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--
{embed image: 'images/shadow2.jpg'}
It was hard to say how long you spent entangled with them - this <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'companion', choices: ['spectre', 'spirit', 'being']}</span> that entered your life unannounced.
Your sense of time became warped. One thing stretched into another, until you could not see the joins at all.
It stuck with you, of course. The most powerful moments were like growing points of [[light->Sky]] against a dark sky.
But at each stage you felt pulled in different [[directions->History]], straining against each decision that was presented to you.
And you were constantly asking yourself questions, ones that seemed to creep into your mind of their own accord.
{embed image: 'images/stone.jpg'}
Maybe that contributed to how strong a hold this one threatened to take on you. Or maybe that is too [[simplistic->Rebalancing]].{embed image: 'images/stone.jpg'}
Maybe it was that fact that catapulted you into this one with such momentum. Or maybe that had [[nothing->Rebalancing]] to do with it.{embed image: 'images/contrast.jpg'}
In the weeks before it all started, you had resolved to undertake a rebalancing.
You needed contrast in your life. You wanted to allow in other possibilities.
And as a means to do so, you would attend to your surroundings. Slow the torrent. Pause and reflect. There were certain [[activities->Activities]] that helped.
{embed image: 'images/trunk.jpg'}
You ran your hands across bark and stems. Listened to the calls of the [[birds->Birds]]. Breathed in the smell of wet grass.
Your senses attuned to this new focus. It felt like it opened up parts of your brain that had been [[dormant->Dormant woods]].
{embed image: 'images/side street.jpg'}
You wandered along side streets. You became absorbed in the whirr of distant vehicles, or the clink of plates in restaurants.
You listened closely to each snatch of overheard conversation, and imagined whole lives spun out from those few words.
Your senses attuned to this new focus. It felt like it opened up parts of your brain that had been [[dormant->Dormant city]].
{embed image: 'images/wind.jpg'}
They were rushes of muted noise, like the reverberations of a fierce wind, or an unseen creature passing through.
You tilted your head in an attempt to locate the source. There was a tingling warmth at the back of your neck, and a thudding in your chest.
The more you listened, the more you became convinced. There was a presence there with you.
One that was formed from [[shadow->Woods-First Meeting]].
{embed image: 'images/leaves.jpg'}
There were certain tones that gleamed among the dappled mass of foliage.
They stood out for brief moments, as if highlighted by an invisible force passing across them, and then went dull.
You followed the movement, in deep concentration. You had to remind yourself to blink.
The more you looked the more you became convinced. There was a presence there with you.
One that was formed from [[shadow->Woods-First Meeting]].
{embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
You tracked its progess, up ahead. You watched it glide across the ground, saw its edges bleed into its surroundings.
But when its outline became most distinct, it was almost your silhouette.
Somewhere in that dark shape, you thought you could even see a face. At other times, it was gone.
You felt a strange kinship with this {companion}. Or was it a serene terror? Maybe [[both->Shadow Choice]].
{embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
Who knew what its secret purpose might be? Something told you it would not react well to that purpose being interrupted.
Besides, you had come here to find your own solace. It would be remiss to deny that to another, whatever their effect on you.
You turned away, however difficult that was, and resumed your [[wandering->Pond]].
{embed image: 'images/undergrowth.jpg'}
You hurried to keep pace. There was something liberating in the giving up of control.
You followed them down paths that emerged from the undergrowth, unnoticed until now. You allowed yourself to become pleasingly [[lost->Cottage]].
For a time the green of the leaves was tinged with a <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'colour', choices: ['shocking blue', 'blood red', 'sickly yellow']}</span>. Next there was a smell like <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'smell', choices: ['jasmine', 'honey', 'mint']}</span> mixed with something acid, fleeting and sharp.
{embed image: 'images/fog.jpg'}
You wanted it to carry you forward. You wanted it to blot everything else out, however briefly.
You saw no reason to wait. You returned to the woods as [[soon->Woods-The Return]] as you could.{embed image: 'images/savour.jpg'}
You wanted to put it to use. You turned it over in your mind, considering it from every angle.
You wondered what it might reveal, if you studied it for long enough. You waited for the right [[moment->Woods-The Return]] before returning.{embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
You made your way to the same place where you had first encountered the {companion}.
Of course, you could not be sure that it would be able to find them again.
Maybe they would stay hidden. Maybe they had moved on. Or maybe your eyes had deceived you from the [[start->Tremors]].
{embed image: 'images/shadow window.jpg'}
It was a strange relief, a respite, carved out for you and you alone.
You had yearned for such a thing, against the endless demands of the precarious living you were scratching out.
You would not give it up so easily.
And so [[here->Woods-Second Meeting]] you were.{embed image: 'images/shadow window.jpg'}
There were too many gaps, too many sensations that defied words, and a part of you worried that would always be the case.
You could already see the puzzled looks and anticipate the sting of judgement.
You questioned whether the uncertainty would become too much, even for you.
And yet [[here->Woods-Second Meeting]] you were.{embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
You waited diligently, but to no avail. The air remained still. The leaves did not resolve into anything but leaves.
You questioned what had convinced you to come back. You wondered why you had been so easily drawn in.
There was something about their strange presence that had sparked something in [[you->Woods-Second Decision]].
{embed image: 'images/stone wall.jpg'}
You thought about what it would be for these woods to be your home, for it to be you working the fields, and returning to a remote cottage.
You wondered how it would feel for it to be your responsibility to maintain this land.
And then there was a flicker of memory. Of a choice you might have taken a long time ago. But you had chosen a different path.
Was it too late for you to make a different decision? You feared that it was. You flinched at the necessary wrench of change.
But you could imagine. You could inhabit. What would be different? How would it feel to be here not as an outsider, but as a [[native->Birdsong]]?{embed image: 'images/dark wood.jpg'}
You knew of your tendencies, of the discomfort always lurking just below the surface.
Even here you were not immune. It did not take much for your perceptions of your surroundings to shift, for threat to creep in.
Or for the turn of a branch, or pattern of cloud to remind you of some gesture, some scene from the past, and all the <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'past emotion', choices: ['guilt', 'pain', 'shame', 'anger']}</span> dredged up with it.
It was like an awful feedback loop, or a monster feeding on itself. You could feel it happening now.
The muscles in your chest tightened. The skin behind your ear became hot. The rush of blood at your temples was [[deafening->Ceased]].
{embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
Or if it might threaten to overwhelm you, prevent you from functioning outside of this space.
You were scared about surrendering to it completely. When that had happened before, you had always emerged wounded.
You knew of the dangers of <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'partnership', choices: ['an unequal', 'a doomed', 'a dependent']}</span> partnership.
