Ground Down

Ground Down is a kinetic novel. To play, you will click to proceed. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= If you need to go back, click the arrow that will appear to the left. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You will sometimes encounter choices. You may be asked for your input. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= This kinetic novel contains horror themes which may be upsetting to some people. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= For a complete list of warnings, [[click here->full warnings]]. Otherwise, [[continue on->splash page]].

Complete warnings for Ground Down: * death * body horror imagery related to teeth * plant horror * loss of at least one finger * violence and gore (written) * animal death * implied sexism [[Begin Ground Down->splash page]] [[Go Back->Title Page]]

Grandma is buried in the family plot. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You grind your teeth as the cheap coffin is clumsily lowered, and a sharp pain in your molar reminds you to stop. You tell yourself that the noise you hear is only the thump of her coffin hitting the dirt, and not the crack of the wood breaking. (click-goto:?page,"page two")

You hate that you couldn’t afford anything better for her. But while cremation would have been cheaper, you know she wanted to be under the earth, next to her daughter. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= It means you have to put off the dental work you’ve been needing done, but if you can just get through these next couple of months, the land will provide. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= That's what Grandma always told you, anyway. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Go home->Go home]] [[Linger->Linger]]

It’s been a few days since Grandma died. Yet somehow it’s worse, this time, when you open the door to your home. Much of the decor is hers—her little porcelain figures, the little glass chickens, the candles, and the photos of your mother, with her big eighties hair, holding you, the chubby infant. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Examine photos->examine1]] [[Go to bed->bed1]]

This is the plot where your father was buried, and your mother after. You used to visit, often, to talk to them, but you hadn’t had the time these past few years. But here you are again, to say goodbye again. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Go home->Go home]] [[Talk to the other funeral goers->talk]]

Grandma’s few living friends are in attendance. Perhaps they’re wondering when they’ll follow her. You don’t know any of them particularly well. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Some of the neighboring farmers have come to pay their respects as well. You expect several of them will make you an offer for the land in the coming weeks. You do not want to speak with them now, or ever. (click-goto:?page,"talk2")

You know it’s hard for them, too. You know that everyone is struggling—that grocery stores aren’t paying any of you what your crops are worth, then turning around and charging customers an arm and a leg. You know that you have to have what Grandma called a “growth mindset,” because this world runs on money and has no love or sympathy for you unless you can purchase it. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= But this is your home. It’s the land you were born on, it’s the land that you grew up on, and you have a terrible inkling that you are not strong enough to survive being uprooted and transplanted. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Go home->Go home]]

You can’t bring yourself to look at the photos tonight. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Maybe another time. Maybe never again. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Go to bed->bed1]]

It feels like you’re supposed to cry, now that Grandma’s been put in the earth, but you can’t summon the energy for it. You’re drained, scraped hollow like a carved pumpkin, and you don’t even brush your teeth before bed. (It hurts too much to brush the ones in the back, lately, anyway.) (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Your childhood shark plush is on your pillow, and you hold it and think that it would be appropriate to cry into the worn grey fuzz. But once more you fail to perform. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Sleep->sleep1]]

You dream that your head is in Grandma’s lap, and she is stroking your hair behind your ears. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= “Don’t worry,” she says. “I’ll protect you.” (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= She swims away. She leaves a trail of blood in her wake. You try to yell a warning to her, but no matter how much you try to scream, you can’t make a sound. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Sleep for a week->week1]]

(set: $visits to 0)Unfortunately, you cannot sleep for the week. You have work to do. You endure the following week and, in fact, get much less sleep than you know you are supposed to. You grind your teeth at night and wake up in terrible pain. You fear your molar is cracked right in half. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You interview two new people who have applied to help out now that it is time to seed the fields. One of them is the kind of imbecile who seems likely to lose a finger within a month if you hire him. The other you think will waste more of your time than he will save. Neither of them are inclined to listen to you. You know they would have listened to Grandma. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You tell them both that you will get back to them soon, and you pray that more competent people will apply. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Go to the dentist->dentist1]] [[Visit Grandma->visit1]] [[Endure->endure1]]

What? No, you can’t afford that. You know you should, but you also know that you do not have thousands of dollars to drop on whatever they do for people who have cracked their molars. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= It is such a joke that your health insurance does not cover dental. Your teeth can kill you just as well as anything else in your body. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Endure->endure1]] (if:(history: where its name contains "visit1")'s length is 0)[[Visit Grandma->visit1]]

