#OngoingAdventure: Don’t Meet The Stranger

Summary

The web content presents a participatory story where the protagonist ponders over an invitation, debates various ways to dispose of it, and seeks advice from a friend before realizing the letter is possibly more than it seems.

Abstract

The narrative "Don’t Meet The Stranger" is part of an interactive "Choose Your Own Adventure" series where readers can influence the story's progression. The protagonist, having recently enjoyed ramen, is contemplating an invitation that is causing some distress. After dismissing the idea of engaging with a large corporation like McDonald's due to past unpleasant experiences, the protagonist considers dramatic ways to destroy the invitation, such as burning it or feeding it to a neighbor's cat. Seeking counsel, the protagonist calls a friend named Reveille, who is less than enthusiastic about the situation and falls asleep during the conversation. As the protagonist turns to Netflix for distraction, they notice the invitation glowing, suggesting it might be more than just a piece of paper. The story ends with options for the reader to choose the next course of action, including ignoring the letter, destroying it, or insisting on its reality to the sleepy friend.

Opinions

The protagonist has a clear aversion to McDonald's, associating it with negative experiences.
There is a sense of humor in the protagonist's internal monologue, particularly when describing the invitation's potential fate and the recollection of a McDonald's meal.
The protagonist's friend, Reveille, is portrayed as somewhat dismissive and unreliable for advice.
The protagonist initially underestimates the significance of the invitation, treating it as a trivial matter until its peculiar behavior (glowing) is observed.
The story incorporates elements of suspense and the surreal, inviting readers to question the nature of the invitation and the reality within the narrative.
The options provided at the end of the content reflect a blend of skepticism, action, and avoidance, offering diverse paths for the story to take based on reader choices.

Part of a collaborative Choose Your Own Adventure Story

Your stomach stuffed with freshly-delivered ramen and your head resting against the faux camel hair pillow, you sink further into the couch. Briefly, you consider the invitation and then decide it is time to let it go.

You never liked Mcdonalds anyway and so why support a massive corporation that dabbles in the art of diarrhea? You recall the last time you ingested a sausage and egg McMuffin and your stomach somersaults. You gag, still smelling the memory of remnants in the rear seat of your mother’s paneled station wagon.

Should you dramatically light it on fire and watch the mystery fade into blue flames? Or rip it into teeny shreds and sprinkle it from your balcony? Or perhaps leave the bits mingled with tuna outside your door for the neighbor’s wonky, twenty-five-pound porker of a cat to munch up?

You decide to call your friend Reveille. She always knows what to do.

“What do you want?” she asks as a form of greeting. Grumpy tinges her normally joy-filled voice. “I was sleeping.”

You briefly explain what is happening but there is little interest on her behalf. Is she actually listening, you wonder?

“It’s just a dream,” she insists. You try to reiterate until you realize the soft snuffly sounds are that of her snoring. She’s fallen asleep on you!

It wasn’t worth your time or mental energy you tell yourself, reaching for the remote control and flicking Netflix back into action. You still haven’t even started this Tiger King show your colleagues claim is hilariously ridiculous. Joe Exotic sounds like some Vegas stripper. Except that he resembles more of a slum landlord stuck in the 80s with too much time and peroxide on his hands.

Letter schmetter. You have better things to do, right?

Until you notice the letter is glowing. Or is that just the reflection of the TV’s nauseous glow?

#OngoingAdventure: Don’t Meet The Stranger

Part of a collaborative Choose Your Own Adventure Story

Options: