text: [Themes: IF Whispers, sidekick NPC, post-apocalyptic, surreal]
  
  Just your luck. You were on your way to your Aunt Mabel's 100th birthday party when your car finally gave up the ghost. Not like it hasn't been trying to do that for weeks, but on a student budget a newer car was out of reach. Nothing to do but walk to the nearest town and see about other transportation.
  
  Type "about" for more information.
  
  You're standing on a stretch of road by your car. On the sides of the road is nothing but flat, dry ground and nothing to see at all to the horizon. The sign you passed a few miles back said it was about 10 miles to the nearest town, the name of which you've already forgotten. Seeing as it's even farther back to the previous town, the only way to go is forward to the east.
  
  Curb detracts from the scenic value of the vicinity.
  
  You can also see your car and a road sign here.
  
  > About yourself
  You're tall and thirsty. Too old to be drifting loose, too young to have done anything much to deserve confirmation - your tattoos show that much.
  
  > examine the tattoos
  Your right arm, left hand and the left side of your face are partially covered with blocky, rounded glyphs precisely specifying your age, blood type, status (social, economic, marital) and affiliations (birth-clan, adopted clan, moiety, college). None of which are going to impress anybody, except for the adopted-clan part, perhaps; Aunt Mabel's reputation extends across the known world. But even so, the conspicuous hollow circles on the backs of both hands mark you as unconfirmed.
  
  Curb skitters about.
  
  > look at Curb
  Now this here is a pedigree Chattanooga brindled mooch-hound. This noble breed, of which Curb forms paradigm and pinnacle, is eight kinds of crazy, twelve kinds of stupid and every kind of mean.
  
  You didn't exactly plan for a hound. A friend's bitch whelped, you were trying to act cute around a girl, and you were not at that time familiar with the quirks of the breed. The puppy got a home, you got a lifelong companion, the girl got eight stitches and the hell out of Dodge.
  
  Curb scratches his ear.
  
  > look at car
  This piece of junk has seen you through three years of school. You just needed it to last a little longer. Too bad it didn't. Other than that, it's got the usual things you'd find on a car... steering wheel, those little pedals that's supposed to make it go "zoom," oh, and there's also a trunk in back.
  
  Thrown across the back seat you can see the guitar.
  
  Curb peers curiously at Treasure Huntery Lesson 1.
  
  > take the guitar
  The car isn't open.
  
  Curb gnaws hungrily on his own forepaw.
  
  > open the car
  You open the car.
  
  Curb writhes about on his back, kicking his hind legs.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  your car keys
  an alligator stetson (being worn)
  your panga
  Treasure Huntery Lesson 1
  
  Curb sniffs at the road sign like the horrible little pervert he is.
  
  > examine the sign
  At some juncture of the distant past it may, you surmise, have displayed information of some kind; the original content has been effaced, but it still tells you something; to wit, folks here have ammo to waste and don't mind shooting at trash.
  
  Curb peers curiously at the car keys.
  
  > take the guitar
  Taken.
  
  > play the guitar
  You play a few notes of "Puff, the Magic Dragon". Contrary to IF convention, you actually play quite well.
  
  > open the trunk
  Twenty hours on the road are starting to take its toll on your motor skills: on the first try, you fumble the keys and drop them onto the blacktop. With a yelp of joy, Curb snaps them up and dodges out of reach. Well, fuck.
  
  Curb starts at nothing, and half falls over in a desperate attempt to escape it.
  
  > take keys
  That dog has a laudable attitude towards the defence of private property, and you have no desire to add a ragged, septic hand wound to your troubles.
  
  Curb attempts to swallow your car keys, chokes, and brings them back up. He doesn't drop them, though.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  
  > Pet dog
  an alligator stetson (being worn)
  your panga
  Treasure Huntery Lesson 1
  
  Curb attempts to swallow your car keys, chokes, and brings them back up. He doesn't drop them, though.
  
  You vigorously pat Curb's head until he closes his eyes and nearly falls asleep. The second you stop, though, he returns to his same old self.
  
  Curb attempts to howl, but it devolves into a whimper.
  
  > read the lesson
  "Treasure Huntery Lesson 1: Maps" is a slim pamphlet that gives just the basics. You've read it a thousand times, but it never hurts to have it on hand.
  
  Curb snaps at flies.
  
  > read the treasure huntery
  "The first thing any treasure hunter needs is a map. It's no good to just go looking for treasure with no idea of where to look! You may be skeptical about the existence of actual treasure maps, but in fact the people who hid treasure generally wanted to be able to find it again, or even to let their heirs or accomplices find it in the event that they could not. This doesn't mean they made it easy!"
  
  > go to the east
  It might be a good idea to close the car first.
  
  > wait awhile
  Time passes.
  
  > Go west
  You trudge back toward your car.
  
  You're standing on a stretch of road by your car. On the sides of the road is nothing but flat, dry ground and nothing to see at all to the horizon. The sign you passed a few miles back said it was about 10 miles to the nearest town, the name of which you've already forgotten. Seeing as it's even farther back to the previous town, the only way to go is forward to the east.
  
  You can see your car and a road sign here.
  
  Curb scampers after you.
  
  > open the car
  You open the car.
  
  Curb attempts to swallow your car keys, chokes, and brings them back up. He doesn't drop them, though.
  
  > look at the trunk
  Yep. It's a trunk, and it's at the back of the car. You can't remember if you put anything useful in there before you left your house or not.
  
  Naturally, a protective geesoofus is prominently displayed. You wouldn't cross the badlands without one.
  
  Curb attempts to swallow your car keys, chokes, and brings them back up. He doesn't drop them, though.