Instead you eased back into your former existence, fulfilling the duties that were ever required of [[you->Extinguish]].
{embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
And if you might question its veracity once removed from the source, and thrust back into the mundane. A part of you was scared to find out.
You shifted back into your former existence reluctantly, fulfilling the duties that were ever required of [[you->Veracity]]. {embed image: 'images/blue white woods.jpg'}
Once more you made your way to the same spot. You wondered what was next in store, what progress you might make.
You let the possibilities play out in your mind. You allowed yourself that indulgence, now you were here.
The sky was blue-white. The sun had passed its apex. And you settled into [[waiting->Long wait]]. {embed image: 'images/stars woods.jpg'}
And that exposure jolted you from your reveries. You sensed a shift in mood.
Had you had been too lost in your own desires? Had you missed something?
You would reorient yourself. You would start right now. Your focus would become them.
The hours passed imperceptibly. You were sure that neither of you had moved, but somehow the distance between you began to dissolve.
Your breathing had slowed almost to nothingness. Each muscle was relaxed.
You grew together, into something else, that was beyond words.
In that state, they spoke to you. The thought unfolded in your mind, like a [[flower->Flower]] opening its petals.
{embed image: 'images/stars woods.jpg'}
Better to bring this moment to a close. Better to mark it and then catch your breath.
You needed to examine your response away from the potency of this place.
You pulled away, breaking the connection. Your body tensed. You did not know what reaction your choice would [[bring->Flash]].
{embed image: 'images/office.jpg'}
It took you a long time to come back to something resembling normality. The disarming haze of that evening lingered.
At the office you were anxious, dropping papers and misdirecting work. Sometimes your words came out in the wrong order.
The grasping tension lingered in your body. You waited for this to pass. You held off on making any choice.
Soon, the right decision reached you with surprising [[clarity->Clarity]].
{embed image: 'images/office.jpg'}
It took you a long time to come back to something resembling normality. The disarming haze of that evening lingered.
At the office you were clumsy, dropping papers and clattering against doors. Sometimes your words came out in the wrong order.
You waited for this to pass. You held off on making any choice. You wanted to be [[sure->Sure]].
{embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
You would explain to them the liberty that they had unwittingly found, and how precious that was.
You would detail all the mistakes that you had made by contrast, in unremitting detail.
You would steer them back. Their progress would not be tainted, you would make sure of [[that->Both stay]].{embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
You had been waiting for this, for too long already. It would be foolish to give up the chance.
You could not deny the pitfalls to which they would be exposed in your world, the same ones that you had fallen into, many times.
Could you justify subjecting them to that? But you quickly banished those thoughts from your mind.
A fresh start was best for both of you. Well, best for you. That was all for which you could ultimately be [[responsible->Responsible]].
{embed image: 'images/rope.jpg'}
You recognised that fact, even if you did not welcome the realisation. The pull was too strong. The sensations were too great.
You suspected they would consume you. You did not trust yourself to hold back.
This had happened to you before, in a different way, but with the same result.
You knew the dangers of pursuing <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'partnership', choices: ['an unequal', 'a doomed', 'a dependent']}</span> partnership. Your empty home was testament to [[that->Empty home]].
{embed image: 'images/rope.jpg'}
You hoped it might be everything you needed. You knew there was no guarantee.
You just had to take a leap, into the unknown, into the unfathomable. It was a risk that you were willing to take.
You would study them, and they would study you. You would fall down that rabbit hole willingly.
You would acknowledge what had brought you each to this point, and the <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'sacrifices', choices: ['sacrifices', 'compromises', 'mistakes']}</span> that had been made along the way.
You would attempt to learn from those choices, under the unerring gaze of another. Maybe that was what you had been lacking up to [[now->Journey back]].
{embed image: 'images/alley.jpg'}
They were sweeps of soft white noise, somewhere between inaudible whisper and machine hum.
You turned your head this way and that to follow them, and found yourself alone in a quiet alley. You felt a shiver down your back.
The more you listened, the more you became convinced. There was a presence there with you.
One that was formed from [[shadow->City-First Meeting]].{embed image: 'images/colours city.jpg'}
In a quiet alley, you watched as the coloured glass of a window gleamed, or a painted sign shone unnaturally.
They stood out for brief moments, as if highlighted by an invisible force passing across them, and then went dull.
You followed the movement, in deep concentration. You had to remind yourself to blink.
The more you looked the more you became convinced. There was a presence there with you.
One that was formed from [[shadow->City-First Meeting]].{embed image: 'images/shadow city.jpg'}
You tracked its progess, up ahead. You watched it glide across the concrete, saw its edges bleed into its surroundings.
But when its outline became most distinct, it was almost your silhouette.
Somewhere in that dark shape, you thought you could even see a face. At other times, it was gone.
You felt a strange kinship with this {companion}. Or was it a serene terror? Maybe [[both->Shadow choice city]].
{embed image: 'images/shadow city.jpg'}
Who knew what its secret purpose might be? Something told you it would not react well to that purpose being interrupted.
Besides, you had come here to find something for yourself. You did not want to become distracted.
You opened the door at the address you had written down on the way here. Inside was a long [[passageway->Atrium]]. The walls were a smeared off-white.{embed image: 'images/brick bridge.jpg'}
You struggled to keep pace. There was something unnerving in the giving up of control, but you surrendered to it.
You left the alley and turned under a bridge. You were following the path of the railway, passing shuttered up shops nestled in its arches.
Despite the strangeness of your target, no one else appeared to react to their [[presence->Office block]].
{embed image: 'images/fog city.jpg'}
You wanted it to carry you forward. You wanted it to blot everything else out, however briefly.
You saw no reason to wait. You returned to the city as [[soon->City-The Return]] as you could.{embed image: 'images/savour city.jpg'}
You wanted to put it to use. You turned it over in your mind, considering it from every angle.
You wondered what it might reveal, if you studied it for long enough. You waited for the right [[moment->City-The Return]] before returning to the city.
{embed image: 'images/door.jpg'}
You made your way to the same place where you had first encountered the {companion}.
Of course, you could not be sure that it would be able to find them again.
Maybe they would stay hidden. Maybe they had moved on. Or maybe your eyes had deceived you from the [[start->Tremors city]].{embed image: 'images/barn.jpg'}
You had experience of that, at least. Even if many times it had driven you into a way of thinking that was unwelcome.
But in this case it would your own choice, rather than the assumed demands of the precarious living you had been handed.
You would embrace it. And so [[here->City-Second Meeting]] you were.{embed image: 'images/barn.jpg'}
Already there were so many gaps, so many sensations that defied words, but maybe that would drive you to improve yourself.
