Lethe Flow Phoenix
Dan Shiovitz
gender choice TADS TADS 2 walkthrough
Camping out at night takes you into a strange otherworld peopled with, among other things, several biblical references, objects of a symbolic nature, and a talking tree.
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You awaken, finding yourself in a grassy field. Twisted images
flash through your mind quickly: driving out on Halloween to do a little camping and try and work things out by yourself ... your awakening in the middle of the night ... walking to the cliff-top in the moonlight, not exactly knowing why ... stepping up to the edge, and falling off -- no, stepping off. Only a few scattered memories remain past that: sensations of wind rushing past you, and then wings surrounding you, and then blackness. Now you're here, wherever that is. The sun shines brightly overhead, and a brook babbles gently along nearby. An apple tree grows in the center of the field, branches rich with fruit.

Lethe Flow Phoenix: A Flight of Fantasy (

[Welcome to the game. If you want to set up game options, type "SETUP" at the prompt. If you need other help, type "HELP" at the prompt.]
About you
You look about the same as always.
You check your inventory
You are empty-handed.
You examine apple tree
A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
A robin is perched atop the tree, whistling a merry tune.

It's an old, gnarled apple tree. As you stare at it, you think you can see vague outlines of a grumpy-looking face in the trunk. Juicy, delicious-looking red apples hang from the branches above your head, and the tree looks great for climbing. A colorful kite-like object is sitting on a branch, high up in the tree.
You climb the tree
You approach the tree and start to climb it. You are startled by a sudden voice which seems to emanate from the tree itself, like some mystic speech from the kingdom of faerie. The voice says "Hey birdbrain! Put that foot on my branch and I'll whack yer bleedin' head off!" Rather surprised, you desist for the moment.
You ask the tree about tree
"I'm an apple tree, and a damn fine specimen of one, if I do say so myself. Which I do, since you're obviously too busy gawking to say anything of any use."
"Tweet-tweet!" goes the robin.
You give you an the apple
"Nice one, eh? Picked it up 'bout a year ago in a windstorm."
The robin whistles loudly.

"Ooh, I'd bet you'd like one of these nice, juicy, apples." A branch lowers slightly, lifting one into reach. "Well too bad! They're mine!" The branch jerks away again.
You kill the tree
What do you want to attack it with?
You look at the face
It's a face all right. Perhaps someone carved it in there? The face is quite a grumpy one. The artist must have been having a bad day.
You examine the robin
A happy-looking robin. It sings a playful little song.
You ask robin about the tree
It's too far away.
The robin whistles loudly.
You ask the tree about the robin
"If you could get rid of that annoying bird, I'd be much obliged. I'd let you climb up there, but I have this terrible case of woodrot on that side, and ..."
The tree spends the next ten minutes or so explaining its troubles to you in great detail.
You check your inventory
You are empty-handed.

Your stomach rumbles. You realize that you're getting hungry.
The robin chirps.
You ask the tree about the kite
"I suppose you want it? Too bad!"
You look at the kite
You can't make out much from here. It looks like a kite, only bigger. The robin glances stealthily around to look for female robins. Must be mating season.
Look around
A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
A robin is perched atop the tree, whistling a merry tune. "Tweet-tweet!" goes the robin.
You search the grass
You find nothing of interest.

Your stomach rumbles. You realize that you're getting hungry.
You climb the tree
"Hey! Don't climb me! I don't want your ugly fat feet all over me!" says the tree. Ignoring its protests, you reach for a low branch and start climbing. The leaves rustle angrily, but nothing seems to happen, so you continue up the tree. Suddenly, though, there's a sound from above you. You look up just in time to see a large red apple falling. It *THWACKS* you on the nose, you cry out and let go, and everything becomes all tumbled up in a heap on the ground. "Hah!"
says the tree. "That'll teach you." "Ha!" you say back, grabbing the apple.
"Oh," says the tree. "I hadn't thought of that."
You eat the apple
Quite possibly the finest apple you have ever tasted in your life.
That was delicious!
You throw the apple at the robin
"Don't try and throw things at it, idiot! You'll only end up knocking my leaves off, and then who knows what will happen? I suppose you think I can photosynthesize with my bark, hmm? Sheesh, humans!" The tree continues to talk. You decide to find another approach and save yourself a second lecture on the subject.
You go north
You walk for a few minutes, when the ground abruptly seems to fall away beneath your feet. You stumble forward, and look up to find yourself in a different place.

you gasp for water. The sun beats down all around with no hope of shade or any other respite, and there are no land-marks in sight in any direction.
You examine the sun
The sun is high in the sky, as usual. It doesn't seem to be moving, though.

Shadows from distant dunes make the image of cool water. You rush towards it, only to have the scene dissolve as you get closer.
Go south
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

Your stomach rumbles. You realize that you're getting hungry.

Abruptly, the desert air seems to swirl around you. You blink your eyes, and when they open again, you're back where you came here from:
A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
A robin is perched atop the tree, whistling a merry tune.
You climb the tree
"Oh, no," the tree says. "I'm not falling for that one again. I didn't drop off the tree yesterday, I can tell you that much. You want any more apples, bud, you're doing me a favor first." The apple tree's branches move around enough to make climbing impossible now.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You have an apple.
You examine the flowers
The wild flowers grow among the grasses, in a wild assortment of colors.
Go east
You walk for a few minutes, when the ground abruptly seems to fall away beneath your feet. You stumble forward, and look up to find yourself in a different place.

you gasp for water. The sun beats down all around with no hope of shade or any other respite, and there are no land-marks in sight in any direction.

You're feeling really hungry. You should find some food soon.
Go west
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.
You eat the apple
Quite possibly the finest apple you have ever tasted in your life.
That was delicious!

The wind picks up, and as the burning breeze blows past your ear, you fancy you hear voices. Whose voices? Even the words they say are beyond comprehension.
You go west
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

Abruptly, the desert air seems to swirl around you. You blink your eyes, and when they open again, you're back where you came here from:
A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
A robin is perched atop the tree, whistling a merry tune.
You examine the flowers
The wild flowers grow among the grasses, in a wild assortment of colors.
The robin chirps.
You go west
You walk along the banks of the stream for a time.

A beautifully-sculpted garden, bounded by brick walls to the north
and west. A stream flows in from the east and curves to flow to the south, slowly drifting through the garden. The brook lazily winds its way under the small bridges and between the large rocks and stone paths that have been placed here. Small, pretty bushes are scattered here as well, each one elegantly trimmed and shaped. In one corner of the garden there is a fountain, shaped like a dragon's head. From the dragon's open mouth flows a steady stream of water, falling into the brook.
Sitting on the large black rocks you see a sheet of red paper.
You get the sheet
Taken.
A gentle breeze ruffles the leaves on the bushes.
You examine it
It looks to be the kind of paper used in making origami figures. It's a plain sheet of red paper.
You fold the paper
What do you want to fold it into?
You fold the paper into the bird
The only kind of origami bird you ever learned how to make was a crane, so you attempt that instead. You skillfully fold the sheet of paper into an origami crane.
The branches on the bushes sway gently in the wind.
You examine the fountain
The fountain, as has been mentioned, is made of stone, and shaped like the head of a dragon. The dragon's mouth is open, and water pours from it into the stream.
You put the crane in the fountain
The water flowing out prevents things from going in.
The leaves on the bushes are actually bending in the breeze. Strange, really, considering the wind is barely blowing.
Drink water
The cool draught refreshes you.
The hedges are moving. Casually, as non-chalant as a bush can be, the hedges have uprooted themselves. Well, some of them have, anyway.
Most of the bushes are sitting there looking innocent again. The uprooted ones begin to move about the garden. One or two of them reach under rocks and bushes and pull out rakes and spades and a bucket.
They quietly start to water the flowers, rake the paths, and prune the bushes. You look on in amazement. The hedge beasts totally ignore you.
You examine the beasts
Well, I guess they aren't just your ordinary hedges. Definitely a close relative, however, as the hedge beasts still seem to have leaves and branches and such. At the moment, the hedge beasts are moving around the garden, tending to the flowers and raking the paths.
Look around
A beautifully-sculpted garden, bounded by brick walls to the north
and west. A stream flows in from the east and curves to flow to the south, slowly drifting through the garden. The brook lazily winds its way under the small bridges and between the large rocks and stone paths that have been placed here. Small, pretty bushes are scattered here as well, each one elegantly trimmed and shaped. In one corner of the garden there is a fountain, shaped like a dragon's head. From the dragon's open mouth flows a steady stream of water, falling into the brook.
The hedge beasts are tending to the garden, raking and digging.
You examine the brick
The brick walls are tall and smooth enough to be unclimbable. They surround the garden on the north and west sides, stretching off into the haze at the two edges.
You go to the south
You follow the brook's path out of the garden, and into a field.

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo, its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area.
A cool stream runs north-south through the field. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
You examine the boulders
They're your basic large, gray chunks of rock. There's about six in the field, arranged in a rough three-quarter circle around around the gazebo.
You look at the gazebo
A rather nice white gazebo, hexagon-shaped. Most of the walls are covered with lattices to keep the sun out, but one is open to allow entrance. The roof of the gazebo is rather strange. It is flat, but then mounted atop the flat part is an extra structure which appears to be a long thin wall cutting straight across the roof. The wall is shaped like a right triangle, with the square corner and one other affixed to the gazebo, and the third jutting straight up. Atop that, you can see a weather vane, moving slightly in the slow wind. You could enter the gazebo and look around, if you liked.
You enter the gazebo
You walk inside the gazebo.

The gazebo has six sides, one of which is open to allow you to
enter. The other five are walled off with thick lattices which prevent both sunlight and egress in those directions, making it fairly dim in here. A bronze sundial in the center of the room is the most impressive thing in sight, but there's also an ordinary table against one wall. Also, set into the ceiling, you can see a multi-faceted crystal.
Sitting on the wooden table you see a large wicker bird cage.
You look at your surroundings
The gazebo has six sides, one of which is open to allow you to
enter. The other five are walled off with thick lattices which prevent both sunlight and egress in those directions, making it fairly dim in here. A bronze sundial in the center of the room is the most impressive thing in sight, but there's also an ordinary table against one wall. Also, set into the ceiling, you can see a multi-faceted crystal.
Sitting on the wooden table you see a large wicker bird cage.
You get the cage
Taken.
You look at the crystal
Which crystal do you mean, the large crystal, or the tiny crystal?
Large
The large crystal has six visible facets. It is set into the ceiling, directly over the sundial. It is dark, and seems somehow sad.
You examine tiny
The crystal seems to be tiny and six-sided. It looks a lot like a miniature version of the one mounted directly above it in the ceiling. It's fixed quite firmly in place, on the tip of the gnomon of the sundial.
You examine the sundial
It's a bronze sundial, on a pedestal. A rather nice sundial too, by the looks of it. It's a pity there's no real sunlight to make it useful. The inscription "Tempus Non Fugit" has been printed around the face of the sundial, and there are also six small metal studs set into the bronzework. In the dim light, you notice the sparkle of a tiny crystal on the tip of the gnomon.
You look at the studs
They're six small, metal studs. Nothing too exceptional. They all feel rather loose, but are small enough that it would be difficult to remove them by hand. The studs are spaced fairly evenly around the sundial, at six, eight, ten, twelve, two, and four o'clock.
You examine the gnomon
A gnomon, of course, is the thingy on the sundial which casts the shadow. This gnomon appears no different from any other one you've seen, except that most gnomons don't have tiny crystals on their tips. Whereas this one seems positively festooned with them. Well, it has one of them, anyway.
You look in the cage
Willow twigs have been plaited together to form a simple cage. The cage door (open) has a single slide bolt which can be used to keep it shut.
You examine table
The table has been painted white to match the rest of the gazebo.
Go outside
You exit the gazebo.

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo, its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area.
A cool stream runs north-south through the field. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
N then east
You walk until you enter a garden.

A beautifully-sculpted garden, bounded by brick walls to the north
and west. A stream flows in from the east and curves to flow to the south, slowly drifting through the garden. The brook lazily winds its way under the small bridges and between the large rocks and stone paths that have been placed here. Small, pretty bushes are scattered here as well, each one elegantly trimmed and shaped. In one corner of the garden there is a fountain, shaped like a dragon's head. From the dragon's open mouth flows a steady stream of water, falling into the brook.
The hedge beasts are tending to the garden, raking and digging.

You walk east until you are in the field again.

A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
A robin is perched atop the tree, whistling a merry tune.
You put the crane in cage
The robin sings happily.
You show the cage to robin
The robin trills a short song, seeming to emphasize the virtues of freedom and open spaces. The tree grumbles.
You examine the cage
Willow twigs have been plaited together to form a simple cage. The cage door (open) has a single slide bolt which can be used to keep it shut. Inside the cage, you can see a red origami crane.
You drop cage
Dropped.
Wait
Time passes...
You give the cage to the robin
It's too far away.
Go north
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

The sands move, perhaps pushed by the wind. In their motion, you see faces of people long-buried in memory.
You go south
You stagger forwards, the rays of sun lashing your back and neck. One foot kicks something half-buried in the sand, and you pause and look.
A burning desert
Just looking at the scorched and blasted terrain is enough to make
you gasp for water. The sun beats down all around with no hope of shade or any other respite, and there are no land-marks in sight in any direction.
You see a sun-bleached skull here.

Abruptly, the desert air seems to swirl around you. You blink your eyes, and when they open again, you're back where you came here from:
A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
A robin is perched atop the tree, whistling a merry tune.
You jump
Taken.

Wheee!
You show the origami to bird
The robin trumpets a (relatively) loud war-cry, and swoops at the paper figure, seeking to defend its territory. At the last moment, however, it veers off, and returns to its perch in the tree. You must have frightened it.
The robin glances stealthily around to look for female robins. Must be mating season.
You show the crane to the bird
The robin trumpets a (relatively) loud war-cry, and swoops at the paper figure, seeking to defend its territory. At the last moment, however, it veers off, and returns to its perch in the tree. You must have frightened it.
You drop the crane
Dropped.
The robin glances stealthily around to look for female robins. Must be mating season.
You get the crane
Taken.
"Tweet-tweet!" goes the robin.
You give the crane to tree
Unlikely, I think.
Go west
You walk along the banks of the stream for a time.

A beautifully-sculpted garden, bounded by brick walls to the north
and west. A stream flows in from the east and curves to flow to the south, slowly drifting through the garden. The brook lazily winds its way under the small bridges and between the large rocks and stone paths that have been placed here. Small, pretty bushes are scattered here as well, each one elegantly trimmed and shaped. In one corner of the garden there is a fountain, shaped like a dragon's head. From the dragon's open mouth flows a steady stream of water, falling into the brook.
The hedge beasts are curled up on the ground, practically indistinguishable from the normal hedges.
You go south
Walking south eventually takes you to a rocky cliff-top.

