text: [Themes: Horror, Lovecraftian, female protagonist, teenage protagonist, horror]
  
  > Describe the surroundings
  The interior of the closet is a dim and cramped little box. It smells powerfully of mold.
  
  You see Aunt Caroline's suitcase and your suitcase here.
  
  > go north
  The interior of this rustic motel room has seen better days.
  Bedspreads the color of mud cover the twin beds, though not in a very tidy way. The plaster on one wall is discolored in mottled patches, and the tacky wood-grain wallpaper on another wall is starting to peel. Years of grime have been ground into the carpet. A murky painting of some ducks fails to add a sporty air.
  
  Curtains the color of old pea soup hang beside the window to the left of the door. A chipped and scarred dresser stands against the west wall, near the door of the bathroom. There's a walk-in closet on the south side of the room, and the door of the cabin is to the east.
  
  On the bed near the door is a white dress.
  
  > Go west
  (first trying to open the bathroom door)
  The bathroom door seems to be locked.
  
  > knock on the door
  You tap on the door, and from within the bathroom Aunt Caroline says in an irritated tone, "Yes, dear? What is it?"
  
  > ask Caroline about the dress
  "I can't hear you, dear," Aunt Caroline calls. "Can't you see I'm in the bathroom?"
  
  > tell Caroline i hate her
  The story doesn't understand that command. Please use ASK ACTOR ABOUT TOPIC (or just A TOPIC).
  
  > Go east
  As you head out the door of the cabin, Aunt Caroline's voice rises behind you: "Be sure you're back here by 6:30 sharp so you can dress for the sunset picnic!"
  
  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.
  
  > 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 2:30.
  
  > examine the croquet
  The croquet hoops are bent and rusted. There are only a few of them, and they're jammed into the ground in a haphazard pattern. Looking around, you can see no evidence that Eternal Springs possesses any croquet balls or mallets - not that a game of croquet seems like a very good idea right now.
  
  > examine the Cabin
  Which cabin do you mean, Cabin Five, or Cabin Two?
  
  > examine the Cabin five
  The rustic motel cabin may have been attractive fifty years ago, but time has not been kind to it. Its paint is weathered and peeling, and the siding is warped. A tarnished brass number '5' is nailed above the door.
  
  > examine Cabin two
  The rustic motel cabin may have been attractive fifty years ago, but time has not been kind to it. Its paint is weathered and peeling, and the siding is warped. A tarnished brass number '2' is nailed above the door.
  
  > go east
  (first opening the door of Cabin Two)
  You tap tentatively on the door of Cabin Two. After a moment the door swings open and a solemn, dignified man stands before you. He's well dressed in tan slacks and polished shoes, and he has a full head of silvery, wavy hair.
  
  He peers down at you with an air that's suave but somehow a little uncertain. "Hello, there, youngster. I don't believe we've met. I'm Reverend Jimmy Gillespie." His voice is smoothly resonant, with just a hint of Arkansas twang. After a moment's hesitation, he extends his hand and allows you to shake it. You can smell his minty after-shave.
  
  You introduce yourself and tell him you're down from New York with your aunt. He looks faintly bored, as if this isn't news to him - which is peculiar, as you're quite certain Aunt Caroline never mentioned knowing any minister, or planning to meet one here. Aunt Caroline is not religious.
  
  "I trust you're enjoyin' your stay," he says. You manage to avoid rolling your eyes, but only just.
  
  > ask Gillespie about the death
  "Death and dyin'?" Gillespie looks momentarily nonplussed. "I'm sure that's not something you need concern yourself with, not at such a young age. No, indeed."
  
  > ask Jimmy about Jimmy
  Reverend Gillespie gazes at you speculatively. You have the impression that behind those bland gray eyes, wheels are spinning about a million miles an hour. "Me? I'm no one special," he says. Somehow, in his mouth, the phrase sounds as if it means just the opposite - as if he's telling you something you ought to be impressed by. "God has blessed me with a ministry. Inadequate as I am, I exert myself unstintingly to do His will and carry His message. I'm hopin' that in the near future I'll be able to uplift the hearts of sinners from coast to coast.
  We're plannin' to build a magnificent modern cathedral. With televised services, naturally."
  
  > ask Gillespie about Caroline
  You ask the Reverend if he knows your aunt. "We've met," he says carefully. "She seems a very upstanding woman. I'm sure you've had a decent Christian upbringing."
  
  > ask Gillespie about the picnic
  When you ask Reverend Gillespie what's so special about the sunset picnic tonight, he smiles beatifically. "You'll see," he says. "Oh, my, yes. You'll see."
  
