Play and Learn 2

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Play and Learn 2 / 19941.ZIP / 19941 / EDUCAMES / GAMETOL2 / FABL-SRC.ZOO / fable.dat next >

Wrap

Text File | 1980-01-01 | 13.4 KB | 441 lines

rem * A Fable * rem * by Stan Heller * rem * Copyright 1985 * rem * San Francisco, CA * rem * A Challenge Game for Fantasy Factory,Pacifica * ROOM 2 [ the foggy street] North 3 (the theatre) West 8 (the cobble street) East 5 (the bedroom) END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 2 The is fog everywhere, obscuring the entire landscape. Max feels suddenly like a huge cloud has lifted him up and taken him away. He wonders where he has gone. END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 3 [the theatre] East 14 (the foggy street c) South 2 (the foggy street a) West 7 (the forest) North 3 (the theatre) END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 3 Max is onstage. He is dressed in kahki fatigues. His head is shaved. He is playing the part of man trapped inside his own skin. Three other people, his "family" try to tell he is alright. But he is not alright. He is misunderstood. He cannot even begin to articulate how he feels. But there is a panic inside him, growing more desparate by the moment. He begins to scoop water out of a large metal pot and watch it trickle back. he does this for some time. the movement comforts him. then the panic strikes again. He spies something shiny in the water. He reaches in and grasps the object and hurls it into the air. A huge fish flies across the stage and lands wetly a few feet away. Everyone is suddenly very quiet. END_ROOM_DESCR NOUN 201 Fish Huge A huge fish lies at your feet. Size 3 Weight 5 Location 3 Closable Closed Edible Points 5 END_NOUN NOUN_DESCR 201 The huge fish shines in the light. It gazes mournfully at your with its lidless eye. You notice a bulge in the fish's belly. END_NOUN OPEN_DESCR 201 The huge fish opens easily in your hands. Inside the fish there is a silver key. END_DESCR NOUN 202 Key Silver A small, silver key is here. Size 1 Weight 1 Readable Location 201 Points 15 END_NOUN NOUN_DESCR 202 The small silver key has an inscription etched on its length. END_NOUN TEXT 202 The inscription reads, "Wisdom." END_TEXT ROOM 4 [ the hospital] North 13 (the foggy street b) West 7 (the forest) South 14 (the foggy street c) East 16 (the parlor) END_ROOM 4 ROOM_DESCR 4 Max is in the operating room of a hospital. His wife is on the operating table, breathing quite heavily. There are several doctors and nurses in the room. He tries to touch one of them but his hand passes right through. His wife is breathing heavier now. He goes to her, tries to talk to her. She does not hear. A nurse comes up to Max and tells him if he is cannot calm down he will have to leave. He watches quietly as they cut open his wife's stomach. He watches the birth of his son. The nurse comes up to him, handing him the baby. The doctors have begun to sew up his wife. "You will have to leave now," the nurse says. He looks down at his baby son, but the child is gone. END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 5 [ the bedroom ] South 5 (the bedroom) West 5 (the bedroom) East 13 (the foggy street c) North 2 (the foggy street a) Points 5 END_ROOM 5 ROOM_DESCR 5 Max is in bed with his grandfather Willie. Willie is snoring quite loudly. Max turns over to tell his grandfather to be quiet when he is assailed by the smell of grandfather's breath. Willie is fond of cigars and they give his breath the aroma of used dragon smoke. Max starts to get out of bed, but finds he is surrounded by an impenetrable darkness. The bed seems to be floating. Willie begins talking in his sleep. "What's the matter with you," he says. "You never listen to anything I tell you. You think you're so smart. You're a bum just like your father. Never listen to me." Willie begins to swing his hands in his sleep. Max ducks and dodges. Finally he lifts his pillow in self defense. Under the pillow is a wet cigar. END_ROOM_DESCR NOUN 203 Cigar Wet The wet cigar is burnt on one end and chewed on the other. Size 1 Weight 1 Location 5 Points 5 END_NOUN NOUN_DESCR 203 Grampa Willie really has to stop smoking in bed! You both were lucky this time. The soggy old cigar has gone out. It smells just the way Willie's breath does. END_NOUN ROOM 6 [the study] NORTH 9 (the frozen lake) SOUTH 16 (the