She’s right where you left her, next to your mother. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Talk to her->visit1b]] [[Endure->endure1]] (if:(history: where its name contains "dentist1")'s length is 0)[[Leave and go to the dentist->dentist1]]

The first offer to buy your family's farm comes barely two weeks after Grandma's funeral. None of your neighbors would be so bold and disrespectful, no; it's one of the big players who comes knocking. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Big Farma would like to help you out, he says. You grind your teeth, then flinch at the pain. You'd like to bury this audacious little businessman in the fields—you know the tomatoes would love it. (click-goto:?page,"endure1b")

You try to think of something to say, but what is there? (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Cry->visit1c]] [[Leave->endure1]]

You wait for your vision to blur, for your eyelids to yield to the heavy weight of hot tears. It does not happen. Your vision remains despicably focused. You can easily read the text on grandma’s headstone. You can clearly see the disturbed earth and grass where she was buried. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (set: $visits +=1)A bold little sprout is doing its best to grow right in front of the gravestone. You wonder if it will survive, or if a late frost will kill it. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You decide you don’t care. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Leave->endure1]]

Later that day you wind up hiring the idiots who applied last week. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You have work to do. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Go through Grandma’s keepsakes->keepsakes1]] [[Sleep for the next week->endure2]]

Why would you do that? To get rid of them? What would you do, then, with all that empty space in your house? It’s not as if you have any belongings, or interests. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Recall your shark plush->shark1]]

You’d like to sleep for much longer than that. But you rise with the sun, as you always have. You rise, and Grandma does not. (click-goto:?page,"endure2b")

The shark plush on your bed? That was from when you were little. Kids like all sorts of dumb stuff. You’ve only kept it because you had no reason to get rid of it. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[What's the shark's name?->Galeo1]]

It's Galeo, of course. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You can't remember why you named him that. But that's been his name since you were a kid. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Sleep for the next week->endure2]]

The next offer for your farm comes from one of your neighbors. Or rather, it comes from his son. Daniel is your age, and you’ve always gotten along fairly well. He loves working his farm—he’s never wanted to do anything else. His family does livestock as well, while you do not, and when he hops out of his truck, he is holding a plump hen under his arm, because of course he is. You have never met a man who loves chickens more than Daniel does. He has a thick red beard, and when he smiles to greet you, you can see where he is missing two bottom teeth. Maybe more, in the back. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= The cost of dental remains prohibitively high. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You try not to tongue at your own aching molar. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Listen to Daniel’s offer->endure2c]]

You know—and you can see that Daniel knows as well—that you will not sell the farm to him and his father. But you listen, all the same, out of professional respect. His family’s farm is bigger than yours (as is his family) and every fall they run a cute autumn harvest festival. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You and Grandma used to talk about running one of your own. She always thought you could have made a much better corn maze than any of the ones Daniel planned out. (click-goto:?page,"endure2d")

Daniel tells you what you already know, about your farm and his. He says you’d get to keep your house, and basically do all the things you always do. He reminds you that a bigger farm can have more sway when the grocery stores offer to pay less than half of what your produce is worth. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You counter that if his father and you simply communicated about what the grocery stores offered, and held steady together instead of undercutting each other, you could band together and have that sway regardless. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= He knows you’re right.(click-goto:?page,"endure2e")

Before he goes, he insists on giving the chicken to you. “Ma told me I oughta,” he says, when you protest. “You’d be doing us a favour, really. She keeps bullying the other girls. She breaks their eggs. Lucy hasn’t laid in two weeks.” (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You do have a hen house. Hasn’t been used in years, of course. It’s uncomfortably close to the graveyard—your mother had moved it there, to keep it out of the way, when she stopped raising chickens. She’d said raising you was enough.(click-goto:?page,"endure2f")

The chicken is docile, when Daniel hands her over. “She likes people,” he says. “Just hates other hens.” (set: $thehen to "the hen") (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You worry that she’ll get eaten by a hawk by next week, but you accept. If she lives, it’ll be nice to have fresh eggs. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Invite Daniel to say hi to Grandma with you->visit2]] [[Name the hen->namehen]] [[Say bye to Daniel->endure2g]]

