Forest

You find yourself on the forest floor, (cycling-link: "damp but comfortable", "dripping and unsettling"). Your moss pillow has been (cycling-link: "kind", "harsh") to your (cycling-link: "crooked", "long","unforgiving") neck. How did you get here? Maybe you’ve always been here, you have very little [[memory]] of anything else. [[>Get up]] [[>Lie for a little longer]]

This is a choose your own adventure game. Click on [[details]] within sentences. Details may progress you through the game, or may just have a return button. Change words by clicking text like (cycling-link: "This", "Or this", "Maybe this"). Click an option to progress. Sometimes there will only be one option. My only advice is to try to remember. [[>I understand the directions->Start]] [[>I'm pretending like I understand the directions->Start]]

Details will often be little descriptions of the objects, but will sometimes give you important clues. You will usually have a button to [[>Return->Directions]]

You close your eyes and [[remember->Remember 1]] the sound of old wind chimes, (cycling-link: "rusted but still functional", "oxodized in the sun"). They let out a (cycling-link: "soothing", "disturbing", "melancholy") pitch when ringing, but you can’t remember if there was ever any wind. [[>Return->Wake up]]

Perhaps you can find out why you are here with a little intrusiveness. You unscramble your (cycling-link: "long-scrambled", "tree branch","paper") limbs. They are heavier than you remember. When you stand up, you can finally feel the transmitted dampness from the mossy floor. [[>Look around->Clearing]]

You try to lie to yourself and say the ground is soft, but you start to feel how uneven it is beneath you, roots tangle underneath your tangled limbs. You feel movement on your skin, like (cycling-link: "coiling snakes", "many-legged bugs","wrinkled hands") all over you. You are too (cycling-link: "afraid", "complacent") to [[look down]] at them, because the moment you do they will become real. Perhaps you should have gotten up, you tend to make things worse the longer you linger on them. [[>Get up]]

You [[remember->Remember 2]] the way the light hit a certain doornob. You are unsure if it was yours or not, but it seems important. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/Screen%20Shot%202020-03-02%20at%203.11.04%20PM.png"; alt="doornob"; style="width:500px;height:500px;"; class="center"> [[>Return->Wake up]]

You try to remember more but you can't. [[>Try harder]] [[>Return->Wake up]]

<center>[[Start]] | [[Directions]] | [[Credit]] </center> (set:$witchMeet to 'not met')

You glance down at your arms: Nothing. Nothing but your familiar, scattered moles, as if (cycling-link: "someone held a leaking bucket of paint above you each summer", "you had a map of the stars ingrained in your skin", "your body embraced the chaos you could not"). [[>Return->>Lie for a little longer]]

Closing your eyes tighter only makes you see those stars behind your lids when you rub your eyes. [[>Curse my forgetful mind->Wake up]]

You are in a clearing in the woods. You can feel the (cycling-link: "soft", "razor blade","plastic") grass beneath your bare feet. The ground is pushing back up against you. The trees are swaying with the beat of a song you cannot [[remember->Song remember]]. Two paths lie before you: (link: "one dirt path overgrown with flowers")[{ (if: $witchMeet is "met")[ (goto: "Witch Path blocked") ] (elseif: $witchMeet is "not met")[ (goto: "Witch Path") ]}] and (link: "the other worn down stone")[{ (if: $witchMeet is "met")[ (goto: "City Path") ] (elseif: $witchMeet is "not met")[ (goto: "City Path blocked") ]}]

The winding path is almost completely overgrown with wildflowers of all kinds. You think you see your favorite: (cycling-link: bind $flower, "Queen Anne's Lace", "Bleeding Heart"). You vaguely (link: "remember")[{ (if: $flower is "Bloodroot")[ (goto: "Bloodroot") ] (elseif: $flower is "Blue Vervain")[ (goto: "Blue Vervain") ] (elseif: $flower is "Queen Anne's Lace")[ (goto: "Queen") ] (elseif: $flower is "Bleeding Heart")[ (goto: "Bleeding Heart") ] }] why.

A large tree is blocking the way. It looks a team of people in the distance are heading over to remove it, but there is no use in waiting around for them. [[>Return->Clearing]]

(Unfinished Path)

You think you have finally worked out the melody but the wind shifts directions. The trees are no longer helping you, and the song is lost yet again. [[>Return->Clearing]]

Someone sometime had told you a story about this flower. A decapitated queen of somewhere. You (link: "remember")[{ (if: $queenStory is "endearing")[ (goto: "Queen Endearing") ] (elseif: $queenStory is "sad")[ (goto: "Queen Sad") ]}] finding the story (cycling-link: bind $queenStory, "endearing", "sad"). [[>Pick off one flower.]]

Blue

Blood

You're were a romantic... are a romantic? Faces don't come to your mind but (cycling-link: bind $faces, "painful","warm") feelings do. Feelings that only get worse when you know there were once faces to put to them. What is worse than a romantic who cannot (link: "remember")[{ (if: $faces is "warm")[ (goto: "Warm Faces") ] (elseif: $faces is "painful")[ (goto: "Pain Faces") ] }]? <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/Screen%20Shot%202020-03-02%20at%209.57.25%20PM.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:500px;height:500px;"class="center"> [[>Pick off one flower.]]

