Trafficking1

A Present Full of Memories by Cailley Gerald-Yamasaki 7.7.19 [[start]]

You open your eyes to a (link-reveal: "dark room")[—you really can't see much at all]. You don't remember anything and you have a vague feeling of collapse in your gut—you feel the loss of your past... (set: $contBool to true)(set: $free to false) (mouseover: "...")[(set: $contBool to false) You also feel the floor of the room shaking. It seems to be travelling. ] (set: $memcount to 0) [[continue->page 2]] (set: $mem1 to false) (set: $mem2 to false) (set: $mem3 to false) (set: $mem4 to false) (set: $mem5 to false) (set: $mem6 to false) (set: $mem7 to false) (set: $mem8 to false)

(set: $temprand to 0)The floor suddenly stops shaking. A few moments later, one wall opens and light enters. Now you can see your (link-reveal: "surroundings")[ — you are in a fairly large cage within a storage compartment of some sort, there are other cages here too, containing shadowy, creature-shaped forms which move slightly every so often —(set: $temprand to (random: 1,3))] and a (link-reveal: "figure")[ — which seems to have a face like a groundhog and some sort of circular shell or hat on its head that looks like a mushroom the size of a normal car wheel —(set: $temprand to (random: 3,4))] standing in the space that used to be a wall (which you now know to be a doorway). Your categorization of the figure as an 'it' changes to 'she' when she begins to speak... (if: $escapeAlone is true)[ [[continue->escapeAlone]] ](else:)[ [[continue->page 3]] ]

(if: $temprand is 3)[Suddenly, you're somewhere else entirely, in a car, alone. You slow down as the brake lights start popping on in front of you. Sighing you switch from the latest and coolest pop rock album to your country playlist, the one solely reserved for driving slow on a highway or that special experience of driving on a deserted road when it’s sunny but not too hot and the air smells a little dusty and the world seems to have gone a bit sepia. You smile, roll down the window, and sing along. But abruptly you're back in your cage. (set: $mem1 to true)]"Alright rise and shine boys its chow time! Now where did I put that—ah! Here it is," the figure says, extracting a slip of paper from her overalls pocket, "'one link each', well that's simple." The mushroom-groundhog lady walks around to all the cages pulling hotdogs out of a bucket and tossing them in, one per prisoner. Your sausage lands in front of you.(set: $temprand to 0) (click-append: "sausage")[ (a room temperature hotdog, looking and smelling normal)(set: $temprand to (random: 1,2))] [[Eat the hotdog]] [[Leave the hotdog]]

The hotdog tastes fine, good in fact, you hadn't realized how hungry you were. You do feel a bit drowsy though... (if: (random: 1,5) is 1)[You fall asleep before finishing your snack. [[continue->page 4]] ] (else: )[As soon as you finish up your snack, you slump forward, asleep. [[continue->start]] ]

Your stomach gurgles, you're hungrier than you thought. You look down at the hotdog again(click: "hotdog")[ and notice a small dot on the side. On closer inspection you realize it is a hole, like one made by a needle]. Around you, the creatures that wake up enough to eat their food quickly fall back asleep. The mushroom-groundhog lady slams the compartment door shut and the floor starts shaking again. [[Explore cage]] [[Try to talk to other creatures]] [[Curl up and go to sleep until the mushroom-groundhog lady comes back->page 4]]