Daniel has always been a good boy. He takes his hat off, at Grandma’s grave, and says he misses her. You hold (print: $thehen) under your arm and don’t say anything. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= He was at the funeral, you remember. He and his parents. You hadn’t wanted to speak to them then, anticipating this very visit, knowing their eyes were on your farm. Strategic of them, to send Daniel, the only one you wouldn’t chase off with a shotgun. (click-goto:?page,"visit2b")

(set: $thehen to (prompt: "What do you name the hen?", "the hen") ) You name the hen $thehen. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Say bye to Daniel->endure2g]] (if:(history: where its name contains "visit2")'s length is 0)[[Invite Daniel to say hi to Grandma with you->visit2]]

Much as you hate the reason for his visit, you cannot hate Daniel. You thank him for (print: $thehen), and you find you aren’t lying when you say it was good to see him. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= He might be the only person alive now who can actually sympathize with what you’re going through. (click-goto:?page,"endure2h")

(set: $visits +=1)(if:(history: where its name contains "visit1c")'s length >= 1)[He notices the little sprout that’s growing over Grandma’s grave, and asks if he can take a closer look.] (if:(history: where its name contains "visit1c")'s length is 0)[He notices a strange little sprout that’s growing over Grandma’s grave, and asks if he can take a closer look.] (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Let him->visit2c]] [[Don't->visit2z]]

(if:(history: where its name contains "visit1c")'s length >= 1)[You haven’t looked too closely at it, yourself. You could probably tell what it is, if you bothered, but you haven’t, so Daniel may as well. But he stares at it for a long time, then shakes his head and scratches at his beard.] (if:(history: where its name contains "visit1c")'s length is 0)[You could probably tell what it is, if you bothered, but Daniel's the one who noticed it, so he may as well take a look. But he stares at it for a long time, then shakes his head and scratches at his beard.] (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= “Dunno what it is,” he says. “Maybe one of the funeral guys tracked in a weird seed.” (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Now you examine it, and you find you have to agree with him. The stem is soft and slightly brown, with little hairs, and you think perhaps a tomato gone astray—but above the seed leaves, the first true leaves are the wrong shapes. (click-goto:?page,"visit2d")

No. You respect Daniel, but you cannot bring yourself to let him this close. You'll examine it yourself, later. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Say bye to Daniel->endure2g]]

Honestly, you should cull it—how can you let some unknown plant grow over Grandma’s body like this? But you think she would have enjoyed the mystery of it. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Say bye to Daniel->endure2g]] (if:(history: where its name contains "namehen")'s length is 0)[[Name the hen->namehen]]

Before he drives off, he gives you some chicken feed for (print: $thehen). “She probably won’t need much, though,” he says. You know, too—if you let her wander, she’ll certainly find plenty of things to eat on her own. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= “Don’t be a stranger,” he says. “You’ve got my number.” (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You do, at that. Maybe you’ll text him about the stupid things your newly hired help get up to. Share a good laugh together. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (set: $thistime to 0)For now, you see him off. It’s time to return to your own responsibilities. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Tend to the farm->farm1]] [[Go to the dentist->dentist2]] [[Cry->cry1]]

(set: $thistime +=1)Seeding is a lot of work, but you wouldn’t ever call it hard. Maybe others would disagree with you. But taking care of the farm is almost like taking care of yourself, at this point. It’s been your whole life. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= In fact, in some ways it’s easier to take care of the farm than to take care of yourself. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (if:(history: where its name contains "dentist2")'s length is 0)[[Go to the dentist->dentist2]] (if:(history: where its name contains "cry1")'s length is 0)[[Cry->cry1]] (if:$thistime >= 3)[[Sleep the week away->endure3]]

(set: $thistime +=1)You cannot afford it. Your jaw hurts constantly, and you have forgotten what it feels like to not be in pain. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[At least look at it->dentist2b]] [[Endure the pain->endure3z]]

(set: $thistime +=1)You long for the emotional release of tears. You know if you were to examine the photos in the house, you would break down instantly, unable to bear another moment. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Look at the photos->cry2]] (if:(history: where its name contains "farm1")'s length is 0)[[Tend to the farm->farm1]] (if:(history: where its name contains "dentist2")'s length is 0)[[Go to the dentist->dentist2]]

An enticing fantasy, but nothing more. You are occupied with planting and with training your new hires. (click-goto:?page,"endure3a")

Absolutely not. There’s work to be done. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (if:(history: where its name contains "farm1")'s length is 0)[[Tend to the farm->farm1]] (if:(history: where its name contains "dentist2")'s length is 0)[[Go to the dentist->dentist2]] (if:$thistime >= 3)[[Sleep the week away->endure3]]

