text: > look around
  A slant-roofed, sagging shack stands here. There might have been a bit of vegetable garden beside it at one time, but all that's left now is a jumble of weeds and rusting junk. The large passenger van belonging to the resort stands in front of the shack, its hood up.
  
  Tyrone has taken a break from working on the van in order to stand and talk with you.
  
  You can go south to the open area behind the cabins, northwest along the gravel driveway, north to the back door of the main house, or northeast on a path that leads around the corner of the house. An overgrown brick walkway leads east along the side of the nearest cabin. The shack itself is to the west from this spot, and the garden beside it is to the southwest.
  
  > go east
  Tyrone shrugs and goes back to work on the van.
  
  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.
  
  You're standing between Cabin Four (to the west) and Cabin One (to the east). The croquet court continues south from here, the land sloping gently downward toward the swamp - almost as if the cabins are gently sliding into the swamp or marching, with a ponderous but imperceptible tread, toward it. To the north is a broad stretch of dusty lawn, and beside it to the west a large and rather ramshackle two-story house.
  An overgrown and uneven brick walkway leads off to the northwest, around the corner of Cabin Four.
  
  > Go west
  (first opening the door of Cabin Four)
  You tap on the door, and a male voice within says firmly, "Go away." Well, that's that - for now, anyway.
  
  > Go east
  (first trying to open the door of Cabin One)
  The door of Cabin One seems to be locked.
  
  > Go south
  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.
  
  > go 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.
  
  > examine the stone
  The stone block is a black cube about four feet on each side. Its surface is rough, and the edges and corners are chipped and cracked, as though it was broken off or carved out from a larger piece of stone.
  Or possibly it's just incredibly ancient. Exotic-looking carvings can be discerned on one face, though they're half-hidden from view by tall grass, and the top of the block is thinly stained with a dried, dark residue, a little of which has trickled down one side. Tufts of grass grow tall and thick around the base.
  
  > Taste residue
  You fleetingly consider touching the old stains with the tip of your tongue, and reject the idea as disgusting.
  
  > examine the carvings
  As you kneel and brush aside the long grass to get a closer look at the carvings on the stone block, you become aware of an agitated thickening in the sunlit air. Distracted, you turn to watch. The haze of movement flits here and there, becoming moment by moment more substantial. At first you think it must be a cloud of dust or a swarm of insects, but as it veers closer to you you glimpse the distorted, terrified features of a girl. She spins around you, making a thin keening noise, her arms flailing.
  
  You stand and stagger backward, trying to get away from the apparition. You can see the distant trees and fence through her slender body, which is clad in a white dress.
  
  > look at the lydia
  The terrifying apparition whirls back and forth across the meadow so rapidly that it's hard to make out details, but it appears to be a girl about your age. She swoops and tumbles toward you and away, her mouth open in a silent scream. Or maybe not quite silent: Thinly, as if from a great distance, you can hear the wordless shriek. It sets your teeth on edge. More than anything else, this ghostly girl resembles a very large, translucent hummingbird having a fit of hysterics - but there's little of the hummingbird about her. Surely she's a lost soul trapped in this desolate spot and trying to escape from some hellish tormentor that you can't see.
  
  > ask her about herself
  Instead of answering, the apparition whirls in a tight spiral in the sunlight.
  
  > touch her
  Your hands would pass right through her.
  
  > get on the stone
  As you approach the block, suddenly the ghost is whirling around you, shrieking. Terrified, you stagger backward.
  
  > search the grass
  You glance at the grass and instantly dismiss it as unimportant.
  
  > examine the carvings
  You kneel and push aside the grass to try to get a clear view of the carvings on the block, but suddenly the ghost is whirling around you, shrieking. Terrified, you lurch to your feet and stagger backward.
  
  > examine the fence
  The fence bristles with sharp-looking barbs.