  > ask Gillespie about satan
  Gillespie looks bored. "Very interesting, I'm sure, but I don't imagine it concerns me."
  
  > ask Reverend about the eternal Springs
  Reverend Gillespie shrugs. "There aren't too many authentic Southern establishments like this any more. It has a certain rustic charm, don't you agree?"
  
  > ask Gillespie about swamp
  Gillespie smiles a meaningless smile. "My, but it's hot this afternoon."
  
  > ask Gillespie about the god
  The minister's face brightens. "I'm so glad you're concerned to learn more about your eternal soul, and how you can armor yourself against the wickedness of the world." But then a cloud passes across his countenance. "On the other hand, in the circumstances.... Well, I guess you can't make an omelet without breakin' eggs, heh-heh." He pats your shoulder sadly but affectionately - pretty much, you can't help thinking, the way he would pat a puppy that was about to be put to sleep.
  
  > Go east
  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 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.
  
  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 west
  Cabin Six is a lot like Cabin Five. Twin beds with ugly brown bedspreads haphazardly made up, water-stained plaster and peeling wallpaper, a grimy carpet. A faded painting of a flop-eared hound dog entirely fails to add cheer to the room. Tattered curtains hang across the window, which is to the left of the door.
  
  The dresser stands against the west wall, near the door of the bathroom. There's a walk-in closet on the south side of the room, and the door of the cabin is to the east.
  
  > examine the painting
  The dog in the painting has long droopy ears and equally droopy jowls. He looks either bored or ill.
  
  > open the drawers
  You open the drawers.
  
  > look in the drawer
  The top drawer seems to be empty.
  
  > look in the middle drawer
  The middle drawer seems to be empty.
  
  > close the drawer
  You close the bottom drawer.
  
  > Go south
  The interior of the closet is a dim and cramped little box. It smells powerfully of mold.
  
  > Go west
  (first opening the bathroom door)
  
  The bathroom is barely big enough to turn around in. There's a narrow shower stall, a minuscule, rust-stained sink above which is a cracked, flyspecked mirror, and a commode. The towels stacked on the rack are thin, frayed at the edges, and probably none too clean. A tiny window provides a very little air.
  
  The door leads eastward.
  
  > examine the shower
  The bathroom fixtures are all really depressing. This motel is such a dump.
  
  > take a the shower
  (the bathroom fixtures)
  Nothing in the bathroom is good for anything other than ... you know, what it's good for.
  
  > look in the mirror
  Nothing in the bathroom is good for anything other than ... you know, what it's good for.
  
  > go north
  You can't go that way. The only obvious exit leads east, back to cabin six.
  
  > go east
  (first trying to open the door of Cabin Three)
  You tap hesitantly on the door of Cabin Three. After a few moments, a low voice from within says, "I'm sorry - I'm taking a nap. Perhaps you could come back a little later."
  
  > Go 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.
  
  > Go west
  A large shed is built out over the waters of the swamp at this spot. The planks of the shed are weathered to a grayish color and the paint is peeling, but the shed looks solidly built, and there's a shiny new lock on the door.
  
  You can go southwest around the side of the shed, northeast to the area between the cabins, and north or northwest to an open area behind the western row of cabins. The door of the shed is directly to the south, and a stretch of swampy shore lies to the east.
  
  > go south
  (first trying to open the boat shed door)
  The boat shed door seems to be locked.
  
  > examine the lock
  The padlock is hanging from the hasp.
  
  > Go southwest
  The ground descends here to the muddy edge of the swamp. A small window is set high in the plank wall of the shed, which stands to your east. A path to the north leads back to the front of the shed.
  
  You see a wooden bucket here.
  
  > take the bucket
  Taken.
  
  > examine the bucket
  It's an old-fashioned, leaky-looking wooden bucket.
  
  > go east
  You can't go that way. The only obvious exit leads north, back to the front of the boat shed.
  
  > look at the window
  The window is small and square, and the glass is none too clean. The window is about six feet off the ground - too high for you to see into, even on tiptoe.
  
  > drop the bucket
  Dropped.
  
  > turn the bucket over
  You turn the bucket over.
  
  > look in the window
  By placing the bucket next to the wall and standing on it, you're able to see in the window. It's so dim in the shed that at first it's hard to see anything, but as your eyes adjust (and brushing off a little spot to make the glass cleaner helps too), you're able to make out a dock within the shed. The dock extends from the north side, by the door, out into a dull sheen of rippling water that fills the floor of the room. There are two boats in the shed, a large, shiny power boat and a little rowboat. Evidently this is where the watercraft at Eternal Springs are kept.
  
  > take the bucket
  You pick up the bucket.