parlor) EAST 2 (the foggy street a) WEST 2 (the foggy street a) POINTS 5 END_ROOM 6 ROOM_DESCR 6 Max is in cantor Diamond's study. The cantor is a tall man with an open face and kind eyes. Max is listening to him sing a passage from the haftorah. Morris Diamond has the most beautiful voice in the world. Long before Max has ever heard opera, he has heard enough of Morris Diamond to change his life forever. When he hears the cantor sing he is swept up in the peculair feeling of tremendous joy and unspeakable sorrow. The cantor's voice touches him in a way that Max can never forget. Morris asks Max to repeat the passage. Although he does not have a bad singing voice, his chanting cannot compare with the cantor's. Max begins to weep, not for his lack of talent, but for his lack of feeling. How could he follow such a voice. Morris Diamond goes to his desk and opens a drawer. He takes out a small book and places it on the table before Max. END_ROOM_DESCR NOUN 204 Book Small The small book is locked. Size 2 Weight 2 Location 6 Closable Closed Lockable Locked Key 202 Points 15 END_NOUN NOUN_DESCR 204 The small book has an old leather cover with faded Hebrew letters on the cover. The single word, when translated, means "understanding," or "recognition." The book is held closed by a small silver lock. END_NOUN ROOM 7 [the forest] NORTH 11 (the park rail) SOUTH 12 (the patch) EAST 11 (the park rail) WEST 11 (the park rail) END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 7 Max is in the woods near his house. It is a crisp autumn day. His nostrils flare as he picks up the scent of burning leaves. Every autumn old man Whittaker sets the woods on fire. All the kids in the neighborhood tell their parents, but they are not believed. So each autumn, the woods behind their rowhouse burns. the firemen come out with their trucks. Several hours later the fire will be out for another year. But now is the time of greatest danger. The forest is blazing all around Max. He feels the heat of the flames on his face. If he doesn't move soon he will become part of the blaze. Max hopes he does not step in any poison ivy. END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 8 [the cobble street] NORTH 15 (the alley) WEST 14 (the foggy street c) SOUTH 4 (the hospital) EAST 13 (the foggy street b) END_ROOM ROMM_DESCR 8 Max is walking down a cobble street when a small boy, perhaps a year old, falls to the pavement from a second story window. The baby gasps and then does not move. For a moment, Max is paralyzed with horror. Before he can recover, a woman comes running out of the house screaming, "my baby, my baby." She lifts the child up high into the air above her, sobbing hysterically. She runs back inside the house and closes the door behind her. END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 9 [the frozen lake] WEST 10 (the front door) SOUTH 7 (the forest) EAST 15 (the alley) NORTH 2 (the foggy street a) POINTS 25 END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 9 It is after the first snowfall of winter. The lake has frozen solid. Max stands on the newly formed ice and listens to the quietness. He can hear the tinkle of icecicles banging against each other in the wind as they hang off the evergreen branches. Max feels he is at he center of the universe and that center is calm. He thinks of Morris Diamond. Max can hear the faint sound of a dog barking two miles away. END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 10 [the front door] END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 10 Quite unexpectedly, Max finds himself at his front door. How long has he been walking, he wonders. And what was he doing out on a night like this? He can't remember. The fog has obliterated the street behind him. He fumbles for his house keys, opens his door and climbs the steps. "A fine thing," he mumbles," to be walking around on such a night. A person could get lost." