren’t sure what she died from, but she must not have been very old. At least, she doesn’t look much older than your own mother in the pictures you’ve seen.\n\n[[Back.|China]]
<<if $homework eq "no">>You sit down at your desk and flick on the lamp. If you’re going to be up half the night, you might as well use your time [[wisely.|Question 1]] You don’t want to have to finish up your homework sneakily during English class like the <<if visited("Last Time") eq 0>>[[last time.|Last Time]]<<else>>last three times.<<endif>><<else>>You feel a great sense of accomplishment at having finished your homework with time to spare. You aren’t 100% sure about all your answers, though, and make a mental note to double-check them in the morning. You switch off the lamp and [[douse|New Room]] your room in pitch.<<endif>>
<<if visited("Twist") eq 1>>[[Time snaps.|Twist]]<<else if visited("Twist") eq 2>>Time snaps. Your hand slips on the knob as though made of butter.\n\nOn the other side of the door the scratching stops. There is a long, excruciatingly long scrape, followed by [[footsteps.|Footsteps]]<<endif>>
You soar through a doorway and emerge in a place that is impossibly wide.\n\nAt first your gaze tilts up until the universe tips over and you fear you will be crushed beneath an avalanche of white fire. The hugeness of the sky here is incomprehensible. And every bit of its disturbing span has been overburdened with stars; at any moment space might collapse under the weight of them. A luminous breeze blows here and caresses your skin.\n\nYour eyes follow the slope of the sky down to the [[horizon.|Horizon]]
<<set $hall = 2>><<if $peed eq "yes">>You descend the stairs to the [[living room,|Living Room]] taking care to avoid the creakiest steps. Not so much because you fear waking your mother, although she’d probably be a little grumpy with you, but because traipsing around the house at night is more fun when you try to make the least possible amount of noise. You’ve turned it into a [[game|Game]] of sorts recently. You like to imagine there will be terrible consequences if you are caught.\n<<else>>You’d love to explore your house in the dark, but right now you have to use the bathroom.\n\n[[Back.|Hall]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Insomnia") eq 1>>Whenever your mother mentions insomnia, you imagine a [[seed|Insomnia]] planted deep in the ground.<<else if visited("Insomnia") eq 2>>Whenever your mother mentions insomnia, you imagine a seed planted deep in the ground.\n\nThe symptoms must go something like [[this,|Insomnia]] you’ve decided:<<else if visited("Insomnia") eq 3>>Whenever your mother mentions insomnia, you imagine a seed planted deep in the ground.\n\nThe symptoms must go something like this, you’ve decided: At first you wake up in the middle of the night and don’t stay awake very long, just long enough to pee or sneak downstairs to steal a snack from the refrigerator. A harmless kernel of insomnia buried where no one else can see it. Come morning you might not remember the episode yourself. But then the seed takes root and begins to sprout, sends out sun-hungry shoots towards dawn and dusk. You start to wake up earlier, and fall back asleep later, until before you know it, you take only two short naps each night, like bookends, and then you stop sleeping altogether. [[And then—|Seedling]]<<endif>>
Here is a mass grave for mechanical birds. They have been torn from their trap door cubbyholes and tossed into the hollowed-out tower of a decapitated grandfather clock. They are organs deprived of bodies: little pulseless hearts. \n\n[[Back.|Clocks]]
<<if visited("Almost There") eq 1>>“I’m sorry.” She takes your hand again. “Come on, [[we’re almost there.”|Almost There]]<<else if visited("Almost There") eq 2>>“I’m sorry.” She takes your hand again. “Come on, we’re almost there.”\n\n[[You don’t budge.|Almost There]]<<else if visited("Almost There") eq 3>>“I’m sorry.” She takes your hand again. “Come on, we’re almost there.”\n\nYou don’t budge. [[“I want to go home.”|Almost There]]<<else if visited("Almost There") eq 4>>“I’m sorry.” She takes your hand again. “Come on, we’re almost there.”\n\nYou don’t budge. “I want to go home.”\n\nHer grip [[tightens.|Almost There]]<<else if visited("Almost There") eq 5>>“I’m sorry.” She takes your hand again. “Come on, we’re almost there.”\n\nYou don’t budge. “I want to go home.”\n\nHer grip tightens. “But you just got here. We haven’t had any [[fun|Slim]] yet.”<<endif>>
<<if $toasting gte 1>><<set $toasting = $toasting + 1>><<endif>><<set $clock = visited("Hall") + visited("Living Room") + visited("Looking-glass") + visited("Question 1") + visited("Question 2") + visited("Question 3") + visited("Question 4") + visited("Question 5") + visited("Kitchen")>><<if $dininglight eq "no">><<if $refrigerator eq "no">><<if visited("Kitchen") eq 1>>You stumble into a chair on your way out of the [[dining room.|Dining Room]] <<if $game eq "yes">>(Chairs are alarming loud. Minus twenty points.)<<set $score = $score - 20>><<endif>>\n\n<<endif>>The kitchen is in total darkness apart from the swimming digits of the microwave clock, <<if $clock lte 9>>which read 12:0<<print $clock>>.<<endif>><<if $clock gte 10>><<if $clock lt 60>>which read 12:<<print $clock>>.<<endif>><<endif>> You think you can estimate the refrigerator’s location well enough; opening the [[refrigerator door|Refrigerator]] might provide some additional light. <<if visited("Kitchen") gt 1>>But you’re pretty sure that’s a waste of energy. Maybe you should try turning on the light in the [[dining room.|Dining Room]]<<endif>><<else>>The [[refrigerator door|Refrigerator Door]] hangs slackly open, gushing milky light over the [[sink|Sink]] and the row of [[cupboards|Cupboard]] above the counter. If you stand at the right angle you can see the [[television|Dining Room]] winking at you from a distance. \n\n<<if $clock lte 9>>The digital clock on the microwave reads 12:0<<print $clock>>.<<endif>><<if $clock gte 10>><<if $clock lt 60>>The digital clock on the microwave reads 12:<<print $clock>>.<<endif>><<endif>><<endif>><<else>>Light from the [[dining room|Dining Room]] seeps into the kitchen, illuminating the row of [[cupboards|Cupboard]] above the counter, the [[sink,|Sink]] the [[refrigerator.|Refrigerator]] \n\n<<if $clock lte 9>>The digital clock on the microwave reads 12:0<<print $clock>>.<<endif>><<if $clock gte 10>><<if $clock lt 60>>The digital clock on the microwave reads 12:<<print $clock>>.<<endif>><<endif>><<endif>>
<<if not visited("Long Way")>>“The king of where?”\n\nEither the mirror grows or the girl’s silhouette shrinks. “None of your business,” she says. A bud of silence ruptures. The surface of a bottomless pool shivers. “It’s a place you haven’t heard of,” she continues vaguely. “It’s a [[long way|Long Way]] away.”\n\n“Could you show me on the globe? I’m pretty smart. I know the names of lots of different countries.”<<else>>“The king of where?” You didn’t think kings existed anymore. At least not anywhere near where you live. “You’re going to have to try harder than that to fool me. Even if he were a king, he doesn’t rule this country. He doesn’t have any power here. If I called the police right now there’s nothing he could do to save you.”\n\nA galaxy collapses, a thousand eyes open. The silver mirror trembles.\n\n“Shut up,” the girl says softly. “Shut your worthless mouth, you piece of filth.” Her whole body has gone rigid. Her eyes burn white-hot holes into your head. Her voice quakes. “Apologize. Apologize to me [[now.”|Apologize]]<<endif>>
The soft chime spreads ripples through the liquid quiet of the room.\n\nYou sit up in bed and blink three times. You aren’t sure how long you were lying here, curled up beneath the blanket, or if you ever fell asleep. Something is [[different|Different]] about your room.
<<if $sandwich eq "yes">><<if visited("Sandwich") eq 1>>The bread is as white as angel food cake and, you discover as you pick up one half of the sandwich, as spongy. After administering a taste test (you detect cucumber, cream cheese, cress), you quickly polish off the triangular portion.<<else if visited("Sandwich") eq 2>><<set $sandwich = "no">><<if $eaten eq "no">><<if visited("Living Room")>>You had entirely forgotten your hunger; now you remember. How long has it been since you last ate? <<else>>How long has it been since you last ate? <<endif>><<else>>You are surprised by your own hunger. How long has it been since you had that toast in the kitchen? <<endif>>\n\nYou finish the second half of the sandwich and peck at the crumbs with your fingertips.<<else if visited("Sandwich") gte 3>>You’re never going to eat all of these.<<endif>><<else>><<if $emptyplate eq "no">><<set $emptyplate = "yes">>You [[pick up|What Are You Doing]] the empty plate.<<else if $emptyplate eq "yes">>You’ve already eaten your sandwich.<<else if $emptyplate eq "sandwiches">><<set $sandwich = "yes">>You set your newly replenished supply of sandwiches back down on the table.<<endif>><<endif>><<if $emptyplate eq "no">>\n\n[[Back.|Place]]<<endif>>
<<if $flowers eq 0>>The desk’s slatted, lacquered lid does not budge when you try to lift the knobby handles. The desk must be locked—but you do not see a keyhole, or anything else that resembles a lock mechanism. Below the desktop there are a number of [[drawers|Drawers]] with jangling metal handles. Crowning the desk is a [[vase|Vase]] of flowers.<<else if $flowers eq 1>><<set $flowers = 2>>This time when you try the handles, the wooden carapace lifts smoothly, revealing a pot of ink, a quill, and [[sheaves of paper.|Sheaves]] Below the desktop there are a number of [[drawers|Drawers]] with jangling metal handles. Crowning the desk is a [[vase|Vase]] of flowers.<<else if $flowers eq 2>>A pot of ink, a quill, and [[sheaves of paper|Sheaves]] adorn the desk. Below the desktop there are a number of [[drawers|Drawers]] with jangling metal handles. Crowning the desk is a [[vase|Vase]] of flowers.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Writing Room]]
The princess wears a dark velvet dress with lace frills around the sleeves and collar. Her empty face points away from her parents; her chin is cupped in one hand, while the fingers of her left hand hold a teaspoon in mid-twirl.\n\n[[Back.|Dolls]]
You [[pick up|Parlor]] the plate again.
<<if visited("Down Here") eq 1>>Sometimes, when there is almost no light, a strange phenomenon will occur. [[Things|Down Here]] will reveal their true selves to you.<<else if visited("Down Here") eq 2>>Sometimes, when there is almost no light, a strange phenomenon will occur. Things will reveal their true selves to you. \n\nOrdinary things: decorations, appliances, furnishings. They shed their shapes and leave crumpled [[snakeskins|Down Here]] behind.<<else if visited("Down Here") eq 3>>Sometimes, when there is almost no light, a strange phenomenon will occur. Things will reveal their true selves to you. \n\nOrdinary things: decorations, appliances, furnishings. They shed their shapes and leave crumpled snakeskins behind.\n\nIt is a process like evaporation, only the change is not from liquid to gas, but from masked to maskless. In the almost-dark the house, stripped of all its straight lines, swells to the size of a nebula, riotous thing-ghosts come out to mingle, and you, unwelcome stranger, are reduced to a [[pinprick planet,|Pinprick Planet]] a lone anglerfish lure in this abyssal zone.<<endif>>
The plant is dying. It probably hasn’t been watered for several weeks. <<if $thirsty eq "two">><<if $watered eq "no">>You pour half of your glass of water into the pot.<<set $watered = "yes">><<else>>You hope it can still be saved, but your half-glass of water may have come too late.<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Television]]
[[“I can’t make a door out of thin air, you know.”|What Are You Doing]]
The door opens and you step [[inside.|Writing Room]]
As you climb the final step she leans forward and raises a hand. \n\nThe side of your face opens like a flower and you drop the book. Then she hits you again, harder, and you fall backwards, tumbling down twice, three times as many steps as you climbed.\n\n“Is this your idea of a joke? What am I supposed to do with this?” She flings the book after you. “This is <i>your</i> book. You only lent it to me, remember?” The throne-eyes rain meteor-blows upon your crumpled, broken body. “As I suspected, you couldn’t even complete one simple task without cheating. [[You make me sick.”|Never Said]]
[[(Just right.)|Tea]]
<<if visited("Closet") eq 1>>You push open the door and step [[inside.|Closet]]<<else if visited("Closet") eq 2>>“A storage room?” you wonder as you squeeze sideways between mounds of junk. \n\nNo, not a storage room. It’s really more of a [[graveyard,|Closet]] you decide.<<else if visited("Closet") eq 3>>But not one for people.\n\nAlmost every scrap of space here, apart from a crooked path weaving through the chaos, is occupied by [[clocks.|Clocks]]<<else if visited("Closet") gte 4>>You are in a graveyard for broken [[clocks.|Clocks]] A solitary [[path|Boot]] winds its way through the remains.\n\nAt one end of the path is <<if visited("Writing Room Door")>>the door to the [[writing room;|Writing Room Door]]<<else>>a [[door leading somewhere;|Writing Room Door]]<<endif>> at the other end, the door to the [[hall.|Palace Hall]]<<endif>>
You [[open|The]] to the first page.