Cliff top, by a waterfall
The area is fairly rocky here, with scattered grasses growing
between cracks in the rocks. The stream winds its way between the rocks, widening as it goes, only to curve eastwards and finally pour off the edge of the cliff in a glorious waterfall. A cloud of water vapor is visible down below, as the stream crashes to the ground and starts to move normally again. A flash of reflected sunlight attracts your attention to something in a crack in the rocks.
Sitting on the river rocks you see a music box and a small fly.
You get all
music box: Taken.
small fly: Taken.
You look at the fly
On closer inspection, you see that the fly is a fake fly, made from twisted plastics. Quite realistic looking too.
You look at the music
It's a small wooden music box. A crank protudes from one side, but there's no other markings on it.
You look at your surroundings
Cliff top, by a waterfall
The area is fairly rocky here, with scattered grasses growing
between cracks in the rocks. The stream winds its way between the rocks, widening as it goes, only to curve eastwards and finally pour off the edge of the cliff in a glorious waterfall. A cloud of water vapor is visible down below, as the stream crashes to the ground and starts to move normally again. A flash of reflected sunlight attracts your attention to something in a crack in the rocks.
You turn the crank
You wind up the music box.
You examine the crack
The most noticable crack in the rocks is about a dozen feet from the cliff's edge, a large gap between two big boulders. Sometimes the current pushes objects in there instead of off the waterfall. A glass bottle has sunk to the bottom of the crack.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. A rather nice, but short, piece of classical music comes from the box.
You get the bottle
Taken.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The peaceful sound of
water running over rocks comes from the box.
You examine bottle
The bottle is made of glass, but seems fairly sturdy. It has a snap-top allowing it to be firmly closed and sealed, as it is now. The glass bottle is closed.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. Twitters and whistles
come from the box. Birdcalls, you assume.
You look at it
The bottle is made of glass, but seems fairly sturdy. It has a snap-top allowing it to be firmly closed and sealed, as it is now. The glass bottle is closed.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The sound of a crackling fire, blazing away, comes from the box.
You look at your surroundings
Cliff top, by a waterfall
The area is fairly rocky here, with scattered grasses growing
between cracks in the rocks. The stream winds its way between the rocks, widening as it goes, only to curve eastwards and finally pour off the edge of the cliff in a glorious waterfall. A cloud of water vapor is visible down below, as the stream crashes to the ground and starts to move normally again.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The sound of wind-chimes
in a gentle breeze comes from the box.
You examine the waterfall
The stream winds its way between numerous gaps in the rocks, until it finally plunges off the cliff as a waterfall. It's a much wider stream than the part north of here.
Look around
Cliff top, by a waterfall
The area is fairly rocky here, with scattered grasses growing
between cracks in the rocks. The stream winds its way between the rocks, widening as it goes, only to curve eastwards and finally pour off the edge of the cliff in a glorious waterfall. A cloud of water vapor is visible down below, as the stream crashes to the ground and starts to move normally again.
Examine vapor
Down at the bottom, the waterfall creates a vapor cloud when it crashes to earth. Sometimes, when the cloud shifts, you can vaguely make out something glinting in it, but you can't tell anything through the mist.
N then
You walk north, and soon arrive back at the open field.

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo, its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area.
A cool stream runs north-south through the field. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. A rather nice, but short, piece of classical music comes from the box.
You go north
You walk until you enter a garden.

A beautifully-sculpted garden, bounded by brick walls to the north
and west. A stream flows in from the east and curves to flow to the south, slowly drifting through the garden. The brook lazily winds its way under the small bridges and between the large rocks and stone paths that have been placed here. Small, pretty bushes are scattered here as well, each one elegantly trimmed and shaped. In one corner of the garden there is a fountain, shaped like a dragon's head. From the dragon's open mouth flows a steady stream of water, falling into the brook.
The hedge beasts are curled up on the ground, practically indistinguishable from the normal hedges.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The peaceful sound of
water running over rocks comes from the box.
You go to the east
You walk east until you are in the field again.

A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
A robin is perched atop the tree, whistling a merry tune.
The robin whistles loudly.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. Twitters and whistles
come from the box. Birdcalls, you assume. The robin seems to rouse itself upon hearing the music. It gazes alertly around for other robins, beginning to sing its own territory-song. Sighting the red paper figure in your possession, the robin swoops down towards you, only to veer off and return to the tree at the last second. It chirrups angrily.
You put the bird in the cage
It's out of reach, silly.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The sound of a crackling fire, blazing away, comes from the box.
You put the origami in the cage
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The sound of wind-chimes
in a gentle breeze comes from the box.
You wait for a while
Time passes...
The robin sings happily.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. A rather nice, but short, piece of classical music comes from the box.

Time passes...
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The peaceful sound of
water running over rocks comes from the box.

Time passes...
The robin sings selected pieces by Mozart.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. Twitters and whistles
come from the box. Birdcalls, you assume. The robin seems to rouse itself upon hearing the music. It gazes alertly around for other robins, beginning to sing its own territory-song. Sighting the red paper figure in your possession, the robin swoops down towards you, only to veer off and return to the tree at the last second. It chirrups angrily.
You drop the cage
Dropped.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. Twitters and whistles
come from the box. Birdcalls, you assume. The robin seems to rouse itself upon hearing the music. It gazes alertly around for other robins, beginning to sing its own territory-song. Sighting the paper crane inside the large wicker bird cage, the robin charges. It swoops down inside the large wicker bird cage and begins to batter the folded paper unmercifully. "And stay away, ya stupid bird!" cries the apple tree, leaves rustling gleefully.
You close the cage
Closed.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The sound of a crackling fire, blazing away, comes from the box.
You ask the tree about the apple
"You can have one or two, I suppose."
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The sound of wind-chimes
in a gentle breeze comes from the box. Finally having demolished its opponent, the robin whistles a victory song. It turns to leave the large wicker bird cage, only to discover the large wicker bird cage has been closed around it. It batters itself against the wall for a few minutes, until it finally gives up and takes a perch inside. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" calls the apple tree. "You've gotten rid of that dratted robin for good! I can nap again! No more stupid nests, no more stupid chirping in the mornings when I've got my head-aches. If there's anything I can do to repay you, just ask!"
You ask the tree about the kite
"I suppose you want it? I guess I owe you one. Here."
The tree's branches start to shake for a bit. The kite-like thing is dislodged, and slides down to the ground. It looks like it's a hang-glider.
"Tweet-tweet!" goes the robin.
You take kite
Taken.
You check your inventory
You have a music box, a glass bottle, a small fly, and a hang-glider. The glass bottle seems to contain a small black magnet, a piece of paper, and a heavy stone.
You look at the stone
The rock is oval, fairly heavy, and about the size of an apple or maybe even slightly bigger. Useful as a paperweight, I suppose. You fancy it was in the bottle to weigh the bottle down and keep it from drifting away.
The robin glances stealthily around to look for female robins. Must be mating season.
You examine paper
Which paper do you mean, the piece of paper, or the scraps of paper?
Piece
In a easy, flowing script, someone has written on the paper. "Welcome, child. Please, think things over for a bit, and then come and see me. Be careful.
--D." It's a plain sheet of white paper.
The robin chirps.
You look at the stone
The rock is oval, fairly heavy, and about the size of an apple or maybe even slightly bigger. Useful as a paperweight, I suppose. You fancy it was in the bottle to weigh the bottle down and keep it from drifting away.
You wear the kite
You grab hold of the glider bar and adjust your position on it. You're ready to fly! Okay, you're now wearing the hang-glider.
Describe the surroundings
A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
You see a large wicker bird cage here. The large wicker bird cage seems to contain the robin and some scraps of paper.
You go east
You walk for a minute or two, only to feel the ground beginning to slip away. You take a hasty step backwards.
You examine bottle
The bottle is made of glass, but seems fairly sturdy. It has a snap-top allowing it to be firmly closed and sealed, as it is now. The glass bottle is closed.
Examine scraps
Poor crane :(
The robin glances stealthily around to look for female robins. Must be mating season.
You go to the north
You walk for a minute or two, only to feel the ground beginning to slip away. You take a hasty step backwards.
The robin sings selected pieces by Mozart.
You go south
You walk forwards, and again feel the sensation of the ground vanishing. A blast of sweltering heat welcomes you to the desert one more time.

you gasp for water. The sun beats down all around with no hope of shade or any other respite, and there are no land-marks in sight in any direction.
You see a sun-bleached skull here.

You think you hear a voice behind you. "Okay, Mom, I'm coming," you reply. But when you turn, there is no one there.

You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.
You take the skull
Your load is too heavy.
You examine the skull
The skull has been made fragile and white by exposure to the sun and sand. Two horns sprout from the forehead, and the teeth are long and pointed. It is from no creature you have ever seen before.

Abruptly, the desert air seems to swirl around you. You blink your eyes, and when they open again, you're back where you came here from:
A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
You see a large wicker bird cage here. The large wicker bird cage seems to contain the robin and some scraps of paper.
You drop the kite
Dropped.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You have a music box, a glass bottle, and a small fly. The glass bottle seems to contain a small black magnet, a piece of paper, and a heavy stone.
You take the stone
You'll have to open the glass bottle first.
You go south
You walk for a minute or two, only to feel the ground beginning to slip away. You take a hasty step backwards.
You open the bottle
You pop open the bottle.
You get the stone
Taken.
Go south
You walk forwards, and again feel the sensation of the ground vanishing. A blast of sweltering heat welcomes you to the desert one more time.

you gasp for water. The sun beats down all around with no hope of shade or any other respite, and there are no land-marks in sight in any direction.
You see a sun-bleached skull here.
Go north
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

A single cloud appears in the sky. For an instant, it shifts shape, becoming a bird rising from cold ashes.
You go north
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.
You go north
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

Abruptly, the desert air seems to swirl around you. You blink your eyes, and when they open again, you're back where you came here from:
A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
You see a large wicker bird cage, a hang-glider, and a heavy stone here. The large wicker bird cage seems to contain the robin and some scraps of paper.
You check what you're carrying
You have a music box, a glass bottle, a small fly, and a sun-bleached skull. The glass bottle seems to contain a small black magnet and a piece of paper.
You look in the skull
There's nothing in the sun-bleached skull.
The robin sings happily.
You look at the horns
The skull has been made fragile and white by exposure to the sun and sand. Two horns sprout from the forehead, and the teeth are long and pointed. It is from no creature you have ever seen before.
The robin sings selected pieces by Mozart.
You ask the tree about the skull
"Sorry, I don't know anything about that. Us trees don't get out much, y'know."
You ask tree about the apple
"You can have one or two, I suppose."
The robin glances stealthily around to look for female robins. Must be mating season.
You get the apple
You reach up for an apple, and the branches bend to drop one into your hand.
You break the skull
The sun-bleached skull shatters into a million pieces!
The robin sings happily.
Look around
A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A babbling brook softly runs westwards. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
You see a large wicker bird cage, a hang-glider, and a heavy stone here. The large wicker bird cage seems to contain the robin and some scraps of paper.
You check what you're carrying
You have a music box, a glass bottle, a small fly, a sun-bleached skull, and an apple. The glass bottle seems to contain a small black magnet and a piece of paper.
Go south
Walking south eventually takes you to a rocky cliff-top.

Cliff top, by a waterfall
The area is fairly rocky here, with scattered grasses growing
between cracks in the rocks. The stream winds its way between the rocks, widening as it goes, only to curve eastwards and finally pour off the edge of the cliff in a glorious waterfall. A cloud of water vapor is visible down below, as the stream crashes to the ground and starts to move normally again.
You wear the kite
You grab hold of the glider bar and adjust your position on it. You're ready to fly! Okay, you're now wearing the hang-glider.
You jump
If you want to get off the cliff, a few steps east will do it.
You go to the east
You walk out to the very edge of the cliff, and look down at the steep drop-off below. The wind tugs at you playfully up here, making you vaguely nervous.
Go east
You step off the cliff ...
And soar into the air. The transition from land to sky is a bit tricky, but you get the hang of it fast. You're still dropping in altitude, though. (Of course, compared to how fast you'd be dropping without a hang-glider, you're doing great.)

You are riding the winds on the hang-glider. Below you and to the west, the cliff's base is easily apparent, as is the waterfall pouring down it. When it strikes the ground, the water resumes its normal course as a river, flowing eastwards. The ground below you is covered with scattered rocks and such, and not many grasses.
You go to the west
Uh, there is a cliff in the way, in case you hadn't noticed. You can't maintain this flying in circles forever. You'd better find a good place to land.
You remove the kite
It was Heinlein, I believe, who said that the only crime is stupidity, and the punishment is always death. This would be a good demonstration of that.
You go to the east
You steer the glider eastwards. "Hey, this flying stuff isn't so bad," you think to yourself. "Just gotta push this way to turn left, this way to turn right and --" Your thoughts are interrupted by a large object which suddenly looms in your path. Luckily for you, it is a fairly soft one. You tumble to the ground in a large heap of glider-and-person, and look around to see yourself surrounded by giant mushrooms ...