(if: $temprand is 2 and $mem2 is false)[Suddenly your surroundings brighten. You look out the window as the rain draws little waving tracks on the glass. Mom put on her signature unsettling contemporary music and as you look out at the cloudy forest you can almost imagine yourself into another world. A world of magic and adventure and wonder, so different from the exceptionally mundane world you really inhabit. “We’re almost there, honey, aren’t you excited? Gosh, I’m excited for you! Four whole weeks of camp! You’re gonna learn so much and have so much fun.” You sigh, four weeks without The Lord of the Rings movies, four weeks without the fantasy series you just started. You sigh again.(set: $temprand to 0)(set: $mem2 to true) Back to the storage compartment, you shake your head in confusion. What was that? It seemed so natural at the time but... well, you figure you can worry about it later. Right now you need to get out. ](elseif: $temprand is 2 and $mem2 is true)[You look up from your phone and see ahead of you your favorite color. It is painted on the car ahead of yours. It is THE EXACT COLOR you picture when you think of perfect beauty and it’s sitting there right in front of you. Maybe it’s a sign. You’d just been thinking how it’s a pity that nothing cool or interesting happens in real life anymore. All the good stuff only happens in fiction. But maybe the appearance of The Color means that there really can be magic and wonder in this world.(set: $temprand to 0)(set: $mem4 to true) Back to the storage compartment, you shake your head in confusion. What was that? It seemed so natural at the time but... well, you figure you can worry about it later. Right now you need to get out. ]You can't see much, but you feel around the bars of your cage and find the door. It is locked with a simple padlock and you can feel that it is a four-number combination lock. You click the numbers around a couple times and pull on the off chance that it opens. (if: (random: 1,6) is 1)[You're surprised to feel the lock slide open and you let yourself out of your cage.(set: $free to true) [[continue->page 6]] ] (else:)[Unsurprisingly, the lock stays closed and you slump back, defeated. [[Try to talk to other creatures]] [[curl up and go to sleep until the mushroom-groundhog lady comes back->page 4]] ]

Hesitantly you whisper, "hey, umm, fellow prisoners, do you know what's going on? ... uh can you hear me?" then louder, "uh guys? Guys! Wake up! Someone?? What's going on?" The fact of your predicament is crashing down on you. You know (if: $mem1 is true or $mem2 is true)[next to ]nothing about your past and you are being held prisoner by at least one creature you don't even recognize and you are in a dark vehicle of some sort surrounded by other prisoners who presumably have been drugged into unconsciousness and you're starving and your only food is a lukewarm hotdog which is probably full of the drugs that knocked out your fellow (link-reveal: "prisoners")[. Yep, the occasional stirrings in the cages around you have disappeared and all you hear is slow breathing and the rumble of travel(set: $temprand to (random: 1,2))]. [[You take a deep breath, no use panicking->page 5]] [[You utter a sound somewhere between a screech and a sob and shake the bars of your cage desperately->page 7]]

An indeterminate amount of time later, a loud crash startles you awake and a bright white shape appears above your cage. You blink your eyes into focusing as the huge silhouette of a hawk obscures your momentary view of the night sky. The hawk seems to have torn a chunk out of the roof and is coming back for more. You are thrown into a corner of your cage as foot-long talons clasp the side of your cage and yank you upward. A sudden pain in your head as the hawk knocks your cage against the edge of the hole in the roof and your vision goes blurry again.(if: $temprand is 2 and $mem2 is false)[ You look out the window as the rain draws little waving tracks on the glass. Mom put on her signature unsettling contemporary music and as you look out at the cloudy forest you can almost imagine yourself into another world. A world of magic and adventure and wonder, so different from the exceptionally mundane world you really inhabit. “We’re almost there, honey, aren’t you excited? Gosh, I’m excited for you! Four whole weeks of camp! You’re gonna learn so much and have so much fun.” You sigh, four weeks without The Lord of the Rings movies, four weeks without the fantasy series you just started. You sigh again. You open your eyes to a clear night, evergreen trees passing beneath you.(set: $mem2 to true)] The hawk lets out a piercing cry and flaps higher, sending great gusts of cool, fresh air through the bars of your cage. [[continue->page 11]]

"Please help me!" A raspy, croaky voice comes out of the (link-reveal: "darkness")[, you try to see where the voice is coming from but it is too dark(set: $temprand to (random: 1,2))]. "Please, I've been here sixteen years, I need to get out, I can help you survive what is out there." [[Help the voice->help the voice]] [[Escape by yourself->escape by yourself]]