The snow drapes over the dozing houses like a shroud. A lone tree is spreading wild white fractals over the street. All the lights in all the houses are out.\n\n[[Back.|Finish Hall]]
[[(the king)|Portraits]]
<<if visited("Forest") eq 1>>Birds are [[whooping.|Forest]]<<else if visited("Forest") eq 2>>Birds are whooping. Beetles [[ratcheting.|Forest]]<<else if visited("Forest") eq 3>>Birds are whooping. Beetles ratcheting. Moths [[mobbing|Forest]] swollen flowers.<<else if visited("Forest") eq 4>>Birds are whooping. Beetles ratcheting. Moths mobbing swollen flowers.\n\nWheeling leaves like a [[kaleidoscope.|Forest]]<<else if visited("Forest") eq 5>>Birds are whooping. Beetles ratcheting. Moths mobbing swollen flowers.\n\nWheeling leaves like a kaleidoscope. Barbed tongues [[loll|Forest]] in yawning mouths.<<else if visited("Forest") eq 6>>Birds are whooping. Beetles ratcheting. Moths mobbing swollen flowers.\n\nWheeling leaves like a kaleidoscope. Barbed tongues loll in yawning mouths. A bulbous, pulpy fruit [[bursts|Forest]] at the seams.<<else if visited("Forest") eq 7>>Birds are whooping. Beetles ratcheting. Moths mobbing swollen flowers.\n\nWheeling leaves like a kaleidoscope. Barbed tongues loll in yawning mouths. A bulbous, pulpy fruit bursts at the seams.\n\nThe eyes never [[blink.|Blink]]<<endif>>
“Of course there’s a whole story.” Did her father collect only half-books? “There shouldn’t be any missing pages.”\n\nShe sits at the edge of your bed with uncharacteristic heaviness and inspects the book thoroughly. “How did you ever find this?” Traces the title with a finger, opens to the beginning. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”\n\n“It’s just an ordinary book,” you say. But the girl isn’t paying attention to you.\n\n[[She’s reading.|Reading]]
You know a door is opening because you can see a broadening blackness in the gray. The darkness is dividing itself into shades: your eyes must be adjusting. You wonder if your pupils, thirsty for the few microscopic droplets of starlight that survive this far indoors, have become hypersensitive, swallowing up your irises, the whites of your eyes. You wonder if you might be undergoing a metamorphosis in this cocoon of darkness, if you might emerge and dry crumpled, colorless wings, a fully-formed creature of the night.\n\n[[Back.|Slim]]
<i>the the the the the the <<if visited("Shadows")>>[[the|Shadows]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("To Page Three")>>[[the|To Page Three]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("Drink Page Three")>>[[the|Drink Page Three]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the <<if visited("Your Voice Page Three")>>[[the|Your Voice Page Three]]<<else>>the<<endif>> the the the the the the the</i>\n\n[[Previous Page.|The Page Two]] <<if not visited("What's The Point")>>[[Next page.|What's The Point]]<<endif>>\n\n<<if $spines eq 0>>[[Back.|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[Back.|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[Back.|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[Back.|Three Spines]]<<endif>>
The forest fills a long pause with rolling sighs. An ecstatic shiver comes over both of you at the same time. The trees are quaking and crackling with a feverish energy. She leaps and kicks the air and shouts at the stars. \n\n“I don’t know why,” she laughs, “but I feel like dancing.”\n\nYou don’t know why, either, but you feel like [[joining her.|Joining In]]
Halfway across the balcony, she stops. Over her shoulder she calls: “Thank you.” And then she is [[gone.|Wandering the Forest]]
<<if visited("Ladder") eq 1>>You [[mount|Ladder]] the bottom rung of the nearest ladder and look up.<<else if visited("Ladder") eq 2>>You mount the bottom rung of the nearest ladder and look up.\n\nIn the distance the two rapier-straight rails [[dissolve|Ladder]] before they can converge on a single point.<<else if visited("Ladder") eq 3>>You mount the bottom rung of the nearest ladder and look up.\n\nIn the distance the two rapier-straight rails dissolve before they can converge on a single point.\n\nAs you climb you begin in your head to [[count:|Ladder]]<<else if visited("Ladder") eq 4>>You mount the bottom rung of the nearest ladder and look up.\n\nIn the distance the two rapier-straight rails dissolve before they can converge on a single point.\n\nAs you climb you begin in your head to count: one, two, [[three . . .|Climbing]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Shatter") eq 1>>You [[reach out|Shatter]] to stop her but she is not where you thought she would be.<<else if visited("Shatter") eq 2>>You reach out to stop her but she is not where you thought she would be.\n\nThe night [[shatters.|Shatter]]<<else if visited("Shatter") eq 3>>You reach out to stop her but she is not where you thought she would be.\n\nThe night shatters. You [[stumble.|Shatter]]<<else if visited("Shatter") eq 4>>You reach out to stop her but she is not where you thought she would be.\n\nThe night shatters. You stumble.\n\nYou hear her mutter what sounds like, [[“Not enough.”|Shatter]]<<else if visited("Shatter") eq 5>>You reach out to stop her but she is not where you thought she would be.\n\nThe night shatters. You stumble.\n\nYou hear her mutter what sounds like, “Not enough.”\n\n“What are you thinking?” you whisper as loudly as it is possible for a human to whisper. “You’re going to wake up the neighbors! And how am I supposed to walk anywhere now [[without—”|Step]]<<endif>>
<<if $bathroomlight eq 0>><<set $bathroomlight = 1>>There is a thin wand of light under the door.\n\n[[Back.|Finish Hall]]<<else if $bathroomlight = 2>>You don’t have to use the bathroom right now.\n\n[[Back.|Finish Hall]]<<endif>>
You have never been afraid of a little darkness. You plunge your hand into the gap up to the wrist. For a moment you appear to be an amputee, but when you withdraw the hand, it is unscathed. You insert your arm up to the elbow and wave the limb around, encountering no resistance.\n\n[[Back.|Gallery]]
(Small sounds include, but are not limited to, footsteps, rustled clothing, audible gulps, heavy breathing, scratching, speaking in a whisper, bumping into something soft, bumping into something sturdy, the sound a light switch makes if you flick it too quickly, the sound a doorknob makes when you turn it too quickly, the creak of a step or floorboard.)\n\n[[Back.|Game]]
<i>The bathroom was at <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The Page Three]]<<else>>the<<endif>> end of a long hall lined with tilted towers of moon. She drifted out of bed and down this corridor, counting the livid stripes on the carpet as she passed them—one, [[two,|To]] three—past the door [[to|Shadows Page Four]] her mother’s room, past the door that was always locked. But when she finally arrived at the bathroom and twisted, her hand slipped on the knob as though made of butter, and she realized she was still in bed, her eyes were still shut. She blinked three times.</i>\n\n[[Back.|Three Spines]]
<i>the the the the? The the the the. The the the the the the the, the the the the the the the the the the the the the; the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the</i>\n\nAn ongoing saga, apparently. [[The plot thickens.|Three Spines]]
Without hesitation you [[stand up,|You'll Wake]] step away from the [[table,|Step Away]] and glance at the [[floor.|Thin Air]]\n\nYou [[raise|Above Your Head]] the plate above your head.
<<if visited("Shards") eq 1>>It is a bright morning in spring and you are seven years old and a shoal of golden flies is simmering on the surface of the wide river, on the other side of which lies another world. Trees sigh and slump waterwards and trace circles in the slow current with gnarled gnome’s fingers and birds dart like minnows between clumps of their limp, windblown hair. You hold a red plastic bucket. You are trying to [[catch|Gallery]]<<else if visited("Shards") eq 2>>You are playing with your dollhouse beneath a star-dusted, angel-crowned evergreen tree in a warm, reddish room where candles sprout in clusters like toadstools. It is early morning and the world outside the window is dyed indigo. There are three members of the doll family: mother, father, daughter. You are putting them to bed one by one. The calm rumble of a familiar voice is followed by a sudden flash; you look up and catch the [[eye|Gallery]]<<else if visited("Shards") eq 3>>You were trying to catch fireflies (they vanish when you open your hands) but now you are sitting by the fire on the lap of somebody whose name escapes you and everyone is smiling for a picture so you do, too, and then you get down as soon as the picture is over because there are no fireflies here, only moths (and, more temptingly, marshmallows); the fireflies, you know, like to stay out where it’s cool and dark and the grass is tall [[and|Gallery]]<<else if visited("Shards") eq 4>> Clapping, camera flashes; rain, lightning. You are shaking all over as you bow. It wasn’t you, it wasn’t you. You forgot how the song began and someone else’s fingers took over. You can feel someone above your shoulder, gazing out over the audience, drinking the applause. You spot your mother trying to look proud. You want to shout to her: It [[wasn’t|Gallery]]<<else if visited("Shards") eq 5>>Your eyes are damp. A man is telling you to smile. You would like to do something to this man to make him never want to smile again. But instead you tell him something you know will make your mother angry; their looks of shock cheer you up a little. You and your mother have been at each others’ throats all morning. She keeps saying, we just need something for this year’s Christmas cards, that’s all; we can’t possibly use the [[old|Gallery]]<<endif>>
She wears a mask in the shape of a moth.\n\nHer long hair falls in a black cataract over a dress of cobweb delicacy.\n\nBeneath the mask unsmiling lips are [[moving.|Poem]]
<em>The Red Queen broke the silence by saying to the White Queen, ‘I invite you to Alice’s dinner-party this afternoon.’\n\nThe White Queen smiled feebly, and said ‘And I invite YOU.’\n\n‘I didn’t know I was to have a party at all,’ said Alice; ‘but if there is to be one, I think I ought to invite the guests.’\n\n‘We gave you the opportunity of doing it,’ the Red Queen remarked: ‘but I daresay you’ve not had many lessons in [[manners|Manners]] yet?’</em>
You pull yourself to your feet and wipe away the blood with a pajama sleeve.\n\n“Well? What are you still doing here? [[Go.”|Palace Hall]]
“Sure you can. Don’t worry about not knowing how to play. The king makes up the rules.”\n\n“It’s not that. [[It’s just—”|It's Just]] It’s just that you don’t deserve to sit in anybody’s throne. [[“I don’t think—”|I Don't Think]]\n\nBut the girl is impatient to play. “Fine.” She takes a step out of the shadows. “Then I’ll be king. [[Move over.”|Move Over]]
A word you only know because of an interest in Greek mythology, which briefly bloomed into a fascination with all of ancient Greece. \n\n[[Back.|Clocks]]
<<set $clock = visited("Hall") + visited("Living Room") + visited("Looking-glass") + visited("Question 1") + visited("Question 2") + visited("Question 3") + visited("Question 4") + visited("Question 5") + visited("Kitchen")>><<if $darkplanet eq "yes">>[[The door clicks shut behind you.|Click]]<<else>><<if $peed eq "yes">><<set $hall = 0>>By the moonlight bleeding through the blinds you can see the hazily sketched charcoal outlines of your <<if $homework eq "no">>[[desk,|New Desk]]<<else>>desk,<<endif>> your [[dresser,|New Dresser]] your <<if $reading eq "no">>[[bookshelf,|New Bookshelf]]<<else>>bookshelf,<<endif>> and your [[bed.|Bed]] The [[door|Hall]] has closed behind you silently of its own accord. \n\n<<if $clock lte 9>>The clock on the wall reads 12:0<<print $clock>>.<<endif>><<if $clock gte 10>><<if $clock lt 60>>The clock on the wall reads 12:<<print $clock>>.<<endif>><<endif>><<else>>You suddenly remember the leftover math problems sitting on your desk. Now is the perfect time to finish them up (a little mental exertion ought to wear you out, help you get back to sleep), but first you should use the bathroom, or you doubt you’ll be able to concentrate.\n\n[[Back.|Hall]]<<endif>><<endif>>
<<if $dininglight eq "no">><<set $dininglight = "yes">>You palm blindly along the wall until you find it. <<if $game eq "yes">><<if visited("Dining Light") eq 1>>(Double avoidance: the dining room’s creaky floorboard <i>and</i> the dining room table. Plus twenty points.)<<set $score = $score + 20>><<endif>><<endif>> The electric chandelier—an octopus of cast-iron ensconcing eight fake candles—flutters to life overhead.\n\n[[Back.|Dining Room]]<<else>><<set $dininglight = "no">>You extinguish the dining room light. <<if $game eq "yes">><<if visited("Dining Light") eq 2>>(A little too quickly: The flick of the switch is audible. Minus ten.)<<set $score = $score - 10>><<endif>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Dining Room]]<<endif>>
The floor beneath them is cold and unyeilding.\n\nYou take a step into nothingness and [[call out.|Call Out]]
<<if visited("Follow") eq 1>>You allow the breeze to usher you through successive sheets of billowing darkness, your hands held out to cushion the impact in case you should encounter a wall. \n\nBut you never do. When you call out again you find that your voice has [[transformed:|Follow]]<<else>>You allow the breeze to usher you through successive sheets of billowing darkness, your hands held out to cushion the impact in case you should encounter a wall. \n\nBut you never do. When you call out again you find that your voice has transformed: its shape is now curiously [[oblong.|Oblong]]<<endif>>
“But you never said—”\n\n“I think I know what I did and didn’t say.” From a sky’s height her star-eyes blaze down. “Well, how do you feel?”\n\nYour cheek is a cloud of spiteful wasps. Your whole body is throbbing. \n\n“Hurts, doesn’t it? That’s what happens when you hit people.” She cocks her head like a bird and taps tapered fingernails on the arm of the throne. “I must be going soft. I’ll let you off the hook this time. But I will [[not|Second Task]] tolerate further cheating.”
