text: [Themes: Slice of life, flashback]
  
  > stand
  You get out of the armchair.
  
  Living Room (East)
  Your living room is full of clutter. Your armchair is here in front of the wood stove. A doorway to the north leads to your bedroom and the living area continues west. The back door is to the east.
  
  An old pine mantel leans against the wall near the window.
  
  There is a cardboard carton here.
  
  > Go outside
  (first opening the back door)
  
  You are on a wooden balcony that looks out over a river valley. An open door to the west leads back into the house. The ground beneath the balcony is covered with snow, but it is a bright sunny day.
  
  > examine tree
  (the tree)
  It's a tall blue gum eucalyptus tree.
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying the picture-frame (which is broken).
  In a coat pocket you have a roll of $50 notes.
  
  > take the photo
  You already have that.
  
  > look at the frame
  (the photograph)
  The smile is still there, although it is different, the angle of Melanie's head having altered. And there in your right hand is your camera that the German tourist used to take the shot.
  
  > Tear photo
  [The story read that as "eat photo"].
  That's plainly inedible.
  
  > Go west
  Living Room (West)
  This area of your living room doubles as a kitchen. There is a small sink here, a gas stove, refrigerator and a cupboard. Your bathroom is to the north and a door to the west leads outside.
  
  There's a bag of supplies on the floor near the door.
  
  > Cook
  What do you want to cook?
  
  > cook food
  You have other things on your mind at present.
  
  > eat food
  You are quite hungry, but there's no rush. You're content to wait until after you've repaired the picture-frame.
  
  > fix the frame
  (the photograph)
  There is nothing here to repair it with.
  
  > search the clutter
  You'd never be able to find anything amongst this junk.
  
  > Empty bag
  Living Room (East)
  Your living room is full of clutter. Your armchair is here in front of the wood stove. A doorway to the north leads to your bedroom and the living area continues west. The back door is to the east.
  
  An old pine mantel leans against the wall near the window.
  
  There is a cardboard carton here.
  
  You see no bag here.
  
  > search clutter
  You rummage around in the junk for a while. But you find nothing of interest.
  
  > go to the south
  Yard (West)
  You are in the yard that runs along the side of the house. It's a rough, steep bush block, and scattered about are the rusting carcasses of motorbikes, broken machinery and other past follies. The yard slopes down to the east and the path leading to the front door is to the north. There is a thick covering of snow on the ground.
  
  > Go east
  Yard (East)
  You are in the yard that runs along the side of the house. It's a rough, steep bush block, and scattered about are the rusting carcasses of motorbikes, broken machinery and other past follies. The yard falls away very sharply further to the east. To the north is the door to your workshop which is under the house, and the yard extends back to the west. There is a thick covering of snow on the ground.
  
  > go east
  The slope to the east is steep and slippery. You don't feel inclined to go down there right now.
  
  > Go north
  (first opening the workshop door)
  
  Your workshop has an old wooden workbench, paint spattered and generally well used. The walls and almost every surface of the room are covered with tools, tins and containers. There is a single grimy window near the only exit, which is to the south.
  
  > look at the bench
  It's a large solid wooden workbench, that is covered with spatters of paint and other scars of past work. It was on this bench that you made the frame for the photograph.
  
  > examine the tools
  The workshop is full of tools of every size and type. Many are hung from the walls on wire hooks.
  
  > fix the frame
  (the photograph)
  You put the frame down on the workbench and get the tools you'll need. Having selected your tools, you begin by removing the remaining shards from the picture-frame, then you carefully fix the joins in the wood of the frame and cut and fit a new piece of glass.
  
  > Repair frame
  As you work you glance at the photo, trying to discern movement in the scene. While not noticing any changes in the picture as you watch it, you find that after looking away to get a piece of glass or a tool and returning to the scene there seem to be minute differences in detail in the spray from the waterfall, the refraction of light through the trees, or the features or posture of Melanie and yourself.
  
  You work slowly, wanting to make it as good as it was, and when finished you put away your tools and pick up the restored frame.
  
  (the photograph)
  You have already mended the picture-frame.
  
  > Go south
  Yard (East)
  You are in the yard that runs along the side of the house. It's a rough, steep bush block, and scattered about are the rusting carcasses of motorbikes, broken machinery and other past follies. The yard falls away very sharply further to the east. To the north is the door to your workshop which is under the house, and the yard extends back to the west. There is a thick covering of snow on the ground.
  
  > cook the food
  You take what you need from the bag of supplies and prepare a good solid breakfast, your first decent meal in weeks. You feel relaxed and in control as you prepare, then eat your meal. You feel as though you've been relieved of all your worries. Your approach to the activities of the day has been unhurried, and conducted with a degree of ceremony, as though in deference to fate. You really feel like Nadia's Egyptian king, with your final die cast and with organs safely tucked into jars, awaiting the arrival of the boat of Ra.
  
  You finish your meal and pick up the photograph. The changes in the scene have now become obvious - your head is fully turned towards the waterfall and your left arm is extended, pointing towards the top of the falls, while the smile on Melanie's face has gone, replaced by the beginnings of a frown.
  
  > look at photograph
  (the photograph)
  In the photograph, you are now standing with your left arm pointing towards the waterfall. Melanie has begun to frown.
  
  > look at the frown
  Melanie is frowning.
  
  > put the frame on the mantel
  (the photograph on the mantel)
  You don't want to let the photograph out of your grasp right now.
  
  > sit
  You sit back in your armchair.
  
  You're becoming increasingly conscious of an odour of stale sweat from your clothes.
  
  > stand
  You get out of the armchair.
  