As you breathe, you hear a faint whisper. You can only make out some of the words. "...why we're...taking us...city...sell to...traders. All of us here...marketable...the last fifteen years...species...nearly extinct." You listen harder but the whisper has gone silent. "Please, can you speak up? I can barely hear you. Who are you? Why can't I remember anything?" And back through the darkness you hear a slightly more forceful whisper, "I cannot...very loudly in your language. My throat and mouth are not constructed for such sounds. My name..." a short, rumbling squawk issues from the darkness, "...given you drugs...sleep and take away your memories. My people(if: $temprand is 1 and $mem3 is false)[" — suddenly an image pops into your head of a pair of women laughing and looking down at you where you lay, breathing heavily and laughing also, in the grass. You know the women, they are your sisters of course. All of this happens in an instant and the whispers continue, — "] (else:)[ ]are immune to such drugs...retain my mind...not able to sell me with my memories intact...release me either, for fear that I will expose them...authorities. They have a strict no-endangered-species-killing policy...me alive. I have learned much from travelling with them...years," you think you detect a note of pride in the whispers, "but I am ready to be free now. As of yet, no one has consented to help me escape...rather take their chances with the traders." [[Help the voice]] [[Don't help the voice]]

An undistinguishable noise comes from somewhere close by and you stop moving. Out of the darkness comes a croaking, raspy voice, "would you please shut up! I have a plan for escape. Do you understand?" You gulp, "y-yes." "Right then, feel around slowly outside your cage until you find a cage with bars twice as thick as yours. It should be behind you if you're facing my voice." [[continue->page 8]]

You do as he says and find the (link-reveal: "thick-barred cage")[ (a cage with thick bars)(set: $temprand to (random: 1,3))] quickly. It is only a few inches from your own and the bars of your cage allow you to fit your whole arm out so you have no trouble reaching it. "Right, now put your hotdog in that cage, as far from you as you can reach." [["What is in there?"]] you want to ask, but you also kind of [[don't want to know.]]

"A creature that will bite your arm off if it wakes up. But its paws are what we're after. The pads are so strong and rough that they can wear through diamond. For this reason, the traffickers put extra sleeping solution in its food, but really, it is as dumb as a doornail and likely wouldn't know to use its paws anyway." (if: $temprand is 1 and $mem2 is false)[ Suddenly your surroundings brighten. You look out the window as the rain draws little waving tracks on the glass. Mom put on her signature unsettling contemporary music and as you look out at the cloudy forest you can almost imagine yourself into another world. A world of magic and adventure and wonder, so different from the exceptionally mundane world you really inhabit. “We’re almost there, honey, aren’t you excited? Gosh, I’m excited for you! Four whole weeks of camp! You’re gonna learn so much and have so much fun.” You sigh, four weeks without The Lord of the Rings movies, four weeks without the fantasy series you just started. You sigh again.(set: $mem2 to true) Back to the storage compartment, you shake your head in confusion. What was that? It seemed so natural at the time but... well, you figure you can worry about it later. Right now you need to worry about escaping. ](else-if: $temprand is 1 and $mem4 is false)[You look up from your phone and see ahead of you your favorite color. It is painted on the car ahead of yours. It is THE EXACT COLOR you picture when you think of perfect beauty and it’s sitting there right in front of you. Maybe it’s a sign! You’d just been thinking how it’s a pity that nothing cool or interesting happens in real life anymore. All the good stuff only happens in fiction. But maybe the appearance of The Color means that there really can be magic and wonder in this world.(set: $mem4 to true) Back to the dim compartment of cages and whispers, you shake your head again. These memory flashbacks or whatever they are are really disorienting. ] (if: $free is true)[ [[continue->page 15]] ](else:)[[continue->don't want to know.]]

"Now, feel around until you feel a paw the size of half of your face." Tentatively, you slip your hands into the other creature's cage.(set: $rand3 to (random: 1,3))(if: $rand3 is 1)[ A gust of hot, humid air brushes your right hand and before you can think, your fingers hit something warm and hard and wet. You picture a gaping maw filled with limb-severing fangs and pull your arm back with a little squeak. "A little to your right," the croaky voice says. [["Actually I'd rather keep my arm, thanks."]] [[continue->page 9]] ](else-if: $temprand is 2)[ Both hands meet coarse fur at the same instant and immediately a memory pops into your head: you are sitting on the deck of your family's house looking at nothing in particular and there's a small rustling right in front of you. Not two feet away, a dark, furry critter sticks its head out of the ground. It looks up and sees you right there and looks so surprised that you burst out laughing. It emits a little squeal and disappears back into its hole.(set: $mem5 to true)(set: $temprand to 0) "Well? Have you found it yet?" The voice brings you back to the present. [[continue->page 9]] ](else:)[ [[continue->page 9]] ]