<<if visited("Unbound") eq 1>>“I don’t know why you’re trying to help me. I’m the one who [[kidnapped|Unbound]] you, remember? I don’t deserve your help.”<<else if visited("Unbound") eq 2>>“I don’t know why you’re trying to help me. I’m the one who kidnapped you, remember? I don’t deserve your help.”\n\n[[Boom.|Unbound]]<<else if visited("Unbound") eq 3>>“I don’t know why you’re trying to help me. I’m the one who kidnapped you, remember? I don’t deserve your help.”\n\nBoom.\n\n“You’ve got to get off this throne. Can’t you see I’ve got a hole, too? Can’t you see I’ve hurt [[all sorts|Unbound]] of people before?”<<else if visited("Unbound") eq 4>>“I don’t know why you’re trying to help me. I’m the one who kidnapped you, remember? I don’t deserve your help.”\n\nBoom.\n\n“You’ve got to get off this throne. Can’t you see I’ve got a hole, too? Can’t you see I’ve hurt all sorts of people before?”\n\n[[Boom.|Boom]]<<endif>>
Your father has no line. You’ve always had trouble thinking of him as a real person, imagining him moving and speaking and holding you, as he must have done. He’s a feeling more than anything else, a feeling of sadness that seems to well up out of his [[eyes|Father's Eyes]] if you look into them for too long.\n\n<<if visited("Family Photo")>>[[Back.|Family Photo]]<<else>>[[Back.|Portrait]]<<endif>>
<<set $paperplates = "yes">><<if $pizza eq "no">>As you approach the table the floorboards groan beneath your feet<<if $game eq "yes">> (minus ten points)<<set $score = $score - 10>><<endif>>, like the sound of a door swinging on old hinges.\n\nYou pick up the paper plates. You should throw these away.\n\n[[Back.|Table]]<<else>>This time you craftily avoid the creaky floorboards. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Plus ten points—take that!)<<set $score = $score + 10>><<endif>> \n\nYou pick up the paper plates. You should throw these away.\n\n[[Back.|Table]]<<endif>>
It’s the same clock as your clock.\n\n[[Back.|Locked Room]]
<<if visited("Come") eq 1>>[[Her hand flutters.|Come]]<<else if visited("Come") eq 2>>Her hand flutters.\n\n[[The door hinges howl.|Come]]<<else if visited("Come") eq 3>>Her hand flutters.\n\nThe door hinges howl.\n\n[[A thousand eyes slam shut.|Follow Me]]<<endif>>
You were just a toddler back then. Dressed in something candy-colored, hair in pigtails. Your expression is one of wide-eyed bewilderment.\n\n<<if visited("Family Photo")>>[[Back.|Family Photo]]<<else>>[[Back.|Portrait]]<<endif>>
She helps you find a sturdy climbing tree for your descent, lifts you into its scratchy embrace, and watches from the edge of the balcony as you wrap yourself around the thickest limb. “Thank you,” you say. “Thank you for helping me escape.”\n\n“Don’t thank me yet. The forest can be dangerous. You have to become a part of it or you’ll be lost forever. Ask the slugs which mushrooms are good to eat. Give all the birds and flowers names. And never forget what you’re searching for. You’ll know it when you find it.” The breeze runs motherly fingers through her hair. “Alright, I should be [[getting back.”|Getting Back]]
You blink three times. The darkness swirls and foams around you. \n\nEvery night for the past week you’ve found yourself awake at some ungodly hour. You’ve never had trouble sleeping before, and suspect you may have finally developed the dreaded [[“insomnia”|Insomnia]] your mother is always talking about.
<<if visited("Return") eq 1>>[[You blink.|Return]]<<else>>Far away the phosphorescent display of the microwave clock floats and flickers like a will-o’-the-wisp.\n\nIn all your life you have never felt so sleepy.\n\nAs if in a trance, you follow the cyclops eye of the television to the living room and mount the [[staircase.|Finish Hall]]<<endif>>
At the center of each plate, at the bottom of each cup, is an open eye. The thick stems and knotted branches radiate out from these nuclei, reach out, like overgrown lashes. The eyes are dark brown.\n\nYou think that might be the real reason you mother never uses the china. Not because she’s afraid it will break, but because she’s afraid her plate will be watching her while she eats.\n\nWhen you were younger you would <<if visited("Forest") eq 0>>[[stare|Stare]]<<else>>stare<<endif>> at the eyes in the china hutch and they would stare back at you. You always blinked first.<<if visited("Forest") gte 1>>\n\n[[Back.|China]]<<endif>>
(Loud sounds include, but are not limited to, stomping, sneezes, coughs, slammed doors, slammed cupboards, speaking in anything other than a whisper, vocalizations of pain, knocking over something big, knocking over something heavy, knocking over something small and light but made of metal and particularly clangy, flushing the toilet.)\n\n[[Back.|Game]]
<<if visited("Who are you?") eq 1>><<if visited("Living Room") eq 0>>Your throat is dry. You wish you’d gone downstairs for a glass of water.<<else if $thirsty eq "yes">>Your throat is dry. You wish you’d gotten a drink of water when you were downstairs.<<else if $thirsty eq "no">>Your throat is dry despite the water you drank when you were downstairs.<<else if $thirsty eq "two">>Your throat is dry despite the water you drank in the kitchen. You don’t dare reach for the glass on the nightstand.<<endif>> When you do finally form the words, they seem to come from somewhere distant, as though you were a ventriloquist able to cast your voice across the snowy crests of the houses, across snow-cloaked peaks impaling snowdrop moons, across the snow-spattered churning of onyx oceans.\n\n[[“Who are you?”|Who are you?]] you whisper.<<else if visited("Who are you?") eq 2>>“Oh good, you can talk.” The girl tilts her head, long hair unfurling like a theater curtain across the moonlit mirror. You can somehow tell a smile is spreading across her face. “I was starting to think you were mute, or deaf, or maybe just not very welcoming of strangers. Nobody is very [[hospitable|Hospitable]] around here, it seems.”\n\nYou notice she has ignored your [[question.|Who are you?]]<<else if visited("Who are you?") eq 3>>“Who are you?” you repeat slowly, firmly.\n\nThe first time you tried to speak you didn’t know if any words would come out. You thought, in your half-dreaming state, that the girl in your room might have stolen your voice. Now you are on equal footing with her, and less afraid.\n\n“Who, me?” The girl laughs: a crackle of static, the flash of a knife, sun dashed to death on river stones. “I’m just a [[visitor.|Normal]] Name’s not important. I was curious and wanted to see what it was like here, that’s all. I won’t be staying for very long.”<<endif>>
<<set $pizza = "finished">>You line your plastic container with paper towels from the holder standing upright on the counter, transfer the pizza to its new home, and place the container in the fridge. <<if $game eq "yes">>(All without making a sound. You wish you could award yourself twenty points for this achievement—but rules are rules.)<<set $score = $score + 10>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Refrigerator]]
She said there were two sets of numbers, running parallel to each other like railroad tracks, real and imaginary, but since this was too complicated for most kids to understand, they only taught you about one set in school, the real ones.\n\nYou told your mother it wasn’t too complicated for [[you|Bedroom]] to understand.
You explain the borders between countries, the divisions between land and ocean, lines of longitude and latitude, the equator, the prime meridian. She comprehends all of these concepts quite readily, but cannot seem to understand the idea of the [[International Date Line|Date Line]] no matter how basically you describe it.
<<if $drawers eq 0>>You try each and every drawer. There’s nothing inside them.<<else if $drawers eq 1>>Once again you open all of the drawers in sequence. In the last of them, you find a set of [[clock hands.|Clock Hands]]<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Rolltop Desk]]
You [[open|Shadows]] near the middle.
A.D. Jansen
“Usually when you take a trip somewhere, you stay at a hotel, or a resort, or someplace like that. Breaking and entering is against the law. I could call the police right now and you could go to jail.”\n\nThe girl’s laugh this time is like a clap of thunder. “Oh, no, I don’t think so. My father’s [[the king,|King]] you know. If anyone laid so much as a finger on me, he’d have <i>them</i> arrested.”\n\nYou are pretty sure kings don’t exist anymore. At least not anywhere near where you live.
It’s been a long time since you’ve entered your mother’s room. The darkness has a different quality here than it does in your own bedroom: chillier and more angular. The curtains are drowned ghosts, bloated and dripping with moonlight. There is a dresser topped with untouched perfume bottles across from the broad queen bed, which you loved to jump on. Beside the bed there is a [[side table|Side Table]] with a lamp. Tangled clothing strews the floor.