  Living Room (East)
  Your living room is full of clutter. Your armchair is here in front of the wood stove. A doorway to the north leads to your bedroom and the living area continues west. The back door is to the east.
  
  An old pine mantel leans against the wall near the window.
  
  There is a cardboard carton here.
  
  > Go west
  Living Room (West)
  This area of your living room doubles as a kitchen. There is a small sink here, a gas stove, refrigerator and a cupboard. Your bathroom is to the north and a door to the west leads outside.
  
  There's a bag of supplies on the floor near the door.
  
  > take the shower
  [The story read that as "take her"].
  You can't see "her" (Melanie) at the moment.
  
  > look at the fire
  It's a pot-bellied wood stove. The fire has almost burned out. There is a supply of firewood beside it.
  
  > tend fire
  [The story read that as "mend fire"].
  That is not in need of repair.
  
  > take the firewood
  You take the firewood, set the fire then close the stove and sit back in the armchair with the photograph.
  
  Throughout the rest of the day you sit there following the couple's slow progress back along the track. You afford yourself a wry chuckle as the startled pademelon bounds across the path in front of them - Melanie jumping and the boy comforting her, then their laughter at the episode. You can almost feel the shape of her through her clothes, the sparkle and comfort of her presence beside you. The rate of change in the photograph has increased steadily through the day, more a slow motion movie than portrait by day's end.
  
  While it is hard to drag yourself away, in time you find yourself too tired to go on watching the scene.
  
  Living Room (East) (in the armchair)
  Your living room is full of clutter. Your armchair is here in front of the wood stove. A doorway to the north leads to your bedroom and the living area continues west. The back door is to the east.
  
  An old pine mantel leans against the wall near the window.
  
  There is a cardboard carton here.
  
  > examine photo
  The scene in the photo continues to unfold. But you are now too tired to follow it.
  
  > Sleep
  You get up from your bed and put the photograph on the mantel. Then you close the balcony and front doors, before heading back to your bed. You sleep fitfully. While awake you toss and turn, noticing the increasing lag in your movements and feeling like an insect caught in a web or trapped in hardening resin. But you understand the reason for this feeling, and are not concerned. The one thing that does concern you is missing something in the developing scene in the next room, and so you leave your bed well before dawn.
  
  This is your bedroom. The only furnishings are a wardrobe and your bed. There is a window facing north and the living room is to the south.
  
  > go south
  Living Room (East)
  Your living room is full of clutter. Your armchair is here in front of the wood stove. A doorway to the north leads to your bedroom and the living area continues west. The back door is to the east.
  
  An old pine mantel leans against the wall near the window. On the mantel you see a photograph.
  
  There is a cardboard carton here.
  
  > look at the photo
  You take the photograph, sit back down in the armchair and look to the scene in the picture.
  
  Melanie and your younger self are eating a meal in the cottage. You watch every mouthful of food as it leaves the plate to their mouths, then the empty forks return to the plate, and you see Melanie's inquiring gaze well before it is noticed by the boy. Then you smile to yourself as the boy looks up into those big dark eyes you know he must drown in, and follows the girl to the bedroom. As voyeur you are with them as they make love, and afterwards you watch them talk in soft tones and laugh at shared jokes as they lie in each other's arms. By the time they are packing the car ready to return to town the scene in the picture is changing at life speed, and you feel as though you are there as they chat and joke on the journey in the car. You tense as they approach a forested turn, anticipating the screech of brakes and thud of impact, but then relax as they round the bend without incident. The pace of the unfolding scene continues to increase. And as the world in the photograph gains momentum you are increasingly aware of things around you slowing down. You have no difficulty in following the couple's return to the city, the boy moving in with Melanie, and something of their first days of living together. While the scene is soon moving too quickly to follow, you know what will happen. You know that you will stay in your legal practice, that you and Melanie will have children, that your lives together will be happy. You have been there many times in your mind and don't need the visual confirmation.
  The photograph is now only a blur, a rectangle of unrelieved white, and you sit staring and motionless before it, as though embedded in a world of amber...
  Epilogue
  Heather Downer regretted that she had never really got to know her father, and now of course it was too late. It had been two weeks since his death and still she hadn't cried. She knew she should feel guilty, but somehow was more angry that he had chosen her eighteenth birthday as the day to have a massive cardiac arrest. She was also angry that all chance had now gone for him to make up for those broken promises; of getting back from work in time to help with her homework, or of spending some time with her, or just showing some interest in her life. Instead he had spent all his time working himself into an early grave at age forty-two. Heather sat cross-legged on the floor, helping her mother sort through her dad's things. She had before her a cardboard box of some of his older possessions, childhood books, photos, a tennis racquet, and was saddened to think that he once had a life like anybody else's, with interests and hobbies. If only things could have been different. She brushed away strands of her long black hair that had fallen forward into her eyes, and a tear with them.
  
  "Hey, mum. Who's this old wrinkly?"
  
  Melanie Downer was on the other side of the room and came across to look at the framed photograph in her daughter's hand. "I don't know, dear. Perhaps it was a relative of your father's. I can certainly see a resemblance. Although, I don't remember Jack ever talking about having close family."
  
  "A relative? Do you think so? Look at the way he's sitting there in that disgusting old chair, with all that junk everywhere, just staring like that. It gives me the creeps. I don't want it in the house. Can I toss it?"
  
  "I suppose so, we can't keep all his things. It's a nice frame though, Baltic pine by the look of it. Keep that. You can put the photograph over there with his appendix. I don't know why he kept that either," Melanie said pointing to a jar containing a small shrivelled object. "They can go out together."
  
  ...and await the arrival of the boat of Ra.