text: [Themes: Horror, teenage protagonist, Lovecraftian]
  
  > Go west
  You can't go that way. Obvious exits lead east, back to the foot of the silver bridge; and southwest, to the alcove.
  
  > Drop mat and poker
  rolled-up straw mat: Dropped.
  poker: Dropped.
  
  > Go east
  This narrow, windowless room is lit only by the daylight that spills through the open doorway to the west, which leads back to the bedroom. A narrow table stands against the north wall, and at the foot of the table, in the east wall, a metal grate is set in the baseboard.
  
  In the east wall, where you might ordinarily expect to see a door to another room, is a massive slab of stone, both broader and higher than a door. In the upper center of the slab is a circular carving.
  
  You see a rolled-up straw mat and a poker here. On the shallow table are a purple-eyed figurine and a curved dagger.
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying a gold locket, and you're wearing your clothes and a stone bracelet.
  
  > go east
  You must open the slab first.
  
  > touch the slab
  As before, the touch of your fingers on the carving causes it to radiate fierce light, and the slab pivots sideways, opening the passage.
  
  > Go east
  You step lightly and carefully across the narrow silver bridge. As you reach the far end, a sizzling, crackling noise behind you makes you whirl and look back. The bridge is evaporating at your heels into a drift of silver sparks. The sparks spin, dimming, into the abyss. In a moment the bridge is gone.
  
  A broad passageway runs north and south here, flanked on the west by a square-cut channel of unguessable depth. Directly across the channel, to the west from where you're standing, is an open doorway through which can be glimpsed the cheerfully torchlit room of seven doors, but the slim silver bridge that was here before seems to have vanished, leaving you no way to cross the channel. On the east side of the passageway is a narrow opening, beyond which a stairway leads down into the gloom.
  
  The monkey is crouching at your feet.
  
  > Pet monkey
  The monkey allows you to pet him gently.
  
  > Go north
  The monkey arrives on your heels.
  
  The stone tunnel continues south (along the channel) and turns to the east here. A square of daylight can be glimpsed at the end of the east branch. A bronze door set in an ornate frame of carved stone is to the north.
  
  The monkey is standing close by.
  
  > go north
  The monkey follows you.
  
  This large room, which smells cloyingly of incense, is luxuriously furnished in an style that you'd probably be able to identify if you hadn't been daydreaming so much during World History. Possibly it's Aztec, Mayan, Incan, or even Egyptian. Straw mats hang from the walls, painted with elaborate designs in red and black. A heavy cabinet stands against the east wall. The bronze door is to the south, and daylight spills through an open archway to the north.
  
  The heavy wood cabinet contains a wooden staff, a golden cape, and a golden helmet.
  
  The monkey is still with you.
  
  > Wear helmet
  (first taking the golden helmet)
  Okay, you're now wearing the golden helmet.
  
  > wear the cape
  (first taking the golden cape)
  Okay, you're now wearing the golden cape.
  
  > go to the south
  The monkey goes down onto all fours to keep up with you.
  
  The stone tunnel continues south (along the channel) and turns to the east here. A square of daylight can be glimpsed at the end of the east branch. A bronze door set in an ornate frame of carved stone is to the north.
  
  The monkey looks up at you expectantly.
  
  > Go east
  Seeing you leave, the little monkey scuttles after you. When you pause, he looks up at you expectantly.
  
  Though paved in polished marble and enclosed on all sides, this large square room is open to the sky above. Aside from some low benches, also of marble, that surround a shallow, square pool of water in the center of the room, it's unfurnished. There's a high arched doorway to the north, a row of lower arches on the east, a tunnel entrance to the west, and a square-cut doorway to the south.
  
  The monkey goes off to take a quick look around, but soon returns.
  
  > Go north
  The monkey trails faithfully along behind.
  
  The vaulted ceiling of this huge room is at least fifty feet above you. A double row of fat pillars lines the east and west walls. The pillars can't very well be real gold (can they?), but they look like gold. You tread lightly, yet your footsteps echo.
  
  At the north end of the room stands a huge and hideous black statue. It's at least twenty feet tall, and looks almost exactly like the little statuettes you've seen at Eternal Springs - so much like them that looking at it makes your mouth dry and your hands cold. Before the statue is a polished cube of black stone six feet high.
  
  The high arched doorway that leads back to the courtyard is to the south. There's also a passage to the north, but to reach it you'll have to pass quite close to the hideous statue.
  
  The monkey is standing close by.
  
  > go to the north
  The monkey goes down onto all fours to keep up with you. You sidle carefully past the statue.
  