<<set $hall = 1>>The door is, unsurprisingly, locked.\n\nYou’ve only asked your mother about the door once, when you were eight or nine. She said she keeps the door locked because she doesn’t want you inhaling any [[asbestos.|Asbestos]] She said the room is for [[storage.|Storage]]\n\n[[Back.|Hall]]
<<if $pizza eq "no">><<if $paperplates eq "no">>The [[pizza box|Pizza]] from dinner is still laying out, along with two [[paper plates.|Paper Plates]]<<else>>The [[pizza box|Pizza]] from dinner is still laying out on the table.<<endif>><<endif>><<if $pizza eq "yes">><<if $paperplates eq "no">>Two [[paper plates|Paper Plates]] from dinner are still laying out on the table.<<else>>There’s nothing left on the dining room table apart from the centerpiece (an eruption of holly, ivy, poinsettia, and blue spruce) and the two stumpy cinnamon-scented candles in glass jars you laid out on a Christmassy cloth some weeks ago. You worked very hard on this bit of seasonal decoration.<<endif>><<endif>><<if $pizza eq "finished">><<if $paperplates eq "finished">>There’s nothing left on the dining room table apart from the centerpiece (an eruption of holly, ivy, poinsettia, and blue spruce) and the two stumpy cinnamon-scented candles in glass jars you laid out on a Christmassy cloth some weeks ago. You worked very hard on this bit of seasonal decoration. You don’t think your mother ever noticed.<<endif>><<endif>><<if $pizza eq "finished">><<if $paperplates eq "yes">>There’s nothing left on the dining room table apart from the centerpiece (an eruption of holly, ivy, poinsettia, and blue spruce) and the two stumpy cinnamon-scented candles in glass jars you laid out on a Christmassy cloth some weeks ago. You worked very hard on this bit of seasonal decoration.<<endif>><<endif>><<if $pizza eq "finished">><<if $paperplates eq "no">>Two [[paper plates|Paper Plates]] from dinner are still laying out on the table.<<endif>><<endif>><<if $paperplates eq "finished">><<if $pizza eq "yes">>There’s nothing left on the dining room table apart from the centerpiece (an eruption of holly, ivy, poinsettia, and blue spruce) and the two stumpy cinnamon-scented candles in glass jars you laid out on a Christmassy cloth some weeks ago. You worked very hard on this bit of seasonal decoration.<<endif>><<endif>><<if $paperplates eq "finished">><<if $pizza eq "no">>The [[pizza box|Pizza]] from dinner is still laying out on the table.<<endif>><<endif>><<if $paperplates eq "finished">><<if $pizza eq "tossed">>There’s nothing left on the dining room table apart from the centerpiece (an eruption of holly, ivy, poinsettia, and blue spruce) and the two stumpy cinnamon-scented candles in glass jars you laid out on a Christmassy cloth some weeks ago. You worked very hard on this bit of seasonal decoration. You don’t think your mother ever noticed.<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Dining Room]]
A crimson tissue paper moon floats in your vision for some seconds after you turn off the light. “Sorry,” you say.\n\n“Never do that again,” says the girl, so close you can feel mist in your ear, so loud a prickly current seizes your body, leaving a film of sweat in its wake. Her voice has regained its usual diamond hardness.\n\n“Well, without light, <i>I</i> can’t see anything.”\n\n“Your version of arithmetic is confusing,” she says, voice drifting away. [[“Show me something else.”|She]]
The vines grow back almost as quickly as you can tear them away. They coil around your wrists as you unbind her ankles.\n\n“In the forest,” she says, “there’s another door, a different kind. One that never closes. I don’t know what you’d have to destroy to make a door like that.” You free her wrists and set to work on the vines around her neck. “Father was keeping it a secret from me, but I found out. I always find out. He’s not very good at keeping secrets. I don’t know where the door is, though, not exactly. You’d never find it. The forest is too big.” \n\n“We’re going to have to try.” Flower petals fill the air like pillow feathers. She is [[unshackled.|Unbound]] But she doesn’t stir.
You aren’t surprised to find one there, tunneling straight through your pajama top, when you look down. You’ve felt it there all along, but you’ve never really gotten a good look at it before. Your eyes were always blinded by daylight. It’s almost a relief to finally see its shape, so curiously familiar, like the period at the end of the sentence that is you[[.|Period]]
<i>Last night when she woke up it had been 11:23, and her mouth had been horribly dry, and she had not fallen back asleep until sometime after 1:48, after three separate trips to <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The Page Three]]<<else>>the<<endif>> kitchen for [[glasses of water.|Drink]] Perhaps, she thought, if she kept a record of these times, an Insomniac’s Logbook, some meaningful pattern would emerge.</i>\n\n<<if $spines eq 0>>[[Back.|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[Back.|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[Back.|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[Back.|Three Spines]]<<endif>>
There is a plaque set in the door. The plaque reads: <<if not visited("Library")>>[[“Library.”|Enter Library]]<<else>>[[“Library.”|The Library]]<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Drawing Room]]
<<if visited("Her") eq 1>>[[It’s her.|Her]]<<else>>She pulls you along wordlessly through a labyrinth of rooms lit only by the sparking echoes of your overlapping footfalls, inhabited only by a serpentine breeze twisting itself into knots in a futile search for the way out. Time, too, is coiling in confusion here, so that the same moment comes more than once and it is impossible to tell how long the two of you have been wandering. As you turn the same sudden corner for the third time, you risk [[breaking|Girl Is Back]] the silence.<<endif>>
<<if visited("Drawing Room") eq 1>>You push open the door and step [[inside.|Drawing Room]]<<else>><<if visited("Drawing Room") eq 2>>“What strange wallpaper,” you think as you enter. \n\n<<endif>><<if not visited("Moth Pattern")>>The walls here are decorated with a [[moth pattern.|Moth Pattern]]<<else>> Hundreds of [[moths|Moths]] have been pinned to the walls here.<<endif>> In the center of the room sit two sofas and a [[card table.|Card Table]] \n\n<<if visited("Drawing Room") gte 3>>Two doors: one leading to the [[hallway,|Palace Hall]] <<if visited("Library Door")>>the other to the [[library.|Library Door]]<<else>>the other leading [[somewhere else.|Library Door]]<<endif>><<else>>In the corner, a [[door|Library Door]] identical to the one through which you entered.<<endif>><<endif>>
Some have been brutalized: chopped with axes, dials cracked, hands snapped off, leaving awkward stubs. Others appear to have been more peaceably taken apart, springs and gears and weights and numerals removed and stowed away in piles of dusty boxes. Beyond the pyres rising steeply on either side, the cadavers of clocks jut like tusks from quilts of cobweb.\n\n[[Back.|Clocks]]
<<if visited("Hands") eq 1>>Could someone have [[stolen|Hands]] them?<<else if visited("Hands") eq 2>>Could someone have stolen them?\n\nBut [[how—|Hands]]<<else if visited("Hands") eq 3>>Could someone have stolen them?\n\nBut how—setting aside, for the moment, the question of why—would one [[go about|Hands]] stealing clock hands?<<else if visited("Hands") eq 4>>Could someone have stolen them?\n\nBut how—setting aside, for the moment, the question of why—would one go about stealing clock hands?\n\nCan the clock can be [[pulled|Pull]] open?<<endif>>
“This is a clock,” you say, moving into the dimmest corner of the room, where a fine sifting of lunar pollen falls silently on the floorboards. You anticipate her testy reply: “I <i>know</i> what a clock is,” or perhaps, “Don’t treat me like a baby.” But she only waits for your explanation. “You use it to tell the time,” you continue uncertainly.\n\nThe girl’s laugh is a box of firecrackers going off at once. <i>“That’s</i> what this thing is for? But telling time is so <i>easy!</i> Why would you need some [[complicated machine|Complicated]] to do it for you?”
[[(here she is a pom-pom-topped, heavy-booted bundle hidden behind a snowflake-spangled scarf)|Purpose]]
<<if visited("King")>><i>There is a hole in the sky.</i>\n\n<<endif>>The girl snorts dismissively. “You’re awfully nosy, aren’t you.”\n\n“You think <i>I’m</i> nosy?” You cannot believe she is serious. “At least I don’t go invading people’s private rooms without permission. <<if visited("King")>>I don’t think your father is a king at all. I think you’re a liar.” You shouldn’t [[continue.|Continue]]<<else>>Breaking and entering is against the law. I could call the police right now and you could go to jail.”\n\nThe girl’s laugh this time is like a clap of thunder. “Oh, no, I don’t think so. My father’s [[the king.|King]] If anyone laid so much as a finger on me, he’d have <i>them</i> arrested.”<<endif>>
<<set $dininglight = "no">>You <<if $curtains eq "no">>[[extinguish|Down Here]]<<else>>[[extinguish|Girl Dining Room]]<<endif>> the dining room light.
“Come with me to [[Eidolon.”|All the Clocks]]
<<if visited("Tea") - visited("Dirigible") - visited("Dip") - visited("Temperature") eq 1>>Your breath creates a smooth obsidian crater in the surface of the ink-thick liquid. The cup is the size and shape of a giant’s thimble, and comfortably warm in your hands. You test the [[temperature|Temperature]] with a small sip. <<else if visited("Tea") - visited("Dirigible") - visited("Dip") - visited("Temperature") eq 2>>The tea has a rich flavor: walnutty with hints of caramel. You drink until the cup is half full.<<else if visited("Tea") - visited("Dirigible") - visited("Dip") - visited("Temperature") eq 3>>Your throat is terribly parched. <<if $thirsty eq "no">>Years have passed since you had that glass of water in the kitchen.<<else if $thirsty eq "two">>Years have passed since you had that glass of water in the kitchen.<<else if $thirsty eq "yes">>Years have passed since you last had something to drink.<<endif>> Forests have crumbled to sand; cities have decomposed, leaving only bone-buildings behind. A storm of black leaves is brewing at the bottom of your cup; the dregs swirl like a murder of crows.<<else if visited("Tea") - visited("Dirigible") - visited("Dip") - visited("Temperature") eq 4>>You drain the last of the beverage.\n\nThe portly teapot at the center of the table leaps up nimbly and, for a moment, hangs in the air like a dirigible. Then it hovers over to your side of the table and, with an elegant dip of its elephantine spout, refills your cup to just below the brim. You resist an absurd urge to clap.<<else if visited("Tea") - visited("Dirigible") - visited("Dip") - visited("Temperature") gte 5>>One cup is enough for now.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Place]]
Looking down into the mesmeric eddying of the gray mist, you begin to feel dizzy. Your sweat-slick grip on the ladder tightens. Perhaps you would be wise to [[return|Atlantis]] to the ground level.\n\n[[Back.|Climbing]]
She is seized by a fit of uproarious laughter. \n\n“You poor, stupid girl. You don’t even know who I am.”\n\nYou’ve never known. You know even less now.\n\n[[“Who are you?”|Of Course]]
You lay the photograph at her feet and plan carefully what you are about to say.\n\n“Finished the second task, I see,” she says after an eon of silence. She scowls at your offering and turns her face away way in disgust, but does not attempt to disqualify it. “I hate moments. They’re all the same. And there are too many of them. They never shut up.” She closes her eyes wearily. “When did everything turn so ugly?”\n\n“You stole this picture from my house,” you begin. “Why? [[I don’t understand.”|Shut Up]]
<i>There was a spindly lamp craning its neck over the math homework she had been trying to finish before she went to bed. The other objects cluttering <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The Page Two]]<<else>>the<<endif>> desk were swallowed up in [[shadow.|Shadows Page Three]]</i>\n\n<<if $spines eq 0>>[[Back.|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[Back.|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[Back.|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[Back.|Three Spines]]<<endif>>
<<set $book = 1>><<if visited("Closing the Book") eq 1>>You close the book and look down at the [[cover.|Closing the Book]] You aren’t holding the book you thought you were.<<else if visited("Closing the Book") eq 2>>You close the book and scrutinize the cover. You aren’t holding the book you thought you were.\n\nIn your hands is the book you borrowed from the library, the book she [[borrowed|Closing the Book]] from you.<<else if visited("Closing the Book") eq 3>>You close the book and scrutinize the cover. You aren’t holding the book you thought you were.\n\nIn your hands is the the book you borrowed from the library, the book she borrowed from you.\n\nYou [[clutch|Three Spines]] the book close to your chest. You’ll just be borrowing it back again. <<endif>>