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ T H E E N D ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 11 [the raging fire] NORTH 11 (the raging fire) SOUTH 11 (the raging fire) EAST 12 (the patch) WEST 11 (the raging fire) END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 11 Max is surrounded by flames. The whole forest is burning! If Max does not do something soon, he will be burned alive. END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 12 [the patch] NORTH 11 (the raging fire) SOUTH 2 (the foggy street a) EAST 6 (the study) WEST 13 (the foggy street b) END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 12 Max find himself in the only part of the forest not in flames, a patch of poison ivy. He walks through it gingerly trying not to touch anthing, but he is already beginning to feel itchy all over his body. END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 13 [the foggy street] NORTH 8 (the cobble street) SOUTH 13 (the foggy street b) EAST 2 (the foggy street a) WEST 5 (the bedroom) END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 13 The is fog everywhere, obscuring the entire landscape. Max feels suddenly like a huge cloud has lifted him up and taken him away. He wonders where he has gone. END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 14 [ the foggy street] NORTH 7 (the forest) SOUTH 13 (the foggy street b) EAST 6 (the study) WEST 2 (the foggy street a) END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 14 The is fog everywhere, obscuring the entire landscape. Max feels suddenly like a huge cloud has lifted him up and taken him away. He wonders where he has gone. END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 15 [the alley] NORTH 14 (the foggy street) WEST 7 (the forest) SOUTH 16 (the parlor) EAST 4 (the hospital) END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 15 Max watches four young girls jump rope in a red bricked alley not far from his home. They play with an intensity that precludes any awareness that they are watched. The rope skips across the concrete as the girls chant with great seriousness, "Cinderella Dressed in yell-a Went upstairs to see her fella How many kisses did she get: One... two... three..." Suddenly the eldest girl spins around and stares at Max. The other girls all fall in behind her. The jump rope lies on the ground, lifeless. END_ROOM_DESCR ROOM 16 [the parlor] NORTH 2 (the foggy street a) SOUTH 7 (the forest) EAST 4 (the hospital) WEST 5 (the bedroom) END_ROOM ROOM_DESCR 16 Max is sitting next to Cora on a large green couch. It is the hottest day of the summer. They are content to sip lemonade, chat softly and wait for Cora's roommate to leave the stuffy apartment. Max's desire for Cora is finally answered as she slips into his arms. He unbottons her blouse and beholds a vision that will mark him for the rest of his life. Cora's breasts are beautiful She wears a small silver cross around her neck which falls with erotic precision in the tuck of her cleavage. A drop of sweat has beaded up on Cora's collar bone and falls slowly down to meet the cross. For Max, the drop of sweat is pure magic, the most remarkable thing he has ever witnessed in his entire life. Cora looks at him warmly and smiles. END_ROOM_DESCR INTRO * * * * A F A B L E * * * * by Stan Heller Copyright November, 1985 San Francisco, CA Waves of sorrow rushed over him for reasons he could not easily explain. Max decided he needed a walk in the night air. He needed to think. He bundled himself up in his coat, scarf and hat. He looked in on his wife asleep in their bed. His infant son also slept peacefully in the crib at the bed's foot. He surveyed them quietly, as if for the last time and then he left the second floor apartment, closing the door quietly behind him. The fog was heavy. He could barely see the familiar neighborhood. It did not matter. Max had his thoughts. The thoughts were of himself, as always. He was thinking of all the people he had once been. For some reason he felt like they had all left him behind this evening. Sitting in his house he felt like it was someone else who was there. He had been lost somewhere. Perhaps that is why on this particular evening he was out walking in the fog. He was looking for himself. Perhaps that is why he didn't notice as the sounds of the neighborhood faded quietly away. The pavement was not even pavement anymore. Max was deep in reflection and never noticed he had wandered into someplace quite unusual. It occured to him after a while that he had been walking for quite some time. He scratched his head. He looked around for a familiar sign. "Lost in my own neighborhood," he muttered. "Serves me right." The fog streched out in all directions. He looked for street lamps, mildly surprised that there were none. "Where am I," he wondered. END_INTRO END OF FILE