You would have to search for different capabilites within. Become better equipped.
You did not know how much would be required from you. How far you would be pushed.
And yet [[here->City-Second Meeting]] you were.{embed image: 'images/brick wall.jpg'}
You waited diligently, but to no avail. The air remained only a distant traffic hum. The bricks did not resolve into anything but bricks.
You questioned what had convinced you to come back. You wondered why you had been so easily drawn in.
There was something about their strange presence that had sparked something in [[you->City-Second Decision]].
{embed image: 'images/office.jpg'}
You thought about what it would be for the city to be your home, for it to be you moving easily among the crowds, and settling at a desk.
You wondered how it would feel for you to fit into an organism built entirely by human hands.
And then there was a flicker of memory, of a choice you might have taken a long time ago.
But you had chosen a different path, or told yourself you had no other [[option->Too late]].
{embed image: 'images/isolation.jpg'}
You knew of your tendencies, of the urge to turn away, at the point of any friction.
Maybe that was why your isolation had gone on for so long. Maybe that was why you had accepted the responsbility of the farm in the first place.
You knew this was necessary for your own functioning, but you feared certain avenues would always be closed to [[you->Dark city]] because of it.
{embed image: 'images/brick wall.jpg'}
Or if it might threaten to overwhelm you, prevent you from functioning outside of this space.
You were scared about surrendering to it completely. When that had happened before, you had always emerged wounded.
You knew of the dangers of <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'partnership', choices: ['an unequal', 'a doomed', 'a dependent']}</span> partnership.
Instead you eased back into your former existence, fulfilling the duties that were ever required of [[you->Extinguish city]]. {embed image: 'images/brick wall.jpg'}
And if you might question its veracity once removed from the source, and thrust back into the mundane. A part of you was scared to find out.
You shifted back into your former existence reluctantly, fulfilling the duties that were ever required of [[you->Veracity city]].
{embed image: 'images/door.jpg'}
Once more you made your way to that first quiet alley. You wondered what was next in store, what progress you might make.
You let the possibilities play out in your mind. You allowed yourself that indulgence, now you were here.
The sky was a dirty grey. The sun was hidden by the slants of the roofs above you. And you settled into waiting, sheltered in a [[doorway->Wait city]]. {embed image: 'images/city lights.jpg'}
And that exposure jolted you from your reveries. You sensed a shift in mood.
Had you had been too lost in your own desires? Had you missed something?
You would reorient yourself. You would start right now. Your focus would become them.
The hours passed imperceptibly. You were sure that neither of you had moved, but somehow the distance between you began to dissolve.
Your breathing had slowed almost to nothingness. Each muscle was relaxed. You grew together, into something else, that was beyond words.
In that state, they spoke to you. The thought unfolded in your mind, like a [[radio->Radio]] suddenly turned on. {embed image: 'images/city lights.jpg'}
Better to bring this moment to a close. Better to mark it and then catch your breath.
You needed to examine your response away from the potency of this place.
You pulled away, breaking the connection. Your body tensed. You did not know what reaction your choice would [[bring->Flash city]].{embed image: 'images/soil.jpg'}
It took you a long time to come back to something resembling normality. The disarming haze of that evening lingered.
On the farm you were anxious, mishandling tools and littering your body with bruises and cuts.
You started tasks and then forgot what you had to do next. The grasping tension lingered in your body.
You waited for this to pass. You held off on making any choice. Soon, the right decision reached you with surprising [[clarity->Clarity city]].
{embed image: 'images/soil.jpg'}
It took you a long time to come back to something resembling normality. The disarming haze of that evening lingered.
On the farm you were clumsy, dropping tools and forgetting tasks.
Sometimes you found yourself in the middle of a field with no idea of what to do next.
You waited for this to pass. You held off on making any choice. You wanted to be [[sure->Sure city]]. {embed image: 'images/fascination.jpg'}
You hoped it might be everything you needed. You knew there was no guarantee.
You just had to take a leap, into the unknown, into the unfathomable. It was a risk that you were willing to take.
You would study them, and they would study you. You would fall down that rabbit hole willingly.
You would acknowledge what had brought you each to this point, and the <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'sacrifices', choices: ['sacrifices', 'compromises', 'mistakes']}</span> that had been made along the way.
You would attempt to learn from those choices, under the unerring gaze of another. Maybe that was what you had been lacking up to [[now->Journey back city]].{embed image: 'images/fascination.jpg'}
You recognised that fact, even if you did not welcome the realisation. The pull was too strong. The sensations were too great.
You suspected they would consume you. You did not trust yourself to hold back.
This had happened to you before, in a different way, but with the same result.
You knew the dangers of pursuing <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'partnership', choices: ['an unequal', 'a doomed', 'a dependent']}</span> partnership. Your empty cottage was testament to [[that->Empty cottage]].{embed image: 'images/shadow city.jpg'}
You would explain to them the community that they had unwittingly found, and how precious that was.
You would detail all the mistakes that you had made by contrast, in unremitting detail.
You would steer them back. Their progress would not be tainted, you would make sure of [[that->Both stay city]].{embed image: 'images/shadow city.jpg'}
You had been waiting for this, for too long already. It would be foolish to give up the chance.
You could not deny the pitfalls to which they would be exposed in your world, the same ones that you had fallen into, many times.
Could you justify subjecting them to that? But you quickly banished those thoughts from your mind.
A fresh start was best for both of you. Well, best for you. That was all for which you could ultimately be [[responsible->Responsible city]].{embed image: 'images/stone.jpg'}
> [[It had been a long time since a relationship had affected you in the way that this one did...->Naive]]
> [[It had not been long since another relationship had ended, one that was just as affecting in its own way...->Experienced]]{embed image: 'images/dark sky.jpg'}
Sometimes they were beacons, shining the way. Sometimes they were too bright, blinding you from the [[route->History]].{embed image: 'images/contrast.jpg'}
>[[You liked long walks in the distant woods...->Woods]]
>[[You liked exploring the side streets of the nearest city...->City]]{embed image: 'images/birds2.jpg'}
What could you hope to identify? A wood pigeon? A crow? That was about all you could [[manage->Intimation]].{embed image: 'images/office.jpg'}
Or smothered under the accumulations of work, of the office, of that inexorable cycle that you had escaped, even if only for a [[moment->Intimation]].{embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
And it was there, in the woods and far from home, that you first spotted them. Or did they spot you?
At first it was only an intimation. A certain density of light between branches. A sudden change in the breeze.
