STORY ARC 7: BEYOND THE ETERNAL FOREST
On The Beach
A chapter of a ‘Choose your own Adventure’ story.
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You stare at the deer-man offering you a heroic hand. He’s wearing a tattered janitor’s jumpsuit, opened from his belly button up, revealing large pecs covered in soft white fur. His nametag reads “Cliché” and his other hand is holding a thick shotgun.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Buck says behind you, lighting up a new cigarette. The deer-kids around him look terrified.
The pew-pew of laser guns fills the air of the forest behind Cliché, robots moving quickly and shielding themselves from the incoming fire behind trees. It’s a strange sight, bleeding-edge technology navigating through the ancient roots of nature.
A robot jumps out from behind a tree close by, its attention somewhere else. But then, it spots you and points a weird-looking gun. You feel like you’re falling, your insides sinking. It’s over. This is the end. But before the robot can fire at you, Cliché points his shotgun and blasts the robot.
“Quick!” Cliché offers his hand again, and this time you grab it.
He leads you through the forest, Buck and the kids following closely as laser beams cut the air. The forest is a labyrinth, and you can only think of getting the kids — and yourself — out of there.
Cliché leads you out of the forest and away from the robots, onto a beach. You keep following him beyond the point where the beach bends, hiding behind the rocky walls of an ominous cliff. The sandy path is thin and you feel the sea pushing you closer to the rocks.
As you keep going, a large statue starts revealing itself from behind the cliff wall. When you see it in full, you can’t believe your eyes. Lady Liberty’s torso rises tall from the sand, large antlers ornamenting her head, her torch towering above the beach.
Buck falls to his knees, finally dropping the lit cigarette from his lips. “We finally, really, did it,” he says. “You maniacs,” he screams. “God damn you all to hell!”
“We had to,” Cliché tells him. “We had no other choice.”
You realize there’s something deeper going on here, but it’s too much for you to process, so you try to focus on one thing at a time.
You grab Buck’s arm and try to help him up. “Come on, Buck. We have to save the kids. This place doesn’t seem safe!”
“Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!” Buck slaps your hand away. “You don’t understand, do you?”
You look around, the kids are dirty, tired, and scared. One of them is still holding a robot arm, hugging it close to their chest. The beach, the statue, Cliché and his shotgun… “No, actually. I truly, honestly don’t understand.”
Buck laughs. “Of course you don’t. How could you? Why don’t you explain it, Cliché? The customer deserves to know.”
Cliché looks beyond the bend, looking for any robots that might be following you. “I’m not sure this is the best moment,” he says. “There’s a violent revolution happening. The customer is not safe here!”
A wave splashes against Buck and he looks deep into your eyes. “In that case,” he tells you, “why don’t you decide?”
How do you respond?
- It’s time for some explanations.
- We have to take the kids to a safe place first.
Thanks, Jonathon Sawyer for the fun challenge! Let’s see where this takes us next.
You can finally make your dream of buying me a ko-fi come true! I’ll have a quad Americano, please. But if it’s after 4 PM, make it decaf — I already have enough trouble sleeping because of, you know, all the voices in my head.