  This dimly lit passage runs from north to south. Although the passage is narrow, it's also quite high-ceilinged. To the north you hear a susurrus of sifting, skittering sounds.
  
  The monkey is crouching at your feet.
  
  > go north
  The monkey arrives on your heels.
  
  You are standing on a stone ledge, perhaps six feet square, at the south side of a broad but low-ceilinged chamber. Behind you, to the south, is the open doorway that leads back to the temple. The floor of this chamber, which stretches away to the north, appears to be of sand. And not ordinary sand, either. As you watch, the sand shifts and seethes and ripples in a treacherous, dusty, incessant way.
  
  But that isn't the worst of it. Scampering and skittering across the sand are dozens of shockingly large and alert-looking scorpions. At the moment the scorpions are paying no special attention to you, but you have a strong suspicion that if you were to venture out across the sand, they would soon notice you and not take kindly to your presence. Even if the sand provided safe footing (and obviously it doesn't), crossing the chamber would be extremely hazardous.
  
  Arrayed around three sides of the chamber are dozens - no, hundreds - of low pedestals of white stone. On each pedestal sits a large and beautiful red jewel. The jewels throb in slow, hypnotic rhythms, filling the room with undulating red light.
  
  The monkey is still with you.
  
  > give locket to the monkey
  The monkey makes a tiny chittering sound that might be laughter.
  
  > show the locket to the monkey
  The monkey looks at you wide-eyed.
  
  > point at the jewels
  You point at the brightest, most swiftly pulsing of the jewels, and the monkey seems to be as intrigued by it as you are. He scampers out across the sand, weaving a devious path among the feisty scorpions, hops up on the pedestal, hugs the jewel in both arms, hops down, and scuttles back across the sand to you. He holds the jewel out to you. You take it from him and give him a warm pat on the head.
  
  > check what you're carrying
  You are carrying a gold locket, a wooden staff, and a very large, softly pulsing ruby. You're wearing your clothes, a stone bracelet, a golden helmet, and a golden cape.
  
  > examine the ruby
  The ruby is a perfect polished sphere as large as a softball. Deep within it, red light pulses warmly.
  
  > go south
  The monkey scampers beside you.
  
  This dimly lit passage runs from north to south. Although the passage is narrow, it's also quite high-ceilinged. To the north you hear a susurrus of sifting, skittering sounds.
  
  The monkey is crouching at your feet.
  
  > go south
  Seeing you leave, the little monkey scuttles after you. When you pause, he looks up at you expectantly.
  
  The vaulted ceiling of this huge room is at least fifty feet above you. A double row of fat pillars lines the east and west walls. The pillars can't very well be real gold (can they?), but they look like gold. You tread lightly, yet your footsteps echo.
  
  At the north end of the room stands a huge and hideous black statue. It's at least twenty feet tall, and looks almost exactly like the little statuettes you've seen at Eternal Springs - so much like them that looking at it makes your mouth dry and your hands cold. Before the statue is a polished cube of black stone six feet high.
  
  The high arched doorway that leads back to the courtyard is to the south. There's also a passage to the north, but to reach it you'll have to pass quite close to the hideous statue.
  
  The monkey goes off to take a quick look around, but soon returns.
  
  > Go south
  The monkey follows you.
  
  Though paved in polished marble and enclosed on all sides, this large square room is open to the sky above. Aside from some low benches, also of marble, that surround a shallow, square pool of water in the center of the room, it's unfurnished. There's a high arched doorway to the north, a row of lower arches on the east, a tunnel entrance to the west, and a square-cut doorway to the south.
  
  The monkey is standing close by.
  
  > Go west
  The monkey arrives on your heels.
  
  The stone tunnel continues south (along the channel) and turns to the east here. A square of daylight can be glimpsed at the end of the east branch. A bronze door set in an ornate frame of carved stone is to the north.
  
  The monkey looks up at you expectantly.
  
  > Go north
  The monkey trails faithfully along behind.
  
  This large room, which smells cloyingly of incense, is luxuriously furnished in an style that you'd probably be able to identify if you hadn't been daydreaming so much during World History. Possibly it's Aztec, Mayan, Incan, or even Egyptian. Straw mats hang from the walls, painted with elaborate designs in red and black. A heavy cabinet stands against the east wall. The bronze door is to the south, and daylight spills through an open archway to the north.
  
  The monkey goes off to take a quick look around, but soon returns.
  
  > Go south
  The monkey goes down onto all fours to keep up with you.
  
  The stone tunnel continues south (along the channel) and turns to the east here. A square of daylight can be glimpsed at the end of the east branch. A bronze door set in an ornate frame of carved stone is to the north.
  
