  
ClubFloyd Transcript:
The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each
week at a pre-arranged time, a group of
people meet online to cooperatively play
a game of interactive fiction.
ANOTHER WARNING! A lot (most!) of the transcripts contained on this site are, shall we say, family-friendly. This is not one of those family-friendly transcripts. Just so we're clear. |
|
ToyShop & Floyditorium
|
#ClubFloyd Discussion
|
||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask aisle" | |||
Floyd ] Floyd ] Floyd ] Floyd ] Floyd ] Floyd ] - A I S L E - Floyd ] Floyd ] by Sam Barlow Floyd ] Floyd ] You are about to read a story. Or rather, part of a story. You will Floyd | be Floyd ] be asked to define the story by controlling one instant in the life Floyd | of Floyd ] the man whose story it is. Your intervention will begin and end the Floyd ] story. But be warned; there are many stories and not all of the Floyd | storie Floyd ] are about the same man. Floyd ] Floyd ] Floyd ] Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Oh, the shopping for pasta one?" | ||
| zarf arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | Doug says, "sure "I'll" play it. har har" | ||
| Peregrine says, "there is actually a game called 'I'll' which is similar" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Let me shut off the sleepmask." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "q" | |||
Floyd ] | Doug asks, "hm, weird line breaks. does it really say "storie"?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, not sure." | |||
| Jacqueline presses the yellow enter button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I think what's really interesting is that you can sort of build up a story from lots of separate small pieces of info." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Hm. That may have just been a text box thing. It looks fine now." | |||
| Peregrine says, ">EAT GNOCCHIS" | |||
| Taleslinger arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | Doug says, "I guess this will work well with Floyd because no one can mess up the state with a command" | ||
| Guenni says, "Well, I'll leave you to it. I played it, and don't feel like watching it unfold right now." | |||
| Guenni has had her fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | Jacqueline says, "Oh, okay. Thanks, Guenni. Sorry 'bout that." | ||
| DavidW says (to Doug), "yes" | |||
| Genevieve exclaims, "Mmm, gnocchi!" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X ME Floyd | Floyd | You don't need a mirror to know what you look like. Old. "Old beyond Floyd | your years", as they say. Old. Old and lonely. You look lonely--you Floyd | are lonely. You are well dressed but people think you are a tramp. You Floyd | feel like a tramp. Ever since Clare left you... without word... in Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | You leave your trolley and walk to the exit. Then drive home. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | The end of the story. The end of a story. But not Floyd | the only story... | Allen says, "surely >NOM GNOCCHIS is correct verb" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x trolley" | |||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley) Floyd | The trolley is a small cage of steel with bent rubber wheels. Full of Floyd | your shopping: meals for one, drinks for one (well, drinks for Floyd | several, but hey, who's counting?). Floyd | Floyd | Gnocchi for one wouldn't really work. You settle for Floyd | spaghetti and continue on to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | The end of another story. But then, there are others... | Doug says, "oh, except I guess you have to press space after every command" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "yeah" | |||
| Guenni says, "No problem. I might actually read the script later, but not right now." | |||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Genevieve says, "Hmm, I think this is the most bizarre game I have ever encountered." | ||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "eat gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > EAT GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | You rip open the packet and take out a few Gnocchi, cramming them into Floyd | your mouth. The uncooked, floury balls clog in your throat and you Floyd | swallow them down, hard. Floyd | Floyd | The brunette glances at you and moves on quickly. Floyd | Floyd | You feel stupid, slip the opened bag back into the shelf and carry on. Floyd | It's never been as good as it was in Rome. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. But then... | Jacqueline says, "ha" | ||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Peregrine says, "never expected that to work" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "remember rome" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER ROME Floyd | Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | You pick up the Gnocchi and stare at the illustration of Piazza Floyd | Venezia on its packet. You remember; sun, heat, food, pasta, sauces, Floyd | wine, love, ancient, modern, Italians, Americans, love. And ultimately Floyd | pain. A pain you had thought you had forgotten. But like a cancer Floyd | returning to wreak havoc again, the pain resurfaces and tears through Floyd | the thin barriers you had erected. Tears flow. Memories; guilt. And Floyd | finally acceptance. You live with it. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Then again... | Genevieve says, "Too bad you can't cook the gnocchi first. :-)" | ||
| Peregrine asks, "Or can you?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Genevieve), "Try it next time." | |||
| DavidW says, "This game allows a LOT of actions." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "This is cheerful." | |||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Peregrine says, "La-di-da" | ||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "cook gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > COOK GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "cook gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > COOK GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "darn" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "aw" | |||
| Peregrine pouts! | |||
| Genevieve says, "Well, there's no stove or saucepan or water, so I didn't expect that would work. Heh." | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "buy gnocchi then cook it" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > BUY GNOCCHI THEN COOK IT Floyd | Floyd | You pick up the packet of Gnocchi and toss it into your trolley. Floyd | You'll have that tonight with some olive oil and a few leaves of fresh Floyd | basil. Just like in Rome... though without Clare. Floyd | Floyd | But it's useless remembering, best just enjoy the Gnocchi. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. But there are others... | Peregrine says, "yum" | ||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I forgive you about the no-winning-action thing. It's here in Sam Barlow's description of the game on IFDB. heh" | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about sauces" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT SAUCES Floyd | Floyd | You walk over. "Hi. You trying to choose a sauce?" She looks at you Floyd | and pauses, "Um. Yeah I'm just looking." You reach down a random jar Floyd | and pass it to her, "This is a great sauce." She smiles politely, Floyd | "Thanks," and quickly moves on to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | You feel a bit stupid. Why is it that none of them understand you like Floyd | she did? Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. And yet... | Genevieve says, "Sorry, was just curious." | ||
| Peregrine says, "no problem" | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "kill woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > KILL WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You run over to her and throw a punch which knocks her into the Floyd | shelves. Jars fall and splatter grainy red sauces across the aisle. Floyd | Shit. You run out--out to the car and drive--drive home. When you park Floyd | up, you find that you are holding the gnocchi from the supermarket. Floyd | Floyd | What was it about the gnocchi? You can't remember (I don't think you Floyd | want to remember). You feel ashamed, stupid and old. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But then... | Jacqueline says, "AH" | ||
| Doug says, "the transcript is going to be mighty repetitive" | |||
| Genevieve exclaims, "Hahaha!" | |||
| Peregrine says, "gnack gnack gnocchi" | |||
| Peregrine says, "(evil pasta laught)" | |||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Genevieve says, "That's really funny. I was going to try hitting her with a jar of sauce or the bag of gnocchi." | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "remember gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | You focus on the gnocchi and whilst the little, floury balls remain Floyd | the same everything else changes. There is a flush of noise in your Floyd | ears, the cold air pushed away by the warmth from table-top candles. A Floyd | friendly waiter approaches, "Gnocchi for two?" His English is correct Floyd | but with a European slant. You nod. "Prego," you volunteer as he lays Floyd | the plate before you. Clare Prego's too as he presents her plate. He Floyd | asks if you would like a bottle of wine. "Uno vino rose," you reply in Floyd | half-Italian. He scurries away, whilst a smaller waiter hurries to you Floyd | and puts a basket of bread and bread sticks on the table. "Prego," he Floyd | nods as he backs away into the busy restaurant. You take a fork and Floyd | spear a bud of gnocchi, dunking it in the sauce. As you draw it up to Floyd | your mouth your eyes level with Clare's. Floyd | Floyd | You shake your head and are back in the supermarket. Floyd | Floyd | Hmmm. Maybe there was something more important than gnocchi? But it's Floyd | gone now. You take a couple of packets and pile them into the trolley. Floyd | Then with a push of the wrists you move the trolley onwards. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Not the only one... | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "Prego would be a good sauce to buy" | ||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > XYZZY Floyd | Floyd | Maybe years ago when things were more about fun and were less Floyd | real. You've come too far to go back. Floyd | Floyd | > | Peregrine says, "that didn't end the game." | ||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "about" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ABOUT Floyd | Floyd | [Some of the information generated by Help, Author and Credits will Floyd | give a few clues about the game. You might want to play around a bit Floyd | before you read it]. Floyd | Floyd | > | Peregrine exclaims, "This ain't no 1-move game!" | ||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "save" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SAVE Floyd | Floyd | You cannot save. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | Taking everything from your pockets you crouch down and line up your Floyd | possessions on the floor: Floyd | Floyd | Wallet: coins, bank card, store card, bookclub card, photo-- Floyd | Floyd | Each object, representing something else, is like a word. The Floyd | inventory-sentence ends and begins with that photo. An attempt to Floyd | possess Clare in her image, to hold her and to contain her. You Floyd | rearrange the coins in a circle around the photo, a makeshift frame. Floyd | A photo of Clare. If only you could lose those first few Floyd | words: Clare. Then you could hold Clare, possess Clare. She would be Floyd | yours... Floyd | Floyd | With a furtive glance you scoop up your things and return them to your Floyd | pockets. Floyd | Floyd | The photo burns a hole in your pocket, through your heart and to the Floyd | centre of your universe. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Then again... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "x coins" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X COINS Floyd | Floyd | Sorry. You can't use your possessions directly. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "forget Clare" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FORGET CLARE Floyd | Floyd | Forget it. Easy to say. Not as easy to do. Like cleaning shit Floyd | from your shoes it's a nasty business but, eventually, it's gone. Like Floyd | a weight off your shoulders, a clean slate, etc. You feel much better. Floyd | Can't even remember what it was that was bothering you. Shopping--now Floyd | that you do remember. Floyd | Floyd | The squeak of the rubber wheels as you push off and continue shopping, Floyd | that's all you remember. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But then... | zarf says, "I feel bad for retro-Sam, writing all this angst-drama" | ||
| Peregrine says, "there's a lot of angsty IF tbh" | |||
| zarf says, "well, I feel bad for retro-me writing _So Far_, too" | |||
| Genevieve exclaims, "No way, So Far is brilliant!" | |||
| Roger arrives, full of fun and funk. | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to zarf), "yeah, I was thinking the same thing." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "About this and Sam Barlow, not about So Far." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push my trolley into her trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PUSH MY TROLLEY INTO HER TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | You rev your trolley backwards and forwards on its slick casters. Floyd | Then, squinting slightly to check your aim, you push your shoulders Floyd | into it and watch it wheeeeeeeel into the brunette's trolley. Floyd | Floyd | Clash of the metal beasts! Floyd | Floyd | For a second it occurs to you that her trolley, with its greater load, Floyd | might win--but as the trolleys smack together with a steely Floyd | tink you know you've won. A smile emerges as her trolley tips, Floyd | rocks and then falls to its side. Your trolley stands above it, Floyd | shaking from the contact, but still upright. Floyd | Floyd | She turns, shocked by your disruption of her domestic tranquillity. Floyd | You grin, turn and walk to the exit. No-one makes to follow you. This Floyd | surprises you, but perhaps they're learning--no matter how many times Floyd | they lock you up they can't keep a good boy down. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But there are others... | Doug says (to Taleslinger), "assuming you meant to say that on this channel, I've seen that spelling a few times. e.g. Clare Malone from the 538 podcast" | ||
| Taleslinger says, "I did" | |||
| Peregrine says, "Yaaayy" | |||
| Doug says, "if only we had a video database to search for more info about Clare" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "hee" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Wait, is her name Clare too?" | |||
| Peregrine says, "trolley mayhem" | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "punch gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PUNCH GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | The Gnocchi reminds you of Rome. Of Clare. All long in the past and a Floyd | past not to be revisited. You punch the Gnocchi and push the trolley Floyd | on its way, narrowly avoiding the brunette as you briskly move on to Floyd | the next aisle and the next.. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Then again... | Jacqueline says, "Man. This... this is really from another time." | ||
| Genevieve says, "Meaning no disrespect to the author of this game, but I'd take So Far over it any day. :-) This is just... strange." | |||
| Doug says, "I haven't played Her Story but Wikipedia says she's named Hannah" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Ah, right." | |||
| Peregrine asks, "Punching gnocchi?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Doug), "You should play it. It's good." | |||
| Doug says, "Wikipedia also says it's out on Android now so perhaps I should play it finally." | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "hit woman with gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > HIT WOMAN WITH GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | You pick up a packet of the gnocchi and watch it trail through the Floyd | air, bouncing awkwardly off the brunette. Caught unawares, she drops Floyd | the jar she is holding which shatters on the floor, leaving a puddle Floyd | of grainy red. She stares, red-faced, in disbelief. You hear the soft Floyd | crunch of leather boots behind you and turn to face a middle-aged Floyd | security guard. You feint to the left then run to the right, out of Floyd | the exit and to your car. As you pull away with a badly clutched roar, Floyd | you shout out of the window "She had it coming--bitch!" Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But there are others... | Peregrine dies laughing. | ||
| Doug says, "it was pc/mac/ios only last I checked" | |||
| Genevieve exclaims, "ha!" | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to throw), "sauce at woman" | |||
| Genevieve says, "oops" | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "throw sauce at woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > THROW SAUCE AT WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | Something about the way she stands pisses you off; she is so insolent. Floyd | The gnocchi whispers in your ear, "Remember what happened last time? Floyd | Prevention is always better than cure." You walk up and take a jar Floyd | from the shelf. The brunette ignores you. You throw the jar. Floyd | Floyd | It glances off her with a glass-bone-skin sort of crack, and she falls Floyd | to the floor limply. You look over her; sauce runs down her face. No; Floyd | not just sauce--a thin stream of blood is entwined in the onion and Floyd | tomato. You start to run towards the exit, but just before you get Floyd | there you feel the air knocked out of you as a heavy thump knocks you Floyd | from the side and you are tackled to the ground. Floyd | Floyd | This time the judge rules in society's best interest rather than in Floyd | yours. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. But there are others... | Peregrine says, "Eeeeagh." | ||