On either bank of the river, stretching high into the sky, are giant mushrooms. Giant technicolored mushrooms. Red and blue and yellow and green and purple, and most are splotched with splashes of other colors. The mushrooms tower at least a dozen feet above you, perhaps more, and their outstretched caps block out most of the sun. You can see there is a split in the now-sluggish stream here, one branch going south and the main branch running east-west.
You examine the mushrooms
Yes, they're giant mushrooms. Perhaps a dozen feet high, with broad caps that block out much of the sunlight. All different colors, and many have spots and splotches of various hues, too. Still, the dim light makes them look shadowy and strange rather than ridiculous. A spiderweb hangs from between two giant red mushrooms. Sitting on the spiderweb, a brown spider watches you with beady eyes. Below, a small (ie, normal-sized) gray mushroom pokes up from the ground into the strands of webbing. The spider scurries around the web, surprisingly quickly. It seems to be changing the strands of the web. To your amazement, words begin to form on the web, carved out in strands of gossamer silk.
You read the web
The spiderweb is composed of long, lacy strands, like fine silk or long hair. It seems to shimmer in the snatches of sunlight that filter in. A small brown spider squats in the center of the web. Behind it, you can see strange designs. The designs appear to be letters. Words, even. You can make out "Altered visions".
You examine the gray mushroom
The mushroom is small and gray, yet somehow enticing. It's nearly impossible to make out more about it, because of the strands of spider-silk that have been wrapped around its cap.
You examine the red mushroom
Yes, they're giant mushrooms. Perhaps a dozen feet high, with broad caps that block out much of the sunlight. All different colors, and many have spots and splotches of various hues, too. Still, the dim light makes them look shadowy and strange rather than ridiculous. A spiderweb hangs from between two giant red mushrooms. Sitting on the spiderweb, a brown spider watches you with beady eyes. Below, a small (ie, normal-sized) gray mushroom pokes up from the ground into the strands of webbing. The spider scurries around the web, surprisingly quickly. It seems to be changing the strands of the web. The old words are removed, and new words take their place.
You check what you're carrying
You have a music box, a glass bottle, a small fly, a sun-bleached skull, an apple, and a hang-glider (being worn). The glass bottle seems to contain a small black magnet and a piece of paper.
You read the web
The spiderweb is composed of long, lacy strands, like fine silk or long hair. It seems to shimmer in the snatches of sunlight that filter in. A small brown spider squats in the center of the web. Behind it, you can see strange designs. The designs appear to be letters. Words, even. You can make out "All are doomed to die".
You read the web
The spiderweb is composed of long, lacy strands, like fine silk or long hair. It seems to shimmer in the snatches of sunlight that filter in. A small brown spider squats in the center of the web. Behind it, you can see strange designs. The designs appear to be letters. Words, even. You can make out "All are doomed to die". The spider scurries around the web, surprisingly quickly. It seems to be changing the strands of the web. The old words are removed, and new words take their place.
You read the web
The spiderweb is composed of long, lacy strands, like fine silk or long hair. It seems to shimmer in the snatches of sunlight that filter in. A small brown spider squats in the center of the web. Behind it, you can see strange designs. The designs appear to be letters. Words, even. You can make out "Reborn in fire".
You read the web
The spiderweb is composed of long, lacy strands, like fine silk or long hair. It seems to shimmer in the snatches of sunlight that filter in. A small brown spider squats in the center of the web. Behind it, you can see strange designs. The designs appear to be letters. Words, even. You can make out "Reborn in fire". The spider scurries around the web, surprisingly quickly. It seems to be changing the strands of the web. The old words are removed, and new words take their place.
You read web
The spiderweb is composed of long, lacy strands, like fine silk or long hair. It seems to shimmer in the snatches of sunlight that filter in. A small brown spider squats in the center of the web. Behind it, you can see strange designs. The designs appear to be letters. Words, even. You can make out "Truth in death".
You examine the spider
It's a brown spider. You seem to vaguely recollect it from a naturalist class you took once: the brown recluse. Deadly venom, you remember the teacher saying. The many eyes glitter at you. The spider scurries around the web, surprisingly quickly. It seems to be changing the strands of the web. The old words are removed, and new words take their place.
You read the web
The spiderweb is composed of long, lacy strands, like fine silk or long hair. It seems to shimmer in the snatches of sunlight that filter in. A small brown spider squats in the center of the web. Behind it, you can see strange designs. The designs appear to be letters. Words, even. You can make out only a single word this time: "Phoenix".
You go south
Taking more than a few steps in any direction while wearing a large glider is rather beyond your capabilities.
You go to the west
You walk until you reach the base of a waterfall.

You are near the banks of the east-flowing river that starts from
the nearby waterfall. The ground is covered with large numbers of scattered rocks, all shapes and sizes. Not much grass grows here. The cliff is impassible to the west (unless you want to climb it), but the other directions are all possible.
You examine the rocks
The same basic sorts of rocks and scree and such that you see all over this place. The only difference in this area is that there's lots and lots of the rocks, enough to force you to follow the twisted paths in between them when they're too big to climb over.
You examine mist
Which mist do you mean, the strange haze, or the cloud of water vapor?
You look at the cloud
Which cloud do you mean, the white clouds, or the cloud of water vapor?
You examine the haze
The air becomes strangely hazy once it gets too far away from you. You can make out nothing but vague shapes through the haze.
You look at the water vapor
The waterfall creates a vapor cloud when it crashes to the ground nearby. The wind blows water droplets onto your face.
You examine the white clouds
I don't know the word "shapes".

Some white clouds drift through the sky, blown by the wind.
Go west
The cliff is in the way, silly.
You examine the water
The waterfall splashes down the cliff, forming a large vapor cloud, and becomes a river again, heading east.
You climb cliff
The waterfall makes the cliff impossible to scale.
Look around
You are near the banks of the east-flowing river that starts from
the nearby waterfall. The ground is covered with large numbers of scattered rocks, all shapes and sizes. Not much grass grows here. The cliff is impassible to the west (unless you want to climb it), but the other directions are all possible.
You examine the rocks
The same basic sorts of rocks and scree and such that you see all over this place. The only difference in this area is that there's lots and lots of the rocks, enough to force you to follow the twisted paths in between them when they're too big to climb over.
Go south
You walk forwards, and again feel the sensation of the ground vanishing. A blast of sweltering heat welcomes you to the desert one more time.

you gasp for water. The sun beats down all around with no hope of shade or any other respite, and there are no land-marks in sight in any direction.
Go east
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

Born by the wind, a single whispered word touches your ears: Phoenix.
Go south
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

Abruptly, the desert air seems to swirl around you. You blink your eyes, and when they open again, you're back where you came here from: At base of cliff
You are near the banks of the east-flowing river that starts from
the nearby waterfall. The ground is covered with large numbers of scattered rocks, all shapes and sizes. Not much grass grows here. The cliff is impassible to the west (unless you want to climb it), but the other directions are all possible.
You examine the grass
Only a few sparse tufts of yellow-brown grass grow between the rocks.
Go west
The cliff is in the way, silly.
You go to the south
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

A voice speaks from behind a dune. "This is not the place for you. Go back until you are ready."
You check your inventory
You have a music box, a glass bottle, a small fly, a sun-bleached skull, an apple, and a hang-glider. The glass bottle seems to contain a small black magnet and a piece of paper.

Abruptly, the desert air seems to swirl around you. You blink your eyes, and when they open again, you're back where you came here from: At base of cliff
You are near the banks of the east-flowing river that starts from
the nearby waterfall. The ground is covered with large numbers of scattered rocks, all shapes and sizes. Not much grass grows here. The cliff is impassible to the west (unless you want to climb it), but the other directions are all possible.
You go east
You walk eastwards. The river leads into a grove of technicolor mushrooms.

On either bank of the river, stretching high into the sky, are giant mushrooms. Giant technicolored mushrooms. Red and blue and yellow and green and purple, and most are splotched with splashes of other colors. The mushrooms tower at least a dozen feet above you, perhaps more, and their outstretched caps block out most of the sun. You can see there is a split in the now-sluggish stream here, one branch going south and the main branch running east-west. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You give the fly to the spider
Don't want to get that close - better throw it.

I don't know how to give anything to the brown spider.
You throw the fly
What do you want to throw it at?
You throw fly at the web
The small fly sticks in the web, caught on a thread. The spider scuttles over to investigate the interesting-looking arrival.
You take the mushroom
Stealthily, not wanting to alert the spider, you reach out and grab the mushroom. Then you see the spider scurrying over on spindly legs, going angrily towards your hand. Things seem to be slowing. You see it leaping towards you, fangs extended, you pull your hand away but it is too late, far too late. The spider's fangs graze your finger for a moment before you throw it off into the bushes. You sigh, examining the mushroom and wondering if it was worth it. Then the scratch mark on your hand starts to throb.
You check your inventory
You have a music box, a glass bottle, a small fly, a sun-bleached skull, an apple, and a hang-glider. The glass bottle seems to contain a small black magnet and a piece of paper.
You go to the east
Eventually the mushroom patch ends, and the river widens.

This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A stream runs through the forest here. It is wide but shallow, allowing you to see the granite ground below it. Small bits of quartz are embedded everywhere in the granite, and they sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shines on the moving water. But occasionally, you see other bright flashes in the water that don't seem to be caused by the sunlight. The stream passes into the forest to the east, and is quickly lost amongst the trees.
You examine the water
The river is filled with glitters and sparkles, some from the sunlight on the quartz. But others don't seem to be caused by that, since sometimes you notice a faint glow in the shadows.
You examine the glow
The light rippling across the wavelets of the river certainly does look a bit unusual.
You examine the trees
The trees are tall, and mossy. If they had any low branches, you could climb them, but since they don't, you can't.
You look at the sun
The sun is high in the sky, as usual. It doesn't seem to be moving, though.
You look at the quartz
The granite stream bed has been almost polished by all the water running over it. Small bits of quartz are exposed in the bare rock, and they sparkle as the sunlight touches them.
You open the bottle
It's already open!
You take all from the bottle
piece of paper: Taken.
You look at the river
The river is filled with glitters and sparkles, some from the sunlight on the quartz. But others don't seem to be caused by that, since sometimes you notice a faint glow in the shadows.
You put the magnet in the river
The small black magnet sinks to the bottom of the wide stream.
You examine the river
The river is filled with glitters and sparkles, some from the sunlight on the quartz. But others don't seem to be caused by that, since sometimes you notice a faint glow in the shadows. At the bottom of the wide stream you can see a small black magnet.
You look at bottle
The bottle is made of glass, but seems fairly sturdy. It has a snap-top allowing it to be firmly closed and sealed, but it isn't at the moment. The glass bottle is open. The glass bottle is full of water.
You enter the river
You would be quite unhappy if you got all wet.
You go east
You walk for a minute or two, only to feel the ground beginning to slip away. You take a hasty step backwards.
Look around
This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A stream runs through the forest here. It is wide but shallow, allowing you to see the granite ground below it. Small bits of quartz are embedded everywhere in the granite, and they sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shines on the moving water. But occasionally, you see other bright flashes in the water that don't seem to be caused by the sunlight. The stream passes into the forest to the east, and is quickly lost amongst the trees.
You look at the forest
The moss is hanging everywhere off the old trees. It's not terribly interesting, and it's too high up to reach.

I don't know the word "forest".
You examine the flowers
The wild flowers grow among the grasses, in a wild assortment of colors.
You examine the trees
The trees are tall, and mossy. If they had any low branches, you could climb them, but since they don't, you can't.
You go to the south
You walk forwards, and again feel the sensation of the ground vanishing. A blast of sweltering heat welcomes you to the desert one more time.

you gasp for water. The sun beats down all around with no hope of shade or any other respite, and there are no land-marks in sight in any direction.

There are no more visions left for you. The desert sun is hot and painful.
Go north
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

Abruptly, the desert air seems to swirl around you. You blink your eyes, and when they open again, you're back where you came here from: By a wide stream
This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A stream runs through the forest here. It is wide but shallow, allowing you to see the granite ground below it. Small bits of quartz are embedded everywhere in the granite, and they sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shines on the moving water. But occasionally, you see other bright flashes in the water that don't seem to be caused by the sunlight. The stream passes into the forest to the east, and is quickly lost amongst the trees.
You examine the hole
The water flows into the hole, making a faint splashing sound. It's too dark to see anything inside.
You examine the bushes
The bushes are quite tangly and spiky. It would be impossible to force your way through them without a machete.
You enter hole
Either the hole's too small or you're too big. Besides, you don't want to get all muddy.
You dig hole
What do you want to dig in it with?
You check your inventory
You have a music box, a glass bottle, a small fly, a sun-bleached skull, an apple, a hang-glider, a piece of paper, and a small black magnet.
You put the apple in the hole
Your apple floats around on the surface.
You wait
Time passes...
With only a slight bump, your apple tumbles into the hole and is lost from sight.
You examine the river
The stream only goes a short distance before it flows into a hole in the ground and is lost from sight. You can hear it moving below the ground, faintly.
You look in the hole
It's awful dark in there.
You enter hole
Either the hole's too small or you're too big. Besides, you don't want to get all muddy.
You descend
The bushes are much too thick, and much too thorny, for you to force your way through them.
You fold the paper into the boat
You skillfully fold the sheet of paper into an origami boat.
You examine boat
In a easy, flowing script, someone has written on the paper. "Welcome, child. Please, think things over for a bit, and then come and see me. Be careful.
--D." It's an origami boat, made from white paper.
You go to the north
You return to the mushroom patch.

On either bank of the river, stretching high into the sky, are giant mushrooms. Giant technicolored mushrooms. Red and blue and yellow and green and purple, and most are splotched with splashes of other colors. The mushrooms tower at least a dozen feet above you, perhaps more, and their outstretched caps block out most of the sun. You can see there is a split in the now-sluggish stream here, one branch going south and the main branch running east-west. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You examine web
The spiderweb is composed of long, lacy strands, like fine silk or long hair. It seems to shimmer in the snatches of sunlight that filter in. A small brown spider squats in the center of the web. Behind it, you can see strange designs. The designs appear to be letters. Words, even. You can make out only a single word this time: "Phoenix".
Inventory
You have a music box, a glass bottle, a small fly, a sun-bleached skull, a hang-glider, a piece of paper, a small black magnet, and an apple.
You look at the stream
The river runs sluggishly here, winding its way through the mushroom forest. The mushroom-caps throw shadows on the river, making it dark and murky.
You wait a while
Time passes...
The crank turns, and the music box plays. A rather nice, but short, piece of classical music comes from the box.
You wait
Time passes...
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The peaceful sound of
water running over rocks comes from the box.
You enter the boat
I don't know how to enter the piece of paper.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. Twitters and whistles
come from the box. Birdcalls, you assume.
You wait
Time passes...
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The sound of a crackling fire, blazing away, comes from the box.
You examine the mushroom
The mushroom is small and gray, yet somehow enticing. It's nearly impossible to make out more about it, because of the strands of spider-silk that have been wrapped around its cap.
The crank turns, and the music box plays. The sound of wind-chimes
in a gentle breeze comes from the box.
You put the boat in stream
The piece of paper floats around on the surface. The piece of paper is now quite soggy.
You look at the spider
It's a brown spider. You seem to vaguely recollect it from a naturalist class you took once: the brown recluse. Deadly venom, you remember the teacher saying. The many eyes glitter at you.
You fold the paper into the phoenix
Unfortunately, you don't know the moves to fold the paper into a error: shouldn't see this.
Go south
You follow the river branch to the south.