  The monkey is still with you.
  
  > go to the west
  You can't go that way. Obvious exits lead north, back to the sumptuously decorated chamber; south, to opposite the doorway; and east, to the wide courtyard.
  
  > Go south
  Seeing you leave, the little monkey scuttles after you. When you pause, he looks up at you expectantly.
  
  A broad passageway runs north and south here, flanked on the west by a square-cut channel of unguessable depth. Directly across the channel, to the west from where you're standing, is an open doorway through which can be glimpsed the cheerfully torchlit room of seven doors, but the slim silver bridge that was here before seems to have vanished, leaving you no way to cross the channel. On the east side of the passageway is a narrow opening, beyond which a stairway leads down into the gloom.
  
  The monkey looks up at you expectantly.
  
  > Wave staff
  As you wave the staff, a low hum emanates from a couple of footrest-sized blocks at the edge of the chasm. A band of light leaps out across the abyss, and in a moment the shimmering silver bridge is restored.
  
  You look around and notice that the cute little monkey is gone. Probably he was just getting bored. It doesn't seem too likely you'll need his services again, but you feel a little sad anyway.
  
  > go to the south
  A broad passageway runs north and south here, flanked on the west by a square-cut channel of unguessable depth. Directly across the channel, to the west from where you're standing, is an open doorway through which can be glimpsed the cheerfully torchlit room of seven doors. A slim silver bridge crosses the channel. On the east side of the passageway is a narrow opening, beyond which a stairway leads down into the gloom.
  
  > Go southwest
  You can't go that way. Obvious exits lead east, back to opposite the doorway; and west, to the room of seven doors.
  
  > open the southwest slab
  As before, the touch of your fingers on the slab causes light to course up and down its surface, and the slab pivots sideways, opening the passage.
  
  > put the ruby in the grate
  You push the very large, softly pulsing ruby through the grate.
  
  > put the poker in the grate
  (first taking the poker)
  You push the poker through the grate.
  
  > go outside
  This cheerless cubicle looks oddly stark with the shelves leaning in one corner. There's an open doorway to the south, a door to the west, which is closed, and a square hatch in the north wall.
  
  Several long pine planks are leaning in a corner.
  
  You see some rat droppings, some onions, a screwdriver, a wooden bucket, a burlap sack (which contains a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, an indecipherable map, a green-eyed figurine, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, a croquet hoop, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, a bad fuse, and a black-eyed figurine), a sketchbook, and some fire tongs here.
  
  > Onions
  screwdriver: Taken.
  wooden bucket: Taken.
  burlap sack: Taken.
  sketchbook: Taken.
  fire tongs: Taken.
  
  > PUT TONGS, SKETCHBOOK, SCREWDRIVER IN SACK
  fire tongs: Done.
  sketchbook: Done.
  screwdriver: Done.
  
  > go south
  This room has been mostly stripped of furniture. The wood floor is bare, the window uncurtained. A bulky, old-fashioned cradle stands in the center of the room. A metal heating grate is built into the baseboard in the west wall, and there's a small square table in the northeast corner, on which stands an old-fashioned model merry-go-round. Dominating the south wall is a large, rather faded image of a clown, which has been painted directly on the wallboard.
  
  You see a very large, softly pulsing ruby and a poker here.
  
  > Poker in sack
  very large, softly pulsing ruby:
  (first taking the very large, softly pulsing ruby)
  Done.
  
  poker:
  (first taking the poker)
  Done.
  
  > Locket in sack
  stone bracelet:
  (first taking off the stone bracelet)
  Done.
  
  gold locket: Done.
  
  > show the ruby to Lydia
  (first taking the very large, softly pulsing ruby from the burlap sack) As you extend the giant ruby toward the ghostly girl, she moves toward it, entranced. "That's - oh. Oh. Ohhhh...." The ruby itself begins to vibrate, setting your fingers tingling, and it grows warmer, almost hot. You hold it out, and it floats free from your fingers, drifting toward her through the air.
  
  The light blazing from the ruby grows more intense. It's too bright, you have to look away, but you can't. Seared on your eyes is the miraculous image of the jewel and the ghost merging, becoming one.
  
  A moment later the light dims. When you blink back tears and rub your eyes, you find that the ghost has been transformed. A living girl stands before you.
  
  The girl steps tentatively toward you through the long grass. "You - you've brought me back to life. I never thought...." She pauses to take a deep breath, and then she starts to cry. You give her such a close hug you can feel her heart beating.
  