But soon it became something you could not [[ignore->Senses]].{embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
>[[It was the sounds that drew you closer...->Woods-Sounds]]
>[[It was the colours that stood out...->Woods-Colours]]{embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
>[[You did not want to disturb its progress...->Woods-Ignore]]
>[[You wanted to know where it was going...->Woods-Follow]]{embed image: 'images/pond.jpg'}
You followed the path through the bluebell woods, toward the shallow pool between the two bent oaks.
You sat at the water's edge. You watched leaves float across the surface. Insects hovering overhead.
The passage of each became erratic as they approached you. Ripples spread outward, and then back again.
You followed these unfurling interactions, noting how each small change triggered a larger one in [[turn->Speculation]]. {embed image: 'images/globe.jpg'}
You imagined this chain reaction spreading across the entire globe. You knew how difficult it was to stop something once it had started.
You reflected on what you had lost in the unrelenting rush of years, in your fruitless search for <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'solace', choices: ['security', 'status', 'meaning']}</span>.
What it meant to be broken apart, to feel atomised. How you had become unmoored, and now woke up each day in a place you did not recognise.
How [[you->Shadow back]] were so different from your younger self, and how [[you->Shadow back]] were the same.{embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
Your gaze became drawn back to the water. You peered closer, and the breath caught in your throat.
It was there again. The {companion}. Watching over your shoulder.
You flung yourself around, but just as soon as they had appeared, they were gone.
Was there something they wanted from you? Or did they not register your presence [[at all->Leaving]]?{embed image: 'images/path.jpg'}
Could this whole episode be a product of your own contemplation?
You waited until your heart rate slowed, and your breathing returned to normal. You reoriented.
Soon it was the inevitable time to return, to the life that you led away from this place, and the sped-up way that time passed there.
The rush of the office. The snatched interactions over opposite computer screens.
The return to an empty flat and a surge of the fear of missing out. But this time you would return with something [[different->More or less]].
A new <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'new', choices: ['energy', 'focus', 'intrigue', 'target']}</span>.
{embed image: 'images/path.jpg'}
>[[And you needed more of it...->Woods-Focus]]
>[[And you savoured it...->Woods-Savour]] {embed image: 'images/stone wall.jpg'}
Finally you both reached a dilapidated cottage, at the edge of wide, green-yellow fields.
You lingered behind a low stone wall, observing as they paused to rest only briefly, before setting about their next task.
They dug their way up and down the fields, mapping out a careful line that snaked back on itself, scattering the echoes of seeds in their wake.
You watched them [[toil->Work]] for what must have been hours, their shadow movements only barely unsettling the earth. {embed image: 'images/soil.jpg'}
But they appeared unconcerned by this. There was something relaxing in their unflinching determination.
Your journey here had been motivated by a burning desire to escape the predictable, but maybe you could learn from their approach to routine.
As they reached the end of a row did they meet your eye for a moment? No, you must have been mistaken.
It was getting late. The {companion} was becoming ever more indistinct against the encroaching [[darkness->Darkness]].{embed image: 'images/path.jpg'}
And you too had to return, to the life that you led away from this place, and the numbness of the empty routine there.
The monotony of the office. The unchanging interactions over opposite computer screens. The return to an empty flat and an overfamiliar sofa.
Somehow you retraced your steps. And this time you would return with something [[different->More or less]].
A new <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'new', choices: ['determination', 'mindfulness', 'approach', 'target']}</span>. {embed image: 'images/office.jpg'}
But the tremors from the encounter had rippled across every aspect of your life.
You thought of it when you opened your eyes to the demands of a new day, and when you finally surrendered to the ache of sleep.
Snapshots returned to you when the gush of the shower first hit your skin, or with each necessary <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'beverage', choices: ['shot of coffee', 'steaming cup of tea', 'glass of water']}</span> that met your lips.
At work you were hyper-aware of the countless decisions made with every passing hour, and the paths those affected became funnelled down.
You listened to the justifications given for each choice, and speculated as to the words that were left [[unsaid->Being sighted]].{embed image: 'images/shadow window.jpg'}
At times you thought you caught sight of the shadow of that {companion} as you went about your own tasks.
Were they there, reflected in a window? In the dark corner of a room, then gone? Could that be true?
And yet you had not spoken a word of all this to anyone else. Was that a [[mistake->Unspoken]]?{embed image: 'images/shadow window.jpg'}
>[[You wanted this thing unfolding to be yours alone...->Woods-Yours]]
>[[You needed to truly understand what was happening before you could describe it...->Woods-Understand]]{embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
>[[You pictured a world in which you were in their place...->Woods-At Home Here]]
>[[You worried you would never be as at home in a space as they had seemed to be...->Woods-Never At Home Here]] {embed image: 'images/clouds.jpg'}
But suddenly the cacophony ceased. Your body relaxed. The branches were just branches. The clouds were just [[clouds->Shadow relief]].{embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
And then, there they were again. The {companion} - a shard of sharp black, thrust through from the undergrowth, that settled into a familiar shape.
There was no doubt that they had seen you this time. They fixed you with a steady gaze - one of <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'gaze', choices: ['admonishment', 'compassion', 'pity', 'curiosity']}</span>? You were not sure.
But they had silenced your creeping thoughts, that much was clear. Now your focus was only [[them->Shadow study]]. {embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
You faced each other, in almost perfect symmetry. Studied the one opposite. You were on the verge of words that never came.
For they suddenly rushed towards you. The edge of them met the edge of you.
You matched each other perfectly. For an instant it was as if there were not two of you, but only [[one->Back into the trees]].{embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
Then you parted, were spun back on your own individual paths by some unknown force. They disappeared into the trees.
You blinked. Put a hand to your face in shock. Everything was still. You embraced the calm, as unfamiliar as it was.
But once again, the time came for you to leave, however wrenching that felt. Your responsibilities would not [[wait->Reaction relief]]. {embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
>[[You wondered if you would be able to contain your astonishment...->Woods-Excitement]]
>[[You wondered if the contrast would cause the relief to fade...->Woods-Fade]]{embed image: 'images/birds2.jpg'}
Suddenly there was a shift in the atmosphere, a change in temperature. Your ears began to fill with birdsong. Everything became heightened.
It was like a volume dial had been turned, amplifying all that was there, but to which you had not been attending.
The muscles in your chest tightened, and then relaxed. The skin behind your ear became hot. And then you realised it was because of [[them->Shadow amplify]].{embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
They revealed themselves, the {companion} - a streak of ink darkness, spilling from the undergrowth and settling into a familiar shape.
This time there was no doubt that they had seen you. You faced each other, in almost perfect symmetry. Studied the one opposite.
