text: [Themes: Western]
  
  > go downwards
  Smells musty, just like every other stable you've ever been in.
  There's a meager half-light drifting down from a window in the loft overhead, and the stable door leads back out onto Main Street to the southeast. If anybody in this town owned a horse, this is where they'd keep it.
  The gate to one of the stalls to the north is closed.
  The ten-foot ladder is leaning against the loft.
  
  > go west
  Down, you say? Well, you begin to shimmy down the tree, precariously clutching onto branches and outcroppings of tough bark--whatever you can reach. Finally, scraped and bruised all to hell, you find yourself on firm ground.
  
  Obviously not a popular picnic spot; in fact, if not for your vantage point perched atop the tree, you would never have known it was here, much less be able to blindly navigate your way through the thick of trees to the south. The meadow opens up to the west.
  Strutting proudly around the meadow is a fiery red stallion.
  
  Of a mansion, or what might be considered a mansion if it weren't
  quite so rustic looking. It's as if someone took a giant tub of Dr. Ricardo's Growth Tonic (which he peddles to the unsuspecting populace whenever he's in town, about every four months or so) and poured it over one of the ramshackle houses--albeit one of the nicer ones--scattered about Tumbleweed Flats. You can enter the house to the west.
  John Stratford is sitting in his rocking chair, smoking his pipe.
  His trusty shotgun is across his lap.
  
  > give the taffy to John
  Stratford looks surprised. "Why, thank you," he says. "Who told you that I do so love this taffy?" He munches on the candy.
  
  > get on the horse
  Obviously not a popular picnic spot; in fact, if not for your vantage point perched atop the tree, you would never have known it was here, much less be able to blindly navigate your way through the thick of trees to the south. The meadow opens up to the west.
  Strutting proudly around the meadow is a fiery red stallion.
  
  You get on the fiery red stallion.
  
  > Ride south
  You give the red stallion a couple of pokes in its sides with your spurs, and the animal breaks into a trot. A couple of seconds later, however, an old man in an ascot and a mop of gray hair (John Stratford, that is) comes chasing after you from the west.
  
  He tries to shout something at you, but his mouth is gummed up with taffy. The same goes for his fingers, which are useless so far as pulling the trigger on the shotgun he is aiming at you.
  
  Your parched brain tries as hard as it possibly can to remember what the path through the trees looked like from above, and you start forging a path...
  
  Empty lot, on a fiery red stallion
  Standing where you are, in the middle of a thicket of weeds, you're faced by a wall of impenetrable brush to the north. Just to the right of the trees, to the northeast, is the entrance the local stable. Back east is Main Street.
  
  > Ride east
  North end of Main Street, on a fiery red stallion
  Now leaving the bustling metropolis of Tumbleweed Flats, pop. 59.
  The local stable is off to the northwest, just north of an empty field. To the east is the north end of the hotel, although it doesn't look like you'd be able to get by the stack of crates and barrels. A dusty road continues north out of town.
  Little Jimmy is here, looking sullen.
  Bobby is here, running in circles around Little Jimmy.
  
  > get off
  You get off of the fiery red stallion.
  
  Old Dan arrives from the south.
  
  He mutters something about cheap cowboys.
  
  > Go north
  It's dark in here. The only light bleeds in through the window and
  the open door. Looks like this is where Grady keeps most of his junk. A handwritten note, a skeleton key, the shed key, and a wooden plank are here.
  
  > go west
  You find a foothold on the stack of barrels and clamber over.
  
  Now leaving the bustling metropolis of Tumbleweed Flats, pop. 59.
  The local stable is off to the northwest, just north of an empty field. To the east is the north end of the hotel, although it doesn't look like you'd be able to get by the stack of crates and barrels. A dusty road continues north out of town.
  Little Jimmy is here, looking sullen.
  Bobby is here.
  The fiery red stallion is standing patiently nearby.
  
  > open the kit
  Opened.
  
  The trail kit contains a matchbook, a fork, a spoon, and some beef jerky.
  
  > Light match
  You strike a match.
  
  > go to the east
  The name might be a bit of overkill--after all, Tumbleweed Flats is a town with only one street. The sun beats down from above, lighting up the dusty haze stretching the length of the street north and south of here. On either side are rows of weathered wooden buildings. Immediately to the west is Lucille's General Store; to the east is Grady's Saloon, Billiards, and Hotel.
  Old Dan, the town drunk, is here, standing in place and swaying slightly. He gives you grouchy look.
  
  > show the bottle to Dan
  Old Dan's eyes widen. He grabs at the bottle, almost throwing himself off-balance. As he weaves: "Gimme that! For the love of God, give me that!"
  
  > Go north
  Now leaving the bustling metropolis of Tumbleweed Flats, pop. 59.
  The local stable is off to the northwest, just north of an empty field. To the east is the north end of the hotel, although it doesn't look like you'd be able to get by the stack of crates and barrels. A dusty road continues north out of town.
  Little Jimmy is here, looking sullen.
  Bobby is here, jumping up and down in place.
  The fiery red stallion is standing patiently nearby.
  
  > Ride south
  North end of Main Street, on a fiery red stallion
  Now leaving the bustling metropolis of Tumbleweed Flats, pop. 59.
  The local stable is off to the northwest, just north of an empty field. To the east is the north end of the hotel, although it doesn't look like you'd be able to get by the stack of crates and barrels. A dusty road continues north out of town.
  Little Jimmy is here, looking sullen.
  Bobby is here, running in circles around Little Jimmy.
  
  Old Dan arrives from the south.
  
  He gives you grouchy look.
  
  > give quarter to Dan
  (taking the quarter first)
  Taken.
  
  "Well, much obliged, partner," Old Dan says as he takes the quarter.