You stand in front of the bathroom sink and stare at yourself in the mirror. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You look terrible. There are dark bags under your eyes. Your skin is greyer than Grandma’s was when they closed the casket. But that’s not what you’re looking at. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You open your mouth, tilting your head so you can see the molar in the back.(click-goto:?page,"dentist2c")

As you suspected, it’s cracked in half, split down the middle. (click-goto:?page,"dentist2d")

You look closer. (click-goto:?page,"dentist2e")

Budding up between the two pieces of your tooth is a little seedling. You don’t know how you didn’t feel it before. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You can see the roots, gripping your other teeth, (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= stretching over your tongue, (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= reaching down your throat, (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= choking you, (click-goto:?page,"dentist2f")

You wake up. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Automatically, your tongue goes to your molar. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= There is pain, but no seedling. No roots, choking you. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (if:(history: where its name contains "cry1")'s length is 0)[[Cry->cry1]] (if:(history: where its name contains "farm1")'s length is 0)[[Tend to the farm->farm1]] (if:$thistime >= 3)[[Sleep the week away->endure3]]

(if:$visits is not 0)[Though the rest of the farm is tilled dirt and freshly planted seeds, the sprout above Grandma has already reached the height of your knees.](if:$visits is 0)[Standing proudly above Grandma's grave is a strange, leafy little sprout, some manner of plant you've never seen before. You say sprout, but in truth it's the height of your knees already.] It seems to be forming into some sort of bush, with dense leaves. Despite the cold, the perpetual risk of a late freeze, it already has //buds//, ready to bloom. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You ask Grandma what she thinks of it. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= She does not reply. The identity of the sprout remains a mystery. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (if:(history: where its name contains "farm2")'s length is 0)[[Tend to the farm->farm2]](if:(history: where its name contains "farm2")'s length >= 1)[[Sleep through the rain->sleep2]]

The forecast calls for rain—far more than you want for this week, when your seeds are just barely planted. You set your new hires to work with you, but there are only so many precautions you can take. You plan to reseed the fields next week, and your potential dental visit is postponed yet again. (click-goto:?page,"farm2b")

(set: $endure to 0)You tell your new hires not to show up for the next few days. There’s little to be done in the torrential downpour that follows. You find yourself leaving the house only to tend to (print: $thehen), and nothing else. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= In the house, you are surrounded by reminders of Grandma. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Sort through her keepsakes->keepsakes2]] [[Look at the photos of your family->photos1]] [[Go to the dentist->dentist3]]

Big Farma visits again when the rain starts. The same pissant businessman as before comes back. You need to supervise your new hires (you still don’t trust the one to follow basic safety precautions), so you don’t spare the effort to be polite when you dismiss him this time. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= “Don’t be like that,” he wheedles. “A sweet little thing like you shouldn’t be out here in the mud—” (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Get the shotgun->farm2c]]

You want, so much, to give into your fantasies right now. You think Grandma would have punched him for that. Unfortunately, you always were more likely to hide behind her. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You clench your teeth, through the sharp spike of pain in your molars. (click-goto:?page,"farm2d")

You inform Big Farma that he is not welcome on your farm, and you will consider him trespassing from now on. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= “Honey, this is the best offer you’re going to get,” he sneers. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (You do not think about how Daniel’s father had offered you a much smaller number.) (click-goto:?page,"farm2e")

You tell him you are going to get your shotgun now. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= “If you change your mind later, we won’t be so generous,” he calls out over his shoulder as he hurries to his car. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Audacious to the last, he leaves his business card in your mailbox. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (if:(history: where its name contains "visit3")'s length is 0)[[Visit Grandma->visit3]](if:(history: where its name contains "visit3")'s length >= 1)[[Sleep through the rain->sleep2]]

Maybe if you could sleep for a week, it would go away.(click-goto:?page,"endure3")

(set: $endure +=1)You think, once more, about clearing out Grandma’s things. Again, you see no reason to get rid of them. It isn’t as if you have anything else you’d put on the shelves. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (if:(history: where its name contains "photos1")'s length is 0)[[Look at the photos of your family->photos1]] (if:(history: where its name contains "dentist3")'s length is 0)[[Go to the dentist->dentist3]](if:$endure >= 3)[[Endure->endure4]]

