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<<audio "drive"stop>><<audio "morning" stop>><<audio "eerie" loop play>><style>@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Abel&display=swap'); </style><<timed 1s t8n>><center><h1>[[FOOLISH FIRE STARTS HERE|prologue]]</h1></center> <</timed>>

<<timed 30ms>><<type 45ms>>"Highway Hypnosis."<</type>><<next>><<type 45ms>>"Folks drive all night, don't remember the trip,"<</type>><<next>><<type 45ms>>"Weird dreams get in there too, I reckon..."<</type>> <<next 5s>><<type 45ms>>The ranger is explaining the situation, but you're hardly listening. You distinctly remember picking up that stranger. But when did they get out of your car? You never stopped driving...or did you?...<</type>> <<next 2s>><<type 45ms>>The ranger interrupts your contemplation, asking for details again... <</type>> <<next 2s>><<type 45ms>>“Say, where’d you say you’re heading?”<</type>> <<next 5s>><<type 45ms>>You remind them you're heading to<<textbox "$heading" "">><</type>><<next 3s>><<type 45ms>>and you're coming all the way from <<textbox "$from" "" "the note">><</type>><</timed>>

<<audio "eerie" volume 0.75 fadeto 0.00>> <<audio drive play volume 0.05>><<audio "drive" volume 0.05 fadeto 0.30>><<timed 1s>><<type 30ms start 2s>> Twilight has turned to night, as you drive away from the ranger's station. You were determined to get further on towards $heading, and doubly so now that the ranger forbid it --- But it is late.<</type>> <<next 2s>><<type 45ms>>Should you pull over and rest...or look for traces of the stranger? <<set _psg to either( 'forest route', 'rest', )>> <<button 'flip a coin to decide' _psg>><</button>><</type>><</timed>>

<<audio "drive" time 120>> <<audio "night" loop play>><<timed 1s t8n>>Tails. No time for sleep, anyways, your mind is racing.<<next 2s>>Your curiosity practically propels you into the forest. <<next 3s>>You notice a weird <<cycle "$answer" autoselect>> <<option "light">> <<option "fire?">> <<option owl?>> <<option ummm...>> <<option "[[ghost??|light]]" >><</cycle>> and try to snap a photo of it<</timed>>

<<if $dream eq 1>> <<type 45ms>>Wait...is this a dream..or waking life? You're not sure. The light is visceral, bright. Do you embrace the opportunity, [[reach for the orb|touch]]? Or...pinch yourself, [[escape|run]] from this nightmare?<</type>> <<else>> <<type 60ms>>You look up from your , device, startled by what you see. The orb seems closer suddenly...or maybe it is just larger. "Maybe it's lonely?" you ask yourself...hmm... Do you want to [[reach for the orb|touch]]? Or...you succumb to your worst fears! -- [[run away!|run]]<</type>> <<endif>>

<<set $encounter to 1>><<type 60ms>><<timed 6s>><<goto "wakeup">><</timed>>You reach your hand out towards the orb. Expecting to feel heat, you are surprised that it is quite cold. The quality of light increases, becomes blindingly bright <</type>>

<<type 60ms>><<timed 8s>><<goto "wakeup">><</timed>>You throw yourself into action as you see the hideous blue light of the orb illuminating the path in front of you."Is it actually getting brighter?" you wonder. Determined you begin running, running, running<</type>>

<<audio "night" volume 0.75 fadeout>> <<audio morning loop play volume 0.05>><<if $encounter eq 1>> <center><<timed 2s t8n>><<cycle "$answer" autoselect>> <<option "You wake up">> <<option "safe">> <<option "in your car.">> <<option "you pinch yourself">> <<option "for certainty">> <<option "in your hand">> <<option "another note">> <<option "[img[https://clogosphere.neocities.org/if/ff/travels-note.png][end]]">> <</cycle>><</timed>></center> <<else>> <center><<timed 2s t8n>><<cycle "$answer" autoselect>> <<option "You wake up">> <<option "you pinch yourself">> <<option "for certainty">> <<option "you realize">> <<option "you are">> <<option "in a house">> <<option "Am I back in $from?">> <<option "no one answers">> <<option "you notice">> <<option "another note">> <<option "in your hand">> <<option "[img[https://clogosphere.neocities.org/if/ff/safe-note.png][end]]">> <</cycle>><</timed>></center> <<endif>>