| Peregrine exclaims (at Genevieve), "Murder!" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "remember clare" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER CLARE Floyd | Floyd | Clare. Floyd | Floyd | You stare at the Gnocchi and it opens up to you; years ago, a holiday Floyd | to Rome (a romantic holiday). Two lovers (young)--yourself and Clare. Floyd | Culture, food, sun. Then something happened. And Clare was Floyd | gone. Floyd | Floyd | You had thought it best not to remember but perhaps remembering is Floyd | good. Floyd | Floyd | You forget the shopping and go home, to think. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But then... | Peregrine says, "Not as fun as the gratuitous violence." | ||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > Floyd | Floyd | Say something, dammit. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "remember brunette" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER BRUNETTE Floyd | Floyd | Clare. Floyd | Floyd | You stare at the Gnocchi and it opens up to you; years ago, a holiday Floyd | to Rome (a romantic holiday). Two lovers (young)--yourself and Clare. Floyd | Culture, food, sun. Then something happened. And Clare was Floyd | gone. Floyd | Floyd | You had thought it best not to remember but perhaps remembering is Floyd | good. Floyd | Floyd | You forget the shopping and go home, to think. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But then... | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "ask woman about name" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT NAME Floyd | Floyd | Tall, slim. Dark haired. You walk up to her and introduce yourself. Floyd | Then you continue, "Now I'm at a disadvantage--you know my name, but I Floyd | don't know yours..." She smiles, "I'm Clare" (she doesn't say whether Floyd | it's with an 'i' or not, we'll just assume). In a whipcrack chain of Floyd | rather bizarre events, you end up in the supermarket cafe surrounded Floyd | by a pile of shopping bags. You sit across the tiny table from each Floyd | other, sipping on your coffee and chatting. Even more bizarre is the Floyd | fact that you get on. Fabulously. Floyd | Floyd | She leaves her bags in her car, storing the frozen stuff in your Floyd | freezer. In the morning you lend her a shirt... All these domestic Floyd | touches can only bode well for the future. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Not the only one... | Peregrine asks, "Happy ending?" | ||
| Genevieve exclaims, "Aww, that was cool!" | |||
| Doug says, "whoa" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Little does she know we considered murdering her." | |||
| Peregrine says, "har har har" | |||
| Peregrine says, "Seriously, I don't see how we get a happier ending than this." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "True." | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "buy macaroni" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > BUY MACARONI Floyd | Floyd | Nope; Gnocchi is not on the list. You grab some macaroni and move on. Floyd | The brunette glances up as you wheel by. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But then... | Doug asks, "Is she the same Clare?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "ha" | |||
| Peregrine says, "well, it's not always the same guy" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Doug), "I don't think so. Just a really, really bizarre coincidence." | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "steal sauces" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > STEAL SAUCES Floyd | Floyd | No. You don't want to steal anything. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says (to Peregrine), "it's not? whoa" | ||
| Peregrine says, "Woot." | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about Clare" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT CLARE Floyd | Floyd | "Excuse me." The brunette turns, gives you a nod. You explain, Floyd | briefly, the story of you and Clare. Amazingly, she listens. When you Floyd | finish you ask "Where did I go wrong?" Floyd | Floyd | She looks apologetic, "I'm sorry, I can't answer that. But it doesn't Floyd | sound like anyone was to blame. Sometimes people just grow apart..." Floyd | "Thanks." You walk away. Floyd | Floyd | That's the answer you were looking for. If only you had told her the Floyd | real story. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Not the only one... | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "confess" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CONFESS Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "tell woman the real story" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TELL WOMAN THE REAL STORY Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "tell woman about murder" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TELL WOMAN ABOUT MURDER Floyd | Floyd | You scurry up to the brunette. "Excuse me--I probably ought to tell Floyd | you this, now rather than later", she looks confused and you continue, Floyd | "but I am a murderer. All very complicated complicated stuff--but Floyd | basically I killed my girlfriend (my lover) and well I am over it now Floyd | so there is no problem there but like I said just thought I would Floyd | say.." Floyd | Floyd | With that off your chest you continue on your shop. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But then... | Doug says, "whoa" | ||
| Peregrine says, "That's what I thought." | |||
| Peregrine says, "That's the REAL story" | |||
| Genevieve says, "Nice! I wouldn't have thought of that." | |||
| Peregrine accepts the praise humbly. | |||
| Doug asks, "is that a spoiler?" | |||
| Peregrine says, "nope, I didn't know it'd work" | |||
| Peregrine says, "just a hunch" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "remember prego" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER PREGO Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember her. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "buy prego" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > BUY PREGO Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "tell woman about prego" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TELL WOMAN ABOUT PREGO Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "remember what happened" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember her. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "tell woman about gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TELL WOMAN ABOUT GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | You pick up the gnocchi and walk over to the brunette. "Look... Floyd | gnocchi!" She looks bemused, a little embarrassed. "We had gnocchi on Floyd | our last night together." She smiles, blushing, and moves her trolley Floyd | to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Perhaps you were too forward. Perhaps you missed your chance all those Floyd | years ago. It is all so difficult. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Not the only one... | Jacqueline says, "Golly." | ||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Peregrine says, "terrible pickup line" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "remember pregnancy" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER PREGNANCY Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember her. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Peregrine), "hee" | ||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "impregnate" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > IMPREGNATE Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "remember baby" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER BABY Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember her. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "kiss woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > KISS WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You walk briskly up to the brunette. As you lean over her she turns Floyd | and gives a puzzled look. You force your mouth onto hers and reach out Floyd | hotly for her. She pushes you off--you slip to the floor and she runs Floyd | to the checkouts. A bulky security man pulls you to your feet and Floyd | escorts you from the store. Floyd | Floyd | Falling to the pavement outside, you stop yourself with outstretched Floyd | hand, landing near a dirty puddle left by the recent rain. Your old Floyd | old face stares up at you--how long was it since you kissed those Floyd | lips? How long since you kissed? Too long? Too late. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But then... | Jacqueline says, "I'm glad we're playing this, particularly as I just realized I have to be somewhere in half an hour." | ||
| Peregrine exclaims, "no puzzles!" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "But I also am embarrassed that I'd never actually played this." | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Peregrine says, "Neither have I." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss security" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > KISS SECURITY Floyd | Floyd | You saw them when you came in, but you can't see any around right now. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "now you've played it more than you've played any game" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb shelves" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CLIMB SHELVES Floyd | Floyd | You stare at the Gnocchi. You remember the Trevi Fountain in Rome. How Floyd | you and Clare sat and bathed your feet in it on the first day. And how Floyd | you would continually lose yourselves trying to find some other Floyd | monument, only to turn a corner and be back at the fountain Floyd | again. Floyd | Floyd | You remember the day after Clare had gone, you returned to the Floyd | fountain. Drunk, you climbed the fountain and screamed. The police Floyd | pulled you down and sobered you up. Floyd | Floyd | Grabbing onto the shelves you hitch yourself up, setting off a Floyd | mini-avalanche of pasta. Upon reaching the top of the shelves you can Floyd | see the whole store. People stare at you. They think it's you Floyd | that is mad. Fuckers. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. Then again... | Genevieve says, "I have to confess it's sort of grown on me, so I'm glad, too." | ||
| Peregrine says, "What's nice is the spirit of anarchy, the feeling that at this point you can do pretty much whatever comes to mind without restraint" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember murder" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER MURDER Floyd | Floyd | The one thing you didn't want to remember. A bloody smile Floyd | drawn across the aisle, Gnocchi for teeth--punch them all out--A red, Floyd | red smile--brighter than any lipstick--but wait--she speaks. No; she Floyd | does not. The smile drips, runs into the carpet and blushes into a Floyd | crimson flower. Purple bruises. Colourful scene don't you think? Of Floyd | course it's all in the past now. And they said you were over it. Floyd | Floyd | A bright red smile opens and devours you whole. Everything goes black. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Then again... | Jacqueline says, "Which was particularly embarrassing a few years ago when I was at the London IF meetup and one turn games came up and I didn't realize that one of the people in the group talking about it *was* Sam Barlow and I made some silly comment that made it clear I didn't realize and there was awkward laughter and that's how I met Sam Barlow." | ||
| Doug says, "ew" | |||
| DavidW says, "wow. I never saw that response." | |||
| Doug says, "I meant ew to that response, not to Jacq's meet cute" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "hee" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I figured." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "And wow, this is so much darker than I originally thought, and I originally thought it was somewhat dark and mopey. Little did I know." | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "remember carpet" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER CARPET Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sing" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SING Floyd | Floyd | Sing a sad song... You start off singing softly to yourself; what must Floyd | appear to be but a mumble to the other shoppers. But then you slowly Floyd | get louder and louder until everyone in the shop is glancing nervously Floyd | at you. It seems the more you sing the more uncomfortable everyone Floyd | gets. You stop, chuckle. Then continue with your shopping; the aisles Floyd | seem more empty somehow. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Then again... | Doug says, "I met Sam Barlow at a gathering at Jim Munroe's house after a different WordPlay. I think I knew who he was beforehand though" | ||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "remember smile" | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "remember smile" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER SMILE Floyd | Floyd | The one thing you didn't want to remember. A bloody smile Floyd | drawn across the aisle, Gnocchi for teeth--punch them all out--A red, Floyd | red smile--brighter than any lipstick--but wait--she speaks. No; she Floyd | does not. The smile drips, runs into the carpet and blushes into a Floyd | crimson flower. Purple bruises. Colourful scene don't you think? Of Floyd | course it's all in the past now. And they said you were over it. Floyd | Floyd | A bright red smile opens and devours you whole. Everything goes black. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But there are others... | Roger says, "AAAAAVVEEEEEE MAAARIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAaaaaaaa" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | |||
| Peregrine says, "snort" | |||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "laugh" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > LAUGH Floyd | Floyd | You allow yourself a laugh--memories of holiday float up and tickle Floyd | your cheeks. The two guitarists singing in pigeon-English by your Floyd | table as you finished off your gnocchi. Clare thought they were quite Floyd | good. But, for you, they were too close to embarrassing. And the Floyd | bric-a-brac sellers with their lighters (naked statues--you push the Floyd | nipple to light up) and brass colloseums. Not like in the films, Floyd | really--but then real romance often isn't, right? I mean, there was Floyd | the evening when you ate on the street where they filmed the Dolce Floyd | Vita. You spent the meal being distracted by a beggar who was doing a Floyd | mime-swim across the pavement. Real romance makes you laugh. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Not the only one... | zarf says, "I met him at Indiecade a couple of years ago" | ||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "kill trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > KILL TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley) Floyd | You look into the trolley; meals for one, toiletries for Floyd | one--everything for one. You kick out at the trolley and push Floyd | it to the side. Turning on a heel you head out into the night. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Not the only one... | zarf says, "also Cat Manning. Who is much shorter." | ||
| Peregrine exclaims, "Death to Trolleys! Death!" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I was kind of hoping for crazed, maniacal laughter a second ago. Darn" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "get in my trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > GET IN MY TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | Remember when you would sit in the front of the trolley and your mum Floyd | would push you around. You'd drag bright packages off the shelves and Floyd | cause havoc. But she still loved you. You didn't even do anything Floyd | wrong with Clare. Floyd | Floyd | You climb into the trolley and sit down, your shopping crunching Floyd | beneath you. You push off against the shelves and roll a little way. Floyd | But then the trolley shakes and turns onto its side. The shopping Floyd | falls over you and fuck your leg really hurts. You stumble to Floyd | your feet and curse, limping out of the store into the night. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. And yet... | Genevieve laughs. | ||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "put woman in trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PUT WOMAN IN TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley) Floyd | You need to be holding the brunette before you can put her into Floyd | something else. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, ""pigeon-English"? kind of ironic to misspell "pidgin"" | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "seduce woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SEDUCE WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "take woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You walk briskly up to the brunette. As you lean over her she turns Floyd | and gives a puzzled look. You force your mouth onto hers and reach out Floyd | hotly for her. She pushes you off--you slip to the floor and she runs Floyd | to the checkouts. A bulky security man pulls you to your feet and Floyd | escorts you from the store. Floyd | Floyd | Falling to the pavement outside, you stop yourself with outstretched Floyd | hand, landing near a dirty puddle left by the recent rain. Your old Floyd | old face stares up at you--how long was it since you kissed those Floyd | lips? How long since you kissed? Too long? Too late. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Then again... | Peregrine says, "not in that sense of the word, you fool" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Escorts you from the store. After you assaulted someone. Nice." | |||