The river from the mushroom forest ends here. It drains into a
small hole in the ground, making a quiet gurgling noise as it does so. Meanwhile, the ground around it has become more muddy, and the mushrooms have disappeared. They have been replaced with tangled bushes that block the way in all directions except back north.
You examine the boat
The ink is rather smeared and the paper is a bit damp, but it's still possible to make out what has been written on the paper. "Welcome, child. Please, think things over for a bit, and then come and see me. Be careful.
--D." It's an origami boat, made from white paper.
You wait a while
Time passes...
The spider begins to spin webbing around the fly, wrapping it up firmly in silk.
You get the mushroom
Stealthily, not wanting to alert the spider, you reach out and grab the mushroom. Then you see the spider scurrying over on spindly legs, going angrily towards your hand. Things seem to be slowing. You see it leaping towards you, fangs extended, you pull your hand away but it is too late, far too late. The spider's fangs graze your finger for a moment before you throw it off into the bushes. You sigh, examining the mushroom and wondering if it was worth it. Then the scratch mark on your hand starts to throb.
You wait
Time passes...
Finally, the spider realizes that it's not dealing with a real fly. Disgustedly, it tosses the silk-wrapped bundle away.
You describe your surroundings
On either bank of the river, stretching high into the sky, are giant mushrooms. Giant technicolored mushrooms. Red and blue and yellow and green and purple, and most are splotched with splashes of other colors. The mushrooms tower at least a dozen feet above you, perhaps more, and their outstretched caps block out most of the sun. You can see there is a split in the now-sluggish stream here, one branch going south and the main branch running east-west. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You go to the north
You return to the mushroom patch.

On either bank of the river, stretching high into the sky, are giant mushrooms. Giant technicolored mushrooms. Red and blue and yellow and green and purple, and most are splotched with splashes of other colors. The mushrooms tower at least a dozen feet above you, perhaps more, and their outstretched caps block out most of the sun. You can see there is a split in the now-sluggish stream here, one branch going south and the main branch running east-west. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You throw fly at the web
The small fly sticks in the web, caught on a thread. The spider scuttles over to investigate the interesting-looking arrival.
Go south
You follow the river branch to the south.

The river from the mushroom forest ends here. It drains into a
small hole in the ground, making a quiet gurgling noise as it does so. Meanwhile, the ground around it has become more muddy, and the mushrooms have disappeared. They have been replaced with tangled bushes that block the way in all directions except back north.
For a moment, you stumble as a wave of dizziness strikes.
You eat the mushroom
"Well, things can't possibly get any worse, can they?" you think, examining the mushroom. You tenatively take a small bite. It doesn't really taste like anything special. Not very good at all, more like stale cardboard than anything else. But you take a second bite, and then a third bite. Everything seems to get very quiet around you.
Just you, and the bushes. And the mushroom, and the venom in your blood. Your finger seems to be hurting less, or perhaps hurting more and you aren't feeling the pain. You take another bite, and choke on the piece for a minute before it goes down your throat dry. Your forehead is on fire, you're going to burn up. The bushes are rustling and waving their thorns at you. You cough on the next piece, but swallow it. Is there a bee-hive nearby? The humming in your ears seems to suggest that, or perhaps you're going mad . . .
going mad
going mad
You take a bite. How many is this? Six bites? Seven? Too hard to count now, too hard to think. Just eat. You feel strangely detached from everything, able to realize you have pain and are in serious trouble from the spider-bite, but at the same time just watching it all happen to your body. Finally, sweet release. The mushroom tumbles from your hand, and hits the ground almost at the same time you do . . .
Everything goes away for a little bit, and you drift into blackness.

You are awakened by a voice calling your name.

The river from the mushroom forest ends here, draining into a small hole in the ground. The way is blocked by tangled bushes that reach out at you on all sides except northwards. The ground is soggy and muddy, and makes little slurping and drooling noises as you walk over it.
You, or a long-lost twin at least, are standing here.

"Listen, I know this is kind of strange," the
person-who-looks-like-you says. "But listen to me. You have got to figure out what's going on here. I can't help you out with it, either. I'm just a hallucination."
You look at the hole
The water flows into the hole, making a faint splashing sound. It's too dark to see anything inside.
"Pay attention!" your double says, impatiently. "There's no time. They're everywhere, and pretty damn soon we'll be falling off that cliff again. Here's what you have to do: keep exploring this place, and find Daniel. He'll explain everything once you find him."
You ask double about Daniel
You don't seem to notice your questions.
"Right now, there'll be some others coming along to help you walk
your path," says the figure, "Listen to your ghosts. You're protected some here, but it won't last forever. *They* are everywhere. Be careful, and look for the others."
You enter hole
Either the hole's too small or you're too big. Besides, you don't want to get all muddy.
"C'mon, let's go," the you-hallucination says. "Hurry, hurry. Try
and remember everything you see. It's all got to fit together."
You go to the north
You return to the mushroom patch.

The figment of you walks along beside you, his footsteps making no sound.
Amidst the mushrooms
Your strange state of mind makes the mushrooms even more peculiar
than they already are. Or perhaps now they're normal, because you're strange ... In any case, they seem to loom over you, colors ranging from bright to menacing, and sometimes changing even as you look at them. The path of the river splits, one branch meandering south as the main river continues to run east-west. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You, or a long-lost twin at least, are standing here.
Zippy, your pet dog, is scampering around here.
Zippy barks excitedly at you. He runs over and sniffs your feet,
and then tries to lick your face. You don't feel anything as he does so, and his barks seem faint and shadowy, as if from a long distance away.
Pet zippy
You reach out to pet Zippy. Sadly, your fingers slip through and you can make no contact. He whimpers sadly.
Zippy sniffs the air and turns his head this way and that, as if looking for something.
You read the web
The spiderweb is composed of long, lacy strands, like fine silk or long hair. It seems to shimmer in the snatches of sunlight that filter in. Strange designs are visible in the web. The designs appear to be letters. Words, even. You can make out only a single word this time: "Phoenix". Hanging in the web, you see a small fly.
Zippy whines quietly. He trots a short distance, then comes back to sit at your feet again.
You take the fly
Taken.
Zippy barks shrilly, and then looks at you. His eyes are wide and a little panicky. He seems to want you to get moving.
You go to the east
Eventually the mushroom patch ends, and the river widens.

The figment of you walks along beside you, his footsteps making no sound.
Zippy trots along by your side.
By a wide stream
This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A stream runs through the forest here. It is wide but shallow, allowing you to see the granite ground below it. Small bits of quartz are embedded everywhere in the granite, and they sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shines on the moving water. Strange glowing fish are swimming around quite happily in the water. Many are swimming against the current, seemingly without effort. The stream passes into the forest to the east, and is quickly lost amongst the trees.
You, or a long-lost twin at least, are standing here.
Zippy, your pet dog, is scampering around here.
Your great-aunt Polly is here, her eyes twinkling merrily at you.
Zippy glances at the water, and then begins to bark loudly at the lightfish for a few minutes. He turns and looks at you expectantly. "Hello, boy," great-aunt Polly says. "Never expected to see me
again, did you? I see you've turned into a grown man already. Well, well. I only wish I was alive to see it." She sighs.
You look at fish
The lightfish seem to glow as they swim about in the river. Perhaps it's just sunlight on scales, but perhaps not. Furthermore, it's hard to tell what size they are. Sometimes they seem as long as your arm, and sometimes some are only fingerlings. Maybe it's just the lighting in here. In any case, they swim around and around in complex patterns as you watch. It's almost as if they're trying to tell you something. "Still, this isn't so bad. Daniel brought me back to talk to you.
I'm glad I got this chance to see you again." Polly sighs again.
"It's only a pity it had to be under such circumstances."
You ask Polly about Daniel
Your great-aunt Polly doesn't seem to notice your questions.
"There's a lot going on here, boy, more than you can know. And your life is pretty screwed up, too. I've seen a little of the things you've gotten into. Not good. I know it's all part of the great story, but it still hurts me to watch you destroy yourself. I did what I could for you when I was alive, but here the rules are different. Daniel said it was for you to explore within yourself, without help, and I guess he's right. You'd better go see him next, and then you had best be finding your dad. A good man, your dad. But he went in the same way I did ... _They_ got him. I can only pray you'll be different." Aunt Polly falls silent for a minute.
You look in yourself
Which me do you mean, you, or yourself?
You look in myself
You look about the same as always.
"I'd like to help you out more'n this, but Daniel said I mustn't.
Once you find your father, lad, everything will get explained. I'd like to come along and walk with you for a bit, though. I don't got many chances to see you nowadays. Only when the worlds are right."
Go east
You walk forwards. Tendrils of sparkling white mist begin to spiral upwards from the ground. As you keep going, the mist gets thicker.
And more solid. After five steps, it feels like you're trying to push through a pillow. After ten steps, you can't go any farther. Disgruntled, you finally must retreat.
Go west
You walk until you see the mushrooms ahead.

The figment of you walks along beside you, his footsteps making no sound.
Zippy trots along by your side.
Polly walks along on your other side, moving slowly but somehow keeping up.
Amidst the mushrooms
Your strange state of mind makes the mushrooms even more peculiar
than they already are. Or perhaps now they're normal, because you're strange ... In any case, they seem to loom over you, colors ranging from bright to menacing, and sometimes changing even as you look at them. The path of the river splits, one branch meandering south as the main river continues to run east-west. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You, or a long-lost twin at least, are standing here.
Zippy, your pet dog, is scampering around here.
Your great-aunt Polly is here, her eyes twinkling merrily at you.
You go to the west
You walk until you reach the base of a waterfall.

The figment of you walks along beside you, his footsteps making no sound.
Zippy trots along by your side.
Polly walks along on your other side, moving slowly but somehow keeping up.
At base of cliff
In your slightly altered state, the waterfall seems to flow with
bright diamonds that crash to earth only to twist into a river of shining silver. The rocks now form a maze that you could lose yourself in if you aren't extra-careful. Tufts of green grass, glowing with life, sprout in between the stones, and the roar of the water is loud in your ears. The cliff is impassible to the west (unless you want to climb it), but the other directions are all possible.
You, or a long-lost twin at least, are standing here.
Zippy, your pet dog, is scampering around here.
Your great-aunt Polly is here, her eyes twinkling merrily at you.
You examine the maze
The twisted paths wind their crazy way between the rocks.
You go to the east
You walk eastwards. The river leads into a grove of technicolor mushrooms.

The figment of you walks along beside you, his footsteps making no sound.
Zippy trots along by your side.
Polly walks along on your other side, moving slowly but somehow keeping up.
Amidst the mushrooms
Your strange state of mind makes the mushrooms even more peculiar
than they already are. Or perhaps now they're normal, because you're strange ... In any case, they seem to loom over you, colors ranging from bright to menacing, and sometimes changing even as you look at them. The path of the river splits, one branch meandering south as the main river continues to run east-west. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You, or a long-lost twin at least, are standing here.
Zippy, your pet dog, is scampering around here.
Your great-aunt Polly is here, her eyes twinkling merrily at you.
You go to the south
You follow the river branch to the south.

The figment of you walks along beside you, his footsteps making no sound.
Zippy trots along by your side.
Polly walks along on your other side, moving slowly but somehow keeping up.
End of path
The river from the mushroom forest ends here, draining into a small hole in the ground. The way is blocked by tangled bushes that reach out at you on all sides except northwards. The ground is soggy and muddy, and makes little slurping and drooling noises as you walk over it.
You, or a long-lost twin at least, are standing here.
Zippy, your pet dog, is scampering around here.
Your great-aunt Polly is here, her eyes twinkling merrily at you.
You go north
You return to the mushroom patch.

The figment of you walks along beside you, his footsteps making no sound.
Zippy trots along by your side.
Polly walks along on your other side, moving slowly but somehow keeping up.
Amidst the mushrooms
Your strange state of mind makes the mushrooms even more peculiar
than they already are. Or perhaps now they're normal, because you're strange ... In any case, they seem to loom over you, colors ranging from bright to menacing, and sometimes changing even as you look at them. The path of the river splits, one branch meandering south as the main river continues to run east-west. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You, or a long-lost twin at least, are standing here.
Zippy, your pet dog, is scampering around here.
Your great-aunt Polly is here, her eyes twinkling merrily at you.
You examine the mushrooms
Yes, they're giant mushrooms. Perhaps a dozen feet high, with broad caps that block out much of the sunlight. All different colors, and many have spots and splotches of various hues, too. Still, the dim light makes them look shadowy and strange rather than ridiculous. A spiderweb hangs from between two giant red mushrooms.
You climb them
giant mushrooms: The mushrooms are too slippery, and there are no footholds available.
You go east
Eventually the mushroom patch ends, and the river widens.

The figment of you walks along beside you, his footsteps making no sound.
Zippy trots along by your side.
Polly walks along on your other side, moving slowly but somehow keeping up.
By a wide stream
This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A stream runs through the forest here. It is wide but shallow, allowing you to see the granite ground below it. Small bits of quartz are embedded everywhere in the granite, and they sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shines on the moving water. Strange glowing fish are swimming around quite happily in the water. Many are swimming against the current, seemingly without effort. The stream passes into the forest to the east, and is quickly lost amongst the trees.
You, or a long-lost twin at least, are standing here.
Zippy, your pet dog, is scampering around here.
Your great-aunt Polly is here, her eyes twinkling merrily at you.
You take the fish
You reach out a hand to grab a fish. The fish begin to swim more quickly, going round and round in circles. As you get closer, their motion becomes more frantic. It's as if some special is about to happen. Suddenly, one fish jumps out of the water, just a little ways. Then a second follows. Then another, and another. Soon all the fish are leaping out of the water and falling. You stop, amazed. The lightfish keep jumping. Very quickly, the jumping becomes more organized. The fish are actually forming lines in the water to jump. So many fish are jumping, you wonder how the river could possibly contain them all. Each fish leaps, arcs overhead up almost six feet, and then splashes into the water again. So many are jumping that the individual forms become indistinguishable. It's as if there's just a single arch of glowing light, rising from the water. And it is an arch, or rather, a doorway. The air within the arch suddenly goes inky black. The stark contrast to the lighted edge is amazing. Within the blackness, you see a few harsh points of light, stars. But all the rest is pure ebony darkness. The fish continue their jumping. The arch beckons.
You enter the arch
You take a step towards the archway. Below you, the water rushes away from your feet, leaving a dry path to walk upon. The arch seems to glow even more. The second step brings you closer, and the third step is through the gate. "Goodbye, boy," Polly calls, her voice thin and weak. Zippy barks once, and then all sound is shut out as you pass into the archway.
The sun winks out immediately, replaced by black. Harsh stars glow in the silent sky. The wind is cold. You land on ice.