<<audio "morning" volume 0.25 fadeto 0.05>> <<audio drive loop play volume 0.05>><<audio "drive" volume 0.05 fadeto 0.30>><<if $encounter eq 1>><<type 45ms>>You neatly fold up the note, and put it in your pocket. It makes no more sense than anything else these last several hours, but the air of wonder and mystery it generates, keeps you entertained as you drive out of the forest. ---- $heading bound, you travel onward. ---- The End FOOLISH FIRE written by Carl Diehl, based on the urban legend known as The Vanishing Hitchhiker, as described in the eponymous collection The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings. by Jan Brunvard. Additional inspiration drawn from the the Will-O'-The-Wisps folktales compiled in D.L. Ashliman's collection of Folklore & Mythology. Image, Text, Twinery by Carl Diehl |Sounds from Freesound.org | 2023 [[try again?|title]]<</type>> <<else>> <<type 45ms>>You crumple up the note, and turn your attention to a massive pile of envelopes that has accumulated near the mail slot. Flipping over an envelope, you read the address to yourself, "$number --- why does that sound familiar?" ---- Will anyone from $from come calling? You wonder. ---- The End FOOLISH FIRE written by Carl Diehl, based on the urban legend known as The Vanishing Hitchhiker, as described in the eponymous collection, The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings. by Jan Brunvard. Additional inspiration drawn from the the Will-O'-The-Wisps folktales compiled in D.L. Ashliman's collection of Folklore & Mythology. Image, Text, Twinery by Carl Diehl |Sounds from Freesound.org | 2023 [[try again?|title]]<</type>> <<endif>>

<<cacheaudio "eerie" "https://ia601609.us.archive.org/27/items/eerie_202304/eerie.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "drive" "https://ia801607.us.archive.org/23/items/driving_202304/driving.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "night" "https://ia801600.us.archive.org/24/items/swamp_202304/swamp.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "morning" "https://ia802505.us.archive.org/8/items/forest_202204/forest.mp3">>

<<timed 30ms>><<type 45ms>>"Well, that don't explain the note"<</type>> <<next 3s>><<type 45ms>>You unclench your fist<</type>> <<next 4s>>[img[https://clogosphere.neocities.org/if/ff/135-note.png]] <<next 2s>><<type 45ms>>"Let's run that through the database. Type that in here, will ya?"<</type>> <<next 2s>><<type 45ms>>You sit down at the dusty old computer and type in the address:<<textbox "$number" "" "trust me">><</type>> <</timed>>

<<timed 3s>><<type 45ms>>The ranger pauses, concerned by the data readout in front of them.<</type>><<next 4s>><<type 45ms>>“I would just forget about all this. Hitchhikers are trouble. One way or another. And that address..."<</type>> <<next 6s>><<type 45ms>>"That address..."<</type>> <<next 3s>><<type 45ms>>The ranger pauses again, as if ensnared in a vivid thought.<</type>> <<next 4s>><<type 45ms>>"Just go back to $from. No reasons for knocking on an empty house. No good reasons — if you get my drift.”<</type>> <<next 5s>><<type 45ms>>You don’t exactly get the ranger’s drift, you're too consumed with trying to recall whoever, or whatever was in your car. You wave to the ranger and smile as you head out the door, [[returning to your car|direction]].<</type>><</timed>>

<<audio "drive" time 120>> <<audio "night" loop play>><<timed 1s t8n>>Heads. You pull over, and doze off.<<next 6s>> In your dream you see shifting shapes <<next 3s>><<cycle "$answer" autoselect>> <<option "a person?">> <<option "a tree?">> <<option "the stranger!">> <<option "[[a ghost??|light]]" >><</cycle>> you fumble for your phone<</timed>> <<set $dream to 1>>