You approach the desk and the girl simultaneously retreats, as if you were a pair of magnetic poles repelling each other. She moves with underwater weightlessness through moonlight as thick as molasses.\n\n“This is just math homework,” you say. “It’s nothing special.”\n\n“I was looking earlier.” She approaches cautiously and points at the open notebook. “It’s all wrong. You can’t do that.”\n\n[[“Can’t do what?”|Can't Do]]
<<if $darkplanet eq "yes">><em>There is a hole in the sky.</em>\n\n<<endif>><<if $hall eq 0>>You step out into a long hall lined with [[tilted towers of moon.|Window]]\n\nThe door to your [[mother’s room|Mother]] lies to your right. Past your mother’s room is a <<if visited("Living Room") eq 0>>[[staircase|Staircase]]<<else>>[[staircase|Living Room]]<<endif>> leading downstairs. Beyond the staircase is the [[door that is always locked,|Locked Door]] and at the far end of the hall is the [[bathroom.|Bathroom]]<<endif>><<if $hall eq 1>>The [[door that is always locked|Locked Door]] lies to your left. Past the door is a <<if visited("Living Room") eq 0>>[[staircase|Staircase]]<<else>>[[staircase|Living Room]]<<endif>> leading downstairs. Beyond the staircase is your [[mother’s room,|Mother]] and at the far end of the hall is your [[bedroom.|New Room]]\n\nMoonlight streams through the [[windows|Window]] and stripes the carpet.<<endif>><<if $hall eq 2>>The door to your [[mother’s room|Mother]] lies to your right. Past your mother’s room is a <<if visited("Living Room") eq 0>>[[staircase|Staircase]]<<else>>[[staircase|Living Room]]<<endif>> leading downstairs. Beyond the staircase is the [[door that is always locked,|Locked Door]] and at the far end of the hall is the [[bathroom.|Bathroom]]\n\nMoonlight streams through the [[windows|Window]] and stripes the carpet.<<endif>>
<<if visited("Something") eq 1>>When you wake up, [[something|Something]] is passing through the night sky.<<else if visited("Something") eq 2>>When you wake up, something is passing through the night sky.\n\nYou don’t notice the something right away, though, not until after you’ve gotten out of bed and used the [[bathroom.|Get Up]]<<else if visited("Something") eq 3>>You slide out of bed. The floorboards are frigid under your bare feet. \n\nYou really have to use to use the [[bathroom.|Get Up]]<<endif>>
<<if $drawers eq 1>>[[The clock has no hands.|Writing Room]]<<else>><<if visited("Writing Room Clock") eq 1>>[[The clock has hands.|Writing Room Clock]]<<else if visited("Writing Room Clock") eq 2>>The clock has hands.\n\n[[Curiously familiar ones.|Writing Room Clock]]<<else if visited("Writing Room Clock") eq 3>>The clock has hands.\n\nCuriously familiar ones.\n\nSomehow, you are absolutely [[certain:|Writing Room Clock]]<<else if visited("Writing Room Clock") eq 4>>The clock has hands.\n\nCuriously familiar ones.\n\nSomehow, you are absolutely certain: these are the [[hands|Writing Room]] of the clock in your bedroom.<<else if visited("Writing Room Clock") gte 5>>But how does one go about stealing clock hands?\n\n[[Back.|Writing Room]]<<endif>><<endif>>
<<if visited("Fine") eq 1>>“I don’t want some other book,” she says simply, resuming her reading. “You’ll just have to [[wait.”|Fine]]<<else if visited("Fine") eq 2>>“I don’t want some other book,” she says simply, resuming her reading. “You’ll just have to wait.”\n\nThe mental melt persists: a staccato chorus in a quartz cathedral. Drip drop. [[Tick tock.|Fine]]<<else if visited("Fine") eq 3>>“I don’t want some other book,” she says simply, resuming her reading. “You’ll just have to wait.”\n\nThe mental melt persists: a staccato chorus in a quartz cathedral. Drip drop. Tick tock.\n\n“Fine. I’ll let you borrow it. But you have to [[promise|Fine]] to return it when you’re finished, okay?”<<else if visited("Fine") eq 4>>“I don’t want some other book,” she says simply, resuming her reading. “You’ll just have to wait.”\n\nThe mental melt persists: a staccato chorus in a quartz cathedral. Drip drop. Tick tock.\n\n“Fine. I’ll let you borrow it. But you have to promise to return it when you’re finished, okay?”\n\n[[“Deal,”|She]] she says, rising sharply from the bed and closing the book with a crisp rifle crack.<<endif>>
<<if $peanutbutter eq "no">><<set $peanutbutter = "yes">>You take down the peanut butter and set it on the counter by the toaster.\n\n[[Back.|Cupboard]]<<endif>>
<<set $taskthree = 1>>You take the clock hands.\n\n[[Back.|Rolltop Desk]]
<<if $dininglight eq "no">>Far away the phosphorescent display of the microwave clock floats and flickers like a will-o’-the-wisp guiding you to the [[kitchen.|Kitchen]] In the opposite direction the winking eye of the television beckons you to the [[living room.|Living Room]]\n\nThere should be a [[light switch|Dining Light]] nearby.<<else>>The dining room is dominated by a [[square table,|Table]] over which an [[electric chandelier|Dining Light]] hangs, and a cherry wood [[china hutch.|China]] To your left lies the [[living room;|Living Room]] to your right, the [[kitchen.|Kitchen]]<<endif>>
She snorts contemptuously. “The king of this world, of course. Emperor of stars, conqueror of time, lord of every living thing that makes its home here. I spoke and the forest erupted from the ground. I made myself a pair of wings from the bones of my enemies. I spat in the sun’s eye and doused its flame forever. Any other idiotic questions you’d like to ask?”\n\nYou shake your head.\n\n“Good. I didn’t feel like answering them. [[Now bow.”|Bow]]
[[Third time’s the charm.|Can't]]
<<if visited("Speaking") eq 1>>“They aren’t <i>always</i> like this, are they?” says the reflection. \n\nA girl’s voice.\n\n[[You don’t say anything.|Speaking]]<<else if visited("Speaking") eq 2>>“The people here, I mean.” The girl’s heel thumps into the dresser, rattling the metal handles on the drawers. “Lying down with their eyes closed, barely moving, like they’re pretending to be dead. I’d get bored after five minutes of that. Don’t you ever get bored?”\n\n[[Still you say nothing.|Speaking]]<<else if visited("Speaking") eq 3>>“Guess not,” she continues, hardly waiting for a reply. “At first I thought maybe everyone <i>was</i> dead, but then I realized they were breathing. Still pretty eerie, don’t you think?” A machine gun burst of fingernails on wood. “You probably won’t talk to me either, will you. My father was right. I shouldn’t have come here.”\n\nYou have to [[swallow|Who are you?]] before you are able to speak.<<endif>>
You are hurtling through a tunnel ribbed with jet toward the core of the night, your mind a shuddering film projector stuck in a sadistic loop: again and again you smack into the same pitiless wall, tumble down the same endless flight of stairs. One of these fates surely awaits you at the end of the hall, unless the hall does not end—or has it ended already? Are you running, or are you falling? Blood pounds in your ears like footsteps. You veer too far to the right and scrape your arm against something and fall to the floor. As you scramble to your feet, [[someone|Hand]] catches hold of your hand.
There is a plaque set in the door. The plaque reads: <<if $button eq 0>>[[“Drawing Room.”|Drawing Room]]<<else if $button eq 1>>[[“Tea Room.”|Parlor]]<<else if $button eq 2>>[[“Closet.”|Closet]]<<endif>> Beside the door is a [[button.|Button]]\n\n[[Back.|Palace Hall]]
When you asked her what asbestos is, she said, “It causes cancer.”\n\n[[Back.|Locked Door]]
—a [[seedling|Seeds]] pokes up through the soil. You haven’t figured out what happens after that.
[[(here she is cradled by an unknown relative; here she is among forgotten kindergarten playmates)|Purpose]]
“It isn’t complicated at all,” you retort. “Even a child can read a clock.” \n\nBut as you prepare to enlighten her on the topic of timekeeping, you come to the curious realization that you cannot, in fact, read the clock. You have simply forgotten how. The positions of the hands, the ring of Roman numerals, the notches around the rim no longer mean anything at all to you. They are naked [[shapes|Flypaper]] swaying lazily, fuzzily, before your eyes.\n\n“Well, how do you read it, [[then?”|Then]]
<<if $emptyplate eq "yes">><<set $emptyplate = "dumbwaiter">>You put your plate inside.<<else if $emptyplate eq "no">>You have nothing to put inside.<<else if $emptyplate eq "dumbwaiter">><<set $emptyplate = "sandwiches">><<set $dumbwaiter = 0>>You take the plate of sandwiches.<<else if $emptyplate eq "sandwiches">><<if $note eq "no">>You have nothing to put inside.<<else if $note eq "yes">><<set $note = "dumbwaiter">>You fold up your message and place it inside.<<else if $note eq "dumbwaiter">><<set $note = "finished">><<set $dumbwaiter = 0>><<set $gallerykey = 1>>There must be hundreds of them here. Long, thin, heavy things, each with a single jagged tooth. You sift through the pile (a few fall out of the dumbwaiter and clatter to the floor) and realize that they are all identical. You pick one at random.<<else if "note" eq "finished">>You have nothing to put inside.<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Dumbwaiter]]
As you near the dresser you trip and almost fall. A shapeless skirt of shadow, hitched as high as the bottom drawer, fans out in all directions. The girl must have shoved your things to the floor to make space.\n\n“Well, where else was I supposed to sit?” Her sylph’s silhouette skates the frozen pond of the mirror while you pick up the mess. She laughs at your muttered annoyance. “Your room was already a catastrophe. I just rearranged some things.” \n\nYou extract your globe from the rubble and give it a [[weary spin.|Duh]]
When you look at your mother’s picture, you can compare past mother to present mother and see how she’s different now (she looked so young back then, her hair was so short), and there are a million intermediary mothers in your memory you can also compare. You can draw a great long wavy [[Mother Line|Mother Line]] between them all: Here’s her fruit breeding phase, her obsession with mushroom hunting, the time when she would seemingly clean the whole house twice a day, the time when she broke her leg falling down the stairs and had to wear a cast and walk around on crutches for two months.
You kneel at the base of the throne and lower your head.\n\n“So you’re the outsider who’s been dirtying my floors with your feet, corrupting my court with your coarse manners, making a mockery of our most honorable customs. I imagined a much more intimidating figure, but you are perfectly, pathetically, ordinary, aren’t you?” \n\n[[You say nothing.|Three Tasks]]
Most seeds don’t sprout. You read that in a book once, one of your mother’s difficult books filled with words like “myrmecochory” and “frugivore.” Only one in a million seeds grows into a tree, you read. \n\nSometimes you [[wonder|Wondering]] what happens to all the other seeds.
<<if visited("Place") eq 1>>You pull out the fourth chair and sit down.\n\n<<endif>><<if visited("Tea") - visited("Dirigible") - visited("Dip") - visited("Temperature") eq 3>>Your [[tea|Tea]] is almost gone.<<else>>Wraiths of steam rise from your [[tea.|Tea]]<<endif>> <<if $sandwich eq "yes">><<if $emptyplate eq "sandwiches">>On your plate is a stack of [[sandwiches.|Sandwich]]<<else>>The sandwich tempts you to [[take a bite.|Sandwich]]<<endif>><<else>><<if $emptyplate eq "no">>Your plate is [[empty.|Sandwich]]<<else if $emptyplate eq "sandwiches">><<set $sandwich = "yes">>You set your newly replenished supply of sandwiches back down on the table.<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Dolls]]
<<if visited("Hello") eq 1>>Your echoing voice does not sound like your own.\n\n[[No answer.|Call Out]]<<else if visited("Hello") eq 2>>Louder this time. Your voice strikes what sound like distant cliffs. You must be in a room the size of a canyon.\n\nStill [[no answer.|Call Out]]<<else if visited("Hello") eq 3>>You consider the viability of using echolocation to navigate, like a bat. But the vast room traps sound the way a pitcher plant traps flies, and before you can form a mental image of your surroundings, your voice is drowned and dissolved in a deadly nectar which turns everything to dully roaring white noise.\n\nYour third call goes [[unanswered.|Call Out]]<<endif>>
You don’t remember this one being taken, but you recognize the picture right away. Your father is in it: a rarity. He and your mother struggle to seem happy as you sit between them. Their smiles strike you as awkward, almost pained.\n\nYou recognize the picture because, until tonight, it was in your house—wasn’t it? It was sitting next to the television in the living room<<if visited("Portrait")>>; you saw it there not long ago.<<else>>.<<endif>> What is it doing [[here?|Here]]
A swarm of madly waltzing gnats floods the room and all the world’s waves roar in your ears.\n\n[[“Turn that off!”|Turn that off]] you hiss.