You had questions, but you did not know how to articulate them. You had come with expectations, but now they eluded [[you->Shadow disappears]].{embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
They reached a decision before you did. Moving quicker than you thought possible, they turned and dissipated back into the trees.
You heard a gasp, and realised it had come from you. Your legs were weak underneath you.
Slowly your new awareness ebbed away, and reality set back in. You would have to [[leave->Reaction insight]] too. Your responsibilities would not wait. {embed image: 'images/office.jpg'}
But you could not extinguish thoughts of your return to the woods. It began to dominate everything.
Your desk appeared as a sun-beaten field. The computer screen was clear water. The ceiling edges became a legion of moving shadows.
You came up with ever more audacious ideas of how this new perspective might embolden you, before abandoning all of them.
The pressures of normality drained the energy from you, made thoughts of alternatives appear ridiculous.
But in the end, even that enervation was not enough. You had to go back. Any longer would leave you [[bereft.->Woods-Back Again]]{embed image: 'images/office.jpg'}
Already, the details were starting to fade. You had to latch onto them as best you could.
You analysed every image held in your mind's eye, but came to different conclusions each time as to their meaning.
The pressures of normality drained the energy from you, made these memories appear ridiculous.
Standing at a train platform, backed by the setting sun, your long shadow appeared hopelessly mundane.
In the end, it was not long before you had to go back, for the fear of losing [[everything->Woods-Back Again]].
{embed image: 'images/blue white woods.jpg'}
But this time the wait was even longer. You worried that you had made some mistake, one that meant you had been spurned.
Would that not be typical? Would that not remind you never to [[imagine->Next]]?
{embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
You sunk to the ground. And that was when you noticed the shadow fall across you.
Had they been there all along? And if so, what was it they were waiting for?
You turned to look at them, feeling newly exposed. You felt your own observations turned back on [[you->Stars]].{embed image: 'images/stars woods.jpg'}
You watched the heavy rise and fall of your chest. You noted how each minute shift in your position was studied and replayed.
Before you knew it, the sun was gone. It was dark, and the abundant stars shed a different light on the {companion} across from you.
They became a gleaming surface. You saw yourself in them, [[exposed->Stay or go]], unravelled, laid bare.{embed image: 'images/stars woods.jpg'}
>[[You had to stay and face up to this scrutiny...->Woods-Scrutiny]]
>[[You had to go - it was too much...->Woods-Go]] {embed image: 'images/dark flower.jpg'}
'I want what you have.'
What?
'I want the path that you took.'
But-
'You can have [[mine->Mine]].'{embed image: 'images/dark flower.jpg'}
They wanted what you had? The idea seemed absurd. But could you accept it? Could you throw yourself into a new way of living?
Or would that be condemning them? Would they not be swallowed up by the noise, back in the city, in the same way that you had?
They were your echo, in so many ways. Maybe you had to use that knowledge to help make this [[choice->Thinking]]. {embed image: 'images/flash.jpg'}
Each realisation created a surge of energy. Your heart rate leapt in octaves.
Finally, there was a flash. Two rushing sounds, of contrasting pitch. And then you were alone again.
You were standing at the door to your flat, but you could not remember how you had got there.
You stepped inside and collapsed in the nearest chair. You had a [[decision->Woods-Choosing The End]] to make.
{embed image: 'images/flash.jpg'}
There was a flash. A rushing sound, but in reverse. Your vision became blurry.
You were standing at the door to your flat, but you could not remember how you had got [[there->Flat sudden]]. {embed image: 'images/floorboards flat.jpg'}
You stepped inside, collapsed in the nearest chair. Its frame pressed hard against your back. Your feet were loose against the floorboards.
You were piecing this together. But there were still so many gaps. How far would you go to fill them in?
In order to learn more of this {companion} you would also have to remove layers from you.
You had to figure out how much of that you could [[take->Woods-Choosing The End-No Info]].
{embed image: 'images/office.jpg'}
You did not know if you could even give a name to it, this thing that was unfolding.
But could you commit to it? Or was this the point you felt you could go no further?
You did not let slip a word of your dilemma. This had become a secret. A furtive [[bond->Choice No Info]]. {embed image: 'images/rope.jpg'}
>[[One that had to come to an end...->Woods-No Info-End]]
>[[One that would extend far into your future...->Woods-No Info-Future]]{embed image: 'images/empty flat.jpg'}
You had to admit that you had already been changed by this latest experience. Your body, your thoughts, were different.
Had anyone else noticed? Would you ever be able to explain to them what had happened?
You had not yet decided if you would try. You did not know how these changes would settle within you.
But you did not regret the time that you had shared. You would return to the everyday with a new perspective. You could even call it growth.
You had rebalanced, as you had promised yourself that you would. That was [[enough->Enough]], surely.{embed image: 'images/slate grey.jpg'}
As you descended from your flat and reached the street, the sun was obscured, and the air was cool.
The grey sky stretched endless to the horizon. There was a tightness in your chest that grew in the same direction.
You started the first leg of your long route to the woods. The closer you got to your destination, the more tense you [[became->Tense reunion]]. {embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
Soon you would be reunited. Soon you would tell them of your decision, however difficult that might be.
When you reached them, you blurted out the words, and turned away. You could not trust yourself to stay any longer.
As you walked back the way you had come, you were sure you saw a ghost of a different tint spill from [[you->Ghost]], and head towards the {companion}. {embed image: 'images/white.jpg'}
A different choice being made. One to which you were no longer privy. For when you looked back, they were both gone.
And you were left to return to your old life, untouched.
You had chosen the right moment. You had taken what you needed, and no more. You had protected yourself. Hadn't you?
~END~{embed image: 'images/blue sky.jpg'}
As you descended from your flat and reached the street, the sunlight was very bright, though the air was cool.
Blue sky stretched to meet uneven rooftops. There was a hotness in your chest.
You started the first leg of your long route to the woods.The closer you got to your destination, the more at [[ease->Relaxed reunion]]. {embed image: 'images/bright forest.jpg'}
Soon you would see them again. Soon you would embark on this delicate journey.
There was no clear route, or endpoint, or goal. And you were comfortable with that. You could not wait to get started...{embed image: 'images/shadow woods.jpg'}
>[[You could not do what the {companion} had asked...->Woods-Stick]]
>[[You would do what the {companion} had asked...->Woods-Swap]] {embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
The thought crossed your mind that you could both stay out in the woods. Abandon the trappings of society and its incessant pressures.
But deep down you knew you would never be able to do that. It was so difficult to make a change, to conceive of something entirely new.
