Crazy Talk by Eileen Settlemyer

Crazy Talk

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"Crazy Talk" by Eileen Settlemyer

Use American dialect, full-length room descriptions, and the serial comma.

Your Mind is a room. "It's pretty empty in here, but there's more going on inside your brain than outside of it, so it'll have to do. You can see some thoughts in the corner, but you can't quite articulate them yet. There are two sets of stairs, one going up and the other going down. A white door is at the top of the stairs, a black door is at the bottom of the stairs." 

The armchair is a thing in Your Mind. The description is "The old, tattered floral armchair where you spend most of your time trying to block everything else out." Understand "chair" as armchair. The armchair is fixed in place. 

Understand the command "sit" as something new.

Sitting is an action applying to one visible thing. Understand "sit on [something]" and "sit in [something]" as sitting. 

Report sitting:
	if the noun is the armchair:
		say "Ahhh, yeah, you could sit here forever, not worrying about a thing."

The brass key is a thing. The brass key can be found. The brass key is not found.

Instead of looking under the armchair:
	if the brass key is found:
		say "The bottom of the chair sags down a little, but there's nothing here.";
	otherwise:
		now the brass key is found;
		now the player carries the brass key;
		say "Something glints and catches your eye. You lay flat on your stomach and reach underneath, grabbing a plain brass key. It looks vaguely familiar."

The Mind-Corner is scenery in Your Mind. The description is "It's safer not to examine your thoughts too closely." Understand "thoughts", "corner"  as the Mind-Corner. The printed name of the Mind-Corner is "Thoughts". 

Cell is a room. Cell is outside of your mind. "You pace around. There's nothing much to do here. Harsh flourescent lighting fills the room during the daytime hours to give you some semblance of time, should you choose to start keeping track of that stuff again. [if unvisited] The only things in the room are a mattress, a hole in the ground to use the bathroom, and the exit. [end if] There's a guard posted in the hallway at all times in case you try anything funny."

The hole in the ground is scenery in the Cell. The description is "You don't have to use the restroom right now." Understand "hole" and "toliet" as the hole in the ground.

The mattress is a thing in the Cell. The description is "A plain twin size mattresss with no pillows or blankets. There is a you-shaped indent in it." Understand "bed" as mattress. The mattress is fixed in place.

The exit is north of the Cell and south of the Hallway. The exit is a door. The exit is lockable and locked. Understand "door" as the exit. The description is "You could leave, but it would mean talking to the doctor again. Are you ready for that?"

Jump on is an action applying to one visible thing. Understand "jump on [something]" and "hop on [something]" as jump on. 

Lie down is an action applying to one visible thing. Understand "lie on", "lie down on [something]", and "sleep on [something]" as lie down.

Report jump on: 
	if the noun is the mattress:
		say "Don't be so childish." 

Report lie down:
	if the noun is the mattress:
		say "You lie down, but quickly grow restless and stand back up."
		
Understand the command "kill" as something new.
		
Kill is an action applying to one visible thing. Understand "murder [something]" and "kill [something]" as kill.

Check kill:
	if noun is the player:
		say "You've tried that before. If they catch you trying again, you'll be put back in the straight-jacket." 

Knocking on is an action applying to one visible thing. Understand "knock on [something]" and "tap on [something]" as knocking on

Check knocking on:
	if the noun is the player:
		say "You don't need to knock on your head to know there's nothing going on in there."

Report knocking on:
	say "You tap gently on [the noun], but nothing happens."

Instead of knocking on the exit for the first time:
	say "You knock tentatively on the door for the first time ever. You know a security guard is out there, but he must not have heard you."

Instead of knocking on the exit for the second time:
	say "You knock again, a little louder this time, and finally hear footsteps. They stop outside the door and open the tiny window. A surprised face looks at you from the other side, incredulous to see you breaking your routine of eating, sleeping and staring off into space."
	
Instead of knocking on the exit for the third time:
	end the story saying "The guard opens the door and asks if you are ready to see the doctor. You nod your head and are finally allowed to leave."

Your Happy Place is a room. "Wow, it's been so long since you've been here, you'd forgotten what it was like. You're suddenly on a small island surrounded by endless ocean. The sky is a perfect blue and the sun is shining. It's brighter than you remember. A lone palm tree creates a nice shady spot to the west."

The Palm-Tree is scenery in Your Happy Place. The description is "A tall, bent thing that sways in the ocean breeze. It creates a nice shady spot to the west." Understand "tree", "palm tree", "shade", "shady spot" as the Palm-Tree. 

Hot Sand is scenery in Your Happy Place. The description is "Hot sand shifts under your toes, burning the soles of your feet." Understand "sand" as Hot Sand.

Ocean is scenery in your Happy Place. The description is "Clear turquoise water stretches as far as you can see. Little waves break on the sand in a soothing rythm."

The sky is scenery in your Happy Place. The description is "Not a single cloud is in the sky. It looks almost too blue." Understand "sky" as the sky.

Understand "swim" as a mistake ("You're afraid of drowning."). 

Understand "examine sun", "look sun" and "look at sun" as a mistake ("That's bad for your eyes.").

The Shady Spot is a room. The Shady Spot is west of Your Happy Place. The description is "A nice shady spot protects you from the glaring sun. The sand is nice and cool beneath your feet. A treasure chest is half burried in the sand next to the tree."

Cool Sand is scenery in The Shady Spot. The description is "Cool white sand shifts pleasantly under your toes." Understand "sand" as Cool Sand. 

The treasure chest is a thing in The Shady Spot. The treasure chest is a closed openable container in The Shady Spot. The treasure chest is fixed in place. Understand "chest", "box", "booty" as the treasure chest. 
		
The iron key is in the treasure chest.

The white door is a door. The white door is above Your Mind and below Your Happy Place. The white door is scenery. The description is "A completely ordinary door. It looks pretty inviting up there." The white door is lockable and locked. The brass key unlocks the white door. 

Before going through the white door: 
	if the white door is closed:
		if the white door is not locked:
			say "(First opening the white door)[paragraph break]";
			now the white door is open; 
		otherwise if the player carries the brass key: 
			say "(First unlocking the white door with the brass key, then opening the door)[paragraph break]";
			now the white door is unlocked;
			now the white door is open.

Your Dark Place is a room. "You shouldn't be down here. It took you months to get out last time. All your demons are waiting for you. Fighting them alone is futile. It's not too late to leave; turn around while you still can. "

Demons are scenery in Your Dark Place. The description is "Best forgotten memories and people, both real and imagined look at you, hungry for what little sanity you still have." 

A baseball bat is in Your Dark Place. The description is "A plain wooden baseball bat. It looks pretty beat up, actually. It probably won't help you here." Understand "bat" as baseball bat. 

After taking the baseball bat:
	end the story saying "You try to fend them off, but you are swarmed and are driven to complete insanity by everything you were trying to repress." 
	
The black door is a door. The black door is below Your Mind and above Your Dark Place. The black door is scenery. The description is "A completely ordinary door besides from the unusual color. Still, it looks a little ominous waiting down there at the bottom of the steps." The black door is lockable and locked. The iron key unlocks the black door. 

Before going through the black door: 
	if the black door is closed:
		if the black door is not locked:
			say "(First opening the black door)[paragraph break]";	
			now the black door is open; 
		otherwise if the player carries the iron key: 
			say "(First unlocking the black door with the iron key, then opening the door)[paragraph break]";
			now the black door is unlocked;
			now the black door is open.

Understand "examine me" as a mistake ("You gave up on self reflection long ago."). 

Understand "examine self" as a mistake ("You gave up on self reflection long ago.").