The voice turns snappish, "well how do you propose we get out of these cages then? I have been held captive by these people for sixteen years don't you think I've thought of every possibility by now? Using the yari paw pads is the only solution. After the first time a chimara woke up before it was supposed to the traffickers decided to put much more sleeping solution in the food than was necessary. The chances that the yari will wake up within this //week// are very small." [[Reluctantly slide your arms back through the bars->page 9]] [[Don't trust the voice]]

You grope around and in a minute, you find the (link-reveal: "paw")[ (a huge furry paw with claws retracted, it makes you think of a lion)(set: $temprand to (random: 1,2))], "got it!" "Okay, here comes the tricky bit. You have to break off a toe from the paw. Yali paws are fairly brittle so it should be a clean break but there is an outside chance that the pain will awaken the Yali. Or you could just use the whole paw, I suppose, but that would be much more difficult and you would have to saw through both the Yali's cage and your own." [[Break off a toe]] [[Use the whole paw]]

The voice was right, breaking off the toe isn't very difficult. You grate through the bars of your cage in no time at all. "Finished!" you exclaim brightly to the voice.(if: $temprand is 2 and $mem7 is false)[ An image flashes across your mind. Heat and heavy smoke, your house is burning! Your sisters scream from inside, you are screaming too, your voice quickly becoming hoarse and dry. A window on the second floor bursts open and your sister Kania sticks her head out. Your compartment goes over a bump and you're jolted back to the present. Shaken, you sink slowly to the floor.(set: $mem7 to true)] "Excellent!" The voice croaks, "now come liberate me." You make your way to the corner where the voice has been coming from. [[Give the creature the toe->a]] [[Start cutting the creature's cage yourself->b]]

You set to work hefting the Yali's paw back and forth, grating through one bar after another. It takes ages and you are shaking from fatigue before you are done. "Finished," you gasp and step through the hole in your cage.(if: $temprand is 2 and $mem6 is false)[ An image pops into your mind of a boy your age with a smudge of flour on his nose throwing pizza dough in the air and laughing at your look of panic when he expects you to catch it. You hear the muffled slap as the boy snatches the dough out of the air above your head and you feel the light sprinkle of flour settling on your face. You blink and you're back in the dim compartment. You touch your face almost hoping to find some flour there, but there is none.(set: $temprand to 0)(set: $mem6 to true)] "Excellent!" The voice croaks, "now break off a toe and come liberate me." [[Do as the voice says]] (link: "Escape by yourself")["I don't think so." You make your way toward where you remember the door to be. There seems to be a latch on the side, it is unlocked. You heave the door open just as the vehicle goes over a large bump and you fall out of the door. (mouseover-replace: "Do as the voice says")[ ] [[continue->page 10]] ]

Figuring that if the owner of the giant paw hasn't woken up yet it's fairly safe to break off its toe, you crack it hard over the side of a bar and come away with one diamond-cutting appendage. You make your way to the corner where the voice has been coming from(click: "corner")[, there seems to be only one cage there with several feet of space all around it(set: $temprand to (random: 1,2))]. [[Give the creature the toe]] [[Start cutting the creature's cage yourself]]

"No, no, I can't use that. I have no hands to hold it. You must cut the bars. Hurry!" (if: $temprand is 1 and $mem6 is false)[An image flashes across your mind. Heat and heavy smoke, your house is burning! Your sisters scream from inside, you are screaming too, your voice quickly becoming hoarse and dry. A window on the second floor bursts open and your sister Kania sticks her head out. Your compartment goes over a bump and you're jolted back to the present.] [[continue->Start cutting the creature's cage yourself]]

