<<timed 3s t8n>><center><h1>[[FOOLISH FIRE|prologue]]</h1></center><</timed>><<timed 1s t8n>> Welcome, friend! Please tell me your name:
<<textbox "$name" "">>
<<next 4s>>And how would you describe your mood right now
<<textbox "$mood" "">
<<next 5s>>When you're ready to begin your adventure
[[click here to begin|intro]]<</timed>
<<timed 1s t8n>>Greetings $name
<<next 2s>>I understand that you are feeling $mood.
<<next 2s>>With that in mind, I have plucked the following tale..
<<next 2s>> from one of your possible futures...<<next 3s>
How will it turn out? <<next 2s>> Well, $name, that's TBD!<<next 2s>>
[[Enjoy!|direction]]<</timed>>
<<type 60ms start 2s>>One winter evening you are driving home just as twilight is turning into night. You are tired and hoping to get home quickly. Google Maps always suggests an old forest road to save you half an hour when you are traveling this way.
Feeling adventurous, you slow down at the turn
Do you want to take the [[forest route]] and save 30 minutes?
Or, do you want to continue on the [[usual road]], even though you're tired?<</type>>
<<timed 1s t8n>>Your curiosity gets the best of you. <<next 2s>>Something compels you to step out of your car.
<<next 2s>>As you walk a few steps into the forest...
<<next 3s>>you notice a weird <<cycle "$answer" autoselect
<<option "light">>
<<option "fire?">>
<<option owl?>>
<<option ummm...>>
<<option "[[ghost??|light]]" >><</cycle>> and try to snap a photo of it<</timed>><<timed 2s t8n>>You remind yourself that it's late, and you are trying get home. <<next>>You dismiss the opportunity, and drive.
<<next 3s>>Or, at least, you try to.
<<next>>The car has stalled.<<next>> "Well, I might as well [[check this out|forest route]]," you convince yourself. <</timed<<cycle "$answer" autoselect>>
<<option "[img[https://citycity.neocities.org/ff/orb1.gif]]">>
<<option "[img[https://citycity.neocities.org/ff/phone1.gif]]">
<<option "[img[https://citycity.neocities.org/ff/orb1.gif][encounter]]">>
<</cycle>>
<<type 60ms>>You look up from your phone, startled by what you see. The orb seems closer suddenly...or maybe it is just larger. "Maybe it's friendly?" you ask yourself...hmm...You ponder the possibilities:
Do you want to reach out to [[touch the orb|touch]] with your hand?
Or...why are you even mulling over this? -- [[just run!|run]]<</type>>
<<set $encounter to 1>><<type 60ms>><<timed 6s>><<goto "wakeup">><</timed>>You reach your hand out towards the orb. Expecting to feel heat, you are surprised that it is quite cold.
The quality of light increases, becomes blindingly bright <</type>><<type 60ms>><<timed 8s>><<goto "wakeup">><</timed>>You begin running away.
You hear the leaves crunching beneath your feet and see the hideous blue
light of the orb illuminating the path in front of you."Is it actually
getting brighter?" you wonder. Determined you keep running. <</type>><<if $encounter eq 1>>
<<timed 2s t8n>><<cycle "$answer" autoselect>>
<<option "That's all you clearly remember">>
<<option "You wake up">>
<<option "safe">>
<<option "in your car.">>
<<option "there's a note">>
<<option "clenched in your fist">>
<<option "you read the note">>
<<option "[img[https://citycity.neocities.org/if/ff/note.gif][end]]">>
<</cycle>><</timed>
<<else>>
<<timed 2s t8n>> That's all you clearly remember
<<next>> The rest is a fog of memories
<<next>>or imaginings
<<next>>
<img src="https://citycity.neocities.org/if/ff/fog1.gif" width=100px height=100
<img src="https://citycity.neocities.org/if/ff/orb.gif" width=100px height=100
<img src="https://citycity.neocities.org/if/ff/fog2.gif" width=100px height=100
<<next>>floating in half [[confusion|end]]
<</timed>><</if>>
<<type 60ms>>You crumple it up. It makes no more sense than anything else you've experienced
in the last several hours. Miraculously, your car starts, and your gas tank has been refilled! You drive out of the forest and spend the rest of the day trying to make sense of your weird experience.
----
Still feeling $mood, $name
----
The End
Story written by Carl Diehl, based on the Will-O'-The-Wisps folktales compiled in D.L.
Ashliman's collection of Folklore & Mythology.
Image and Text by Carl Diehl
Sounds from Freesound.org
2023<</type>
[[try again?|title]]<</type>>