(set: $endure +=1)You don’t want to look at the photos of your grandmother. Nor do you want to look at the photos of your mother, or even the few of your father. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= That leaves the photos which document your childhood—and there are many, because Grandma loved taking photos. She would tell you that when she was a girl, it cost much more to get a camera and develop the film. You were an idiot child, and so you didn’t care to hear about how different things were when Grandma was young. (click-goto:?page,"photos1b")

(set: $endure +=1)With what money? Hopefully your molar will just fall out on its own. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (if:(history: where its name contains "keepsakes2")'s length is 0)[[Sort through Grandma's keepsakes->keepsakes2]] (if:(history: where its name contains "photos1")'s length is 0)[[Look at the photos of your family->photos1]](if:$endure >= 3)[[Endure->endure4]]

You never quite got the hang of smiling for the camera. In most of the pictures, you are frowning, or, in your younger years, shoving either your hand or a fat shark plush into your mouth. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You still have that fat shark. On your bed right now, in fact. Of course you kept him; he was always your favourite. You used to say you would be a marine biologist, before you started working on the farm. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= How silly, to think you could have ended up anywhere else but here. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Recall shark->shark2]]

(if:(history: where its name contains "Galeo1")'s length is 0)[You’d named it something stupid at first, like Bob, because when you’re a kid, the name Bob is the height of comedy. Then you’d grown up a bit, into a little know-it-all, and renamed him Galeo, because of some scientific classification that you can’t even remember anymore.](if:(history: where its name contains "Galeo")'s length >= 1)[Galeo has always been with you. Maybe you're too old for things like this now, but everything else from your childhood is dead and gone. Why not keep the fat little plush that's brought you comfort since you were a kid?] (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Back then, you’d wished you could be a shark, because at that time you’d gotten your first tooth cavity, and getting it filled had been horrible. You’d wanted to be a shark then, because if you were a shark, you’d always be able to grow spare teeth. (click-goto:?page,"shark2b")

You try not to tongue at your molars. You kind of still want to be a shark. No need for dental insurance, or worrying about the farm, or mourning grandma. Just teeth and water and the hunt. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (if:(history: where its name contains "keepsakes2")'s length is 0)[[Sort through Grandma's keepsakes->keepsakes2]] (if:(history: where its name contains "dentist3")'s length is 0)[[Go to the dentist->dentist3]](if:$endure >= 3)[[Endure->endure4]]

The rain passes eventually. You wake upon a bright and sunny day, and you almost wish you hadn’t. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You exit the house to let (print: $thehen) out, and your boots sink into the wet, muddy earth. All around you, shallow puddles gleam in the sunlight. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= It’s when you reach the graveyard that you notice, floating merrily in the puddles and shining bright white under the sun, your teeth. (click-goto:?page,"endure4a")

You wake up. (click-goto:?page,"endure4b")

The rain has passed. The day is sunny. Your new hires come back. The puddles are full of dirty water and nothing else. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Go back to sleep->sleep3]] [[Go to the dentist->dentist4]] [[Carry on->endure5]]

A terrible idea, really. You have a lot of work to do. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Carry on->endure5]] (if:(history: where its name contains "dentist4")'s length is 0)[[Go to the dentist->dentist4]]

What, now? After all that rain washed away all your work and you have to reseed everything and supervise your idiot workers? Yeah, sure. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Carry on->endure5]] (if:(history: where its name contains "sleep3")'s length is 0)[[Go back to sleep->sleep3]]

Daniel texts you, sometimes, and you try to reply. He, too, has to reseed most of the fields. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Another neighbor offers to buy your farm, and while you’re distracted with telling them no, you hear a terrible scream. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Naturally, the moment you’re not looking, one of your idiot workers has lost a finger. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Visit Grandma->visit4]]

Grandma wouldn’t have let things get so bad. She would have known to hold off before seeding the fields. She would have made your stupid new hires listen and do their jobs right, so one of them wouldn’t be in the hospital right now. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= She said she’d protect you! She said the land would provide! (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You stare at her grave, and the strange plant growing above her, and somehow you still. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Don’t. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Cry. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Think about anything else->visit4b]]

The sprout is not a sprout anymore, but you still don’t know what to call it. You wonder if you should start to water it—the leaves almost appear as if they are wilting. Not a one of them is a proper green, most of them having a more brown or olive shade. One is almost the colour of your own hand. They are thick and finely haired, like an African Violet, but if that were the identity of the sprout it would have died by now, unsuited to the rainy weather. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Visit your other family members->visit4c]]