It takes a while but maneuvering the toe is much easier than using the whole paw so it doesn't tire you out as much. Finally, you're both out of your cages and heading toward the door.(if: (random: 1,2) is 1)[ There is a loud crash from above and suddenly there is a moon and stars above you quickly obscured by the silhouette of a huge hawk. The raptor seems to have torn a chunk out of the roof of your compartment and is coming back for more. Foot-long talons descend(if: (random: 1,3) is 3)[ and clasp you around the middle. The next thing you know you are out in the open air, flying over a moonlit countryside, watching the train you were held captive in disappear behind you. [[continue->page 11]] ](else:)[ and miss you by inches. You scramble toward where you can barely see the compartment door and scrabble with the latch. In a second you have it open and are falling through it onto dirt and grass. [[continue->page 12]] ] ](else:)[ A growling groan eminates from the Yari's cage and you hurry to unlatch the door. It swings open violently and you fall out of the compartment. Before you can hit the ground though, a hard mass hits you in the chest and wraps around your torso. Your hand brushes the leaves of a bush below you but before you know it you are flying upward away from the ground, away from the train. [[continue->page 13]] ]

Though you're still not exactly free, you feel better about being the prisoner of this giant hawk than the mushroom-groundhog lady. There is a piece of paper tied to the hawk's leg above you. You reach up and pull if off so you can see what is on it.(if: (random: 1,11) is 2)[ But a sudden gust of wind rips it from your hand before you get the chance to read the words you see typed there. [[continue->page 14]] ](else:)[ You read: --- ''Do not be alarmed. I am from the department of law enforcement. I will take you to the nearest safe place for creatures of your species. Do not struggle. We will be landing before dawn.'' --- You let out a slow breath in relief. [[continue->page 14]] ]

You tumble down a long slope until you roll to a halt battered and bleeding. Above, the train you were held captive on speeds by. You are free!

The voice croaks from just above your head, "well we did it! I can drop you off wherever you'd like, but I have a nice hidey hole just north of here a couple miles and I make a great rabbit soup..." (if: $temprand is 2 and $mem1 is false)[You slow down as the break lights start popping on in front of you. Sighing you switch from the latest and coolest pop rock album to your country playlist, the one solely reserved for driving slow on a highway or that special experience of driving on a deserted road when it’s sunny but not too hot and the air smells a little dusty and the world seems to have gone a bit sepia. You smile, roll down the window, and sing along. Then you're back again, flying through the night, carried by your fellow escapee.(set: $mem1 to false) ]The voice ambles on talking about its favorite recipes and its plans for the rest of its life. You tune it out and watch the moonlit world go by.

You don't know what the future holds but at least you can see the world as it passes underneath you. You smell woodsmoke and see a town up ahead. One after another your memories start to wander back into your mind triggered by the sights and smells of the town. You feel yourself relax and lose yourself in the past, reliving your whole life. A smile comes to your lips and your eyes drift closed.

"How can I help you if you're locked up?" (if: $temprand is 2 and $mem3 is false)[Suddenly an image pops into your head of a pair of women laughing and looking down at you where you lay, breathing heavily and laughing also, in the grass. You know the women, they are your sisters of course. One pulls you up and the other pats the dirt off your clothes.(set: $temprand to 0)(set: $mem3 to true) ]The voice comes back out of the darkness, "I have a plan. If you could please feel around slowly behind your cage until you find a cage with bars twice as thick as yours. Once you find it, put your hotdog at the end closest to your cage, good." You want to ask, [["What is in there?"]] but you also kind of [[don't want to know.->page 15]]

You make your way toward where you remember the door to be. There seems to be a latch on the side, it is unlocked. You heave the door open just as the vehicle goes over a large bump and you fall out of the door. [[continue->page 10]]

