text: [Themes: Horror, Lovecraftian, horror, teenage protagonist]
  
  > Go downward
  This earth-walled chamber is so low you can't stand up straight. There's a square trapdoor in the ceiling; it's standing open. A dark tunnel extends away to the north.
  
  > go north
  It's pitch black.
  
  > turn it on
  You flip the switch, but nothing happens. The batteries are probably dead.
  
  > go north
  It's too dark; you can't see where you're going.
  
  > Go upwards
  The interior of Cabin Four is much like Cabin Five, except that it has a big double bed in place of the twin beds. Also, there's no carpet, just a bare linoleum floor, which is peeling up in the corners. The bed has been pushed to one side, revealing a trapdoor set in the floor. The plaster is water-stained, the wallpaper suffering from minor rips and tears. A gaudy, poorly executed painting of a Southern belle in a hoop skirt fails to add cheer to the room. Tattered curtains hang across the window, which is to the left of the door.
  
  The dresser stands against the west wall, near the door of the bathroom. There's a walk-in closet on the south side of the room, and the door of the cabin is to the east.
  
  Lying on the floor beside the bed is a leather valise.
  
  > go to the west
  The tiny, cramped bathroom features a narrow shower stall, a minuscule, rust-stained sink above which is a cracked, flyspecked mirror, and a commode. The towels stacked on the rack are thin, frayed at the edges, and probably none too clean. The small square window is open, but it provides no view and not much light either, as a tree has grown up quite close to the outside wall.
  
  The door to the cabin is in the east wall.
  
  > Go west
  From this perch in the midst of the scraggly tree, you can't see much. The area behind the cabins is obscured by foliage. However, you're quite close to the rear wall of Cabin Four, and have a close view of the cabin's bathroom window, which is open.
  
  > go to the north
  Two rows of small, dilapidated cabins, three on each side, stand to the east and west of this stretch of bare dirt. Several croquet hoops are stuck crookedly into the ground at odd spots, suggesting that at one time the open area might have been used as a croquet court.
  
  You're standing between Cabin Five (to the west) and Cabin Two (to the east). The croquet court continues north and south from here. Further to the north you can see a dusty stretch of lawn beside the house, and some distance to the south are the brackish, unhealthy-looking waters of a swamp.
  
  As you pass Cabin Two, you notice that its door is standing ajar.
  
  > Go east
  The interior of this rustic motel room looks pretty much like the interior of Cabin Five, except that it's a mirror image, with the door to the croquet court on the west side. Bedspreads the color of mud cover the twin beds. The tacky wood-grain wallpaper is starting to peel, and years of grime have been ground into the carpet. A murky painting of a Model T Ford fails to add a sporty air.
  
  Curtains the color of old pea soup hang beside the window to the right of the door. A chipped and scarred dresser stands against the east wall, near the door of the bathroom. There's a walk-in closet on the south side of the room.
  
  On the bed near the door is a Gideon Bible.
  
  > examine the painting
  The Model T Ford looks rather battered and rusty, but possibly that's because of the bits of mold encrusted on the surface of the painting.
  
  > open it
  (first taking the Gideon Bible)
  The Bible falls open to a passage that somebody has marked with a yellow highlighter, in which God says strangers who see his holy rites should be put to death. Whoever used the highlighter seems to have been looking for reassurance in all the wrong places.
  
  > go to the south
  As you step into the closet, a floorboard creaks.
  
  The interior of the closet is a dim and cramped little box. It smells powerfully of mold, and the floor is a little wobbly.
  
  > go to the east
  (first opening the bathroom door)
  
  The bathroom is barely big enough to turn around in. There's a narrow shower stall, a minuscule, rust-stained sink above which is a cracked, flyspecked mirror, and a commode. The towels stacked on the rack are thin, frayed at the edges, and probably none too clean. A tiny window provides a very little air.
  
  The door leads westward.
  
  > take the floorboard
  As you pry up the loose floorboard, you find that beneath it is a shallow recess beneath the floor. Lying on its back in the recess is an evil-looking black figurine.
  
  > look at the figurine
  The evil figurine is like the other one you saw - it's about six inches tall, and is carved from a stone so deep red it's almost black. The eyes glint black - and you have the disquieting sensation that they're actually staring at you. The figure's face is contorted with malevolence - the teeth bared, the eyes glaring, the tongue protruding.
  