  At last she pulls away. "I think maybe you've guessed already, but I'll tell you anyway. Some people, a long time ago, they sacrificed me to a monster. It happened right here. The jewel you brought back was my heart. They ripped it out, and the monster ate it. I don't know where you found it, or how you brought it back, but I guess if you can do that you can do almost anything.
  
  "But that doesn't mean you're safe. They're planning to do the same thing to you! Now listen: You've got to get away from here. We both have to. If we don't get away, and quickly, it will all happen again.
  
  "I'll help you if I can, but it won't be easy. The people here mustn't see me. I think the best thing would be for me to stay here and hide until you're all ready for us to escape. When you're ready to leave, or if you want to talk to me, you'll have to come back here and shout, 'Olly olly oxen free.'"
  
  You admit to being puzzled. Lydia looks exasperated. "Haven't you ever played hide-and-go-seek?" You tell her you grew up in New York City, where there's no place to hide. She waves your explanation away. "We can talk about that later. Just remember - 'olly olly oxen free.' If I'm waiting for you here, I won't come until you say that.
  
  "Have you thought how we're going to escape?"
  
  You tell her you were thinking of maybe stealing a boat. She nods excitedly. "Yes, yes - that might work. But the swamp is really confusing. I've been out there lots of times, but, you know, I guess I can't float through the air anymore. So if we get lost, we''ll be in big trouble.
  
  "What we need, I think - we need a map of the swamp. And another thing: You see how it's getting all cloudy?" She points upward, and you notice for the first time that a film of haze has blotted out the sun. "If we can't see the sun, we can't tell which way is west, so we'll need a compass too. And a key so we can get into the boat shed. I guess that's all."
  
  You tell her it sounds like she's thought of everything. "Well, I hope so," she says. "I have a bad feeling there are a couple of things I've forgotten, though. Now, have you got a map?"
  
  You show her the map. "Oh, but we can't read that!" she cries. "It's all twisty! I bet the monster is making it do that. I don't know how to make it stop, though. We can't go anywhere until you make the map lie down and behave. And even then, we'll need a compass. Do you have one?"
  
  You shake your head sadly. "I don't have a compass," you tell her.
  
  She looks crestfallen. "What about the key to the boat shed? Do you have that?"
  
  You shake your head. "I don't have the key," you explain.
  
  "So you still need to do some stuff," Lydia says. "You need to figure out a way to fix the map so we can read it. You need to find a compass so we won't get lost in the swamp. You need to get your hands on the key to the boat shed. I guess that's all."
  
  > 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 5:00.
  
  > go to the west
  As you walk away, Lydia calls after you, "I'm going to hide now. Be sure to come back when you're ready for us to escape, and call 'olly olly oxen free.'"
  
  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.
  
  > ask David about figurine
  "The figurines ... ah, yes. Nasty little things, aren't they? You've seen one, I take it? If not, I'll show you one in just a moment." David frowns at his knees. He looks so sad you want to hug him, but you don't.
  
  "They have some sort of magical linkage," he says, "to the actual demon to whom the sacrifice is to be made. They make their way out into the world somehow - I have no idea how, but I do believe they're not quite as inert as they may appear - and attach themselves to certain individuals who are predisposed to want what they have to offer.
  
  "Once the attachment is formed, no one else can touch the figurine. It's quite impossible. I have one here ... if you'll just fetch my suitcase from the closet...." He points, and you fetch the suitcase.
  He sets it on his lap, unsnaps the latch, and draws out a hideous little carved statue, so deep red it's almost black, with white eyes that sparkle like diamonds or chips of ice. You have the disturbing sense that the little eyes are actually looking at you.
  
  David strokes the statue with a kind of reluctant fondness. "I'm torn, you see. On the one hand, I'd rather anything happen than what is to happen this evening. Please believe that. On the other hand ... to be able to walk again, to make love ... well, perhaps that doesn't mean much to you. How old are you? Thirteen? Fourteen?" He sighs. "Your whole life ahead of you."
  
  He pauses again, as if thinking. "I'll tell you what I'll do. I won't take any action myself to stop it. I've come too far. I'm committed. And in any event, if I were to interpose objections at this late stage, I'm quite sure I would be ignored. If not worse. But if you can discover for yourself a way to escape your fate, and if there's anything I can do to aid you, you have only to ask. I can do that much. Perhaps I'm only indulging in a sop to my conscience; I don't expect you'll have the slightest chance to evade what's to come. But if you're clever enough to do so, I won't stand in your way."
  
  He tucks the repellent figurine away in the suitcase again, and closes the suitcase.
  
  > ask David about the compass
  David looks at you uncertainly. "I'm not sure I know what to tell you."
  