| Genevieve exclaims, "Haha!" | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "kill macaroni" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > KILL MACARONI Floyd | Floyd | Maybe if you had ordered macaroni rather than gnocchi on that last Floyd | night she wouldn't have left you. But you couldn't have helped that, Floyd | really. I mean, you don't even like macaroni. So it's not your fault. Floyd | If you don't like macaroni she couldn't have expected you to order it. Floyd | So who's fault is it? Not hers--you both agreed it was no one's fault; Floyd | people fall out of love. No, not anyone's fault. Something's fault. Floyd | Pasta. How stupid does that sound? The macaroni's fault. Floyd | Stupid but true. Floyd | Floyd | You rake a shelf of the bags onto the floor; long packets of Floyd | spaghetti, small papery bags of macaroni, big sacks of penne. As they Floyd | hit the floor you stamp. The bags split like bruised fruit and Floyd | spill their contents across the floor. The shells hop and skid as you Floyd | crack and squash them under your feet. The brunette turns, a worried Floyd | glance back, and then scurries on. You kick a few stray bows after Floyd | her, scattering nearby twirls. Floyd | Floyd | Inevitably the guards appear. You let them take you, explaining that Floyd | you aren't mad--you can imagine a lot of men in your position would Floyd | be, but you are quite sane. You've never done this kind of thing Floyd | before. You really are sorry. You'll pay for the cost, and the mess. Floyd | If it helps you'll apologise to the brunette. Wait... they're not Floyd | listening. Floyd | Floyd | You end up speaking to a balding man who is really very Floyd | intellectual--you know the sort--and he agrees, you are very sane. He Floyd | agrees, love is a dangerous thing. It burns just as many as it warms. Floyd | He agrees. Tired of his stating the obvious, you stop listening. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. And yet... | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "jump" | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with | Jacqueline says, "WHOA" | ||
Floyd | sauces.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "jump" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > JUMP Floyd | Floyd | Staring at the gnocchi you feel a memory slowly, awkwardly, awfully Floyd | rise to the surface. Floyd | Floyd | --The scooter driver looks surprised. You grab for Clare and jump to Floyd | the side--bounce across the road, scrape your head-- Floyd | Floyd | Scuffed and light headed you open your eyes... your hands are Floyd | empty--Clare is a few metres away, lying awkwardly. Splattered with a Floyd | thin red liquid, reflecting the scooter's bright red paintwork. Floyd | Floyd | The scooter skids--you jump. You are in the supermarket. Your hands Floyd | are empty, sweaty. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Then again... | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "kill macaroni" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > KILL MACARONI Floyd | Floyd | Maybe if you had ordered macaroni rather than gnocchi on that last Floyd | night she wouldn't have left you. But you couldn't have helped that, Floyd | really. I mean, you don't even like macaroni. So it's not your fault. Floyd | If you don't like macaroni she couldn't have expected you to order it. Floyd | So who's fault is it? Not hers--you both agreed it was no one's fault; Floyd | people fall out of love. No, not anyone's fault. Something's fault. Floyd | Pasta. How stupid does that sound? The macaroni's fault. Floyd | Stupid but true. Floyd | Floyd | You rake a shelf of the bags onto the floor; long packets of Floyd | spaghetti, small papery bags of macaroni, big sacks of penne. As they Floyd | hit the floor you stamp. The bags split like bruised fruit and Floyd | spill their contents across the floor. The shells hop and skid as you Floyd | crack and squash them under your feet. The brunette turns, a worried Floyd | glance back, and then scurries on. You kick a few stray bows after Floyd | her, scattering nearby twirls. Floyd | Floyd | Inevitably the guards appear. You let them take you, explaining that Floyd | you aren't mad--you can imagine a lot of men in your position would Floyd | be, but you are quite sane. You've never done this kind of thing Floyd | before. You really are sorry. You'll pay for the cost, and the mess. Floyd | If it helps you'll apologise to the brunette. Wait... they're not Floyd | listening. Floyd | Floyd | You end up speaking to a balding man who is really very Floyd | intellectual--you know the sort--and he agrees, you are very sane. He Floyd | agrees, love is a dangerous thing. It burns just as many as it warms. Floyd | He agrees. Tired of his stating the obvious, you stop listening. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. But there are others... | Peregrine says, "that was a text dump" | ||
| Genevieve says, "Now who couldn't like macaroni? No wonder he's insane. :-P" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I am now wondering if there are 69,105 pieces of macaroni." | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > Floyd | Floyd | Say something, dammit. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "count macaroni" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > COUNT MACARONI Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Taleslinger goes to commerical. | |||
| Taleslinger has disconnected. | Peregrine says, "pah" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Darn" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search pasta" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SEARCH PASTA Floyd | Floyd | There won't be much to find there. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "call it macaroni" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CALL IT MACARONI Floyd | Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to call the macaroni. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search her trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SEARCH HER TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | You glance over at the brunette's trolley. It is almost full--a Floyd | cursory survey shows it to be mostly full of fresh produce and healthy Floyd | food. The quantities suggest to you that, like yourself, she is Floyd | cooking for one. Her choices though, seem to show a genuine love of Floyd | food. Eating for her is not a burden. You almost feel humbled as you Floyd | continue filling your trolley with the kind of easy, dull food that Floyd | you have become accustomed to. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Not the only one... | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "search woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SEARCH WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You stare at the woman. She is about your height, maybe even a little Floyd | taller. And beautiful too, with superb hair. Strange; you haven't Floyd | thought that about a woman for a while. Not since Rome. Floyd | Floyd | You continue to stare at her. You wonder if she is called Clare. Floyd | Floyd | Then she moves on to the next aisle. You grab a bag of Floyd | pasta--penne--and carry on with your shopping. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But there are others... | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "call clare" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CALL CLARE Floyd | Floyd | You lean round the end of the aisle, "Clare?" Again, louder: "Clare?" Floyd | She walks into the aisle, "Yeah?" You take her hand and walk her along Floyd | to the gnocchi, "Look, gnocchi, like in Rome--I've never seen it in Floyd | the shops before." She picks up a packet and drops it in the trolley. Floyd | "Get some for tea then?" she offers, pecking you on the lips. Floyd | Floyd | You have some for tea and it's like Rome, except: it's colder, you Floyd | have work tomorrow and you're even more in love than you were Floyd | then. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But there are others... | Doug says, "whoa" | ||
| Peregrine says, "I was wrong. A happier ending does exist." | |||
| Peregrine says, "well done Doug" | |||
| DavidW says, "Clare exists and doesn't exist in superimposition." | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "find clare" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FIND CLARE Floyd | Floyd | You scoot round the corner of the aisle. Sure enough there she is, Floyd | looking through the magazines. You pull up behind her and slide and Floyd | arm round her waist. She laughs, "Get off! We're in public." You pull Floyd | out a packet of gnocchi from behind your back, "Look what I found." Floyd | She smiles, "Gnocchi? Like in Rome. How sweet!" Then she starts to Floyd | walk off, "Come on, we've got to be out at eight and we've still all Floyd | the shopping to get done, and tea to cook!" Floyd | Floyd | You turn the trolley and catch up with her. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Not the only one... | Peregrine says, "it's a quantum game" | ||
| Genevieve says, "Nice going, Doug." | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask clare about tea" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK CLARE ABOUT TEA Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "leave clare" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > LEAVE CLARE Floyd | Floyd | You can't see Clare. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "hit shelves" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > HIT SHELVES Floyd | Floyd | Shelves. Like little prisons. Tempting you with their goods. Floyd | Bastard shelves. You grab hold of a shelf and pull it off the Floyd | backboard, shedding its contents across the floor. You tug at the Floyd | backboard itself and the whole unit falls down, crashing and spilling. Floyd | Floyd | Two security guards come running up the aisle and grab you, pushing Floyd | your arm into your back. Floyd | Floyd | The police come and it's the usual cycle of recrimination, them Floyd | telling you what is wrong with you. How do they know? They Floyd | don't know what it was like. Floyd | Floyd | You miss another ten years. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Not the only one... | Genevieve laughs. | ||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember prison" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER PRISON Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Peregrine says, "A sensational career of crime." | ||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "remember jail" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER JAIL Floyd | Floyd | You look down the aisle and imagine it empty, smaller and with doors Floyd | at either end. Floyd | Floyd | Remember the institution? Floyd | Floyd | They taught you to think differently. They told you that you had Floyd | forgotten--but the red smile still haunts you. What they really made Floyd | you forget was the guilt... that was what hurt the most. She made you Floyd | feel guilty in her life and her death. But you forgot that. Floyd | Floyd | You'll never forget the smile; the smiles you gave her. Bloody lips Floyd | all over her body. Floyd | Floyd | But that doesn't bother you, much... On with the shopping! Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But then... | Doug says, "oh!" | ||
| DavidW says, "oh geez" | |||
| Doug says (to Peregrine), "thanks" | |||
| Peregrine says, "no problem, doug" | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Genevieve says, "Ugh, that's rather disturbing." | ||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "kill clare" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > KILL CLARE Floyd | Floyd | You can't see Clare. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE ALL Floyd | Floyd | You can't use 'all' in this game. Refer to individual items. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pray" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PRAY Floyd | Floyd | You've prayed before--to no avail. But again you drop to one knee and Floyd | close your eyes. Floyd | Floyd | "Please God. Please God. Please God. Please.." Floyd | Floyd | You stop--you know there is no point. You have sinned. You have been Floyd | sinned against. It is too late. Best just go home and await judgement. Floyd | Which you do. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. But there are others... | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "lick gnocchi" | Jacqueline says, "Yes. This is indeed reall disturbing. Well done, Sam." | ||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "lick gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > LICK GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "And here I thought this game was well known for just the technique." | ||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remove clothes" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMOVE CLOTHES Floyd | Floyd | Now what she doesn't realise (and a lot of people don't realise this) Floyd | is that you look bloody good for your age. Anyone can look good in a Floyd | shirt and trousers. But you actually look good. Especially Floyd | for your age. You pull your jumper over your head and throw it to the Floyd | floor. A few tugs and your shirt crumples around your feet. You kick Floyd | off your shoes and bend down to remove your socks. You look up to see Floyd | the brunette, shocked and intrigued. With a deft flick your belt Floyd | snakes out of the hooks on your trousers. Your trousers fall and you Floyd | stand, pink and hairy in the middle of the aisle. The brunette puts a Floyd | hand to her mouth. Floyd | Floyd | You take a hand to your balls, cupping them and displaying your penis. Floyd | "Pretty good, eh? For my age?" You perform a little twirl, "You Floyd | wouldn't give up on this would you?" The squeak of shoes behind you Floyd | makes you turn to see several security guards coming at you from the Floyd | direction of the checkouts. You stand your ground. As the men circle Floyd | you they grab you reluctantly, careful where to put their hands. One Floyd | of them scoops your clothes up and forces you into your trousers. Floyd | "Stupid old perv," offers the fattest of the guards, avoiding your Floyd | eyes. They drag you to the front of the shop (the police are on the Floyd | way, you are informed). As they take you past the queues at the Floyd | checkout you turn to confront your audience, "You want some? You all Floyd | do!" Catching a glimpse of your reflection in the automatic doors you Floyd | smile--you'll never lose your smile. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But there are others... | Jacqueline says, "Oh of course." | ||
| Doug says, "I'm so sorry." | |||
| Peregrine says, "Striptease in IF? What a scandal." | |||
| Peregrine says, "Tut tut tut" | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "remove woman's clothes" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMOVE WOMAN'S CLOTHES Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve And that's... even more disturbing. Heh. | Doug says, "she's already naked!" | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Doug), "Thanks. We're all even more scarred now." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Doug), "ha" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x markers" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X MARKERS Floyd | Floyd | Each aisle has its marker, hanging above it on a long rail. You look Floyd | at the sections; dairy, bread, meat, fish, sweets, alcohol, Floyd | toiletries, frozen. Hard to decide which aisle you belong in. Before Floyd | you met Clare you were meat. Raw, unfocused, a bit simple. With her Floyd | you were promoted to a more civilised taste; sweets, alcohol. You were Floyd | intoxicated, she was sweet. Meat was always wrapped in a puff pastry, Floyd | or swamped in a pasta sauce. Never crude, raw, bloody... Now--well, Floyd | now you're back to meat again. Except this time, you're frozen. If Floyd | someone hit you hard enough you'd smash into hundreds of icy pieces. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. Not the only one... | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "hit me" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > HIT ME Floyd | Floyd | You look at the gnocchi--Looks the same as the gnocchi that you and Floyd | Clare had the night before she left you. Rome; the most romantic city Floyd | in the world and she left you there. Why? Who? Why? You ask Floyd | yourself the questions with your fists. You tear out your hair and Floyd | punch your face. You run out of the store and drive home. Floyd | Floyd | Later you lie in bed, questions tattooed across your body in Floyd | bruises--no answers, just pain. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Then again... | Peregrine says, "ouch" | ||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember mother" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER MOTHER Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember yourself.. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "uhh" | ||
| Peregrine asks, "I'm my mother? WTF happened in this family?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "call mother" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CALL MOTHER Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyod), "kill me" | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember father" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER FATHER Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember yourself.. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "kill me" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > KILL ME Floyd | Floyd | You look at the gnocchi--Looks the same as the gnocchi that you and Floyd | Clare had the night before she left you. Rome; the most romantic city Floyd | in the world and she left you there. Why? Who? Why? You ask Floyd | yourself the questions with your fists. You tear out your hair and Floyd | punch your face. You run out of the store and drive home. Floyd | | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "phone mother" | |||
Floyd | Later you lie in bed, questions tattooed across your body in
Floyd | bruises--no answers, just pain.