You foundly remember faces you cannot completely render. It's a similar feeling to when your eyes can't focus on something too close to you. You can almost feel their (cycling-link: "hot","cool") breath. You can almost make out the way one of them (cycling-link: "furrows their brow","parts their lips slightly","taps their foot when nervous"). <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/Screen%20Shot%202020-03-02%20at%209.57.25%20PM.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:500px;height:500px;"class="center"> [[>Return->Bleeding Heart]]

You pick off one of the (cycling-link: "declicate", "strong","meaniful") $flower blooms. The stem snaps off freely, leaving a (cycling-link: "goo", "milk", "glowing substance") on your fingertips. (set: $inventory to "$flower") When putting the flower in your back pocket, you notice a small note. [[>Read it]] [[>Put it back and keep walking]]

You get a flash of a field, you are with someone else but you can't make them out. They told you that it is their favorite flower, and they told you why. When you saw the (cycling-link: "golden", "soft","burning") sun hitting them, you decided it was yours too. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/Screen%20Shot%202020-03-02%20at%2010.01.25%20PM.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:500px;height:500px;"class="center"> [[>Return->Queen]]

You think the small red dot in the middle of the flower is meant to be a drop of blood. Blood from the queen maybe. It's all still hazy, but the quote: "Sleep was never more welcome to a weary traveller than death was to her." It must have been an important quote to you, but you don't really want to remember why. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/Screen%20Shot%202020-03-02%20at%2010.01.25%20PM.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:500px;height:500px;"class="center"> [[>Return->Queen]]

You can only really remember expressions. You see either anger or fear, but those two have always been hard to tell apart. You reenact the expression on your own face, it feels (cycling-link: bind $anger, "unfamiliar","second nature"). (live: 0.5s)[(if: $anger is "unfamiliar")[(print: "Perhaps you've just seen it often.")] (elseif: $anger is "second nature")[(print: "Concerning...")] ] <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/Screen%20Shot%202020-03-02%20at%209.57.25%20PM.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:500px;height:500px;"class="center"> [[>Return->Bleeding Heart]]

You slowly unfurl the message, written on a small piece of lined paper. The handwriting seems familiar, but you can't place who's it is. Jotted in (cycling-link: "frantic", "calculated") letters are the words: "Do not try to [[remember->Remember note]]" [[>Put the note back and keep walking->further path]] (set: $note to "read")

You get a flash of your favorite notebook, the paper looks the same. You must have written the note, it feels like you. Why would you have written this note? Did you purposefully forget something? [[>Return->>Read it]]

An issue for another time. You continue down the path, as you go the flowers and greenery get more and more dense. With each step on the path you feel like you are (cycling-link: bind $pathFeel, "relaxing", "suffocating"). (live: 0.5s)[ [[>Continue $pathFeel->Witch hut]] ]

You continue down the path, as you go the flowers and greenery get more and more dense. With each step on the path you feel like you are (cycling-link: bind $pathFeel, "relaxing", "suffocating"). (live: 0.5s)[ [[>Continue $pathFeel->Witch hut]] ]

The path eventually opens up to a large clearing, with a small cottage in the center. It is overgrown, surrounded by plants and vines of all kinds. It gives off a somewhat (cycling-link: "eerie", "comfortable") aura. You wonder whether or not you believe in auras. There are large clouds of smoke billowing from the chimney, indicating that someone is inside. [[>Look through the windows->Witch windows]] [[>Knock on the door->Witch door]]

You step over the (cycling-link: "thick vines", "rose bushes", "animal bones") that coat the ground. The windows have faded shutters on the outside, closed, but crooked enough that they leave a small opening where the two no longer meet in the middle. [[>Peer through->Witch peer]] [[>Respect their privacy->Witch outside]]

You walk up to the door, a large wooden arch with a small circular window. There is a once ornate but now rusted doorknocker on the front, which you give a (cycling-link: "decisive", "timid") KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK The door swings open, causing the door knocker to rattle a subsequent three more times. [[>->Witch meet]]

(not done yet ignore this)

You peer through the sliver and see the (cycling-link: "quaint", "ghostly", "dilapidated") interior. Flames of the fireplace lick the mantle, charring the stone above and ommitting a soft orange glow throughout the entire room. Smoke spirals from a cauldron above the fire, which contains (cycling-link: "an unidentifiable liquid", "a thick sludge", "soup, possibly"). You don't see anyone inside, but there has to be someone living there. [[Go knock on the door->Witch door]]

Better to not invade someone's privary like that. [[Knock on the door->Witch door]]

Double-click this passage to edit it.