You hope Mother hasn’t been feeling neglected, with all the attention you’ve been giving to Grandma of late. But Mother’s absence is an old, familiar pain, and Grandma’s departure is still fresh. Father has been gone even longer, and you don’t think he ever understood you quite the same way Grandma and Mother did. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Once Father died, and you learned what the family plot was, you asked why there was no gravestone for a grandpa. Grandma told you that she and Mother had buried him somewhere else, and that if you ever needed help burying a man, she’d show you where. Mother hadn’t liked that, and you hadn’t understood. But later, privately, Grandma had told you she’d always protect you. She promised. (click-goto:?page,"visit4d")

“The land will always provide, and I will always protect you,” she’d said. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You don’t feel very protected, lately. Nor do you feel very provided for. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Take care of yourself->care]]

You wish you were a machine, a tractor, a sprinkler system on a timer. Instead you are a human, and you need sleep and showers and food. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= At least Daniel’s hen helps with the last. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You’ve been awfully irresponsible with taking care of her, but somehow, she hasn’t been eaten by a fox, or a hawk, or anything else. In contrast to you (sleepless, losing weight, probably about to lose your teeth), she is so perky it would irritate you—if she weren’t also feeding you so well. She reliably lays eggs for you and happily neglects the feed you provide, preferring to forage for herself, finding bugs and who knows what else out by the graveyard. (click-goto:?page,"care1a")

You maneuver with your fork, but it slips beneath the yolk. Grandma always liked her yolks runny, so out of habit you always try not to break them, but you’re not cooking for Grandma. Everything tastes like rubber anyway, so what does it even matter? You push the fork tines through the yolk and press the shell against the side of the pan, lifting it out. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= It’s strangely thick for a piece of shell. As the yolk runs off, the white shape is revealed. (click-goto:?page,"care3")

It’s a tooth.(click-goto:?page,"farm3")

[[Visit Grandma->visit5aa]]

The mystery sprout above Grandma's grave is a distraction from your woes, at least. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= The strange plant is as tall as you, now. Its soft, dense leaves overlap so thickly that you cannot even see its central stem, and heavy fruits hang from it. They are pink and veined and shaped almost like horseshoes. You lay your palm on one, and it feels warm like Grandma’s hands. In truth, it has a quality that’s more flesh than tree. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Pick a fruit->visit5b]]

Your jaw throbs with pain, as you wrap your fingers around a fruit and pull. The stem audibly snaps, the fruit coming away in your hand almost eagerly. You split its skin open with your fingernail, and opaque red juice bursts across your face and chest. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= With trembling hands, you pry the fruit open. It comes apart with a viscous crack, spraying juices. The seeds within are white and hard. (click-goto:?page,"visit5c")

You run your fingers through the red pulp and along the seeds, feeling the familiar ridges. When you find the one you seek, you pinch it between thumb and forefinger. It resists, at first, but you tug and wiggle and finally it comes free, two long roots stretching out behind it. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Your hand is still shaking. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Put the seed in your mouth->visit5d]]

It fits perfectly.(click-goto:?page,"call1")

You call the number on the business card. (click-goto:?page,"call2")

Big Farma’s businessman returns promptly the next day, full of self importance and satisfaction. You offer to show him around the farm, to give him a tour so he can get to know your family’s assets, the acreage, your plants. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You can tell he isn’t listening as you show him the flourishing tomato plants, the corn field and the peppers and the sunflowers. You can tell he doesn’t register your words as you explain the fence to keep the deer from eating the strawberries. (click-goto:?page,"call3")

He’s frowning, as you walk down the tractor path. The uneven mud is getting on his fancy shoes, and he rolls his ankle and nearly falls. You slip easily out of the way of his flailing hands and smile brightly at him as he regains his balance. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You pass the hen house. There, (print: $thehen) stands still and silent, watching the two of you. (click-goto:?page,"call4")

You arrive at the graveyard. The businessman opens his mouth to ask about the graves, and you cut him off, gesturing to Grandma’s tree. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= “Do you know what this is?” you ask him. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= “Of course,” he dismisses, not even looking at it, glancing around. The family graveyard is surrounded by trees, and from here you cannot see your house nor the drive where his car is parked. (click-goto:?page,"call5")