  > take the figurine
  (first putting the fire tongs in the burlap sack to make room)
  As you reach out to touch the black-eyed figurine, you have the momentary sensation that it has lunged at you and snapped at your fingers with its teeth. Obviously, it couldn't actually have moved - could it? But a shaft of intense pain shoots up your arm, and you recoil as quickly as if you had put your hand in an open flame.
  
  > take the figurine with tongs
  You pick up the black-eyed figurine with the fire tongs.
  
  > examine the floorboard
  The board is about four inches wide, a foot long, and more than an inch thick. Though the wood is discolored by age, it feels quite solid.
  
  > examine the hole
  The recessed place beneath the floor is small and dark. It's clotted with old spider webs and littered with disagreeable crumbs.
  
  > put the floorboard on the hole
  You fit the loose floorboard over the hole in the floor.
  
  > Time
  You aren't wearing a wristwatch. Usually you'd keep track of time by glancing at your cell phone, but you seem to have misplaced that today. At a guess, it's about 4:00.
  
  > Go west
  You can't go that way. The only obvious exit leads north, back to cabin two.
  
  > Go north
  The interior of this rustic motel room looks pretty much like the interior of Cabin Five, except that it's a mirror image, with the door to the croquet court on the west side. Bedspreads the color of mud cover the twin beds. The tacky wood-grain wallpaper is starting to peel, and years of grime have been ground into the carpet. A murky painting of a Model T Ford fails to add a sporty air.
  
  Curtains the color of old pea soup hang beside the window to the right of the door. A chipped and scarred dresser stands against the east wall, near the door of the bathroom. There's a walk-in closet on the south side of the room.
  
  On the bed near the door is a Gideon Bible.
  
  > set the lock to IXTLOC
  As you set the valise lock to IXTLOC, you hear a soft but satisfying snick from the mechanism.
  
  > open the valise
  The valise springs open. In the valise is a green-eyed figurine.
  
  > examine the green figurine
  The evil figurine is like the others you've seen - it's about six inches tall, and is carved from a stone so deep red it's almost black. The eyes glint green - and you have the disquieting sensation that they're actually staring at you. The figure's face is contorted with malevolence - the teeth bared, the eyes glaring, the tongue protruding.
  
  > take the green figurine with the tongs
  You pick up the green-eyed figurine with the fire tongs.
  
  > put it in the sack
  (the green-eyed figurine)
  Done.
  
  > close valise
  As you close the valise, its latch mechanism snaps firmly.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying a croquet hoop, a wooden bucket, a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a sketchbook, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, a poker, a small round threaded object, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, some faded photographs, a stone bracelet, an indecipherable map, a hand mirror, a black-eyed figurine, a green-eyed figurine, and some fire tongs), and a flashlight. You're wearing your clothes.
  
  > Go east
  The interior of this rustic motel room looks pretty much like a mirror image of the interior of Cabin Five. Except - not really. Honey Hartwell seems to have arrived like a hurricane. Her possessions are strewn in profusion on every available surface, including the floor. Most of the stuff is clothing, every bit of it gaudy and in terrible taste. In amongst the garb you can also see half a dozen photo magazines devoted to celebrity worship, and the top of the dresser (which stands against the east wall, near the door of the bathroom) is overflowing with cosmetics.
  
  Aside from that, the cabin is unremarkable: the door to the croquet court on the west, a walk-in closet to the south, brown bedspreads on the twin beds, tacky wood-grain wallpaper that's starting to peel, green curtains over the window, and a carpet into which years of grime have been ground. A murky painting of a tired-looking Confederate soldier only contributes to the air of dejection and decay.
  
  Somewhere not far away you hear the sound of a motorboat, getting louder. Shortly it cuts off, and the silence descends again.
  
  > examine the curtains
  The curtains droop sadly.
  
  > open the dresser
  You open the top and middle drawers.
  
  > open the bottom drawer
  The bottom drawer is already open.
  
  > go to the east
  The tiny, cramped bathroom features a narrow shower stall, a minuscule, rust-stained sink above which is an open medicine cabinet, and a commode. The towels stacked on the rack are thin, frayed at the edges, and probably none too clean. A tiny window provides a very little air.
  
  The door leads westward.
  
  > look at the cabinet
  The medicine cabinet has three shallow, narrow, and rather corroded metal shelves. It's open.
  
  > look at the cosmetics
  At least a dozen assorted glittery tubes are scattered across the top of the dresser - eyeliner, eyeshadow, blusher, mascara, hand cream, nail polish, and more.
  
  > look at the steps
  The broad flight of steps leads up to the porch. The planks are badly warped and split, and the gray paint that was applied to them in some remote past is sticking up in thick curling chips.
  