“I think you lied to me. I think you came to my house for a reason. And I think you’re keeping me here for a reason.”\n\n“Well, obviously!” Her eyes flash open and she is seized by a sudden spasm of silent laughter, the laughter of the half-awake. “You mean you actually fell for that clueless traveler routine? You really thought I just <i>happened</i> to visit your house, out of all the millions of houses on your pathetic planet? Never stopped to think about how astronomically unlikely that would be? Even I didn’t think you were <i>that</i> thick.” \n\n“But why me? You have me trapped here. You might as well [[tell me|Tell Me]] already.”
<<if visited("Static") eq 1>>You listen closely and the sound mutates into that of [[waves|Static]] breaking.<<else if visited("Static") eq 2>>You listen closely and the sound mutates into that of waves breaking.\n\nNo, not quite. It’s a more constant sound; it lacks the dreamy [[rhythm|Static]] of the ocean’s ragged breathing.<<else if visited("Static") eq 3>>You listen closely and the sound mutates into that of waves breaking.\n\nNo, not quite. It’s a more constant sound; it lacks the dreamy rhythm of the ocean’s ragged breathing.\n\nIt’s the patter of rain on a windowpane, or the crackle of an old vinyl record. [[No—|Static]]<<else if visited("Static") eq 4>>You listen closely and the sound mutates into that of waves breaking.\n\nNo, not quite. It’s a more constant sound; it lacks the dreamy rhythm of the ocean’s ragged breathing.\n\nIt’s the patter of rain on a windowpane, or the crackle of an old vinyl record. No—it’s the sound of [[wind through trees.|Where Did You Go]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Apologize") eq 1>>“I’m sorry,” you manage to say. Your throat is very dry. “I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know what I was thinking.”\n\nThe room erupts and the mirror splinters. She is laughing her head off. Each laugh dies a star’s death, in a bouquet of combustion. She slips off the dresser and her feet touch the floor without making a sound. “Oh, man!” she whoops hysterically. “You should have seen your face!”\n\nYou hope your mother is still asleep. You [[don’t dare|Don't Dare]] tell the girl to be quiet.<<endif>>
This old family photograph is one of few pictures of <<if visited("Mother Line")>>[[your father|Father's Eyes]]<<else>>[[your father|Father]]<<endif>> in the house. In the picture your parents beam as they cradle [[you|You]] between them, but their happiness doesn’t seem natural. The smiles strike you as awkward, almost pained. You’ve never liked the picture much.\n\n[[Back.|Television]]
“Thank you for the sandwiches,” you write, and pause. “Do you by any chance have the key to the gallery?”\n\nYou suppose it will [[have to do.|Table King]]
<i>[[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]] [[drip|Drip]] [[drop|Drop]]</i>\n\n[[Back.|Three Spines]]
Sometimes you see strange colors in the darkness, uncolors, blooming and withering like fireworks. Other times you see a thousand tiny hands blindly groping, or a forest filled with glimmering wings. Sometimes you could swear the darkness was alive, the way it seems to breathe in and out.\n\nYou fiddle your legs together like a cricket. The toilet seat is [[freezing.|Freezing]]
You can feel the eye burrowing into your head. “No,” you repeat. “I don’t want to break anything.”\n\n“Of course you do. You want to break me, don’t you? Oh, I know you hate me, don’t try to hide it. But you wouldn’t dare touch me. If you did, I’d lock you up in this room till the end of time! So break a few plates. They won’t mind, I promise.”\n\nYou squeeze your eyes shut. [[“Leave me alone.”|Leave Me Alone]]
A tufted caterpillar crawling along a thin, bony, outstretched twig.\n\n[[Back.|Paintings]]
<<if not visited("Perhaps")>>[[A hallway?|Perhaps]]<<else>>A hallway, then. Or else an unusually narrow room. A stream of air still urges you gently [[onward.|Scratching]]<<endif>>
“Where were you? Why did you leave me alone here?”\n\n“I was just getting our game ready.” She laughs distantly. “Why, were you scared?”\n\nYou wrench your wrist out of her grip and stop walking.\n\n“You should have said [[something,|Almost There]] at least. You shouldn’t have left me alone.”
<<if visited("Unless") eq 1>>[[The throne room shakes.|Unless]]<<else if visited("Unless") eq 2>>The throne room shakes. [[Flurries of petals fall.|Unless]]<<else if visited("Unless") eq 3>>The throne room shakes. Flurries of petals fall.\n\nThe force is enough to make even the eyes on the throne [[blink.|Unless]]<<else if visited("Unless") eq 4>>The throne room shakes. Flurries of petals fall.\n\nThe force is enough to make even the eyes on the throne blink.\n\nThe tendons in her hands [[ripple|Ripple]] like piano hammers.<<endif>>
“You mean, like a tourist?” Syrupy gold sand trickles in an hourglass. “There’s nothing interesting to see here, you know. Besides, what kind of tourist invades a stranger’s house? Is that really normal behavior where you come from?”\n\nThe girl shifts and something falls from your dresser with a muffled plunk.\n\n“No idea. This is my [[first time|Usually]] traveling, so pardon me if I’m not the expert. I’ve never even left [[home|Home]] before. Can’t say this experience has made me eager to go off gallivanting again. Had more the opposite effect, in fact.”
<<set $spines = 2>>The only way to tell books apart is by their [[titles,|Three Spines]] which are inscribed on the spines in small but intense capital letters.\n\nHere is a book promisingly titled: <i><<if not visited("The")>>[[THE.|Open The]]<<else>>[[THE.|The]]<<endif>></i>\n\nAnd here is its neighbor, <i><<if not visited("Shadows")>>[[SHADOWS.|Open Shadows]]<<else>>[[SHADOWS.|Shadows]]<<endif>></i>
Another hand clamps over your mouth.\n\n[[“Follow me,”|Her]] a voice whispers in your ear.
<em>‘Nine from eight I can’t, you know,’ Alice replied very readily: ‘but—’\n\n‘She can’t do Subtraction,’ said the White Queen. ‘Can you do Division? Divide a loaf by a knife—what’s the answer to that?’\n\n‘I suppose—’ Alice was beginning, but the Red Queen answered for her. ‘Bread-and-butter, of course. Try another Subtraction sum. Take a bone from a dog: [[what remains?’|Another]]</em>
<<if visited("Letter") eq 1>>You extract the [[letter|Letter]] soundlessly. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Plus ten points.)<<set $score = $score + 10>><<endif>> It’s addressed to your mother. You’ve never heard the sender’s name before.<<else if visited("Letter") eq 2>>You extract the letter soundlessly. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Plus ten points.)<<endif>> It’s addressed to your mother. You’ve never heard the sender’s name before.\n\n<i>Thank you for contacting me about your late husband’s work. Regrettably, after careful consideration, I have concluded I am not the right agent for this particular novel. I generally handle only autobiography/memoir fiction and do not believe I am well equipped to market a novel which does not fit into that mold. I wish you the best of luck with finding a more suitable representative.\n\n[[Back.|Coffee Table]]</i><<else if visited("Letter") gte 3>><i>Thank you for contacting me about your late husband’s work. Regrettably, after careful consideration, I have concluded I am not the right agent for this particular novel. I generally handle only autobiography/memoir fiction and do not believe I am well equipped to market a novel which does not fit into that mold. I wish you the best of luck with finding a more suitable representative.</i>\n\n[[Back.|Coffee Table]]<<endif>>
4. The base and height of a triangle are equal. If the area of the triangle is 42cm², what is the length of the base, estimated to the nearest whole number?\n\n[[a. 6|Question 5]]\n[[b. 7|Question 5]]\n[[c. 8|Question 5]]\n[[d. 9|Question 5]]
<<set $homework = "yes">>\n5. Solve for <em>x</em>, when √(5<em>x</em>²-8) = 2<em>x</em>.\n\n[[a. 8²|Homework]]\n[[b. √8|Homework]]\n[[c. 2√2|Homework]]\n[[d. 1√4|Homework]]
2. Between which two integers does √204 lie?\n\n[[a. 14 and 15|Question 3]]\n[[b. -14 and -15|Question 3]]\n[[c. 15 and 16|Question 3]]\n[[d. 20 and 21|Question 3]]
3. Simplify √450.\n\n[[a. 2√15|Question 4]]\n[[b. 15√2|Question 4]]\n[[c. 2√25|Question 4]]\n[[d. 4√50|Question 4]]
1. If the area of a square is 256cm², what is the length of its side?\n\n[[a. 12|Question 2]]\n[[b. 16|Question 2]]\n[[c. 18|Question 2]]\n[[d. 24|Question 2]]
<<if visited("Mother End") eq 1>>[[A creak like a gash on the night’s cheek.|Mother End]]<<else if visited("Mother End") eq 2>>A creak like a gash on the night’s cheek.\n\nYour mother stands [[silhouetted|Mother End]] in the door.<<else if visited("Mother End") eq 3>>A creak like a gash on the night’s cheek.\n\nYour mother stands silhouetted in the door.\n\nShe takes three somnambulent [[steps|Hug]] into the room.<<endif>>
<<if $glass eq "no">>You don’t have anything to fill with water.\n\n[[Back.|Sink]]<<else>><<if $thirsty eq "yes">><<set $thirsty = "no">>You give the handle on the tap a gentle push, hoping to produce the gentle possible sound, but instead the water makes a raucous, arrhythmic spattering when it strikes the sink bottom, a sound like a serrated knife <<if $game eq "yes">>(minus twenty points)<<set $score = $score - 20>><<endif>>. So you push the handle a little farther and fill your glass, which no doubt would have taken forever the other way anyway. Strange how a steady flow is infinitely quieter than a dribble. You gulp down the water.<<else>><<if $thirsty eq "two">>You already have a glass of water.<<else>><<set $thirsty = "two">>You fill up a second glass of water<<if $game eq "yes">> (minus ten, unfortunately)<<set $score = $score - 10>><<endif>>, but you aren’t very thirsty right now, so you decide to bring the glass back to your room with you, keep it by your bedside.<<endif>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Sink]]<<endif>>
She shoves you aside and mounts the dais and [[ascends to the throne.|Ascends]]
Her fit of convulsive laughter ends with an exhausted sigh. \n\n“Three items,” she says in an empty voice. “That’s how many I was supposed to take. Three so you couldn’t escape. Any fewer and the seal is too weak. Any more and you might not have survived the journey. And look,” she nods toward the book splayed flat across the floor, “you’ve found two of them. One more and you might actually have a chance of leaving.”\n\nSilence [[descends|Alone]] like a shower of dust.