A chill wind whips you as you stand on the icy surface here. In all directions, you see only ice, stretching out even to the horizon. No tracks mark the ground ... perhaps you are the only person ever to have come here. The sky is black, and the only light is starlight from the strange constellations above your head.
You read the stars
The stars aren't important. It is eerily quiet here. The wind makes no sound, and the stars above are silent. Only the small, small scraping of your feet on the ice can be heard. Then, overhead, a star gleams.
You look at the star
A single star directly above you seems to glow brighter than the rest. The star begins to streak across the sky, leaving a silver trail behind it. In fact, it seems to be getting closer, increasing in size.
Continue
The star is huge, as big as the moon, and just as pale white. The star is so big! It must surely swallow up the lake and everyone on it! Until, in a flash of light, it is gone. And you are no longer alone.
Look around
A chill wind whips you as you stand on the icy surface here. In all directions, you see only ice, stretching out even to the horizon. No tracks mark the ground ... perhaps you are the only person ever to have come here. The sky is black, and the only light is starlight from the strange constellations above your head.
A tall figure in shimmering white stands here. You suddenly realize this is Daniel.
You examine Daniel
Daniel is humanoid, perhaps seven feet in height, and cloaked in shimmering white robes. His eyes are deeper than those of any mortal you have ever seen, but even they are not deep enough to contain the infinite wisdom and infinite sorrow you see inside. Daniel looks at you for a minute, then smiles softly. He begins to speak.
"I'm glad you've come. I suppose you'd like a little explanation
now?"
"Well, yes, I would --" you start to say, only to realize that's not what you're actually asking. The small words that somehow tumble out of your mouth are "Daniel ... are you ... y'know . . . God?"
He smiles that smile at you again, and shakes his head. A hand
reaches out to brush your hair softly. "No, child, I'm not God. Only . . only a fallen angel." The look of regret in his eyes is almost more than you can bear.
"But let me explain things a little better for you. You're
confused, tired, scared. Let me help." Daniel's smile this time is dazzling, not tired. "Let me help you."
You wait awhile
Time passes...
"To begin with -- where to begin with? Let me tell you a story. In the beginning, my son, it is said that when humans were just beginning to live on the earth, there were the angels in heaven. And the angels looked down on the humans, and laughed to see their petty squabbling, their jealousies, their wars, their many imperfections. The things that made them mortal. And the angels would look at one another, and mock the humans on earth, and talk about how much better *they* could do if they were down there. One day, they were given their chance.
God took the four most boastful of the angels, and sent them down to earth. "Go and live amongst the humans," God said, "And return to Me in a year and a day, to say what you have learned." So the angels came to earth. And though their descent had stripped their magic from them, the angels were still fair of face, strong and noble of body, and goodly to look upon. And the angels walked amongst the people, and saw them as mortals see each other."
You wait a while
Time passes...
"The angels tarried with the people for less than a fortnight before they had established themselves as braver, nobler, more beautiful, stronger, in all ways better than the humans. Or so they believed. Drunk on flattery from their new-found admirers (for among the angels in heaven, their attributes were nothing special), the four angels married the sons and daughters of the people, and made residence with them. There was much rejoicing in the houses that the former angels joined, and much celebration. Wine was brought out, a thing the children of the sky had never tasted before. There was merrymaking and great feasting.
The angels lived on earth for many months. In that time, they lost
all the virtues that they had come with. One took to brigandry, using his strength and cunning to waylay and rob the rich and terrorize and abuse the poor and helpless. One took to gambling -- her near-divine intuition was unsurpassed, and when that failed her, her marked cards and easy blackmail did not. The third became a war- lord, and she sought to conquer all the world. The last became a sorcerer, performing dark rites and blood sacrifices for power to replace that which he had lost in his fall from heaven."
You wait
Time passes...
"So the days passed, and so the months passed, and so the year
passed. Finally, the entire year ended. In but two hours, the final day would end as well, and the angels' stay on earth would end. And none of the four remembered, none recalled, none cared. So, when the call came and they flew up to the sky, their mortal baggage was brought along. Raphael still held his daggers and looted gold, and the scars that he had gained. Lilith still clasped a palmed die in one hand, and a wine-skin in the other. Jaela held her sword, steeped in the tears of the innocent. And Daniel --" Daniel's voice chokes for a minute, then he continues. "Daniel still held his black book of sorcery, and his sacrificial dagger, wet with baby's blood. God gazed upon the four angels, and the angels gazed upon themselves. And they were ashamed. God spoke to them, and to the assembled angels. "I reject thee, now. Because of the pridefulness that is within all, heaven's gates are closed to you forevermore. Go forth, back to the lands from whence you came. You are angels no more."
The four who had gone to earth took special punishment. Raphael was sent, in his strength, to hold the Earth in its course. Lilith, in her cunning, was sent to tease the rivers into their courses, and the seas into their proper basins. Jaela, with her might, was given the storms and skies to oversee, for all eternity. And Daniel was sent forth to the stars, a lonely wanderer, forevermore."
You wait
Time passes...
"As you may have realized, you are a chosen one, a Phoenix. Within
you is the potential for great power, and much magic. When the need is here, you must awaken it. And the need *is* here. Earth is threatened. This time, it is from within. Evil works through man, this time, through bribed senators and corporate thugs. The world leadership is almost all either unknowingly or knowingly helping evil, preparing the way for the enemy to take over. Because the invaders are here again too.
They were driven off once by angels, but now they have returned, and there are no angels left who can stand against them. Only mortals. Phoenix, you must rise up. Already, *They* recognize you for what you are. Already, they have struck against you. I think you know when. The last time was on the cliff. They had hoped to kill you, and eliminate the final threat, but you were snatched out of reality for an instant. I hastily pulled together snatches of Reality and wove them into a place for you to stay in. The action took great effort, and I am very tired. But I was tired before. I brought you here because you must awaken. And perhaps so that you can see Truth a bit more clearly. It is true that the invaders have been working against you, yet many
of the troubles in your life are your own doing, you know. Before you return home, you must confront them, and yourself. Then you can fly as a Phoenix must, because only a Phoenix can save the world now.
This place--" Daniel gestures with one shapely hand "is not quite
the same as where you were before. The spider venom should have killed you, as should the huge dose of mushroom that you took. But instead, you came to me, to this dream-land that I live in. In a minute, I will put you back in to the place you left, and give you some time to finish thinking about things. But first, perhaps you have some questions about things?"
You ask Daniel about the tree
"Ah, yes. A bit rude, but a heart of gold. I think."
You ask Daniel about the gazebo
"I rather like the gazebo. It's dreadfully symbolic, and quite pleasant to spend time in. Or on top of. I never did get around to putting a proper stairway to the roof though."
You ask Daniel about the sun
"I think you've noticed the sun doesn't move. Time is different
here -- it's more under your control. You'll understand in a bit, I expect."
You ask Daniel about the waterfall
"The river symbolizes life, in a way. It springs from nowhere and
goes to nowhere when it ends. 'Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, as it were.'" Daniel pauses for a minute. "Before you leave here, you will have to stop the river."
You ask Daniel about robin
"A bit too symbolic, perhaps."
You ask Daniel about the magnet
"I'm sorry," Daniel says, "But I don't understand what you mean." Daniel frowns suddenly, glancing upwards at the stars. "It's time
for you to go," he says.
Daniel gestures, and an arch appears. This one is shining silver,
like the stars overhead. He points, and you step through. The lake, the sky, the wind, everything dissolves. Daniel's parting words drift after you, as he too vanishes: "My regards to your father ..."

This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A stream runs through the forest here. It is wide but shallow, allowing you to see the granite ground below it. Small bits of quartz are embedded everywhere in the granite, and they sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shines on the moving water. Strange glowing fish are swimming around quite happily in the water. Many are swimming against the current, seemingly without effort. The stream passes into the forest to the east, and is quickly lost amongst the trees.
Your father stands here.
You examine father
Yes, it's your father. The man that left you when you were only six years old, leaving nothing but memories behind. He never, ever even bothered to call, even on your birthdays. Your mother never talked about him much, but when you got older, you realized his departure was probably responsible for her drinking problem, at the very least. Bastard.
The years seemed to have aged him deeper than they should have, but
of course it's hard to tell. His eyes are still the same burning blue that you remember from long-ago dreams.
"Hello, son." Your eyes open wide as you seen the man.
"D-D-Dad? Is that you?"
Your father nods, slowly. "Yeah, it's me." He looks at you.
"You've grown up."
Anger returns, almost involuntarily, as he speaks. "Yes, I have.
But you wouldn't know, would you? You never came to see me." Your voice is already trembling.
He looks pained, and suddenly shivers. He starts to speak, stops,
and starts again. "I, I, I can't say much except ... 'sorry'?"
You interrupt his next words with a shout. "Sorry? Sorry??? You bastard, you left me alone, left Mom to drown her sorrows with all her fucking six-packs, and all you can say is 'sorry'??"
Your father seems staggered by the outburst. Each word strikes him like a blow. "I *am* sorry, so very very sorry. I just couldn't handle it. Having a child, losing my job ... I stuck it out as long as I could, and then I ran. Left one night, walked out the door, never came back ... I'm sorry." He seems close to tears.
"Dammit, Dad, how could you do this? Coward." He shrinks away as
you talk. You keep going, forcing him back. "You left me. You abandoned us. You sent my life into a tailspin. Me, the last hope for this crazy planet, me, the Phoenix, you ruined me. You realize what you've done?"
Your father stands up straight then, and looks at you for a long minute. When he speaks, his voice is firm again, and clear. "I'm sorry. It was inexcusable. I had no right to run. But you don't either."
"What? What the hell are you talking about? You're the problem
here, not me."
"Son, listen to me. *Listen* to me. When I ran, it was running
away from myself. You see ... the Phoenix is carried by bloodlines. When I was young, I was Phoenix too."
You are too shocked to speak, so he continues. "Yeah, that's right. The Phoenix is genetic. But it fades as you get older, passes along to the young and vigorous. Your great-aunt had it too, though not as strong as I saw it in you. Don't you see why I ran? I knew what my childhood was like ... things going wrong for me in school, at home, the accident that took both *my* parents away. I couldn't bear it twice, to see it happen to my child as They tried to get him too. I just couldn't. So I ran away. Maybe I hoped, even, to draw Them away from you. I was just playing into Their hands, I realize now, but I was still pretty young then. So I ran from you, ran from responsibility, ran from the Phoenix. My gift never awakened. I never flew. You've got to fly now, son, because I never could."
A quick pause, and he speaks again. "I've been able to watch you a
few times, as you grew up. I saw you take the same paths I took, suffer the same things I did. And I was never able to warn you. It was agony. Finally, They did get me after all -- a mistaken drive-by shooting, the police said -- and Daniel came to collect me. *You* have got to break the pattern now. Leave the cycle, and go fly free." His voice stumbles to the end of the speech, and he takes a long shuddering breath. "Break the cycle. For me." His hand stretches out to you. You slowly raise yours to meet his shadowy touch. It is like touching air, almost, but not quite.
"I forgive you, Dad." The words bring sweet release as you say
them, starting the healing of too many lost years.
He smiles, the first smile of his you've seen since you were six. "Thanks." His hand reaches into his pocket, and he pulls something out. It drops onto the ground and rolls to your feet. A bit of a grin comes to your father's face, and he says "Bust things wide open." He looks at you for a long time, and then says one last word. "Goodbye." Already, he is fading, and before the echo of the word has disappeared, he is no longer there. Your father is gone, forever.
"'Bye, Dad." You speak to the empty air, then bend down to see what
he left you.
It seems to be one of the relics of the army stuff you remember he
used to collect: a hand grenade. A curious gift, but surely he would have known what you needed right now.
You examine the grenade
It's a hand grenade. Vaguely oval-shaped, and roughly the size of an apple. You remember your dad used to collect them before - well, before he left. Seems to be in working condition, too. Of course, there's only one way to find out, and that's pulling the pin . . .
Look around
This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A stream runs through the forest here. It is wide but shallow, allowing you to see the granite ground below it. Small bits of quartz are embedded everywhere in the granite, and they sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shines on the moving water. But occasionally, you see other bright flashes in the water that don't seem to be caused by the sunlight. The stream passes into the forest to the east, and is quickly lost amongst the trees.
You see a hand grenade here.
You take the grenade
Your load is too heavy.
Inventory
You have a music box, a glass bottle, a sun-bleached skull, a hang-glider, a piece of paper, a small black magnet, an apple, and a small fly.
You describe your surroundings
This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A stream runs through the forest here. It is wide but shallow, allowing you to see the granite ground below it. Small bits of quartz are embedded everywhere in the granite, and they sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shines on the moving water. But occasionally, you see other bright flashes in the water that don't seem to be caused by the sunlight. The stream passes into the forest to the east, and is quickly lost amongst the trees.
You see a hang-glider here.
You go west
You walk until you see the mushrooms ahead.

On either bank of the river, stretching high into the sky, are giant mushrooms. Giant technicolored mushrooms. Red and blue and yellow and green and purple, and most are splotched with splashes of other colors. The mushrooms tower at least a dozen feet above you, perhaps more, and their outstretched caps block out most of the sun. You can see there is a split in the now-sluggish stream here, one branch going south and the main branch running east-west. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
Go south
You follow the river branch to the south.

The river from the mushroom forest ends here. It drains into a
small hole in the ground, making a quiet gurgling noise as it does so. Meanwhile, the ground around it has become more muddy, and the mushrooms have disappeared. They have been replaced with tangled bushes that block the way in all directions except back north.
You pull the pin
You yank the pin out. The grenade begins to hiss softly, like sand running through an hour glass (or, in a different sort of metaphor, like a fuse burning quickly).
You put the grenade in the hole
The hand grenade sinks to the bottom of the short stream. Getting all wet can't be good for grenades.
You go to the east
Eventually the mushroom patch ends, and the river widens.

This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A stream runs through the forest here. It is wide but shallow, allowing you to see the granite ground below it. Small bits of quartz are embedded everywhere in the granite, and they sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shines on the moving water. But occasionally, you see other bright flashes in the water that don't seem to be caused by the sunlight. The stream passes into the forest to the east, and is quickly lost amongst the trees.
You see a hang-glider here.
You take the grenade
Your load is too heavy.
You put the grenade in the bottle
You drop the hand grenade into the water-filled bottle.
The hand grenade sinks to the bottom of the glass bottle. Getting all wet can't be good for grenades.
Empty bottle
You empty the glass bottle.
You pull the pin
(Taking the hand grenade first)
Taken. You yank the pin out. The grenade begins to hiss softly, like sand running through an hour glass (or, in a different sort of metaphor, like a fuse burning quickly).
You put the grenade in the bottle
The grenade trembles a bit. You start thinking about getting rid of it.
Close bottle
You close the bottle, firmly sealing it.
You put the bottle in the hole
The glass bottle sinks to the bottom of the short stream.
You go to the north
You return to the mushroom patch.

On either bank of the river, stretching high into the sky, are giant mushrooms. Giant technicolored mushrooms. Red and blue and yellow and green and purple, and most are splotched with splashes of other colors. The mushrooms tower at least a dozen feet above you, perhaps more, and their outstretched caps block out most of the sun. You can see there is a split in the now-sluggish stream here, one branch going south and the main branch running east-west. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You go to the east
Eventually the mushroom patch ends, and the river widens.