Floyd |
Floyd | ----------
Floyd |
Floyd | Another story over. But there are others...
| |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "look up" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK UP Floyd | Floyd | Sorry, that verb is not implemented. Floyd | Floyd | > | Genevieve says, "Meh. Sorry. Was hoping I'd get a different response there." | ||
| Peregrine says, "No actual suicide allowed. Rule 23 of the Interactive Fiction Code of Conduct." | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "x ceiling" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X CEILING Floyd | Floyd | There is nothing special about the ceiling. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "x floor" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X FLOOR Floyd | Floyd | There is nothing special about the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "punch ceiling" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PUNCH CEILING Floyd | Floyd | You can't reach. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "punch floor" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PUNCH FLOOR Floyd | Floyd | There seems little point in attacking that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "steal macaroni" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > STEAL MACARONI Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "whoa" | ||
| Peregrine asks, "no response?" | |||
| DavidW says, "oopsie" | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "steal gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > STEAL GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | No. You don't want to steal anything. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "steal a kiss" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > STEAL A KISS Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "eat macaroni" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > EAT MACARONI Floyd | Floyd | The pasta is a seething mass of off-white food. You tear at the Floyd | plastic bags until the curls and tubes and twists and shells cascade Floyd | onto the floor and into your hands. Scooping up a collection of Floyd | different shapes you cram the pasta into your mouth. It is dry, it is Floyd | hard. That's what your body is saying. But you learnt something a Floyd | while back--that your body (your eyes, your hands, your Floyd | heart) isn't always right. No, you've learnt to listen to Floyd | your mind. And your minds says: soft, warm, slightly salty pasta. Floyd | Tangy sauce. What a feast! Floyd | Floyd | They spoil your fun, they take you away--or so your body says. Your Floyd | mind knows better; you're still in Rome eating pasta, drinking Floyd | wine--everything is fine. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. And yet... | Peregrine says, "The PC is out of his mind." | ||
| Doug says, "what a feast!" | |||
| Genevieve says, "Um, yes." | |||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "throw gnocchi at woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > THROW GNOCCHI AT WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You pick up a packet of the gnocchi and watch it trail through the Floyd | air, bouncing awkwardly off the brunette. Caught unawares, she drops | Doug says, "the PC is out of *our* minds." | ||
Floyd | the jar she is holding which shatters on the floor, leaving a puddle
Floyd | of grainy red. She stares, red-faced, in disbelief. You hear the soft
Floyd | crunch of leather boots behind you and turn to face a middle-aged
Floyd | security guard. You feint to the left then run to the right, out of
Floyd | the exit and to your car. As you pull away with a badly clutched roar,
Floyd | you shout out of the window "She had it coming--bitch!"
Floyd |
Floyd | ----------
Floyd |
Floyd | One more story over. But there are others...
| Peregrine says, "oops, already tried that" | ||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "go to next aisle" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > GO TO NEXT AISLE Floyd | Floyd | Nope--Gnocchi is not on the list. You push the trolley forwards, Floyd | moving round the brunette and continue your shop. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Not the only one... | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "throw macaroni at woman" | Doug says, "sorry" | ||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "throw macaroni at woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > THROW MACARONI AT WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You pick up a packet of the macaroni and watch it trail through the Floyd | air, bouncing awkwardly off the brunette. Caught unawares, she drops Floyd | the jar she is holding which shatters on the floor, leaving a puddle Floyd | of grainy red. She stares, red-faced, in disbelief. You hear the soft Floyd | crunch of leather boots behind you and turn to face a middle-aged Floyd | security guard. You feint to the left then run to the right, out of Floyd | the exit and to your car. As you pull away with a badly clutched roar, Floyd | you shout out of the window "She had it coming--bitch!" Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. Not the only one... | Doug says, "we need an auto-spacer" | ||
| Peregrine says, "No difference. Bah." | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "show macaroni to woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SHOW MACARONI TO WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | I can't see the point of showing that to her. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "show me to woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SHOW ME TO WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | I can't see the point of showing that to her. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "throw trolley at woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > THROW TROLLEY AT WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley at the brunette) Floyd | You pull the trolley back a few inches then run it forward, releasing Floyd | your hands and watching it whirr towards the woman. She stands Floyd | oblivious to the trolley. Floyd | Floyd | At the last moment it curls to the left and impacts with the shelves, Floyd | sliding into the women's calf. She lets out a yelp and jumps back, Floyd | falling to the floor. Jars of sauce cascade down from the shelves, Floyd | littering the aisle with glassy, red splotches. Floyd | Floyd | The woman gets to her feet, her hand going to her leg which is Floyd | bleeding. Kind of reminds you of something, but you don't feel guilty! Floyd | Uh-uh. You run out to the exit, dodging past the overweight security Floyd | guard, and jump into your car. Hitting the gas you squeal out into the Floyd | night, a faint remembrance sliding in through the window "Shame she Floyd | had to bleed so much, but that's what happens when you take Floyd | liberties.." Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Not the only one... | Peregrine says, "I feel less and less sympathy for the PC." | ||
| Roger says, "the perfect crime" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Roger), "heh" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read list" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > READ LIST Floyd | Floyd | (in your trolley) Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in your trolley. Floyd | Floyd | > | Genevieve says, "Yeah, because there would have been no video surveillance at that time." | ||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "eat trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > EAT TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley) Floyd | I can't see why you would want to eat that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "eat woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > EAT WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You can't eat her. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "fly" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FLY Floyd | Floyd | You cannot fly. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "swim" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SWIM Floyd | Floyd | You can't swim here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Peregrine says, "Okay, the PC may be a murderer but he's no cannibal. Phew." | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "die" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > DIE Floyd | Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit? | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "dance" | |||
Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?
Floyd | > DANCE
Floyd |
Floyd | Please answer yes or no.>
| |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" | |||
Floyd | Please answer yes or no.> Floyd | > NO Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "dance" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > DANCE Floyd | Floyd | Dance? You put a spring into your step and hop to the slow swing of Floyd | the Muzak. You're in a surprisingly jovial mood... But you do stop Floyd | yourself before you make a scene... Thinking back it was probably her, Floyd | Clare, who made you care less what people think--I mean what is wrong Floyd | with a little dance if you feel like it? That's one of the things Floyd | you'll remember her for. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. But then... | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Genevieve says, "Didn't realize "die" would be synonymous with "quit"." | ||
| Peregrine says, "Okay, so 3 PCs so far. The happy one, the mad one and the murderous one." | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "eat sauce" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > EAT SAUCE Floyd | Floyd | I can't see why you would want to eat that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "eat trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > EAT TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley) Floyd | I can't see why you would want to eat that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Peregrine says, "industrial stuff sucks heh" | ||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "hit me with trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > HIT ME WITH TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley) Floyd | Yourself? That doesn't make sense. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "hit trolley with me" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > HIT TROLLEY WITH ME Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley with yourself) Floyd | Futile. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "There's north and south." | ||
| Doug says, "also the slightly melancholy one" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Nope--Gnocchi is not on the list. You push the trolley forwards, Floyd | moving round the brunette and continue your shop. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. But there are others... | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "hit trolley with gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > HIT TROLLEY WITH GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley with the gnocchi) Floyd | Futile. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Nope--Gnocchi is not on the list. You turn the trolley round and head Floyd | back to the previous aisle. You're sure you forgot something? Floyd | Floyd | Whatever it was you can't remember and you scoot back to the pasta Floyd | aisle. The brunette has gone and the aisle is empty. You grab some Floyd | cheap pasta and carry on shopping. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Not the only one... | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "win" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > WIN Floyd | Floyd | Sorry, you can't win this story. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shapes" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X SHAPES Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "ask woman about life" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT LIFE Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "hit supermarket" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > HIT SUPERMARKET Floyd | Floyd | You can't take on the whole shop, try being more specific. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "ask woman about death" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT DEATH Floyd | Floyd | There is nothing you want to ask about that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You walk over to the sauces. You clear your throat. Floyd | Floyd | Shit, how long has it been? Floyd | Floyd | You begin, "Hi. Hello?" She looks at you, then turns with an "Er. Hi," Floyd | hoping you will go away. Floyd | Floyd | So hard, almost like a different species. Floyd | Floyd | You continue, "How are you?" Again she is dismissive, "Sorry, do I Floyd | know you?" Floyd | Floyd | Why start again now? Floyd | Floyd | "No. No. I just wondered--Oh never mind." You turn and walk back to Floyd | your trolley. Floyd | Floyd | You hear her scurrying on to the next aisle and wait for her to get Floyd | ahead before you continue. So long since you spoke to a woman. Since Floyd | you spoke to anyone. You push the trolley on. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But there are others... | Peregrine says, "Will be off to bed soon." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "The scary part is, there are people like this out in the world." | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wake up" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > WAKE UP Floyd | Floyd | You are already fully awake. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sleep" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SLEEP Floyd | Floyd | You pick up a bag of gnocchi and turn it over. The doughy balls weigh Floyd | heavily in your hands and tiredness seeps up your spine, casting a Floyd | blanket over your brain. Your eyelids sink and your head lolls. It's Floyd | time for sleep. Floyd | Floyd | In the grey dusk twilight between sleep and consciousness images float Floyd | across your eyes; gnocchi, women, a woman, statues, a slow motion Floyd | crash of flesh on scooter. Your head jumps with a start. The veil is Floyd | lifted. You're hunched over your trolley in the supermarket aisle, Floyd | your cheek hot where it has been resting on your arm. Floyd | Floyd | You really need to get some sleep but it's so hard to sleep with the Floyd | dreams (the doctor said it would help to call them 'dreams' not Floyd | 'nightmares'). Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. And yet... | Jacqueline says (to Peregrine), "Yeah, I have to go in a second too." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm really glad we played this." | |||
| Peregrine says, "Me too. Thanks guys" | |||
| Peregrine says, "and girls" | |||
| Genevieve says, "It was pretty fun, I must say." | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push pasta" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PUSH PASTA Floyd | Floyd | You are unable to. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "get in her trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > GET IN HER TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | You run up alongside the brunette and leap onto the trolley. She jumps Floyd | into the shelves, shocked. The trolley skids, spinning round and out Floyd | of the aisle. As it turns, the wheels lock and it turns onto its side, Floyd | pulling you over with it. You hit the floor with a jolt, pain shooting Floyd | up your elbow. Floyd | Floyd | You climb to your feet, the brunette running over to you. Her shock Floyd | has turned to anger and she looks at you, red faced, and with piercing Floyd | eyes--"What the hell were you doing?" She raises a hand and you block Floyd | as she slaps at you. With your hands above your head, you are chased Floyd | out of the supermarket by the angry stranger. Floyd | Floyd | Once you are outside she withdraws back into the warmth, a few choice Floyd | phrases fired out as she goes. You cower for a while then trudge over Floyd | to your car. As you are pulling out onto the main road a couple of Floyd | security guards come running up to you. You leave them standing on the Floyd | pavement as you pull out quickly and speed off into the night. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. Then again... | Peregrine says, "Nutter." | ||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > Floyd | > Floyd | Floyd | Say something, dammit. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "take her trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE HER TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | You jog up to the trolley and grab onto it with a hand. Putting a foot Floyd | on the back wheels you pull it over--the contents bounce across the Floyd | aisle, the metal crash of the trolley resounding round the aisle-- Floyd | Floyd | The brunette spins round, "Shit!" You give her a menacing glare--"You Floyd | don't need all that food! Where you're going--" A crushing blow from Floyd | behind knocks the words out of your mouth. You fall to the floor, Floyd | landing sharply on the contents of the brunette's trolley. A man Floyd | stands over you. He has an arm round the woman, "You alright, Kate?" Floyd | She nods. Floyd | Floyd | The man offers you a hand and pulls you up. When you are on your feet Floyd | he releases your hand and steps back. Before you get a chance to Floyd | dodge, his fist smacks into your face-- Floyd | Floyd | Under the advice of a lawyer you decide not to prosecute; apparently Floyd | it might require you to undergo another psychiatric evaluation. Floyd | Probably best--just let it go. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Not the only one... | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember statues" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER STATUES Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember statue" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER STATUE Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember scooter" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER SCOOTER Floyd | Floyd | The accident. You had joked about the traffic, over the previous days. Floyd | There is something about scooters and Italians that is comical. But Floyd | the thin veneer of blood soon takes that away. You can't remember much Floyd | more than the skid, the collision and the shock. Friends and relatives Floyd | organised everything--getting the body flown over, the police, the Floyd | papers, etc. Gave you room to grieve. But you'll always remember the Floyd | way the scooter flicked her into the air as if she were a feather. And Floyd | the way she fell as if she were lead. Floyd | Floyd | Shopping doesn't seem so important--well, still as important, just not Floyd | as easy. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Not the only one... | Jacqueline says, "Aha." | ||