Would you visit them at least? Or would that be too painful? You suspected it [[would->Hold them]] be. {embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
But you would hold them with you in other ways. You would learn from their approach and take that with you in your return to the everyday.
You knew how valuable this <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'valuable', choices: ['balance', 'contrast', 'commitment', 'focus']}</span> was, and you would maintain it, as best you could.
You promised that to yourself. Now all that was left was to enact your promise to [[them->Promise]]. {embed image: 'images/bruised sky.jpg'}
As you descended from your flat and reached the street, the sun was nowhere to be seen, and the air was cold.
The bruised sky stretched endless to the horizon. There was a tightness in your chest that grew in the same direction.
You started the first leg of your long route to the woods. The closer you got to your destination, the more tense you [[became->Tense reunion info]]. {embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
Soon you would be reunited. Soon you would tell them of your decision, however difficult that might be.
You just had to banish the doubts. Commit to this. No turning back. You could do that. Of course you could.
Couldn't you?
~END~{embed image: 'images/blue sky.jpg'}
As you descended from your flat and reached the street, you were swallowed in aching sunlight, that was tempered by a sharp breeze.
Blue sky met uneven rooftops. There was a weight in your chest. You started the first leg of your long route to the woods.
The closer you got to your destination, the more conflicted. But soon there would be no turning [[back->No turning back]]. {embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
The words tumbled from your mouth when you finally reached them. You did not want to hesitate, and neither did they.
The decision was made. The necessary details exchanged.
As you watched them walk away, in the direction you had guided them, you noticed their complexion change. Become more solid.
When you looked down at your body you noticed the opposite. Your outline was becoming [[insubstantial->Insubstantial]]. {embed image: 'images/shadow2.jpg'}
You could not feel the soil beneath your feet in the same way any longer.
Was this the price you had to pay?
Well, then it would have to be paid. A choice always came with a cost, you knew that by now.
And once it was made, you had to stick with it. Whatever the consequences.
It sounded easy when you thought about it like that.
You hoped beyond hope that the reality would be the same...
~END~{embed image: 'images/soil.jpg'}
Or smothered under the accumulations of work, of the farm, of that inexorable cycle that you had escaped, even if only for a [[moment->Intimation city]].{embed image: 'images/door.jpg'}
And it was there, in those streets, that you first spotted them. Or did they spot you?
At first it was only an intimation. A certain density of light in a doorway. A sudden change in the air temperature.
But soon it became something you could not [[ignore->Senses city]].{embed image: 'images/door.jpg'}
>[[It was the sounds that drew you closer...->City-Sounds]]
>[[It was the colours that stood out...->City-Colours]]{embed image: 'images/shadow city.jpg'}
>[[You did not want to disturb its progress...->City-Ignore]]
>[[You wanted to know where it was going...->City-Follow]]{embed image: 'images/atrium.jpg'}
Finally, you emerged into a crowded atrium, of a cavernous building that was stark in its blankness. It was like nothing you had seen before.
The people around you moved at a pace that was unnatural to you. You were a slowness, right in the middle, unnoticed.
There was a smell like <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'smell city', choices: ['petrol', 'wet tarmac', 'bleach']}</span> mixed with sharp perfume. You could not work out where it was coming [[from->Skylight]].{embed image: 'images/atrium.jpg'}
Looking up, to a skylight above, you reflected on what it was that marked you as different here.
Was it a lack of knowledge? A lack of <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'lack', choices: ['drive', 'ambition', 'innovation']}</span>? Or something else?
For a second under this examination, it was as if you were bleeding into the evening light, the lines of metal, the very concrete of the walls.
There was a kind of relief in that erasure. But you were not sure how far [[you->Atrium empties]] could take it.
{embed image: 'images/alley.jpg'}
You had a burning desire to escape the role to which you had been leashed. And yet you knew that goal was still tantalisingly out of reach.
Soon you were pulled back to reality. The room had begun to empty out. You followed the crowds as they swept towards the exit.
When you reached the street, your gaze wandered, and the breath caught in your [[throat->Shadow appears again city]]. {embed image: 'images/brick wall.jpg'}
It was there again. The {companion}. Watching you from a doorway on the other side of the road.
You sped towards them, but as soon as you got close, they melted into the brick wall behind them.
Was there something they wanted from you? Was there a reckoning still to be delivered?
Or could this whole episode be a product of your own contemplation?
You waited until your heart rate slowed, and your breathing returned to normal. You [[reoriented->Reorient city]]. {embed image: 'images/side street.jpg'}
For soon it was the inevitable time to return, to the life that you led away from this place, and the blurred way that time passed there.
The isolation of the farm and the relentless need to maintain it. The long silences under darkening skies.
The return to an empty cottage and the company of your own thoughts, running on a loop.
But this time you would return with something [[different->More or less city]].
A new <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'new', choices: ['grounding', 'appreciation', 'recharging']}</span>.{embed image: 'images/side street.jpg'}
>[[And you needed more of it...->City-Focus]]
>[[And you savoured it...->City-Savour]]{embed image: 'images/office.jpg'}
Your route angled again towards a large office block, where only a few stray windows were still illuminated with light.
The {companion} reached a door, and somehow willed it open. You had to dash to make it through behind them.
They entered a white-walled room lined with empty desks, and sat down in front of an open laptop.
They still had not acknowledged your presence. You sunk into a chair in one corner and simply [[watched->Shadow works]], overwhelmed and confused.
{embed image: 'images/office.jpg'}
They proceeded to tap away at the keyboard, but their shadow movements barely made an impact. The screen in front remained blank.
And yet they appeared unconcerned by this. There was something relaxing in their calmness in the face of such lack of progress.
Your journey here had been motivated by a burning desire to escape responsibility, but maybe you could learn from their approach to [[work->Lights go out]].{embed image: 'images/lights out.jpg'}
Suddenly the lights blinked out. The being was swallowed up by this new darkness, to the point you questioned whether they had been there at all.
And you remembered that you too had to return, to the life that you led away from this place, and the numbness of the routine there.
The duty of the farm and the relentless need to maintain it. The toil of unyielding tasks under darkening skies.
An empty cottage and an overfamiliar fireplace. But this time you would return with something [[different->More or less city]].
A new <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'new', choices: ['perspective', 'approach', 'awareness']}</span>.{embed image: 'images/stone wall.jpg'}
But the tremors from the encounter had rippled across every aspect of your life.
You thought of it when you opened your eyes to the demands of a new day, and when you finally surrendered to the ache of sleep.
Snapshots returned to you when the gush of the shower first hit your skin, or with each necessary <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'beverage', choices: ['shot of coffee', 'steaming cup of tea', 'glass of water']}</span> that met your lips.