An old woman comes to the door. She has one of those faces that tells a story of a long life. Her face maps out many years of (cycling-link: "smiling", "furrowed brows",) in deep lines coating her face. Her gaze meets yours. She is not surprised in any way, in fact, it seems as though she has been waiting for you. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> Hello. [[Where am I?->Witch where]] [[Who are you?->Witch who]] (set: $witchMeet to 'met')

<img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> At my house, for some reason. Were you seeking me out or did you just stumble here to inturupt my day? [[I was seeking you out->Witch seeking]] [[Just stumbled I guess...->Witch stumbled]]

<img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> What a silly question for someone who doesn't even know who they are. [[Do you know who I am?->Witch know me]] [[How do you know?->Witch just know]]

She narrows her eyes and inspects your face. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> Alright then, lets see what you've got to say. [[I need you to help know who I am.->Witch know me]]

<img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> Alright. Well, anything I can help you with while you're already disrupting my day? [[I need you to help know who I am.->Witch know me]]

She smirks at the question. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> You know, I think it's hard to actually know anyone these days. [[Come on...->Witch ok]] [[Clearly you aren't going to take me seriously->Witch ok]]

She awkwardly shifts her weight. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> ...Sorry. This is why I usually just don't answer the door. So, what exactly do you want from me? [[Help me remember->Witch help]] [[How about a cup of tea->Witch tea]]

Her brow furrows in a way it has furrowed many time. It seems almost familiar. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> Why don't you come in and sit down. Seems like we have a bit to talk about. [[>->Witch inside]]

She turns around and enters the doorway, her dress trailing behind her. The cottage interior embodies everything you would expect a cottage to look like. Dried flowers and herbs hang from every spot that is not already occupied by (cycling-link: "pots","pans", "cauldrons") and (cycling-link: "strange trinkets", "talismans", "bottles filled with... something"). It smells like something familiar but you can't quite [[remember->Witch smell remember]]. [[>->Witch hands tea]]

You get a flash of someone cooking something in the kitchen. The afternoon light is streaming through the window. You hated those (cycling-link: "ratty","floral", "tacky") curtains, but never said anything because you knew your mother loved them. The steam raised from the.... the memory trails off. It's gone. [[>Return->Witch inside]]

The kettle was already on the fire, and it starts whistling the second you sat down in the plush, yet heavily aged chair. Strange. She pours it carefully into two mismatched cups and reaches out to hand you one. [[Take it to drink->Witch accept tea]] [[Take it out of politeness->Witch accept tea polite]]

You greatfully accept the tea and sip on it as she speaks to you. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> So, you dont know who you are? [[I have no clue.->Witch no clue]] [[I just remember bits.->Witch no clue]]

You hold the tea near your mouth so it looks like you are about to drink it, but you keep it at a steady distance. You've got more to worry about than this. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> So, you dont know who you are? [[I have no clue.->Witch no clue]] [[I just remember bits.->Witch no clue]]

<img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> And you actually want to know? [[Of course I do.->Witch monologue 1]] [[What do you mean?->Witch monologue 1]] [[I don't know...->Witch monologue 1]]

She lets out a heavy sigh. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> Sometimes remembering can be the worst option. The mind is able to forget things it needs to forget. Remembering everything means... everything. You need to be prepared for what everything could include. [[I am prepared->Witch no not prepared]] [[Maybe I should think about this->Witch not prepared]]

She laughs. <img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> What a shame that I know thats not true. Perhaps I could get back to my meal in peace finally. I'll tell you what: Go out in the world. Go talk to others who still remember all of their pain and decide for yourself whether you can bear that weight. [[And then you will help me remember?->Witch help later]] [[Where should I go?-> Witch town directions]]

<img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> I know, but I appreciate the confirmation. I'll tell you what: Go out in the world. Go talk to others who still remember all of their pain and decide for yourself whether you can bear that weight. [[And then you will help me remember?->Witch help later]] [[Where should I go?-> Witch town directions]]

<img src="https://fireside-chat.neocities.org/detailed%20witch%20large.png"; alt="Forest"; style="width:400px;height:400px;"align="left"> Head back in the direction you came from. Theres a small clearing where a few paths connect. Town is paved in stone, althoguh it has certainly seen better days. [[Thank you.->Witch leave]] [[Anyone in particular I should talk to?->Witch anyone]]

{  (set: $typewriterPos to 1)  |typewriterOutput>[]  (live: 20ms)[  (append: ?typewriterOutput)[(print: $typewriterText's $typewriterPos)]  (set: $typewriterPos to it + 1)  (if: $typewriterPos is $typewriterText's length + 1)[ (stop:) ] ] }

She gives you a final (cycling-link: "all knowing smirk", "worrying grimace",) and you retrace your steps down the flowery pathway. You can't help but think about her words: You need to be prepared for what everything could include. You're suddenly worried what that could mean for you. Can forgetting be purposeful? [[>->Clearing]]

It seems the tree trunk blocking the way before has been removed. You continue down the paved pathway, the old woman's words still rattling around in your brain. (the rest of the city path is unfinished)

You probably shouldn't go back to her without talking to other people like she told you to. It seems like she would probably be able to tell if you were lying. [[>Return->Clearing]]