| Genevieve exclaims, "Oooh, that was cool!" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "So I just realized a very obvious thing that I think we all missed." | |||
| Peregrine says, "OK, four PCs: mad, sad, happy, and murderous" | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "tell woman about accident" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TELL WOMAN ABOUT ACCIDENT Floyd | Floyd | The brunette looks confused when you start talking, but you continue, Floyd | "Please hear me out. I need to tell someone." She shifts uneasily on Floyd | her feet. You go on, "See the gnocchi over there," you point to the Floyd | pasta shelves, "it's triggered some nasty memories. I can't keep them Floyd | to myself. The story goes like this: young lovers, very much in love, Floyd | go to Rome for a summer holiday. On the last night they have a Floyd | candlelit meal besides the Pantheon. Gnocchi was the second course. Floyd | The next day a scooter hits Clare--she was one of the lovers--and Floyd | takes all the life out of her." Her eyes flick to the floor, "I'm so Floyd | sorry." You smile, "No one's fault. That's what it means, Floyd | 'accident'--no one's fault. Not so bad really, thanks. Bye." You Floyd | stroll back to your trolley, sorry that you had to include someone Floyd | else--selfish really, but you doubt she was really listening. Probably Floyd | thought you were some kind of crackpot. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But there are others... | Doug says, "murder, accident, still alive" | ||
| Peregrine says, "yep" | |||
| Genevieve says, "Wow, okay, that is really neat. The game really does have multiple storylines." | |||
| DavidW says, "yes" | |||
| Peregrine says, "Reeeeality beeends" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm not sure it's multiple storylines." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Just sayin'" | |||
| Peregrine asks, "?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "And crud, now I do have to go. I will read the recap later since I think you all will find more if you keep playing." | |||
| Genevieve says, "Or maybe, to avoid guilt, the PC remembers the murder as a scooter accident." | |||
| Peregrine says, "intriguing" | |||
| Doug asks (of Jacqueline), "wait, what were you about to tell us?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Peregrine), "I think it's one story with multiple realities in this man's mind." | |||
| Jacqueline asks (of Doug), "The realization?" | |||
| Peregrine says, "ah, Lost Highway" | |||
| Doug says, "yeah" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "That the woman in the market is not called Clare. We just projected Clare onto Kate." | |||
| Doug says, "...Clare was the name of his sled!" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "And that we probably never took her home." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "We just imagined it. Because Kate clearly has a guy." | |||
| Genevieve nods. | |||
| Peregrine says, "this is exactly like Lost Highway, then" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask woman about husband" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT HUSBAND Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I mean, not that people don't cheat on their partners, but she has a guy *with* her, here in the market." | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about kate" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT KATE Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "ask kate about kate" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK KATE ABOUT KATE Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "x kate" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X KATE Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask woman about single" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT SINGLE Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember kate" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER KATE Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember her. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "date woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > DATE WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "kiss kate" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > KISS KATE Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "propose to woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PROPOSE TO WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You're tired of playing around with girls, getting tired of casual Floyd | sex. Maybe time to settle down? Floyd | Floyd | You were going to settle down all that time ago (four years now?) with Floyd | Clare. Even had the ring. So the key this time is to be careful who Floyd | you choose--and anyway, last time you were too young. Now you have Floyd | experience on your side. Floyd | Floyd | You've always thought that there is no point putting in unnecessary Floyd | effort, and right in front of you is a beautiful woman--mature, Floyd | sophisticated and intelligent. Leaving the gnocchi you walk over and Floyd | drop to a knee. "Will you marry me?" Floyd | Floyd | She looks down, laughing, "What?". You repeat yourself, "Marry me." Floyd | Floyd | Now she looks confused, "Get away!" Again you repeat "Marry me." Floyd | Floyd | She looks less amused now, "Piss off." Floyd | Floyd | You're not stubborn and you know when you're beat. So you stand up and Floyd | walk back towards your trolley. You spend about twenty minutes Floyd | finishing the shopping and wheel up to the checkout. The woman at the Floyd | checkout beeps all the goods through. She looks up with a smile and Floyd | asks whether you have a store card. In response you drop to a knee Floyd | (your face almost disappearing behind the sill of the counter) "Will Floyd | you marry me?" Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. But there are others... | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "x man" | Peregrine says, "hahahahahaha" | ||
| Doug says, "nice" | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "x man" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X MAN Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "flirt with woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FLIRT WITH WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "kiss ring" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > KISS RING Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "dance with woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > DANCE WITH WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | The Muzak informing your movements you waltz on over to the brunette, Floyd | your hips rocking to the soulful sounds... As you approach you allow Floyd | your legs to pick out a jaunty rhythm from the music and strut. "Fancy Floyd | a dance?" sounds like a reasonable question as it leaves your lips. Floyd | But from the look on her face you'd have thought you asked for Floyd | something a lot more, well, naughty. She furrows her brow, "I'm Floyd | sorry?" You wiggle your hips, "Come on--a dance? Shake your bones--" Floyd | Floyd | Whoops. That doesn't mean to dance does it? I think you just alluded Floyd | to the naughtiness you didn't intend... perhaps that was your Floyd | intention all along... and she saw through you. Damn. Why do women Floyd | always get that five minutes head start on you? You grab her hand and Floyd | with a goodbye kiss to her knuckles you depart, "Ciao!" Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. And yet... | Peregrine says, "hee" | ||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "buy alcohol" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > BUY ALCOHOL Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "greet woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > GREET WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "wave" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > WAVE Floyd | Floyd | (at the brunette) Floyd | If she would come over then you could chat and get to know each Floyd | other--hey come over, baby. You wave enthusiastically. She doesn't Floyd | acknowledge your wave; either she hasn't seen you or she doesn't want Floyd | to see you. More waving, this time with both hands. "Hey! Over here!" Floyd | Now she must be ignoring you, and she's doing a damn good job Floyd | of it. One last, desperate wave... no, she's gone. Floyd | Floyd | You've been here before, haven't you? Floyd | Floyd | A cool breeze whips droplets up off the waves and wets the air. The Floyd | river Tiber. You had assumed that the Tiber would be to Rome what the Floyd | Seine was Paris; the perfect place for a romantic stroll. The reality Floyd | is a grafitti'd, dirty stink. A green, thick streak through the city. Floyd | The evening was going badly as it was, after the argument at the Floyd | restaurant, and this fetid river has only made it worse. Clare is Floyd | walking ahead of you, defiant strides putting distance between you. Floyd | You wave, "Come back....wait..." Floyd | Floyd | One last, desparate wave... no, she's gone. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Then again... | Peregrine says, "clue clue clue" | ||
| Peregrine pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about reality" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT REALITY Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "remember tiber" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER TIBER Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Peregrine says (to Floyd), "remember river" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER RIVER Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Roger says, "This happened all before, in the days before I bought a dictionary" | ||
| Peregrine says, "alright, am off" | |||
| Peregrine says, "goodnight muddites" | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about Tiber" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT TIBER Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wait" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > WAIT Floyd | Floyd | You pause, the gnocchi still in your view. Rome. Rome. "When in Floyd | Rome..." Clare. Floyd | Floyd | You slowly let an image form in your mind; the metro, busy--packed Floyd | with Italians and heat. Sweaty, close heat. And her hand in Floyd | yours--hot, sweaty and easy to hold. The train slows, Floyd | Floyd | "Termini. Termini." Floyd | Floyd | Termini station; the end of the line. The train slowly pulls into the Floyd | station. Floyd | Floyd | You slowly begin to push your trolley to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. Then again... | Peregrine waves goodbye. And goodnight. | ||
| Peregrine says, "Termini for me, friends. Zzzzzz." | |||
| Peregrine exclaims, "Take care!" | |||
| Genevieve says, "Take care, Peregrine. Have a good one." | |||
| DavidW says, "bye Peregrine" | |||
| Peregrine says, "bye bye" | |||
| Peregrine hops into the DeLorean and heads off to the future. | |||
| zarf has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | Genevieve says, "Well, at first I thought this game would go nowhere, but I don't mind admitting I was totally wrong. It's actually quite fascinating." | ||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember claire" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER CLAIRE Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember claret" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER CLARET Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "no I in Clare." | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember Rome" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER ROME Floyd | Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | You pick up the Gnocchi and stare at the illustration of Piazza Floyd | Venezia on its packet. You remember; sun, heat, food, pasta, sauces, Floyd | wine, love, ancient, modern, Italians, Americans, love. And ultimately Floyd | pain. A pain you had thought you had forgotten. But like a cancer Floyd | returning to wreak havoc again, the pain resurfaces and tears through Floyd | the thin barriers you had erected. Tears flow. Memories; guilt. And Floyd | finally acceptance. You live with it. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Not the only one... | Doug says (to DavidW), "yeah, I was wondering if it would notice" | ||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about Rome" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT ROME Floyd | Floyd | You draw your trolley alongside the brunette. Clearing your throat, Floyd | you introduce yourself. She asks what you want. "Sorry, yeah, I just Floyd | wanted to know. Have you ever been to Rome?" She thinks, "No. I've Floyd | never been to Italy. My husband suggested Rome, actually, for our Floyd | holiday this year. What's this for--is it some consumer survey?" Floyd | Floyd | You chuckle. "Well, I'm a consumer and I'm asking a question. So Floyd | maybe." She smiles, "Is that it?" You nod, "Yeah, that's it. Thanks." Floyd | Floyd | You walk back towards your trolley, "Oh, one more thing--don't go to Floyd | Rome with your husband. Try Paris instead." Wish I had... Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Then again... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about death" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT DEATH Floyd | Floyd | There is nothing you want to ask about that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about suicide" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT SUICIDE Floyd | Floyd | There is nothing you want to ask about that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "ask woman about husband" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT HUSBAND Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about friend" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT FRIEND Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "huh, different response" | ||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "x husband" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > X HUSBAND Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "You can probably remember death or suicide, then." | ||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember suicide" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER SUICIDE Floyd | Floyd | The sound of the door as you opened it, drawing against the wet floor. Floyd | That is what you remember. Water is harmless. But what you don't Floyd | remember: the bath, her body in the bath. The blood--the blood Floyd | swirling with the water and lapping at your feet, how it was all so Floyd | Clare--such a romantic idea of suicide, the bath overflowing as her Floyd | life-blood left her. The way her head was lolling against the side of Floyd | the bath, staring at you when you walked in. The porter had never seen Floyd | anything like it before. Floyd | Floyd | Had she planned this all along--was the holiday a framing device for Floyd | her carefully staged exit? Or did something click whilst on the Floyd | holiday? There were no signs. You've told everyone that. There were Floyd | no signs. She was perfectly happy. Perfectly happy. Floyd | Floyd | And now, it's all so long ago, and you're perfectly happy too. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Then again... | Genevieve says, "Holy shit! 'Scuse my language." | ||