While you worked, you were hyper-aware of the countless decisions made with every passing hour, and the paths they funnelled you down.
You tracked the justifications you made to yourself for each choice, and speculated what you might have [[missed->Being sighted city]].{embed image: 'images/barn.jpg'}
At times you thought you caught sight of the shadow of that {companion} as you went about your own tasks.
Were they there, among the trees? In the dark corner of a barn, then gone? Could that be true?
And yet you had no one else to speak to of this. Was that [[dangerous->Dangerous]]? {embed image: 'images/barn.jpg'}
>[[This thing unfolding would be yours to handle alone...->City-Yours]]
>[[This thing that was happening would require new understanding...->City-Others]]{embed image: 'images/brick wall.jpg'}
>[[You pictured a world in which you were in their place...->City-At Home Here]]
>[[You worried you would never navigate the world as comfortably as they had...->City-Never At Home Here]] {embed image: 'images/trains.jpg'}
Was it too late for you to make a different decision? You feared that it was. You flinched at the necessary wrench of change.
But you could imagine. You could inhabit. What would be different? How would it feel to be here not as an outsider, but as a native?
You drifted to a railway bridge, where you watched the trains go by. You caught sight of many faces, trying to analyse each in turn.
You speculated as to their hopes and dreams, and whether they had told anyone else of what they held dear, deepest [[inside->Combined]].
{embed image: 'images/swirl.jpg'}
Suddenly there was a shift in the atmosphere, a change in temperature. Everything became heightened. You watched in a different way.
Rather than a mass of competing desires, you saw them combine to make something new, something responsive, something more resilient.
The muscles in your chest tightened, and then relaxed. The skin behind your ear became hot. And then you realised it was because of [[them->Shadow reappears]].{embed image: 'images/shadow city.jpg'}
They revealed themselves, the {companion} - a streak of ink darkness, spilling between bricks and settling into a familiar shape.
This time there was no doubt that they had seen you. You faced each other, in almost perfect symmetry. Studied the one opposite.
You had questions, but you did not know how to articulate them. You had come with expectations, but now they eluded [[you->Shadow leaves]].{embed image: 'images/brick wall.jpg'}
They reached a decision before you did. Moving quicker than you thought possible, they turned and dissipated back into the walls.
You heard a gasp, and realised it had come from you. Your legs were weak underneath you.
Slowly your new awareness ebbed away, and reality set back in. You would have to [[leave->Reaction city thrill]] too. Your responsibilities would not wait. {embed image: 'images/brick wall.jpg'}
>[[You wondered if you would be able to contain this exhiliration...->City-Excitement]]
>[[You wondered if the contrast would cause the thrill to fade...->City-Fade]]{embed image: 'images/blood.jpg'}
Here in the city it did not take much for it to be triggered, for your perceptions of your surroundings to shift, for threat to creep in.
Or for the snatched word of a conversation to remind you of some gesture, some scene from the past, and all the <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'past emotion', choices: ['guilt', 'pain', 'shame', 'anger']}</span> dredged up with it.
It was like an awful feedback loop, or a monster feeding on itself. You could feel it happening now.
The muscles in your chest tightened. The skin behind your ear became hot. The rush of blood at your temples was [[deafening->Relief]]. {embed image: 'images/shadow city.jpg'}
But suddenly the cacophony ceased. Your body relaxed. The people around you were immersed in their own lives, of no threat to you.
And then, there they were again. The {companion} - a shard of sharp black, thrust through from a wall, that settled into a familiar shape.
There was no doubt that they had seen you this time. They fixed you with a steady gaze - one of <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'gaze', choices: ['admonishment', 'compassion', 'pity', 'curiosity']}</span>? You were not [[sure->Study city]].{embed image: 'images/mix.jpg'}
But they had silenced your creeping thoughts, that much was clear. Now your focus was only them.
You faced each other, in almost perfect symmetry. Studied the one opposite. You were on the verge of words that never came.
For they suddenly rushed towards you. The edge of them met the edge of you.
You matched each other perfectly. For an instant it was as if there were not two of you, but only [[one->Part ways]].
{embed image: 'images/brick wall.jpg'}
Then you parted, were spun back on your own individual paths by some unknown force. They disappeared into the crowds.
You blinked. Put a hand to your face in shock. Everything was still. You embraced the calm, as unfamiliar as it was.
But once again, the time came for you to [[leave->Reaction city relief]], however wrenching that felt. Your responsibilities would not wait. {embed image: 'images/brick wall.jpg'}
>[[You wondered if you would be able to contain your astonishment...->City-Excitement]]
>[[You wondered if the contrast would cause the relief to fade...->City-Fade]]{embed image: 'images/branches.jpg'}
>[[You wondered if you would be able to contain your astonishment...->Woods-Excitement]]
>[[You wondered if the contrast would cause the insight to fade...->Woods-Fade]]{embed image: 'images/soil.jpg'}
But you could not extinguish thoughts of your return to the city. It began to dominate everything.
The tracks in the fields were crisscrossed power cables. The leaves in the trees became massed crowds. Your tools became abstract sculpture.
You came up with ever more audacious ideas of how this new perspective might embolden you, before abandoning all of them.
The pressures of normality drained the energy from you, made thoughts of alternatives appear ridiculous.
But in the end, even that enervation was not enough. You had to go back. Any longer would leave you [[bereft->City-Back Again]].
{embed image: 'images/soil.jpg'}
Already, the details were starting to fade. You had to latch onto them as best you could.
You analysed every image held in your mind's eye, but came to different conclusions each time as to their meaning.
The pressures of normality drained the energy from you, made these memories appear ridiculous.
Standing in an empty field, backed by the setting sun, your long shadow appeared hopelessly mundane.
In the end, it was not long before you had to go back, for the fear of losing [[everything->City-Back Again]]. {embed image: 'images/door.jpg'}
But this time the wait was even longer. You worried that you had made some mistake, one that meant you had been spurned.
Would that not be typical? Would that not remind you never to [[imagine->Next city]]?{embed image: 'images/shadow city.jpg'}
You sunk to the cold ground. And that was when you noticed the shadow fall across you.
Had they been there all along? And if so, what was it they were waiting for?
You turned to look at them, feeling newly exposed. Felt your own observations turned back on [[you->City lights]].{embed image: 'images/city lights.jpg'}
You watched the heavy rise and fall of your chest. You noted how each minute shift in your position was studied and replayed.
Before you knew it, the sun was entirely gone. And then it was dark, and the blinking lights of the city at night revealed something different.