This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A stream runs through the forest here. It is wide but shallow, allowing you to see the granite ground below it. Small bits of quartz are embedded everywhere in the granite, and they sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shines on the moving water. But occasionally, you see other bright flashes in the water that don't seem to be caused by the sunlight. The stream passes into the forest to the east, and is quickly lost amongst the trees.
You see a hang-glider here.
You wait
Time passes...
The ground trembles for a minute. "Grenade must have gone off," you think to yourself. There is a distant clanking from deep down below ground-level, followed by a muffled cracking noise. Then a sound like water rushing, far away. A few seconds later, a gurgling noise attracts your attention, and you look over at the stream. The water is rushing away over the granite, leaving the bare rock exposed. Within moments, the stream has vanished.
Look around
This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A wide stream-bed runs through the forest, strangely devoid of water. It is granite, with small pieces of quartz embedded, that shimmer in the sunlight.
Go west
You walk until you see the mushrooms ahead.

On either bank of the river, stretching high into the sky, are giant mushrooms. Giant technicolored mushrooms. Red and blue and yellow and green and purple, and most are splotched with splashes of other colors. The mushrooms tower at least a dozen feet above you, perhaps more, and their outstretched caps block out most of the sun. You can see only muddy puddles where the stream once drifted. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
Go south
You follow the river branch to the south.

Mud, and more mud, surrounds the hole in the ground here. Tangled bushes block the way in all directions except north, and there is no sign of the stream.
You go north
You return to the mushroom patch.

On either bank of the river, stretching high into the sky, are giant mushrooms. Giant technicolored mushrooms. Red and blue and yellow and green and purple, and most are splotched with splashes of other colors. The mushrooms tower at least a dozen feet above you, perhaps more, and their outstretched caps block out most of the sun. You can see only muddy puddles where the stream once drifted. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You go to the west
You walk until you reach the base of a waterfall.

The river used to flow from here, when the waterfall was still
working. Now it's ceased, and so has the river, leaving only a rocky stream bed behind. The wild grasses still poke out between the rocks, though, just like before. The cliff is impassible to the west (unless you want to climb it), but the other directions are all possible.
You climb the cliff
You carefully grip a jutting-out rock, and begin the climb.

You are climbing on the rocky cliff face. The waterfall is no
longer here, but the rocks are still a bit damp. Below you are scattered rocks and such, and scattered tufts of grass. Nearby, a small cave leads into the cliff and darkness.
Go inside
You cautiously enter the cave.

It's not as dark in here as it looks from the outside. Some
sunlight still filters into the cave to illuminate the (stone) floor. The exit is east.
Go west
The only way out seems to be to go out through the cave mouth.
You examine the floor
The floor is your basic stone cave flooring, not much carpet or linoleum or the like. There is, however, a small knob set into the floor here. There's nothing on the ground.
You examine the knob
It's one of those enticing-looking small knobs you see around. It's just asking to be pulled.
You pull it
You give the knob a tug. It sticks for a second, and then slides out a short distance. Almost immediately afterwards, the wall in front of you opens, the floor tilts, and you tumble forwards into darkness . . .

Well, if you've ever wondered what was going on, you seem to have
found the place where whatever it is that is going on happens. Lots of machines are scattered around the room, some making endearing bleeping noises. Most of these are safely sealed behind glass. A small padded chair sits in the center of the room, facing a large viewscreen. Sitting on the comfy chair you see a small remote and a handwritten note.
Handwritten
The note reads "Investigate what's here. The exit is through the screen. The portal won't work until you reflect on things a bit more. --D."
You look at the screen
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's blank.
You examine the chair
It looks to be a vaguely familiar chair, small and plush and awful comfortable to sit in.
You look at the machines
The machines are surprisingly cliched. They have strange dials, weird flashing lights, hiss and beep seemingly at random, and expel ticker-tape for no apparent reason at all. Luckily, they've all been sealed behind glass, thus saving you from the temptation of wanting to mess with them.
You look at your surroundings
Control Central, in the comfy chair
Well, if you've ever wondered what was going on, you seem to have
found the place where whatever it is that is going on happens. Lots of machines are scattered around the room, some making endearing bleeping noises. Most of these are safely sealed behind glass. A small padded chair sits in the center of the room, facing a large viewscreen. Sitting on the comfy chair you see a small remote and a handwritten note.
You look at the remote
Like a tv remote. Almost identical, except that whereas a tv's remote would be labelled things like "Channel 1" and "Rewind," this is mostly unlabelled. It does, however, have no less than two dials (the green one being set to 8, and the black one being set to 0), three buttons (a silver, a yellow, and a blue), and one fancy clear touchpad.
You examine the dials
strange machine dials: They're ordinary dials, spinning or twirling or whatever machine dials do, covered with cryptic symbols and stuff.
Pity you can't touch them.
green dial: The green dial is much the same as all other dials in this world. This one ranges from zero to twenty, and is currently set at 8. black dial: Just an ordinary dial, ranging from zero to twelve and currently set to 0.
You look at the buttons
yellow button: It's your basic round yellow button.
silver button: The small silver button is labelled "Piping Repairs (automatic)".
blue button: The button is blue. Other than that, it has no distinguishing features.
You examine the touchpad
It looks fancy, like something you'd see in a sci-fi movie. You probably just have to touch it to activate it.
You touch it
One machine lights up, but then there is a sad honking noise and it shuts down again. A mechanical voice crackles out of nowhere. "Portal access denied."
You stand
Okay, you're no longer in the comfy chair. Finally, the clanking stops. Instead, it is replaced by the sound of running water.
Look around
Well, if you've ever wondered what was going on, you seem to have
found the place where whatever it is that is going on happens. Lots of machines are scattered around the room, some making endearing bleeping noises. Most of these are safely sealed behind glass. A small padded chair sits in the center of the room, facing a large viewscreen.
You see a hang-glider here. Sitting on the comfy chair you see a handwritten note.
Inventory
You have a music box, a sun-bleached skull, a piece of paper, a small black magnet, an apple, a small fly, a grenade pin, and a small remote.
You look at pin
It's the pin from a grenade. Once it comes out the grenade is triggered to explode in a matter of seconds.
You turn green dial to 16
Okay, it's now turned to 16. One of the machines whirrs quietly to itself as you adjust the dial, and a flicker of lights goes across its face.
You turn the black dial to 12
Okay, it's now turned to 12. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The viewscreen lights up with a picture. The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: A burning desert
Just looking at the scorched and blasted terrain is enough to make
you gasp for water. The sun beats down all around with no hope of shade or any other respite, and there are no land-marks in sight in any direction.
You turn the green dial to 0
Okay, it's now turned to 0. One of the machines whirrs quietly to itself as you adjust the dial, and a flicker of lights goes across its face.
You turn the black dial to 0
Okay, it's now turned to 0. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture on the screen vanishes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's blank.
You turn the black dial to 1
Okay, it's now turned to 1. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The viewscreen lights up with a picture. The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A muddy ditch lies where the stream used to be. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
You see a large wicker bird cage and a heavy stone here. The large wicker bird cage seems to contain the robin and some scraps of paper.
You turn the black dial to 2
Okay, it's now turned to 2. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: In a garden
A beautiful garden, bounded by brick walls to the north and west.
Alas, the stream that flowed once is no longer here, and the dragon's head fountain no longer spouts water. The bushes and flowers remain, but they droop sadly around the muddy ditch where the stream was.
The hedge beasts are slowly uncurling their leaves and branches as
they prepare to stand.
You examine the viewscreen
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: In a garden
A beautifully-sculpted garden, bounded by brick walls to the north
and west. A stream flows in from the east and curves to flow to the south, slowly drifting through the garden. The brook lazily winds its way under the small bridges and between the large rocks and stone paths that have been placed here. Small, pretty bushes are scattered here as well, each one elegantly trimmed and shaped. In one corner of the garden there is a fountain, shaped like a dragon's head. From the dragon's open mouth flows a steady stream of water, falling into the brook.
The hedge beasts are curled up on the ground, practically indistinguishable from the normal hedges.
You turn black to 3
Okay, it's now turned to 3. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: An open field
This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo, its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area.
A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
You turn black to 4
Okay, it's now turned to 4. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: Inside the gazebo
The gazebo has six sides, one of which is open to allow you to
enter. The other five are walled off with thick lattices which prevent both sunlight and egress in those directions, making it fairly dim in here. A bronze sundial in the center of the room is the most impressive thing in sight, but there's also an ordinary table against one wall. Also, set into the ceiling, you can see a multi-faceted crystal.
You turn black to 5
Okay, it's now turned to 5. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a new place: Atop the gazebo
This is the roof of the gazebo. The floor (well, roof) below is not latticed like the walls, so it must be quite dark inside. A wall, about six feet high, has been constructed across the gazebo-top. It has no apparent purpose (since you can walk around it to reach the other side of the roof), except to hold a bronze weather vane on top of it. The only good exit from here is to climb down the sides.
Something hanging on the weather vane glints in the sunlight.
From up here, you have a view of the open field. Still, it seems
that you cannot see quite as far as you should be able to, and the view is distorted and shadowy beyond the edges of the grass.
Hanging from the bronze weather vane is a golden chain with sphere.
You turn black to 6
Okay, it's now turned to 6. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: Cliff top
The area is fairly rocky here, with scattered grasses growing
between cracks in the rocks. The stream that flowed here once no longer does, and the cliff-face looks quite bare without the waterfall.
You turn black to 7
Okay, it's now turned to 7. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: Climbing the cliff
You are climbing on the rocky cliff face. The waterfall is no
longer here, but the rocks are still a bit damp. Below you are scattered rocks and such, and scattered tufts of grass. Nearby, a small cave leads into the cliff and darkness.
You turn black to 8
Okay, it's now turned to 8. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: At base of cliff
The river used to flow from here, when the waterfall was still
working. Now it's ceased, and so has the river, leaving only a rocky stream bed behind. The wild grasses still poke out between the rocks, though, just like before. The cliff is impassible to the west (unless you want to climb it), but the other directions are all possible.
You turn black to 9
Okay, it's now turned to 9. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: Amidst the mushrooms
On either bank of the river, stretching high into the sky, are giant mushrooms. Giant technicolored mushrooms. Red and blue and yellow and green and purple, and most are splotched with splashes of other colors. The mushrooms tower at least a dozen feet above you, perhaps more, and their outstretched caps block out most of the sun. You can see only muddy puddles where the stream once drifted. Between two dusky red mushrooms, a large silver spiderweb has been spun.
You turn black to 10
Okay, it's now turned to 10. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: End of path
Mud, and more mud, surrounds the hole in the ground here. Tangled bushes block the way in all directions except north, and there is no sign of the stream.
You turn black to 11
Okay, it's now turned to 11. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: By an empty stream-bed
This is a clearing in the middle of a forest. Tall trees grow all around, moss hangs from their branches, and there are scattered flowers. A wide stream-bed runs through the forest, strangely devoid of water. It is granite, with small pieces of quartz embedded, that shimmer in the sunlight.
You turn black to 12
Okay, it's now turned to 12. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: A burning desert
Just looking at the scorched and blasted terrain is enough to make
you gasp for water. The sun beats down all around with no hope of shade or any other respite, and there are no land-marks in sight in any direction.
You turn black to 5
Okay, it's now turned to 5. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a new place: Atop the gazebo
This is the roof of the gazebo. The floor (well, roof) below is not latticed like the walls, so it must be quite dark inside. A wall, about six feet high, has been constructed across the gazebo-top. It has no apparent purpose (since you can walk around it to reach the other side of the roof), except to hold a bronze weather vane on top of it. The only good exit from here is to climb down the sides.
Something hanging on the weather vane glints in the sunlight.
From up here, you have a view of the open field. Still, it seems
that you cannot see quite as far as you should be able to, and the view is distorted and shadowy beyond the edges of the grass.
Hanging from the bronze weather vane is a golden chain with sphere.
You touch the touchpad
One machine lights up, but then there is a sad honking noise and it shuts down again. A mechanical voice crackles out of nowhere. "Portal access denied."
You look
Control Central, in the comfy chair
Well, if you've ever wondered what was going on, you seem to have
found the place where whatever it is that is going on happens. Lots of machines are scattered around the room, some making endearing bleeping noises. Most of these are safely sealed behind glass. A small padded chair sits in the center of the room, facing a large viewscreen.
You see a hang-glider here. Sitting on the comfy chair you see a handwritten note.
You turn green to 1
Okay, it's now turned to 1. One of the machines whirrs quietly to itself as you adjust the dial, and a flicker of lights goes across its face.
You examine the screen
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a new place: Atop the gazebo
This is the roof of the gazebo. The floor (well, roof) below is not latticed like the walls, so it must be quite dark inside. A wall, about six feet high, has been constructed across the gazebo-top. It has no apparent purpose (since you can walk around it to reach the other side of the roof), except to hold a bronze weather vane on top of it. The only good exit from here is to climb down the sides.
Something hanging on the weather vane glints in the sunlight.
From up here, you have a view of the open field. Still, it seems
that you cannot see quite as far as you should be able to, and the view is distorted and shadowy beyond the edges of the grass.
Hanging from the bronze weather vane is a golden chain with sphere.
You touch the screen
You touch the screen, and are abruptly elsewhere.

This is the roof of the gazebo. The floor (well, roof) below is not latticed like the walls, so it must be quite dark inside. A wall, about six feet high, has been constructed across the gazebo-top. It has no apparent purpose (since you can walk around it to reach the other side of the roof), except to hold a bronze weather vane on top of it. The only good exit from here is to climb down the sides.
Something hanging on the weather vane glints in the sunlight.
From up here, you have a view of the open field. Still, it seems
that you cannot see quite as far as you should be able to, and the view is distorted and shadowy beyond the edges of the grass.
Hanging from the bronze weather vane is a golden chain with sphere.
You get the remote
You already have the small remote!
You touch the touchpad
A mechanical voice crackles out of nowhere. "Portal access denied."
You look at the chain
It's a slim chain, made of (apparently) quite nice gold. Attached to the chain is a small crystal sphere. The clear crystal sphere is the size of a large marble. Deep within the sphere, rainbow points of light dance a forever dance, round and round.
You get it
Jump about though you may, the chain dangles about a yard above your reaching finger-tips.
You look at the sphere
The clear crystal sphere is the size of a large marble. Deep within the sphere, rainbow points of light dance a forever dance, round and round.
You look around
This is the roof of the gazebo. The floor (well, roof) below is not latticed like the walls, so it must be quite dark inside. A wall, about six feet high, has been constructed across the gazebo-top. It has no apparent purpose (since you can walk around it to reach the other side of the roof), except to hold a bronze weather vane on top of it. The only good exit from here is to climb down the sides.
Something hanging on the weather vane glints in the sunlight.
From up here, you have a view of the open field. Still, it seems
that you cannot see quite as far as you should be able to, and the view is distorted and shadowy beyond the edges of the grass.
Hanging from the bronze weather vane is a golden chain with sphere.
You examine the vane
The bronze weather vane twists slowly in the breeze. Curiously enough, the figure on it seems to be a turtle. Hanging from the bronze weather vane you see a golden chain with sphere.
You jump
You can't escape *that* easily.
Inventory
You have a music box, a sun-bleached skull, a piece of paper, a small black magnet, an apple, a small fly, a grenade pin, and a small remote.
You throw the skull at the chain
You miss.
You climb the gazebo
The latticed walls have a number of holes in them, making them quite easy to climb.