| Genevieve says, "Another reality." | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember wedding" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER WEDDING Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember kiss" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER KISS Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember happiness" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER HAPPINESS Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "phone home" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PHONE HOME Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "show photo to woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SHOW PHOTO TO WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | Sorry. You can't use your possessions directly. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve E.T., phone home! | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember paris" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER PARIS Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember her. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug asks, "whoa, why does it think happiness is a 'that' and paris is a 'her'?" | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember truth" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER TRUTH Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember her. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I don't know." | ||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember happiness" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER HAPPINESS Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember her. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "oh, maybe it got stuck after we referred to 'woman'" | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember reality" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER REALITY Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember her. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember everything" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER EVERYTHING Floyd | Floyd | You can't use 'all' in this game. Refer to individual items. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "by the way, Her Story is on sale for $0.99 in the Google App Store" | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "cry" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CRY Floyd | Floyd | Years of loneliness condense into the innocent, floury white buds of Floyd | gnocchi. Your knees weaken and you drop to the floor, salty tears Floyd | running in streams down your face and dripping off your chin. Floyd | Floyd | When the tears abate, you get to your feet. You've come to realise Floyd | that there will always be tears. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Not the only one... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "tell woman about suicide" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TELL WOMAN ABOUT SUICIDE Floyd | Floyd | You walk up to the brunette, leaving your trolley adrift in the aisle. Floyd | "Hi." She turns to look at you, a smile on her face. The smile drops Floyd | as you recount the shock and the pain and how the thing you remember Floyd | most was the noise as you opened the door and the blood and water Floyd | lapped around your feet. Then you stop speaking and her expression Floyd | turns from shock to pity. She puts and arm around you and says how Floyd | sorry she is. But that's all she can do, and she leaves you. Floyd | Floyd | The brunette must have said something to someone because after a few Floyd | minutes a small, kind-looking lady comes up and takes you to the Floyd | supermarket cafe. She gives you a cup of tea and a small muffin. It's Floyd | a nice gesture, but only reminds you of the breakfast you had minutes Floyd | before you discovered Clare. The tea is warm, almost body-temperature. Floyd | You sense that the staff are worrying now--the presence of a grown man Floyd | crying in their cafe cannot be good for business. You go before they Floyd | have to ask you. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But then... | Genevieve says, "Aww." | ||
| DavidW says, "yay muffin and tea lady" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "frotz gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FROTZ GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "plugh" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PLUGH Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "look under cart" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK UNDER CART Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley) Floyd | I don't think there will be anything special under your trolley. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "look under her trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK UNDER HER TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | I don't think there will be anything special under the brunette's Floyd | trolley. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under shelves" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK UNDER SHELVES Floyd | Floyd | I don't think there will be anything special under the shelves. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "go home" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "go home" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > GO HOME Floyd | Floyd | You turn the trolley round and head to the checkout. You unload onto Floyd | the conveyor and the cheerful young girl in plain uniform blips Floyd | everything through her scanner. Floyd | Floyd | A friendly young man packs everything into bags and you wheel them to Floyd | your car. You unload into your boot and drive home. The roads are Floyd | quiet. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. And yet... | DavidW says, "Least drama ending ever." | ||
| Genevieve says, "Heh." | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman to come home with me" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN TO COME HOME WITH ME Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about home" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT HOME Floyd | Floyd | You walk up to the brunette with the question on your lips. But as you Floyd | near her, the question seems to slip away, ducking out of sight. It Floyd | had something to do with the home... The brunette turns round, sensing Floyd | your presence, and makes eye contact. You blush and turn back quickly. Floyd | With sweaty palms you grab a few bags of pasta and hurry on to the Floyd | next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But then... | Genevieve says, "Wow, that was not the response I was expecting." | ||
| Doug asks, "...'the' home?" | |||
| DavidW says, "Looks like a generic 'ask woman about something' response." | |||
| Doug says, "oh" | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember home" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER HOME Floyd | Floyd | You can't see your home from here. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about institution" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT INSTITUTION Floyd | Floyd | There is nothing you want to ask about that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember the home" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER THE HOME Floyd | Floyd | You can't see your home from here. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember institution" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER INSTITUTION Floyd | Floyd | You look down the aisle and imagine it empty, smaller and with doors Floyd | at either end. Floyd | Floyd | Remember the institution? Floyd | Floyd | They taught you to think differently. They told you that you had Floyd | forgotten--but the red smile still haunts you. What they really made Floyd | you forget was the guilt... that was what hurt the most. She made you Floyd | feel guilty in her life and her death. But you forgot that. Floyd | Floyd | You'll never forget the smile; the smiles you gave her. Bloody lips Floyd | all over her body. Floyd | Floyd | But that doesn't bother you, much... On with the shopping! Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Then again... | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "tell woman about institution" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TELL WOMAN ABOUT INSTITUTION Floyd | Floyd | You scurry up to the brunette. "Excuse me--I probably ought to tell Floyd | you this, now rather than later", she looks confused and you continue, Floyd | "but I am a murderer. All very complicated complicated stuff--but Floyd | basically I killed my girlfriend (my lover) and well I am over it now Floyd | so there is no problem there but like I said just thought I would Floyd | say.." Floyd | Floyd | With that off your chest you continue on your shop. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But there are others... | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "same as murder" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sell sauce" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SELL SAUCE Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "buy woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > BUY WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | She's not for sale. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "rent woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > RENT WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oh dear" | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "invite woman home" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > INVITE WOMAN HOME Floyd | Floyd | You leave your trolley and walk up to the brunette. She turns to you Floyd | and you smile, "Come with me! I'll show you a good time. I promise. Floyd | I'll buy you a meal, we can go on holiday! Just come with me." You put Floyd | out your hand. She makes no move to take it. "Come on! Let's go. Come Floyd | with me..." She's looking alarmed now and she starts to walk away. Floyd | Floyd | She didn't want to come with you? Well, at least you asked. No harm in Floyd | trying. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. But there are others... | Genevieve cackles. | ||
| DavidW says, "huh. I'd never have guessed that command." | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | > Floyd | > Floyd | Floyd | Say something, dammit. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > LISTEN Floyd | Floyd | You stand and listen; just the sounds of a supermarket. Trolleys, Floyd | packets, boxes, people shuffling. And the beep beep of cash Floyd | registers. Floyd | Floyd | You've heard it all before, nothing to worry about. You continue with Floyd | your shopping and drive home. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But then... | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman to have gnocchi" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "sorry." | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman to have gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN TO HAVE GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman for tea" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN FOR TEA Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "smell woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SMELL WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You draw alongside the woman and inhale. She is draped in a perfume Floyd | that combines fruit, alcohol and spice. You let the scent fall slowly Floyd | down your throat, and allow yourself to wonder what the rest of the Floyd | brunette smells like. Floyd | Floyd | But you really aren't the type of person who could find out and so you Floyd | trot back to your trolley and continue with your shop. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Then again... | Doug says, "still creepy." | ||
| DavidW says, "oh my" | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "smell" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SMELL Floyd | Floyd | You stand and draw in air through your nose. Cleanliness, suggestions Floyd | of spice drifting in from somewhere. And a hint of perfume hanging in Floyd | the air. Is the perfume with you? Is it a reminder of what was here? A Floyd | taster for what is to come? Floyd | Floyd | Or is it just here to taunt, with its promises of intimacy and sex? Floyd | Floyd | You exhale and move on. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. But there are others... | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "smell gnocchi" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SMELL GNOCCHI Floyd | Floyd | You try to smell the gnocchi, but it is contained in its plastic bag Floyd | and gives only an impression of chemicals. Dissapointing. Floyd | Floyd | You dismiss the gnocchi and carry on shopping. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Not the only one... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "the proofreading is dissapointing" | ||
| Genevieve says, "I entirely agree." | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "listen to woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > LISTEN TO WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | She's not making much noise at the moment. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "touch woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TOUCH WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | Sorry, that verb is not implemented. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman to make noise" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN TO MAKE NOISE Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "feel woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FEEL WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | Sorry, that verb is not implemented. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "good" | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "touch woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TOUCH WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | Sorry, that verb is not implemented. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "sense" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SENSE Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "think" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > THINK Floyd | Floyd | You'll have to say what you want to think about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "think about dinner" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > THINK ABOUT DINNER Floyd | Floyd | You remember the meal like this: Clare sat opposite. It was warm but Floyd | an evening breeze took the uncomfortable edge of the heat. You ordered Floyd | and the food took a while to come. The wine made your face red. You Floyd | walked back after the meal via the Spanish Steps. You sat amongst the Floyd | crowds until the police moved you on so that they could wash the steps Floyd | ready for the tourists in the morning. You strolled back to the hotel Floyd | down backstreets, past the four fountain junction; a crossroads with Floyd | fountains built into the houses on each corner. You knew from Floyd | experience that the water in them was ice cold, even in the afternoon Floyd | heat. You ran a finger through the water as you walked past and wiped Floyd | it on your trousers before taking Clare's hand in yours. Which seems Floyd | like a good place to end. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. Then again... | Doug says, "whoa, different ending" | ||
| Genevieve says, "Nice." | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "think about sex" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > THINK ABOUT SEX Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "oh, that last line is random I guess." | ||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "think about tomorrow" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > THINK ABOUT TOMORROW Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "think about yesterday" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > THINK ABOUT YESTERDAY Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "I guess think is just a synonym for remember" | ||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "about" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ABOUT Floyd | Floyd | Sorry, I cannot help you. For version and release information type Floyd | "version" and for the author's statement, type "author". Floyd | And for credit where credit is due, type "credits". Floyd | Floyd | Actually, there is help of a sort: I will upload a list of all actions Floyd | anticipated by the game to ftp.gmd.de. But you should only look at Floyd | them after you've got as much out of Aisle as you can yourself. Floyd | Otherwise the point of the game will be rather lost. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "credits" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CREDITS Floyd | Floyd | - A I S L E - Floyd | Floyd | Dedicated to Clare * Floyd | Floyd | Written by: Sam Barlow Floyd | Floyd | Thanks to Stephen Granade for his initial comments and ideas. Floyd | Then a huge thanks to my testers, all superb men and women. They are: Floyd | Markku Yli-Pentila, Joseph Fatula, Daphne Floyd | Brinkerhoff, Nathan Segerlind, Bonnie Montgomery, Floyd | Johanna Pink, Paul David Doherty, Ross Presser, Floyd | Lutz van Hasselt and Will Jennings. I owe them a great Floyd | debt of thanks for turning Aisle into what I had imagined it could be, Floyd | rather than the pale imitation called the "beta-version". The Floyd | Baudelaire quote is from James McGowan's translation of 'La Chevelure' Floyd | in the Oxford University Press edition of The Flowers of Evil (points Floyd | for spotting the less direct Baudelaire references). And any list of Floyd | thanks wouldn't be complete without a big cheers to Graham Floyd | Nelson for the Inform compiler. Floyd | Floyd | For bugs, suggestions, praise, criticism, etc. my current e-mail is Floyd | (sam.barlow@talk21.com). If this doesn't work, your best bet is to Floyd | look for my last rec.games.int-fiction posting. Floyd | Floyd | * Who is, in real life, alive and well. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "author" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > AUTHOR Floyd | Floyd | My competition game, "The City", has its Save and Restore verbs Floyd | disabled. Many people disliked this feature. A response to this, Floyd | Aisle, started out as a game which would not need the usual Floyd | meta-verbs... i.e. a game with only one turn. The initial idea was: Floyd | How do I make a game with only one turn interesting? Give it lots of Floyd | endings--in fact there are many 'endings' and (hopefully) every Floyd | sensible action results in an 'ending'. There is no winning action. Floyd | There is however more going on than just this and the more endings you Floyd | see the more things should become clear. Please try any action you Floyd | think of, there are far more verbs, etc. than usual for a single scene Floyd | in a piece of IF. If you're not sure what the game is about, read the Floyd | frontispiece again--it should set you straight. Floyd | Floyd | Enjoy, Sam. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug asks, "did we get the Baudelaire quote?" | ||