"Okay, here comes the tricky bit, I'm afraid. You have to break off a toe from the paw of the creature inside that cage. Yali paws are fairly brittle so it should be a clean break, but there is an outside chance that the pain will awaken the yali. Hopefully if that happens it will go for the hotdog in front of its nose rather than you, but I can't guarantee that for certain," the voice sounds apologetic. (click-replace: "Ask why the voice needs a yali toe")[You ask, "why do you need a yali toe?" "Yali paw pads are so strong and rough that they can wear through diamond. One single toe can be used to file through any solid substance in the world. For this reason, the traffickers put extra sleeping solution in its food, but really it is as dumb as a doornail and likely wouldn't know to use its paws anyway."(set: $temprand to (random 1,2)) ] [[Break off a toe->page 16]] [[Tell the voice to forget it and escape on your own->page 20]]

(if: $temprand is 2)[A brief image of a long line of cars aheaf of you flashes through your mind and you think //gosh, this had better speed up soon or I'll be late to practice and coach has been really strict about people being on time lately//. Then you're back to the dim compartment and your mission.(set: $temprand to 0)(set: $mem8 to true) ]You locate one of the paws of the so-called Yali and single out a large toe. You crack it hard over the side of a bar and come away with one diamond-cutting appendage. You make your way to the corner where the voice has been coming from. [[Give the creature the toe->a]] [[Start cutting the creature's cage yourself->b]]

Over the next few hours you try to escape in every way that you can think of and eventually succumb to clicking to random combinations on the padlock on your cage door and pulling to see if you got lucky. [[continue->page 17]]

"I'll help you escape," you say boldly, "what should I do?" "Thank the heavens!" The whispery, croaky voice seems stronger, "Right then, feel around slowly outside your cage until you find a cage with bars twice as thick as yours. It should be behind you if you're facing me." [[continue->page 8]]

You have no idea how to escape without help. (link: "Work with the voice")[(mouseover-replace: "Give up and eat the hotdog")[ ] (mouseover-replace: "Go to sleep")[ ](mouseover-replace: "Continue trying to escape")[ ]You tell the voice you will help it escape if you can escape too. The voice agrees. "What should I do?" you ask. "Right then, feel around slowly outside your cage until you find a cage with bars twice as thick as yours. It should be behind you if you're facing my voice." [[continue->page 8]] ] [[Give up and eat the hotdog->Eat the hotdog]] [[Go to sleep->page 4]] [[Continue trying to escape->Tell the voice to forget it and escape on your own]]

Unmoved by the voice's outburst you move as far from the yari as possible and wait for something to happen. The minutes tick by. (if: (random: 1,4) is 4)[Suddenly, there is a huge crash from above and the sky appears briefly before being obscured by the silhouette of a ginormous hawk obscures your view. The hawk seems to have torn a chunk out of the roof of your compartment and is coming back for more. You are thrown into a corner of your cage as foot-long talons clasp the side of your cage and yank you upward. A sudden pain in your head as the hawk knocks your cage against the side of the hole in the roof and your vision goes blurry again. (if: (random: 1,2) is 1)[Seemingly prompted by the rough treatment of your head, an image pops into your mind of a boy your age with a smudge of flour on his nose throwing pizza dough in the air and laughing at your look of panic when he expects you to catch it. You hear the muffled slap as the boy snatches the dough out of the air above your head and you feel the light sprinkle of flour settling on your face. ]The hawk lets out a piercing cry and flaps higher, sending great gusts of cool, fresh air through the bars of your cage. [[continue->page 11]] ](else:)[Suddenly, there is a huge jolt and several cages lurch sideways into the wall. The whole compartment tips slightly and slowly falls over. The clamor of metal and wood being rent apart fills the air but you don't even hear it as cages go flying. It seems that your whole compartment is tumbling end-over-end down some sort of hill or cliff. There seems to be nothing but hard surfaces hitting you from all sides. A particularly painful one catches you in the side of the head and everything goes dark. You never wake up.]

This continues for a few days. You are growing weak from not eating the drugged hotdogs thrown to you. Finally the compartment door opens and it is not the mushroom-groundhog lady. You don't really get a chance to register the figure in front of you before it shoots you with some sort of tranquilizer gun and you black out. You don't wake up until much later. You have been sold to a combined circus and zoo that travels around the world giving exotic shows. (if: (random: 1,2) is 2)[You never have a chance to escape again.](else:)[After a few years, you grow accustomed to this life and the traveling show starts to feel like home and the the other performers, like family.]