<<if visited("Napkin") eq 1>><<set $idea = $idea + 1>><<endif>>You slide the napkin out from beneath the doll-king’s porcelain wrist<<if $idea eq 6>><<set $note = "yes">> and test the pen on a corner. It works. \n\nOn the napkin you scrawl a brief [[message.|Message]]<<else>>.\n\n[[Back.|Table King]]<<endif>>
<i>Somewhere a faucet was leaking leaden pellets. Drip drop. [[Tick tock.|Drip Drop]] “Wasn’t there anything else you wanted to see?” the girl said.\n\nYou were too amazed by your discovery to mind the interruption. “Can I have this? It’s incredible. I need to know what happens next.”\n\n“Well, I haven’t read all of that one yet. I could give you some other book. They’re all like that, you know. No missing pages.”</i>\n\n[[Back.|Three Spines]]
The girl cries out and recoils from the light, and then she is gone. Before you can glimpse her face, before you can glimpse her at all, she has fled with the rest of the shadows to some secret crevice that the lamp’s amber beams cannot penetrate.\n\n“What did you do to me?” Her voice is smothered by the shadows huddling with her, shielding her with their feathery moth wings. “I can’t see anything!”\n\n[[Eye-marked wings.|Eye-marked]]
Odd how the pattern never seems to repeat itself. Each little carven intricacy—every twist, every snarl—is unique.\n\n[[Back.|Shelves]]
The only way to tell books apart is by their [[titles,|One Spine]] which are inscribed on the spines in small but intense capital letters.
Moby was your pet betta. He was a brilliant, iridescent blue with fan-like fins blotched with crimson. He hadn’t been the smartest fish in the world. He was always bristling angrily at his own [[reflection,|Reflection]] which he must have thought was a rival male, even though there was no lady fish in the fish bowl to fight over, and the fish bowl itself was pretty paltry territory. You always thought it was a little sad, watching him get all worked up over nothing.
She is following, but slowly, tentatively, even a little clumsily. The moonlight has lost the aqueous quality it had in your bedroom—here in the hall it is hard as a gem, its edges scalpel-sharp—and she has lost her mermaid grace. Perhaps that balletic elegance of hers was only a trick of the light to begin with.\n\n[[Back.|Girl Hallway]]
You set off to the <<if visited("Left") gte 2>>left [[again.|Portraits]]<<else>>left.\n\n<<if not visited("Right")>>A series of [[portraits|Portraits]] hangs on the wall.<<else>>The same [[portraits.|Portraits]]<<endif>><<endif>>
<<if visited("Show Me") eq 1>>You [[hesitate|Show Me]] before climbing out of bed. The bed is a safe place, girded by an invisible shield; as long as you remain here, you are confident she can’t harm you.<<else if visited("Show Me") eq 2>>You hesitate before climbing out of bed. The bed is a safe place, girded by an invisible shield; as long as you remain here, you are confident she can’t harm you.\n\nBut you [[climb out|She]] of bed anyway, your head filled with television snow, your heart a hive of bees.<<endif>>
A hard rubber ball of laughter richochets around the room; a wasp of a voice rattles the walls.\n\n“You’re even dumber than I thought,” she cackles.\n\nYou look around wildly but she isn’t anywhere in the tea room. The plate in your hands twitches.\n\n[[An eye stares down at you.|Eye Stares]]
You take one of the flowers.\n\n[[Back.|Vases]]
[[“This way,”|Girl Hallway]] you say, starting toward your bedroom door.
<<if visited("Come With Me") eq 1>>[[“Come with me.”|Come With Me]]<<else if visited("Come With Me") eq 2>>“Come with me.”\n\nMovement distorts the darkness and you hear a delicate ceramic carol, the sort of song that falling snow might sing. A faraway clock is striking a forgotten hour, its frost-encrusted clangor harmonizing with the chiming of the china. The notes of the carillon are heavy, hollow, globular, scraped clean as though with grapefruit spoons. Her [[voice|Come With Me]] is another flinty bell in the chorus.<<else if visited("Come With Me") eq 3>>“Come with me.”\n\nMovement distorts the darkness and you hear a delicate ceramic carol, the sort of song that falling snow might sing. A faraway clock is striking a forgotten hour, its frost-encrusted clangor harmonizing with the chiming of the china. The notes of the carillon are heavy, hollow, globular, scraped clean as though with grapefruit spoons. Her voice is another flinty bell in the chorus.\n\n“Just for a [[while.”|Come With Me]]<<else if visited("Come With Me") eq 4>>“Come with me.”\n\nMovement distorts the darkness and you hear a delicate ceramic carol, the sort of song that falling snow might sing. A faraway clock is striking a forgotten hour, its frost-encrusted clangor harmonizing with the chiming of the china. The notes of the carillon are heavy, hollow, globular, scraped clean as though with grapefruit spoons. Her voice is another flinty bell in the chorus.\n\n“Just for a while. Just to [[visit.”|Come With Me]]<<else if visited("Come With Me") eq 5>>“Come with me.”\n\nMovement distorts the darkness and you hear a delicate ceramic carol, the sort of song that falling snow might sing. A faraway clock is striking a forgotten hour, its frost-encrusted clangor harmonizing with the chiming of the china. The notes of the carillon are heavy, hollow, globular, scraped clean as though with grapefruit spoons. Her voice is another flinty bell in the chorus.\n\n“Just for a while. Just to visit. It’ll be [[fun.”|Opening a Door]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Second Task") eq 1>><<set $task = 2>>You nod. Something is dripping down the side of your face.\n\n“I’ll take that as a ‘Yes, Your Majesty.’ Now for your second task. You must capture a moment and bring it to me. That ought to be fairly [[straightforward,|Second Task]] wouldn’t you say?”<<else if visited("Second Task") eq 2>>You nod. Something is dripping down the side of your face.\n\n“I’ll take that as a ‘Yes, Your Majesty.’ Now for your second task. You must capture a moment and bring it to me. That ought to be fairly straightforward, wouldn’t you say?”\n\nWhen you shake your pounding head, she continues: “Oh? How was I unclear? Just one moment, that’s all I want, not a whole flock of them. Retrieve it any way you like: build a trap, use a net, stopper it up inside a bottle. This isn’t advanced horology. Now stop whimpering and [[stand up.”|Stand Up]]<<endif>>
<<set $books = visited("Books")>><<if $books eq 1>>You take down a book with a blue binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about a girl and a great house with a thousand rooms and a little key and a door she must promise never to open.<<else if $books eq 2>>You take down a book with a red binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about a falcon, an eagle, a raven, three articles of silver, and a sorceress who lives across a river of flame.<<else if $books eq 3>>You take down a book with a green binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about several fairies, a fickle and flirtatious prince, and twelve mysterious maidens (who are actually one maiden, magically divided).<<else if $books eq 4>>You take down a book with a yellow binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about toads and fishes and butterflies and beetles and a mouse and a mole and a tiny girl floating downstream on a lily pad.<<else if $books eq 5>>You take down a book with a pink binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about a fisherman and a palace of coral and pearls at the bottom of the sea and a golden box which he must promise never to open.<<else if $books eq 6>>You take down a book with a grey binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about an underground garden and a fleet of a thousand ships and a chain of isles like a garland of flowers.<<else if $books eq 7>>You take down a book with a violet binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about a girl who is hatched from an egg, who receives a magic basket from a maiden dressed in sunlight.<<else if $books eq 8>>You take down a book with a crimson binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about a girl who is born from an apple, who comes to live with a family of eagles in a nest at the top of the highest tree where no one can reach her.<<else if $books eq 9>>You take down a book with a brown binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about a boy who tries to steal a golden hen from a maiden dressed in sunlight; later he pricks her palm with a pin and drinks a bead of her blood and marries her and they live happily ever after.<<else if $books eq 10>>You take down a book with an orange binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about a princess raised in an underground palace who is transformed into a white doe by the touch of the sun.<<else if $books eq 11>>You take down a book with an olive binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about a nightingale and a candlestick and a pitcher broken by a golden ball and a princess hidden behind seven veils who never speaks.<<else if $books eq 12>>You take down a book with a lilac binding and open to a random page. There’s a story about a girl whose hand is severed by her wicked brother and how she goes on to befriend a family of snakes.<<else if $books gt 12>>You can’t possibly read anymore. Your bladder is going to burst.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Bookshelf]]
<<set $finish eq 1>>You are in a long hall lined with [[tilted towers of moon.|Finish Window]]\n\nFour familiar doors: your [[mother’s room|Finish Mother]] and your [[bedroom,|Finish Room]] the [[door that is always locked|Finish Locked Door]] and the [[bathroom.|Finish Bathroom]]
Sometimes when you stare at a page of a book long enough, a similar phenomenon occurs: First the words, wriggling out of their husks, cease to be words; then the letters shed their respective exoskeletons; and then you realize the page is in fact a sheet of flypaper to which a host of twitching black insects is helplessly stuck, and reading becomes impossible.\n\n[[Back.|Complicated]]
You draw the curtains <<if $dininglight eq "no">>[[closed.|Down Here]]<<else>>[[closed.|Girl Dining Room]]<<endif>>
<<set $spines = 3>>The only way to tell books apart is by their titles, which are inscribed on the spines in small but intense capital letters. <<if visited("Three Spines") gte 2>>The first three titles which stand out to you are: <i>[[THE,|The]] [[SHADOWS,|Shadows]] [[DRINK.|Drink]]</i> \n\nThe next five spines read: <i>[[YOUR VOICE,|Your Voice]] [[TO,|To]] [[THE,|The Sequel]] [[LAST,|Last Book]] [[DROP.|Drip Drop]]</i>\n\n[[Back.|Book-bricks]]<<else>>\n\nHere is a book promisingly titled: <i><<if not visited("The")>>[[THE.|Open The]]<<else>>[[THE.|The]]<<endif>></i>\n\nAnd here is its neighbor, <i><<if not visited("Shadows")>>[[SHADOWS.|Open Shadows]]<<else>>[[SHADOWS.|Shadows]]<<endif>></i>\n\nAnd the next in line, <i><<if not visited("Shadows")>>[[DRINK.|Open Drink]]<<else>>[[DRINK.|Drink]]<<endif>></i><<endif>>
<<set $hall = 1>><<if $peed eq "yes">>You don’t want to go back in there, not with the light bulb dead, not with the mirror reflecting someone who isn’t you. \n\n[[Back.|Hall]]<<else>>You enter the cold, cavernous bathroom and search for the [[light switch.|Light Switch]]<<endif>>
You reach out to test this hypothesis. Your fingers brush solid surfaces—two of them, one on either side. Mazelike patterns are carved into stone, or plaster. [[Hmm.|Oblong]]
<<if $bread eq "no">>You have nothing to toast.\n\n[[Back.|Sink]]<<else>><<if $toasting eq 0>><<set $toasting = 1>>You slide two slices of bread into the toaster. <<if $game eq "yes">>(And realize you will inevitably be deducted ten points when they pop up. Oh well. It’s a sacrifice you are willing to make.)<<set $score = $score - 10>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Sink]]<<else>><<if $toasting gte 5>><<if $eaten eq "no">>Your toast has popped up. \n\n<<if $peanutbutter eq "no">>You don’t really want to eat it plain, though.<<else>>You spread the two slices with peanut butter and eat them as quietly as possible. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Plus ten points.)<<set $score = $score + 10>><<endif>><<set $eaten = "yes">><<endif>><<else>>You’ve already eaten your toast.<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Sink]]<<else>>Your toast is still toasting.\n\n[[Back.|Sink]]<<endif>><<endif>><<endif>>
<i>In class she asked her teacher how [[to|To Page Two]] find the square root if the number was negative. The teacher said that negative numbers did not have square roots, which didn’t make a bit of sense to her—but, sure enough, when she sat down after school to try to find the square root of negative one, she couldn’t. She filled up <<if visited("To Page Three")>>[[two|To Page Three]]<<else>>two<<endif>> notebook pages front and back trying to solve the problem. Still she felt <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The]]<<else>>the<<endif>> square root had [[to|To Page Three]] exist somewhere, sequestered in some strange nook of logic, the same way 0.423 had been hiding between zero and one all throughout elementary school.</i>\n\n[[Back.|Three Spines]]