| DavidW says, "That was probably a box quote not visible via Floyd." | |||
| Doug says, "oh" | |||
| Roger says, "'The smell of gnocchi is dissapointing.' -- Baudelaire" | |||
| Genevieve snerks. | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "give gnocchi to woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE GNOCCHI TO WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You scoop a packet of gnocchi off the shelves and run over to the Floyd | brunette. "Hi. Take this!", you chuck the gnocchi into her trolley. Floyd | She squeaks, "What? Sorry, I don't want any, thanks." She takes it out Floyd | and passes it back to you. Floyd | Floyd | "No. No. Take it--" You put the gnocchi back in her Floyd | trolley. She looks exasperated, "No, please--I don't want it. Thanks." Floyd | Well, what can you say? You can take a horse to water, but you can't Floyd | make it drink. You take the gnocchi and pad back to your trolley, Floyd | shouting back "It tastes really nice--" You stop; she's gone. Floyd | Floyd | You take the gnocchi for yourself and finish shopping. When you get Floyd | back home (traffic is awful) you put on the hob and start boiling the Floyd | water. You chuck the gnocchi into the pan and walk into the lounge. Floyd | Flicking on the TV you sit down and start watching the news. Floyd | Floyd | You wake up, lips moist with dribble, and a numb arm where you slept Floyd | on it. You jump up and run into the kitchen. Aw, shit. The pan has Floyd | boiled dry, and the gnocchi is smoking. You sprint to the window and Floyd | try to lift it open, but too late--the smoke alarm sounds: Floyd | Beeeee-eeee-eeeee-eeee-eee-eeee. Floyd | Floyd | Later on you sit in the lounge again, a plate of burnt gnocchi in your Floyd | lap. You stab a small fluffy (blackened) bud and swallow it. Floyd | Yum. It tastes really nice. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. And yet... | Genevieve exclaims, "Haha!" | ||
| Doug says, "nice" | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "give macaroni to woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE MACARONI TO WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | > | Genevieve says, "I guess I got to cook the gnocchi after all in that one ending. Heh." | ||
| DavidW says, "The intro quote said: | You are about to read a story. Or rather, part of a story. You will be be asked to define the story by controlling one instant in the life of the man whose story it is. Your intervention will begin and end the story. But be warned; there are many stories and not all of the stories are about the same man." | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "give sauce to woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > GIVE SAUCE TO WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You grab some bags of macaroni and walk over. You chuck them into the Floyd | brunette's trolley. Then a few jars of sauce. She turns, her face a Floyd | map of disbelief, "What are you doing?" Floyd | Floyd | You don't get it. You're just helping her with her shopping, "I was... Floyd | just trying to help. Helping with your shopping..." She pushes you Floyd | away, "Get off! Leave me alone!" You stand back, "Sorry..." Floyd | Floyd | You walk back to your trolley, "If you do need my help--just ask." Floyd | God, next time you won't bother. What is it with people? Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Not the only one... | Doug says (to DavidW), "aha" | ||
| Doug says, "here's a list of all 136 actions that produce endings: [LINK]" | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "dream" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > DREAM Floyd | Floyd | Day dreaming. It's like that thing about the butterfly--you know, the Floyd | man dreams about being a butterfly, but is he a man dreaming of being Floyd | a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming about being a man dreaming about a Floyd | butterfly? You spend some much time dreaming, more than not in fact. Floyd | So, as I'm sure you realise, the fact that you are dreaming now is not Floyd | strange. And what are you dreaming? Floyd | Floyd | You're in a supermarket and the girl turns round and it's Clare Floyd | and you show her some gnocchi and then you eat it and live happily Floyd | ever after. Floyd | Floyd | Pretty shit, yeah? But no-one said your dreams had to be works of art. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Then again... | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "version" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > VERSION Floyd | Floyd | AISLE Floyd | An instant in the life of a man, by Sam Barlow. Floyd | Revision 3 / Release 1 / Serial number 990528 / Inform v6.14 Library Floyd | 6/8 Floyd | Standard interpreter 1.0 (6b) / Library serial number 981213 Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve, apparently having had enough of public life, disappears back to her Parisian retreat. | Doug | E-mail me with any actions you feel ought to be in there but aren't. | ||
| Doug says, "I wonder if he added any..." | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "tell woman about illness" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TELL WOMAN ABOUT ILLNESS Floyd | Floyd | You slowly pad up to the brunette. She turns, you speak "Sorry to Floyd | bother you, but I really need to speak to someone, right now." She Floyd | looks empathetic and you continue, "A few years ago the love of my Floyd | life, Clare was her name, she died very suddenly and in real pain. The Floyd | thing is, well, she is out of her misery. But I'm not--we had gnocchi Floyd | the night she died--", you point to the bags of gnocchi on the Floyd | shelves, "and it's all coming back to me. I just need to talk---" Floyd | Floyd | She smiles a sad, caring smile, "Do you want a cup of tea, love?" She Floyd | takes you to the cafe and you sit (you have cake as well as tea) and Floyd | she lets you talk. Floyd | Floyd | When you finish you wish you had done that sooner. The pain is still Floyd | there, but now you have some power over it. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But then... | |||
| Genevieve arrives, ready to play with the toys. | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about herself" | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about herself" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT HERSELF Floyd | Floyd | You smile, flash your teeth, "How you doing?" The brunette turns, Floyd | smiles politely, "Fine, thanks." She pauses, unsure as to whether she Floyd | should turn back to shelves or maintain eye contact. Floyd | Floyd | You take the initiative, "Shopping for one?" She smiles, "Yes. You're Floyd | quite forward aren't you?" You reflect her smile, "Yes. But no-one Floyd | ever got anywhere hiding under a bushel, did they?" "So you're not one Floyd | to hide under a bushel then?" "When it's required, sure--", you falter Floyd | (think of something funny, sexy) and she steps in, "Look I've got to Floyd | get my shopping finished now, but I can see you for a drink later?" Floyd | Floyd | You smile again, "Sure... you're being quite forward now--for Floyd | all you know I could be a loon." She looks you up and down, "No. I Floyd | don't think so." Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Not the only one... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about her day" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT HER DAY Floyd | Floyd | You sidle on over. Floyd | Floyd | "You look tired." She glances over her shoulder, "Pardon?" Floyd | Floyd | "Sorry--didn't mean to be rude. I just thought you were looking Floyd | tired--had a hard day?" She smiles, "I'd love to say no, but you're Floyd | right--I've had a stinker of a day", again she smiles, "and now I'm Floyd | being chatted up by a loon in the supermarket. When all I want to do Floyd | is get home and put my feet up." You give a mock look of upset, "I'm Floyd | no loon!.. Put your feet up you say? Well, four feet are better than Floyd | two--" Floyd | Floyd | She interrupts, "I'm going to have to stop you there, Mr. Supermarket Floyd | smooth. You're a nice guy--well I don't know, but you seem nice--so I Floyd | don't want to disappoint you. I'm not into men so much, you know?" You Floyd | shrug, "...I could watch?" She groans and rolls her eyes to the Floyd | heavens. You turn, taking a coin from your pocket and tossing it. For Floyd | every tail there's a head. It's just a matter of numbers, and yours Floyd | will be up soon. Till then just keep on trying... Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. And yet... | Doug says, "fooled her!" | ||
| Doug says, "whoa" | |||
| Doug says, "I guess this Kate doesn't have a husband" | |||
| Genevieve says, "Doesn't look like it. Heh." | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman if she's gay" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN IF SHE'S GAY Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman bout lesbian" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN BOUT LESBIAN Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "remember illness" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER ILLNESS Floyd | Floyd | You remember the one thing you didn't want to remember. Your Floyd | last meal with Clare. She was in bed, pasty white and crumbling. She Floyd | wanted something nice for her last meal and so you got some Floyd | special Gnocchi brought up by room service. But she couldn't eat it Floyd | and she dribbled, and couldn't swallow. And she couldn't even cry--nor Floyd | could you, you had to be brave. But you don't now. As the memory opens Floyd | up, the lock in your tear canal slowly eases open and there is Floyd | release. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Then again... | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about lesbian" | DavidW says, "I'm now imagining a The Other Side of the Aisle where the player-character is the brunette." | ||
| Doug says (to DavidW), "ooh" | |||
| Genevieve says, "You should write that game, David." | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "woman, undress" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > WOMAN, UNDRESS Floyd | Floyd | Tucking your toe under the hem of her dress, you flick it up. She Floyd | spins round, clutching at her clothes, "Hey!" Floyd | Floyd | You back off, arms raised in an apologetic gesture, "Sorry. Sorry. Floyd | Just thought you might like to slip into something a little more... Floyd | comfortable?" She gives a look of incredulity, "What?" You move Floyd | nearer, again, "Look--don't fret just get undressed. Come on Floyd | slip out of that dress--what's wrong? You not got any underwear on? Floyd | No, you have--I can see it now: Sexy black lingerie, Floyd | clutching you tightly. Your bra only separated from your breasts by a Floyd | layer of perspiration--" She slaps you, spitting "Jesus Christ. Go Floyd | take a cold shower, get some fucking help!" as she strides off to the Floyd | next aisle, leaving you giggling. Ha! She didn't guess. She didn't Floyd | realise that is was you wearing the sexy black lingerie. Floyd | The best Italian suspenders. Only the best next to your skin. Floyd | Baby soft skin. Clapping your hands together you trot back to the Floyd | trolley. Gnocchi for two? You'd like that wouldn't you Clare? Floyd | I sure would, Clark. Sexy bitch! Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Not the only one... | Genevieve exclaims, "Oh my Lord!" | ||
| Genevieve says, "I was /totally/ not expecting that one." | |||
| Doug says, "haha." | |||
| DavidW says, "oh dear" | |||
| DavidW says, "And we're Clark, now." | |||
| Doug says (to Genevieve), "you might have missed it when you got disconnected: here's a list of all 136 actions that produce endings: [LINK]" | |||
| Doug asks (of DavidW), "hah! or is that a typo for Clare?" | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "frown" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FROWN Floyd | Floyd | Your brow becomes furrowed, sporting a frown. You don't like it when Floyd | you are forced to think about Rome, and more specifically Clare. She Floyd | seems to be getting along with it--she's been with her new boyfriend Floyd | for ages now (you can't stand him) and she seems fine talking to you. Floyd | But you would much rather just, well, not keep in touch. It just keeps Floyd | the wounds open... Floyd | Floyd | The frown follows you around for the rest of the shop (you feel sorry Floyd | for the checkout girl--she gets a particularly severe look, no fault Floyd | of her own) and spend the rest of the evening in a really dissatisfied Floyd | mood. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. But then... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember Clark" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER CLARK Floyd | Floyd | You can't remember that. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to ask), "woman about clark" | |||
| Genevieve exclaims, "argh sorry!" | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about clark" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT CLARK Floyd | Floyd | I'm not sure what you are talking about. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says, "I'm tired and kind of out of it today. heh." | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "ask woman about me" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT ME Floyd | Floyd | She looks at you, "Sorry?" You blush, "Oh. Oh. Nothing." You quickly Floyd | turn round and wheel your half-full trolley to the checkout. Then Floyd | home. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. But there are others... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "call Clare" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CALL CLARE Floyd | Floyd | You lean round the end of the aisle, "Clare?" Again, louder: "Clare?" Floyd | She walks into the aisle, "Yeah?" You take her hand and walk her along Floyd | to the gnocchi, "Look, gnocchi, like in Rome--I've never seen it in Floyd | the shops before." She picks up a packet and drops it in the trolley. Floyd | "Get some for tea then?" she offers, pecking you on the lips. Floyd | Floyd | You have some for tea and it's like Rome, except: it's colder, you Floyd | have work tomorrow and you're even more in love than you were Floyd | then. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Then again... | |||
| Doug pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "pray" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PRAY Floyd | Floyd | You've prayed before--to no avail. But again you drop to one knee and Floyd | close your eyes. Floyd | Floyd | "Please God. Please God. Please God. Please.." Floyd | Floyd | You stop--you know there is no point. You have sinned. You have been Floyd | sinned against. It is too late. Best just go home and await judgement. Floyd | Which you do. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. But there are others... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "call security guard" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CALL SECURITY GUARD Floyd | Floyd | "Help! Security!" A balding man in his forties, squeezed into a blue Floyd | uniform appears at the bottom of the aisle. "Can I help you sir?" You Floyd | run to him. Pull him close. Whisper in his ear: "You see that woman?" Floyd | "Yes, sir" "She just raped me." "I don't quite understand sir?" "She Floyd | is stealing all your food!" "Calm down sir, speak slowly" You raise Floyd | your voice, "I will not be quiet! It's your job--stop her!" The guard Floyd | pauses. You make a dash for the woman, "If you won't do your job, then Floyd | I will--" He is too quick for you and hooks a foot around your leg. Floyd | You crash to the floor and black out, the guard's words dragged with Floyd | you into oblivion, "I think you ought to come with me, sir." Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. Then again... | Genevieve laughs! | ||