  Honey licks her thumb and turns a page in the magazine.
  
  > look at the planks
  The broad flight of steps leads up to the porch. The planks are badly warped and split, and the gray paint that was applied to them in some remote past is sticking up in thick curling chips.
  
  Honey inspects her perfectly manicured bright pink nails.
  
  > take the planks
  You can't take that.
  
  Honey curls a strand of hair around her little finger.
  
  > Go east
  As you put your weight on the steps, several of the boards creak loudly.
  
  This lumpy, patchy stretch of lawn is the most pleasant outdoor spot at Eternal Springs, though that isn't saying much. A rusted, sagging chaise longue is provided for the comfort of anyone who would like to bask in the scorching heat of the afternoon sun. (There's precious little shade here, other than the low oblong of obscurity wedged beneath the chaise.)
  
  To the east, the lawn is bordered by a high hedge of a virulent and sickly green, whose foliage is laden with a bounty of pulpy red flowers. The arid stretch of dirt between the cabins stretches out to the south. The main house stands, crooked and bleak but stubbornly attempting a faded grandeur, to the west, a short, broad flight of board steps leading up to the long porch, which is roofed over but nonetheless gapes open on the afternoon. A tiny, weed-infested flower-bed crouches to the right of the steps.
  
  A cracked and buckled concrete walk leads away through some tall bushes to the north, and another walk, whose slabs are tossed as if by some prehistoric geological upheaval, curves out of sight to the southwest around the corner of the house.
  
  Honey Hartwell is reclining on the chaise longue, leafing through a magazine.
  
  Honey licks her thumb and turns a page in the magazine.
  
  > Break steps
  Breaking that would serve no purpose.
  
  Honey stretches languidly.
  
  > ask Tyrone about van
  "Hello, Tyrone," you say.
  
  "Hello again," he says. "How you gettin' along, now?"
  
  You ask Tyrone what he's doing with the van. "Oh, somethin' or other's always goin' wrong with it," he says obscurely. "Carburetor, most likely. I'll have it fixed up by tomorrow, time these folks is ready to leave."
  
  > ask Tyrone about the suv
  When you ask Tyrone where the big black SUV went, that you saw parked in the driveway earlier, his eyes cloud over, and he turns away without answering.
  
  > go to the south-east
  You can't go that way. Obvious exits lead north, to the kitchen; south, to the area behind the cabins; east, to the north end of the croquet court; west; northeast, back to the lawn; northwest, to the gravel driveway; southwest, to the garden of junk; and in, to in the van.
  
  > go to the east
  The path meanders eastward along the shore of the swamp. Shortly the shore curves away southward, and you find yourself in a broad meadow.
  
  A few trees, tall and old but gnarled, reach up out of the long grass of this meadow like grasping bony fingers, tattered streamers of moss and vine trailing from their crooked branches. The meadow is bordered on the south by the swamp and on the north by an intimidating barbed-wire fence, and continues for some distance to the east. The path along the edge of the swamp runs westward from here.
  
  Standing in the center of the meadow is a large, rough block of black stone.
  
  The ghost of Lydia hovers near the stone block.
  
  > ask Lydia about the clown
  She's looking off pensively toward the swamp. She seems not to have heard you.
  
  > ask Lydia about the tears
  "I forget things," she says. "I think I might know something about that, only now I can't remember."
  
  > show the bracelet to Lydia
  (first taking the stone bracelet from the burlap sack)
  She gazes sadly at your offering. "That's very nice, I'm sure."
  
  > show the black figurine to Lydia
  When Lydia sees the evil figurine, she shrieks and flies around the meadow like a whirlwind. "Oh, get it away from me, get it away from me!"
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying a croquet hoop, a wooden bucket, a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a sketchbook, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, a poker, a small round threaded object, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a hand mirror, a black-eyed figurine, a green-eyed figurine, and some fire tongs), a flashlight, and a stone bracelet. You're wearing your clothes.
  
  > show the sketchbook to Lydia
  (first taking the sketchbook from the burlap sack)
  "Is it a hot day today?" she says, gazing off into the distance. "It looks like it's a hot day, but I can never tell."
  
  > read it
  (first taking the mystery by John Dickson Carr from the burlap sack) Boh-rring. this would put you to sleep for sure. Looks like Beauregard enjoys boring old mysteries as much as your aunt does.
  
  > ask Lydia about the figurines
  Lydia shudders. "They're hateful - hateful! They're what summons the - the - I can't even make myself say it."
  