The {companion} across from you became a gleaming surface. You saw yourself in them, [[exposed->Stay or go city]], blank, laid bare.{embed image: 'images/city lights.jpg'}
>[[You had to stay and face up to this scrutiny...->City-Scrutiny]]
>[[You had to go - it was too much...->City-Go]] {embed image: 'images/radio.jpg'}
'I want what you have.'
What?
'I want the path that you took.'
But-
'You can have [[mine->Mine city]].'{embed image: 'images/radio.jpg'}
They wanted what you had? The idea seemed absurd. But could you accept it? Could you throw yourself into a new way of living?
Or would that be condemning them? Would they not be swallowed up by the isolation, back at farm, in the same way that you had?
They were your echo, in so many ways. Maybe you had to use that knowledge to help make this [[choice->Thinking city]]. {embed image: 'images/flash.jpg'}
Each realisation created a surge of energy. Your heart rate leapt in octaves.
Finally, there was a flash. Two rushing sounds, of contrasting pitch. And then you were alone again.
You were standing at the door to your cottage, but you could not remember how you had got there.
You stepped inside and collapsed in the nearest chair. You had a [[decision->City-Choosing The End]] to make.{embed image: 'images/flash.jpg'}
There was a flash. A rushing sound, but in reverse. Your vision became blurry.
You were standing at the door to your cottage, but you could not remember how you had got [[there->Cottage sudden]]. {embed image: 'images/floorboards cottage.jpg'}
You stepped inside, collapsed in the nearest chair. Its frame pressed hard against your back. Your feet were loose against the floorboards.
You were piecing this together. But there were still so many gaps. How far would you go to fill them in?
In order to learn more of this {companion} you would also have to remove layers from you.
You had to figure out how much of that you could [[take->City-Choosing The End-No Info]].{embed image: 'images/shadow city.jpg'}
>[[You could not do what the {companion} had asked...->City-Stick]]
>[[You would do what the {companion} had asked...->City-Swap]] {embed image: 'images/side street.jpg'}
The thought crossed your mind that you could both stay here. Abandon the trappings of maintaining a legacy and its incessant pressures.
But deep down you knew you would never be able to do that. It was so difficult to make a change, to conceive of something entirely new.
Would you visit them at least? Or would that be too painful? You suspected it [[would->Hold them city]] be. {embed image: 'images/side street.jpg'}
But you would hold them with you in other ways. You would learn from their approach and take that with you.
You knew how valuable this <span class="cycle">{cycling link for: 'valuable', choices: ['contrast', 'nonchalance', 'ease', 'focus']}</span> was, and you would maintain it, as best you could.
You promised that to yourself. Now all that was left was to enact your promise to [[them->Promise city]]. {embed image: 'images/bruised sky.jpg'}
As you left your cottage and stepped out into greenery, the sun was nowhere to be seen, and the air was cold.
The bruised sky stretched endless to the horizon. There was a tightness in your chest that grew in the same direction.
You started the first leg of your long route to the city. The closer you got to your destination, the more tense you [[became->Tense reunion info city]]. {embed image: 'images/side street.jpg'}
Soon you would be reunited. Soon you would tell them of your decision, however difficult that might be.
You just had to banish the doubts. Commit to this. No turning back. You could do that. Of course you could.
Couldn't you?
~END~{embed image: 'images/blue sky farm.jpg'}
As you stepped out from your cottage and into greenery, you were swallowed in aching sunlight that was tempered by a sharp breeze.
Blue sky met the horizon. There was a weight in your chest. You started the first leg of your long route to the city.
The closer you got to your destination, the more conflicted. But soon there would be no turning [[back->No turning back city]]. {embed image: 'images/door.jpg'}
The words tumbled from your mouth when you finally reached them. You did not want to hesitate, and neither did they.
The decision was made. The necessary details exchanged.
As you watched them walk away, in the direction you had guided them, you noticed their complexion change. Become more solid.
When you looked down at your body you noticed the opposite. Your outline was becoming [[insubstantial->Insubstantial city]]. {embed image: 'images/shadow2.jpg'}
You could not feel the ground beneath your feet in the same way any longer. Was this the price you had to pay?
Well, then it would have to be paid. A choice always came with a cost, you knew that by now.
And once it was made, you had to stick with it. Whatever the consequences.
It sounded easy when you thought about it like that. You hoped beyond hope that the reality would be the same...
~END~{embed image: 'images/soil.jpg'}
You were not sure you could even give a name to it, this thing that was unfolding.
But could you commit to it? Or was this the point you felt you could go no further?
This had become a fascination. One that threatened to [[dominate->Choice No Info City]] your thoughts.{embed image: 'images/fascination.jpg'}
>[[But one that had to come to an end...->City-No Info-End]]
>[[One that would extend far into your future...->City-No Info-Future]]{embed image: 'images/cottage.jpg'}
You had to admit that you had already been changed by this latest experience. Your body, your thoughts, were different.
But for now there was no one else to notice. Maybe that was for the best.
You did not know how these changes would settle within you.
But you did not regret the time that you had shared. You would return to the everyday with a new perspective. You could even call it growth.
You had rebalanced, as you had promised yourself that you would. That was [[enough->Enough city]], surely.{embed image: 'images/sludge grey sky.jpg'}
As you stepped out from your cottage and into greenery, the sun was obscured, and the air was cool.
The sludge grey sky stretched endless to the horizon. There was a tightness in your chest that grew in the same direction.
You started the first leg of your long route to the city. The closer you got to your destination, the more tense you [[became->Tense reunion city]]. {embed image: 'images/door.jpg'}
Soon you would be reunited. Soon you would tell them of your decision, however difficult that might be.
When you reached them, you blurted out the words, and turned away. You could not trust yourself to stay any longer.
As you walked back the way you had come, you were sure you saw a [[ghost->Ghost city]] of a different tint spill from you, and head back towards the {companion}. {embed image: 'images/white.jpg'}
A different choice being made. One to which you were no longer privy. For when you looked back, they were both gone.
And you were left to return to your old life, untouched.
You had chosen the right moment. You had taken what you needed, and no more. You had protected yourself. Hadn't you?
~END~{embed image: 'images/blue sky farm.jpg'}
As you stepped out from your cottage and into greenery, the sunlight was very bright, though the air was cool.
Blue sky stretched endless to the horizon. There was a hotness in your chest that grew in the same direction.
You started the first leg of your long route to the city. The closer you got to your destination, the more at [[ease->Relaxed reunion city]]. {embed image: 'images/bright city.jpg'}
Soon you would see them again. Soon you would embark on this delicate journey.
There was no clear route, or endpoint, or goal. And you were comfortable with that.
You could not wait to get started...
~END~