“Then you must know how valuable it is,” you say. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= “Oh, I see,” he sneers. “Trying to get a better offer? I told you last time, you missed your chance.” (click-goto:?page,"call6")

You smile widely. (click-goto:?page,"call7")

You beckon him closer. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Close enough that, were he to actually look at your face, he would see the tears that have finally, //finally// come. (click-goto:?page,"call7b")

You bite into his neck (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= and (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= you (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= grind (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= your (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= teeth (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= (text-style:"fidget")[together] (click-goto:?page,"call9")

You leave the body behind, beneath the shade of Grandma’s tree, and she fulfills her promise to you. (click-goto:?page,"end splash")

(click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= As you walk back to your house, you pull out your phone to text Daniel. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You were out visiting him when the fellow from Big Farma disappeared. He needs to know that. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Of course, you don't expect him to do you a favour for nothing in return. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You think about how Daniel will look, smiling widely, his mouth full of teeth. (click-goto:?page,"end")

He probably thinks you're sad to be selling the farm. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You didn't think your smile could get any wider, but your mouth stretches further still. (click-goto:?page,"call7c")

You open your mouth. (click-goto:?page,"call8")

You modify your routine to account for (print: $thehen), letting her out of the hen house each morning and shutting it behind her each night, and making sure she has fresh water each day. She does not eat much of the feed, but seems to do well foraging for herself, and somehow she does not get eaten by a hawk (yet). She is energetic and active and offensively healthy, never standing still for a moment, and always enthusiastically screeching her little chicken noises. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= She does not mind that you help yourself to her eggs. The addition to your diet is certainly welcome, though having to do more dishes is not. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Visit Grandma->visit3]] [[Tend to the farm->farm2]]

Thank you for playing. [[Credits->credits]]

(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[This game was made using Twine for the Global Game Jam 2023. --- Story & Coding: Sam Inverts --- Special Thanks for invaluable contributions: Jonathan Moriarty Yokaiy Ted Anderson Ven --- Music: "Decline" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ --- Thank you for playing.]

You do find a fox, by the coop, one morning. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You rush over, intending to scare it away, but it doesn’t flee at your arrival. Once you’re close enough, you see why. (click-goto:?page,"care1b")

Flies are already swarming the bloodied body. You wonder, as you grab a stick to move the fox somewhere else, what could have done this. Another fox? A coyote? Something larger? (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= The bloody wounds on the fox are certainly bite marks, but the shape of them—it doesn’t look like they're from a narrow animal snout. (click-goto:?page,"care1c")

There’s a tooth left behind. You wouldn’t have bothered to examine it so closely, except it falls out of the carcass when you toss it into the woods past your property line. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= It looks like it came from a human mouth. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Remember what you came out here for->care1d]]

That’s right. Eggs. From (print: $thehen). You’re here for eggs. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You hurry back to your empty little house and push the thoughts of the dead fox from your mind. Hopefully whatever it is doesn’t come for (print: $thehen). Maybe you should be better about watching over her. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Fry eggs for breakfast->care1e]]

You fry your eggs with routine efficiency. Sometimes you forget to add salt, but it doesn’t matter much when everything tastes the same anyway. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You crack the egg into the pan, but then pause before you turn on the stove. Looks like you got a bit of shell in there. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= [[Get the shell out->care2]]

[[Take care of the farm->farm3a]]

It’s only you, now, your one idiot worker having decided to sue you over his finger, the other one having quit. You are only slightly bitter at having been denied the pleasure of firing him. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Perhaps if you were actually sleeping at night, you would be able to manage on your own. You’re not sure either worker ever actually saved you any time, since you always had to repeat your instructions again and again, only to turn around and see that they still hadn’t done what you said. (click-goto:?page,"farm3b")

But you’re not sleeping. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= You lie awake at night, your teeth aching, your stomach hurting, your eyes dry and your mind racing, tallying your weighty expenses and your meager profits over and over and over again. You weren't planning on having to deal with a //lawsuit//, of all things, and your debt grows and grows like invasive weeds. (click-goto:?page,"farm3c")

You don’t know what to do or who to turn to. You certainly can’t ask Daniel for help with this. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= His solution would be to sell your farm. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= Sometimes you wish you //could// sell this place and be done with it. (click:?page)+(t8n:"dissolve")[= But you’re rooted too deeply. (click-goto:?page,"visit5")

You've nobody else to turn to.(click-goto:?page,"visit5a")