| Roger says, "I don't think most of our supermarkets even have dedicated security guards" | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "empty trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > EMPTY TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | (your trolley) Floyd | You look into the trolley; meals for one, toiletries for Floyd | one--everything for one. You tip the trolley on to its side and Floyd | it sheds its contents. A bottle smashes and wine spills onto the Floyd | floor. The brunette hurries on nervously and you kick a can down the Floyd | aisle. Then you leave into the night. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But there are others... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "empty woman's trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > EMPTY WOMAN'S TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | You jog up to the trolley and grab onto it with a hand. Putting a foot Floyd | on the back wheels you pull it over--the contents bounce across the Floyd | aisle, the metal crash of the trolley resounding round the aisle-- Floyd | Floyd | The brunette spins round, "Shit!" You give her a menacing glare--"You Floyd | don't need all that food! Where you're going--" A crushing blow from Floyd | behind knocks the words out of your mouth. You fall to the floor, Floyd | landing sharply on the contents of the brunette's trolley. A man Floyd | stands over you. He has an arm round the woman, "You alright, Kate?" Floyd | She nods. Floyd | Floyd | The man offers you a hand and pulls you up. When you are on your feet Floyd | he releases your hand and steps back. Before you get a chance to Floyd | dodge, his fist smacks into your face-- Floyd | Floyd | Under the advice of a lawyer you decide not to prosecute; apparently Floyd | it might require you to undergo another psychiatric evaluation. Floyd | Probably best--just let it go. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Then again... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "find Clare" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FIND CLARE Floyd | Floyd | You scoot round the corner of the aisle. Sure enough there she is, Floyd | looking through the magazines. You pull up behind her and slide and Floyd | arm round her waist. She laughs, "Get off! We're in public." You pull Floyd | out a packet of gnocchi from behind your back, "Look what I found." Floyd | She smiles, "Gnocchi? Like in Rome. How sweet!" Then she starts to Floyd | walk off, "Come on, we've got to be out at eight and we've still all Floyd | the shopping to get done, and tea to cook!" Floyd | Floyd | You turn the trolley and catch up with her. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Not the only one... | DavidW says, "I think most supermarket security people don't wear a particular uniform." | ||
| Roger says, "I think the most tragic thing here is he keeps calling it fresh gnocchi when clearly it isn't fresh at all" | |||
| Genevieve says, "No, the most tragic thing here is that now I want gnocchi, and I don't have any! :-)" | |||
| Genevieve says, "Fresh or otherwise." | |||
| DavidW says, "Gnocchi is my least favourite pasta. I think I only tried it once and wasn't impressed." | |||
| Genevieve says, "I do have macaroni though. Heh." | |||
| DavidW says, "Too doughy." | |||
| Genevieve says, "Depends on how it's cooked, I think. I agree with you that it can be rather doughy if it's not cooked properly." | |||
| DavidW says, "I had it at a Sbarro's in Toronto, if I recall correctly." | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "follow woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FOLLOW WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | You stand by the gnocchi until she starts to move off. Then you walk Floyd | in step with her, cornering the aisle a few metres behind her. She Floyd | stops to put something in her trolley, and you pull up across the Floyd | aisle. This goes on for a few minutes. Floyd | Floyd | You come to a point where you are straddling the line between Floyd | following an attractive woman and stalking one. You decide to stop, Floyd | and recommence your shopping. Floyd | Floyd | What made you follow her in the first place--sure she's attractive, Floyd | but... Maybe there was something about her that rang a few bells. A Floyd | dulled romance in the far reaches of your mind, reawakened, reborn in Floyd | a stranger? Best forgotten, eh? Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. And yet... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | Genevieve says, "I've ruined gnocchi before by over-cooking it." | ||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "fill woman's trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FILL WOMAN'S TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | You grab some bags of macaroni and walk over. You chuck them into the Floyd | brunette's trolley. Then a few jars of sauce. She turns, her face a Floyd | map of disbelief, "What are you doing?" Floyd | Floyd | You don't get it. You're just helping her with her shopping, "I was... Floyd | just trying to help. Helping with your shopping..." She pushes you Floyd | away, "Get off! Leave me alone!" You stand back, "Sorry..." Floyd | Floyd | You walk back to your trolley, "If you do need my help--just ask." Floyd | God, next time you won't bother. What is it with people? Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Not the only one... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "fill my trolley" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > FILL MY TROLLEY Floyd | Floyd | Grabbing some bags of Gnocchi you continue, whipping round the store Floyd | in no time and filling the trolley. You have almost too much Floyd | stuff. You pay for it--it comes to a tidy sum--and wheel the bags out Floyd | to the car. You pack the boot and drive out onto the road. When you Floyd | get back home you spend a while emptying the car, carrying food to the Floyd | flat and unpacking. Floyd | Floyd | Then you put on a meal, take a drink, sit back and relax... Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. But there are others... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "crack up" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > CRACK UP Floyd | Floyd | Foam gurgles on the edges of your lips as you cease to monitor their Floyd | output, Floyd | Floyd | "GnocchiOh!Oh!GnocchideGato!Clare--je Floyd | t'aime--Iwillalways Floyd | Floyd | gnocchiyou Floyd | Floyd | gnocchignocchi Floyd | gnocchi Floyd | gnocchignocchiWhereareyoUNOw? Floyd | DiningwIThtHEwORmsinaNEARthy...paradiseOH! Floyd | Claregnochignochignoggignokkkkkkkkkkkeeeee! Floyd | gnocchigibber Floyd | gnocchish. G'night!" Floyd | Floyd | You bow out without a fight--the right thing to do; just like she Floyd | would have wanted--if only--right? But the train doesn't stop in time. Floyd | Always comes back to the potato. He smiles, "Gnog Gnog Gnoch pot pot." Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Then again... | Doug says, "whoa" | ||
| Genevieve says, "Oooookay, that was just... odd." | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "jump" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > JUMP Floyd | Floyd | Staring at the gnocchi you feel a memory slowly, awkwardly, awfully Floyd | rise to the surface. Floyd | Floyd | --The scooter driver looks surprised. You grab for Clare and jump to Floyd | the side--bounce across the road, scrape your head-- Floyd | Floyd | Scuffed and light headed you open your eyes... your hands are Floyd | empty--Clare is a few metres away, lying awkwardly. Splattered with a Floyd | thin red liquid, reflecting the scooter's bright red paintwork. Floyd | Floyd | The scooter skids--you jump. You are in the supermarket. Your hands Floyd | are empty, sweaty. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Not the only one... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "panic" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > PANIC Floyd | Floyd | The gnocchi sits smugly on the shelves. The brunette is either: Floyd | Floyd | (a) a spy sent by the hospital, Floyd | (b) a friend of Clare's, intent on revenge, Floyd | or, Floyd | (c) your mother, in disguise. Floyd | Floyd | You slowly start to back away, keeping your eyes on her. As you clear Floyd | the end of the aisle, she turns, reaching into her jacket. You dive Floyd | across the end of the aisle, scrambling to your feet and running Floyd | towards the exits. You get to the doors, wait. After what seems like Floyd | an age the automatic sensors concede and the doors slide open. You Floyd | emerge into the car park. Shit. Floyd | Floyd | The car park is full of cars--they must have known you were Floyd | here. You can't escape now. Floyd | Floyd | You fall to your knees, a trolley-parker approaching--why are they Floyd | being so blatant? They're normally so clever. They must know they have Floyd | won. Floyd | Floyd | Sweating in your skull, your brain decides that the best way to calm Floyd | you down is to deny you consciousness. The world fades, blurry and Floyd | greasy, the parker speaks--threatening code-speak--"Sir, are you OK?" Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Then again... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "talk to self" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO SELF Floyd | Floyd | You speak. Funny how talking to yourself seems like the right thing to Floyd | do when you are in public. Floyd | Floyd | But when you get home you know that it won't be enough. You'll want Floyd | company--companionship. A companion. But you can't buy those in the Floyd | shops. Floyd | Floyd | You buy what you can and take it home. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. Not the only one... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "laugh at woman" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > LAUGH AT WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | Look at her--she's ridiculous. She's--what--thirty? Forty? Old, Floyd | anyhow. Yet look at how she's dressed... and the way she's spending so Floyd | much time choosing a pasta sauce; does she think she looks cultured? Floyd | She's not even much of a looker. Pretty funny actually. You laugh, Floyd | loud--and so she know's it's her you're laughing at. Soon enough she Floyd | totters off to the next aisle, red faced. Ha! Ha! People are so Floyd | funny. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. And yet... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember Clare's leaving" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER CLARE'S LEAVING Floyd | Floyd | You remember the note, word for word: Floyd | Floyd | ..I did love you once.. but have to leave you now.. hope you will get Floyd | over it.. for the best.. there is not anyone else.. I'm sorry.. Clare. Floyd | Floyd | The note answered no questions. It gave rise to far too many Floyd | questions--and maybe it's time to either find answers or forget. Floyd | Floyd | You finish shopping, go home and think. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. But there are others... | Genevieve says, "Aha. And there's another reality." | ||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "tell woman about Clare's leaving" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > TELL WOMAN ABOUT CLARE'S LEAVING Floyd | Floyd | You walk up to the brunette and try to tell her about the note, about Floyd | Clare's sudden leaving. But the words fail to come, you can't Floyd | do this. So you do a quick about-turn and walk back to your Floyd | trolley. Floyd | Floyd | Some things just aren't meant to be shared. You trundle the trolley Floyd | on, the hint of a tear sliding into the corner of your eye. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story done. Not the only one... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember meal" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER MEAL Floyd | Floyd | You remember the meal like this: Clare sat opposite. It was warm but Floyd | an evening breeze took the uncomfortable edge of the heat. You ordered Floyd | and the food took a while to come. The wine made your face red. You Floyd | walked back after the meal via the Spanish Steps. You sat amongst the Floyd | crowds until the police moved you on so that they could wash the steps Floyd | ready for the tourists in the morning. You strolled back to the hotel Floyd | down backstreets, past the four fountain junction; a crossroads with Floyd | fountains built into the houses on each corner. You knew from Floyd | experience that the water in them was ice cold, even in the afternoon Floyd | heat. You ran a finger through the water as you walked past and wiped Floyd | it on your trousers before taking Clare's hand in yours. Which seems Floyd | like a good place to end. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | One more story over. Not the only one... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember pantheon" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER PANTHEON Floyd | Floyd | You remember the Pantheon. It looked so solid... it had stood the test Floyd | of time. You were sure that nothing could be ephemeral after being Floyd | near that. It was so beautiful, yet strong. Timeless. But you were Floyd | wrong--it was the only thing that was so. Your life, your Floyd | relationship, Clare.. all open to change, decay and collapse. Floyd | Floyd | The image of the Pantheon in your head slowly sinks, failing to Floyd | support you with its pillars. You move the memory aside, out of direct Floyd | sight, and continue with the shopping. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Then again... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember love" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER LOVE Floyd | Floyd | Remember love? You don't even know what the word means any more. You Floyd | need to find love again before you can remember it. Right now all Floyd | there is is a dulled pain. And Gnocchi rubbing it in. Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | Another story over. Not the only one... | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve says (to floyd), "remember day's work" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > REMEMBER DAY'S WORK Floyd | Floyd | Your mind wanders over the day's work. Fairly usual stuff; Johnathon Floyd | really pissed you off, taking your work, putting a cover on it and Floyd | getting all the credit. But lunch was cool; Michelle and you had a fun Floyd | chat about her new boyfriend over coffee. You pointed out that he was Floyd | exactly twice her age, something she hadn't realised. Plus, you Floyd | managed to get all the Longbridge account finished, which is a weight Floyd | off your mind-- Floyd | Floyd | A mental kick up the arse--stop thinking about work and get on with Floyd | the shopping. Clare'll kill you if you're back late. Floyd | Floyd | A quick scoot round the rest of the supermarket--a full trolley--then, Floyd | stepping on the gas, you arrive home just before seven. Clare opens Floyd | the door to you, "Ooh... home early? What have I done to be so lucky?" Floyd | Floyd | ---------- Floyd | Floyd | A story finished. But then... | Genevieve says, "Wow, now that's interesting. AN ending where Clare isn't gone at all." | ||
| Genevieve says, "Okay folks, I need to head off and grab something to eat. Feel free to keep playing of you want to, of course. I'm out of ideas though." | |||
| Genevieve pushes the green 'space' button. | |||
Floyd | Late Thursday night. You've had a hard day and the last thing Floyd | you need is this: shopping. Luckily, the place is pretty empty and Floyd | you're progressing rapidly. Floyd | Floyd | On to the next aisle. Floyd | Floyd | Interesting... fresh Gnocchi--you haven't had any of that since... Floyd | Rome. Floyd | Floyd | The aisle stretches to the north, and back to the south. The shelves Floyd | on either side of you block your view of the rest of the supermarket, Floyd | with only the brightly coloured aisle markers visible. Floyd | Floyd | You have stopped your trolley next to the pasta section, bright Floyd | plastic bags full of pale skin-tone shapes. Floyd | Floyd | There is a brunette woman a few metres ahead, filling her trolley with Floyd | sauces. Floyd | Floyd | > | |||
| Genevieve waves. | |||
| Genevieve, apparently having had enough of public life, disappears back to her Parisian retreat. | DavidW says, "I think I'm done as well. Thanks for the game." | ||
| DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | |||
| Doug has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "q" | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | > Q Floyd | Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit? | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" | |||
Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?
Floyd | > Y
Floyd | debugcheapnitfol quit with exit status: 0
| |||
| Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" | |||
| Jacqueline disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. | |||
| Roger disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. | |||