This is the roof of the gazebo. The floor (well, roof) below is not latticed like the walls, so it must be quite dark inside. A wall, about six feet high, has been constructed across the gazebo-top. It has no apparent purpose (since you can walk around it to reach the other side of the roof), except to hold a bronze weather vane on top of it. The only good exit from here is to climb down the sides.
Something hanging on the weather vane glints in the sunlight.
From up here, you have a view of the open field. Still, it seems
that you cannot see quite as far as you should be able to, and the view is distorted and shadowy beyond the edges of the grass.
Hanging from the bronze weather vane is a golden chain with sphere.
You go downward
You carefully climb down.

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo, its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area.
A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
You examine the plank
You can walk across this plank to reach the opposite part of the field.
You examine the panel
A control panel, set into a pillar which juts from the ground. The panel is very simple: it contains only a joystick (which can be pulled left or pushed right), and a status meter. The status meter currently has 4 blocks filled out of eleven.
You pull the joystick
You pull the joystick to the left.
One block disappears on the status bar. Something seems different about the area once you look up from the panel. Rubbing your eyes, you suddenly realize what it is. The shadows have changed. A look upwards confirms it: The sun has moved.
The shadow of the gazebo moves slowly across the field, as the sun strikes the gazebo from a new angle.
You enter the gazebo
You walk inside the gazebo.

The gazebo has six sides, one of which is open to allow you to
enter. The other five are walled off with thick lattices which prevent both sunlight and egress in those directions, making it fairly dim in here. A bronze sundial in the center of the room is the most impressive thing in sight, but there's also an ordinary table against one wall. Also, set into the ceiling, you can see a multi-faceted crystal.
Go outside
You exit the gazebo.

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo, its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area.
A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
You go north
You walk until you enter a garden.

A beautiful garden, bounded by brick walls to the north and west.
Alas, the stream that flowed once is no longer here, and the dragon's head fountain no longer spouts water. The bushes and flowers remain, but they droop sadly around the muddy ditch where the stream was.
The hedge beasts are curled up on the ground, practically indistinguishable from the normal hedges. Slowly, the hedge beasts start to move again. Leaves start to twist and vines begin to wrap around things as the hedge beasts prepare to begin work.
You examine the dragon
The fountain, as has been mentioned, is made of stone, and shaped like the head of a dragon. The inside of the mouth is damp, but no water emerges.
You look at the beasts
Well, I guess they aren't just your ordinary hedges. Definitely a close relative, however, as the hedge beasts still seem to have leaves and branches and such. The hedge beasts are slowly shifting positions as they prepare to move.
Slowly, the hedge beasts begin work again. One reaches under a bush to retrieve the gardening tools, and hands them (or vines them, I suppose) out to the others. Soon they are industriously raking the paths and pruning the plants.
Wait
Time passes...
The hedge beasts seem to be getting sleepier. Their movements grow slower and slower. One carefully wipes off the tools on its leaves, and replaces them under a convenient bush. The hedge beasts' movements continue to slow until they stop altogether. They're practically indistinguishable from the other bushes again.
You look under the bush
You search under the bushes. Besides a lot of dead leaves and such, you find some of the hedge beasts' gardening tools. A large wooden bucket, a strange leaf-spade, and a thorny rake, to be precise.
large wooden bucket: Taken.
strange leaf-spade: Your load is too heavy.
thorny rake: Your load is too heavy. Slowly, the hedge beasts start to move again. Leaves start to twist and vines begin to wrap around things as the hedge beasts prepare to begin work.
You wait for a while
Time passes...
Slowly, the hedge beasts begin work again. One reaches under a bush to retrieve the gardening tools, only to find they are not there. The hedge beasts rustle confusedly for a bit, and then begin work anyway. Soon they are doing their best to tend the garden tool-lessly. Eventually, however, the hedge beasts do notice the tools are on the ground, and they pick them up and start using them.
You check your inventory
You have a music box, a sun-bleached skull, a piece of paper, a small black magnet, an apple, a small fly, a grenade pin, a small remote, and a large wooden bucket.
You take rake
Taken.
Slowly, the hedge beasts begin work again. One reaches under a bush to retrieve the gardening tools, only to find they are not there. The hedge beasts rustle confusedly for a bit, and then begin work anyway. Soon they are doing their best to tend the garden tool-lessly. Eventually, however, the hedge beasts do notice the tools are on the ground, and they pick them up and start using them.
Go south
You follow the brook's path out of the garden, and into a field.

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo, its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area.
A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
Inventory
You have a music box, a sun-bleached skull, a piece of paper, a small black magnet, an apple, a small fly, a grenade pin, a small remote, and a thorny rake.
DROP FLY, PIN, APPLE
small fly: Dropped.
grenade pin: Dropped.
apple: Dropped.
Go upwards
The only way up from here would be to climb the gazebo.
(And so you do.)

This is the roof of the gazebo. The floor (well, roof) below is not latticed like the walls, so it must be quite dark inside. A wall, about six feet high, has been constructed across the gazebo-top. It has no apparent purpose (since you can walk around it to reach the other side of the roof), except to hold a bronze weather vane on top of it. The only good exit from here is to climb down the sides.
Something hanging on the weather vane glints in the sunlight.
From up here, you have a view of the open field. Still, it seems
that you cannot see quite as far as you should be able to, and the view is distorted and shadowy beyond the edges of the grass.
Hanging from the bronze weather vane is a golden chain with sphere.
You take chain with the rake
Aha! Reaching up with the rake, you manage to hook a prong onto the chain, and lift it off the weathervane, and from there into your hands.
Go downwards
You carefully climb down.

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo, its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area.
A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
You see a small fly, a grenade pin, and an apple here.
You look at what you're carrying with you
You have a music box, a sun-bleached skull, a piece of paper, a small black magnet, and a small remote.
You take the marble
You already have the golden chain with sphere!
You look at the stud
Which stud do you mean, the stud at six o'clock, the stud at eight o'clock, the stud at ten o'clock, the stud at twelve o'clock, the stud at two o'clock, or the stud at four o'clock?
Six
It's a small metal stud, a flattened hemisphere, located at six o'clock.
You get it
Although the studs feel loose, you find out they are too small and flat to be removed by hand.
You put the magnet on six stud
With a small *clink* noise, the magnet suddenly adheres itself to the stud at six o'clock.
You get the magnet
The stud comes out easily, still attached to the magnet. You pull the two apart.
You put the magnet on eight
With a small *clink* noise, the magnet suddenly adheres itself to the stud at eight o'clock.
You put magnet on ten
With a small *clink* noise, the magnet suddenly adheres itself to the stud at ten o'clock.
You put the magnet on twelve
With a small *clink* noise, the magnet suddenly adheres itself to the stud at twelve o'clock.
You put the magnet on two
With a small *clink* noise, the magnet suddenly adheres itself to the stud at two o'clock.
You put the magnet on four
With a small *clink* noise, the magnet suddenly adheres itself to the stud at four o'clock.
You look at the sundial
It's a bronze sundial, on a pedestal. A rather nice sundial too, by the looks of it. It's a pity there's no real sunlight to make it useful. The inscription "Tempus Non Fugit" has been printed around the face of the sundial, and there are also six holes cut into the bronze (formerly covered by metal caps). In the dim light, you notice the sparkle of a tiny crystal on the tip of the gnomon.
You check your inventory
You have a music box, a sun-bleached skull, a piece of paper, a small remote, a golden chain with sphere, six ordinary metal studs, and a small black magnet.
You look at the hole
Which hole do you mean, the hole at six o'clock, the hole at eight o'clock, the hole at ten o'clock, the hole at twelve o'clock, the hole at two o'clock, or the hole at four o'clock?
Six
It's a small hole in the bronzework, perhaps an inch across, located at six o'clock.
You put the marble in six
You lower the sphere into the hole, holding onto the chain. It drops about four inches before it touches bottom. An instant after it makes contact, there is a chime from the hole. The deep vibrating chime is accompanied by a shaft of shining light. The deep violet light shoots from the hole, passing through the sphere. It bends as it goes through the sphere, angling so that it flies upwards and strikes the large crystal in the ceiling. Briefly, the large crystal shimmers with the color. At the same time, it echoes the sound -- at a higher pitch. Finally, all is silent again. You cautiously pull the sphere from the hole. The sparks of color inside seem to be whirling faster than before.
You put the marble in eight
You lower the sphere into the hole, holding onto the chain. It drops about four inches before it touches bottom. An instant after it makes contact, there is a chime from the hole. The low sonorous note is accompanied by a shaft of shining light. The stunning blue light shoots from the hole, passing through the sphere. It bends as it goes through the sphere, angling so that it flies upwards and strikes the large crystal in the ceiling. Briefly, the large crystal shimmers with the color. At the same time, it echoes the sound -- at a higher pitch. Finally, all is silent again. You cautiously pull the sphere from the hole. The sparks of color inside seem to be whirling faster than before.
You put the marble in ten
You lower the sphere into the hole, holding onto the chain. It drops about four inches before it touches bottom. An instant after it makes contact, there is a chime from the hole. The full, clear tone is accompanied by a shaft of shining light. The verdant green light shoots from the hole, passing through the sphere. It bends as it goes through the sphere, angling so that it flies upwards and strikes the large crystal in the ceiling. Briefly, the large crystal shimmers with the color. At the same time, it echoes the sound -- at a higher pitch. Finally, all is silent again. You cautiously pull the sphere from the hole. The sparks of color inside seem to be whirling faster than before.
You put the marble in twelve
You lower the sphere into the hole, holding onto the chain. It drops about four inches before it touches bottom. An instant after it makes contact, there is a chime from the hole. The lilting high tone is accompanied by a shaft of shining light. The shining yellow light shoots from the hole, passing through the sphere. It bends as it goes through the sphere, angling so that it flies upwards and strikes the large crystal in the ceiling. Briefly, the large crystal shimmers with the color. At the same time, it echoes the sound -- at a higher pitch. Finally, all is silent again. You cautiously pull the sphere from the hole. The sparks of color inside seem to be whirling faster than before.
You put the marble in two
You lower the sphere into the hole, holding onto the chain. It drops about four inches before it touches bottom. An instant after it makes contact, there is a chime from the hole. The pure whistling tone is accompanied by a shaft of shining light. The rich orange light shoots from the hole, passing through the sphere. It bends as it goes through the sphere, angling so that it flies upwards and strikes the large crystal in the ceiling. Briefly, the large crystal shimmers with the color. At the same time, it echoes the sound -- at a higher pitch. Finally, all is silent again. You cautiously pull the sphere from the hole. The sparks of color inside seem to be whirling faster than before.
You put the marble in four
You lower the sphere into the hole, holding onto the chain. It drops about four inches before it touches bottom. An instant after it makes contact, there is a chime from the hole. The achingly beautiful chime is accompanied by a shaft of shining light. The flaming red light shoots from the hole, passing through the sphere. It bends as it goes through the sphere, angling so that it flies upwards and strikes the large crystal in the ceiling. Briefly, the large crystal shimmers with the color. At the same time, it echoes the sound -- at a higher pitch. Unlike the other times, the music does not end here. Rather, the
tiny crystal on the gnomon vibrates, giving the sound a third time at an even higher pitch. A pure white column of light flashes downwards, stretching from the crystal in the ceiling to the crystal on the gnomon. And when the light strikes the tiny crystal, it splits into six parts, each one spreading outwards to touch a hole. From the holes, six lines of color reach upwards to the ceiling crystal again, and again they form a single pure white column falling downwards. The effect is that of a pillar of shining rainbow, with a heart of glowing white.
Somehow, the sound reflects the visual, and the crystals are fairly purring with the growing tone. The tone grows and grows and soon your whole body is humming with it, and the rainbow tower is shining forth into the darkness around it, and then there is a blinding/deafening explosion of noise and color.
You blink your eyes and look around, pulling the sphere from the
hole again. The round crystal has lost the internal sparks, and is a dull lusterless gray. The other two crystals are nowhere to be seen.
A sudden grating sound from above your head attracts your attention. Looking upwards, you can see that the ceiling is retracting -- warm sunlight floods into the room.
The floor of the gazebo suddenly tilts slightly, and then tips back
the other way.
Look around
The gazebo has six sides, one of which is open to allow you to
enter. The other five are walled off with thick lattices which prevent both sunlight and egress in those directions, but the open roof makes it quite sunny in here. A bronze sundial in the center of the room is the most impressive thing in sight, but there's also an ordinary table against one wall.
The tilting becomes more severe. There is an abrupt lurch, and the gazebo surges upwards. Looking outside, you can see the grass falling away as the gazebo starts to move up into the air.
You go outside
You exit the gazebo (climbing down the rope ladder).

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo (currently floating above the ground), its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area. A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
You see a small fly, a grenade pin, an apple, and a thorny rake
here.
The gazebo continues to soar into the air. When it finally stops,
it is hanging about four meters off the ground, still with no apparent means of support. The rope ladder dangles down from the entrance, just about brushing the grass. Meanwhile, of course, the upward motion of the gazebo also affects its shadow, which is now such that the shadow of the gazebo falls between the second and third rocks.
You leave
You exit the gazebo in a hurry.

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo, its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area.
A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
You see a small fly, a grenade pin, an apple, and a thorny rake
here.
The gazebo continues to sway, and then as if it suddenly came to a decision, it drifts up into the air, leaving a patch of dirt and dead grass behind. A rope ladder tumbles out from underneath the gazebo, attached at one end to the lintel of the entrance. (There's no provision in the laws of physics for flying gazebos, but I suppose there has to be a first time for everything. Still, you'd feel a lot more at ease with the whole thing if there were something more than empty air between the gazebo and the ground.)
Go upward
The only way up from here would be to use the rope ladder hanging down from the gazebo.
(And so you do.)