You climb the next few rungs and stop to inspect the [[books|Fairytales]] to your right and left. This is a rather dangerous endeavor: you must pull the books from their stubborn slots one-handed and prop them open against the ladder to turn the pages.\n\n[[Back.|Climbing]]
The frames fit together as tightly as the pieces of a puzzle, or the plates of a skull, or the wheels of a clock; not one weak point has been left exposed by their precise interlocking. The walls beneath this exoskeleton must be made of something membranous and vulnerable, you imagine, something like the tissue beneath a turtle’s shell.\n\nThere is nothing else here, nothing to distract from the room’s sole purpose. So you start to [[look.|Purpose]]
You doubt your knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System will help you here.\n\n[[Back.|Atlantis]]
You walk between slumbering [[shelves|Shelves]] as long as city blocks and as tall as skyscrapers: A lost metropolis built out of [[book-bricks|Book-bricks]] and burnished wood; Atlantis, submerged beneath an ocean of silence. <<if not visited("Climbing")>>[[Ladders|Ladder]]<<else>>[[Ladders|Climbing]]<<endif>> on wheels scale alpine heights, their upper rungs shadow-shrouded. Without a [[map,|Map]] or something like it, how will you ever find your way around this colossal ruin?<<if visited("Atlantis") gte 2>>\n\nAs you wander, you are careful to memorize your path so that you can find your way back to the [[door.|Head Back]]<<endif>>
This one might be a little hard to explain. “A TV,” you begin. “It’s, um . . .”\n\n“You people have the most delightful inventions,” she says coldly. She’s regained her composure quickly enough. “A box that blinds you <i>and</i> makes a horrid noise. Whatever will you think of next?”\n\n“It isn’t supposed to do that,” you say. But the noisebox can wait. <<if visited("Girl Dining Room") gte 1>>You’re getting impatient to show her your grandmother’s china.<<else>>There’s something you want to show her. It’s the only thing in your house that couldn’t be found in any other, the only thing that could possibly make your home worthy of a tour.<<endif>> Before the girl can asky any further questions, you say, [[“Let’s move on.”|Move On]]
<i>She let the water in the sink run for thirty seconds to make sure it was hot when she washed her hands. In <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The]]<<else>>the<<endif>> mirror there was an apparition that moved whenever she moved—but it couldn’t possibly have been her. She was solid: She had skin and bones and there was blood rushing in her veins. The thing in the mirror was barely there, a loose bundle of [[shadow|Shadows]] stitched ineptly with spider silk. She didn’t like looking at it, or it looking at her with its nothings for eyes.</i>\n\n<<if $spines eq 0>>[[Back.|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[Back.|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[Back.|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[Back.|Three Spines]]<<endif>>
Hidden behind a skyscraper of CD cases is a fish bowl filled with pebbles and dirt and several [[plants,|Plants]] none of which look particularly healthy. Your mother helped you make the terrarium after [[Moby Dick|Moby]] died: showed you how to layer the soil, explained which plants would grow well together, taught you not to overwater it. Your mother [[used to|Used To Try]] try to get you interested in botany. She never met with much success, but you did enjoy inventing stories about the little ceramic figurines she bought to live in your glass-encased garden.\n\n[[Back.|New Room]]
<i>As she neared the dresser she tripped and almost fell. A shapeless skirt of [[shadow,|Shadows]] hitched as high as the bottom drawer, fanned out in all directions. You had shoved her things <<if visited("To Page Four")>>[[to|To Page Three]]<<else>>to<<endif>> the floor to make space.\n\n“Well, where else was I supposed to sit?” Your sylph’s silhouette skated <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The Page Two]]<<else>>the<<endif>> frozen pond of the mirror while she picked up the mess. You laughed at her muttered annoyance. “Your room was already a catastrophe. I just rearranged some things.”</i>\n\n<<if $spines eq 0>>[[Back.|Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 1>>[[Back.|One Spine]]<<else if $spines eq 2>>[[Back.|Two Spines]]<<else if $spines eq 3>>[[Back.|Three Spines]]<<endif>>
<<if visited("Purpose") - visited("Turned Away") - visited("Obscured") - visited("Cut Out") eq 1>>You don’t notice at first that all of the photographs are of the same person. None of them actually feature her face; either she has [[turned away|Turned Away]] from the camera, or her features are [[obscured,|Obscured]] or—in cases where her face would be visible—it has been [[cut out|Cut Out]] with careful scissors.<<if visited("Turned Away") + visited("Obscured") + visited("Cut Out") gte 1>>\n\nBut eventually it becomes [[obvious:|Purpose]]<<endif>><<else>>You don’t notice at first that all of the photographs are of the same person. None of them actually feature her face; either she has [[turned away|Turned Away]] from the camera, or her features are [[obscured,|Obscured]] or—in cases where her face would be visible—it has been [[cut out|Cut Out]] with careful scissors.\n\nBut eventually it becomes obvious: all of the pictures in the gallery are of [[you.|Gallery]]<<endif>>
<<if $outofbed eq "no">>There’s a spindly <<if visited("Clock") + visited("Dresser") + visited("Bookshelf") gte 1>>[[lamp|Lamp]]<<else>>lamp<<endif>> craning its neck over the math homework you were trying to finish before you went to bed. The other objects cluttering the desk are swallowed up in shadow.\n\n[[Back.|Bedroom]]<<else>>You still have five math problems left to do, but they’ll have to wait. You have to use the bathroom.\n\n[[Back.|Bedroom]]<<endif>>
There is a plaque set in the door. The plaque reads: <<if not visited("Gallery")>>[[“Gallery.”|Enter Gallery]]<<else>>[[“Gallery.”|Gallery]]<<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Parlor]]
In class you asked your teacher how to find the square root if the number was negative. She said that negative numbers did not have square roots, which didn’t make a bit of sense to you—but, sure enough, when you sat down after school to try to find the square root of negative one, you couldn’t. You filled up two notebook pages front and back trying to solve the problem. Still you felt the square root had to exist somewhere, sequestered in some strange nook of logic, the same way 0.423 had been hiding between zero and one all throughout elementary school.\n\nYou posed the square root conundrum to your mother at dinner. She said the teacher had been both right and wrong. The square root of negative one did exist, but not in the way other numbers did: it was [[imaginary,|Imaginary]] she said.
“Really?” the voice vibrates. The eye rolls contemptuously. “You really think this will work?”\n\nYou drop the plate and the fragments skip across the floor like stones across water and begin to fly; in the air they form accelerating cyclones which tighten and fuse until the plate, no worse for wear, floats just out of reach.\n\n“You don’t have the faintest clue what you’re doing, do you? To be honest, I expected you might try something like this. I’m not angry. Why should I be angry? Go ahead. [[Try again.|Try Again]] I’ve got all kinds of plates. Table’s right there.”
You run your hands over the timber hulks as you pass them by: a maze of tortured branches and razor-edged leaves has been carved into each shelf. Tiny flowers, too, peek out here and there through the dense [[entanglement.|Entanglement]] You had hoped the shelves might hold the key to the library’s organization; you thought you might find a card labeled “Authors: A-F,” or “Nonfiction.” No such luck.\n\n[[Back.|Atlantis]]
An impression strengthened by the chair’s uncanny resemblence to a double bass. The desk, of course, is somewhat reminiscent of a keyboard instrument, while the garbage bin makes for a very meager drum kit.\n\n[[Back.|Writing Room]]
<i>Collections of candles, jewelry, and seashells had accumulated on the dresser like sunken treasure half-buried in silt. She knew there was a globe lurking there, [[too,|To Page Two]] and a music box, and a terrarium made from a fish bowl, but she couldn’t distinguish them; all <<if visited("The")>>[[the|The Page Two]]<<else>>the<<endif>> junk formed a single amorphous mass.</i>\n\n[[Back.|Three Spines]]
<<if visited("Toilet Flush") eq 1>>From the hallway comes the sound of a toilet [[flushing.|Toilet Flush]]<<else if visited("Toilet Flush") eq 2>>From the hallway comes the sound of a toilet flushing.\n\nYou [[freeze,|Toilet Flush]] your hand stuck guiltily in the drawer.<<else if visited("Toilet Flush") eq 3>>From the hallway comes the sound of a toilet flushing.\n\nYou freeze, your hand stuck guiltily in the drawer.\n\nShe’ll be coming any second now. Where can you [[hide?|Hide]]<<endif>>
She shakes her head and squeezes her eyelids together. “Shut up.”\n\n“When we were in the living room—you turned on the TV to distract me, didn’t you? That must be when you took it. Or maybe it was before that, while I was asleep. There’s still a lot I don’t understand. Either way, you probably knew what a TV was. And a clock, and all that stuff. You were just pretending not to know.”\n\nShe moans and squirms uncomfortably in the throne. [[“Shut up.”|Stole]]
<<set $spines = 1>>The only way to tell books apart is by their [[titles,|Two Spines]] which are inscribed on the spines in small but intense capital letters.\n\nHere is a book promisingly titled: <i><<if not visited("The")>>[[THE.|Open The]]<<else>>[[THE.|The]]<<endif>></i>
The writing room is small and sparsely furnished: a [[rolltop desk,|Rolltop Desk]] a chair of button-tufted leather, and a [[garbage bin|Garbage Bin]] form a quaint [[piano trio|Piano Trio]] against one wall. On the wall opposite hangs a [[clock.|Writing Room Clock]]<<if visited("Writing Room") gt 1>> The door to the [[closet|Closet]] is behind you.<<endif>>
<<if $paperplates eq "yes">><<set $paperplates = "finished">>You open the cupboard and stuff the paper plates into the garbage. <<if $game eq "yes">>(With a bit too much enthusiasm: the resulting rustle reduces your score by ten.)<<set $score = $score - 10>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Sink]]<<else if $pizza eq "finished">><<set $pizza = "tossed">>You are about to begin folding up the pizza box to make it fit better in the bin when you realize how much noise this process will make and stop yourself. <<if $game eq "yes">>(Plus ten.)<<set $score = $score + 10>><<endif>> You decide to leave the box out on the counter until morning.\n\n[[Back.|Sink]]<<else>>You don’t have anything you need to throw away.\n\n[[Back.|Sink]]<<endif>>
“I didn’t do anything to you. I turned on the light.”\n\n“Why would you do something stupid like that?” she moans. “You’re blinding me, you barbarian.”\n\nYou cast a glance at the [[notebook|Notebook]] and then at the [[lamp.|Switch Off]]
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<<if visited("Dumbwaiter") eq 1>>You open the cupboard; there is nothing inside.\n\nJust a boxy cavity in the wall.\n\nBut beside the empty cupboard is a [[button.|Dumbwaiter Explanation]]<<else if visited("Dumbwaiter") gte 1>><<if $dumbwaiter gte 1>><<if $dumbwaiter lt 3>>There is only a length of cable swaying in the [[shaft.|Shaft]]<<else if $dumbwaiter eq 4>><<if $emptyplate eq "dumbwaiter">><<set $idea = $idea + 1>>The dumbwaiter has returned from its errand. Your [[plate|Nothing]] is now piled high with crustless sandwiches.<<if $idea eq 3>><<set $idea = 4>>\n\nYou are suddenly struck with an idea.<<endif>><<else if $note eq "dumbwaiter">>It looks as though your message was received. The dumbwaiter has returned with a [[mountain of keys.|Nothing]]<<else>><<set $dumbwaiter = 0>>The dumbwaiter has returned. Still [[nothing|Nothing]] inside.\n\nBeside the dumbwaiter is a [[button.|Dumbwaiter Button]]<<endif>><<endif>><<else if $dumbwaiter eq 0>><<if $emptyplate eq "dumbwaiter">>Your empty plate smiles whitely at you.\n\nBeside the dumbwaiter is a [[button.|Dumbwaiter Button]]<<else if $note eq "dumbwaiter">>Your napkin-note stares skeptically at you.\n\nBeside the dumbwaiter is a [[button.|Dumbwaiter Button]]<<else if $note eq "finished">>There is a mountain of keys inside the dumbwaiter. But you should only need one.<<else>>There is [[nothing|Nothing]] inside the dumbwaiter.\n\nBeside the dumbwaiter is a [[button.|Dumbwaiter Button]]<<endif>><<endif>><<endif>>\n\n[[Back.|Parlor]]
When you open your eyes, the plate is lying at your feet.\n\n[[Eyeless.|Pick Up]]