"No, no, I can't use that. I have no hands to hold it. You must cut the bars. Hurry!" (if: $temprand is 1 and $mem7 is false)[Suddenly you're lying down. You open your eyes to white walls and bland-patterned curtains. A nurse is checking your vitals. You feel like you have been here a while, something about a rare disease. You have the vague recollection of having been in a coma for a while. You feel a little dizzy so you close your eyes.(set: $temprand to 0)(set: $mem7 to true)(set: $altb to true)](set: $altb to false) ][[continue->b]]

(if: $altb is true)[You open your eyes to see an animal's toe in your hand. ]You file your way through the bars of the voice's cage and finally you're both out. You head toward the door. (if: (random: 1,6) is 1)[ There is a loud crash from above and suddenly there is a moon and stars above you quickly obscured by the silhouette of a huge hawk. The raptor seems to have torn a chunk out of the roof of your compartment and is coming back for more. Foot-long talons descend(if: (random: 1,3) is 3)[ and clasp you around the middle. The next thing you know you are out in the open air, flying over a moonlit countryside, watching the train you were held captive in disappear behind you. [[continue->page 11]] ](else:)[ and miss you by inches. You scramble toward where you can barely see the compartment door and scrabble with the latch. In a second you have it open and are falling through it onto dirt and grass. [[continue->page 12]] ] ](else:)[ A growling groan eminates from the Yari's cage and you hurry to unlatch the door. It swings open violently and you fall out of the compartment. Before you can hit the ground though, a hard mass hits you in the chest and wraps around your torso. Your hand brushes the leaves of a bush below you but before you know it you are flying upward away from the ground, away from the train. [[continue->page 13]] ]

"Now where's that little rascal—//aha//!" She stomps over to your cage, thrusts her short-and-furry-but-muscular arm through the arms and pulls you up by the collar of your shirt. "You are not half so clever as you think, little human, and really you're not such a valuable species so it wouldn't take too much for us to decide you are worth more as a squeaky toy for the calygreyhounds than as a live creature to sell." She shakes you roughly then hurls you into the side of your cage. Then she tosses you a hotdog as if nothing unusual had happened. You have no idea what that was all about but you're shaken to the bone. Whatever this place is, it seems like an awful place to be. The mushroom-groundhog lady walks around to all the cages pulling sausages out of a bucket and tossing them in, one per prisoner. [[Eat your hotdog->Eat the hotdog]] [[Leave the hotdog]]

You walk carefully over to where you remember the door to be but before you get there, you hear a loud screech. At first, you think it's the croaky-voiced creature, but you realize it's much too close for that. Something (link-reveal: "spiky")[ — a tail maybe? —] whips out of the (link-reveal: "nowhere")[ — or maybe the cage you're passing —] and gashes you across the calf. It hurts like crazy and you let out a small gasp, you can feel warm liquid dripping down your ankle and seeping into your sock. (if: (random: 1,3))[You limp desperately for the door and find the latch. You get the door open and half-jump-half-fall out of the compartment. [[continue->altPage 10]]

You land hard and tumble down a slope. (set: $rand10 to (random: 1,8))(if: $rand10 is 1)[You hear a loud growl just before hitting your head on something hard. Your vision goes black and you never wake up.](else-if: $rand10 is 2)[As you fall, you hear alarm bells go off somewhere. Your head collides with something hard and your vision goes black.(set: $escapeAlone to true) [[continue->start]] ](else-if: $rand10 is 3)[You roll to a halt cold, battered, and bleeding. Above, the train you were held captive on speeds by. You are free!](else:)[Bruised all over, you roll slowly to a sitting position and try to put some pressure on your bleeding leg. You look up to see a beautiful spreading view of a night sky full of stars. You think you see a dark shape fly over towards the now-shrinking train but can't be sure. The bleeding seems to be letting up. You sigh and slump over, suddenly very tired. You're free! But now what?

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A Present Full of Memories

by Cailley Gerald-Yamasaki
7.7.19

start