The gazebo has six sides, one of which is open to allow you to
enter. The other five are walled off with thick lattices which prevent both sunlight and egress in those directions, but the open roof makes it quite sunny in here. A bronze sundial in the center of the room is the most impressive thing in sight, but there's also an ordinary table against one wall. It's also true that the gazebo is hovering about a meter off the ground without any apparent supports, but that's no big deal, right?
The gazebo rises and rises and you continue to stare through the lattices in astonishment. Finally, when it has reached a height of three or four meters, it halts. There is still nothing holding it up, as far as you can tell. Luckily, someone seems to have attached a rope ladder to the bottom of the door-way at some point, and you can get down that way. Much safer than jumping, which seems to be your only alternative. Meanwhile, of course, the upward motion of the gazebo also affects its shadow, which is now such that the shadow of the gazebo falls between the second and third rocks.
Go downwards
You exit the gazebo (climbing down the rope ladder).

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo (currently floating above the ground), its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area. A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
You see a small fly, a grenade pin, an apple, and a thorny rake
here.
You look at the shadow
The gazebo's shadow is not especially interesting, nor unique as shadows go. Right now, the position of the sun is such that the shadow of the gazebo falls between the second and third rocks.
You look at rocks
They're your basic large, gray chunks of rock. There's about six in the field, arranged in a rough three-quarter circle around around the gazebo.
You examine the panel
A control panel, set into a pillar which juts from the ground. The panel is very simple: it contains only a joystick (which can be pulled left or pushed right), and a status meter. The status meter currently has 3 blocks filled out of eleven.
You pull the lever
You pull the joystick to the left.
One block disappears on the status bar. Again, there is the peculiar sight of shifting shadows as the sun moves across the sky.
Now the second rock is in the shade from the gazebo.
You look at the first rock
The first boulder, going clockwise around the arc. Totally like all the others.
You examine the second rock
The second boulder, going clockwise around the arc. Totally like all the others.
You look at the third rock
The third boulder, going clockwise around the arc. Totally like all the others.
You examine the fourth rock
The fourth boulder, going clockwise around the arc. Totally like all the others.
You examine fifth rock
The fifth boulder, going clockwise around the arc. Totally like all the others.
You examine the sixth rock
The sixth boulder, going clockwise around the arc. Totally like all the others.
You pull the lever
You pull the joystick to the left.
One block disappears on the status bar. Again, there is the peculiar sight of shifting shadows as the sun moves across the sky.
Now the shadow of the gazebo falls between the first and second rocks.
You pull the lever
You pull the joystick to the left.
One block disappears on the status bar. Again, there is the peculiar sight of shifting shadows as the sun moves across the sky.
Now the first rock is in the shade from the gazebo.
You examine meter
A control panel, set into a pillar which juts from the ground. The panel is very simple: it contains only a joystick (which can be pulled left or pushed right), and a status meter. The status meter currently has 0 blocks filled out of eleven.
You pull the lever
You pull the joystick to the left.
The status bar fails to change, and nothing seems to happen.
Continue
You push the joystick to the right.
One new block appears on the status bar. Again, there is the peculiar sight of shifting shadows as the sun moves across the sky.
Now the fourth rock is in the shade from the gazebo.
Continue
You push the joystick to the right.
One new block appears on the status bar. Again, there is the peculiar sight of shifting shadows as the sun moves across the sky.
Now the shadow of the gazebo falls between the fourth and fifth rocks.
You continue
You push the joystick to the right.
One new block appears on the status bar. Again, there is the peculiar sight of shifting shadows as the sun moves across the sky.
Now the fifth rock is in the shade from the gazebo.
The boulder seems to tremble for an instant as the shadow falls on
it. You are almost ready to dismiss it as your imagination when it happens again. With ponderous slowness, the boulder rolls slightly to one side, then to the other. Then it starts to lift into the air, perhaps an inch. You gape. It continues to rock back and forth and raise up until it is several inches off the ground. You collect your wits and walk over to look closer, only to realize what it is. A head pops out of the rock and regards you quizzically. This must be the *biggest* turtle you will ever see in your entire life.
Possibly annoyed about its missing sunlight, the turtle slowly
shambles out of the field to the west. Underneath where it lay is a ring of dead grass, and in the center, a large hole leads downwards.
You look at the hole
The hole's sides are smooth, but there are indentations in the side to allow you to climb down. It's neither a terribly dark nor a terribly deep hole, but it's fairly wide and roomy.
You look at enormous
The turtle isn't here. It shambled off to the west, and vanished (presumably into the desert).
You go west
You walk forwards, and again feel the sensation of the ground vanishing. A blast of sweltering heat welcomes you to the desert one more time.

you gasp for water. The sun beats down all around with no hope of shade or any other respite, and there are no land-marks in sight in any direction.
The turtle is snoozing in the warm sun.
You examine the turtle
The large turtle is basking happily in the sun. With all its limbs retracted, it is almost indistinguishable from a boulder.
You go to the east
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

There are no more visions left for you. The desert sun is hot and painful.
You go to the east
You stagger on ahead, baking in the sun. Finally, you must stop to breathe. Taking a look behind yourself, it is hard to tell that you have moved at all. Already, the hot desert breeze is erasing the signs of your passage.

Abruptly, the desert air seems to swirl around you. You blink your eyes, and when they open again, you're back where you came here from: An open field
This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo (currently floating above the ground), its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area. A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. One of the boulders has vanished, and a hole gapes where it used to be. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
You see a small fly, a grenade pin, an apple, and a thorny rake
here.
Go downwards
You climb down into the hole.

This hole is fairly roomy, and about ten feet deep. Foot-holes in
the side allow you to climb up into the sunlight. The floor is dirty, but there seems to be something shining beneath the dust.
You examine the floor
Bending down to examine the floor reveals it to actually be a giant mirror, covered in years of dust. The mirror's surface is obscured by grime.
Clean mirror
You set to work cleaning the thing, wiping dust and grime away as best you can with your shirt-tails. By the time you're sweating from the effort, the mirror is fairly clean.
You examine the mirror
People used to use the mirror to foretell the future. That always seemed sort of odd. What the mirror actually does is reflect the one who views it, so isn't it far more truthful to have the mirror reflect ... the past? At least for this mirror, that seems to be true.
Images begin to drift across the screen, like smoke rising from a fire, like clouds floating across the sky, like leaves riding a gentle stream-current.

The first memories are pleasant. You see your birthday party from
age five, surrounded by both your parents and a circle of smiling friends . . .
You see yourself, age six, with your dog Zippy, him barking madly and running in circles around tiny you as you throw sticks for him to fetch . . .
There are other easy memories that come to mind, before the pictures turn darker.
You see yourself cradling Zippy's broken and bloody body, crying into the dark night on an empty street . . .
You see yourself, age seven, wailing because it is your birthday and your dad hasn't called for a year now . . .
You see your mom staggering around the house, blind drunk, cursing and stumbling, and you hiding in the corner terrified . . .
"These aren't *my* fault!" you think, "The invaders, it's all their work. How could they have ruined my life like this? What did I do to deserve my shitty life?"
Then that excuse is torn away as the pictures in the mirror shift again.
Now you see yourself in high school, sitting at a desk. Someone comes over to ask you a question and you turn your face away with a scowl.
He retreats, a hurt expression on his face.
And another scene, your senior year, someone asks you to the prom. Incredulous, you refuse, sure it's just a cruel joke. Later, of course, you found out they had been deeply in love with you, but by then it was too late. Too late . . .
College, this time, and more of the same. In all your classes, people try to reach out and are rebuffed. You stagger through a year, and then another, spurning all attempts at friendship. You flirt with alcohol and drugs for a while, finding solace there through a numbed mind, but eventually even those pale.

the mirror. Each one pains you, and it is a dual pain: pain from recalling the emotions, and the pain of realization, the pain as you see your mistakes for what they are. More and more images go past, each one a scene from your life. Finally, you see the thing that drove you to the cliff-top, that night in your dorm when you cried out that no one loved you, no one in the world.
Perhaps for the same reasons and perhaps for others too, the scene brings you to tears one more time. You lift your hand to your eye, and a single tear-drop tumbles down. It glitters in a beam of sunlight as it falls oh-so-slowly, and splashes onto the mirror. The mirror's surface ripples like water, and the pictures dissolve. They are replaced by a black backdrop of star- spangled night, and Daniel's face.
"Yes," says Daniel softly, "Yes. You see it now. Though you
suffered in life, it was not all of others' doing. You are ready for rebirth now, Phoenix. Fly." He pauses for a minute and draws a shaky breath. "You may turn the portal on now. It is time for you to go home." Daniel's image vanishes.

Home? It has been too long since the word meant anything to you. Still, he is right. It is time to go home.
You look at the mirror
The mirror now only shows a reflection of the clouds above you, drifting slowly across a blue sky. (Oh, and you can also see yourself, upside-down.)
You touch the touchpad
A mechanical voice crackles out of nowhere. "Portal engaged."
Look around
This hole is fairly roomy, and about ten feet deep. Foot-holes in
the side allow you to climb up into the sunlight. Covering the entire floor is a newly cleaned mirror, brightly polished.
You touch the mirror
The mirror feels exactly like a mirror, and yields about as much as a rock.
Go upward
You climb up and out of the hole.

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo (currently floating above the ground), its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area. A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. One of the boulders has vanished, and a hole gapes where it used to be. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
You see a small fly, a grenade pin, an apple, and a thorny rake
here.
You go to the north
You walk until you enter a garden.

A beautiful garden, bounded by brick walls to the north and west.
Alas, the stream that flowed once is no longer here, and the dragon's head fountain no longer spouts water. The bushes and flowers remain, but they droop sadly around the muddy ditch where the stream was.
The hedge beasts are slowly uncurling their leaves and branches as
they prepare to stand.
You go east
You walk east until you are in the field again.

A grassy field, by an apple tree
This is a field of lush green grass. In the center of the field, an apple tree grows. Its branches are hung with ripe red apples. Scattered flowers wink at you from the grass, as the sun shines brightly overhead. A muddy ditch lies where the stream used to be. A small foot-bridge allows you to cross from one bank to the other.
You see a large wicker bird cage and a heavy stone here. The large wicker bird cage seems to contain the robin and some scraps of paper.
Go west
You walk along the banks, where the stream used to be, for a time.

A beautiful garden, bounded by brick walls to the north and west.
Alas, the stream that flowed once is no longer here, and the dragon's head fountain no longer spouts water. The bushes and flowers remain, but they droop sadly around the muddy ditch where the stream was.
The hedge beasts are slowly uncurling their leaves and branches as
they prepare to stand.
Slowly, the hedge beasts begin work again. One reaches under a bush to retrieve the gardening tools, only to find some are not there. The hedge beasts rustle confusedly for a bit, and then begin work anyway. Soon they are doing their best to tend the garden tool-lessly.
You go south
You follow the brook's path out of the garden, and into a field.

This is an open field, with a few boulders and the like scattered about. In the center of the field, someone has constructed a white gazebo (currently floating above the ground), its shadow providing perhaps the only real shade in the area. A muddy streak slashes through the field north-south, where the water used to be. A wide white plank allows you to cross from one bank to the other. One of the boulders has vanished, and a hole gapes where it used to be. Sticking out of the ground is a stone pillar, a control panel and joystick built into its side.
You see a small fly, a grenade pin, an apple, and a thorny rake
here.
Go south
Walking south eventually takes you to a rocky cliff-top.

The area is fairly rocky here, with scattered grasses growing
between cracks in the rocks. The stream that flowed here once no longer does, and the cliff-face looks quite bare without the waterfall.
You go to the east
You walk out to the very edge of the cliff, and look down at the steep drop-off below. The wind tugs at you playfully up here, making you vaguely nervous.
Go downwards
You climb down the cliff.

You are climbing on the rocky cliff face. The waterfall is no
longer here, but the rocks are still a bit damp. Below you are scattered rocks and such, and scattered tufts of grass. Nearby, a small cave leads into the cliff and darkness. Floating in mid-air, there is a glowing purple portal. It crackles with energy.
You examine the Portal
The portal crackles with blue-violet energies. Just being near it makes your skin tingle, and all the little hairs on your arms stand up. It looks to be about seven feet across.
Go inside
You cautiously enter the cave.

It's not as dark in here as it looks from the outside. Some
sunlight still filters into the cave to illuminate the (stone) floor. The exit is east.
You pull the knob
You give the knob a tug. It sticks for a second, and then slides out a short distance. Almost immediately afterwards, the wall in front of you opens, the floor tilts, and you tumble forwards into darkness . . .

Well, if you've ever wondered what was going on, you seem to have
found the place where whatever it is that is going on happens. Lots of machines are scattered around the room, some making endearing bleeping noises. Most of these are safely sealed behind glass. A small padded chair sits in the center of the room, facing a large viewscreen.
You see a hang-glider here. Sitting on the comfy chair you see a handwritten note.
You turn the black dial to 6
Okay, it's now turned to 6. Dials on the machines spin, and a light blinks off, then on again. The picture changes.
The viewscreen is quite large, taking up most of one wall. Currently, it's showing a familiar scene: Cliff top, at the edge
The area is fairly rocky here, with scattered grasses growing
between cracks in the rocks. The stream that flowed here once no longer does, and the cliff-face looks quite bare without the waterfall.
You touch the viewscreen
You touch the screen, and are abruptly elsewhere.

Cliff top, at the edge
The area is fairly rocky here, with scattered grasses growing
between cracks in the rocks. The stream that flowed here once no longer does, and the cliff-face looks quite bare without the waterfall.
You go east
You step off the cliff ...
And soar into the air. The transition from land to sky is a bit tricky, but you get the hang of it fast. You're still dropping in altitude, though. (Of course, compared to how fast you'd be dropping without a hang-glider, you're doing great.)

You are flying near the bare clifftop. It looks quite strange
without the pounding waters. Small scraggly mosses and surround a small cave entrance, and down below you can see piles of jagged rocks on the ground. Floating in mid-air, there is a glowing purple portal. It crackles with energy.
You enter the Portal
You angle the glider towards the portal. It seems to hum and swirl
at a higher and higher pitch the closer you get to it. The portal starts to pulse, very softly. You fly closer, suddenly realizing the portal isn't nearly big enough to fit the wings of the glider, but also realizing it's far too late to turn back now.
Then you are inside the portal. You are in a sea of endless violet
for a little while, surrounded by voices: your father's, your mother's, Daniel's, yours -- you even fancy you can hear a dog yipping in the background. You smile to yourself, feeling peace like you have not known in years. Finally, you emerge out the other side, into the hot sun of noon-time in the desert.

Now you are falling again, off the same cliff that you left . . . could it have really been just a day before? But this time you are ready. You spread your wings out and -- in a burst of flames -- Phoenix soars skywards.

Your past is behind you, your present surrounds you, and the future
is wide, wide open. Congratulations, Phoenix.

You may restore a saved game, start over, quit, show your score for this game, or see the help menu.