  > ask David about the map
  You describe the map to David, and he frowns, perplexed. "I think I might be able to help with that, or at least make a suggestion. It would help if I could see the map for myself."
  
  > show the map to David
  (first taking the indecipherable map from the burlap sack)
  David leans forward to peer at the map. "Oh, dear. You say this purports to be a map of the swamp? I can see how little use it will be in its present state. Plainly, something is exerting a force on it to render it illegible. And I think both you and I can guess....
  
  "What you must understand is that the entity responsible for this has only a very limited form of power - until a certain ceremony is performed, that is. What power it possesses is focussed through certain physical objects. Have you seen the figurines carried by those who have gathered here? Of course you have. I showed you mine earlier.
  
  "My best guess," David says, "-and I suppose you'll have to accept on faith my assurance that I've researched the matter in some detail, though not, of course, with reference to your current predicament - is that a certain malign entity is focussing its energy through these little statues in order to render the map illegible. The entity is determined to keep you here, you see, until ... until later this evening. It knows the value that the map may have to you. Nor, I regret to say, is this optical illusion likely to be the only obstacle it throws in your path.
  
  "The only way to get the map to behave itself is surely to destroy all of the figurines. Of course, getting them away from their owners won't be easy. I'd be happy to give you mine. But here we encounter a further difficulty. You can't touch them. It's quite impossible. So you see, you don't have a usable map, so you're not going anywhere, so it would be not only pointless but suicidal for me to give you my own little horror, even if you could take it, which you can't."
  
  > Inventory
  You are carrying a wooden bucket, a burlap sack (which contains a pill bottle, the key to Cabin One, a little white pill, an old shovel, some faded photographs, a green-eyed figurine, a flashlight, a mystery by John Dickson Carr, a croquet hoop, a partially crumbled piece of burnt toast, a bad fuse, a black-eyed figurine, some fire tongs, a sketchbook, a screwdriver, a poker, a stone bracelet, and a gold locket), and an indecipherable map. You're wearing your clothes.
  
  > take the black figurine with the tongs
  You pick up the black-eyed figurine with the fire tongs.
  
  "I'm feeling a bit tired," David says. "If you'll forgive me, I may want to close my eyes for a minute or two."
  
  > take the poker
  (first putting the indecipherable map in the burlap sack to make room) Taken.
  
  > throw the black figurine
  What do you want to throw it at?
  
  > David
  (first putting the poker in the burlap sack to make room, then trying to take the black-eyed figurine from the fire tongs)
  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 black figurine with the tongs
  You're already holding something in the the fire tongs.
  
  > show it to David
  (the fire tongs)
  David nods. "My figurine. Yes. But have you figured out a way to handle it? I could put it in a container for you, to be sure, but unless you can take it out again when you've carried it to the place where you plan to destroy it, for me to do so would be utterly pointless."
  
  You hold up the fire tongs, and David's eyes widen. "Yes, yes! I believe that would work! At least you can carry it from place to place. What you'll do with it, ultimately - I don't think I want to know. Just a moment, I'll get it." He leans over to get the suitcase, wrestles it into his lap, and pops it open. With a certain tender reluctance, he sets the white-eyed figurine on the floor.
  
  > take the white figurine with the tongs
  You pick up the white-eyed figurine with the fire tongs.
  
  > put it in sack
  (the white-eyed figurine)
  Done.
  
  > go west
  "I wish you the very best of luck," David says softly. "You'll need it."
  
  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 Six (to the west) and Cabin Three (to the east). The croquet court continues north from here. To the south, a little slope ends at the watery edge of a swamp, and a path to the southwest leads toward a good-sized shed that stands at the edge of the water.
  
  > go to the south
  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.
  
  > put it in incinerator
  (the white-eyed figurine)
  Putting things in the incinerator would only get them messy.
  
  > look at the tongs
  The tongs are made of wrought iron. They're shaped roughly like scissors or pliers, but they're about three feet long. They contain a white-eyed figurine.
  
  > Close vise
  As you tighten the vise, the figurine begins to writhe. Its tiny arms and legs windmill frantically, its eyes bulge, and a terrible high keening sound escapes from it. You continue, remorseless. A moment later, with a loud crunching noise, the figurine shatters, and some harmless gray dust sifts to the floor.
  
  When the other figurines see what you've done, they spring to life! They jump down onto the floor and start running around in aimless panic, shrieking in tiny, high-pitched voices and waving their arms.
  
  > take green figurine with the tongs
  The figurine is scurrying around so rapidly that it easily evades your attempts to catch it with the fire tongs.