  > show the object to Lydia
  (first taking the small round threaded object from the burlap sack)
  "I hope you find a good use for that," she says.
  
  > show the bracelet to Lydia
  "I don't have much use for things," she says. "In case you hadn't noticed."
  
  > show the figurine to Lydia
  Which figurine do you mean, the green-eyed figurine, or the black-eyed figurine?
  
  > go west
  As you walk away, the ghost calls after you in a breathy voice: "I hope you'll come back and visit me."
  
  You follow the path westward, back to Eternal Springs.
  
  The brackish, oily, unpleasant waters of the swamp stretch south from here. Large trees festooned with slimy green creepers stand in the water. To the west is a shed, to the east a path along the shore. The cabins are to the north.
  
  You find yourself wanting to hurry along, so as not to catch another glimpse, even out of the corner of your eye, of the terrible swamp-thing you saw - or imagined you saw - before.
  
  > show the object to Tyrone
  (first taking the small round threaded object from the burlap sack) "Well, lookee there," Tyrone says when you show him the small threaded object. "You know what that is, don't you? Guess maybe not. Where you come from, I reckon they all got circuit breakers an' such. That there's a fuse. You put it in a fuse box. Circuit overloads, the fuse burns out, electricity stops, your house don't burn down. Then you just put in a new fuse. Stove up to the house there always burnin' out fuses. Luisa told me it done it again, but I ain't got around to fixin' it yet. Fuse box is in the upstairs bedroom. Why don't you take care of it for me, honey, seein' as you got the fuse already."
  
  > Go north
  Tyrone shrugs and goes back to work on the van.
  
  The kitchen is large and not especially neat. The appliances are all ancient, their surfaces dented and chipped. The refrigerator stands against one wall, the stove against another, and there's a cupboard above the sink. Against an inner wall stands a small square table, with a wooden chair beside it. An exterior door is to the south, interior doorways to the east and north.
  
  On the stove is a tea kettle.
  
  > go to the west
  The kitchen is large and not especially neat. The appliances are all ancient, their surfaces dented and chipped. The refrigerator stands against one wall, the stove against another, and there's a cupboard above the sink. Against an inner wall stands a small square table, with a wooden chair beside it. An exterior door is to the south, interior doorways to the east and north.
  
  On the stove is a tea kettle.
  
  > open the cupboard
  Opening the cupboard reveals a juice glass, a stained blue mug, a brown envelope, and a teaspoon.
  
  > look at the envelope
  The brown envelope says "Cocoa Mix" on both sides.
  
  > open the fridge
  Opening the refrigerator reveals an egg.
  
  > examine the egg
  It's an ordinary egg. When you touch it it doesn't seem very cold. Apparently the refrigerator isn't working.
  
  > Go up
  The stairs squeak unsteadily, a sound that sets your teeth on edge.
  
  This stuffy passageway extends westward from the head of the stairs, which lead down to the entry hall. The wallpaper is blotchy, and the residual grime along the baseboard suggests that the housekeeping has been perfunctory at best. There are doorways in the north and south walls.
  
  > go north
  This stark bedroom seems to be a repository for cast-off furniture, some of which probably dates back to the Civil War. The bedstead has an iron frame, but no mattress. The door back to the hall is to the south, and an open doorway leads west into a closet. In the north wall is a window.
  
  A crow is perched on the windowsill, looking around the room.
  
  > Close window
  You shut the window, blocking out the alleged breeze.
  
  The crow fluffs his feathers.
  
  > take the crow
  The crow sidles away from you rapidly.
  
  > show the black figurine to the crow
  The crow does not appear interested.
  
  The crow hops down from the sill to check the floor, sees nothing that would interest him, and hops back up.
  
  > hit the spider with the poker
  (first putting the flashlight in the burlap sack to make room, then putting the mystery by John Dickson Carr in the burlap sack to make room, then putting the croquet hoop in the burlap sack to make room, then taking the poker from the burlap sack)
  On a normal day, you might be able to grit your teeth and force yourself to do something with (or to) the spider. But you're feeling pretty nervous today. You just can't quite bring yourself to get that close to it.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying a wooden bucket, a burlap sack (which contains a gold locket, a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a hand mirror, a black-eyed figurine, a green-eyed figurine, a sketchbook, a stone bracelet, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, and a croquet hoop), a new fuse, some fire tongs, and a poker. You're wearing your clothes.
  
  > look at the fuse box
  Behind the little metal door is a shallow recess. What lies within is largely obscured by a heavy curtain of spiderweb. Within the web a fat white spider is busily spinning.