Lost in Seasons

1: You stand by the edge of a river, facing away from it. The wind is failing to dry your wet clothes as you watch a cat run away from you. You don't know where you are, you don't even know who you are. In the river, there's a gaping hole. The water refuses to fill it. There is a high-pitched noise surrounding you, compelling you to move.

To step onto land, go to 2. To step into the hole, go to 3. To run upriver, go to 4

2: You step out of the muddy riverbed. Before your foot touches the ground, you feel your other foot leave the ground. You don't necessarily feel weightless, more like someone is dragging you up into the sky. As you float, the world below you grows smaller and smaller, and soon it doesn't look as much like a world as it does a sandbox. You float up and up until you're among the stars and you begin to lose feeling. It starts in your toes, working its way up your body until all you can feel is the tip of your nose. Eventually, you lose that too.

You have died. Start over from 1.

3: You step into the hole. It's dark for just a second, but then you see every color you've ever seen and some that you didn't even know existed until this moment. Then, as soon as it began, it comes to a stop and you're in the cold dark. You realize that you're underwater.

To swim in direction A, go to 5. To swim in direction B, go to 6.

4: You walk upriver. Your feet make wet sloshing sounds in the water. You keep walking. You walk until you can't feel your legs, you walk until the soles of your shoes are worn down to nothing. You look back, and you are only a few feet farther away from the waterfall than you were before. You keep walking.

You have died. Start over from 1.

5: You are swimming down. You run out of air and your body floats to the top, eventually washing up. Your bones remain there for hundreds of years, being picked at by unseen lizards and carnivorous birds until there is nothing left.

You have died. Start over from 1.

6: You are swimming up. You break surface and hot, dusty air fills your lungs. You let the water carry you to shore, then open your eyes. You're on a beach with the sun in your eyes, and you feel warmth next to you. You hear the thing next to you let out a heavy breath.

To look at the thing next to you, go to 7. To not look at the thing next to you, go to 8.

7: You turn to look at the thing next to you. It's the most beautiful woman you've ever seen. She's perfect, except for her mouth. Instead of a mouth, all she has is jagged shark teeth. She stands, and motions for you to follow her. You feel yourself going after her involuntarily, as if there is someone else in control of your body.

Go to 9.

8: You don't let yourself look at the thing next to you. You sit up and dust the yellow sand off of you. You feel the thing watching you as you walk away, but you still don't let yourself look.

You see a tree out of the corner of your eye.

To ignore the tree, go to 10. To walk towards the tree, go to 11.

9: The woman leads you to a cave. It's cooler in here, out of the sun. Your body continues to follow her without your permission. As you keep walking, you feel hundreds of eyes watching you. They are hungry, and soon you realize that the woman has brought them their next meal.

You have died. Start over from 1.

10: You don't walk towards the tree. Instead you keep walking along the water. Too late, you realize that it's a circle and you're back where you started. You feel the same presence as before.